Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

I’m Pink Lady Apple Yeggs and my friend, and brother-in-law, Deviled Yeggs suggested that I record each project that I set up in the hopes of reforming the people who continue to work for Lily the Pink Enterprises.  If for no other reason, it would show how God is at work.

I had a few appointments today.  I usually have open-door, anyone coming when they felt the need, but a few of our counseling projects were long-term, and I wanted to see if they needed any help beyond talking to Joseph.  So, I set up appointments.

First on my list were Bart Clarkson and Tamara Collins.  With the nature of their therapy, Joseph was seeing each of them separately.  I had them come in together.  Joseph is curious as to how they will respond to being together.

They came into my office together, probably waiting for their appointment time.

Bart waved a hand, allowing Tamara to choose the seat that she preferred.  She took the seat slightly across on my right side, while Bart took the other chair.  I made the mental note that if I were the preacher and this was a wedding, they were on the proper sides.

Bart asked, “Joseph said that you wanted to see us.  It is Sunday afternoon.  I thought you would be with family.”

I smiled, “We went to Sunday school and church this morning.  I do not consider this meeting part of my work.  It is more of a calling.  I fed Sparkle and she is sleeping in the crib area over your shoulder.  Scrammie is baking, and Kanok and Joon are interacting with other children their age in the nursery.  I split their time up between here and the nursery.  I get to bond with them here and they get to learn social skills with their friends.  We have a lot of children in their age groups.”

I continued, “So, you came here in early November.  You have only been having therapy with Joseph for less than two months.  You were the only survivors of a mass killing spree aimed at you, Bart, but you survived.  But thirty others died before your eyes, many of them work companions.  Then when you went home for some underwear, you were attacked by your wife.  By the way, Rookie Ruthie Toody is much better.  Her jaw is no longer wired shut.  She is back at work with no restrictions.  She is getting remedial training on hand-to-hand combat.  She went to protect you, which meant your wife got the full swing of the golf club.  If her reaction was to the weapon, she may not have been injured.  After you went to the hospital, your wife and her two partners were going to the prison when they were killed.  You met Tamara at this fateful celebration.  You had relations with her there and in your house.  When we suggested that you and she slow down on the relationship, she quickly agreed, but you were hesitant.  Then you admitted that you did not want to stay in your house, since it would remind you of your wife and of the attempt on your life.  I repeated the basic facts to point out why you are here.”

I asked, “Do you have anything to say before I do the same for Tamara?”

Bart only said, “I have asked a couple of real estate agents to give me an appraisal.  I cannot go through the front door of the house without getting flashbacks, but it has only been two months.  I am fine at work.  Nights alone here are tough.  Julia has caught me pacing the hallway.  My small apartment seems confining, but I never was claustrophobic before.  I do not know why we are here at this meeting.  I have told all this to Pastor Joseph.”

I nodded, “This is not necessary, but I wanted to see you and Tamara, and especially see you together.  We had suggested that you apply the brakes on your carnal activity, but that was a suggestion.  We told you that separation was necessary for personal growth, but if you wanted time together, you could sit with each other at the Vespers services, but neither of you attend.  Oh, I take that back.  Tamara had come a few times.”

Bart mumbled something about not seeing the need.

I nodded again, intending on getting back to that point.  “Tamara, you were the bartender at this celebration.  You were outside the enclosure when the gas was initiated, killing all inside except for Bart who had gotten sick quicker than the others.  You tended to him and then made love to him when he was not quite lucid.  He thought you were a man, due to your bald head.  By the way, you are a cancer survivor, and you shaved just before you came here.  How is the hair doing?”

Tamara took her wig off.  Bart and I both gasped.  Her hair was a little over an inch long, but it was pure white.  “I am sorry for my reaction.  I was expecting short hair, but what was your hair color before the chemo?”

Tamara started to show a few tears.  I handed her a tissue.  She said, “I was a mousy brunette, not much different than the wig, but the wig has some red in it.  I talked to the doctor, and he says that the hair grows back often before the color engines, as he called it, kick in to produce the right color.  In fact, he said it might turn dark brown or black before the color is back to normal.  He said that I could use the white as a canvas and color my hair any color.  But if I colored my hair a weird color, I would have to cover it at work.  The hair isn’t damaged; it is the follicle that has to reprogram itself.  But I don’t want to get a Butch haircut now.  I’ll keep the wig on until I have enough to style.  As far as my work is concerned, I am just doing the pharmacy tech work.  I have turned down a couple of bartending jobs.  I am just not ready for that.  Mrs. Standish, Priscilla, has been very understanding and the ‘fund me’ page has gotten a few donations.  She says there is an anonymous donor who promises to match everything up to the total of my unpaid medical bills.  You would not be the anonymous donor, would you?”

My reply was “My name is Pink Lady Apple Yeggs.  My initials spell the word PLAY.  I do not see an anonymous in there, do you?”

Tamara smiled, “Thank you, ma’am.  You are already doing enough.  I like it here.  I can walk to work.  The rent is a lot less than my former apartment.  I know that I do not go to Vespers often, but I have been part of the early morning shift, starting before the pharmacy opens.  We get refill requests by text, phone, and email overnight.  Priscilla stops me though and prays for me.  I don’t want anything to mess up my work relationship there.  So, I skip Vespers a lot to get to bed early.  But, first, I have to admit that I quit going because I did not see Bart there.  Then, I missed going and started back, just because it makes me feel good.  And this separation thing has caused me to reconsider a lot of things.”

Bart asked, “You don’t love me?”

Tamara sighed, “No, Bart, we hardly know each other.  How can I make a long-term commitment when we don’t talk?  It was all physical.  And what I have seen of you lately is that you are preoccupied with your work.  You went from me being your distraction to not deal with the pain to your work being that distraction.”

Bart sputtered, “That’s not fair.  Eleven engineers lost their lives at that celebration party.  I am doing the work of twelve people, and the deadlines are approaching.  Mr. Olden has loaned me some help from other departments.  I appreciate the help, but they have to learn the project, understand what we are trying to do, and then become helpful.  Mr. Olden has given me praise for being able to delegate, but I really have no choice.  And Pink Lady, I occasionally livestream the Vespers.  You do that for those working in the cider house, but since it is online, I can tap into it.  I just have too much to do.  Besides, that first night we were here, I snuck over to Tamara’s apartment.  After we hugged a little while, Tamara said it was best if we did not go any further until we were in some way healed.  That leaves me with no one.  Mr. Olden is sympathetic, and he tries to understand, but I wake up at odd hours of the night, and I just need a hug.  These project deadlines are the ticket to my success, if I can make it.”

I sighed, “Bart, if it is just the looming deadlines and trying to accomplish what you told Mr. Olden in this very room you could do, then that is admirable, but Tamara is seeing that if she gets involved with you and you are married to your job, she becomes a second fiddle.  Search your heart.  I have already talked to John Olden and he is very impressed.  I think he would understand if you are falling behind.  He might have suggestions that do not involve you working yourself to death.  Maybe not, but you should talk to him instead of saying that everything is on track.  He knows you are taking work home with you.  He might provide other engineers to help.  If there are no secrets involved, Jim Kaiser has a professional engineer license.  He might be an extra set of eyes.  And Easter Yeggs knows the professors at the university.”

Bart nodded, “No, ma’am, the professors would wish to get paid, even the graduate assistants.  I’ll talk to Jim Kaiser.  I won’t go to the university people unless Mr. Olden approves it first.”

I looked him in the eyes, even though he tried avoiding my gaze.  “And if you need a hug while you are in the hallway pacing, I can authorize the roving guards to hug you.  Nothing romantic.  Just a human touch to know that you are not alone here.  God has a strong presence here, and when you realize that in your heart, you will never be alone again.”

Tamara said, “Yes, ma’am, I am starting to feel that.  This is a special place.  There is love here.”

I said, “This was just an update so that I could feel satisfied that progress is being made and we can keep this on track.  Bart, do some soul searching.  Pray.  You need to find out what is important to you.  Tamara, if you stay on this early schedule, maybe we can adjust things.  We might have a mid-afternoon Bible study or something for you to attend.  We set the Vespers service so that the children can go to bed immediately afterwards, the day shift would be ready for bed themselves, and the graveyard shift would be ready to go to work.  I do not see how we could adjust the timing very much.  But I am not a tech person.  If this is being livestreamed, we might have old ones on some cloud somewhere.  I’ll check.”

Tamara brightened, “Thank you, ma’am.  And that might not be necessary.  If I am already in bed, I might livestream it like Bart does.  I do not always go to sleep right away.”

I nodded, “Thank you for coming in.  I have more appointments this afternoon.  You two, have a wonderful day.”

With that, they left.  I noticed when they came in that they were polite, but they did not touch each other.  On the way out, they were holding hands.  The relationship may have run aground, but maybe hearing what the other was thinking could have mended a fence here or there.

The next couple who came in the door were the Williams.

Penny came through the door beaming, and Blake was in good spirits.

I asked, “You two look happy.  Is there a special reason for the smiles?”

Blake said, “No, Mommie Pinkie, we were just talking about Stinker’s Sunday school class this morning.  It was in that class a few months ago that we accepted Jesus.  And great things have happened in our lives since then.  But this morning, we had the usual things that amuse us.  Arabella said something that was off the wall, but I don’t think that Blaise grumbled about anything.  That’s rare for him.  And, well, we just enjoy the atmosphere.  We feel the love.”

In Blake initiating the conversation, I realized this counseling session was making great strides.  And I realized why Blake’s voice sounded like a frog croaking.  When he was unknowingly fed estrogen in a cocktail of medications, just for a high, he was at that age when a boy’s voice changed.  But now, as an adult, as he goes through those changes while under a physician’s care, he is starting to feel confident that he is not different or strange.

I turned to Penny.  “Anything new to report?”

She blushed, “If you are fishing for a positive pregnancy test, nope.  I still work in the cider house.  We are still trying.  Blake’s stamina is improving, but nothing to report yet.  We pray each night that Blake may have fewer sperm than the average guy, but all God needs is one.  With faith, anything is possible, Mommie Pinkie, but where is Kanok?”

I laughed, “She and Joon are in the nursery.  Sparkle is in the nap room over there.  I wanted uninterrupted conversations with my guests this afternoon.  Thanks for asking.  And Blake, how is the venture with Jim Kaiser coming along?  The BBQ thing?”

Blake laughed, “Maybe that is what we should call it, the BBQ Thing.  Your lawyers have determined that a couple of things might be worthy of patents.  Griff Grunge has gotten the drawings completed and the lawyers are working on it.  We keep arguing over replacing the bricks with lighter and more portable refractories.  Some surfaces have to absorb and maintain the heat, others have to be durable, and we don’t want the outside walls getting too hot.  That part is a work in progress.  But those two guys are wizards at designing something.  We will have to wait on the patents for a while, but that doesn’t mean we can’t build a couple for people like Dev Yeggs or the Niblicks.  We need someone that would apply the torture test.”

I asked, “And the job?”

Blake nodded and smiled, “Jim Kaiser is pleased with my skills.  He and Darrell take care of one side of things, but then when it is plumbing or electrical, I am the guy.  I could do masonry, but so far, your ovens are holding up.  I love it here.  I came in without a job.  I got work with the contractors working on Zuzka’s next big idea, and now I am part of the family.  One Big Happy Family.”

And I typed it that way because he seemed to capitalize every word as he said it.  They came here homeless.  He was withdrawn due to his previous drug addiction.  They were homeless and jobless.  And they were a bad risk with Blake’s past record of failures.  But some counseling and some love, with a few trips to the doctor to get Blake’s hormone levels straight and mending the past damage, and these two were now a happy couple.  And I will keep praying that they get that baby.

Julia called and said we had a surprise couple.  Jacob and Dinah Levy came into the room.

I laughed, but I pointed to the chairs.

Jacob nodded at Dinah.  Dinah said, “We have had people at our house lately, and I have propositioned them.  The way I do it, it sounds like I am joking, but I thought when you accepted Jesus that He replaces our desires with His.  I mean, if I say it, I must think it.”

I shook my head.  “Dinah, if you want to come in and have some therapy with me regarding former sex workers, feel free.  I will have Julia, or whomever, hang up a shingle to not be disturbed and we can talk.  If you want it formal with a schedule, we can do that.  I think I will get so many laughs that I won’t need to charge you anything.  I don’t charge any of the ladies here, but then they work for me.  And I heard what you said about poor Georges.  Did you see Jochebed?”

Jacob raised a brown paper bag.  I assumed it contained Jochebed’s witchdoctor potion that cured ED, increased the size, and prolonged the stamina.  I laughed and shook my head.  “Dinah, you might not talk about it if you two can satisfy each other’s cravings.  But Dinah, you are wrong about one thing.  We will be tempted for the rest of our lives, but God can give us the ability to resist temptation.  It is part of the sanctification process.  We become a little more like Jesus as we get older, then a lot more like Jesus the moment we die.  We are a work under construction, and part of that is our desires.  If your desire becomes your husband, God applauds that.”

Dinah looked confused, “Really?  I am reaching retirement age.  You know, I am retired, but I retired early.  Not like this old windbag sitting next to me.”

Jacob said, “Do you want me to give this back to Jochebed?”

Dinah huffed, “Of course not!  Pink, I’ll call you later this week and we can set something up.”

With that, they were gone.  As they walked out, Marguerite “Margie” Justice and Blaise Yeggs, my nephew, walked in.

I pointed to the chairs.  I shouldn’t have, but I said, “And now my troublemakers come in.”

Margie started to tear up.  “I’m sorry, Aunt Pink.  I tried to have sex with Blaise.  We were both naked, and Blaise stopped before … umm … hitting the home run.”

I pulled out my calendar.  “You mentioning that baseball analogy, when does your softball season start?”

Margie shrugged, “In the Spring sometime.  I’ll let you know when they announce the schedule.”

I said, “Okay.  I want to at least see one of your games.  But then, if you aren’t pitching, you don’t play, do you?”

Margie said, “Half the time, I don’t, but depending on who we have pitching and who is the other team, I play some rightfield.  You know, if they don’t hit too many in that direction.  I’m a better hitter than the rightfield that we had last year, but I’m nervous about chasing the long fly balls since I am not out there much.  Who knows?  Menzie wants to try out.  We are thinking second base for Menzie since our second base went to college this year.  But it all depends on who else tries out.  Soap and I are returning, and about half of the rest of the team, and Menzie has never played in a game that counts.”

I nodded, “Okay, now that I broke the ice and let you talk about something that you are eager to talk about, how is your sessions with Joseph going?”

Margie rolled her eyes.  Blaise said, “She picked Joseph because she’s afraid of you.”

I laughed, “Margie!  I don’t bite.  As the person who occasionally has people around here allow me to run the place, I cannot force you and Blaise to be celibate until marriage and not do it here if you are not.  But as Blaise’s auntie, I would prefer that you spend time now talking to each other, learning each other’s likes and dislikes, and then after you are married do what you almost did.  Okay, what you did was sexual, but like you said, no home run.”

Margie nodded, “Joseph went through all that.  The rule that the ladies here came up with was nothing explicit in public view and only necking and kissing in designated spots.  In those spots, you know there are cameras, and someone might look at the monitor.  That way, you can police yourself to not get carried away, and you only found out about what happened in Aunt Hortense’s apartment because you set up extra cameras and microphones after Aunt Hortense had her first heart attack.”

I nodded, “So, are you and Blaise okay with the progress?”

Margie nodded.  “Joseph has let Blaise come in on one of the sessions.  Dr. Yeggs insists that he stay with me, in the room or in the waiting room instead of working.  Joseph had us do some role playing.  He is looking for what triggers that deep desire where my blood starts to boil.  Until then, we are a couple who kiss to greet and kiss good-bye.  And when I have those temptations, he might give me a bearhug.  You know that he can cause me to fall asleep with his bearhugs, but they calm me down.  But when naked in bed with him, he did not think of that at all, just that this might not be a good idea, so he stopped.”

I nodded, “Yes, I know he can cause you to sleep with his bearhugs.  And, Blaise dear, that is a special gift from God.  Do not abuse that gift.”

Blaise smiled and nodded.  He asked, “Is that all?”

I nodded, “My appointments today are checking to see if something else might be needed.  You are free to go back to the lab and work.  I know Blaise is itching to do that although it is Sunday afternoon.”

They both said thanks as they ran out the door, nearly running over TomCat, Thomas and Catherine ver Waarloosd.

Thomas asked, “We dutifully come to your office, Mommie Pinkie, but we were only here a couple of weeks ago.  Nothing has changed.”

I smiled and waved for them to come in and sit down.  “Thomas and Catherine, you are a joy to talk to.  Do not think of it as a duty to appear, but I wanted answers on your adjustments to life outside the valley of the windmills.  First, how are the children doing?”

Catherine beamed, “They are much healthier than they were when we arrived.  We were all malnourished, and now, the children are thriving.  Samantha and Levi are growing, but Reuben is learning bad things from the other children.  I have never seen a child as rebellious in the valley.”

I tilted my head.  “Were you around children who were two years old in the valley?  Reuben is just barely three.”

Catherine shrugged, “Not really.  I had younger siblings, but no new siblings after I was old enough to notice.  Thomas was the last in his family.  We only saw the children when we were at church.  Of course, the children would be older who started school.”

I chuckled, “Jochebed disciplines the children with love.  She tries to redirect their interests, but children at two are discovering a lot.  They want to touch everything.  And they test their boundaries.  Kanok has always been a talker, but she is starting to get mouthy.  She tells us ‘No!’ a lot.  She has it in her head that she is cute, and she can run the place.  Maybe someday she will, but it is up to me and Scrammie to establish boundaries and when those boundaries are violated, she needs to know about it.  Otherwise, she will start distrusting what you say, and that can lead to a lifetime of rebellion.  Be loving with Reuben but establish boundaries.  Have an escalating method of discipline.  Do not abuse the child but get the child’s attention.  That is what Jochebed does most often, no punishment at all, but a redirecting of what they are getting into.  Then if they immediately go back outside the boundary, Jochebed puts them in time out, unless it is a serious offense.  At that point, the parent gets a call unless the parent has already allowed a certain punishment.  If they have authorized something, she will administer it and text the parents.  This may mean that the child gets punished twice, but when it is a child in the terrible twos, it rarely gets past time out or a swat of the hand as they reach for something that might harm them.  And just because Reuben is about three and a half, kids go through this exploratory phase at different times.  It is not that he is slow.  He has had a lot to process in the past six months.  Think back as far as you can as to how you were treated, and if everything was corporal punishment, talk to Jochebed.  She has read several books on early childhood development.”

Catherine turned red, “I am sorry.  We do not have much experience even though we have older brothers and sisters who have had small children.  At least Reuben is not using bad language.”

I nodded, “Jochebed puts a stop to that right away.  But to be honest, the children repeat what their parents say.  Our policemen might say a bad word when a criminal is shooting a gun at them, but in calmer territory, the ones we have visiting here are very careful with their language.  Where Reuben will have trouble is in kindergarten.  We are thinking that we have so many, we might establish a kindergarten here.  But that shifts the danger to the following year.  They might hear a teacher say a bad word, but they will definitely hear a fellow student use bad words.  Thursday Wednesday has come home with some bad words, but his parents have told him to not use any words that they do not use, and he has only slipped once or twice when he has visited here.  But you, you were in the valley until high school.”

Thomas nodded, “And we knew not to use that kind of language when we heard it for the first time at the high school.”

I nodded, “I am ashamed that I have not thought about this.  We have had home schooling here and distance learning, but all with middle school and high school students.  I may put a committee together to consider buying another local property and creating a school for K-to-6 grades, just for our own children. We have so many now, and the mission could send us more at any minute.  We could do it now and hire a few people to be the teachers in a home-schooling environment.  As we keep growing, our office staff keep getting more work.  They have taught math, language arts, history, and science in the past, but I would hate to try that right now without some help.  Most of our little ones are two or younger.  We can closely monitor the Wednesday twins, that is Friday and Saturday, along with Grace Grunge.  Then the only one that is two years younger is Gretchen Grunge, and then Reuben, Valin, and Lauren MacDougall a year after that.  But then, the flood gates open.  Thank you for this conversation.  I now have a new project.  But is there anything else?  Are you getting comfortable in your new clothes?”

They laughed, “Yes, Mommie Pinkie.  But the other day, we volunteered to help Michael and Arabella with their goats.  Being back in a farming environment, we wore our old clothing.  It just felt like the right thing to do.”

I smiled, “Maybe by the time you grow out of the clothing, or it wears too thin, you will feel comfortable in any clothing.”

Catherine blushed, “The first time that we took swimming classes, it felt like we were wearing just underwear.  Now we are both playing water polo and sliding down the water slides without a care, or at least we did until the pool was closed.”

I nodded, “If we can build in more hot water storage, we might at least keep the pool open.  But winter is when we have more action at beach volleyball, at least for our employees.”

Catherine smiled, “And Mommie Pinkie, do not rush to start a school here.  Our children will need to arm themselves against the temptations of this world.  When they face adversity now, we are there to help them.  If they do not face adversity until they reach college, we may not be there when they need us, but you, Mommie Pinkie, you were there when we needed you.”

I walked around my desk, “Thank you, Catherine.  With that, I think I need a hug.”  She arose and gave me a hug.  And Thomas made a motion as if to ask whether he was allowed, and I hugged him too.

Credits

I am not sure if I need any Credits this time.  These were mostly updates, but what Catherine observed about home-schooled children has been borne out by statistics.  If you home school your children, you may need to talk to your children before they attend school that is remote, away from your supervision.  They may need to be equipped in handling differing worldviews.  I went to public school, but with the isolation of living on a farm with parents who did not talk about the outside world, I now look back on my college years and early married life, and I see how naive I was.