"Excuse me, sir," I heard a female voice to my left. I paused in loading my groceries and turned as a somewhat dirty looking, young woman approached me. "Any chance you can spare a dollar or some change? My car ran out of gas and I just need a few dollars so I can pick up my daughter and get to my mom's place."
I looked the young woman over for a few seconds to confirm my initial suspicions. "Are you willing to work for it," I asked when I was done.
"Uh... maybe I should go... I'm not..."
"That kind of girl," I asked with what I hoped was a disarming smile. "You aren't homeless. You're dirty, but it looks intentional. Your clothes are faded, but the styles are not more than a couple years old. I can smell the faint odor of soap or deodorant under the dirt and grime. Parenthood is difficult to fake, so I doubt you really have a daughter. And if all you needed was a few dollars, you would already be gone as I saw an elderly woman give you a five-dollar bill on my way into the store. I would guess college student, am I right?"
She blushed deeply and said, "look, I don't want trouble, I'll just leave you alone."
"You sure you aren't willing to work for it," I said as she turned and she hesitated and looked back.
"Let's say I might be, what do you have in mind?"
"How long have you been out here?"
"About 4 hours I think."
"And how much have you made?"
She put her hand into a pocket and pulled out a small pile of bills and counted through them quickly. When she was done, she sighed heavily. "Twenty-three dollars," she said sadly. "Maybe another four or five in change," she said as she fished around in another pocket.
"Kind of risky being out here, the store could call the cops on you."
"Riskier than going somewhere with a stranger for some unknown job," she asked nervously.
"So you *are* willing to work, then? Housecleaning. Two hours at twenty dollars an hour."
"That's... that's a lot for housecleaning. *Just* housecleaning, right?"
"Scouts honor," I said, "but don't expect light work, either. You have a car?"
"Nope, took the bus here from campus."
"Ah, I was right!"
"Yes, yes, don't rub it in. Before I agree to this I'm going to call a friend and let her know what's going on. Do you mind if I give her your name and address?"
"Not at all, here's my card; the address is my home. I will be happy to add a ride home to your pay as well." I waited patiently while the young woman called her friend. When she was done, she turned toward me again.
"Before I go through with this, I have to ask why. This is all a bit strange."
"Indeed. To be honest, I've never done anything like this before. But, you seem to genuinely be in need of money to be out here doing this, and I don't mind helping people that are willing to help themselves. Oh, and belatedly, my name is Steve Wells, nice to meet you," I said as I stuck out my hand.
"Lindsey Grant, but let's pass on the handshake. You may have seen past the dirt, but it's still real dirt."
I laughed and said, "fair enough, ready to go?"
"I need to get my backpack from the bus stop across the street."
"I can stop on the way, hop in."
After retrieving her bag, it was a short trip home. When I pulled up to the house, Lindsey gaped at the size.
"Uh, there's no way I can clean all that in two hours."
"Relax, I only use part of it. I'm only worried about the kitchen, living room, office and bedroom. I'll even spare you from the bathroom." I led her inside to the kitchen and living room area, passing by the den and dining room on the way. "Do you have clean clothes in there," I asked pointing at her backpack.
"Uh, no... guess I didn't think about that," Lindsey replied looking down at her dirty outfit.
"No worries, come with me." I led her to the stairs and up to my bedroom where I opened a closet. I pulled down a pair of khaki shorts and gestured to a rack of dress shirts. "Pick whichever one you like and you can keep it when you are done, so don't worry about getting it dirty while you clean. Shower is in there," I said pointing to another door which Lindsey opened and stepped into, "and the laundry is in here around the corner at the back. Shower, change, and you can start here. There is a vacuum here in the closet and fresh sheets in the linen closet in the bathroom entry. When you're done up here, I'll be downstairs after I finish unloading the groceries."
I heard Lindsey utter an "um" from the bathroom and poked my head around the corner to see what she wanted.
"Yes?"
"First, this place is gorgeous, I'll at least clean up whatever mess I make. But, second, um, not that your shampoo is bad or anything, but..."
"Oh, right... one second."