The Little Black Book

THE LITTLE BLACK BOOK

Stan’s Last Mystery Surprise

By Shannon Addison-Merritt

It’s been ten years since Gabrielle’s parents died in a car accident. Just after her eighth birthday, she was taken in by The Milton Hershey School, a private boarding school in Hershey, Pennsylvania for K–12 students. Founded and funded by the late chocolate industrialist Hershey Milton and his wife, the school takes in qualified low-income individuals and orphans aged 4–18.

An intelligent, artistic, and curious girl, Gabrielle always dreamt of one day leaving Hershey and attending college on the west coast. And, at age 18, her dream is becoming reality. Every day after the sixth period, Gabrielle walks to the mailroom eagerly waiting for the response letters from three California universities —UCLA, USC, and Stanford. The mailroom was always a dark, cold room but Mr. Carl, with his sunny spirit, brightened every visit.

“No mail for you today, Miss Gabrielle. You mind telling me what it is you’re waiting for, young lady?”

“Just my future, Mr. Carl. Just my future.” Gabrielle smiled, grabbed the cherry-flavored Jolly Rancher Mr. Carl was handing her as she rushed past him to exit the back door.

“See you tomorrow, Miss Gabrielle. Go make something as beautiful as your smile.”

Gabrielle exited the mailroom and entered the next-door building to arrive at her last class of the day, Art, just as the bell was ringing. As she unwrapped the Jolly Rancher, smelling the scent of cherry, she had a feeling of comfort overwhelm her. Thinking back to the day she arrived at Hershey, the day she met Mr. Carl and tasted a cherry-flavored Jolly Rancher for the first time. Her mother never let her eat hard candy in fear of her choking on it. But it was his smile, his kind and comforting words of encouragement, and his gesture of giving her that cherry Jolly Rancher that made her first and every day forward for the next ten years, less lonely — less sad. She wondered how she would have ever made it through that first day without meeting Mr. Carl.

As Gabrielle set up her drawing station she began to drift off again, thinking of that night, crying in bed, longing for her mother and father, and angrily washing her hair with the medicated smelling Nix shampoo, and thinking about having to wear the community pajamas two sizes too big for her. “Why can’t I just have my own clothes? I don’t have head bugs, why do I have to wash my hair with Nix?” But the words of that night’s unfriendly social worker, “it is what it is, child,” became words she would tell herself at Hershey whenever she was overlooked for adoption.

After putting on the community pajamas and having her head inspected and combed through, she was taken to a dorm for girls ages 8 to 10. “Thank you, Ms. Patty, I’ll take it from here. You go on home now, and have yourself a good night.”

“Gabrielle, I’m Mr. Carl. I’ll show you to your room now. You arrived at Hershey over two hours ago, you must be very tired.”

“Yes sir.” Gabrielle had no other words. What she went through in one day was enough for an entire family to endure together, but she was all alone. She had no one else.

“I’ll be out front all night, watching over you and the other nine girls in this dormitory.” As Gabrielle remembered that moment meeting Mr. Carl, she remembered the warmth of his smile and how safe she felt with him there. As they arrived at her room, he showed her to her bed which was the second twin bed furthest from the door. The girl in the first bed appeared to be asleep already or at least pretending to be asleep.

“In the closet, you’ll find a uniform in your size for tomorrow. Your wake-up call is at 6:45 a.m. and breakfast is served in the dining hall at 7:30 sharp. You need to be in the classroom at 8:15 a.m. and I’ll show you there tomorrow. Do you have any questions?”

“No sir.”

“Okay then. Hold out your hand. Gabrielle looked at Mr. Carl with reluctance, and he asked again. “Miss Gabrielle, I am not going to hurt you; hold out your hand, please.” As Gabrielle held out her hand Mr. Carl gave her a piece of candy - a cherry-flavored Jolly Rancher. “It’s going to be okay, you’re safe here. But do me a favor, don’t eat this candy in bed, you could choke. I’ll see you and your not-sleeping roommate, Crystal, at the dining hall. And, at what time, Miss Crystal, will I see you and Miss Gabrielle at the dining hall?”

“At 7:30 sharp, Mr. Carl," said a muffled voice from under the covers.

“Yes, Miss Crystal, 7:30 a.m., sharp. Now, get some sleep, girls … and don’t let those head bugs bite, he said with a smile and a wink of an eye.”

“How did he know that?” she thought as she watched Mr. Carl leave the room. Springing from her bed, the supposedly sleeping, yet inappropriately cheerful girl yells out: “Hi, my name is Crystal. Why are you here? Are you an orphan? I’ve been here since I was six and I ain’t found my forever family yet. Nobody ever picks me. They might pick you, though —cause you’re pretty. Please don’t cry all night. Everyone cries on their first night. Please don’t cry all night.”

With the Jolly Rancher in hand, Gabrielle climbed into bed and began to unwrap the candy. As she unwrapped it she remembered her mother telling her the same thing, “don’t eat candy in bed, Gabrielle, you’ll choke.” Sitting up in bed, she put the candy in her mouth, turned out her lamp, and thought about the day’s events in the dark silence. Crystal never said another word but she did listen to Gabrielle cry herself to sleep that night and many nights thereafter.

***

Eleven days later her daily visit to the mailroom brought happy tears as she opened her first letter from Stanford’s Director of Admissions. Mr. Carl watched in anticipation of her good news as Gabrielle stood there staring at the letter and reading the first line over and over again:

“Congratulations! It is with great pleasure that I offer you admission to the Stanford University Class of 2015.” Throwing the letter in the air and jumping into the arms of Mr. Carl, she screamed “I was accepted to Stanford, Mr. Carl. Stanford! It also says I will be hearing from the Art School with regard to funding opportunities available.”

“Your mother and father would be so proud of you, Gabrielle. With that, hold out your hand my dear child.” Reaching into his pocket he pulled out two cherry Jolly Ranchers and put them into Gabrielle’s hand. “You are going to do great things with yourself and your beautiful art; congratulations.” With a long hold on the hug, tears in her eyes, she thanked Mr. Carl and rushed out the back door to make it to class.

In the coming days, she received letters from USC and UCLA, both denial letters, along with other acceptance and denial letters from a handful of other colleges around the country. Since Stanford was her first choice and her first offer, there was little disappointment and her mind was made up.

***

Her summer host family, Jon and Mrs. Janie Sharpe, with their Golden Retriever, Maggie, were at the train station waiting for Gabrielle’s arrival. Both Stanford professors couldn't be missed in their Stanford t-shirts and studious style. Even Maggie wore a Stanford bow on her collar. The Sharpes lived in on-campus faculty housing and enjoyed the company of students so their spare room was offered up to host students. The room is only available for the summer, but Gabrielle knew she just needed to get there, and then she could figure it out. With an ear-to-ear smile on her face, Gabrielle greeted the Sharpes with a handshake gesture but was immediately pulled in for a hug by Janie Sharpe. “Hello Gabrielle, we may look like formal, nerd-nation folk, but we are just down-to-earth and hugging types of people. We’re looking forward to showing you a great summer!” Mr. Sharpe took Gabrielle’s one suitcase and they walked to the car, not missing a second to share all they knew about Stanford, their work, and the student life that they assured Gabrielle she was going to love. Gabrielle was comforted by their welcoming and friendly presence so it was no surprise when learning they were both Theatre and Performing Arts professors.

Her first couple of weeks there were spent getting acquainted with the campus, and with the Sharpes. It would be Gabrielle’s second Sunday there and her first dinner with the Sharpe’s weekly Sunday visitor, Sophia Henry. An attractive woman in her late 50s, the same age as the Sharpes, but was noticeably frail and doted on by the Sharpes. Gabrielle later caught on that Sophia was ill. She was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. Because Sophia is widowed and the Sharpes have been Sophia’s and her late husband Stan’s best friends for over 10 years, there was a sense of family and care for one another. With neither of them having any children of their own and their extended families living on the east coast, the two couples became the only family they had. Stan was killed in a car accident less than a year ago. So with the pain of losing her husband, and finding out she has breast cancer in the same year, Sophia leaned on Janie and Jon more than ever. She looked forward to the Sunday dinners and enjoying good wine, just as the four of them did together every Sunday for many years when Stan was alive. Stan and Sophia were also professors. Sophia, an artist herself, taught Art and Art History. Stan, a creative writer, and author taught Creative Writing, wrote screenplays, but also was a published fiction author whose interests were of mystery and romance genres.

Throughout the next couple of months, the relationships Gabrielle built with the Sharpes and Sophia were a bond she longed for since her parents died. They seemed to have a mutual liking for Gabrielle as well. Sophia’s health challenges were expected to become difficult to manage alone in her home, and Gabrielle’s stay at the Sharpes was soon coming to an end. An exchange student from Italy would soon arrive and it was time for Gabrielle to find another room for rent. Jon and Janie had an idea.

“Sophia, we have an idea to propose.”

“Oh no, what crazy idea do you have now, Janie? You better pour us a glass of wine first. It sounds like we’re going to need it.”

“Well, it’s not really all that crazy. We know how fond of Gabrielle you’ve become. We have grown fond of her as well. So we think you should offer your available room to her.

“But I don’t have an available room.”

“Yes, you do. You haven’t gone through Stan’s study yet. We want to help you with that. Let’s clean out the study for Gabrielle. It would be a perfect room for her since it has its own private entrance and bathroom. Plus, you could use the company. And, you could use the help around the house.”

Sophia was silent. She was taken aback by the thought of disturbing Stan’s belongings. Or perhaps it was more about herself; that she wasn’t ready to face it. Either way, she wasn’t sure about the idea.

“Janie, it’s a lovely thought, but I don’t think I’m ready for that quite yet. Give me some time to think about it.”

Gabrielle and Jon came to the table shortly after. Jon asked Gabrielle how her job and room search was going. With a big sigh, Gabrielle said “it’s not going so well.”

“Everything has rented so quickly or is too expensive. And, I have resumes out to several companies, but I have no work experience.”

Sophia meets eyes with Janie and takes a big gulp of her wine. After a long stare down at Janie and Jon, Sophia engages the thought proposed.

“I may be able to help you, Gabrielle, that is if you’re interested. I have an extra room with a private entrance and bathroom. It was Stan’s study so I do have some work to do to get it ready for you. I could rent it to you. Or, if you would like a job helping me around the house with chores; some light cooking and cleaning, and driving me to chemo appointments, I could waive the rent in exchange.”

Janie couldn’t contain her enthusiasm and obvious agreement to the arrangement. “Yes! You could help each other. Wouldn’t that be lovely, Gabrielle?”

“Yes, Mrs. Janie, it would be lovely. However, I can’t accept it. I can’t drive. I never needed to know how to drive. Honestly, I can’t even ride a bike.”

“Oh Gabrielle, I will teach you to drive!” blurted Jon as he put one hand on Sophia's shoulder and one on Gabrielle’s. “It’ll give me something to look forward to in these last few weeks of summer. I am getting a little bored.”

“Okay, well problem solved, Gabrielle. Driving lessons start tomorrow. Janie, Jon, thank you for your enthusiastic problem-solving. Looks like I have some work to do.”

Sophia was tired and slept in on Monday. When she finally got out of bed, she made coffee and took it to Stan’s study. It was the first time she stepped foot in his study since his death. This was a big step. She has avoided this room for all these months because the thought of seeing anything he was in the middle of would be too painful. Stan was someone who never procrastinated and always finished what he started - in record time. She was afraid of what she might find but knew it had to be done. She knew it was time to deal with this and she knew she had to do it alone. As she sat in his desk chair she could smell him. Stan’s scent after seven months was still deeply saturated in his sweater draped over the back of the chair. Sophia wrapped her shoulders with his sweater, and as if hugging herself tightly with the sleeves, she sat there, breathing in his scent and thinking about the times she would sit in his study just watching him work. He had such an imagination.

It was the second day going through Stan’s study, tossing unimportant items, and boxing important files, documents, and his writing journals, but one drawer she hadn’t opened yet was the top, center desk drawer. It was locked. It was a small, odd-shaped lock, and it reminded Sophia of a small key she had found the day before at the bottom of a glass vase sitting on a bookshelf.

The key was a match and inside the drawer was one thing: a little black book. It was leather with a thin string tied around it. Sticking out of the top and bottom of the notebook were papers that looked like plane tickets and other folded pieces of paper. As she untied the string her heart began to beat fast and the feeling of wonder and surprise overwhelmed her. She decided to go to the kitchen for another cup of coffee but more so, for a breath —she was going to need a moment to collect herself and calm her heart. Jon was a lover. He loved Sophia and she never doubted it. What she admired so much about him was his love for surprising her. He loved mysteries, scavenger hunts, and romance. Those things combined created quite a date night. She laughed at the memory of their last date together —a scavenger hunt that started with clues from her lecture hall found during an afternoon lecture leading the two of them on a journey of many stops along the way to San Francisco. Smiling at the thought of that day and the effort he would go through to create the perfect mysterious experience; the perfect surprise, she poured herself another cup of coffee and headed back to Stan’s study.

As she slowly unwrapped the string opening the little black book, she felt a familiar presence in the room. She said out loud, “okay, Stan, show me what you were up to.” Sophia went through the loose documents first. Round trip plane tickets to Rome, Italy, October 11, 2016. Tears began to fill her eyes as she held the tickets close against her heart. Their 30th wedding anniversary, planned nearly one year in advance, and purchased just one month before his death. There was a sealed envelope marked “DO NOT OPEN UNTIL OCTOBER 10.” Inside the little black book were his notes. The notes had locations, dates, names of hotels, restaurants, train stations, wineries, beaches, art museums, historic landmarks: Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, the Roman Forum, Sistine Chapel, the Castel Sant’ Angelo, and his list went on. As she turned pages studying the notes in his little black book, one thing stumped her. A bank name. It read: Roma Cassette Di Sicurezza.

“Leave it to Stan to plan a mystery, a journey, a code to crack before departing this world. I should have expected nothing less.” Sophia and Janie sat on the sofa in Stan’s study talking over her discovery that morning —laughing, crying and code deciphering. “It’s time to plan a trip, Sophia. This little black book is Stan’s guide book and whatever is in that envelope will fill in the blanks. It’s his last gift to you, you must go.

***

The End

The Little Black Book to be continued... Sophia and Gabrielle go to Rome

Written by Shannon Addison-Merritt