|
So far I pointed out every door we walked by but I tried to avoid the storage closet next to Edith’s room. It didn’t work, as we walked by she said “What’s in hear?” I turned around and told her “Oh, that’s just storage, we keep some cleaning stuff in there but mostly just junk.” She said “Oh I see, not important, onward!” We kept walking and I told her about how my father had passed away and the memorial and how beautiful it was.
We walked up to my door and I opened it. We stepped inside, I said “This is my room, I spend a lot of my free time between here and the woods outside.” I guess I kind of like to be alone.” She smiled and said, trying to sound cool “I can’t believe you have so much stuff, this is pretty cool.” I nodded my head “Yeah, I guess we have a lot of money and I just buy the things I want.” She walked around my room a little bit. As she moved passed my computer I noticed the monitor was on and the chat screen was open. She was looking at my TV and games, back to the computer. I walked over and pointed toward my bathroom, “You should see how big the bathroom is, it’s great.” She said “Oh” and started walking over to the door. After she moved away I slid in and flipped off the monitor real fast. She poked her head in and said “Oh my! It is huge. That shower…” and she trailed off, she turned around and said “Michael, are you ok?” I felt my face flush and my brow wrinkle “Yeah, Im fine, how come?” She said “There is quite a bit of blood in the sink in there, did you cut yourself?” I stumbled over my words a little. I didn’t remember any reason for there to be blood in there. I didn’t cut myself and I haven’t gone hunting in a while. “Yeah, I uh, I cut myself playing in the woods.” I held up my arm with the Band-Aids on it. She frowned “You have to be careful, the woods can be a dangerous place.” I laughed “Yeah, I tripped and fell on some barbed wire. There are a lot of old property lines out there and a lot of the fences have fallen over.” That should cover the lie pretty good. She looked like she accepted it and walked toward the door to leave.
As we walked downstairs and back to the kitchen I told her all of the things mom loved. I explained that she was responsible for meals and that she should always have things mother likes available just in case mother comes out to eat with us. But when she eats in her room like she does most nights, she just wants frozen dinners. No matter if she ate with us or by herself dinner was to be served at exactly 6:45 p.m. every night. Edith listened intently trying to absorb all of the information I was throwing at her.
When we got to the kitchen she thanked me and said “That was a great tour, I think we are going to get along just fine. I’m going to get to work, why don’t you go get cleaned up?” I said “Absolutely, I’m so excited mother is coming to dinner, you’ll love her.” She reached out to shake my hand and I gave her a big hug. I felt her tense up and then relax. I think she likes me.
I ran back upstairs and left her to cook. I felt pretty good about my new teacher, it seemed like we would get along fine. She might not be much to look at, but I guess that’s what the internet is for. That reminded me, I went to the computer and flipped the screen back on. There was a message waiting there for me from Johnny. It was a very detailed recollection of a dream he had the night before. I didn’t have time to read the whole thing now, but I would get to it later. Right now I needed to get cleaned up for dinner. Mother would want me to look my best, she would hate how I normally come to the table. I laid out a nice outfit, not to over the top but respectable. Stripping down I went into the bathroom to clean up and get ready. The water was warm and relaxing, I was feeling pretty good about things, not know that my subconscious mind was making plans and plotting behind my back.
After I was cleaned and fresh, I got dressed and went back down stairs. It was 6:30 when I strolled into the dining room. Mother wasn’t there yet, but she wouldn’t be until exactly 6:45, that is for some reason the only time she believes dinner should exist. Plus if she came early she might have to make small talk to a few minutes and I think that scared her. The Salad was already on the table and the smells flowing through the house were amazing. I couldn’t wait to eat and see if Edith could satisfy mother’s sophisticated tastes. I took my seat and waiting patiently in the silent room. I could here Edith moving around in the kitchen making sure everything was perfect.
A couple minutes later Edith came in with a beautiful Duck roasted to perfection, it smelled awesome. She brought in Yorkshire puddings, roasted herb carrots, and what looked like an exquisite bowl of red potatoes quartered in garlic and butter. I was really impressed. My mouth started salivating and I could barely resist digging in. She asked “What do you think?” I said “It looks perfect, I think mother will be happy.” She asked “Should I go get her?” “Oh no, don’t worry, she will be here at exactly 6:45 like I told you. She is a creature of habit.” I answered. Just then, mother walked into the room. I saw her out of the corner of my eye and immediately got to my feet. “Hi mother!” I said. She smiled at me and said “Wow, this looks great, well done Edith.” Edith smiled at her and just said “Thank you ma’am. That means a lot.” She pulled out mothers chair at the head of the table and slid it back in as she sat down.
Mother looked radiant, as usual. She took my hand and Edith’s and said “Why don’t we pray together?” I was a little confused by this, we had never prayed at the table before. She must have seen the confusion on my face because she said “Michael, I know this is new, but I am going through some things and I feel like I should try to bring faith back into my life. Do you understand?” I smiled at her and bowed my head. I don’t believe in God, or that there is anything after this life. I think that we only have this life and should enjoy it. But I would do anything to make mother happy.
We prayed, it was short and boring as most prayers are. Then Edith served me and mother and then herself. Everything was delicious. Mother complemented Edith on her cooking and said that it was better than Jennifer’s ever was, I completely agree. I could definitely get used to Edith being here. Mother said to her “Well Edith, tell us a little more about you.” Edith said “Gosh, there is a lot to tell, but I will keep it brief. I grew up in Vermont. Went to school to be a teacher, and got my degree. I taught for 20 years but got kind of bored with the classroom. I decided to try private teaching. Got a job with a family in Boston and taught their son for the last 9 years. He moved on to college and I was out of the job. And then, just when I was starting to get worried, you called. I love to teach, I never took a husband and didn’t have kids of my own so this gave me a way to have a family. That’s pretty much me in a nut shell.” Mother seemed pleased by this and said “Perfect, I think you’re going to fit in great here. We don’t expect a ton, just teach Michael and take care of grocery shopping and food. Otherwise we are pretty easy.” During this exchange I was shoving food down my throat, it was so good.
After we finished dinner, mother and Edith continued small talk and I offered to clear the table. I love acting like the perfect gentleman. I got all of the dishes cleared and rinsed them off before I put them in the dishwasher. With mother satisfied with Edith it looked like she was going to be permanent. I was still missing Jennifer, but it didn’t seem so bad now that there was someone else here. Maybe I only needed a woman in my life to take care of the essentials. When I was finished with the dishes I went back into the dining room. As I entered mother was standing to leave. Edith smiled and shook her hand. Mother turned toward me and nodded with a smile signifying that she was good and we would keep her. I returned the nod and walked over to give her a hug. She was the perfect specimen of a woman. So beautiful and her skin was so soft. She had lost a lot of weight but she still looked healthy. She smelled great and moved gracefully. I watched as she headed for the door and out of site.
Edith and myself sat and talked over a couple of glasses of milk and some cookies she apparently had time to make while creating that incredible feast. I said to her “Mother seems very happy with you, I guess we are going to be spending a lot of time together.” She said “Well how do you feel about that?” I thought for a second and smiled saying “Im happy, as long as you’re a good teacher, I think we will have fun together.” She had no idea what was going on behind the façade I was putting up. My mind creating and recreating her death. Although not entirely aware of it at the time, Edith would eventually be my first, and it was going to be a lot of fun. I held a pretty solid conversation with her and image after image of her dangling from the ceiling while I peeled her skin off danced through my imagination. I started to get excited, both mentally and physically. I decided that it was time for bed. Being very careful how I stood up, I shook her hand not wanting to hug her in my current state, and headed for the stairs. Everything seemed perfect, everything seemed to just want to fall into place. A sound in my head kept saying over and over again “I wonder what she feels like under that wrinkled skin.”
|