The Caregiver

By Xlibris US

Victoria Auburn needed a new place to stay as soon as possible. Things did not work out with her boyfriend, Buster, of two years.

With the onset of MS and two knee surgeries that left her in constant pain and needing a cane to walk, she sought a rent-free suite of rooms caring for a rich eighty-six-year-old man in his crumbling old mansion.

He had five grown children who wished him dead but needed someone to carry out his wish to stay in his home and care for him in order to get their inheritance. He was verbally abusive and selfish. Victoria kept him company, did the laundry, and prepared his meals. He was an angry old man whose mind was sinking into Alzheimers. As many times as she secretly vowed to leave, she remained loyal to her post until something she suspected all along revealed itself.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Aug 15, 2014
• ISBN: 9781499059878

Book preview

Copyright © 2014 by J. N. Sadler.

ISBN:      Softcover      978-1-4990-5988-5

                  eBook         978-1-4990-5987-8

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Rev. date: 08/14/2014

Xlibris LLC

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

663465

CONTENTS

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

FOR RONNIE

CHAPTER 1

Victoria Auburn sat with her hand-crafted mug of Zeus, at a redwood picnic table off the back of the big, five-bedroom house. She was sketching one of the trees in the spacious woody backyard of her new home. Sun dappled the flagstone patio. This home had been glorious to behold when the children were young and the parents were happy and prominent. Now, Vick, as her friends called her, was to be the caretaker of the property and the old man that came with it.

He was into golf in a big way, and into politics, as well. Since his political party changed, and his wife died, children grown up and off doing their own things, he fell by the wayside at eighty-six years of age. Although bossy and opinionated, his reign was over. Age was the driving force that brought him down. He was delusional. His children, all five, couldn’t bear being under his thumb any more. He had just been released from a rest home having fallen and was in need of re-cooperation. They answered Vick’s ad in Craig’s List saying she was a woman seeking a room, one floor. The two older boys acted upon it, immediately.

An autumn love affair gone awry sent her packing to places unknown. When she met with the brothers, she was enchanted with the possibility of taking over the old house. She had worked in the facility where Mr. Titus Krone had stayed. They were impressed.

Of course, I do not do personal hygiene. That will be another matter to be addressed by someone else, she explained.

Yes, yes, that’s all right, said Walter, the oldest, who was about to burst, thinking he had finally found the right solution to their problem. She was skeptical of their eagerness to seal the deal. That Sunday, three days away from them noticing the ad, she was packing to move, at their expense. Buster, her roommate and stale lover, was silent, as he watched her struggle with her boxes. He offered no assistance. She couldn’t wait to land anywhere else but where she was.

The day came quickly when the movers arrived and loaded her hastily packed memorabilia and myriad pills that were needed to keep her pain away. Her knees, operated on twice, were still not right, and MS was the latest diagnosis. Victoria Auburn was depressed and feeling quite alone. It was her artwork that kept her going…that and her involvement with poets and poetry readings. She had a lot of heart and courage that kept her visible on the radar screen in Bohemia. She’d been through re-hab and kicked her alcohol and drug habits. It left her in a sober place, seeking spiritual joy and like-minded friends. She was peaceful and confident, but sometimes, dragged down into a dark place with her physical pain. Six days had gone by. She wondered why in hell she decided to move so quickly. Titus was not only disrespectful of women, but couldn’t control his bowels. She thought the house smelled of mold from not opening windows and never vacuuming, but this was a different stench. She tripped over a pile of human excrement on her way into the kitchen. Her heart did flips. They didn’t tell me about this! This is unacceptable.

She saw him duck into a room, hoping she would not see him. She followed him there. He was removing soiled slacks and briefs. What a sight! This was a nightmare. She was alone with a very big problem.

He gasped when she walked in on him. He was in the library where there were piles of feces scattered on the floor. She crossed the room and opened the windows. The old curtains blew about as fresh air swept into the room. He looked up, embarrassed and angry, his wrinkled sour face frowning.

You have no right to come in here! Get out! You are invading my privacy! He shook his fist at her and took a step forward, pants to his knees.

Feeling compassion as well as rage, Vick pointed a finger at him like he was a child and scolded him for not wearing his adult men’s special briefs.

I am not wearing diapers!

It is selfish of you not to. Who is going to clean up this mess? It’s totally unnecessary. I’m not going to do it. I told your children that I am not your nursemaid.

They clean up my shit. They never complain. He smirked as he pulled up his messy drawers.

You are abusive to me and probably always were with your children. They are afraid of you. If you don’t wear those damned briefs, I’m not taking you anywhere! You will be going to the home to live permanently. Is that what you want?

Get out! You don’t belong here. You are a stranger, and I resent your presence in my home.

He picked up a heavy book and threw it at her. She put up her arm and shielded her face. It fell to the floor, pages ripping and the binding coming away. She was sure that it was moldy like everything else. Her mind was busy trying to think of a way out of here already. The children promised that if things didn’t pan out, that they would pay for her to move to another location. Where would that be, she wondered.

He picked up another book and tossed it at her. This time it hit her in the face. The corner of it just missed her eye.

I swear you will go to jail for attacking me this way, and they will make a judgment on you that will put you away in a home for good. You hit me with that damned book! Now, go wash your damned butt and put on some clean clothes. I’m calling Walter. He will have to deal with you. I am not taking you to the barber today or any day. We are off to a terrible start, Titus. You are quite the old bastard. I am trying to get along with you, bring some happiness into your life at my own expense. I have feelings, too, you know.

She left