Rancho Tarzanadu: Manuel

Manuel (pronounced man-u-el...like a book you study, a manual) came to Rancho Tarzanadu years ago by way of Miss Linda's father, whom he met at the Van Nuys flying field for hobby plane enthusiasts. They took to each other immediately and became fast friends. Miss Linda's father had been studying Spanish, and wanted to practice what he was learning with a native speaker, so he would spend hours at a time talking with Manuel about Politics, World War II, the engine of his 1964 grey Pontiac, the best method for frying chicken, and various assorted other topics. They also took to playing lengthy games of chess for hours that sometimes carried into days (with breaks for meals, sleep, and bathing). These chess matches usually involved large quantities of Scotch on the rocks and grilled steaks.

Manuel was from an unspecified locale, or rather one that kept changing, specifically. Miss Linda had overheard him, over the years, tell various and sundry different people that he was from Spain, Mexico, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Argentina, Costa Rica, Venezuela, and Paraguay. Miss Linda never challenged him when she overheard him telling someone that he was from somewhere other that where he had said he was from the last time. She was sceptical of Manuel, but she also found him disturbingly charming. She was wary of him, but he annoyingly grew on her. His company made her father very happy, and her father was aging, so she wanted him to be happy. Manuel seemed harmless enough, although it did appear to her as if he was running from something. The background of his life was always changing and shifting, but the stories of his family remained constant, and he held great love for his family, whom he stayed in contact with, although they, too, were spread out all over the globe, and not always reachable by phone or internet.

A couple of years before Miss Linda's father died, he built Manuel a guesthouse on the half-acre of land on the hill below their house. Miss Linda's mother agreed to this because she had come to think of Manuel as a son. Although he didn't help out much around the house, he did sit in the kitchen for long periods of time while Miss Linda's mother would prepare delicious meals from her Southern Heritage cookbook. Manuel would enjoy a beer and possibly be persuaded to snap some beans or shell some peas while he chattered and snacked on hors d'oeuvres. He didn't do much yard work, either, but would stroll for hours in the backyard, seemingly deep in thought. He would examine growing things in minute detail, and capture strange looking bugs in glass jars to ponder, then let go, unharmed. He would talk to the animals and secretly feed the squirrels table scraps. Miss Linda's mother felt safer with a younger man on the property, and found his antics endearing. When she moved in with her new husband after Miss Linda's father had died, she made it clear to Miss Linda that Manuel would be staying on in the guest house, indefinitely. Miss Linda found this annoying, but reluctantly agreed, not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth. They would have separate quarters, after all, so it couldn't be that bad having him around.

Miss Linda would never have called herself 'Miss Linda', but Manuel started calling her that the day he met her, and the name stuck. She sometimes wondered if he called her that out of affection or irritation. Since she was moving in to the main house, she also wondered if he resented her returning  to her childhood home. She brushed these thoughts aside when they arose...why should she care what Manuel thought of her? If anything, she should resent him for weaseling his way in to her family! Although she couldn't help admit that she actually did like him herself. He was a charmer. And he seemed to have a gentle, kind heart. He made friends with her three cats, and one of them even took to sleeping in his guest house with him. This upset her slightly, but also made her trust him. He had charmed her scaredy-cat, the little grey striped tiger kitten she found in an alley, abandoned.

Manuel self-described himself as the 'Majordomo' of the house. He tended to wear a maroon colored smoking jacket, or military fatigues for some unexplained reason, but these were his clothes of choice. Miss Linda just rolled her eyes, shook her head, and went about her own business. In her own mind she thought of Manuel as the live-in house servant, although she realized quickly after she had moved back in that he didn't actually do much work. When she noticed something was broken or needed fixing around the house or property, she would ask Manuel to take care of it, and he would then hire someone to fix the thing and present her with the bill afterward.

Miss Linda and Manuel were very close in age (he was exactly one and a half years older than her) so they developed a brother-sister like way of squabbling and pushing each other's buttons. They also genuinely enjoyed each other's company, and would frequently take their meals together, listen to records, and have cocktails on the veranda at sunset on most evenings. She, like her father and mother, took to Manuel fairly quickly once she spent some quality time with him, despite her reservations. They became close companions and confidantes.

When Miss Linda told Manuel of her plan to take on borders to bring in extra money, he was against the idea at first, but when she explained that it was necessary to kept Rancho Tarzanadu afloat in these trying times and a way to stay there without actually having to work themselves, Manuel took a good look around his guest house and came to the conclusion that she was right. He solemnly vowed to her that he would protect her and keep things running smoothly on the property and with the new borders. Miss Linda thanked him, rolled her eyes, and went to place the ad.

It was time to start interviewing tenants.