don’t think I’ve ever done much of that.” He asked him if he had a place to sit. “More than enough, actually. I’ve emptied out my storage lockers and filled out the house nicely. I even had paper napkins in the cabinet.”
Something that their mothers would never allow them to use. Booker thought of being at Aunt Holly’s and how they’d sometimes use paper towels when she didn’t have any napkins. She had given them a taste of a life that they’d never had at home—a good time, as with nothing ever having to be expensive or top name.
As he walked through the house, he remembered when he’d gotten each piece and told Brandon about it. Holly had turned him on to them, and the two of them would go to them to have fun. She did something with each of them. Brandon’s passion had been going to plays with her. He was going to do that as well—see some plays and go to the movies once in a while.
The house looked good if he did say so himself. He had even gotten some nice dishes that he had put away himself, as well as cloth napkins. He wasn’t opposed to using them, but he also knew there wasn’t a reason to have them while enjoying a slice of pizza. Asking Brandon if he wanted to stay over, he took him to one of the bedrooms that were complete. The bathroom had extras in it, such as toothpaste and other items for guests.
“I have to get myself a washer and dryer, however. I never wanted to get one at an auction. Aunt Holly said if I didn’t use it right away, I might be buying a pig in a poke.” They laughed again, and Booker was feeling better all the time. “The sheets and mattresses are new, so you don’t have to worry about those. So are the towels. I do have a stack of old ones, but I’m going to be using them in the garage or the barn. I’ve not decided what I’m going to be doing with the barn yet, but I’m sure it’ll come to me.”
“There is an auction tomorrow. I’m sure you’ve seen it.” Booker asked him where it was. “About an hour from here. I thought you and I could take a trip there to see about me getting a start on my home that I don’t have yet.”
“All right.” They were going to leave early in the morning and be there in time to look things over. Booker was excited to be spending time with Brandon. “I have a few pieces that I don’t have room for if you want them. You can even store your things in my locked place. Or the barn. As I said, I don’t know what I’m going to be doing out there as yet, and this way, you can get as much as you need.”
“Thanks. I think I’ll take you up on that. Lord knows I have enough boxes at the condo to fill out a couple of rooms. When Dad told me to get what I wanted from the house before he sold it, I did just that. Most of it was from my room, and then the staff packed up things from the attic that I hadn’t any idea was up there.” Booker asked him what it was. “Believe it or not, the staff saved all my baby things. Report cards and whatnot. When I was there to get my clothes from the closet, they told me that they knew Mom wouldn’t have kept it, so they did. Lots of things that brought back lots of memories.”
“That’s nice.” He asked Brandon if he had a house in mind yet. “I did look over the list you sent me about the foreclosure homes. I have to admit, I would never have dreamed there were that many around here. There are two that I’m going to have a look at on Monday. I might not buy anything yet—I’m in no hurry to get something just to get something—but I will have something soon.”
“Take Wats with you. That man can wheel and deal better than anyone I’ve worked with. Just the other day, he told me he got four buildings in the downtown area for a steal. I looked it up. He did. He paid a thousand dollars for four buildings. He told me even though he was going to have to take one of them down, he