The House of Seven Mabels

Jane said. “Since I’m doing the driving, I’ll have a soft drink. It might make the ride home a little mellower.“
    Evaline waved at them from the door and approached. “This is on me. What do you ladies want?“
    “Do they have cold bottled water here?“ Shelley asked.
    With a laugh, Evaline said, “I’ll ask. What for you, Jane?“
    Jane said, “An RC if they have it. Otherwise, whatever you think.“
    Evaline was back a few minutes later carrying their drinks on a tray. A can of RC Cola for Jane, a bottle of cold water for Shelley, and a root beer foaming in a frosty mug for herself.
    “You’re not a part-time waitress here, are you?“ Shelley asked.
    “No, but I’ve waited my share of tables.“
    “Jane said you’re relatively new to Chicago,“ Shelley prodded.
    “I’ve been here about nine months. But too busy to get to know much of anyone. I inadvertently chose an apartment where most of the others are elderly women who eye my boots, jeans, and truck with deep suspicion. Haven’t had time to find a more congenial space to live.“
    “Where did you grow up?“ Jane asked.
    “All over Michigan,“ Evaline said. “In foster homes.“
    “Oh, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to pry,“ Jane said.
    Evaline pushed back her curly hair with an immaculately clean hand with practical short nails and said, “It’s not prying. Most of it wasn’t as bad as you hear. I was very lucky to spend several years with good people. The man was an English professor and the woman taught high school chemistry. They were in their forties and had no children, so they took me in. I was about eleven then. My mother had died of drink. And no one knew who my other relatives were. This couple treated me well. I learned good English and had chemistry forced on me. Luckily, I came to find it interesting.“
    “Did you spend a long time with them?“ Shelley asked.
    “Almost three years. Then the thing they most wanted in the world finally happened. The wife got pregnant long after they’d given up on ever having children of their own. I stuck around until the baby, a cute, fat little boy, was born. But it was obvious that they’d lost all interest in me. Understandable, of course. After six months I was just an unpaid babysitter, so I was moved around to lots of other people.“
    “Nice people, I hope,“ Jane said.
    Evaline shrugged. “Not many of them were. They were just in the game to make a little money, most of them. But because of the people I’d been with first, I realized I was tons smarter than most of the foster parents and the mobs of kids they kept. I was able to buffalo them. I think I downright scared some of them. When I got out of the welfare system, I decided I didn’t much want to be surrounded by kids and housewives cashing in on the social services. So with the money I’d saved from waiting tables, babysitting, and doing chemistry papers for the high school kids—that was really profitable—I went to trade school to learn a craft.
    “Learned all about electrical stuff first, which bored me senseless and frightened me as well,“ Evaline went on. “Then I tried carpentry, but didn’t have a gift for it. And it requires an awful lot of expensive equipment, even if you do love doing it.“
    “How did you come to being interested in Sheetrocking?“
    “Someone desperate hired me to sand. Everybody in the construction business hates that part. I figured it was well-paying work, but soon realized why it’s hard to get anyone to do it. It’s not the Sheetrock that’s hard to put up. Just takes accurate numbers and lots of muscle. The studs are there. It’s easy to measure and cut. It’s all just numbers. But the sanding part is a nightmare. Plain hard work that has to be done twice. The dust gets in your eyes, nose, and hair, and it leaves a trail of white dust all over your belongings.“
    “I’ll bet that’s when you started thinking back to your chemistry,“ Jane said.
    Evaline smiled. “Precisely. I spent all my free evenings in the library at the computer learning everything there is to learn about every kind of mortar. I’m boring you, aren’t I?“ she said with a laugh.
    “Not at all,“ Jane said. “I’m fascinated by the inside dope on why people choose what they do with their lives.“
    Evaline grinned and went on. “To make a long story short—well, a bit shorter—I was cruising the Internet for old structures that are still standing and suddenly discovered