Letter of reference

The big old bus rattled down the poorest section of town. Dover Street had been around for over 50 years. The old tenement houses sagged and some even leaned against one another.

Henrietta looked out of the big windows of the bus and remembered growing up here. She quickly shut her eyes and gave her head a little shake. She didn't want to remember growing up. It would only end up making her day worse.

The bus screeched to a stop to pick up even more passengers. Henrietta wondered where they were all going to sit. She'd probably end up giving up her seat again. Her feet hurt in the fancy high heels she always wore to work.

"Can I sit here?" a small voice said.

Startled, Henrietta looked down to see a little girl staring up at her with a very serious expression on her face.

"Why, of course," she stammered, flustered at being spoken to by someone so tiny. Henrietta couldn't remember ever speaking to a child. She'd been an only child living in a house with 6 adults.

"My name's Berry, what's yours?" the child asked.

Henrietta looked at the little girl and instead of answering her asked, "Why are you on the bus by yourself? How old are you?"

Berry just grinned and pulled some paper out of the tiny knapsack she was wearing. "Today's my birthday," she exclaimed. "I'm six years old today!" In her hand was a handmade birthday card. Henrietta took it and read the verse on the inside of the card. It said, "To my favourite little girl, The best in the whole wide world." It was signed "Daddy".

"How pretty," Henrietta said softly. Her own father didn't even know when her birthday was.

"Daddy couldn't buy one, so he made it. Isn't it pretty?" Berry chattered on about the card for at least five minutes, occasionally running her fingers over the crayoned lettering. She seeemed perfectly at home on this bus full of strangers.

"Where's your Daddy now? Why isn't there an adult on the bus with you?" Henrietta couldn't believe the child was all alone.

"He's looking for work. He does that everyday. It makes him mad. He always comes home and goes straight to the garage. Mom doesn't let us go in there 'cause she knows he's mad. Why does looking for work make someone mad?"

Henrietta didn't know how to answer this. She remembered how hard it had been to find a job to feed herself, she couldn't begin to imagine trying to feed a family. She'd never wanted children. They were a responsibility she could do without.

"Mom says if Daddy doesn't get a job soon, we're gonna have to move again. I don't want to move. I got my own room now. I use to share with my little brothers but now we live in a house and I got my own bed and everything!" Obviously having your own room meant a great deal to Berry.

"Why can't your father find a job?" asked Henrietta cautiously. She didn't want to offend the little girl.

"Cause he's got no schoolin'. That's what Mom says. That's why I gotta keep going to school. So I can get a good job. But Mom says we can't wait for me to finish school. I'm in grade one now you know. It's a little bit hard. Wanna see my library book?" Without hesitation, she pulled out a tattered softcover. Clifford the Big Red Dog romped on the cover. The book had been loved by many children judging by the state it was in. Henrietta reached for it and smiled. She loved books. Her childhood would have been unbearable without books.

"Is your daddy a hard worker? Does he go to work everyday, or does he stay home a lot?" She knew she had no right to ask these questions, but Henrietta wanted to know more about a man who loved his daughter enough to make her a birthday card.

"He used to go everyday. He worked in a factory. What's a factory? Is it a good place? Is it like a school? It looks like a school. We used to drive by it and Daddy would say that's where he worked. It doesn't have a lot of windows though. I like windows." Berry seemed content to let her questions go unanswered. "Wanna see the card I made my Daddy in school?" After putting her library book back into the knapsack out came a crumpled bit of card paper. Written carefully in crayon were the words, "my dady is the best dad in the wrld lov Berry". She had drawn what looked like a little girl and her Daddy walking hand in hand in a field of flowers.

Hallmark certainly wouldn't approve, but Henrietta knew the child's father would love the card. She reached for it and gently smoothed out some of the crumples. "It's the nicest card I've ever seen. Your daddy will love it." Berry beamed with pride. Just then the bus lurched to a stop and she jumped off her seat.

"I gotta get off here. You're a nice lady. Bye!" She trooped to the front of the bus with almost all the other passengers.

"Wait, what's your last name?" Henrietta called out to her.

"I'm Berry Butler," Berry grinned again and disappeared into the crowd of departing passengers.

Henrietta leaned back against her seat, waiting for her stop when she realized she was still holding the card the little girl had made. Frowning for a moment she wondered it she should leave it with the bus driver. The child had obviously ridden this bus often. Then she smiled and placed the card in her purse. She'd return it herself.

Two days later, Henrietta sat at her desk and waited for her next appointment. When her secretary buzzed her, she checked herself in the hand mirror she kept in a small desk drawer. Henrietta was going to do something she'd never done before. Something impulsive, something new, but most of all, something nice. Something that did not benefit Henrietta directly, which is something that she was having a hard time with. Growing up with nothing had made her crave everything. Her employee's called her "selfish, penny pinching, mean" and a few other things she didn't want to remember. Well, today was going to be a little different.

There was a tentative knock on her office door. "Come in," she called out.

The man who walked into her office would never have made her list of potential employees. His hair was too long, his clothing too used and his face too tired. He had his hands in his pockets and an anxious expression on his face. He waited just inside the doorway for her to speak.

"Please sit down Mr. Butler." The man carefully took a seat in the plush leather chair directly across from her. "I understand you're looking for work." It was more a statement than a question.

With a startled look on his face, Sam Butler stammered out something he hoped sounded intelligent. He had received a phone call early this morning asking him if he could please come to a meeting at the new plastics plant that had just opened. After saying yes he could be there the caller had abruptly hung up leaving Sam to wonder why he'd been called. The lady in front of him seemed formidable. She looked like she was in her late fifties and the frown she wore seemed like a permanent fixture. She was looking at something on her desk and frowning even more.

"Do you have a resume?" Sam's heart sunk. He wouldn't even know how to start a resume. He'd finished eighth grade and had worked full time supporting his mother and siblings until he'd married and then had worked even harder to support his own family. His jobs had never paid much but they had kept his family sheltered and fed. Now he had been without steady work for almost a year. The welfare lady had already paid them a visit. She'd been rude and condescending, making snide remarks about his lack of schooling. Sam had been so ashamed that he'd snapped at his children and his wife after the lady had left.

"I have been made aware of your unique qualifications and considering this letter of reference I was wondering if you'd be interested in a position I have available. I need a good solid employee to oversee production on the weekend shift. It's 40 to 60 hours depending on how many orders we fill during the week. The shift is Thursday to Sunday with Sunday being paid time and a half. Is this something you'd be interested in?" Henrietta spoke sharply, uncomfortable in her position as benefactor. This was her first unselfish deed in many years.

Sam was too astonished to speak. She was offering him a job! Not just any job, but supervisor. Why? He hadn't applied to any jobs here because he knew that they hired only educated employees. High school was an absolute must for anyone who wanted to work at H&H Plastics. Sam realized that the woman was still waiting for an answer when she began impatiently tapping her fingernails on the piece of paper in front of her.

"Yes ma'am, I'd be interested in that job. I can start right away." Sam knew he sounded too eager but he couldn't seem to help himself.

"Aren't you wondering about the pay?" Henrietta couldn't help but be amused at the man's reaction. He looked like he'd just won the lottery.

"Uh, yeah, I mean yes, of course." Once again he was stammering like a blithering idiot. She was going to take back the job if he couldn't control his speech.

"We pay an hourly rate of $17.40 for our supervisors. This goes up of course after your three months probation. I'm sure you'll do fine. Now unless you have any questions, I have a couple of things to get to. Please report to the front desk for work this Thursday and ask for Darren Spence. He'll be training you. Thank you for your time." Henrietta stood and shook the dumbfounded man's hand. As he appeared to be in a state of shock, she gently took his hand and led him to the door of her office.

Sam remembered that she'd mentioned a letter of reference. He didn't have any reference letters that he knew of. Who would have referred him to this woman? "Could I get a copy of that letter of reference?" he asked quietly.

Henrietta walked back to her desk and picked up the piece of paper she had been frowing at when he walked in. Sam took it from her outstretched hand and stared at it in astonishment. Written in crayon were the words, "my dady is the best dad in the wrld lov Berry".

"She left it on the bus. I've always wanted to meet the best dad in the whole world." Henrietta grinned and left. Sam walked outside still clutching the tiny piece of paper his daughter had made for him. He headed for a phone booth. It was time to call the best little girl in the whole world.