Chapter Seventy-Eight
"You didn't know that I was going put you to work right away, did you?" teased Tony as he handed a paintbrush to Lucky. All of the furniture in Tony's living room was pushed into the center of the room to expose the walls for painting. Tony and Lucky had already spent over an hour taping up the baseboards and windows with special blue painter's tape and then washing the walls. "The realtor said we had a much better chance of selling quickly at a higher price if we freshly paint all of the rooms. I guess I could have hired painters, but this is more fun, don't you think?"
Lucky grabbed the brush and laughed as he carefully dipped it into the latex paint and wiped the drips off on the rim of the paint can. "Well, I kind of figured you'd have me helping you when you talked so much about selling the house," he replied. Lucky spread the plastic dropcloth over the carpeted floor and adjusted a black painter's cap on his head. He was wearing an old blue sweatshirt with cutoff arms and frayed jeans.
"We have about four more hours to work this morning, and then you have your hair appointment at the mall at 2:00PM," stated Tony. "An appointment with Diane, that's Bobbie's hairdresser."
"I've never been to a beauty shop," Lucky said. "Mom always cut my hair. I suppose that's why I had that bowl cut look for years and years. I don't know how I feel about going to one of those places."
"We could visit a barber shop," said Tony. "But, I'm afraid you'd come out with a crew cut or a military look, not your style, I don't think. I get my hair cut at that salon. A lot of men go these days, it's no big deal."
Lucky knelt on the floor, concentrating on painting the wall's edges, while Tony loaded up a paint roller and made broad stripes on the wall with a vigorous back and forth motion. "Do you want to go with me to see the new house we're putting an offer on?" asked Tony. "We could stop by after your haircut."
Lucky stood back up and reloaded his paintbrush. "That sounds interesting. It's some old Victorian mansion, right? I remember Aunt Bobbie talking about it a mile a minute, but I didn't catch all of the details."
Tony shrugged. "I wouldn't exactly call it a mansion, but it's a large Victorian, yes. Mostly restored, so not too much work needs to be done to it, thank goodness. There is something special about it, but I want to surprise you when we visit."
Lucky stroked the paintbrush in the corner of the room and glanced at Tony from the sides of his eyes. "I like surprises," he said with a shy smile. "Sure, let's go see the house this afternoon." Lucky paused to lay the brush down and wipe a few drips of beige paint from his fingers onto a scrap piece of cloth. "Um, Tony, I know I'm not supposed to rush things, but how soon can I start driving my car again?" A brief flash of worry passed across Lucky's face as he waited tensely for his uncle's answer.
Tony heard the anxious tone of Lucky's question and paused to think for a moment before answering. "Speaking as your neurologist, I'd like to be seizure free for six months before driving again. That's for your safety and for the safety of others on the road. It's the law. You don't want to be behind the wheel of a car if you have a seizure. It's been one week since your last seizure, and that's encouraging. For awhile, you were having at least one per day, so you're making progress."
Lucky shrugged. "I feel impatient, like I want everything back all at once. I can't wait to start my life over again and get on with it. Be normal, you know," He grew sad as his eyes took on a faraway look.
Tony nodded. "That's understandable. You've been able to think clearly and notice the restrictions on your life more than you did before. But, that's good. It will encourage you to work hard to get better."
Lucky finished with one wall and walked over to the window, carrying the gallon paint can with him and setting it down beside his feet. He concentrated on painting straight, careful lines edging the tape outlining the perimeter of the window. He stuck out his tongue and frowned as he concentrated on moving his hand smoothly over the surface. The two men worked in easy silence for many minutes, each content in the work and the companionship of the other.
Tony was about halfway done with the room when Lucky finished the edging and placed the metal lid back firmly on the paint container, pressing it closed. Lucky went down to the basement and washed off his brush in the utility sink. He sighed tiredly as he grabbed the soap, scrubbing his hands clean of smeared paint and drying them off on an old towel. He walked back up the wooden stairs. About halfway up the stairs, he noticed that he felt lightheaded, and he paused to catch his breath, bending over at the waist with his head down for a minute and gripping the railing tightly with a tense, white knuckled hand. Man, I don't feel well, he thought. He ran his hand over his forehead and then finished walking up the stairs and back to the living room.
"Tony," he called out. "I'm feeling lightheaded and real tired and my head's starting to pound."
Tony quickly laid down his paint roller and walked over to Lucky. He noticed that he looked pale and drawn. Tony patted him on the back and said, "Go lay down for half an hour. I'll wake you up for lunch. You're on a lot of medications and aren't used to this much physical work. You probably need to put your feet up for a minute."
Lucky nodded with a blank, tired look on his face and headed for his bedroom while Tony watched him with concern.
~*~*~*~
Tony was seated in a black vinyl chair in the hair salon waiting area, his left foot up on the glass table and his nose buried in the Ladies' Home Journal "Can This Marriage Be Saved?" column. There were the sounds of chattering voices, whirring blow dryers mixed with the noxious smell of perm chemicals and many fragrances of shampoo, conditioner and hair spray.
"Hey, Tony." Lucky walked over to Tony after paying for his haircut. Tony jumped, startled out of his reading daze. "What do you think?" asked Lucky happily as he shook his head left and right to emphasize the fact that nearly 14 inches of hair was missing from his head. Lucky wore a pleased yet embarrassed at being noticed smile.
Tony chuckled. "Did they take before and after photos? That's quite a change. It looks real good. How does it feel?"
"Man, my head feels several pounds lighter. I had no idea hair weighed that much," Lucky said.
"What's that?" Tony asked, pointing to the paper bag that Lucky was holding.
"Look," said Lucky as he held open the bag under Tony's nose. "She braided my hair, and then cut the braids off. It was weird."
"Why did she give you all that hair?"
"Diane said that I can give the hair to an organization that makes wigs for little kids who have cancer," Lucky explained. "She said Audrey Hardy accepts donations for the program, so I figure I'll run into her at the hospital."
"That's nice, a good cause," said Tony. "Now turn around so I can inspect your entire haircut."
Lucky's hair was layered into a ducktail in the back and featured long bangs that fell to his cheekbones in the front.
"Cool cat," said Tony, whistling.
"What?" asked Lucky with a puzzled tone of voice, and a look that said, "Can someone translate what this old guy is talking about?"
~*~*~*~
Lucky opened the door of Tony's Jeep Cherokee and stepped out into the street. "This is it?" he asked, pointing to the grand Victorian with the beautiful front porch directly opposite the vehicle.
"Yep," Tony said, nodding and smiling. "That's the house we made an offer on. Bobbie has her heart set on it, and I like it, too."
"A big change from the brownstone."
"With emphasis on big," said Tony. "The brownstone lives more like an apartment, but this house has plenty of room for kids, guests, and hobbies. It has a lot of potential and a great backyard. Come on," he said, pulling out from his coat pocket some keys on a white plastic keychain. "Let's have a look around. The realtor must be sick to death of us by now. "We're always in and out of this house, looking, inspecting or admiring. Bobbie has measured every window in the house for curtains I think."
Lucky lost track of the number of times he said, "Cool," in an appreciative tone of voice as they walked through the Victorian. He nodded his head when they reached the parlor. "I like old houses," he commented almost to himself. "I miss the house on Royal Street," he said as a flicker of sadness caressed his features. When he realized the implications of his words, he quickly changed the subject. "Do all of these fireplaces work?" he asked curiously, bending down to more closely inspect the ceramic tile surround. "This is the original fireplace isn't it? It looks brand new."
"I don't think the room was used much over the years since it is the formal parlor, and it was preserved for over one hundred years."
"When was the house built?" Lucky asked as he wandered over to a window and looked out into the side yard.
"It was built in 1883 by Homer Wilson, a local banker," said Tony. "Bobbie did some more research and discovered that only four families have lived in it for all these years. It's never been rented out, so that's why it's been taken care of so well. Actually, all of the residents have been relatives of the Wilsons. The current owner can no longer take care of such a large piece of property and has decided to move into a condo in Florida. That's why we're dickering so much over a final selling price. The owner has plenty of time and isn't in a great hurry to sell since she has no mortgage on this property."
"It's pretty close to downtown, isn't it?" asked Lucky as he leaned against the doorframe and ran a hand over the smooth, dark wooden surface.
"The house is within walking distance of both General Hospital and the University," stated Tony. "It's about a twenty minute walk to GH and only a mile from PCU."
"Hmmm…" replied Lucky. "I say you should buy it!" he declared with a grin and a twinkle in his eyes.
"Come here and look at the master bath," said Tony. "You'll see why Bobbie is so hot on it."
Lucky followed Tony and stepped into the master bath. "Wow," he said as his voice echoed around the hard surfaces of the spacious room. "The tub, right? She likes the bathtub."
Tony lightly punched Lucky on the arm. "Oh, you think so?"
"And you like the manly marble shower, am I right about that?"
"Oh, maybe."
Lucky shifted his feet and grinned as he shoved his hands in his pockets. "So where's the surprise?" he asked. "You said there was a surprise you wanted to show me."
Tony's face brightened and he wrapped an arm around Lucky's shoulder. "We'll have to go outside of the house to see that."
~*~*~*~
Tony locked the front door of the house while Lucky sat on a portion of the porch railing and leaned against a fence post, his eyes taking in the graceful curves of the porch and the beautiful plantings surrounding the brick walk leading up to the steps.
"Come on," said Tony as the two headed for the back of the house.
Tony stopped in front of the carriage house. "Do you know what this is?"
"A two story garage?" Lucky guessed.
"More than that. It's a carriage house, a garage on the main floor, but a full studio apartment on the second floor. Let's take a look."
Lucky bounded up the steps behind Tony and almost ran into his uncle, but laughed and took a step back. "Not all of us are young whipper snappers," said Tony as he took his time walking up.
Lucky entered the large, open room and turned around several times looking at wood beamed rafters, unfinished floors and plumbing rough-ins. He wandered over to the window on the far wall and viewed the beautiful landscape. "Hey," he said excitedly. "I can see PCU and GH!"
"Yeah, the view is great from here," agreed Tony as he stepped up behind Lucky and placed a hand on his shoulder. "All the apartment needs is finishing work - drywall, decorating, fixtures, that type of thing. Would you like to learn how to do those jobs and be my partner in creating the apartment?"
Lucky turned his head. "That would be great. I love to do craft type things. I've never done plumbing or drywall, though."
"It's not too hard," stated Tony. "I learned on the job when I did construction during the summers that I was going to college. I can teach you. When we finish, you can move in rent-free as payment for your sweat equity."
Lucky's eyes lit up. "My own apartment? Right next door to you and Bobbie and Lulu and Lucas?" he asked. "I'd like that! But do you really think I'll be able to go to college…um…after the accident and everything?"
Tony turned Lucky around so he could look him in the eye. "I expect that not only will you make it through university, but that you'll graduate with honors. You're an intelligent young man, Lucky. You might have to study harder after your head trauma, but it shouldn't prevent you from reaching your goals and dreams."
Lucky studied Tony's face and then relaxed and smiled as he accepted his uncle's words.
~*~*~*~
"Have you seen Emily since…since I've been in GH?" Lucky asked shyly. He turned his head and looked out of the window of the Jeep Cherokee, surveying the passing views with seemingly more interest than he actually had.
Tony took his eyes off of the road for a second to glance at Lucky. "I've seen her around the hospital a couple of times. She always asks about you every time I see her."
An unreadable look transformed Lucky's face. "I wonder if she'll like the new and improved Lucky Spencer," he said bitterly.
"Gee, you two have been welded at the hip since you were what? Eleven or twelve? I'm sure she's seen you change a lot over the years, and it doesn't seem to affect how she's felt about you. She'll like you any way you come."
Lucky looked down at his lap and grew wistful. "I don't know. I don't like myself very much sometimes, why should she?"
"We're our own worst critics," replied Tony. "Other people don't see half of the ugly things that we see in ourselves. I wouldn't worry about that too much."
"Maybe," said Lucky. "She was a fashion model though and spent that time in Paris. She's too good looking for me."
Tony laughed and reached over to pull down the sun visor on Lucky's passenger side of the vehicle. "Take a good look in a mirror, why don't you? You're a nice looking young man. Don't sell yourself short."
Lucky looked into the mirror and stared at his reflection. He shrugged and gave a small smile of agreement as he flipped the sun visor back up.
~*~*~*~
Lucky trudged out to his red Mustang in his old, torn outfit with a bucket full of supplies and gratitude for the warmth of the late afternoon April sun. He pulled out his car key and opened the driver's side door. He scooted into the car's interior and proceeded to carefully vacuum every carpeted surface, following with the dust and shine polish that he meticulously applied to the vinyl dashboard. His hand rested on the cigarette carton under the front seat, and he pulled it out, pausing to grab a new package of cigarettes. He opened the package and pulled out one cigarette, pulling it under his nose to savor the smell. He reached for the car lighter and swiftly lit up. Man, I missed these, he thought.
Lucky exited the car and knelt beside the seat, taking his scissors and snipping some carpet fibers from an unseen location under the seat. He snipped away the burned piece of carpet and ran some glue over the hole. Then, he placed the new fibers on top of the hole, arranging them with his fingers so that no one could tell there'd ever been a burn there. He smiled, not catching the irony of the long-ashed cigarette hanging from his mouth as he repaired the cigarette damage to his car. Satisfied with his handiwork, Lucky carried the bucket over to the outside spigot, and filled it with water. He proceeded to scrub every inch of the outside surface. The Mustang began to gleam after its long winter hibernation under snow and ice.
Tony looked out the window and saw a huffing and puffing Lucky walking around his car. It's those darn cigarettes again, he thought. Tony laughed at the consternation on Lucky's face when he forgot he was smoking a cigarette and loosened the muscular tension on his lips, to the result of one cigarette falling into his cleaning water. He'll learn, Tony thought as he moved away from the window.
~*~*~*~
"Hi, sweetheart," Tony said as he sat in the living room on a couch pulled into the center of the room to let the new paint dry. "I can't talk too long because I'm using the cell phone. Lucky's tied up the phone for the last hour and a half. But, I certainly don't begrudge him his talk with Miss Emily. It's been a long time for those two."
"It's great that Lucky's connecting again with Emily," said Bobbie. "Monica keeps saying that she doesn't think she can stand one more day of that girl moping around the house. How's Lucky doing otherwise?"
"We've kept real busy today," said Tony. "He got wiped out earlier after painting for a couple of hours. We'll have to watch him to make sure that he doesn't overdo it. He's still recovering from his head injury and hasn't been physically active for a couple of months. Slow and easy, that's what Kevin recommends. Me, too."
"So how's his hair?" asked Bobbie merrily. "I'm dying. I want to see it so bad."
"Well, you'll see it next weekend for sure," Tony promised. "But it looks wonderful. Definitely better than before. Mr. GQ," he chuckled. "He's donating the cut-off hair to some charity that makes wigs for children who are cancer patients."
"Oh, I've heard of it," said Bobbie. "Audrey is involved with the organization. How is Lucky doing in terms of mental health?" asked Bobbie quietly. "Has he had any problems?"
"Not really. He's tentative and underconfident, but that's to be expected under the circumstances. He's actually been very cooperative and a pleasure to be with. We had a fun time today. And, yeah, he guessed which feature was your favorite in the new house."
"You're going to have to stop teasing me about that bathtub," protested Bobbie.
"When? Next century?" asked Tony. "I love to tease you. It keeps me young."
"Well, then, maybe we'll make an exception in your case."
~*~*~*~
"So what are you wearing?" Lucky asked suggestively as he laid back on his bed, closing his eyes and repeatedly twirling the phone cord with his index finger.
"Ooooh, let's see," said Emily. "Nothing too exciting. Old jeans, tie dyed teeshirt, that's about it."
"Hmmm," replied Lucky dreamily. "I'm just imagining you in nothing but the tie dyed teeshirt."
"Simmer down, boy," laughed Emily. "You're going to melt my telephone."
"Well, that's fair," said Lucky. "You make me melt. You know, I'm still thinking about that kiss we had months ago."
"No fair!" yelled Emily. "Now I need to be hosed off. You're so bad, Lucky."
Lucky sighed. "It's so great to hear your voice, Emily. I miss the long talks we used to have every night."
"Me, too," said Emily softly. "I've cried myself to sleep a lot of nights because I missed you so bad."
"I'm sorry, Emily," replied Lucky in a tight voice. "I know this is all my fault. I didn't mean to hurt you like that."
"Lucky, I know. It's not your fault. Sometimes, life just happens, you know. You have to roll with the punches."
"I'm starting to learn that. Hey, Emily, you'll never believe what I did today."
"What?"
"I got my hair cut - it's all gone now, only a couple of inches left. Tony took me to Bobbie's hairdresser, and she braided my hair, then cut all the braids off."
"What? Omigosh!" screamed Emily. "I wish I could have been there. Wild. I'd really love to see it. Boy, it's been a couple of years since you've had it short. How does it feel?"
"Great actually. My head feels lighter, and my hair doesn't hang in my face all the time. It was time for a change. Um…there's something else I should tell you. I had an accident at the hospital - with my head and face."
"What are you talking about? I'm confused."
Lucky coughed and paused to get up his nerve. "I accidentally ran into a door and sustained a head trauma. It and messed up my face a little. My nose looks different, and I have a scar over my eyebrow." Lucky nervously waited for Emily's reply.
"I'm sure you look fine, mighty fine," laughed Emily. "But how's your health? Are you okay?"
"Not really." Lucky hesitated. "Um…I have a scar on my brain and sometimes it gives me seizures. They're giving me medicine to prevent that." Lucky waited in fear for Emily's response.
"But, you're basically okay, other than that?" asked Emily with concern.
"Sure," said Lucky.
"Great!" said Emily vigorously. "I'm so relieved. I want you to be well. I love you," she said softly.
Lucky's heart swelled with gratitude.
"I love you, too, Em."
Next...
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