MORE SUMMER FUN... August (Part 73i)

One morning, as I was on my way out the door, Elle stopped me and handed me the keys to the station wagon. I gave her one of those ”what the hell are you giving me your keys for“ looks and she said that Millie, our next door neighbor had asked for a favor. I had no problem with that as she had watched the kids when Elle had been called in to teach and done it without compensation. What I didn’t like was the ”surprise“ factor, especially on my way out the door. What Millie wanted was for me to pick up a mattress that she’d purchased. I knew that her husband, Alvin, was in Texas for his work so just gave Elle another ”look” letting her know I wasn’t happy. I did tell her that I’d do it after work though.

We parked the station wagon on the West side of the trailer and off the street and when I got home that evening I parked it there. I was going to take the mattress off the roof and over to Millie’s but before I got it untied Elle was there to tell me to wait. I really hadn’t thought much about the whole thing, being preoccupied by work. However, this interruption got me to ask what was going on. Elle said she’d explain over supper so I followed her inside.

The mattress was for Janelle, Millie and Alvin’s older (and much prettier) daughter. As Elle started she asked if I remembered how Janelle had wet herself while baby sitting for us right after we’d moved in to the new trailer. I had to work hard at not smiling when she asked. Then she sort of reminded me of Janelle’s “accident” at the recent picnic. I really didn’t know where she was going with this but remembering Janelle in wet shorts was enough for the start of a bulge.

Elle and Millie had become really good friends and one of the things that they did together was to go grocery shopping. It was perfect for Elle because Millie could watch one the kids and Elle the other. They took turns driving which also worked well. A few weeks prior, when Millie was driving, Elle had decided, for some reason, not to wear even a partial package. When they left the grocery store Millie decided to go to a farm stand for fresh grown vegetables. Elle stayed in the car but before Millie was done Elle felt herself start to dribble. Knowing what was imminent, she stepped out of the car trying to hide between the car and the door. It wasn’t long before she was going full force. If they’d been using our station wagon Elle might’ve been able to get away with it because of the vinyl seat covers. However, Millie’s car had cloth seats and Elle had to tell Millie what had happened. I had thought that as close as they were that Elle would’ve told Millie about her “problem” by then but evidently she hadn’t. On their way home she did.

A little background on Alvin and Millie is needed here... Alvin was a throwback to the strong male who thought he knew everything about anything and who demanded complete control of the family. When the two of them were together you never heard much of anything come from Millie’s lips. For those of you old enough to remember the TV sitcom All in the Family... Archie and Edith Bunker... and how Archie would tell Edith to “STIFLE!” whenever she would offer an opinion... Well, this wasn’t a sitcom. However, when Millie was away from Alvin it was hard to shut her up. For me it was just babbling. Elle actually tried to listen.

Millie told Elle that Alvin had always held the girls on a tight “leash”. When he started having to go to Texas for weeks at a time the girls were able to manipulate Millie to get some freedom. However, Janelle got caught in her freshman year of high school and Alvin had really come down hard and scared her but, according to Millie hadn’t actually hit her. The result was that she wet her bed that night. Millie said it didn't start off as a problem but after any confrontation between Janelle and her father it would happen again. Millie managed to keep that from Alvin for quite a while but when he did find out he “unloaded” on her again. That only made it worse for Janelle as he accused her of doing it on purpose. Her punishment was that she had to sleep in her soiled sheets until the regular washday. That punishment made the situation worse and Millie said that Janelle was wetting about three times a week and that her mattress was “unsleepable”. She told Elle that she’d been putting away the coins from her shopping and had managed to get enough for a new one.

After hearing that I had an immediate dislike for Alvin. I really didn’t have that much contact with him so didn’t dwell on it and concentrated on the situation at hand. Janelle’s birthday was coming up and although it was not a typical present, Millie felt that she would appreciate it. The reason Elle held me up from taking it over to their trailer was that the girls were going baby sitting and Millie wanted it to be a surprise. Elle had some of the rubberized sheeting left over and wanted to give it to Millie to at least help protect the mattress when I carried it over. For my part I was disappointed that Janelle wasn’t going to be there.

In the almost four years Elle and I’d been married she hadn’t “ruined a mattress” There were some small stains but nothing major. When I went in to remove the old mattress I could hardly believe what I saw. I was somewhat used to the smell of stale urine but this was overpowering. Elle saw it as I carried it out and it caused her to ask Millie why she hadn’t put any “protection” over it and she just shrugged. As I put the new mattress in place Elle asked if Janelle wore anything to help keep the pee in place and she said no. I was listening to this dialog and wondering what the woman had been thinking by not trying to help her own daughter. I managed to get Elle’s attention and told her that she needed to show Millie what she wore. Of course Elle wasn’t too keen on doing that but I pushed her on it telling her that even if Millie didn’t pass it on to Janelle she should at least feel better for having tried to help.

Elle went home and picked out the least stained heavy cotton panties she had and a pair of plastic panties. It was time for the kids to go to bed and I volunteered to do it so Elle could go back over to Millie’s. I didn’t think she’d be gone that long and when the kids asked where mommy was I told them she was helping Janelle’s mommy. They like Millie so that pretty much satisfied them. It was an hour later before Elle returned... and without the things she’d taken. I asked how it went and she said she didn’t know. At least I felt good in knowing that we’d tried to help. Only time would tell if we did.

To be continued...