FALL... October (Part 75a)

Elle was in a ”tizzy“ about weather to have a birthday party, with guests, for Anne. At two years old she didn’t have any true friends. She played mostly with her sister, Jean, and her friend, Julie. Never knowing when she’d be called in to teach she figured it would be just her luck to get a call that day. She’d learned that once you made it to the top of the substitute list you just didn’t ever want to turn down a job or you’d go to the bottom of the list. Elle mentioned her concerns to Millie who told her that she and her daughters would step in and help if it came to that. So, that weekend we did the planning for it. One of the things Elle wanted was to have pictures. I went to get the camera and found it wasn’t there. I was puzzled and concerned. It was my grandfather’s good Polaroid camera. For the life of me I couldn’t remember the last time I’d used it. Elle didn’t even know how to use it so she wasn’t the culprit. If it was lost I knew my grandfather would be upset... very upset!

When Jay got in to work on Monday he was as happy as I could remember. He walked up to me and showed me a check. I asked what it was for and he said it was the money from the sale of his El Camino. As soon as he said it I knew where the missing camera was. I’d loaned it to him right before I left for the sailing championships so he could take pictures for a poster he wanted to use to advertise the sale. I’d had so much on my mind at that time I’d completely forgotten. When I asked him about it he apologized and said it was in his truck and he’d give it back at the end of the day. He also said he’d replace the film he’d used. At that point I was so relived to find out that I hadn’t lost the camera that I didn’t much care about the film.

When we left work that night we went right to Jay’s truck and he gave me the camera and a new pack of film. However, it wasn’t the same box I was used to. Instead of blue, white and gray it had colors on it. I looked at it and he said he thought I might like to try it. I knew that Polaroid had come out with color film but the cost was out of sight. I think it worked out to a dollar a picture. In any case, seeing the box I was anxious to try it out. Jay had to get going leaving me there reading the material on the new film. After reading it one thing I knew I’d like was that with the new film you no longer had to coat the picture with a gel stick. That was always such a pain.

I picked up the camera and noticed that there was a tab sticking out of one end. There was a little window on that end that showed how many pictures were left in the camera and it read 1. I was anxious to put the new color film in so just pulled the tab and put it on the seat. I opened the back of the camera, removed the old cartridge and slid the new one in. I couldn’t wait to get home to try it out.

As I stepped out of the car I had the camera all set to go. I walked in and found the girls seated at the table eating. As I remember it the flash scared them but when I pulled the tab and saw the result I couldn’t believe how clear the picture was but I didn’t want to waste any more what with the birthday party coming up. I’d left the camera case and all the junk from the film box in the car so went back out to get it all. Upon seeing the unopened picture lying on the seat I figured ”why not?“ and pulled it open. I truly couldn’t believe my eyes.

Even though it was black and white I knew it was a picture of Jo as soon as I saw it. What took my breath away was that she was in only her bra and panties. My heart was racing as I stood there staring at it. I knew that it had to have been taken over at the barrier beach as Jay had been back working over there on the weekends most of September. The big question was in what to do with it. Another question was how long could it last without being coated. I didn’t have any black and white film so didn’t have a coating stick. I didn’t know what to do.

It wasn’t quite 6pm and the downtown store didn’t close until 6. Looking at my watch I figured that if I jumped in the car and drove like a mad man I might just make the camera store. I didn’t even give a thought to telling Elle where I was going. I actually arrived at the back door after 6pm but found the manager was still there. I knocked on the door and, thankfully, it opened. I explained what I needed and he laughed. He ducked back inside and quickly returned with four small containers. He gave then all to me saying that there should be enough ”stuff“ left to cover at least one picture. As far as the picture was concerned I was relieved as I spread the gel over it. Now I had to come up with something to explain to Elle where I'd gone.

By the time I got back I’d come up with a ”line“ to feed Elle. I told her that Jay had given me the camera back with the new film but hadn’t given me the instructions. I told her that I’d gone back to see if they were in the trash at work. I was never sure when I’d give her a ”line“ weather she fully bought into it or not and this was another case of the same. I did have the instructions in my hand when I came back inside so at least there was some credence to my story.

I’d left the picture in the car but I was still in a quandary as to what to do with it. I knew that Jay would probably be happy to have it but I didn’t want him to know that I’d seen it. I lay in bed trying to come up with a way to give it to him but couldn’t. Of course I wanted it too. The big risk was in Jo finding that I’d even seen it. Knowing her as well as I did by then I knew she’d be devastated. By the time I fell asleep I’d pretty much decided that it needed to go with my stash of panties over at my grandfather's carriage house.

To be continued...