The Littlest Boss

“Right now, a lot of walking around in the cold and measuring things.”

“Sounds divine. I’m glad you’re happy. I was worried about you.”

“You always worry about everyone.”

“True. But I was extra worried about you.”

He took her hands and looked her in the eyes. “I’m fine. You know, not gonna lie. I was disappointed that I couldn’t go into the army. That hit hard. But it’s okay. I love my job. I still get the opportunity to travel. And I’m in the Army National Guard. It’s still everything I wanted. Just...scaled down a bit.”

She nodded. “So, it’s going well?”

Her tone was casual but her gaze was locked on him. She could win her a staring contest. That was a fact. That was how she climbed to the top of her business. Made it with sheer determination, absolute focus. Resisting the urge to squirm when the silence stretched too long, DeShawn shrugged. “Yeah, okay,” he said. “So there’s a learning curve. But that’s normal right?”

“Yes.” She drew the word out into at least four syllables. “Spit it out, DeShawn. What’s wrong?”

That made him laugh. Momma Bear. That was what he and the other guys in the Cleaning Crew would call her. She could smell a problem from three miles away.

“It feels weird,” he said. “I feel weird. I look around at my coworkers and they know everything. They’re just going around doing their jobs and I feel like I’m acting in a play.”

Her expression softened and she bobbed her head. “I know that feeling well. When I have to go to those professional women’s meetings, I feel the same way. What in the hell am I doing here?”

He nodded, tapped his fingers on the table. “Well, okay, so that’s what it is. But how do I fix it?”

“Keep showing up,” she said. Her right eye got a little twitchy. She looked down and to the left for a heartbeat, then met his gaze directly. “That’s how. Eventually it wears off. Well, it gets better. Just a twinge now and then.”

He nodded along with her and smiled. It did make him feel a little better, being on the same page with Momma Bear. Sadie was his biggest role model. She’d gone from being essentially homeless—she hadn’t even had a high school degree—and from that place and time in her life, she’d went on to build an award-winning cleaning company. She’d even made herself rich along the way. It wasn’t the typical outcome one would expect. Sadie was definitely an outlier, definitely two or three standard deviations from the mean at least. But she was also right here in front of him—real, honest, relatable—and it gave him hope. He thought about that a lot these days. Hope, and what it meant to people. The difference it made in their lives, having it. Thought about the crazy idea he’d been bouncing around in his mind. About how he could maybe start spreading some of that hope around.

“I never really thanked you,” he said to her. “For all you did. For me. For a lot of people.”

She frowned, her brow wrinkling slightly. “What do you mean?” she said. She picked at a corner of her napkin.

“For hiring me,” he said. “That was crucial. That was more than just a cameo role in the story of my success.”

“I gave you a job, DeShawn. That doesn’t make me a hero.” She cleared her throat and took a sip of water, watching him over the top of the glass.

“No, you did more than that. The only job I’d had before that—before you took a chance on me—was washing dishes in a diner. You showed me how to take pride in a job well done, how to behave like a professional adult.”

Her cheeks flushed and she looked down at the table to fiddle with the silverware. “Ugh,” she muttered before taking a deep breath and looking up at him. “Thank you, DeShawn. You’re very kind.”

That surprised a laugh out of him. “What was that?”

“Lena is trying to teach me how to gracefully accept a compliment.”

“Keep practicing,” he said. “It’ll get better. Someday it’ll just be a twinge.”

“Smart-ass.”

DeShawn sat back, grinning, as the waitress returned with their plates, piled high with pulled pork and all sorts of deliciousness. He looked at the bottles of sauce on the table and reached for the mustard-based one.

“Try a dab of the white sauce,” Sadie said as she poured a generous dollop of it on her plate before handing him the bottle. “It’s lured me away from mustard sauce.”

DeShawn made a concerned face and leaned closer. “Is it legal to not use mustard-based sauce in Charleston now?”

Sadie snort laughed and that made him laugh. Add another point to why coming home was the best decision. He and the guys used to keep score of how many times they could make Sadie snort laugh. Highest score got Friday night drinks free.

“Charleston has become very progressive in its acceptance of diverse barbecue sauces.”

He tried the white sauce—“Meh.”—and went back to his favorite one.

While they ate, he gathered the courage to speak his idea out loud. Maybe it was too soon. Maybe he needed some time. Stop feeling like a fake. How could he help others when he didn’t fully believe in himself yet?

“Hey, Sadie?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you know where Henry is teaching?”

Sadie wiped her mouth with her napkin and swallowed a mouthful of pork. “Henry? My Henry?”

“Yes, your Henry,” he said with a smile.

Once a Cleaning Crew member, you were family for life. Henry had oriented DeShawn when he first joined the Crew. He’d graduated and gone off to teach a few months later.

“I don’t remember the actual school, but it’s down near Hilton Head, Beaufort, that area, but inland.”

DeShawn nodded. That sounded like Henry. Inland. Rural. “Do you have his number?”

“Yes. Why?”

He shrugged and felt a bit of heat on his cheeks. Saying it out loud was scarier than he’d expected. But this was Sadie. She wasn’t going to let him wiggle out of an answer. Maybe that was why he’d come to her. He fiddled with his silverware and, keeping his eyes on the table, he blurted it out. “I was thinking that maybe I could talk to kids who come from backgrounds like mine and, I don’t know, help them somehow.” He looked up at her. She had sat back in her chair and was looking at him appraisingly. He looked back down. “Never mind. It’s a stupid idea.”

“No!” she said. She looked at him directly. “I think it’s an amazing idea. What would you talk to them about?”

“Well, I haven’t gotten that far with it yet. I think I need to talk to Henry first. Find out if there’s a need. What that need is.”

Sadie was nodding. “I’m sure there is. There’s always a need.”

Sighing with relief, he sat back in the chair. Wasn’t that the truth? Always someone who needed a hand up.

Sadie pulled her phone out of her purse. “Do you remember Lena? My accountant?”

DeShawn laughed. “Remember? How could anyone forget her? She’s remarkably unforgettable.”

Sadie narrowed her eyes in a mock show of suspicion. “What are you saying about my best friend?”

Lifting his hands, palms up, DeShawn smiled. “Not saying anything. She’s a delight. Sunshine on spring flowers.”

Sadie snorted out a laugh. “Let me give you Henry and Lena’s contact information. Lena did something very similar for the kids out at the Toribio Mission. I’m sure she’d be happy to help you develop this.”