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means more money I’ll be dumping into this place that I hadn’t anticipated.
    “Ah, well.” I toss my tool bag down and go back to the truck to unload the scraps of wood from today.
    My ten year plan includes learning experiences for at least the first three flips or so. I didn’t expect the learning experiences to eat away at my living expenses so quickly, though.
    Or Spencer’s.
    My phone rings, distracting me from taking a nose dive into self-reflection, and for once, I’m happy to answer it.
    “Hey, Frank.”
    The hustle and bustle of daytime San Francisco goes on in the background before my uncle responds. It always sounds so sunny there. He always sounds so sunny.
    “How’s the flip going, Carter?” His voice blares with enthusiasm that I can tell is accompanied by a wide grin. A distinct contradiction to my father, his brother.
    “It’s . . . going,” I abandon the wood for now. “Thanks again for the tip by the way.”
    “Glad to help. Anything you need?”
    About five thousand dollars? “Nah, I’m good, just ran into a few snags.”
    His laugh is deep with experience from the other end of the phone. “Comes with the territory, son.”
    He’s right. Even if I’d known before I started, how much this profession would cost me, I still would have done it. I love building things. Always have. In fact, it was Frank who first got me interested in construction, technically. He introduced me to what a hammer and nails were capable of one summer and it’s stuck with me ever since. He taught me to make a birdhouse, the epic first creation of an anxious eight year old.  I was so excited when I got home, that I ran straight to dad to show him.  Of course, he was too busy prepping for a case he had the next day to even look at what I was holding up for him see. That was the first time I recall wishing Uncle Frank was my dad. So when he calls me son, I really don’t mind.
    “Carter?”
    “Sorry, Frank, what was that?”
    “I said, maybe we’ll find you a flip out here next. It’d be great to work with you.  See how much you’ve learned without me hovering over your shoulder.”
    I stroll through the front room of the house and pull the drapes closed but stop when I see movement outside. A slow smile grows. It’s Iris Alden, carrying what looks to be a card table. And a ton of other somethings she can’t quite manage with finesse.
    “That’d be great Frank. Hey I gotta run, okay? I’ll talk to you soon.”
    “Yeah, no problem Carter, keep me posted.”
    “Will do.”
    I blindly end the call as Iris struggles to carry everything in her arms. Has this woman ever heard of taking two trips anywhere?
    I should get started on some smaller projects I wanted to get done before the weekend is over but instead, I head outside. In part, I’ll admit, because I’m curious as to what she’s got going on now but mostly because I’m in desperate need to talk with someone other than family. After spending the entire day alone in that drama room, she’s the only person I really know here.
    Maybe I’m bored. Or maybe I enjoy giving Iris Alden a hard time. Either way . . .
    “Whatcha got there Iris?”
    I catch up to her as the sky begins to darken a little more. Her shoulders slump as she pauses her trek. It bothers me because I don’t know if her shoulders are slumping because of her day in general or specifically because I’m here now.
    “Going to play some cards?”
    She smiles as though she’s humoring me. That I like.
    “I guess you answered your own question, huh?” She starts to go again, quickening her steps.
    “Want me to walk you?” I follow along.
    She gives me a side look so I try to play it off, jokingly. “Ya never know who you’re gonna run into this time of night.”
    She stops cold this time. “It’s Friday night, Mr. Blackwood.”
    “Really,” I say. “Carter’s fine.”
    “Do you know what Friday night means?” she says, like I haven’t said a word.
    “It’s the