Mr. Taylor's Little Black Book

Mr. Taylor’s Little Black Book : Purpose and Prosperity

The radio on the side table blares….BEEP, BEEP, BEEP It’s 7 a.m. in the 478, rise and shine let’s get up and start this wonderful work day! Nikki groans loudly pulling her pillow back over her face as she dreads another day on the grind at her low-level job as a custodial worker for the Houston County Medical Center. Oh, how I hate Monday’s she sighs dragging herself out the bed and into the bathroom to get ready for work. Nikki stands in the mirror looking at her tired eyes swollen and red from crying all night while thinking about the stack of unpaid bills on her countertop in the kitchen. How had she gotten here; how did she sink this low? Six months ago Nikki was thriving. She was a top seller at her firm earning good commission and really getting on her feet. But like so many others, when the pandemic hit, she found herself out of a job and not enough savings to keep her afloat. Luckily, she had a friend, a nurse at the Houston County Medical Center who helped her get this part-time job in housekeeping, but it barely brought in enough to make rent. Her savings had dwindled, and she was already a month behind on her car payment. She felt helpless and scared. Nonetheless she knew she had to keep this job and try to get back on her feet. Nikki shakes the negative thoughts from her mind and tries to meditate on making her day a good one. She prays out loud, “Universe please favor me today, favor those I work with and please help Mr. Taylor get well so he can go home to his family.”

Mr. Taylor was one of the patients on the floor Nikki was assigned to. He was suffering from the effects of Covid and had been in the hospital for nearly three weeks now. He was frail but definitely a fighter. He always had an off the wall joke for her when she came in to clean his room. Even though she did not get many of his jokes, she laughed anyways because it seemed to make him happy and that made her feel good too. As Nikki drove into the parking lot, she breathed a sigh and gathered her thoughts to prepare herself for the rooms she would have to clean where patients did not recover, this was the worst part of the job. Nikki parked, grabbed her badge, mask and coffee and entered the building which was already buzzing with excitement. Nurses shuffling from room to room, call bells ringing and other staff moving swiftly to their respective wards to start the days work. Nikki grabbed her cart and clipboard and headed to the second floor. “Good morning Grace”, she called out to the day shift nurse as she rounded the corner of the nurses’ station where several other nurses and technicians stood chatting about the lottery jackpot which had reached 87 million dollars. “Morning Sunshine!” Grace shouted back, “Mr. Taylor been askin for ya since early this mornin. Please go see what he wants before he drives everyone crazy” she said laughing. Now Nikki never played the lottery but hearing that astronomical number she stood quietly for a second daydreaming about how that money could really be a help to her and her family. “WAKE UP!” Trevor, a nurse on the ward calls to her as he passes on his way to enter the room to check on his patient Mr. Taylor. Nikki snaps out of it and follows Trevor into Mr. Taylors room. Mr. Taylor sees Nikki and sits up saying, “Darling Nikki aren’t you a sight for these ol’ sore eyes?” Nikki smiles and begins to empty the trash bins in the room as Trevor is reading the chart for Mr. Taylor and explaining he may be able to go home tomorrow. Mr. Taylor does a wiggle dance in his bed and claps his hands loudly like a child.

Trevor places the chart back on the rack and exits. Mr. Taylor is telling Nikki a joke but she does not hear him. She is thinking about her current financial situation and it shows. “Well, I guess I’m not funny today huh? asks Mr. Taylor. Nikki glances up trying to hold back her tears. “I’m sorry I just have somethings on my mind today that’s all. Tell it to me again, I’ll laugh this time I promise” Nikki says. “Nope, it’s not the same now” says Mr. Taylor, “but come on in here and tell me what’s going on maybe I can help ya out or give you some advice at least. Ol’ as I am there ought to be a lil bit of wisdom in this ol’ peanut head of mine” he says laughing loudly. Nikki walks over near the window trying to maintain her distance and shares her frustration with Mr. Taylor and he listens intently. “Well, lil lady it seems this here pandemic has us all in a knot don’t you reckon?” It certainly does Nikki replies, “maybe I’ll play the lottery tonight and try my luck. What you think Mr. Taylor? You think the universe loves me that much? Mr. Taylor says, “Ion know bout the universe lil lady but God sure does.” Nikki smiles and begins wiping down the knobs on the small closet in the room. “Lil lady” says Mr. Taylor, “if you don’t mind, open that door there and hand me the small black book on that there shelf would ya? Nikki reaches in and grabs the little black book with her gloved hand, she walks it over to Mr. Taylor and lays it beside him.

Mr. Taylor opens the book and inside is a five-dollar bill folded and a bunch of writing that looked like phone numbers or combinations, but Nikki couldn’t quite make it out from where she was standing. “Lil lady would you do an old man a favor? asked Mr. Taylor. “Sure, what do you need” she answered. “I wanna try my luck too at this lottery, I think after these past few weeks things can only go up from here what you think, think we can win that 87 million? Nikki chuckled, “ion even wanna be greedy, I could use a few thousand just to get back on track in life. Man, that would be great” she sighed. “Well, I tell ya what, take these five dollars and go buy us two tickets one for you and one for me. Hell, can’t win if we don’t play right? Mr. Taylor jokes. “Oh wow, no sir. I cannot take your money sir I could lose my job.” She responds. “Oh, c’mon lil lady who gone know. I won’t tell nobody. Plus, if I don’t play today someone else might play and win”. “Mr. Taylor, I’m sure there will be plenty of other chances for you to play especially since your getting discharged tomorrow” she says. “Well, ion wanna play no other day, I wanna play today, I’m feeling like the universe loves me today” he jokes thinking back to the early comment Nikki made about the universe loving her. “NO, I can’t do it. I cannot risk my job. I’m sorry” she struck back. “Ok so how bout I give you my secret lucky number combination and you go buy one ticket for you and one ticket for me and if I win anything, I will give you double for your trouble.” Nikki was already thinking about playing it tonight on her way home anyway, so she says yes. Mr. Taylor claps his hands again like a child and tells her to finish her rounds and come back at the end of her shift and he will have his winning combination of numbers all figured out. “I need to study my lil black book of numbers to get my winning picks together so you c’mon back before ya leave, and I’ll have it written down for ya. She agrees and leaves to finish her work on the ward.

The day dragged on and Nikki kept thinking about how she’d feel if she won, she felt excitement inside and she couldn’t understand why. The clock slowly crept and finally it was time to clock out. She grabbed her bags and headed to check on Mr. Taylor who smiled happily as she walked in and handed her a piece of paper with the edged jagged from being torn from the little black book. On the small piece a paper a number was scribbled and circled. “Now play it just like this here on the paper don’t change nothin ok.” He instructed her. She nodded putting the piece of paper in her pocket and waving over her shoulder as she left the room. She made her way down to her car and got in, she sat quietly for a second then took the paper out of her pocket. She held it tightly in her hands and meditated once again, “Universe please bless these numbers to be a blessing to Mr. Taylor in how ever you see fit according to his already purposed blessings.” Nikki stuffed the paper back in her pocket and drove to the gas station on her way home. Once inside she felt lost, she had never done this before, so she recalled Mr. Taylors instructions, and filled out the sheet and took it to the counter to buy a ticket. The lady handed her the ticket and she left. Sitting in her car again she asked the universe to bless Mr. Taylors ticket and her own that she bought. She drove home in silence.

The next morning, she jumped up, and got ready for her shift making sure she had the tickets to take to Mr. Taylor. When she arrived at the ward he was preparing to go home. He was excited to see her as usual and grinned like a Cheshire cat as she walked in. “There’s the lil lady. I hoped I wouldn’t miss you this morning.” Nikki laid his ticket on the bed and said chuckling, “ion even know how to see if I won.” He told her she could go to the lottery website to check the winning numbers or go back to the store and use the machine on the counter to scan the ticket. Nikki did not have her phone with her it was in her locker, so she’d have to wait until she went on break to check. Mr. Taylor being up in age did not have a smart phone to check his either. Nurse Trevor came in with Mr. Taylor’s discharge paperwork and wheelchair to take him down to his sister who was picking him. She was still not allowed up to the ward due to Covid restrictions. “Goodluck” he said as Trevor rolled him down the hall. “Goodluck” Nikki whispered back as she began removing the linens from the bed. She worked quickly today hoping the day would go by faster, and on her break, she shuffled down to the lockers and grabbed her phone. She pressed the buttons frantically on her phone trying to hurry and see what her fate would be, 87 million dollars richer or still struggling another day. As the site loaded, she gripped her ticket tightly and compared each number twice to be sure, her stomach sinking and wave of nausea flowing over her. She hung her head and sighed, how could she have gotten caught up like this, all for nothing. She hurries and eats her lunch and returns to finish her shift feeling discouraged.

It had been about a month since Mr. Taylor had been discharged and she realized she missed his “not funny” jokes, his hearty laugh and the nicknames he always seem to come up with for her. She passed his room where another patient now laid but was far less sociable than Mr. Taylor. As she quietly entered the room the new tenant did not respond to her whispered greeting, so she just kept working quietly. Finishing the room, she heads for the door when she hears an overhead page calling her to the front entrance reception area. Puzzled she listens harder with her head tilted sideways as if this will somehow make her hear better. Yes, this was definitely a page for her, maybe there was an incident in that area, and they need help cleaning. She grabbed her cart and headed to the service elevator to make her way down to the first-floor lobby area. As she exits the elevator, she hears a familiar voice, “there she goes, lil lady Nikki” and that hearty laugh. She looks up and sees Mr. Taylor standing leaning on his cane smiling like a kid at Christmas. “Hey Sir” she calls out to him. “What are you doing here?” “I came bearing a gift for my favorite hospital employee” he said. “A gift, what kind of gift? She asked searching with her eyes and seeing nothing resembling a gift of any sort. Then he reached into the breast pocket of his worn brown blazer and pulled out an envelope. He extended his small, wrinkled hand which shook a little because of what he said was the effects of “years of drinkin and fellowshippin” during his army days. Nikki took the envelope and asked what was inside. “Just open the thang and you’ll see” he quipped at her. Nikki peeled the envelope open and pulled out the paper inside. As she removed the contents of the envelop, she could see it was a check. Her heart beat faster, and her stomach fluttered as she read the words, Pay to the order of Ten Million Dollars and 00 cent with the figures 10,000,000.00 in the box beside it. Her heart nearly stopped, and tears welled up in her eyes. She could hardly believe what she was seeing. “What is this, is this some kind of joke Mr. Taylor? If it is, it is NOT funny” she scolded. “No Ma’am, it’s certainly not a joke lil lady. “Why would you do this for me” she asked. That ticket you bought for me with the numbers I gave you won me that lottery jackpot. I see it only right since you used your two dollars to buy it and you played my numbers exactly as I told you I owed ya double for ya trouble” he said smiling back at her. “People seem to forget to be kind to each other these days. Ol’ folks like me get forgotten or ignored. But lil lady, you never ignored me. I was in this hospital alone and you always smiled, laughed at my not so funny jokes but most of all you made me feel important and respected. Ion have much in life, and God didn’t let that Covid take me outta here, but I know it won’t be long before I’m in the grave. I feel like this was my purpose, the one thing I had to do, bless someone in great proportion” said Mr. Taylor. Nikki’s eyes filled with tears, “thank you Mr. Taylor.” “I guess the universe do love ya lil lady” he said. “And so, does God” she whispers back holding the check and smiling.