Maria smacks the alarm clock as it goes off. She shivers just before she goes back to sleep again. It was Saturday, and she was going to sleep in. The past few days have been boring at work. Her tubes finally came in, and she put the old-style radio back together and got it working right.

Then Mr. Cain bought a storage locker full of old-style pinball machines and old arcade video games. She knew they brought in money, so she was given the job to check them and get them working again. Then Gresham brought in several generators for his company to work on. He wanted her to refurbish them. According to him, they weren’t putting out the power they used to.

After she started taking them apart, she found out why they weren’t working right. The insides were eroded and covered in construction rubbish. She spent most of the morning cleaning them and seeing how bad the wiring was.

After the inspection and pricing how much the cost was going to be for her to rebuild them. She gave Gresham the cost. He approved the price and was willing to wait the two weeks to get them back. She knew most of her clients were willing to pay the extra cost and the wait time for her work.

She had a specialized dealership that installed radios and television sets came into the store and asked her to amp up the output on the factory radios he brought. She knew it wouldn’t take her long to increase the output on the radios. She had enough work to keep her busy for a while.

She sleeps for a few more hours. By the time she is ready to get out of bed. She is woken up by someone knocking on her apartment door.
She gets out of bed and slips her slippers on, looks through the peephole, and spots her grandfather. A smile appears on Maria’s face as she opens the door. “Grandpa, what brings you to my neighborhood?”

Ralph smiles when the apartment door opens. He remembers when Maria first moved into this apartment. It was near her work and on the bus line.

“Morning, sweet pea, I hope I didn’t wake you.” Ralph noticed how messy Maria’s gray hair was and the tired look on her face.

“You didn’t, grandpa.” Maria hugs her grandpa after letting him into the apartment.

Ralph hugs Maria back. She was more like his daughter than his granddaughter. He walks with her to the kitchen.

“Would you like a cup of coffee, grandpa?” Maria knew her grandfather was a coffee drinker.

“I’m good, Maria. Do you have anything planned for today?” Ralph watches Maria as she moves about the kitchen.

“Nothing I can’t do tomorrow, why? What’s up?” Maria puts a K-Cup into the coffee maker.

“I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind helping your ole grandpa today?” Ralph knew Maria would do anything for him.

“Of course, grandpa. Did grandma finally get you to do something you have been putting off?” Maria knew her grandma had a list of things she’s been wanting done around the house.

“How did you guess?” A smile appears on Ralph’s face.

“Just a lucky guess, grandpa. So, what does grandma want you to do?” Maria goes about fixing her coffee.

“Do you remember your old playhouse? Well, we need to tear that down and put up a gazebo for your grandmother.” Ralph knew his wife had been wanting one for a while.

“That’s a lot for just two people to do, Grandpa.” Maria wasn’t a builder like her grandpa and uncle Joey.

“Don’t worry, sweetie. Your uncle Joey and his sons are coming over to help build the gazebo.” Ralph knew his grandsons worked with their father doing construction work.

“God, I haven’t seen Terry and Charlie since the three of us turned twenty-one years old. Uncle Eddie took us out to a bar for our first drink.”
Maria had her first beer at a bar called The Neptune. It was owned by a fellow named Barry Marlow, a retired Navy SEAL.

It was located near Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek – Fort Story in Virginia Beach. Her Uncle Eddie was a former Navy personnel, just
like her mother. Unlike her mother, he was a Navy SEAL. He was also a member of SEAL Team Two.

“I did the same thing to him and your mother. Even though she had already enlisted.” Ralph had found out that his daughter had already gone ahead and joined the Navy when she turned eighteen years old.

“Is it a family tradition, grandpa?” Maria heads towards her bedroom to change.

“Yes.” Ralph watches as Maria disappears into her bedroom to change.

A few minutes later, she comes back out dressed in a pink farmer's bib overall. The t-shirt she was wearing under the overalls was light gray with Pepe Lue Pew wearing construction gear. She also had on a pair of worn work boots. Maria had put her hair into a ponytail, which bounced every time she walked.

“Really? A pink pair of overalls?” Ralph looks at his granddaughter.

“Hey! I like pink.” A pouty look appears on Maria’s face.

Ralph knew Maria had been different ever since the doctors discovered she had testicular cancer. He and his wife had been surprised to discover that she was allergic to artificial testosterone. After her doctor put her on estrogen and removed her testicles. She took to femininity like a duck to water.

Ralph just shakes his head, “Come on, sweet pea. Let’s go and get some breakfast.”

The two of them walk out of the apartment and down to his old pickup truck. Maria saw the pickup truck that her grandfather taught her how to drive. It was one of his older trucks that everyone in the family learned to drive. His newer one was his baby, and only he drove that one.

“So, how has work been?” Ralph knew Maria had been with Cain Electronics since high school.

“Steady. Mr. Cain went and bought a storage unit that has a bunch of old video and pinball games in it. I’m also rebuilding two generators for
Mr. Gresham. Plus, several other smaller projects.” Maria was one of a handful of people who worked or could rebuild electronics.

“I have to say, you inherited your mother’s talent.” Ralph knew his daughter was very talented.

They had her tested when she was younger and found out she had a high IQ. As for Maria, they never had her tested. But when Maria was in high school, she had a GPA of 4.5 and had a SAT score of 1540.

“How about my father? What did I inherit from him?” Maria looks towards her grandfather.

“You’ll have to ask your grandfather, Darrel, when you see him for Thanksgiving.” Ralph knew Maria was supposed to drive to Richmond to spend Thanksgiving with her grandparents up there.

“I plumb forgot about that grandpa.” Maria has bounced between seeing her grandparents for the holidays since she was left with her mother’s parents when she was a baby.

They weren’t too happy about the way her parents treated her. Whenever her parents were stateside, they got an earful from her father’s parents. They didn’t approve of how often they were gone and that her parents put their career ahead of their daughter. They were surprised when her grandparents told them about her medical condition.

Her grandfather stops at the Java shop to buy two cups of coffee and two bear claws for them on the way back to the house. When they arrived, Ralph opened the gate and backed his truck into the backyard. He stops and parks the truck, “Alright, sweet pea. Let’s get to work.”

“I haven’t finished my bear claw, grandpa.” Maria bites into her bear claw.

“Well, finish eating and let’s get busy.” Ralph grabs a pair of work gloves for Maria.