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Continue from Episode 13
“Fellow sitting on the stool next to me leans over and asks, ‘Is that a Peace dollar? Lord, those are rare. You weren’t thinking of spending it, were you?’ Told him I was. Told him why, too. About Daddy and it being a lucky coin. Who would have thought it but, by the end of the meal, that fellow not only paid for my dinner, he’d offered me a job, to boot!
“Ran a business putting up houses; could use an extra pair of hands. I tell you, I gave him everything I had, and then some. Came early, stayed late, did the work of two men. He appreciated it, too. When next war came around, he not only held my job for me, when I got back, he made me a foreman. Couple of years later, I’d saved up enough money where, next building he put up, we went in as partners.”
“And that’s why you put the picture of the lady on your buildings!” Lauren guessed triumphantly. “For luck!”
“Yes and no,” Mr. Briggs replied, much to her disappointment. “Didn’t start that till Harrison and I had gone our separate ways.”
“Harrison?” Lauren asked. “I live in Harrison.”
“Is that where Junior found your mama?” Mr. Briggs sighed. “Figures.” When she didn’t seem to understand what he meant, he changed his tune and kindly told Lauren, “Harrison built most of that town you lived in. Named it after himself. Wanted it to be a respectable place, but I told him, that close to the Tahoe casinos? It’ll go bad in no time. That was Harrison’s problem. Always wanted to be respectable, proper. Wager he expected a statue to be erected to him in the town square. Had his sights set on being a great man. Now me, I’ll take the money and, long as the check doesn’t bounce, I’ll build you whatever you want, any way you want. Like I said, never thought myself too good for any kind of work.”
“That’s why you’re not partners anymore.” Lauren was hoping to get at least one guess right before Mr. Briggs remembered that she was no one worth talking to.
“Well, he’s dead now,” Mr. Briggs said, a trace of regret in his voice. “Drowned sailing that fancy boat of his in Greece. Where his fancy wife was from. Joke’s on him. Those two ungrateful brats of his are as eager to get their hands dirty as Harrison was to keep himself pristine. Can’t tell you how many jobs they’ve tried to steal from me using every underhanded trick in the book. Lucky for me,” he reached into his pocket and showed Lauren the coin that had served as a model for all his subsequent lucky charms. “I know all their tricks. Hell, I invented most of them.”
Lauren held out her hand, palm up, and, as much to Mr. Briggs’ surprise as hers, he dropped the coin into it.
She held it between two fingers. “It’s so pretty!”
“That it is,” he agreed.
“Thank you for letting me see it,” Lauren handed the coin back shyly.
“My pleasure.” Mr. Briggs popped it back into his pocket, then noted, “You’re a right clever little thing. Shouldn’t you be in school or something now?”
“I was in school before,” she said.
“What grade?”
“First.”
“Hm,” Mr. Briggs reached for the Rolodex on his desk, clicking his tongue. He picked up his phone, dialed, and, without much preamble, informed whoever answered that he had a new student for them. She’d be there tomorrow.
“That’s right,” he repeated. “Tomorrow. Well, I’m darned sorry you don’t think you have any room in the first grade. I tell you what you should do. How about you stick your head out your window, and take a good look at the name that’s printed on that gym building my son spent more time in than he ever did in any of your fancy science labs or geography rooms. And then you pull out your roster, and you write down Lauren…” He looked at her in a brief panic, realizing he didn’t know her last name.
She was about to tell him, when Mr. Briggs shook his head, winked and told the person on the other end, “You write down Lauren… Briggs.”
Which was how she learned her new name.
Continue to Episode 15
About the Author
Alina Adams wrote the “As the World Turns” tie-ins, “Oakdale Confidential” and “The Man From Oakdale,” and co-wrote “Guiding Light’s” “Jonathan’s Story.” She was the Creative Content Producer for “Another World Today,” and worked on the 2013 relaunches of “All My Children” and “One Life To Live.” Her books include romance novels, figure skating murder mysteries, and the historical family saga, “The Nesting Dolls,” from HarperCollins. Read more at: AlinaAdams.com
