Roberto, Part 1

Julian

Wanting to take care of other people is almost certainly in my DNA. My parents met when they were nurses at the same hospital. My Mom once told me that my Dad was the only male nurse who worked there and practically everyone in the nursing staff had a crush on him. She had felt lucky to be the one who got to marry him.

When I was in high school and I got bored in the summers, I would help the elderly people who lived in our street with little chores like doing groceries or mowing the lawn. Some of them felt lonely and just wanted someone to chat to as well. It felt more satisfying to me than going to the movies or hanging out at the mall. Over the years this venture of mine was growing bigger than I had ever anticipated. So by the time I graduated high school I had no interest in going to college as I was setting up a business that I was no longer able to do by myself.

Now I was 33 and I had 8 employees for Lend-A-Hand, an organization that assists people who want to keep living independently even though they may not be able to achieve all tasks by themselves anymore. Clients are mainly older people, although every now and then there have been people with a disability asking for our services.

Setting up this organization is something I am incredibly proud of and after 15 years I have not tired of doing the work. The office work may not be as inspiring, but to keep myself motivated I take on clients that might be slightly tougher. Mrs Janet Lee had been quite a tough client with her dementia getting worse and worse. But I really felt like I had bonded with her once she was no longer hostile every time I appeared at her doorstep. Her family had recently decided to move her into an assisted living facility after all, which was quite sad. I was going to make sure to visit her there to hopefully help the transition go smoother.

It was the first week without Mrs Lee and there were a few new applicants I could do an intake with.
“Jamal?”
“Yep?”
“Do you have time to do an intake this week?”
“Oh, yeah. I discussed this with Terry. I already planned an appointment with… what was her name?”
I looked at the three new applicants’ names.
“Samantha Wells?”
“Yeah. And Terry was going to go to Mrs McDowell’s, though not sure if he called her yet.”
“So that leaves Roberto Hernandes?”
“Yeah, he’s in Riverbank, so we were like, nah… Let’s leave that for Julian.”
I laughed.
“Wow, lazy much?”
Jamal laughed, though we both knew it wasn’t true.

I called Mr Roberto Hernandes and asked if it was a convenient time for me to come over so we could do an intake and see how we could be of service. He seemed very cheerful on the phone and happy someone was coming over. I said bye to my co-workers and stepped into my car outside of the office.

I drove off of the parking lot of our office on North Carpenter Road in Modesto, California, and took a left. At 75 degrees (24 Celsius) today was a relatively cool day for September, yet it was mostly sunny. The drive to Riverbank was easily under half an hour which I didn’t mind at all. I turned on the radio and listened to a Hispanic summer bop. I was in a great mood.

The road made a turn to the right and became West Briggsmore Avenue. I was wondering what this new client would bring. If he were to be a relatively easy client, I could pass him on to a less experienced employee. He was just asking for help with cleaning, the dishes and groceries on the website form, so that just might become the case.

At the lights I took a left onto Tully Road. I had noticed that Roberto Hernandes was a relatively young applicant. Most of our applicants are quite old, but Roberto was 29, four years younger than me. So I wondered if he recently had gotten a disability or what would be the reason he needed a hand. That’s what was always quite cool about doing an intake with a new client.

I passed the Big Valley Grace Church that my parents had made me go to when I was a kid and I knew to take the second right into Pelandale Avenue. Jamal, Terry, and I were the only ones who were doing actual intakes, they had been with me from the start. They were the most experienced and I considered them just as good as me when it came down to estimating if a client would need more than they were letting on and who would be a good fit for them.

The road turned into Claratina Avenue and it became clear I was leaving Modesto. As I was able to afford them, thankfully my choice of employees became larger and larger as more clients came in. I also had some volunteers willing to help out, which was great, though they had to go through a vetting process. A diverse group of people to choose from was very important in this line of work though, as you want the client to click with the person.

At the traffic circle I took a left onto Coffee Road, which really brought me into the farmlands area. It was an area that definitely had its charm. I crossed the river and I realized it had been a while I had left the city. Work had kept me so busy, I had to remind myself to take time off soon.

At the end of Coffee Road I took a right onto Patterson Road. The sun shone directly in my face. I put on my sunglasses. I turned the radio off and looked for directions on my GPS. On the left I passed a lot of palm trees and foliage, which I knew must hide some incredible mansions.

I was now driving into Riverbank. There were lots of stores as it felt like I had immediately entered the center of the city, as the road turned left into Callander Avenue. The road turned right again and became Atchison Street. I had never been here before. I crossed a bridge and again it was a street with restaurants that looked quite cozy. The Del Rio restaurant was very apparent with its large signage. My GPS told me to take a right in front of the restaurant and then said I had reached my destination. I parked and saw that number 6807 was right in front of me.

I took off my sunglasses and checked how I looked in the rearview mirror. I then took my bag and got out. It was a small building with a few apartments. When I got to the right door, it was opened by a strapping young man. First I noticed his beautiful brown eyes, his brown hair and dimples as he smiled. It was almost immediately after that I saw his wide shoulders, broad chest and muscular arms in a blue tanktop. I was very much into keeping fit and going to the gym myself, so I could sort of estimate his measurements. He was maybe an inch shorter than me, and I stood 5’10’’ (178 cm), but he must have been a good 185 pounds (84 kgs) of muscle. I was very impressed.

He shook my hand and said his name.
“Roberto Hernandes, nice to meet you”, he said.
“Oh, hi, I’m Julian Copeland, nice to meet you too!”
He stepped back and invited me in. I could spot no physical disability at first. I realized he might have been the one to fill in the form on our website, but he could very likely have been filling it in for a parent or a neighbor. Though part of me was hoping Roberto himself would be the client.

I looked around the apartment and noticed it was pretty small, probably 1 bedroom. For someone who needed help around the house, it didn’t look particularly dirty. I had definitely seen much worse in my career.

Roberto

He sat on the sofa and crossed his legs. The black short shorts crept up his muscular, hairy thighs and I had to keep myself from looking at them for too long. I spontaneously started to sweat.
“Thanks for meeting me here at such short notice!”, I said, taking the clipboard out of my bag.
“That’s OK, I’m just here all day these days”, he answered, smiling, but with a sadness in his tone.
“All right”, I continued, not addressing it for now, “I have a few questions about how Lend-A-Hand can help you in the best way possible. Would you mind if we go over these together?”
“Sure!”, he said.
“Is it you, who is… you know… the client?”
“Yeah”, he replied.
I was hoping he would say more, but he didn’t.
“And it’s mostly housework that you need help with?”
“Uhm, yeah.”
“So…”
I realized it wasn’t common that I had to ask this question, as usually the reason that our help was asked was apparent. So I had to think about how I was going to ask it.
“So what is the reason you aren’t able to fulfill these tasks yourself?”

He sat up on the sofa and looked a little uncomfortable.
“I, uh…”, he started. “It’s a bit of a recent thing for me”, he said. “I just got a diagnosis for, uh, narcolepsy?”
He looked at me as if to ask if I knew what it was.
“Is that a sleep disorder?”
“Kind of. So, during the day I am very sleepy all the time. Like, it’s so bad that sometimes I fall asleep out of nowhere. When something is a little boring, tasks like doing the dishes… I just go out. Like, sometimes for like an hour.”
I nodded, happy to be getting some answers. I wrote a few things down, but kept eye contact because I could tell it wasn’t easy for him to talk about.
“But it’s also repetitive things like lifting weights that cause it to happen as well.”
“That covers a lot of things!”
“Yeah! Cooking, driving… And the doctor said, uh… that I also have cata-… cataplexy? So it looks similar, but it’s not the same thing. I will go like totally limp, but I’m still aware. Like, I can hear stuff. And those are brought on by specific triggers. Like when something funny happens, or I get emotional, like any intense emotion basically.”
“So you don’t pass out, but…”
“No, not during those. Like, it’s just that my body goes limp.”
“I understand. And when did you hear about this?”
“Last week.”
“Is there a cure?”
“They’re starting me on medication, but it may take a while to figure out what works for me. And even then I might not be fully cured but I’ll be functioning better, I guess.”
He looked at me with a gorgeous dimply smile that also gave me a bit of an awkward expression.

“You must have been so happy you finally got a diagnosis though.”
“Yeah, I did struggle with this for quite a while. I was thinking I was just lazy, you know. And other people thought that too.”
I nodded.
“Like, it’s good to know now. But…”
“It’s still a bit shitty?”
“Huh. Yeah.”

“OK, so this is completely new for me”, I admitted, “but from what it sounds like, this must have had a major impact on your life.”
“Yeah… Yeah, I’m afraid so.”
“Can you give me some examples?”
“So, like, the red flag for me was when I was doing the dishes and I just knew I was about to fall asleep, but it was too late… you know? And I fell back and hit the back of my head on the floor.”
“Ouch.”
“Yeah, it wasn’t good. I had to get stitches. So I stopped doing dishes.”
I looked at him and felt sorry for him.
“So like, if the things around the house can be done for me, that would already make such a difference.”
“But that’s not all, right?”
“No, I… Well. I was only realizing this recently, but because I was always falling asleep at the movies or at the bar I was avoiding putting myself in situations like that. So my friends rarely get in touch with me these days. I’ve avoided the gym and started working out at home. And driving isn’t safe for me, so…”
“Do you feel isolated?”
“Yes.”

I nodded. He didn’t even hesitate on that last question. He is 29, he should be in the prime of his life, but it sounded like he was mainly sitting at home to avoid falling asleep or passing out in public.
“You know, we can help with that as well.”
“Really?”
“Yeah! Lots of our clients feel isolated or lonely. And when someone is coming over to help them with things anyway, they might as well be a person to talk to.”
“Cool.”
“But in your case, I feel like you need someone who will take you out and about as well.”
“Well… I don’t know, I feel a little insecure about that.”
“Why?”
“It’s just embarrassing, you know. People assume I’m drunk or something.”
“Yeah, I can imagine that. But I’ll be there to explain what’s happening. And you’ll get to see the world outside of this apartment.”
He smiled.
“I’ll try.”

“So how have you managed so far if you can’t even drive?”
“My Dad has been great helping me out around here and getting things for me. But…”
Roberto shrugged.
“There’s a limit to what you can ask of friends and family when it comes to this, right?”
He smiled.
“Yeah, exactly.”

Roberto

We talked some more and he showed me how he’s been able to cook for himself.
“It’s meal prep, you look like you know a little about that”, he said.
I chuckled at what was seemingly a compliment about my physique.
“It’s basically how I used to do it when I was still able to go to the gym. One cooking session a week, keep it interesting by putting on some music or something. When I start feeling fatigued, I turn off the gas and sit down until I feel ready to continue.”
I smiled at how he’s been developing coping mechanisms for his condition to keep him functioning at some level. I felt like we were bonding.

When we sat back down, I was thinking about how many visits a week would be appropriate for Roberto.
“You know what, I’m going to put you down for three times a week”, I said.
“What, really? Man, that makes me so happy.”
His smile became really wide.
“Yeah I thi-“
Suddenly Roberto’s smile disappeared, his mouth fell open and his eyes rolled up.
“Roberto?”
His body went slack and fell backwards in the sofa. His chin rested on his chest which slowly continued to rise and fall.

I didn’t know what to do. I realized that I had triggered a happy emotion in him. If I had understood it correctly, this meant he hadn’t fallen asleep but his body had just gone limp and he was fully aware.
“Roberto?”
With a sharp inhale he suddenly lifted his head.
“Yeah! Yeah, I’m back. Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. So what can I do when something like this happens?”
“Nothing, I’m afraid. Usually these emotional ones only take like 10 seconds.”
“Right. And these are the most common to occur in social settings?”
“Yeah. Unless we’re in a car. Or waiting in line. Something monotonous.”
“OK, I’m starting to get it”, I said.

“So anyway, I decided on three visits a week, which I will be doing myself. I can help you with the day-to-day stuff but I also think we should start doing things so you aren’t homebound by your condition. I promise we’ll start small. And if at any point you don’t feel comfortable we leave and hang out at home. Sound good?”
“Actually, yes, I’m really very happy with that”, he said, though emotion didn’t really show on his face. Coping mechanism, I guessed.

After we planned my first visit, we shook hands and I left. On the drive home I was thinking about Roberto a lot. His beautiful face and his gorgeous body. It was the first time I had a crush on a client, and I had considered having someone else take him on. But Roberto was one of those clients who needed more than just some vacuuming done. And me and him were around the same age and had a similar interest; keeping fit. Which gave me an idea for the first thing to do together.

GO TO THE NEXT CHAPTER >>>