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That morning, Geri showed up at Mr. Smiley‘s house to bring him some office supplies he had asked for. Marlon had gotten them with his own money. Mr. Smiley needed printer paper, printer ink blank CD‘s to back up his computer files on, notebook paper, and pens. The pens were red, black, and blue. Geri rang Mr. Smiley‘s bell. Now, Geri and Marlon lived together and were planning a big wedding, and Geri knew who Marlon really was. All the problems that Marlon had when he took Nathaniel Rivers‘ identity were solved and when it came to that, he had nothing to worry about. Now, all he had to worry about was being a good caregiver to his uncle. He was the one who would take him to the bank, once a month, on a Friday, to deposit money on his bank account, make all the phone calls for him and basically take care of all the needs of his uncle. He was his uncle‘s tutor, but he did allow him to decide how to manage his finances because Mr. Smiley was very good with money. Growing up, his parents taught him and his siblings the value of a dollar. While the eggs, bacon and sausage were cooking on the stove, and the coffee was almost ready in the coffeemaker, Constantine walked all the way to the front door and opened it.
“Good morning, Ms. Costas. How are you doing?” he said with a bright smile on his face. “You must be Constantine,” she said, smiling back and shook his hand. She went in and
Constantine closed the door behind her. “It‘s great to meet you! I‘ve heard so much about you!” “So have I. Ever since I arrived, Mr. Smiley has been telling me how wonderful you are
and how much he‘d love for you to marry his nephew. He‘s been telling me in his mind, though.”
“Oh.” She went to his room and put all of Mr. Smiley‘s office supplies in the right place, in free compartments of his computer desk and she placed his brand-new pens in an old coffee cup that he no longer drank coffee on. Constantine saw the receipt of the office supplies in her hand. “Don‘t show these to my uncle. Marlon doesn‘t want him to pay him back because he‘s his tutor and this is what Marlon is supposed to do, ok?”
“I got it, Ms. Costas.”
“You can call me Geraldine or Geri.”
“Geraldine will be good, for now. It‘s not a problem. I got him seven hundred dollars in groceries and threw out the receipts before I got here so he couldn‘t see them and pay me back. He doesn‘t even know how much money I spent on all the groceries I got him this morning. Tell Marlon I said not to tell him either. Let‘s keep this a secret between us, ok?”
Geri laughed. “Ok, Marlon and I won‘t tell him. Listen, thank you for doing this for our uncle. I‘m going to marry Marlon at the end of this year, so he will be my uncle, too. I love him like a father.”
“Why not marry Marlon earlier? Why not marry him next week?”
They went all the way back to the kitchen and Constantine served Mr. Smiley‘s breakfast. Then, he brought everything to the dining room table and put it in front of Mr. Smiley, in a platter. Mr. Smiley rubbed his hands together as Constantine placed a napkin inside the neck of his shirt to keep him from getting dirty and then he picked up the fork and started eating. Then, Geraldine put the finishing touch, adding Mr. Smiley‘s favorite coffee creamer to his coffee: chocolate. “There you are, Uncle Elvis. We hope you enjoy it.”
“Did you bring me the office supplies I asked Marlon to get me? Where‘s the receipt.” “I‘m not giving you the receipt, Uncle Elvis.” “Oh, so you‘re doing this to me, too?”