INTO THE FUTURE... with hope (Part 94c)

As February arrived Elle’s pregnancy continued to go without much trouble (other than her incontinence) and she continued to respond to calls for her to substitute teach. I’d guess it averaged about twice a week. Janice (Jan’s sister) continued to babysit the kids. She’d usually arrive around 8:30am and eat breakfast with the kids. One of the things she enjoyed doing was to give updates on Jan’s ”love life“, as she called it. I got the definite impression she was jealous. Brig (Buddah) still hadn’t gotten a full time job so a lot of the time that he and Jan spent together was just ”parking“.  Regardless, I was happy for her.

At work, Annette had quickly allayed Mrs K’s fears about her mobility. That, and the fact that she actually had a personality, won everybody over in short order. The PT’s no longer had to answer mundane phone calls or get up from what they were doing to hand out flyers on job openings. Her acceptance within the workplace pleased me to no end... and certainly pleased her. 

In the month that I’d been working with Sonny on the revision of thee Police exam I’d been able to partially break through the ”barrier“ that he’d built up around himself causing him to be called SD (strange duck) behind his back. Without going into the boring details suffice it to say that I found he had a real interest in ice hockey. Unmarried and unattached he’d go to all the home games of a regional hockey team. Out of the blue he asked if I’d like to go to a game with him. I’d had an interest in hockey when I lived in the city but hadn’t paid much attention after moving back home. I was smart enough to realize though, that for Sonny to invite me was a big step and decided to accept even though it’d be a tough ”sell“ to Elle. Long story short... I enjoyed the game and his company and it was time well spent. I honestly believe that it showed in the increased productivity of our work on the Police exam that followed. Sonny even talked of inviting me again.

He lived in a rented apartment in a town about fifteen miles East of the County Center. The road he had to travel was known to be dangerous. There were three lanes but the center lane was not a turning lane. Heading East, for the first five miles there were two lanes. Then, quite abruptly, it changed so that Westbound had two lanes. The lines on the road indicated the change but, at night they were hard to see. Signage on the sides of the road also indicated the change but this was a period in time where reflective signs were considered too expensive. At night, at speed (50mph) they were impossible to see. On a regular weekday night with no snow, sleet or rain, Sonny got hit, head on, by a delivery truck.

Sonny was dependable. I don’t remember him ever being late even when it snowed. So it seemed strange when he didn’t show up and there was no call. Calls were made to his apartment with no response. A couple of us were concerned but nothing concrete came of it. When the office still hadn’t heard from him the next day Wilson went to Mrs K. She was amazing. It seemed like she knew everyone not only in town but also the surrounding townships. Using her resources she was able to find out about the accident and where he was. When she told the PT’s about it she told us that she was still working on getting his condition. It was quitting time before she did. Sonny was alive but just barely. In the ICU he’d been given last rights. It was depressing news. Through one of my racing contacts I was able to locate where they’d towed his car. Even though it was dark when I saw it it was hard to believe he’d survived. The left front wheel was pushed back into the cabin of the car as was part of the motor. It really shook me up.

That was the first negative thing of the new year. The second had to do with Elle. It was in early February when the nurse at the school where Elle was teaching that day walked up to her and asked if her doctor had commented on the ”bulge“ on her windpipe. When Elle said ”No“ the nurse told her to call him as soon as she got home. As you can imagine Elle’s effectiveness for the rest of the school day was gone. Again, long story short... Elle had a growth on her windpipe. It was deemed serious enough for surgery to be scheduled almost immediately even though she was into her eighth month. The tumor was benign but it had gotten into her thyroid gland and the gland had to be removed. She came through the operation without a hitch but the recovery time in the hospital was almost four days. The kids stayed with her parents and, back in those days, visiting hours were limited so I continued to work and got to see her at night.

One unexpected benefit was that I was able to get to work on the new motor. Her recovery stay included the weekend so I got a lot done. ”Crash“ estimated that it would be running in just a few hours if the race car was there. Here it was only the middle of February and I was almost ready to go (race). It was a good feeling. 

Working with "Crash" on a Saturday I got the added benefit of seeing the wash line. There were two distinct sets of panties right out behind the garage for ready viewing... one set was bikinis and the other was full briefs. I already knew who the bikinis belonged to. Bikinis were still fairly new to me so I spent more time looking at them than the others. It was a pretty sight to see especially in the bright sunlight. Getting a few fleeting glances of Alicia (the daughter) just added to my delight. The only thing that would’ve made it perfect was to get to see the panties up close and personal but I knew there was still time.

To be continued...