CHANGE OF LIFE - Chapter 6

    When Willard got home after his shift, he found some cheese slices in the refrigerator. He toasted some bread and put cheese between the slices. With that and a cup of instant coffee he had his supper.

After supper, he got out a notebook. He was going to make a list of those things Dolores always did that were now his duties. Tomorrow he would go to the store and buy food for the coming week. He would begin by making a list of foods that he knew how to make. When he could figure out how to use the microwave, he could get some prepared meals and foods.

Another thing that he would have to do is look at the bills and the checkbook to see how much he could spend. Tomorrow, he would pick up the dry cleaning and laundry.

He didn’t know if he would even try calling the credit card company or the bus company. If Dolores was leaving him, what difference did it make to know what city she was in? She was gone out of his life. He missed her, but he didn’t see anything to be gained by running after her.

He looked through the newspaper, turned on the television. Later he wearily trudged upstairs. The bed was still all tousled and torn up. He made it up enough to crawl into it. The bed seemed cold and lonely without Dolores. Was it going to hurt like this a long time? He wasn’t worried – Dolores could manage all right. He wasn’t angry – he deserved it. It had been a long time since he had appreciated any of the many things she did for him. It had been a long time since he had treated her with any kindness. He got what he deserved.

The next morning, after he dressed and shaved, he went to McDonald’s for breakfast. Then he went to Comet Cleaners and Dry Cleaning to pick up his dress uniform and his laundry.  It was $38. He had better learn to use the washing machine and dryer at home! From there he went to the grocery store.

He organized his shopping by meals. First, he shopped for breakfasts.  He took a box of instant oatmeal packets, a box of instant grits packets, a box of dry cereal, a half gallon of orange juice, and a half gallon of milk. For lunches he put in the basket a loaf of bread, a package of lunch meat, a package of cheese slices, a jar of peanut butter, a carton of mixed fruit, a carton of applesauce, and a carton of pudding – all in individual serving cups, a carton of bottles of water, a box of sandwich bags, and lunch bags.

For the suppers he went slowly down the aisle looking for ideas. He picked up cans of beef stew, chicken and dumplings, chili, spaghetti and meatballs, and ravioli. Then he picked out a variety of canned vegetables. In the produce aisle he picked up a bag of small carrots, a stalk of celery, and in the cooler a carton of cole slaw. A loaf of bread and a jar of instant coffee completed his haul. That ought to do him until the next time he had two days off.  None of the things he had chosen required any knowledge of cooking. He would start off simple and when he had some practice he might try something more difficult.

At home, he carried the groceries, the uniform, and the laundry into the house. He took the uniform upstairs and hung it up. He made the bed while he was in the bedroom. Downstairs, he put the groceries away. With that completed, he tackled the laundry. The bed sheets and pillow cases were put away in the hall closet. The laundry had ironed and folded his shirts; he put them in drawers. He took the towels and wash cloths to the bathroom. His underwear and handkerchiefs and socks he put in drawers.

It was well past lunch time. He was so tired that he didn’t feel like cooking. He made himself a bowl of dry cereal. He looked for fruit in the refrigerator and realized that that was something he had forgotten to get at the grocery store. He remembered seeing some raisins when he was putting away the groceries. A cup of instant coffee finished his meal. While drinking it, he realized that he had not bought sodas or bottles of tea. He saw a notepad hanging from the refrigerator door. On it he wrote “fruit, soda, bottles of tea.”

While he was finishing his coffee the phone rang.

“Hello.”

“Willard, this is Beverly. I called to tell you that I am sorry that I was so brusque with you and cut you off. How can I help you?”

“I just needed someone to talk to. My partner cut me off short and said, ‘Give it a break.’  I called you because I didn’t know anyone else to call.”

“Like I said, I am sorry. Can we start over again?”

“Well, when I came home from work on Tuesday evening, I found out that Dolores was missing. She must have left right after I went to work. A teller at the bank told me that Dolores had a savings account that she said was for a Caribbean cruise on our twenty-fifth anniversary. I told her several months ago that I didn’t want to go on a cruise. Dolores withdrew all that money, about three thousand dollars and made a thousand dollar loan on our credit card. She had a small suitcase with her in the bank.

“I have since found out that she rode the hospital’s shuttle to Pine Bluff. She told the driver that she had an appointment with some doctor and he told her to come prepared to stay overnight in the hospital. My guess is that she took a bus from Pine Bluff to Little Rock. From there she could have taken a bus, train, or airplane to any place in the country. At first I was going to try to find out where she went to from Pine Bluff. I decided not to try. I know that she wasn’t abducted and went on her own free will. If she doesn’t want to live with me or be my wife, I’m not going to pursue her.

“Where I am now is trying to learn to do all the things I am accustomed to having her do for me – fixing my meals, taking care of my clothes and the other laundry, shopping, doing housework, paying the bills. It is a second job and one that I am not qualified for.”

“Do you know how to cook?”

“No. I am starting out simple – canned foods, sandwiches, instant and dry cereals, instant coffee. We have a microwave but I don’t know how to use it. I’ll wait until I have time to spare and try to learn to use it.”

“What about the laundry?”

“This week I took the laundry to Comet Laundry – Dry Cleaner. That was pretty expensive. I will have to learn to use the washer and dryer.”

“Do you have any friends?”

“Not really. There are guys that I bowl with and guys that I work with, but everything is on the surface. I’ve never been to their homes and they have never been to our home. My partner is a woman. While we are on the job it is strictly business. She never shares anything personal with me and she made it plain that she didn’t want me sharing anything with her.”

“Willard, you really are all alone.”

“Yeah. Everyone here knows everyone else’s family back for several generations. They went to school together. They just don’t open the gates of friendship to strangers, especially Yankees. I didn’t realize until it was too late that Dolores was my only friend. I didn’t value her friendship.”

“Willard. There is nothing we can do about spilled milk except wipe it up and try to go on. If there is anything I can do to help you, let me know. When you are trying to learn to run the washing machine and dryer or to operate the microwave, if you get stuck, give me a call. Let me tell you this much about washing. Separate it into three loads, white, colored, and dark. Don’t mix those three groups no matter how small a particular load may be. The box of soap powder or jug of liquid laundry detergent will tell you how much to use for the size load you are washing. Always use a little less than it recommends.

“I’ll make a point of calling you every week until you get through the worst of this. I love you, brother.”

“Thanks, Sis, I love you too even though I haven’t said so or showed it.”