The Chosen — 2025-11-11 (Patreon)

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Chapter 27: MORE THAN HOPED FOR by Devon Collier

Pretty much everything about today turned out different than I expected. And ultimately I ended up accomplishing a whole lot more than I hoped for.

I’ll skip the first couple hours from getting up and making my way to The Greenpoint YMCA to the office of Habitat Housing in Brooklyn. I had decided to skip the day-labor scene and focus on my missing-documents problem. A full belly and a full tank of gas give you some breathing room.

I walked in and a man and woman were at a desk near the entrance. He looked like a football linebacker and she looked like a model. They seemed clearly to be a couple.

He looked up at me and smiled. “May I help you?”

I guess I was a little surprised. “Um… you don’t look like a receptionist…”

He laughed and she said, “Which one of us?”

I realized I was off to a bumpy start. “Neither of you. I’m sorry… I don’t really know what I expected.”

The man nodded. “Actually, there’s no receptionist, but I can probably help you.”

The woman kissed the man’s forehead, then she approached me and offered to shake my hand. I took it and she surprised me with a firm, professional handshake.

“Tia Thomas. I work at Hudson Memorial Hospital, and I’m probably late for a meeting.” She turned back to the man. “See you tonight?”

“Yes, ma’am! Shay’s counting on us keeping her company for a while.”

Tia left as the man stood. Likewise, he shook my hand.

“Eric Marten. I’m betting you’re not here because you have a house that’s about to fall down on you. How can I help you?”

“You’re right about not having a house.” I told him about the fire and losing my IDs and home. “A staff dude at the YMCA said I should come here because you guys do a lot of work with homeless people, besides just helping with housing needs.”

Eric nodded. “They do. I don’t actually work here. But I work for someone who can point you in the right direction.”

I was confused, but I followed him.

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He led me toward an open door where a woman in a red blouse was sitting. As I walked up, she was fussing with papers and looked distressed. There was something a little peculiar about her mannerisms, and something utterly stunning about her appearance. I try to restrain thoughts about how pretty someone is because it seems pretty shallow, but I couldn’t really help myself.

“Ms. Ryder… Shay…” Eric said as we got to the doorway, “Devon Collier… newly homeless and no IDs except a driver’s license and a McDonald’s gift card.”

I whispered, “I have my debit card, too.”

Eric gave me a shoulder slap like we were on the same football squad. “Debit card, too, then…”

Shay looked up and I swear every muscle in her face relaxed. Looking back, I just have to pray I wasn’t staring like an idiot.

“Come in… sit down…” She seemed to relax and a genuine smile formed on her face. “I’m sure someone here can help you out. Do you mind explaining what happened?”

I went through my problems again… fire… lost IDs… Stepfather moved on…

“I got a call about a job I applied for. I explained I didn’t have the forms, but that I’d get them as soon as possible.” I shook my head. “They said they couldn’t wait, I couldn’t start without the I-9, so they would have to take the next guy instead.”

Shay was nodding. “I understand how frustrating that must have been.”

I shrugged. “It’s a law… I get it. I just don’t like it. I wish they could have waited, but I understand that, too.”

Shay got up from her desk and came around to where I was. She took a seat in an adjacent chair.

“I think I can help… I mean, Habitat Housing can help. I mean, I’ll help, too, but you know… never mind. Okay… so… I am the project manager for the houses we build and repair. I deal with the families we help, the contractors we hire, and all the volunteers…”

“I’ve heard about your housing work… I mean Habitat Housing’s work. The man at the Y said you have a program for homeless people, too.”

“That’s right. It’s called Stop-Gap Housing. It’s mostly for homeless families where at least one person has a job, but can’t afford housing. We start them in little minimal apartments, then work with them to get things in order so they can eventually move into housing on their own.”

I ran that all through my thoughts, then said, “I… guess I’m not a candidate. No family… no job…”

Shay’s eyes opened wide. “That’s not what I meant! And your needs are less, too… So… Look… I’m going to introduce you to Izzy Duffy. She’s the case manager for Stop-Gap. She works with people every day. She’s in the office today, too… just across the lobby.”

Shay led me out of her office… It was then that I realized Eric had been standing just outside the door the whole time. Arms crossed across his chest. He didn’t seem like a linebacker any more.

“Where to?” he asked Shay.

“I’m going to see if Izzy can help him get things started on his IDs…”

“Yes, ma’am… excellent. May I suggest something else?”

Shay looked at Eric and frowned. “You don’t have to act so formal just because someone we don’t know showed up. Suggest away… please.”

Eric smiled a little, but I could tell he was still in business mode. Not sure what business, but he was pretty serious about whatever it was.

“What if you call Tom Jenkins… I heard Izzy talking about those micro-apartments that gave him the idea for Stop-Gap Housing in the first place… There’s only four of them in use…”

Shay’s eyes got wide again and she smiled. “Oh! That’s a great idea! I’ll see if Izzy can call and set that up.”

“Ma’am,” Eric replied, “I think if you make the call, Tom would automatically say ‘yes.’ And Devon can work out paying back the rent once Izzy does her magic with the paperwork.”

By then I was in the office of another woman who I took to be Izzy Duffy, who Eric purported to be able to do magic. I think he was talking about her smile, because I think she could use it to cast spells on people.

As I talked to Izzy, I could hear Shay on the phone just outside the door. From time to time, Eric would say something and Shay would say something like “Oh, yeah, good point.”

Meanwhile Izzy was taking down information about birthday, last address, social security number, and then, she said, “What’s the name of the college? I’ll see if they have… like digital versions of anything with your application…”

Mind blown, honestly. She said she couldn’t make any promises, but she’d get to work on it immediately. We swapped cell numbers and she said we’d have to meet again for me to sign things.

“By the way,” she added, “I live in those same apartments Eric was talking about. I’m roommates with the manager… Addison… Tom’s a great man… He sort of came up with the idea for Stop-Gap Housing… That’s an interesting story for another time.”

At that point, Izzy looked past me and said, “All set?”

Eric nodded. “All set… We can move in now…”

Shay pushed past Eric, her smile beaming. “Where’s your car?”

“I left it at the Y. I took the bus…”

“We can drive you back and then go introduce you to Tom and Addison,” Shay replied.

Back to Eric… Between leaving the office and getting to the black Tahoe with blacked-out backseat windows, I figured out he had to be a security guard for Shay. I could not guess why a project manager at a not-for-profit had a security guard.

As we were getting in the Tahoe, a man in a plumbing contractor truck waved and approached. “What’s going on, Hank? Good morning, Ms. Ryder…”

Eric replied. “Taking Ms. Ryder on an errand…”

Shay also replied. “Good morning, Mr. Clemons… How are you?”

“All good… You still want me on the Long Island site Saturday?”

“If you can…” Shay replied.

“Kent Marlon going to be there this week?”

“Yes,” Shay answered. “He’s going to run the job for me. I’ll be in Queens.”

Mr. Clemons nodded. “Shay, I can volunteer the labor, but I need to get a check for the parts. Is Mia in the office?”

“She is… I’ll call her from the car…”

“Thanks…” Mr. Clemons headed inside.

Shay looked at me and gave me a cute smile and a shrug. “That’s what I do…”

She was fishing her phone from her backpack as Eric opened the door for her.

Looking at me, he said, “You can ride up front with me.”

I got in and looked over at Eric. “Did he call you ‘Hank’?”

Eric nodded. “I should have told you that was my name. Hank Johnson.”

I shook my head and furrowed my brow. “You look more like an ‘Eric.’”

“Hank’s an… alias… It’s kind of a joke, by now… My real name is Eric Marsten, like I said.”

Okay… let’s skip ahead to the apartments… Super new, super nice. There are three two-bedrooms around a big common area, then there are eight micro-apartments that share a smaller common area.

Shay and Eric walked me in, then we stopped as Shay pointed out the sofa, table, and kitchenette. “This is for everyone in the micros to use. There’s little refrigerators in each unit. Come on… I’ll show you.”

Eric and I followed her down the hall to the room I’d been given a key for. “This is yours, right? Number 3?”

I nodded and opened the door. Now, it was a little awkward but a whole lot more cute how she went in and showed me around. The whole room was no bigger than a dorm room. It shares a bath with one other micro unit. So, her whole grand tour could have been done from the doorway. But I have to say, her enthusiasm was great.

“Okay… so…” Shay shrugged and turned to Eric. “Did you give him my phone number?”

“No ma’am. Shall I give him the number to the team phone?”

Shay was shaking her head, pulling out her phone again. “Devon, what’s your number… I’ll send a text and then we’ll both have each other’s…”

I gave her my number and she started typing on her phone.

Eric moved toward her, “Shay, are you sure? We just met…”

I backed up a step. That’s how that felt!

Shay retreated a step from Eric—in my direction. I got the vibe that he had jumped into dad-mode and his little girl was about to touch the stove. I could tell he really cared for her, and I could tell she really respected him.

Shay looked at her phone, then at me. “I think it’s fine. Right?”

I looked at Eric. “It’s fine by me.”

Shay sent the text then we started out. I felt like I should walk them back to the Tahoe. Shay stopped to speak to the manager, Addison.

“Eric…” I said as we waited. “I gave Izzy all my data. Feel free to run whatever kind of background check you want. And I won’t bother Shay…”

Eric smiled and nodded. “Okay… let me give you my personal number. If you want anything, hit me up… And look… give it a couple hours and text Shay… just say, ‘Hey, thanks for what you did.’ It will mean a lot to her… and don’t freak out if she sends something back that feels…”

“Feels what?”

“I don’t know… She’s not good with text messages…”

Shay was heading our way. “I heard that, Eric! Devon, he’s right. I’m just weird when it comes to texting…”

They left as I tried to figure out what had just happened. Then I went back to my micro-apartment and took all of five minutes to unpack everything I owned.

My to-do list now includes finding out how much this place rents for. When I get a job, I want to know how much I’m going to owe.

But, pretty much everything that has happened since leaving the Y has turned out better than I hoped for. Maybe my luck will continue…

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