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Mr. Smiley left the door open for Constantine just so he could use both hands to bring in the bags of groceries. Within the next few minutes, Mr. Smiley noticed that Constantine was bringing bags, and bags, and bags of groceries, and the bags never seemed to end. “Is all that for me?” he asked, astonished.
“Yes, all of this is for you.” Contrary to what Constantine thought, it only took him a few minutes of his time to bring in the groceries and putting them where they belonged, nice and neat and organized. Everything was perfect so far.
“Exactly how much money did you spend on all of this?” asked Mr. Smiley, still incredulous.
“I‘m not telling you, and I threw away the receipts because I don‘t want you to pay me back. This is a gift to you from me. Now, let‘s go to the bathroom and give you a good bath, huh?”
As Constantine followed Mr. Smiley to his bedroom, and then into his bathroom, in Mr. Smiley said, “Oh, so you wouldn‘t accept a gift from the Brady twins when they gave you money to pay your mortgage and your bills, and you got them to turn that gift into a loan,” now Constantine was helping Mr. Smiley take his clothes off to transfer him to the bathtub. The bathroom had everything that a handicapped person needed, including bars on the wall of the bathtub for Mr. Smiley to hang on to while transferring. The sink was low and the toilet was high enough for his power chair, for him to transfer a lot easier to the toilet and do what he had to do, “but you expect me to accept all those groceries as a gift, without knowing how much they were.”
“Marlon told you about the money I borrowed from the Brady twins, huh?”
“Yes, he told me everything. I had to get to know you better before opening the doors of my home to you. Marlon told me all the things I didn‘t know about you, and I loved what I heard, so that made me even more eager to hire you.”
“Don‘t worry, Mr. Smiley. I know what you mean, and I agree with you. It‘s true what you say.” Constantine was helping Mr. Smiley transfer into the bathtub. “I don‘t accept money as a gift from other people, but I expect them to accept it from me. I know it‘s kind of, well, off, but that‘s just the way I am. Besides, I‘d do anything for you. I love you.” By now, Mr. Smiley was sitting in the bathtub, ready for his bath.
While Marlon poured some of the liquid soap on a brand-new washcloth that he‘d just bought for Mr. Smiley, and started washing Mr. Smiley from the neck down, Mr. Smiley said, “Well, I didn‘t expect this from you, son. I mean my nephew Marlon was going to get me groceries the day after tomorrow, with my money. He wants to buy me things with his money, but I don‘t let him.”
“Well, now Marlon doesn‘t have to do that, does he? I got you everything, from milk, cheese, ice cream and yogurt to a variety of fruits, vegetables, soups, every single grocery I could think of, and you liked, and lots of it. I hope you don‘t have to get any more groceries, at least until next month.”
“This food will last me at least for a month and a half, son. Thank you so much, but next time you get me groceries, please get them with my money.”
“I promise. I just wanted to do something nice for you.” Now Constantine was washing Mr. Smiley‘s abdomen, private parts, thighs and legs. He was bathing him very fast, but at the same time, Mr. Smiley would be cleaner and feel better than ever before.