“Too bad, but that means we can hang out some tomorrow.”
“Sure, swing by in the morning. I’m sure my dad will have something for us to do.”
“It might be a little later. If you are going to be busy tonight, I’ll probably hit a club in Cape and stay there,” Frank said. “Do you remember Karen Sue? Her kid brother fronts a local band. He’s playing at a club in town, and he’s pretty good.”
“Let me guess. You are staying with Karen tonight?”
Frank shrugged. “Sometimes I hang out with her when I head up to the Cape.”
“So me bailing doesn’t hurt your evening all that much?”
Frank laughed. “Aw, come on. I’d rather go drinking with you, but if you have to stay home, I’ll call Karen and see what she is up to.”
“Good luck.”
“Thanks, and give your mom a hug for me.”
Frank turned and walked over to his delivery truck.
I got back in my car and headed toward the house I grew up in. The trip across town was familiar and quick, although each time I drive through the old streets, I am surprised at what is and is not there. The old elementary school is there. I could probably walk in with my eyes closed and navigate the halls. But there is a new high school just a few blocks down. It’s been there for fifteen years now, but it will always be the new high school to me.
The town has swelled and shrank in size since I left, but the new housing areas never reached the south end of town. The only house I lived in until I left for college sat on a wide plot with fallow farm fields behind it. The city limits were just on the other side of the Johnson’s property next door, and past that were the heavy woods and hills which made up this part of the Mark Twain National Forest.
I noticed the soybeans on McKay’s farm were starting to sprout as I pulled into my folk’s driveway. There used to be three houses across the street from us, but old man McKay had bought them and cleared the land to expand his farm. Frank used to live in one of those houses and he was my best friend from as early as I could remember.
My car door had just swung open when I saw Dad turn the corner of the house. He was carrying a bag of trash out to the can.
“Davey,” he called as I stepped out of the car. “Glad you made it.”
“Me too, Dad,” I said. “I’m looking forward to resting this weekend.”
“A shame Lexi and Emma couldn’t make it down, but school is school, I suppose.”
I opened the back door to the car and pulled my bags out. I hadn’t told them about Lexi wanting a trial separation. I had told Dad I was coming down to check on them, but I really did want to get away from the situation with Lexi for a few days as well.
“Now, about your mom,” Dad said as he finished throwing the trash in the can. “She seems to think you are coming home from college. She says Diane will be by to see you tonight.”
I sighed and shook my head. Diane was my mom’s cousin. She had died of cancer twenty years before while I was still in college.
“So it’s that bad, huh?”
“It’s a bad day. They don’t happen all that often when she keeps taking her meds, but they are getting more frequent.”
“I picked up her prescription, they’re in the glove compartment.” The curtain at the front window moved as I was saying it.
“She’s watching, I’m sure,” Dad said. “I saw your eyes move to the front window. She knows there is something wrong, but she won’t admit it. Don’t bring it up if you don’t want to be yelled at.”
“Okay,” I said. I reached in and grabbed the pharmacy bag from the front seat and started to open the glove compartment.
“Don’t,” Dad said. “Just bring mine in. We’ll get hers later.”
“She’ll see?” I asked as I crawled out of the car.
“Yeah, if she thinks we slipped them in, she’ll find them and throw them away.”
I shook my head and picked up my bags. Dad shut the car door for me and we started walking toward the house.
“This way,” Dad said as he headed to the garage.
He pressed the button to lift the door and led me in. He reached up on a high shelf and took down an old coffee can. He showed me the multiple medicine bottles that were in there.
“Six dollars worth of aspirin there, but it’s better if she flushes those than her meds,” he said with a wink. He took one of the bottles out and put the can back in its place.
“Here,” he said as he slipped the bottle in my jacket pocket. “You’ll see how good she is at this. She could have been a pickpocket in New York.”
I laughed as Dad opened the door to the kitchen and led the way in.
“Guess who’s here?” he asked.
“Who?” Mom responded, as if she hadn’t been looking out the door.
“Hi Mom,” I said as I stepped up from the garage. “Good to be home.”
“David!” she said as she came over from the stove.
I saw the confusion in her eyes as she looked at me in genuine surprise.
“I…” She hesitated as she tried to make sense of it. “I’m so glad to see you. Did Lexi come?”
“No, Mom, she had to stay in Chicago. Emma had a school event this weekend.”
“Emma. Yes, how is she?”
“She’s doing well. She told me to give her grandma a kiss for her.”
I kissed Mom on the cheek and saw Dad shaking his head. It must really be a bad day if she had forgotten her only grandchild.
“Well you take your bags to your room and I’ll get dinner set. Diane…,” she paused. “Diane would have been 68 this year. I’m sure she would have loved to have met Emma.”
“She sure would have, Mom,” I said. I carried my bags through the kitchen and down the short hallway to the room I grew up in. Dad had converted it to a guest room several years before, but it would always be my room.
I set my bags on the bed and felt at the pocket of my jacket. The bottle was gone. She must have slipped it out when she hugged me. No wonder Dad had to trick her into taking her meds.
I hung up my jacket and made a quick trip by the bathroom before I headed back to the kitchen. Mom was pulling a chicken out of the oven. She had stuffed it with her traditional sage stuffing and had a green bean casserole and a pan of sweet potatoes covered with marshmallows already on the table. A plate of sliced tomatoes sat on the counter. Mom always loved sliced tomatoes with any big holiday meal. I had seen the pumpkin pie cooling on the rack when I first came in. She really thought it was Thanksgiving. She was probably in a panic when she couldn’t find the turkey and had made due with a whole chicken.
“Looks great, Mom.”
“Thanks, David. I don’t know what came over me this morning, I was just in the mood for a Thanksgiving-like meal.”
“I don’t know why we don’t eat like this all the time,” I said.
She smiled, but I could tell she was embarrassed. I hated to see her like that, knowing something was wrong but not being able to see it until the moment had passed. She was in a good state now.
Dad said grace as we sat around the table and caught up on news. The spring rains had come early and the fields looked good so far. Dad had planted a few tomatoes, but with his condition, he didn’t think he could handle the full garden this year. Mom asked all sorts of questions about Emma and Lexi. It was hard not to bring up the problems, but I answered as much as I could.
The evening went by too quickly. I was glad I had told Frank I needed to spend time with my folks. As much as I had come down to help them any way they needed, they were helping me just as much. Just being away from the stress and pressure of my job, my marriage, my life was worth the eight hour drive and the extra vacation day. Tomorrow was Saturday and I would be able to help Dad with the repairs on his toolshed and could take them into Wilcox to stock up on any supplies they needed.