AUTUMN... now the changes (Part 143p)

AUTUMN... now the changes (Part 143p)

We spent a good bit of time discussing just where all the clothes might have come from and why they’d been discarded. Just about any of our ideas could’ve been a possibility. After Elle had tried on the things she liked we had to decide what to do with all the rest. Back when the minister of our church proposed having a child day care (Phyllis, the neighbor) in the basement the Vestry had been discussing the possibility of running a weekly thrift shop as a way to make some needed money. That idea dropped by the wayside with the start of the day care. Since it appeared that all the things were ‘quality’ we felt it would be a shame to just throw them away. My conscience wouldn’t let me use them for rags which was my reason for picking up the first box. Most of the clothes were seasonal (Spring/Summer) and when I suggested we keep them over the Winter Elle stuck her nose up at that idea. She took her choices inside and I started to box up the remaining ones when Barbara, from next door, appeared. She spied the clothes still on the table and asked what was going on.  Without asking she started going through them. I don’t think she was listening as I explained. Then, Elle reappeared and immediately asked Barbara if she saw anything she liked. She was holding a somewhat dressy blouse up in front of her and had a big smile on her face. I was somewhat surprised when Elle told her it was hers. The smile got immediately bigger. But Elle didn’t stop there and told her to see if there was anything else she might like. I stopped what I was doing and gave Elle a ‘hard’ look. It wasn’t that I had a real problem with the idea but just wasn’t expecting it.

What proved interesting was that Barbara used our downstairs bathroom to try some of the clothes on. She’d change and then come outside to ‘model’. Our kids were outside in the yard and came over to watch the 'fashion show'. One of the things she chose was a pair of peach colored knit shorts. I’d been surprised Elle hadn’t chosen them but when I saw them on Barbara I was glad she hadn’t. Even though the temperature was probably only in the mid 60’s she put them on and strutted around as if she was in a show. The kids loved it... and so did I. The shorts fit very tightly over her hips and, with her wearing band leg type panties, she didn’t have to bend over to give off a VPL. But, the best was yet to come.

Barbara left the shorts on as she went through the pile of shoes. Siting on the picnic bench, she’d slip a pair on and then, still sitting, would spread her legs out in front of her and then turn each foot back and forth a bit to get a better look at the shoe. What she didn’t realize was that when she did she was exhibiting a classic ‘camel toe’ in the crotch area of the shorts. She did the same thing with three different pair of shoes so I got quite a view. I can’t give you a reason why she chose to view the shoes while sitting but I was glad she did. I don’t remember what all she ended up with but when she was leaving Elle told her to send her sister, Mo, over. By the time she was done there wasn’t that much left as I was able to get it all in one of the original boxes and with room to spare. With no agreement as to what to do with it I decided to take it to the second hand shop run by the church we’d attended when we lived in the mobile home. We’d shopped there a lot when things were really ‘tight’ for us and I thought it was a way to give something (even if it really wasn’t ours) back.

Elle let me know the phone was ringing and when I answered it was Rex, the property manager at the sailing club wanting to know where I was. For all intents and purposes the club had been closed since the last weekend in September with the water, phone and electricity turned off. The only thing left to do was to nail up the storm windows across the front of the building and I'd told him I’d help... but with the excitement of the found clothes I’d forgotten. It was about 2pm or so when I headed for the club. Rex wasn’t very happy... in fact he was downright mad. It was a three person job and he let me know he and his brother had other things to do other than sitting around waiting for me. It took about two hours and by the time we were done we were friends again.

There had been no way for Elle to reach me so she was a bit perturbed with me when I walked in the kitchen. I could smell supper cooking so it wasn’t because I was holding her up on that. Then she told me we’d been invited to Ginger’s house with some of the others from the ”group” that had orchestrated the ‘new blood’ on the school Board and that Barbara had volunteered to baby sit as a thank you for the clothes. The only thing was if we didn’t want her she had a party to go to and needed to know as soon as possible. I wasn’t in much of a ‘party mood’ about then so just shrugged my shoulders. That was not a smart thing to do because from that time on all I got was a “cold shoulder” from her. Elle phoned over to Barbara’s to let her know but Phyllis answered. She took the message but asked if she could stop over after we’d eaten. Elle thought that somewhat strange because she wasn’t all that friendly to begin with but said it was OK.

About 7:30 pm we heard a knock on the kitchen door. We’d left the patio light on so she could have some light to guide her. As I’ve described her, short and stocky, she reminded me of a fire hydrant. Walking in, she handed Elle a plate of something. It was reminiscent of her last visit. I was reminded of a saying my father had used many times... “Beware of Greeks bearing gifts” even though I knew she was German. she insisted Elle take a peek. They were home made brownies using real German chocolate.  We invited her into the living room but she said she preferred the kitchen so we sat at the table. She started by asking about the clothes her girls had brought home. We explained the best we could which seemed to take the ‘edge’ off her attitude a bit. Then she really surprised me (us) when she asked for a “”Big favor...“ This really caught me by surprise. I sort of held my breath when Elle told her that we’d try.

To be continued...