54
Mike had once discovered that if he lay flat on the landing between his bedroom and mine, he would be unseen by anyone looking up the stairs. But, if he stayed right there, he could hear nearly any conversation being had in the kitchen, the living room, and sometimes even the dining room.
Not that anything too exciting ever happened in the house that Mike hadn’t either instigated or participated in. But he’d said it was good to know just in case.
And, as any good big brother would, he’d told Joel about it too.
That was why I was unsurprised when I stepped out of my room and nearly tripped over my little brother, spread out in front of my bedroom door.
“Unless you hadn’t noticed, they aren’t back yet,” I said, stepping over him.
“I want to be ready when they get here,” he said, sitting up. “Come on, be a spy with me.”
“Not a chance.” I went down two steps. “Mom would tan your hide if she knew you were going to eavesdrop.”
“You aren’t exactly quiet.”
“I can be if I need to,” he said.
“Uh-huh.” I went all the way to the bottom of the steps and to the bathroom, grabbing my toothbrush.
Just then I heard the rumble of Frank’s truck and Joel hissing, “That’s them.” Without even thinking about what I was doing, I clambered up the steps, hitting the deck beside Joel and shushing him, trying not to giggle.
The front door opened and closed, a single pair of shoes clipped across the living room floor. The rumble of Frank’s truck sounded again and I could almost feel Joel’s disappointment. He got up from the floor and went to his bedroom, shutting the door behind him.
“You might as well come down,” Mom called up the stairs. “I know you’re there.”
“Sorry,” I said, popping my head up and looking down at her.
“Oh, I expected your brother.” She took off her earrings. “I was thinking of having some tea. Would you like some?”
We sat at the kitchen table, tea bags of chamomile floating in our steaming cups. Mom had changed out of her dress and wore her housecoat and slippers. The bright red had been washed off her lips and the false pearls unclasped from her neck and, I assumed, tucked back into the jewelry box on her dresser.
“Was the hotel nice?” I asked.
“It wasn’t as grand as I’d expected.” She sighed. “If anything, it’s grossly overpriced.”
“That’s too bad.”
“I’m sure it will be booked through the summer, though.” She bobbed her tea bag up and down in her cup. “Do you think Joel still hopes Frank and I will get back together?”
“I believe you know the answer to that,” I said, fishing my bag out of the cup with a spoon and twisting the string around it to squeeze out all the water. “Of course he does.”
“That’s what I thought.” She picked up her cup, blowing into it before taking a sip. “There was a time when I would have taken Frank back. It would have been hard, but I was determined I could have made it work out.”
“But you wouldn’t anymore?”
“Well, I didn’t say that.” She sighed. “Never say never. Right?”
“Do you still love him?” I asked.
Putting her cup down, she raised a hand to her lips and looked to her right. “That’s a hard question to answer, honey. If you’d asked me six months ago I might have said no without hesitating. Now I’m not sure how to feel about him.”
“Do you think he loves you still?”
“I have no doubt.”
“What if Frank wanted to come home?”
“I don’t know that he would,” she said. “But if he did, it would take me a long time to make up my mind. What if I couldn’t be a good wife to him? Sometimes I think I’ve been alone so long that I couldn’t be with anybody. I’ve grown too headstrong over the years.”
“You weren’t always headstrong?” I grinned at her.
“I told him tonight that I don’t want that divorce. Not for now, at least.” She put up her hands. “That’s not to say he’s coming back.”
“Are you going to talk to Joel about this?”
“I wouldn’t know what to tell him,” she answered. “I don’t want him to get his hopes up and I don’t want to break his heart.”
“Mike would know,” I said. “He always knows what to say.”
“Goodness, I miss him.”
“Me too.”
We sipped our tea until our cups were empty and then we turned off the lights and went our separate ways. At the top of the stairs, I put an ear to Joel’s door, trying to hear if he was still awake or not. All I could hear was a light, airy snore.
All he wanted was a normal family.
It seemed such a small thing to want.
And such a difficult thing to have.
Ho-Ho-Ho! Merry Christmas, Family!
I tried to send this out in time for you to get it right before Christmas. Did it work? Or am I late? Golly, I hope I got the timing right.
This week the guys in my hooch (just a funny word that means the shack we have the pleasure of calling home-sweet-home) got ahold of some red streamers and hung them up around our bunks. They had a little Christmas tree somebody brought with them from home, just about a foot tall, that they put in the corner with the smallest ornaments you’ve ever seen all over it.
It almost feels festive. We sure could use some snow to really put it over the top. I’ve been told that it never snows here. Too bad. These folks don’t know what they’re missing.
I didn’t get around to shopping for all of your presents. Don’t worry, I’ll bring a few things back with me when I come home next year. Joel, I asked if I could bring home a monkey for you. My commanding officer wasn’t amused.
But what I did was get a picture of me holding a monkey to send to you. Joel, you’re going to have to share with everybody, though. Can you do that, pal? We can’t have you bogarting the image of my good looks.
Well, I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas. Eat all the cookies you can (I hope some are coming my way too!), sing a few carols, play in the snow, and take pictures of every single moment and send a few of them my way.
Love,
Mike
PS: My fingers are all healed up now. Rats! Looks like I’ll be back on the dust-off in the next few days. Well, the busy work was fun while it lasted!