Martha arrived home from work in a fluster. She had felt overheated all day, and hoped she wasn’t coming down with something. Mr. Gauge had sent her a contract to sign, and so her business was now officially on its way.
Martha made herself a nice cup of meadow tea. Sheryl wasn’t home, so she tried to call Moses that the contract had arrived. She was bursting to tell someone the good news. The Hostetlers had a phone in their main barn, but it rang out three times. Martha sat down on the couch and sipped her meadow tea. She felt dejected. Sure, she should have been elated, but she was used to having a whole community to share her triumphs and her disappointments. Now, she had no one at all with whom to share her good news. Martha had just found another drawback to being Englisch.
Martha did not want to call Moses’s mudder at her quilt store and tell her. That could be awkward. She had, however, called her daed’s business and told him, and he had seemed genuinely pleased for her and said he’d pass the news onto her mudder and her schweschder Rebecca, and to Noah to tell Hannah, Jacob and Esther, and Moses. Martha wasn’t sure her own mudder would be too happy about her news, but speaking to her daed had left her feeling awfully homesick.
Martha decided to make meat loaf with glazed ketchup over bacon strips for dinner. While she herself wasn’t particularly hungry, Sheryl always returned home after work in a ravenous state. Martha changed from her work clothes into jeans and a tee, all the while thinking that jeans were uncomfortable and wishing for her Amish dresses, and then groaned when she reached the kitchen. Sheryl had obviously been home earlier and had left a mess. There was an empty box of fried pork chop and gravy next to a plate that had most of the gravy and cheese-topped, mashed potatoes still on it. An empty and half crushed can of soda lay next to it.
Martha sighed and threw the can and the box in the trash, and then scraped the remainder of the food down the garbage disposal with a fork. What happened next, Martha had no idea, for suddenly the fork flew into the garbage disposal unit. The garbage disposal made a horrible, whirring sound, so Martha hurriedly turned off the garbage disposal at the wall switch.
She had been feeling hot before, but now her blood ran cold. Sheryl was generous with everything, her clothes, her jewelry, her make-up, and was quite laid back in nature, but the one thing she was obsessed with, was the garbage disposal unit. She was always offering dire warnings: Don’t put pasta or rice down the unit; don’t put potato peels down the unit; don’t put chicken bones down the unit.
Even the other day, Sheryl had wagged her finger at Martha and said, “Don’t put coffee grinds down the garbage disposal, no matter what anyone tells you. People say it’s fine, but it is not.”
It was a wonder Martha had ever been brave enough to use the garbage disposal at all, but lately she had been, although she drew the line at using the dishwasher. She was in the habit of taking everything out of the dishwasher and washing it in the sink. It’s just that the garbage disposal made it easy to clean up after Sheryl.
Now Martha stood there, her hands to her cheeks, horrified that she seemed to have broken the garbage disposal unit. It was her fault, so she couldn’t call the property manager and ask her to send a plumber. She herself couldn’t afford a plumber. What would she do?
Martha picked up her cell phone and called the Hostetler barn. No one had answered all week, but she just had to try. Again no answer, so she tried one more time. This time Elijah answered. “Elijah, it’s Martha Miller. Is Moses around?”
“Yes, I’ll go get him.”
A few minutes passed and then Moses spoke. “Hiya, Martha.”
“Hiya, Moses. I have great news. I’ve signed the contract for the chocolates.”
“Wunderbar!” Moses sounded genuinely pleased. After an interval, he asked, “Martha, is something wrong?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact. I’ve broken Sheryl’s garbage disposal unit. I dropped a fork down there, and…”
Moses interrupted. “Did you turn it off?”
“Yes, of course.”
“I’ll be right there. Don’t touch it, whatever you do.” Moses hung up.
Martha rubbed her hands together anxiously. Did Moses know anything about garbage disposal units? Sure, he was handy, but did he know anything about electricity? His mudder had electricity in her quilt store, but she was unlikely to have a garbage disposal unit there, and even if she did, she had probably never thrown a fork into it.
Martha sat on the sofa, feeling sorry for herself. What if Moses hadn’t answered when she’d called the Hostetler barn? Sheryl would have come home and no doubt would have been angry with her that she had broken the garbage disposal unit. Well, that could still happen, Martha thought, but she was relieved that Moses was coming to her rescue. No matter what happened, she would be all the better for Moses’ presence. She felt all alone in the Englisch world, without her support network that she had always taken for granted.
It seemed like an age before Moses knocked on the door, and Martha was overcome with joy to see him.
Moses frowned. “Why are you looking at me like that, Martha?”
“I’m just so pleased to see you.”
Moses beamed. “Well, show me to the problem.”
Martha laughed. “You sound just like a plumber.”
Moses chuckled too. “Not really, because I’m free.”
Martha thought for a moment about the Amish, how they always help their neighbors, and what a wide support network there is within the community. She wondered how Englischers managed to get on, as they were not so community oriented.
Moses leaned under the sink and unplugged the disposal. “Martha, can you pass me that quarter inch hex key please?”
Martha simply said, “Umm,” while looking through the tools, so Moses popped out from under the sink and retrieved the tool. He then disappeared back under the sink.
Martha peeped in. “What are you doing?”
“I’m rotating the hex key clockwise and counter clockwise to try to release the fork.”
Martha was impressed. “Sounds like you know what you’re doing.”
“Hmmpf,” was the muffled reply.
“Is it working?” Martha was anxious. “Sheryl will be home soon.”
Moses popped out from under the unit and stood up, holding a mangled fork.
“Oh Moses!” Martha flung her arms around his neck without thinking, and then jumped back, hugely embarrassed. Sheryl was always hugging her, Gary, and everyone else who came in the flat, and Martha had picked up the habit. Yet Amish weren’t likely to show affection in public, and she was beside herself that she had hugged Moses.
Martha stared at Moses, trying to determine his reaction, but he simply looked surprised. “Sorry, I’ve become an Englischer.” Martha forced a laugh, trying to cover up what she had just done.
“I’m not complaining, Martha. Hug me all you like.” Moses winked at her.
It was Martha’s turn to be surprised. Is he flirting with me? she wondered. The two of them locked eyes, and a strange feeling ran through Martha. She wanted to look away, but was unable to do so.
Just then, Sheryl burst through the door, dragging two large bags, both adorned with an interlocking G, into her apartment. “Hi Moses, Martha.” She hurried straight past them into her bedroom.
“Quick, the tools,” Martha said in a low tone. She and Moses went to the kitchen and packed away his tools. Moses turned on the water in the sink and fiddled with some switches, and then said, “It’s working fine now.”
“How did you know how to fix it, Moses? It’s electric and all. How did you know what to do?”
Moses leaned close to Martha and said in a conspiratorial tone, “It’s one of my secrets. I have lots of secrets, Martha.”
Martha suddenly felt anxious. Her palms felt sweaty and she wiped them on her jeans. Secrets? Could Moses mean he was dating Laura? Laura hadn’t said so, and she talked about Moses a lot, but then she also talked about Gary. What secrets did Moses have that Martha didn’t know about?