When Life Gives You Melons

Chapter 3 - For Nanny May!

In the past few weeks, a lot of things had been happening. I'd had a guy design the sign for the shop to mirror my grandparent's old shop and brought in a contractor to work out what needed doing. For the most part, everything was going smoothly. I just hadn't managed to muster up the courage to go and see the guy that my grandma wanted me to.

I'd gone to the shelter several times with Lyra, but chickened at the last moment. It was only when I was driving past to grab a new mop that I stupidly and spontaneously went inside. The lady behind the reception remembered me, she was older but glowed with youthful enthusiasm and looked at me through smiling eyes.

"I don't know anything about him apart from this photo," I finished, sliding the photo towards her. She picked it up and studied it for a moment before recognition flickered behind her eyes. She grimaced and slid the photo back towards me.

"That's Tyler Roscoe, he's not someone that you want to be mixing with, lovely." Her words echoed around my head for a moment and I was about to walk away before I changed my mind.

"But I have to, it's what Grandma wanted," I said. She softened for a moment and folded her arms over her floral cardigan. I could hear the noise through the doors and the sounds of cutlery and crockery bashing around told me it was lunch time.

"Can I?" I asked, gesturing towards the door. The lady shrugged, but she still looked unsure.

"I'm going to have to warn you, Elspeth, he's not friendly."

Her words bounced around my head for the entire walk towards the door. From what I could remember, it was a hall and then the canteen. The canteen was where my grandmother used to take me when she brought extra food and boxes of supplies to the residents. If they weren't in the canteen, it was almost impossible to find them.

I hesitantly pushed the door open, forcing myself not to look back at the lady and her worried face. I was scared enough, I didn't need to have her fuel added to the fire.

The canteen was exactly as I remembered it, even down to the potent smell of mashed potatoes. It used to make me fancy my grandmother's cheese and potato pie. The memory and the smell hit me like a wave and I forced the lump in my throat down. I needed to find Tyler.

I let the door close behind me and looked around. There were waves of people, some at tables, some at the food stall and others just dotted around. This was going to be a lot harder than I'd anticipated. I looked to my right and saw someone with the trademark pink shirt and name tag. I headed directly for them, feeling that they'd probably be my best bet. I didn't know how old the photo of Tyler was, or if he even looked the same.

"Excuse me, do you know this man?" I asked, feeling like someone out of a crime show. The guy looked at me through his thick framed glasses and then down at the photo. Much like the lady behind the desk, he winced.

"Uh, yeah, haven't seen him come in yet," he paused and looked up at my face. "Can I ask why you need him?" I chewed on the inside of my lip.

"I want to give him a job and a home," I said. The guy went wide eyed and folded his arms over his chest, leaning back against the wall. He was small, skinny and looked too young to be working there.

"Can I give you a bit of advice? Find someone else."

I frowned and felt the uneasy feeling in my stomach get bigger. The only thing keeping me going was that my grandma wouldn't put me in direct danger.

"Why?" I asked. The guy chuckled to himself and scanned the crowds of people.

"Because he's dangerous," he said and then looked at my pained facial expression. "He starts fights, last year he was put in jail and he frightens half of the residents here," he said. I could now safely say that my stomach was in knots.