A CLEARING HORIZON... with just a little fog (Part 67c)

Being dark there really wasn’t much to see except the head and tail lights of the cars around us. It was rush hour for sure as we just crept along. For me the silence made the situation even more uncomfortable but I just didn’t know what to say to start a conversation. We’d been driving for a while when all of a sudden the cars ahead stopped suddenly. I jammed on the brakes and, without seat belts, Judy slid forward just barely getting her hands on the dash before she hit it. When I looked over at her I couldn’t see her face at all but asked if she was OK. It took a few seconds for her to answer and she said that she wasn’t but also offered that there was nothing I could do to help. The answer made me curious and as I’d just heard her speak more words in just those few seconds that I’d heard since I set eyes on her I decided to pursue it.

Slowly she warmed up and began to tell me about her day. She’d flown out of DesMoines Iowa which was about 70 miles from where she (and Lance) lived and had grown up. She’d gotten up at 5am to catch a plane to Chicago. She told me that not only was this the first time she’d ever flown, it was only the third time she’d ever even been to DesMoines. In Chicago she had to change planes. She told me she was scared to start with but the airport in Chicago frightened her even more because it was so large and there were so many people. And, because of that, she got lost in trying to find where the next plane she was to be on. She finally got someone to help her and she barely got on the plane before it left. Then they sat on the runway for a long time. When they finally got airborne the plane started “bouncing” (her word). Then, all of a sudden, the plane “felt like it was falling out of the sky”. She said everybody started screaming. When the plane stopped falling it did it so suddenly that she said she felt like she was being “pushed through the seat“. The the plane continued bouncing until it landed.

I let her go on without interrupting and tried to see her face as she talked. The whole time she just looked straight ahead. I think I made a comment along the lines of ”It sure didn’t sound like fun“ and when I did she turned to me and she blurted out that it wasn’t and she even ”threw up“. After some silence I asked about what it was like living where she did. She said that other than school all she did was work on the family farm or at her uncle’s business. I asked her what she did there and she said that after graduation she was a bookeeper there. And then she added something like ”Thank God for my uncle“. I asked her what she meant and, in all seriousness, said she hated working on the farm and her uncle hired her to help get her away from doing that.

Thankfully we were almost back home by then. But, I’d managed not to bring up the fact that she (and Lance) were going to have to live with Elle, I and the kids for at least one night. With all that she’d been through I didn’t have the heart (or nerve) to tell her about the situation. When we reached the trailer park I made a pass through the display lot hoping to see my new unit but there was nothing there. Now I HAD to tell her.

It was obvious to me that she was very emotional and I really didn’t know what to expect from her when I did. I remember wishing that Lance was there. As I summoned up the courage it dawned on me that she’d not mentioned the trailer even once the whole time we’d been together. I really don’t remember what I said to start with but I remember being pretty blunt. I know she turned towards me and I’m not sure if she uttered something like ”Oh no!“ but it was some sort of plaintive uttering. I sped through the whole story of our new trailer and how it was ”stuck” somewhere and how I’d hoped that it had arrived while I was picking her up. I don’t think she heard a word of it. I did hear her say that she “just couldn’t do it” and had her hands in front of her face. I told her that it would all be just fine and that Elle was waiting for us. She wanted to know if Lance knew about the situation and I had to tell her that he did. She then uttered something that I didn’t understand and put her head down on her chest and started shaking her head from side to side. I didn’t know what to say so started driving to the trailer.

Once there I saw that I'd have to move the cars so Lance would have a place to park when he arrived. I got out and the dome light came on. I looked back in at her and she was crying again. I went around and opened her door but she said she couldn't go in and was quite adamant about it. Through her sobs she asked if I knew what time Lance was getting off duty. I told her I thought it was midnight. She looked up and I heard her curse. I knew I couldn’t leave her in the car so I told her, quite forcefully, she had to come in. After a few seconds she slowly got out. I led the way to the door and went up the stairs and as I walked in Elle gave me one of those “where have you been?” looks that was somewhere between being mad and worried. I didn’t answer but turned to see where Judy was and saw her standing at the bottom of the steps. I stepped back out and gave her my hand which she, reluctantly, took. Once inside, as soon as the kids saw a stranger they went right for Elle. The older one grabbed Elle around one of her legs and the baby screamed to be picked up.

To be continued...