Chapter 1

Mona entered the shelter with an air of confidence. She was sure that she would find what she was looking for here. Or actually, who she was looking for. There were many shelters in Atlanta, but this one was for men only, which suited her purposes. The shelter was really just a large room, about the size of a gymnasium, lined with cots. She guessed there were about 50 cots, maybe more. Most of the cots had a man lying in them, some asleep but most were awake. When Mona stopped to look around the room, the men were staring at her. Well, no surprise there. Mona was an attractive woman. She was five foot seven and weighed around 170 pounds. Which was almost 30 pounds more than when she was a skinny high school cheerleader. That was a dozen years ago, and Mona had matured since then. The extra weight was evenly distributed, giving her an ample hourglass figure. Her full bust was balanced by her full hips. Her hair was auburn and her eyes were emerald green.

A young man with a priest’s collar came over to Mona and said, “Good afternoon, I’m Father James. Can I help you, ma’am?”

Mona introduced herself and said, “We may be able to help each other. I heard that you ran this shelter for homeless men. I want to hire a man as a caretaker for my home and grounds. I’m rather wealthy and my home is actually a mansion. If I can find a decent man who is just a little down on his luck, I’ll hire him and also let him stay in the guest house. And, of course, I’ll make a donation to help the shelter.”

Father James thought a bit and said, “There are a few here that might work out for you. If you’ll walk with me, I’ll introduce you to them.” They headed into the sea of cots and stopped at one with an older man sitting on it. They chatted for a while and he seemed a little disoriented. Mona wanted a man that was younger and clear headed. And skinny, although she didn’t tell Father James that. They chatted with a couple more men, also not what Mona wanted, then stopped at a cot with young man lying on it. He had the good manners to stand up when Mona approached. “Mona, this is Darryl. Darryl, this is Mona. She is considering hiring a man from here.”

Since Darryl was standing, Mona was able to get a good look at him. He was about five feet ten, and skinny, almost painfully skinny. Mona hoped it wasn’t because of some kind of drug addiction. Sandy hair, brown eyes and no tattoos, which she took as a good sign. They talked for a little while, with Darryl telling them that during COVID he’d lost his warehouse job and never found another that paid more than minimum wage. Which wasn’t enough to pay for an apartment, car and food. With COVID cutting back even on minimum wage jobs, one this led to another and here he was in the shelter. Mona told him that she was a widow, and she wanted a man to help take care of her mansion. She offered him the guest house and fifty dollars per day. Darryl liked the idea that he would have his own space in the guest house, no need for a car, and minimal expenses. Maybe after a few months of this, he would have saved up enough for a car and an apartment.

They agreed to the arrangement and left the shelter. All Darryl had was a small bag with a few clothes and toiletries. Mona told him not to worry, she had clothes that had belonged to her late husband that she thought would fit him. In truth, she knew that they would be a little big for him. But if things went the way she intended, he would grow into them. And then out of them. But first things first, she needed to get him settled in. They got into her Mercedes and she drove them to her mansion.