Page 40 of January

Kyle’s face fell when she, again, realized that she’d be leaving soon.

“Yeah, maybe I will.” She paused to take another drink. “If I could’ve skipped college, I would’ve, too, but I needed it for what I wanted to do.”

“Is it required for translators?”

“Not technically, depending on what you want to do with it later. But I went to a pretty bad public high school, and we barely had a language program, so if I wanted to be a translator, I needed more classes. I also wanted to get out of the house, so moving into a dorm allowed me to do that, and my dad helped pay for it then. Well, he helped a little. I probably could’ve skipped it and just studied for the language exams on my own, but to get credentialed, you have to pass those, and if I’d failed the exams, I would’ve at least had my French degree to fall back on, and I could’ve taught somewhere.”

“So, how does it work? Do you work for a company that assigns you jobs?”

“I own my own business. I’m listed on sites where people can check out my previous work and reach out. I actually have some work Ishouldbe doing right now, but I can do it tomorrow.”

“You didn’t take time off, like Jolie?”

“No. When she takes time off, she’s off the clock, so to speak. She gets paid for her vacation. I don’t.” Kyle took another drink and asked, “Do you think you’ll always enjoy giving tours?”

“I hope so,” Melinda replied. “But that’s not the plan.”

“Whatisthe plan?”

“The owner that I mentioned before? When my parents moved away, she kind of took me under her wing. She owns the building, including my apartment.”

“That apartment is nice, by the way. I meant to tell you that before. I only saw it for a minute while you changed, but it’s great.”

“She rents it to me for, like, a third of what she couldget for it, and she pays me well. She doesn’t have any children of her own, so she wants to leave the business to me one day.”

“Really? That’s amazing,” Kyle said.

“She’s been teaching me what I need to know for years, and the business always does well. Even post-Katrina, when it took a bit for the tourists to return, she’s set it up so well that it was fine. It wasn’t making money, but it didn’t come close to going out of business.”

“She sounds pretty brilliant. Can she teach me things?” Kyle asked.

Melinda took a drink and said, “If you stick around for a while, I’m sure she’d teach you everything she knows.”

“Maybe I will,” Kyle said.

“Don’t tease me if it’s not true,” Melinda replied.

“Hey,” Jolie said, bouncing around the booth and sitting down next to Kyle.

“Hey,” Kyle said, surprised.

“So, I just won five hundred bucks.”

“What?”

“I know. I can’t believe it, either, but I’m doing great.”

“You should stop now, then,” Kyle suggested.

“I’m going to buy my new friends and your new friends drinks to celebrate. Then, we can go, okay? Melinda, since I’m buying, do you want something better than that beer my sister probably bought you?”

Melinda laughed and said, “I’m good, actually, but thank you.”

“Okay. But top-shelf is on the table, if you want it.”

“Thanks.”

“Let’s move to a bigger booth,” Jolie said. “So we can all sit.”

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