Hi-Rise

Hi-Rise

A Novel

By Christopher G. Bremicker

Copyright 2014

Smashwords Edition

Cover Design by: Miss Mae

This book was for the residents of my hi-rise, whom I loved.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

PART I

THE LABOR DAY PICNIC

A new resident organized a party open to all residents.

THE LABOR DAY PICNIC II

The food was spectacular, the turnout was good, and horseshoes was fun.

LOOKS

I described the appearance of the hi-rise.

LUANN

A resident drove me crazy with attention.

TALKERS

Some people in the hi-rise liked to shoot their mouths off.

EMPLOYEES

Our hi-rise had wonderful employees.

THE RESIDENT COUNCIL MEETING

For once, we got along.

BUBBA

A man known for his loud mouth died.

HELPERS

Some people at the hi-rise tried to make it a better place to live.

AN IMPROMPTU PARTY

Shannon threw another party on short notice.

THE PATIO

Shannon and I became better friends.

PARTIES

Parties at the hi-rise affected my attempt to lose weight.

AN IMPROMPTU MEETING

We discussed plans for the next party.

THE REFRIGERATOR

Shannon and I priced out an appliance for our parties.

SHANNON’S APARTMENT

I spent an hour in her place getting to know her.

SHANNON, A COMPARISON

I contrasted my relationship with Shannon with the one with my last girlfriend.

CHAD

A Bible thumping food addict with poor social skills drove me crazy.

SHANNON

My attention to her and her poor health may have cooled her ardor.

THE AGENDA MEETING

Shannon and I helped draw up items needing decisions by the full council meeting.

THE BRING-YOUR-OWN-MEAT PARTY

Shannon’s efforts as a community builder and hostess paid off.

NUTCASES

Characters peopled the hi-rise.

ON THE LEVEL

We had physically disabled people here too.

THE OCTOBER RESIDENT COUNCIL MEETING

In a power play, Shannon and I did not get the refrigerator and she canceled the harvest party.

PEOPLE WHO TRIED

Residents tried to improve their lives but this was not always obvious.

SHANNON CONTINUED

I saw her briefly.

SHANNON AGAIN

We grew closer.

END OF THE LINE

Ambivalence on my part led to a possible end of the relationship.

THE DINING ROOM

We ate lunch as Shannon disappeared and another party was canceled.

THE WALKING CLUB

We formed a club to walk together, rain or shine.

SEARS

Shannon and I went back to Sears to get a firm price for the refrigerator.

INDIAN SUMMER

Spectacular weather preempted the need for a party.

NEGATIVITY

The negative viewpoint permeated the attitude of the residents regarding almost anything.

HOME

The hi-rise was home.

LOCATION

The hi-rise was centrally located between two cities.

POLITICS

Shannon and I prepared for the agenda meeting.

THE AGENDA MEETING II

Shannon showed disdain for me as I got the refrigerator on the agenda for the full council meeting.

LOVE

Shannon and I grew closer, as the day for the meeting approached.

IN-FIGHITNG

The treasurer threw a temper tantrum when I told her there were no refrigerators available for the amount of the bid approved by the council.

CLOUDS OF WAR

Battle lines formed for the resident council meeting today.

VICTORY

The motion to increase the bid for the refrigerator passed the council and we bought it.

LOVE II

After getting the cold shoulder, I decided I loved Shannon.

PART II

WINTER

A winter storm approached two weeks before Thanksgiving.

REALITIES

The treasurer and a resident filled the storage room with stuff that needed to be cleared out to make room for the new refrigerator.

WAITING GAME

We waited for the deliveryman’s phone call, until the refrigerator finally arrived.

SHANNON ONCE MORE

She hit the roof after my conversation with Irene about a party, as her Irish temper got the best of her.

POWER TRIP

Shannon insisted we keep our relationship professional.

LUANN AGAIN

She got her hooks into me, Thanksgiving dinner was great, and life was good.

MY FLOOR

I described the residents of the ten apartments on my floor.

WOMEN

I concluded Shannon wanted to avoid me.

THE TREASURER

A nutcase, she pretended to run the hi-rise.

FRANK

One caretaker took an interest in me.

PART III

AL AND DICK

Two homosexuals had a beautiful relationship.

SHANNON ONCE AGAIN

Our relationship was on the rocks.

MINISTRIES

The talkers and TV watchers reigned here.

THE ACCORDIONIST

A musician played for us.

GREG

One of the talkers, a man whose mind would not shut off, was kind to me.

AFTERWARD

Not much else could be said.

POSTSCRIPT

Shannon and I were back speaking and her battle with the treasurer continued.

DISSENTION

Shannon and I had words.

REALITY

Shannon went nuts when I refused to put up signs to correct the date of a party.

PAUL

A tablemate who liked science and Tai Chi was interesting to talk to.

THE NEW YEAR’S DAY PARTY

Shannon made me mad as she threw another successful party.

SHANNON’S STATUS

We did not get along.

JACK

Shannon’s son contributed to life at the hi-rise too.

TALKING

Shannon and I were back on speaking terms.

THE VALENTINE’S DAY PARTY

The political rift deepened.

PARTY TIME

Shannon threw another successful party.

LUANN AGAIN II

Increasingly, she bothered people.

A DEVELOPMENT

Shannon threw in the towel.

PART IV

DEMISE

Shannon went into self-exile while the talkers reveled.

THE BUDGET

A woman from another hi-rise cooked the books.

HARVEY

One man in particular was driven to talk in a building of talkers.

EPILOGUE

Jane took Shannon’s place as a party thrower and Shannon disappeared from the scene.

POSTNOTE

Shannon appeared, contrite, embarrassed, and resigned to a life out of the limelight.

IRENE

Our Mother Theresa quit her job.

SHANNON TWICE TOLD

She was slowly going nuts without something to do.

CLOSE

The social structure of the building settled into place.

PART V

ASCENDANCY

Jane quit the resident council, coffee klatches, and throwing parties and Shannon filled the void

NEW PEOPLE

Another food addict arrived, as well as another talker.

SHANNON’S DEATH

She died of a massive heart attack.

EPILOGUE II

We reverted to gossip and awaited a new savior.

THE NOVEL:

PART I

THE LABOR DAY PICNIC

A new resident organized a party for us. She was a professional banquet server and had experience at a prestigious hotel in town. She sweated each detail.

Here’s what she planned: pulled pork from Famous Dave’s barbecue, potato salad from Cooper’s grocery store, ice cream sundaes, and s’mores. She bought horseshoe and croquet sets too. We brought blankets to lay on.

The money for the picnic came from the party budget of the resident council, the governing body of the hi-rise. Due to bickering, the Public Housing Agency shut down the council for three months. It was reactivated and the party was its first sanctioned event.

Things were not without politics, however. The organizer, Shannon, felt the four-burner grill we bought recently for residents’ use was unacceptable, for some reason. She bought her own charcoal grill she expected us to use to cook the s’mores and some pineapple she bought on the side. We had access to the hi-rise kitchen to keep the pulled pork warm.

There were factions in the hi-rise. Some people liked to talk a lot and paradoxically they could not be relied on to attend the party. Shannon and our treasurer were at odds. I was attracted to Shannon and promised her I’d help out the best I could.

I and another woman would use my car to pick up the food. The treasurer had the checks and we planned to meet at noon the day of the party to leave for Famous Dave’s and Cooper’s. Shannon wanted the party to go without a hitch.

A few days before the picnic, we had a meeting to determine the agenda for the first resident council meeting since it was disbanded. Much shouting occurred about who had authority to sign checks and previous breaches of check signing policy. PHA had rules about signatures on checks. These were broken and people dug up bones about the incidents at the meeting.

The meeting was Shannon’s first taste of hi-rise politics. She found it surprising but handled it well. I sat next to her and tried to speak on her behalf when necessary.

That’s where things stood two days before Labor Day. I had to work at the Y that day. I planned to be tired at the party. I loved to play horseshoes and croquet. They were both social games. We felt people in wheelchairs could play them too.

The weather did not promise to be good for the party. It might rain, the internet said. Shannon planned to set up everything in the cafeteria while the other woman and I drove for the food. So far this week, the rain in town was light.

I helped Shannon by making signs for the event and hanging them in our two elevators. I made them on my computer printer. I hung them on bulletin boards in the lobby and community room too. Shannon spent days in her apartment thinking about the menu or last minute details. She did not appear in the community room all day on Saturday. The picnic was scheduled for Monday.

She and I drove to the Mississippi Market to buy the pineapple two days earlier. We stopped at a liquor store on the way back where she picked up a bottle of wine. She liked bantering with the employees at the market and the liquor store. She was captivating and talked a lot in a manner that attracted me.

She explained how to pick out a pineapple. Color was important, she said, and the middle leaf had to be easily removed. She asked the man at the deli to give me a sample of mango salad. I tasted it and liked it. We had fun shopping together.

Back at the hi-rise, we paused in the lobby then got on the elevator together. We pushed the buttons on our respective floors. I got off on my floor. I had the distinct feeling she would have come to my apartment if I asked her. I didn’t.

I went back downstairs and met her in the lobby, as she got off the other elevator. This was an awkward moment, although I made the best of it by telling her I was finishing putting polish on the dashboard of my car. She liked that. I felt distinctly I passed up sex.

She appeared that night in the community room and we talked. She waited for me the next day after my work at the Y and we discussed the cost of the menu. She introduced me to a friend she knew from her previous life who was moving into the hi-rise in a month.

Once, her son lived in the hi-rise and I knew him as a kind and hyperactive young man who liked pizza and video games. He was moving back in. I imagined allegiances with her son and her friend and wondered where I would fit in.

Last night I called her. I wasn’t sure if I was interrupting something with her friend or not. I invited her to coffee in the community room. It was Friday and I thought she might be lonely. All of a sudden all Hell broke loose. I let go of her. She let go of me. I lost the relationship, as fragile as it was. Suddenly, I was alone.

I had trouble sleeping. Finally, I got to bed and woke refreshed. After an hour of prayer, I played handball. I was in a good mood and played well.

I had so many relationships and messed up so many I was philosophical about this one. If she forgave me, fine. If it was meant to be, it would be. If she returned to me, she was mine, as the saying went. If not, she wasn’t mine to begin with.

We were attracted to each other. She was smart, sexy, and experienced. Was she a bubble off plumb like everyone else in the hi-rise? Perhaps. She had a difficult childhood and her recent past was hard before she moved in.

I’d like to say the relationship continued. However, I did not see her all day. Was she with her friend in her apartment or avoiding me? I did not know.

I had to work tomorrow at the Y. I would think about things at work. Work had a way of sorting things out.

Today I looked for Shannon after I got back from work. I did not see her. I went to church, had lunch, laid around, then had dinner. The treasurer handed me two envelopes with the checks in them for Famous Dave’s and Cooper’s. I called Shannon immediately and left her a voice mail.

I took a nap and my cell phone rang toward the end of it. It was Shannon. She wanted to come up to my apartment to get the checks. After a few minutes, I let her in.

She liked my apartment and sat down in my easy chair. She complained about the treasurer’s behavior. The checks were supposed to go directly to Shannon. We talked for half an hour. I told her a little about the people in the hi-rise, who to rely on, and who behaved erratically. She had me sign a receipt that I gave her the checks and left.

She seemed suspicious of me when we first met but said she trusted me now. I was an ally. I promised I would help out at the party. She claimed the treasurer was undermining her already. I was thrilled to have her in my apartment. When she left, I felt I had a new friend.

THE LABOR DAY PICNIC II

After work on Labor Day, I and a woman resident picked up the food for the party. The Cooper’s potato salad was ready and we paid with a check that was made out by the treasurer. The Famous Dave’s order would feed an army.

The check for Famous Dave’s was for almost seven hundred dollars. The woman and I waited while the manager prepared the order. They had everything ready except the pulled chicken. Shannon ordered pulled chicken and pulled pork and macaroni and cheese. The back seat of my car barely held the tins of food.

We got the food back to the apartment building and brought it into the cafeteria. We put it on a table near the kitchen. Shannon showed up and we put everything into the convection oven. We put the oven on low heat while Shannon and another woman went back to Shannon’s apartment to get the Hawaiian buns and fruit for the ice cream sundaes. Shannon did not sleep all night.

She asked me to rearrange the tables in the cafeteria so more chairs were at each one and they were spread out. I did so. Then I stood guard in the cafeteria to make sure no one got into the kitchen who was not part of the setup team. Shannon did a great job of getting everyone to work together.

I worked on my laptop while I waited for the party to start. The food warmed in the oven. Famous Dave’s gave us one hundred and twenty-five plastic plates, silver ware, and napkins. After a while, Shannon and the other woman arrived with the table cloths, buns, ice cream, salad, and fruit.

I wrote as they set up the food. She assigned another man the job of setting up the horseshoe set. I decided to close up my laptop until after the party. I wanted to stand by in case she needed any further assistance.

The party started. With hot pads, I got the tins of food out of the oven and carried them to a table. I put the tin of potato salad next to the hot food. Shannon set up the table for ice cream sundaes. I looked up from the food table and saw a crowd gathering.

At three o’clock, we began serving. Shannon’s helper served the pulled pork and chicken. I served the macaroni and cheese, potato salad, lettuce salad, and fruit. Shannon made ice cream sundaes at another table. It seemed everyone in the hi-rise showed up.

We ran out of potato salad quickly. After half an hour, we were almost out of pulled pork and chicken. We had to go upstairs for another gallon of ice cream. Shannon did not eat dinner the whole time but patiently made ice cream sundaes to order. The line was ten deep.

Finally, everyone was served. I ate and had seconds and a second ice cream sundae. I went outside and played horseshoes with the woman I picked up the food with. I loved to play horseshoes but no one else seemed interested.

Then another man and I cleaned up. We cleared the tables of the food tins, empty ice cream buckets, and utensils. We washed them in the sink of the kitchen of the hi-rise. He and I talked about pulling KP in the army or volunteering as a dishwasher at a homeless shelter. Then the kitchen was clean.

The treasurer thanked the man and me for our help. Shannon did not say a word. I concluded she was on a power trip. We were meant to do her bidding. The mighty banquet server succeeded, she seemed to think. I vowed not to help her again at another party.

She was suspicious of my motives in helping her anyway. She thought I wanted sex from her. Nor did she thank the other man for his help. She sat at the ice cream sundae table in her party dress and conducted the party as if she were the only one responsible for its success. I concluded she was personally insecure. She did not sleep the night before the party. Was she afraid someone would get the upper hand on her and usurp her power?

She returned to her apartment and hopefully got some sleep. Her son, a likeable young man, wanted to change the regime of the hi-rise too when he first moved in. It’s a new world order, he proclaimed, as he arranged super hero movie nights and pizzas for the residents. He left a year later.

Was his mother out to change the pecking order of the hi-rise? Out to demote the people who were genuinely trying to help out? She seemed suspicious of everyone in the place.

And me? Originally I wanted to jump her bones. Now I had misgivings about her as a person. Was she a woman who failed many times and saw the hi-rise as a place finally to succeed? I was not a good psychologist. Such skills were helpful in living here.

There were so many screwballs here I needed a degree in abnormal psychology to get along. Apparently, Shannon was a case in point. I decided she was just another nut case.

Shannon was appointed our community builder. She had a tendency to play favorites and wanted to be in charge. Our treasurer, a woman with a track record of working for the resident council and helping the other hi-rises in the city-wide system, did not know how to handle her.

The treasurer stood by at the party and watched as people poured through the food line. She felt threatened by Shannon’s success. Shannon wanted to preempt the treasurer. Like her son, Shannon seemed to proclaim a new world order.

LOOKS

What did the hi-rise look like? It was the flagship of the system in our city. Purportedly, our city had the best hi-rise system in the United States.

So the place was nice. It was eighteen stories tall, with ten apartments per floor. We had two elevators, newly renovated. The lobby was always clean. The community room, TV lounge, and lunch room had new furniture.

The community room had vending machines, computers for residents’ use, and was open twenty-four hours a day. In hot weather, it was air conditioned. People gathered there often, socialized, worked on their laptops with the free Wi-Fi, or sat alone, preferring not to be bothered.

The community room had healing properties. I could sit there and feel Obama in the White House or my friends and relatives enjoying life. Despite our preponderance of characters here, I was never lonely.

The apartments were well-appointed. They underwent remodeling twice in the time I lived here. The first was fifteen years ago when PHA installed new oak cabinets, light fixtures, and closet doors. They repainted our apartments too.

The second was under Obama’s stimulus package when we got new toilets, fluorescent lights in the kitchen and bathroom, new refrigerators and stoves, and new thermal windows that sealed out cold and noise. The toilets were highly efficient. If you fell in when they were flushed, you’d be in the Gulf of Mexico in half an hour.

All the apartments had one large bedroom. My apartment had artwork, published stories, and awards on the walls. The stainless steel sink and Formica countertops were new too.

Our landscaping was nice. In back we had two aluminum picnic tables, the four-burner grill, and a garden. There were crabapple trees that bloomed spectacularly in the spring. Residents maintained the garden.

In front was a portico over three benches that caught the afternoon sun. Another garden surrounded the peace pole installed during a ceremony. A cul-de-sac served the front door. We had off-street parking front and back.

The hi-rise was located half a block from a gas station, the bus stop to downtown or the megamall, and a school that gave residents classes in ceramics, creative writing, or computer skills. Up the street was a golf course. A bank was on the corner.

Two restaurants were a ten minute walk away. A fast food place was ten minutes the other direction. A nursery that supplied our garden committee with flowers was next door.

Down the street was a park that bordered the Mississippi River. Down the main thoroughfare were coffee shops, barber shops, dental offices, and auto shops. A tennis court was across the street.

We had a beauty shop, a weight room, laundry facilities with ten washers and driers, and incinerators. There were offices on