SPRING... some fun for a change (Part 42a)

The decision Elle made to live with Miss Bea was wonderful in just about every way. As strict and unreasonable as her previous landlady had been, Miss Bea was 180 degrees the opposite. It started with her willingness to go pick Elle and her things up when I backed out. I called Elle as soon as I got back to the fraternity. All she wanted to talk about was how nice she was. I didn’t have much in the way of coins for the phone so couldn’t talk all that long. The one important thing she had to say was that everything was going great. Even though her Easter break was to start on the upcoming Friday (Good Friday) she did ask if I could come down to see her the next day (Monday). I was more than willing, not having seen her in over two weeks.

The trip was only 10 minutes longer than it had been before and with a nice day and no traffic I was there in no time at all. I picked both her and her roommate up at their school. She introduced me to Barbara Ann and as I looked at her, with the exception of horn rimmed glasses, I saw almost a mirror image of Elle. Same height, same body, same color hair. She seemed very nice in the few minutes it took to get to the house. Elle never had to say a word to her as she got out of the car and left us alone as soon as the car stopped.

We sat in the car for I don’t know how long. I couldn’t remember Elle being that “chatty”. She was all over the place... Miss Bea to Barbara Ann to the school and back again. I couldn’t keep up. She and Barbara Ann “loved” Miss Bea. She said she was just “too nice”. She had two bedrooms and it was up to the girls to decide if they wanted to each have their own or to share a room. They had free run of the kitchen and could take incoming calls right up to 10pm. Basically, the house was there to be used. Then she told me that Miss Bea was doing the cooking, at least for suppers. I remember the smile on her face as Elle told about her own first attempt. Barbara Ann didn’t fare much better so Miss Bea stepped in to rescue them.

On Barbara Ann she said she liked her “a lot” but in spite of her looking somewhat like Elle, she definitely “was different”. They elected to have their own rooms and Elle said she was glad she decided to do that. Barbara Anne was engaged, just like we were, and her fiance, Brad, was doing graduate work in the small city about 30 miles to the South. She’d chosen to teach in this town for the same reason Elle had... to be close to her boyfriend. She came from a small town, just like Elle, and was more comfortable with the small size of the school rather than one in an urban or city enviornment.

As I’d written before, the school was almost a mirror image of the school in our home town. Elle really liked the teacher who was her mentor because she was actually letting her “teach”, unlike the previous mentor who she said “hovered” over her. Elle was really excited over the fact that she was going to be able to write the actual lesson plans for the week that followed the Easter break.

A knock on the window made both of us jump. It was Miss Bea telling us that supper was on the table. I couldn’t believe it when she motioned for me to come in as well. As it turned out, I was pretty much the dinner table conversation. Miss Bea and Barbara Ann sure had a lot of questions for me. I felt like I was on the witness stand. But I learned more about Miss Bea as well. To help fill her week she volunteered at the hospital in the town that Elle last taught in. Her usual days were Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and half a day on Sunday. She was active in her church which just happened to be the same denomination as Elle and I. Because of that I could see that she was expecting us to attend.

I quickly learned that she had bartered a “deal“ with the girls. After discovering their ineptness in the kitchen, Miss Bea was willing to help them out if they were willing to help her out. They were to do the general light housekeeping and all the laundry in exchange for her doing the cooking and paying for 1/3 of the grocery bill. In the eyes of the girls this was more than a fair ”deal“. It was also expected that they would wash the dishes on the nights that Miss Bea cooked. So, when we were finished eating I ended up in kitchen drying the dishes. It was like old times for Elle and I. I asked about watching TV and, other than a few favorites for Miss Bea, it was up to the girls what they watched. Since it was my first time there and a school night to boot, I couldn’t think of a reason why Elle and I would leave even though I really wanted to have some personal time with her. It had been a long time since we’d really been together, alone. So, we ended up watching some TV and I finally left to go back to my campus around 9pm. On the trip back all I could think about was the upcoming weekend.

I debated with myself about going back after my classes that Friday. Elle had the day off as it was Good Friday but she had told me that she’d promised to help Miss Bea at her church but she didn’t know for how long. Barbara Ann’s boyfriend was picking her up Thursday night so Elle was going to be alone. But, not knowing that much about Miss Bea and what kind of oversight she was exerting over the girls I decided to wait until Saturday. It was a good move. Saturday was one of the days Miss Bea volunteered at the hospital and by the time I arrived she was gone. To me, that was GREAT news! But I got too enthusiastic, too soon.

To be continued...