“I think the rain stopped,” Gwenny said.
“So? Do you think I care,” Riley replied. “Rain or not I’m still stuck in this greenhouse for the rest of the day with these stupid plants. God, this sucks.”
“You can’t talk to God like that, he won’t like it.”
Gwenny moved a three-week-old tray of lettuce plants up to the next row, marked the date and searched for her notebook. It would be another six or seven days before this batch was ready to harvest and she needed to record its progress.
“Have you seen the communication log? I can’t find anything today,” she said, lifting up boxes of T connectors for feed lines and more and more herb seeds. Her mother wasn’t kidding about expanding their product line. Soon they were going to need a shed just for the seeds alone.
Her head popped back up. “It’s the pink one with the vase full of daisies on the cover. Mama wants me to start a new batch of rosemary today and I need to know what Jim said about their day length.”
Riley frowned at the steel frame and double layer of clear polycarbonate sheeting that made up the walls of the greenhouse. “I can’t work in this cage. How does she expect me to concentrate on these things,” he said, shoving a table for no apparent reason, “when she hasn’t let me off this farm in forever? You can’t keep a man cooped up like this, it’s not natural.”
Gwenny rolled her eyes.
“Whine, whine, whine,” she said, spying something pink underneath the desk. Gwenny reached down: Eureka! “You sneak out all the time anyway. I don’t know what you’re complaining about.”
Gwenny found the newly-germinating rosemary seedlings and started setting up a new space for them in a fresh, white PVC gutter. She placed a pre-punched top cap in the gutter to prevent algae growth in the water and dropped a seedling into each space. Gwenny read her mother’s notes again before setting up the feed line and pumping the nutrient solution over the roots. She checked the reservoir and made sure the overflow was coming out and ready to be recycled back. Measurements were taken and a quick look at the computer confirmed the correct pH so Gwenny was happy. She recorded and dated her activities in the log, set the timer on the grow lights and began tidying up for the next task.
Riley glowered at his sister. “You don’t know anything, runt.”
“Oh right. Like last night you didn’t crawl around under Shane’s window like a lost raccoon trying to find a way back into the house at half past twelve?”
Riley ignored her. “God, this sucks! Is this like the biggest waste of time there is, or what? What’s the point of checking the EC every day when it never changes?”
He put the log book back on its hook and grabbed an air compressor off the shelf. Riley tested it until he got maximum pressure then went back to unclog any mineral deposits in the PVC tubing before returning them to the NFT gutters for the next planting.
“We’ve got to make sure the plant roots are getting the right ratio of nutrients in their water supply. You know that. Don’t forget to use fungicide on those gutters when you’re done cleaning them,” Gwenny said.
“Don’t forget the fungicide when you’re done,” Riley mimicked. “Mama might get mad if you don’t do every single thing around here her way. The Earth might explode if you forget the fungicide.”
Gwenny exhaled with conviction and picked up her notes. “Fine, be that way. I have to go work with the Delphiniums. Mama’s obsessed about finding more flowers that don’t mind having their roots in water all the time. If you’re not sure how to do something, find me next door, or you can call Crop King yourself because they’ve got horticulturists who know all this stuff. Okay? Crop King? It’s speed dial two if you need them.”
“Whatever,” came the reply.
“Whatever,” she said back.
~
The second greenhouse was similar to the first in most ways, but instead of housing two columns of twelve-foot wide tables overflowing with lettuce and herbs, this bay contained a fortress of lofty tomato plants around the perimeter and several rows of flower tables in varying stages of growth down the center. The entryway was packed with yard sale bookcases and file cabinets, anything that would tame the chaos that threatened to spill over into the grow space. There were places for unassembled boxes and plastic clamshell containers, seeding trays and flower buckets, light bulbs and zip ties. Any available space was used and over-used, but nothing was ever wasted. A wipe-off board nailed onto a bookcase provided space for a to-do list, but in pride of place on top of a battered oak desk were the clipboards. Rose loved those clipboards. Anything that could be measured and recorded was on a clipboard because that was how she stayed organized. Mistakes could ruin everything and Rose wasn’t having any of that.
Gwenny skimmed the shopping list and noticed more lacewings on order. The aphids must be back, she thought. One glance at a yellow sticky strip on one of the bato buckets confirmed the diagnosis. Finding nothing else of interest she replaced the clipboard and gathered the necessary items to start some snapdragons: pre-soaked rockwool, trays, seeds… and went to work. Once all the trays were filled Gwenny covered them with a shade cloth, content to let them germinate undisturbed for the next ten days. She checked the Delphiniums, couldn’t detect any changes from the day before, so she recorded what she saw and left them to soak.
Though there was more work to be done, Gwenny wasn’t in a particular hurry to do it. She strolled down an aisle between the flower gutters and tomato buckets, letting her fingers tickle their way through the leaves. Happy, healthy vines in various stages and colors of fruit filled the outer walls of the bay, from one end to the other, floor to ceiling. She counted nine drooping vines and reminded herself to re-hang them on their support cables before leaving. The lush foliage surrounded her like a cocoon, muffling away the outside world. The most pressing sound was the gentle humming of the hothouse bumblebees, imported specifically to help with the pollination. Gwenny checked the mixing valve on the boiler to make sure the copper pipes were working to keep all the roots warm and added a splash more vinegar to the cooler to control any algae that might want to grow on the walls. Then for good measure she checked that the master control sensor was still working in case she forgot to check something else. Satisfied, she
Clippers in hand, Gwenny cut off the excess side shoots, extra flowers and deformed fruit and trimmed the leaves from the bottom of the vine to expose the ripening clusters. She had the drill down cold and didn’t even think about it. Zipping through the lines with her trusty wagon, she had that waste bucket filled and ready for composting in no time flat. Next came the harvesting.
Scanning the order sheet, she searched for the immediate orders and scribbled out the math. Not too bad today, she thought. Gwenny grabbed a small stool and went back in, this time armed with a plastic tub on wheels. The first plantings were clearly marked on their buckets so that’s where she headed to pick. The harvesting was the hard part: it could be painful and tedious on the hands and back. The trick was to get through it as quickly as possible and not think about it. Gwenny was lucky enough to have an active imagination. She tried picturing herself with a nice cup of hot chocolate, her back to the fireplace warming her tired little muscles. After another day with Riley, she needed that picture. She let her thoughts drift away as the clippers kept on clipping until she had that final, blessed tomato in hand. Once that job was completed she took a moment to stretch every part of her that could be stretched and rolled the tub over to the staging area. There Gwenny assembled the boxes, packed and invoiced them and left them ready for the morning delivery.
Rose whipped through the greenhouse door, chattering nonstop with a cell phone in one hand and a bunch of ratty leaves and a clipboard in the other. Gwenny looked up in question, but got only a halting finger in response so she knew she’d have to wait. Rose took several minutes to finish the call, but when she did put the phone back in its holster she immediately brought up the weeds and started shaking them.
“What’s been going on in there,” Rose asked, indicating the first bay. “What is this?”
“Are they weeds,” Gwenny asked.
“They are now, but according to this chart they’re supposed to be sweet basil for next Monday’s delivery. New Age Hydroponics doesn’t deliver flimsy, discolored herbs that are obviously bitter, young lady. Can’t you smell this? This basil overdosed on phosphorus because someone was too lazy to do a simple follow up.”
Rose shoved her clipboard at Gwenny and waited. It was the electrical conductivity log. Instead of individual readings being recorded, a large, continuous arrow had been drawn down the length of the page. Gwenny wasn’t anxious to see her mother’s face, but she knew it was inevitable.
“Really Gwenny, if you weren’t sure about what you were doing you should’ve called me, or even Crop King. Jim’s on speed dial for a reason, you know. There’s no excuse for this. It took me six straight weeks to convince Cuisine de Fantaisie that we’re the herbal supplier of their dreams and then this happens? It’ll be at least another week before we can replace this.”
Rose looked out through the polycarbonate and watched the sun melting into the earth. The picture wasn’t as soothing as it should have been.
“I don’t know what to say. Losing this order may not mean much to you, but I was counting on it to get our foot in the door with the other culinary academies. That’s time wasted and money lost, little miss.”
“It wasn’t me,” Gwenny insisted. “I’ve been giving Riley the easiest jobs I could think of. He whines about it all the time, but I know he knows how to use the EC meter; I’ve watched him do it every day. He did the work, he just didn’t record it. It doesn’t make any sense.”
“Gwenny, I’m very disappointed in you,” Rose said. “We’ve been working on perfecting this farm for six years. How do you expect to manage your own staff someday when you can’t even handle Riley? You can’t just trust that something’s been done right because someone said so. You have to check and double check, and if it still isn’t right you have to let that person go. That’s how business is done.”
“So I can fire Riley,” Gwenny asked.
“No, you can’t fire Riley. Riley’s grounded for the rest of his life. Since I got that boy back in school I’m not letting him out so he can screw up again. You just have to make sure that he’s doing a thorough job, that’s all.”
Gwenny numbed herself, pinning her arms behind her back like the brave little soldier she was, and waited for the lecture that was sure to come.
“Baby, I don’t know what’s wrong or what I have to do to get through to you. This is Farming 101. We’re the underdogs here; we’re the lab rats. All we have in this business is our reputation. Lots of people still think hydroponics is a fad and don’t want to take us seriously. If we aren’t reliable we won’t have any customers, no matter how good our products are. Mistakes like this don’t happen to us, do you understand me?”
“Yes, Mama.”
“Good. Now I’m not giving up on you. You’re still going to keep this job and make sure it’s darn near perfect. After supper I want you back out here to check on the rest of the basil and see what you can salvage. Anything that can’t be saved has to be re-started. See if you can find Riley and get him to help you.”
“I haven’t done my homework yet.”
“Then come out here after you’re done. You can go to bed a little late tonight if you need to,” Rose said. Gwenny squirmed and started fidgeting.
“What?”
“It’s just that we’re learning fractions and I’m kind of slow at it. Couldn’t I do the basil after school tomorrow?”
Rose did nothing to disguise her displeasure. “I guess you’ll have to, but I am not happy about it. The greenhouses are important, Gwenny. They shouldn’t have to wait.” Rose dug out her phone and began tapping it. “Six weeks. How am I going to spin this? I’ll have to comp them some extra sage and cilantro obviously, but that still won’t be enough. They’re going to raise holy hell if I can’t fill that order….”
Gwenny began stacking boxes near the door in the hope of a quick getaway.
Rose ended the tapping and moved on to wringing her fingers. “Oh, duh. Flowers. They don’t know we do flowers yet. I can whip up a few centerpieces for their student restaurant. How perfect! I don’t know why I didn’t think of that before. They need more than food to liven up that dining room anyway. I mean, those horrible green walls… are they kidding? Once I convince them that we’re actually doing them a favor they can’t be anything but gracious. Okay, I can do this.”
Grabbing a calculator, Rose ran the numbers for this new development. “It’s a shame we’re going to have to lose money on this, but there’s no way around that. It’ll be more publicity for us when they’re talking to their restaurant friends though, so in the long run it’ll be a win-win all around. Baby, how’s the Celosia doing?”
Striking brain-like formations in shades of shocking pink and orange sitting alongside stalks of fire-engine red and gold pulled the eye to the front of the grow space. They were hard to miss.
“They look pretty good, but we haven’t gotten this far growing them before so I don’t know. Jim says they’re going to need another week at least.”
“That’s not at all what I wanted to hear,” Rose said. “All right, if they need another week, we give them another week. Smart business people do not sacrifice quality to make a fast buck. Right? We’ll just have to use something else then.”
She opened her phone again and dialed. “I want you to go up to your room now and think about all the problems this has caused and how we’re going to avoid them in the future, then start your homework. Hi… Jerome? This is Rose Voss from New Age Hydroponics.
“I’m fine, thanks. I’ve been thinking about your academy and I think I’ve come up with a way to make our business relationship more profitable. I know you understand the value of a quality product, so I’d like to add a little something special to your first order as a way of saying thanks for your faith in us.”
Rose smiled into the phone. “That’s sweet of you to say. No, the pleasure is all mine, I assure you. Let me tell you what I have in mind….”
Rose waved Gwenny out of the greenhouse and focused on her cell phone. Gwenny was happy to take the hint.
~
“If you hand me the ground beef I’ll start browning it.”
“Gladly,” Cassidy said. “If it’ll make you happy I can just sit here while you do everything. I can even make cheering noises to help you feel like you’re doing well.”
“Very funny.” Shane dumped the lump of meat into a sizzling hot skillet and began separating it. “I forgot I used to be a pretty good cook when we were kids, but it stopped being fun after awhile, you know?”
“Yeah, I know. Lots of things stopped being fun.”
“But look at us now, huh? I don’t know why I thought I needed to brush up on my cooking skills. I’ve still got it.” Shane added more oil to the meat. “Okay, onion me.”
“I’m not sure I can, but here you go.” Cassidy sprinkled the chopped pieces into the skillet and started to shove the empty bowl under her sister’s nose.
Shane screamed. “Get away from me! They’re onions, I get it. Now step off before I pour this tomato sauce down your shirt. Don’t think I won’t do it, too.”
“All right, all right, I give. You get mean when you cook. Hudge is going to have to watch his back when you’re in the kitchen.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Shane added in some green chili and continued to stir. “Hey, have you been on I-44 lately?”
“Oh, sure. I’ve got nothing but free time and Mama’s truck to go driving around in.”
“Yeah, you’re right. My bad. You know that adult boutique in Columbia, Sexy Love? They put up that billboard that got everyone’s panties in a bunch.”
“Yeah.”
“Well, when Hudge and I were on our way back from the mall last weekend there was already another billboard right next to it. I bet you can’t guess who sponsored it.”
“Don’t tell me. FOR THE FAMILY?”
“You got it. I was kind of disappointed though. Instead of having a bloody cross on it or the EYES OF GOD damning your soul into eternal Hellfire like they usually do, it’s just a print ad with ‘Porn Ruins Lives’ on it. Not their best effort.”
“That was quick though, Sexy Love hasn’t been around very long. It must be hard to be creative under pressure,” Cassidy said. “I mean they’re protesting about something every other week. I don’t know how they find the time.”
“It’s an obsession. People don’t mind making time for their obsessions. All I’m saying is though, if you’re going to keep putting your message out there like that, you have to bring your A-game every time or your audience isn’t going to take you seriously. There’s no room for half-assed when you’re advertising for the Lord. You have to show some respect.”
Cassidy chuckled. “And on that note, why don’t I set the table?”
“Good plan. An even better one would be to snake a beer while no one’s looking. This casserole’s making me thirsty.”
Shane lowered the heat and turned to the refrigerator. “Nope, sorry. It looks like we’re going to have to abort the plan. There’s only three beers left in here. If we take one she’ll notice.”
“What do you mean there’s only three? Mama just brought home a twelve pack two days ago. She’s a lightweight. She couldn’t drink all that on her own.”
Gwenny climbed up the back porch and headed straight to the kitchen sink to wash up, much too tired to get excited about seeing Shane.
“Well someone got to them. Uncle John maybe?”
“He hasn’t been out of his trailer in days.”
“Hey Lady Gwendolyn. Do you want to give us a hand with supper? I’m cooking a magnificent feast tonight. Who knows when it’s going to happen again?”
“Can’t,” she said. “I have to go to my room and think about what it takes to be a manager and how to keep Riley from slacking off.”
“The grand command,” Shane asked. At Gwenny’s nod, she put a handful of tortilla chips into a bowl and handed them over. “Take this up with you then, we’ll call you when it’s ready.”
Gwenny smiled and nibbled, playing for time. “How come you’re home? I never see you anymore.”
“Well, if you could drag yourself out of bed in the morning you’d see me at breakfast,” Shane said. “Actually, there weren’t any extra shifts I could pick up tonight and Hudge wanted a night out with his friends, so I thought I’d try to stick it out here for a change. I’m playing it by ear.”
“I need help with my homework, if you have time.”
“Hey,” Cassidy said, “you never ask me for help. What am I?”
“You’re not here either after supper. You’re always studying at Kerry Anne’s house. Besides, this is math.”
Cassidy put up her hands. “Okay, honor student. Say no more. You can keep your math all to yourself, thanks. That reminds me, I have to make a call.” She bounced upstairs for her cell phone.
“Coward,” Shane called after her sister. “So Lady Gwendolyn, what’s up with you these days?”
“I don’t know,” Gwenny shrugged into her chips. “Same as always I guess, except for Riley.”
“You guys not getting along?”
“I don’t know. He didn’t pay any attention to me before unless Mama forced him to. Now all he ever does is mess around in the greenhouse when he’s supposed to be working and tell me what a man he is and how he’s not getting any respect. What’s he bugging me for? Like I have anything to do with it.”
Gwenny put her empty bowl in the sink and popped some shredded cheese into her mouth.
“He screws up and you get stuck with him. That sucks.” Shane shook her head in commiseration. “You know he’s been sneaking out, right? I’ve met him and his friends a couple of times after Hudge drove me home from work. It’s hard to believe sometimes that there’s a working brain between them.”
Gwenny shrugged. “I should go up now before Mama comes in.”
“As you wish, my lady,” Shane said, and bowed. Gwenny giggled.
“Hey, don’t worry too much about Riley. Sometimes boys don’t know when they’re being insensitive. Things are going to get better for you though, I can feel it. Remember, just like Grandma Gigi used to?”
Gwenny gave a half-hearted smile and trudged up to her bedroom, ignoring the family photos covering the wall when she was still young enough to be called “the baby.” She turned on the light and flopped onto the mountainous range of pillows disguising her daybed.
Almost everything in the room was white: the steel frame of the bed and matching side table, the walls, the window shade, the wardrobe and skinny wicker mirror beside it. A few small reprieves in color came in the purples, blues and browns of the pillowcases and the pictures of horses and unicorns tacked behind the door and shoved into the mirror frame. It would be stark and cold to the casual observer, but as Gwenny didn’t need much, she really didn’t mind.
Lying back, Gwenny clutched a pillow to her chest, and pondered the faded red sampler above her head with some frustration: Become What You Need to Be. Her grandmother had embroidered that long before Gwenny was born and willed it to her after her death. That and the Tarot cards. It wasn’t like all the other samplers in the house. Gwenny had always wondered why.
Without thinking, she reached for the cards on the table and started shuffling. Gwenny didn’t want to think about Riley or anything else so she closed her eyes and let the cards move on their own, over and under one another until they felt done. Her grandmother didn’t leave an instruction manual to go with the deck, so she flipped over a few cards and spread them out randomly, the way she thought she remembered her grandmother doing all those years ago.
Eight of Pentacles, Seven of Swords, Two of Wands… none of these titles ever made any sense on their own; for Gwenny, it was all about the pictures and how good they looked together. She studied The Empress card in front of her: the stars over her head, the scepter in her hand…. That card came up more and more lately. Her grandma Gigi might know why, but for Gwenny it was a mystery. It didn’t look right the way it was so she turned it upside down and put the picture of three ladies drinking and dancing next to it. That didn’t look right either so she went back to what was laid out in front of her. Gwenny had a choice between two cards: a woman covering her face while being attacked by swords or another woman dumping five cups into the moonlit sea. She chose the sea because the blues in that card matched better with The Empress. Also because even though the woman seemed really sad about letting go of all that drink ware, Gwenny kept thinking that over time somehow everything would be okay. She didn’t know how or why she thought that, but it made her feel better.
“Riley, Gwenny, time for supper,” Rose called up the stairs.
She took another peek at the woman with the swords. For some reason Gwenny felt very close to her just then.
