Dada: Chapter 4b

   I take a few minutes to fill out another round of forms.  How many more will I need?
   "I need to check on Sam, and then I probably need to talk to Tim about my current projects."
   "Go on out.  I'll finish this part up and then take the finished forms down to you."
   I stand to leave and shake his hand.  Bennie has gone out of his way to look out for me, lately.  I can't help but worry that he might get into trouble for this.
   "Just call me if you need any advice.  What am I saying?  You probably know more about teenagers than me."  he jokes as I leave.
   The door to the break room is wide open.  There's Sam, stuffing what appears to be a jelly donut into his mouth.  Blueberry, my favorite.  The downstairs break room rarely gets those, and we have more people using it than up here.
   "How many donuts does that make you?" I joke from the door.
   "Three.  No, four."  he whispers, after barely swallowing his last bite.
  "I thought you weren't hungry.  Come on.  I need to go back downstairs to talk with my supervisor.  We'll take the backstairs; it will be faster."
    Blue Homestead's headquarters was built in a slightly haphazard manor.  It was going to be just one story with a basement, but a second story was added early in the planning.  The floor plan for both stories is about the same.  Four hallways around a central hub.  Two staircases in back lead down to the rear entrances and parking lot.  A front staircase ends just behind the reception desk.  Really gets on the person's nerves whenever someone uses them.
   We start down the stairs, but Sam is going slowly.  I forgot about his shoes.  He grimaces every few steps as we go down.  I should have thought better.  This way is faster, though.  Besides, the elevator might not be fumed out yet.
   "Sorry about the steps.  It is only a short flight down."
    Sam sighs.  I really should have remembered about his big feet.
   The editorial room has two doors.  One in front and one near the rear stairs.  It is also the one nearest to Tim's office.  The door to his office is just inside.  Fortunately, he takes his lunch a little later than the rest of the crew, and he was the only one there.
   "Hey, Tim.  I need to talk with you."
   "Chris.  Got you message that you would be late today.  Who's this with you?" Tim cordially asked.
  "This is my brother.  My half-brother, Sam.  He's the reason I'm late, and why I have to take some time off.  Short version.  I am going to be taking care of him for awhile, and the law says I get to take leave to do so.  I'm just down here to check on all my projects and hand them off."
  "Well.  I hope to see you again before the wedding."
    Tim started working here soon after I did.  He moved here from Chicago after his wife died.  He wanted a new start, and he was willing to walk away from a larger publisher to do so.  Just last year, he started dating again.  By December, he and Katie were engaged.  Their wedding is set for June 18.
   "We'll see.  We have to go up to New York to finish up a few things.  After that, I don't know what will happen."
  "Well, I hope you two will be okay."  Tim graciously offered his hand for me to shake, and then to Sam.  "A little sticky there, young man."
   "I think I need to wash up some."  Sam squeezed out.  His voice really is all over the place.
   "Go right on out.  It will only take a minute or two to finish up here."  I am already booting up my computer as I am talking.  With him out of the room, I might get a chance to look up something about his father.  Our father.  It will only take a few seconds to transfer my projects.  Then I can just find out . . .
  "AAAAAAHHHHHH!"
   Tim and I run out of the room to check on the shrill scream, just outside the door.  There, Deb, a press secretary is standing outside of the ladies' restroom, with Sam holding the door open.
   "What happened?" both Tim and I ask, simultaneously.
   "I think this young man made a mistake, and was going into the wrong washroom," Deb answered, trying to hide a giggle.
    "I forgot to tell him that the mens' room is further down the hall, downstairs." I quickly stammer out.  "He meant nothing by it.  It was definitely by accident."
     The haphazard nature of the building can be best shown by the restrooms.  The Hemphills, mostly Anita, decided that the restrooms should have two entrances, one on each hallway, front and rear.  When a second story was added, somehow the plan got switched around.  On the first floor, the mens' room is left of the elevator, not the right as it was on the second floor when Sam first went.  No wonder he got confused.  It took me about a week to get things straightened out, and I rarely went upstairs at the time.
   "I'm sorry he startled you.  I'm sure he will apologize for intruding." I try to assure Deb.
  At this, she couldn't stop cracking up.
  "Actually, it was him who screamed.  I bet he hasn't been in one in years."  Deb giggled.
   "I'm sorry, for everything." Sam all but screeched.  That voice really should be settling soon.
   "Sam, just go down the hall a few more doors. You can't miss it." I calmly explain.  "I won't be long now."
  I'm sure of this because I see Bennie coming out the rear stair door.   Tim and Deb go on their ways, as I lead him back to my desk.
   "Talk while I finish this up."
    "Here's the paperwork.  Two weeks off with the option for six more.  Why not take the whole two months all at once?"  Bennie asks.
    I type in the last few commands to transfer my work.  "Because I don't know yet if will take on the responsibility of being his guardian, yet.  I'm just going to New York to check on things.  I honestly don't know what is going to happen."
  "Here's hoping for the best.  Call me when you know what you'll do."  Bennie sighs as he walks away.
  I wish I had time Google my dad, but there's no time.  I close up my computer.  Unlike most of my fellow workers, I don't have anything personal on my desk.  No photos or knickknacks to show my personality.  I walk off, no knowing when I'll be back.
   Sam is down the hall, just coming out of the mens' room.
  "Let's cut through here.  It'll be faster." I say as I lead Sam back through the door.  Why anyone thought that having two doors for a restroom was a good idea is beyond me.  For a mens' room especially.  There is no privacy for a guy to stand without some tricky wall placement that almost defeats the purpose for having two doors.  I should probably go myself, but I can hold it in for longer.
  We walk out the door and into the parking lot.  The sun is shining right onto my car.  At least it's only noon, so it can't have gotten too hot.
  "We'll go and get you some clothes that fit, and maybe some lunch, although I'm not sure you could eat any more."  I say as I open the door.  "You should have stopped at three."
  "I'll be fine," Sam says as he opens his car door.  As he sits down, the button on pants finally gives way and pops off, arcing onto the dashboard.
   "Yeah, three.  Don't worry.  I know exactly where to go next." I assure him as I buckle up.  "You'll like it."