Chapter 6

The next morning I woke up when I heard the refrigerator door close. Peggy was getting a glass of orange juice. She saw me watching her and grinned self-consciously.

"I'm sorry. I guess that I should have waited for you to get up. I was trying to get out of here before you woke up. I've got to find a place to stay."

I threw the covers back, "I've got to get up. Turn away; all I have on is my shorts."

She smiled, "I don't care. I realized this morning that I gave you quite a show last night. Do you want any thing for breakfast?"

I shook my head and got up and walked quickly to the bathroom. I left the light off so that it would be just a little harder for her to see me piss. I splashed some water on my face and grabbed the robe that she had worn the night before and put it on. When I left the bathroom she was rolling up her sleeping bag.

"Look, why don't you leave your stuff here today," I said, "You can stay here until you find a place to stay. I get home about six thirty. I think that I have a spare key so that you can let yourself in. You don't want to be lugging that sleeping bag all over campus. Is this all of your stuff?"

She shook her head, "I have things stashed all over campus. I've got six lockers and some things, like books are in friend's apartments."

I went to the desk and found the spare key to the front door, "This will let you in. There's some food in the refrigerator but not much. I usually eat in the cafeteria. I might stop on the way home and pick up something. I'm big on OJ so you'll have to let me know when we're almost out."

She stared at me for a minute and tried to hand the key back, "I don't know..."

"Look Peggy, I didn't try anything last night did I? I'm just trying to help you out a bit. I'm sure that you'll find a place soon. Look, I've got to go. Make sure that you lock up."

I dashed out of the door jogging to my first class. I scooted in my seat just as the professor's aid walked into the room. The lecture was boring as usual. I was learning a lot but I found that the business course was strongly focused on managing international companies. I had always had plans to start my own business locally. I was determined not to churn water like my father had done all of his life. I wanted to have enough money to live comfortably and raise a family.

As I rushed from class to class I saw Peggy a couple of times. Only once was she close enough to wave to. When I was between my second class and lunch I called Abby to find out how Dan was doing. I had gotten into the habit of calling once or twice a week to check up on him. Abby told me that the experimental drug seemed be helping a bit and he told her that he had more good days than bad ones. She was worried because he wasn't putting on the weight that he had lost with the chemo.

After football practice I jogged home with my knapsack slung over my arm. As I walked into the apartment I smelled some good cooking. Peggy was in the kitchen and yelled to me to stay out of the kitchen. I yelled back that I was going to take a shower.

I grabbed a clean sweat suit and went into the shower. After I was in the shower I suddenly realized that I was giving Peggy a show like she had given me the night before. Nothing I could do about it now.

As I walked back into the large room that served as the living room, study hall, rec room and whatever, I saw that the kitchen table, which was really in the living room, was set. Peggy came out of the kitchen with a plate of salmon fillets steaming away. A couple of trips back to the kitchen and the table held salmon, Irish potatoes and lima beans. She had also fixed a package of brown and serve rolls. It had been a long time since I had a real home cooked meal. Most of my meals were salads that I picked up from the supermarket or takeout from the restaurants around campus. I am definitely no cook.

"I stopped on the way back from campus and picked up stuff for dinner. My thanks for letting me stay last night. I had visions of having to sleep in the park last night."

The meal was simple but it tasted like heaven to me. This was the first real meal that I had eaten since returning to college. By the time dinner was finished I had polished off all of the rolls and there was very little left of the salmon.

When Dan had put in the kitchen he had put a dishwasher in. I had only used it a couple of times. I usually washed my glasses and the few bowls that I dirtied in the sink. Tonight we packed all of the dishes in the dish washer. While the dish washer ran we sat at the table and talked, just small talk.

After a while we ran out of small talk, "Peggy, I'm sure that you have some dirty clothes, the way that you've been living. I'm sure that you noticed the washer-dryer in the kitchen. It's small so you'll have to do smaller loads but you're welcome to use it."

Her face brightened a little, "I was trying to get into one of the dorms to use the coin-operated ones there but every time that I found a laundry room that I could get in the washer was in use."

There was a heavy silence after that and finally I broke the silence, "Peggy what is going on in your life? I don't mean to pry but you're not going to finish college the way that you're living now."

It was several minutes before she spoke, "I know that better than you. I got a small scholarship to Arizona but it doesn't amount to much. I thought that I could find a job but the jobs that aren't taken by the other students require a car. I have a little money but it won't go very far if I have to get a car. I thought that I could crash in a dorm room and use my sleeping bag but I guess that I wasn't thinking too clearly. People like they're privacy and they don't take kindly to freeloaders."