WINDING DOWN... Summer (Part 140a)
Rain and wind was
what I woke to that Saturday. On top of that the temperature was below
70 for the first time since June. It was a reminder that Summer would
soon be over, at least from a practical standpoint. Our geographic area
was a Summer destination with the population growing at least three
fold. Three out of four homes were nothing more than cottages and of
those almost a third were rentals. The ‘locals’ considered the Summer
season to run from the middle of June (when schools let out) until Labor
Day (with school starting right after). I was more than a bit upset
because with rain I couldn’t mow the lawn. Sunday was a full day from
dawn to dusk which meant I’d have to squeeze it in after work during the
week.
After my weekly trip to the landfill with the
garbage I decided to go check on things at the church. It was a good
thing because the undercroft hadn’t been cleaned up by Phyllis, the
obnoxious neighbor, and her day care center. I could’ve done what had to
be done myself but seeing that she wasn’t keeping her part of the
bargain made me mad and I decided to go to her house and confront her.
While at the church I checked on supplies and found we were low on some.
The church had a benefactor at the hardware store in the wife of one of
the owners. We were allowed to charge things up to $20 a month and she
would cover it. Stopping there would also give me a chance to catch up
with Sandy and to find out if her husband, Johnnie, had heard anything
about his coaching position for the upcoming year.
Seeing
Sandy in slacks was another reminder that cooler weather would soon be
upon us. I hadn’t seen much of her all Summer because she was working
full time. She looked good and I tried checking her out for a VPL as I
collected the things I needed for the church. Checking out I asked about
Johnnie and his status and I got a sour look on her face as my answer.
She said he was “out” and it would be announced at the open school board
meeting now scheduled for Tuesday night. I was surprised that Elle
hadn’t said anything about it. I asked if she and Johnnie were going to
attend and she gave me a thumbs down saying that all the new teachers
were supposed to be introduced. By then I’d given up on my quest for a VPL but
as I was going out the door I ran into (literally) Pete (from the
‘unmarrieds’ group) so stopped to say “Hi”. While we were chatting I
noticed Sandy, behind the counter, bending over to get a bag to put a
customer’s purchase in it and got my wish. I was pretty sure she was
wearing the ‘dribble panties’ that Elle and I’d made for her because the
crotch, with the extra layers of cloth, bulged out a bit. I smiled when
I saw it.
Pete had some very interesting news in that
Martin and Sabrina (my former neighbor) were now engaged. However, she’d gone back to using
her birth name, Lisa, at her father’s request. Back living with her
parents, Pete said she was a different person. No date had been set but
Pete thought it pretty funny that Martin was the “first to fall” of the 'unmarrieds'. I
asked about Bebe and he smiled but didn't answer.
I drove right by
my driveway and headed up the neighbor’s. Their car was there which was a
good sign. Barbara answered my knock. It was now getting close to 10am
and she appeared to still be in her nightgown which unnerved me for a
second or two. She was such a sweet girl and totally opposite of her
mother. Disregarding the nightgown, I had a very hard time reconciling
that difference almost to the point of wondering if she hadn’t been adopted. She
went and got her mother for me and before I could open my mouth Phyllis announced that Bill, her husband (and new principal), would be
constructing a clothes line if it stopped raining, and hoped that would make
me happy. That came out of the blue but it was sort of good news. Then,
before I could express my complaint about the condition of the church,
he appeared. It was the first time I’d actually seen him at the house
since the day he started moving in. He was almost as brusque as his wife
but he did take time to say hello and tell me his name, obviously
having forgotten about our previous meeting. He offered up the excuse of
being incredibly busy getting acclimated at the school and getting
things ready for the first day. I just stood there and listened. With my
focus now switched from the church matter to the clothes line I decided
to push that project and offered to help him construct the T-poles. I
was figuring that my involvement might insure getting the job done. He
readily accepted. Since I had a station wagon I offered to drive to
the lumber yard. I knew what we needed would fit better in it than
in a car.
Back with the needed supplies, I found that
I’d bitten off a little more than I bargained for. Bill didn’t have much
in the way of tools so I went and got mine. It was still raining so we
worked in the garage.. I said “we” but 90% of the effort came from my
input. I had the “T’s” attached to the pole and was about to put the screw eyes on
the cross bar when I asked when he wanted to put them up. He looked at
me with a blank stare and I pointed to a shovel leaning against the
wall. Without hesitating I said the holes needed to be at least three
feet deep but they had to be the same. I was waiting for him to protest
but he didn’t. He (possibly Phyllis) had come to the conclusion that
the open space where the tree that had been hit by lightning earlier in
the Summer had stood would be the best location. The ground was soft
from the rain so it wasn’t really all that hard but in watching him it
was obvious that physical labor was something quite foreign to him.
Barbara
came running out to tell him he had phone call. The look on his face
was one of pure relief. Barbara stayed for a few minutes asking me about
what I was doing. She, somewhat surprisingly, was still wearing her
nightgown but did have a sweater over her shoulders. When she asked her
question of me she squatted down to take a close look. As I proceeded to explain she ‘duck walked’ a few
inches closer and as she did I got an up close and personal view of her
crotch. Granted they were only for split seconds but it did grab my
attention.
Barbara didn’t stay long and when her
father didn’t return I took the shovel and finished up the holes
figuring that if I didn’t they might not get done. I dropped the two
poles in and dumped the dirt back in around them. They turned out to be
level enough for the naked eye that I didn’t bother to measure them. I
probably would’ve if they’d been mine. By then I was pretty wet and
decided I’d done enough and Bill could string the clothes line himself.
After collecting my tools and heading down the driveway I realized I
hadn’t done what I’d originally come to do and that was to ream Phyllis out about
not picking up the undercroft of the church. I hesitated for a few
seconds and then continued on back home.
To be continued...
2 comments:
Well, if you didn't get a VPL, you must have enjoyed the dribble panties "bulge" LOL :) sara
Sara... always!
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