EasyRory
JUB Addict
Chapter Twenty-Six - Marlee
With the spring thaw in the weather came thaws in relationships. Fairfax and Tommy Lynn seemed to be back to normal, whatever that state of equilibrium IS for them. Whether the new 'normal' includes sex, I can't say – well, I COULD say, but I won't. Alright. Yes, of course they're doing whatever it is they get up to. Thank God. At last. Fairfax has stopped making me feel so guilty about denying him; and in the nick of time. I was about to relent.
And Willis and Roy seem to be friends again. I hope it didn't have anything to do with that special bit of nastiness in the pink dress. Remember her? That kind of nastiness had to be cured by a massive dose of penicillin. I tell you, the things a mother has to endure!
And it's not as if girls are any easier. As I was telling Luna just the other day, Emmalene is having adventures of her own. I just hope she is being careful. A baby would be the easy problem. Today there are all these exotic diseases! Willis's little problem wasn't that exotic, but after that little experience she had with … I can't say his name. Mike. There, I said it. Anyway, she has since been meeting all these 'interesting' men at school, some who aren't from Virginia or even from America, and having it off with most of them to hear her tell it. And just why does she have to TELL IT? In MY generation we did it, but we didn't talk about it. Not incessantly like these younger folk. And the DETAILS you get - at dinner even!
“I swear, Luna, the bee-sting pie I made for Easter dinner almost put her into an orgasm of recollection over some Ethiopian dish a strange man had prepared. A mother likes her cooking praised, but Luna, I tell you, she was absolutely squirming in her chair. Even Fairfax noticed and he never notices anything.”
“I'm so glad we're friends again,” Luna said. It sounded a little pathetic to me, but at least she seemed sincere. I am after all a friend worth having. In this case, however, the comment turned out to be prefatory to a pointed question. “So what about that physical therapist you hired? I hope your back isn't giving you trouble again.” Luna winked at the end of her sentence.
“Why, Luna … he's a tennis coach. And my game is getting much better.”
“Uh-huh, and where do you practice?”
She thought she had me. As if! “Why, in the barn, of course. Since we stopped the conversion, the open end is perfect for half-court.”
“And the tack room is perfect for …? 'Fess up, Marlee.” My silence betrayed me. “I knew it! Is he as good as Mike?”
“No … well, maybe … in a different way.” I felt the rush of heat to my face. “And he's very grateful for left over bee-sting pie. He's very hungry most times. Voracious, even.” I winked shamelessly at her. She can get me to tell her TERRIBLE things!
“You always did make a good pie, honey.” Luna coughed quietly. “Which brings me to a little problem of mine ...”
“Cooking?”
“No, Forrest.” She usually called him Smith; whenever she called her husband by his first name, it meant trouble. “I was alone in my room. Pretending to sew but doing nothing, to tell the truth. And he burst in WILD-EYED, with that blunderbuss he has hanging over the mantle in his room. Remember the one? I thought it was an antique! Left over from the revolution or something? 'Where is he?' he demanded and shot the curtains when a breeze moved them. His dementia is getting worse, I'm afraid.”
“Sad. What about the curtains?”
“Why, I had to take them down. There was no hiding a hole as big around as a barrel. And the fabric cannot be matched. I'll have to find something NEW. And that is such a trial ...”
“Has there been any reason for his suspicion?” I waited for her answer. “You can tell me you know. You're the only one I share these things with.”
“Nothing regular. Not like your tennis coach. There was a delivery man from that drug store in Warrenton. You know the one?”
“Indeed. He's a cutie.” I'm not one to flirt with store clerks, but this boy's blond hair was irresistible. You almost HAD to touch it.
“Cute, Marlee, but very reluctant. I practically had to block his way out the door. And he wasn't all that good at anything either. I mean, when they struggle with a single button ...” She sighed.
“Your aubergine peignoir? Such a pretty thing with your coloring; but as I recall it's a big button, Luna.”
“He wouldn't even have had to open it, if he'd been a REAL man.”
“You sound like Renee La Gerbille, thinking they're all gay.”
“He spent a LOT of time on his hair when we were done. More time than he spent on the other business and that's a fact. I thought he got that tousled look naturally. It turns out he puts a lot into it. He used some of my Estee Lauder mousse and then COMPLAINED that it made his hair look darker. Is that maybe a LITTLE gay?”
“Well … How much did you tip him?”
“An amount appropriate for the delivery. That's all.” A smug look appeared on Luna's face. She does like a bargain.
“You know I saw that Yolanda Hamilton woman at Neiman's the other day.” It was a way to get the subject back to Mike.
“Is she still messing around with our favorite carpenter?” Luna asked.
“I don't know. I was going to ask you.” That fact that Luna didn't know was astonishing; Luna knew everything. Could she be keeping quiet deliberately?
“You know what? I think I'll invite Mizz Yolanda to the next Goose Creek Preservation Committee meeting. I understand her husband has enough money to rebuild the Panama Canal. And there's the occasion to ask her.”
“Luna, you wouldn't!”
“Ask her? Or invite her? She'll come, she'll talk, and she'll never return. Goose Creek is not her sort of thing.”
“You make her sound calculating ...” I smiled and then laughed.
“And we're not? … Marlee ... My dear … By the way, could I have your tennis coach's number?”
Luna is one of a kind, when she's not drinking. I'm so glad we're friends again.
With the spring thaw in the weather came thaws in relationships. Fairfax and Tommy Lynn seemed to be back to normal, whatever that state of equilibrium IS for them. Whether the new 'normal' includes sex, I can't say – well, I COULD say, but I won't. Alright. Yes, of course they're doing whatever it is they get up to. Thank God. At last. Fairfax has stopped making me feel so guilty about denying him; and in the nick of time. I was about to relent.
And Willis and Roy seem to be friends again. I hope it didn't have anything to do with that special bit of nastiness in the pink dress. Remember her? That kind of nastiness had to be cured by a massive dose of penicillin. I tell you, the things a mother has to endure!
And it's not as if girls are any easier. As I was telling Luna just the other day, Emmalene is having adventures of her own. I just hope she is being careful. A baby would be the easy problem. Today there are all these exotic diseases! Willis's little problem wasn't that exotic, but after that little experience she had with … I can't say his name. Mike. There, I said it. Anyway, she has since been meeting all these 'interesting' men at school, some who aren't from Virginia or even from America, and having it off with most of them to hear her tell it. And just why does she have to TELL IT? In MY generation we did it, but we didn't talk about it. Not incessantly like these younger folk. And the DETAILS you get - at dinner even!
“I swear, Luna, the bee-sting pie I made for Easter dinner almost put her into an orgasm of recollection over some Ethiopian dish a strange man had prepared. A mother likes her cooking praised, but Luna, I tell you, she was absolutely squirming in her chair. Even Fairfax noticed and he never notices anything.”
“I'm so glad we're friends again,” Luna said. It sounded a little pathetic to me, but at least she seemed sincere. I am after all a friend worth having. In this case, however, the comment turned out to be prefatory to a pointed question. “So what about that physical therapist you hired? I hope your back isn't giving you trouble again.” Luna winked at the end of her sentence.
“Why, Luna … he's a tennis coach. And my game is getting much better.”
“Uh-huh, and where do you practice?”
She thought she had me. As if! “Why, in the barn, of course. Since we stopped the conversion, the open end is perfect for half-court.”
“And the tack room is perfect for …? 'Fess up, Marlee.” My silence betrayed me. “I knew it! Is he as good as Mike?”
“No … well, maybe … in a different way.” I felt the rush of heat to my face. “And he's very grateful for left over bee-sting pie. He's very hungry most times. Voracious, even.” I winked shamelessly at her. She can get me to tell her TERRIBLE things!
“You always did make a good pie, honey.” Luna coughed quietly. “Which brings me to a little problem of mine ...”
“Cooking?”
“No, Forrest.” She usually called him Smith; whenever she called her husband by his first name, it meant trouble. “I was alone in my room. Pretending to sew but doing nothing, to tell the truth. And he burst in WILD-EYED, with that blunderbuss he has hanging over the mantle in his room. Remember the one? I thought it was an antique! Left over from the revolution or something? 'Where is he?' he demanded and shot the curtains when a breeze moved them. His dementia is getting worse, I'm afraid.”
“Sad. What about the curtains?”
“Why, I had to take them down. There was no hiding a hole as big around as a barrel. And the fabric cannot be matched. I'll have to find something NEW. And that is such a trial ...”
“Has there been any reason for his suspicion?” I waited for her answer. “You can tell me you know. You're the only one I share these things with.”
“Nothing regular. Not like your tennis coach. There was a delivery man from that drug store in Warrenton. You know the one?”
“Indeed. He's a cutie.” I'm not one to flirt with store clerks, but this boy's blond hair was irresistible. You almost HAD to touch it.
“Cute, Marlee, but very reluctant. I practically had to block his way out the door. And he wasn't all that good at anything either. I mean, when they struggle with a single button ...” She sighed.
“Your aubergine peignoir? Such a pretty thing with your coloring; but as I recall it's a big button, Luna.”
“He wouldn't even have had to open it, if he'd been a REAL man.”
“You sound like Renee La Gerbille, thinking they're all gay.”
“He spent a LOT of time on his hair when we were done. More time than he spent on the other business and that's a fact. I thought he got that tousled look naturally. It turns out he puts a lot into it. He used some of my Estee Lauder mousse and then COMPLAINED that it made his hair look darker. Is that maybe a LITTLE gay?”
“Well … How much did you tip him?”
“An amount appropriate for the delivery. That's all.” A smug look appeared on Luna's face. She does like a bargain.
“You know I saw that Yolanda Hamilton woman at Neiman's the other day.” It was a way to get the subject back to Mike.
“Is she still messing around with our favorite carpenter?” Luna asked.
“I don't know. I was going to ask you.” That fact that Luna didn't know was astonishing; Luna knew everything. Could she be keeping quiet deliberately?
“You know what? I think I'll invite Mizz Yolanda to the next Goose Creek Preservation Committee meeting. I understand her husband has enough money to rebuild the Panama Canal. And there's the occasion to ask her.”
“Luna, you wouldn't!”
“Ask her? Or invite her? She'll come, she'll talk, and she'll never return. Goose Creek is not her sort of thing.”
“You make her sound calculating ...” I smiled and then laughed.
“And we're not? … Marlee ... My dear … By the way, could I have your tennis coach's number?”
Luna is one of a kind, when she's not drinking. I'm so glad we're friends again.




















