Milford's Diner
happyhugo
Romance
14,809 words
Copyright (c) 02/08/10
Readers score 7.14
Rodney starts his life with Ginger.
She isn't what he thought she was.
Where will he find happiness?
Could it be at Milford's Diner?
I spotted Ginger Roberts the first day of school in my junior year. Surreptitiously I watched her whenever the chance presented itself. I never said anything to anyone, but I suppose it became obvious to some of my other classmates that I was interested in this girl. I was challenged by her about my intense interest before Halloween.
“You’ve been staring at me ever since school started. Tell me why.” I stuttered that I thought she was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. “Well, stop it, I don’t like it at all!” As if I could stop looking at a girl that was only three inches shorter than me, had a nice figure, and beautiful blue eyes that complemented the gold of her hair.
I was more careful about directing my gaze after that exchange. We had one class together and one where our classrooms were adjoining. It was just so inevitable that we would run into each other. Now when I glanced at her, she often had her eyes on me to see if I was looking at her. Even in the classroom, where she was sitting in front of me, she often turned her head toward me during the class.
I was confronted again one day in the hallway. “You might as well ask me out. This game we are playing is just too silly.” Maybe to her, but not to me. I did get the courage to ask her out for a soda at the Retro. This was a soda fountain much like those they had back in the forties and fifties that were now out of style.
I guess she learned more about me than I did about her as we talked the first time. I shared that I was an orphan. My only relative was a great aunt whom I lived with. Both my parents had been killed in an accident. I loved the old lady, but there wasn’t much interaction between us because of the age difference. Plus she was getting very forgetful. It was a home and I did her chores to compensate for what care she gave me.
In school I maintained an A-minus average. Ginger had trouble pulling B-minuses. This was mostly because she was popular with everyone and didn’t bother to study that hard. She did play the sports, hockey and basketball. I had a part-time job after school so I didn’t go out for any extracurricular activities. I hated it when my job interfered with watching Ginger on the field or the court.
I had my own friends, one of who was Roxy Andrews. Our houses were close on the same street. Roxy and I had first day in kindergarten together and all of the same classes in grade school. When we reached high school we weren’t as close, but were happy when we had time to share a moment to talk. When she was a sophomore, she lost her cherry and started to build a reputation.
I knew about it a few days after it happened when I heard a boy bragging about it. Roxy wanted to know if it would make any difference in our friendship. It didn’t and it didn’t bother me. I wasn’t interested in having sex with her, because she was still my closest friend. If she wanted to experience sex with some other boy, that was okay. I mean if she had wanted sex with me, she would have told me so.
When I became interested in Ginger, I had the first pangs of jealousy. Ginger had other boys that felt she was as beautiful as I thought she was. She treated us all about equally, but the feelings of jealousy were there. Then I realized that she would go out with a boy and then it was my turn again. I took heart when I saw I was getting as many dates as the whole bunch of my other classmates combined. I wasn’t as jealous after that, for I knew she would be coming back to me.
This paid off and when our senior year came, I was in sole possession of her heart. As far as I knew, she was a virgin the same as me. I’ll admit I hadn’t been too aggressive in reaching for the ultimate prize which I was waiting to pluck. This did become mine the night of the Senior Prom. We snuck into the room where I lived with my aunt, and when morning came we were two changed kids.
Changed in that she was wearing the tiny engagement ring that I could afford, and we were man and woman instead of boy and girl. Ginger went to work in Barry’s sub shop and I went into a local factory as inventory clerk in the stockroom. The sub shop was owned by a bachelor who intended to stay that way. Barry wasn’t too bad looking for a man of thirty-five plus. He was genial and outgoing with the women who worked for him preparing food.
My job didn’t sound like much, and it certainly didn’t pay too well at the entry level. However, I had the promise that if I did well in this position, I would have old Mr. Dobbs’ job as senior stockroom manager. Mr. Dobbs would be retiring in two years.
Some of it was pretty complicated and a person had to pay particular attention to detail, and there were a million things to learn. Just to name one item; we used gold leaf in some of the factory’s application and this had to be dispensed with great care because of its cost. There was also the strict levels of inventory to control. I think I was one of the more dedicated employees ... or tried to be. Work picked up soon after I was hired and the factory powers that be, put on another shift. They gave me the stockroom to manage from three in the afternoon until eleven in the evening. I took it when I found it paid a 10% premium.
Ginger was working nine-thirty a.m. until three in the afternoon. There was a second shift at the sub shop and the hours were three in the afternoon until nine. I could understand her loneliness in the evening and when she came home one day, saying she was taking the evening shift so we could work nearly the same hours. We both thought this a smart move. Three weeks later, we were married and as her boss had a small bungalow to rent and that is where we made our home. Ginger had an aunt from upstate who attended, and we each had a couple of friends who came to City Hall to watch the ceremony. We were both almost nineteen and on our way to a happy life together.
The rent on the house wasn’t beyond our means and we had enough money to acquire some of life’s luxuries. First came a vehicle. I thought a sedan would suit us fine, but Ginger held out for a Ford Mustang. The payments were seventy-five dollars a month more than we had budgeted.
Ginger said she would work overtime when asked to make up for it, and sometimes I drove her into work for the noon crowd. We ultimately wanted to own our own home, and we were able to start a savings account for that purpose. We were in great shape and when Ginger said she was moving from food preparation to cashier, there was a salary increase to go with that move as well.
My raises came along as promised and we were doing great. We had a car, we had started a fund to save for a home and all of our bills were being paid on time. We had never talked about having children, and as we were still in our teens, there would be plenty of time to decide. Ginger was very careful about her birth control program and sex continued to get better as we became more experienced. Ginger was always the one to suggest trying something new that she had heard about at work. I was reaping the benefits so welcomed them all.
I felt I had life right by the balls. If I wanted something I would squeeze life a little harder and I would have everything. It had worked so far hadn’t it? I mentioned we had one car. I used it to travel to my work which was located on the outskirts of the city. I would drop Ginger off on the way. She rode home with her boss, after the sub shop closed for the evening. I trusted Barry because he was thirty-five and so much older than we were. The transportation, the job hours, and the pay we were receiving was a perfect set up all the way around for the good life.
I was three months away from Mr. Dobbs’ retirement and looking forward to a major increase in my salary. Then a transformer blew that delivered electricity to the factory. Everything was down except for the battery operated security lights. I hung around until just before Ginger would be going home, intending to pick her up and maybe we would go for a beer together at some bar.
I had to park down the street from the sub shop. I was walking toward the building when I saw Ginger and Barry pause on the way out of the shop and kiss. They reached his car and were in it maybe three or four minutes before he started it. I could see their heads and they hadn’t kissed again, but they were awful close. Was he fondling her? It certainly looked as if he was. I made my way back to where I was parked and at a distance followed them home. Ginger got out and waited as Barry came around the car. They went into the house together.
When she was unlocking the door, I could see his hand caressing her butt. The hall light came on and I could see the silhouette of them kissing. No lights showed for a few minutes until the dim bedroom light came on. Forty-five minutes later the bathroom light came on. Twenty minutes after that, Barry came out after kissing Ginger again in the hallway. He was still combing his wet hair as he got into his car and drove away.
My normal time to arrive home was eleven thirty-five. I went into the house right on time. Ginger had my supper laid out on the table and we sat down to eat. It was food from the sub shop. I always had a choice of a meatball grinder or cold cuts. There was usually a salad and coffee was being poured as I came in. Most always dessert was a pint of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream which we split.
Tonight I passed on the grinder and ate what I could of the salad. The ice cream didn’t set that well either. Ginger was so concerned! “Lucky for you this is my shower night so you don’t have to make love to me.”
It struck me then that the nights Ginger had taken her shower before I got home, I didn’t get any loving. If we took the shower together, I always got some loving. I tried to remember how often this happened. There were two or three nights a week that she was showered before I arrived. I was restless that evening and went to bed before our usual time after the late night shows.
I dropped Ginger off the next day at her usual time. I made a phone call to work, saying I was sick. I then called Roxy, the girl I had gone to school with. I explained the situation and said I would pay whatever it took for her to do what I proposed. It was to cost me a nice dinner out and the rest would be free. Can’t beat that! We had drifted apart after Ginger and I became a couple, but we still were the best of friends. I picked Roxy up at six and we had a nice dinner in the best restaurant in town. “Rodney, this is going to destroy your wife you know. Do you honestly want to do that to her?”
“I’ve thought about it all day. I want her to know a little of the pain I feel. I’m leaving her tonight. I’ve taken the money from all of our accounts, but I’m leaving her the car. She has Barry and so she won’t be destitute. He owns the house we are living in. I’m getting out. I’m more concerned about you. This is going to blacken your name terribly. You will have a reputation that you will never recover from.”
“Doesn’t matter. I am what I am. My reputation went down the tubes in high school. You knew who to call when you needed something like this didn’t you?”
“I’ll admit I am using you. You don’t have to go through with it.”
“No, I will do it. At least I have had a date with a nice guy that I care about for once. You have always been a nice guy and that is why I’m here. I have never married and I don’t ever expect to. I get a lot of sex and sometimes I enjoy it. Just once I would like to have someone say, ‘Roxy, I love you,’ but I don’t ever expect to hear someone say it and mean it.”
“Christ Roxy, don’t give up hope. I’ve just had my life shredded to bits, but I hope to be happy again someday.”
The scene was set when Ginger was to arrive home. The only glitch would be if Barry came into the house as he did the night before. If my theory was correct, I couldn’t ever remember Ginger taking a shower before I got home two nights in a row. Roxy and I took our shower at eight-thirty. Yes we took it together.
This was the first time I had ever seen or been with anyone other than Ginger in my whole life. Would I act like a teen-ager? Roxy was unconcerned about me seeing her and laughed when seeing I was aroused. “Rodney, I have known you all of my life. Relax and pretend this is something we do everyday. It is easy for me, but I can see it is hard for you.”
We heard Barry’s car stop out front and a few minutes later drive on. The front door opened and we heard Ginger pause. The door of the bedroom was partially open so she could see the light was on as she stepped into the living room. “Rodney, is that you in bed? Did you get sick?”
“No dear, I’m not sick. Come in, we have company.”
Ginger came to the door and pushed it fully open. Roxy and I lay there naked and partially entwined. I had one arm under her neck and over her shoulder with my hand kneading her breast. Roxy had my other hand covering her bush. Ginger was speechless at first but that didn’t last long. She started screaming obscenities. I shouted, “Quiet.”
Ginger paused long enough to hear Roxy say, “Rodney has one prostitute. He thought he would see how two at a time would work. Would you care to join us?”
Ginger burst into tears and slammed out of the room. I turned to Roxy and kissed her. “I think we have fifteen minutes before she either thinks of a defense or goes totally ballistic. Roxy, you are a gem. I really would like to make love to you. I’ll probably never have a chance such as this again.”
“I said it before. Rodney, you are a wonderful person. Hurry, fifteen minutes might not be time enough.”
It was. Roxy brought me to a climax way too soon for me to savor her at all. Maybe someday? While Roxy was taking her second shower of the evening, I went out to face my wife. Ginger made no excuses and nothing was said about Barry. There was that look that said she was guilty and attack was the only alternative.
“Rodney, I want you out of the house in an hour. Just pack your things. How could you do this to me? We have been together for four years. I thought you loved me and then you bring trash like Roxy into our home and have sex with her right in front of me and in our marriage bed. Get the hell out! I don’t think I will ever speak to you again.”
“Okay, that’s just about what I figured you would say. I’m leaving you the Mustang. I have taken all of the money we have saved. That makes us just about even. I’m sure Barry will give you a raise when he finds out he won’t have to share you with your husband.” I picked up my suitcases that I had packed earlier and set in the alcove behind the front door. I went out and put them in Roxy’s car in the street, which was one space down from our driveway. I came back and waited for Roxy to come out of the bedroom where she was getting dressed.
Ginger wanted to say something. I didn’t know what. Maybe an excuse for her adultery? Maybe she wanted to retract her request that I leave? I didn’t ask.
Roxy came out finally. She had taken time to freshen her makeup and had evidently used Ginger’s shower cap, because her hair had been combed and was totally dry. She was as beautiful as Ginger, just in a different way.
Ginger had one parting shot at her. “Slut.”
Roxy had one too. “No Ginger, I’m a prostitute. I’m honest about that. You though, are a cheating wife. A wife to a man that I would give my right arm to have love me like he loved you. I’m really sorry for you. I hope we never meet again because I can’t stand the sight of you. Come Rodney, I think we are finished here.”
We drove away from my former home. “Where to Rodney?”
“The bus station I guess. My aunt is senile and in a nursing home. The state is caring for her. She has an administrator for what estate she has. I’ll just buy me a ticket to who knows where. I’ll find out if I like it where it takes me, and if I don’t, I’ll buy another ticket to somewhere else.”
“You mean you have no plans?”
“I haven’t had time to make any. Any suggestions?”
“No, not off the top of my head. You shouldn’t rush into anything though. Why don’t you stay with me tonight and make a plan? Tomorrow will be better after a night’s sleep.”
I didn’t leave town for a week. I was going to walk away from my job without informing them. I couldn’t do that, for they had been very good to me. Mr. Dobbs said wherever I landed and needed a recommendation, he would give me a good one. He said he was going to miss me very much.
I suppose you are wondering if I was sleeping with Roxy? Yes I was, but if you had asked if I was having sex with her, I would have to tell you no. Not yet anyway. Roxy had a one bedroom apartment and she did not entertain her clients there. She would come in from a date and crawl into bed where I was sleeping. “Kiss me Rodney and then let me sleep. That is the only way I can forget my lifestyle.” I was making her breakfast in the morning and then we would talk. The only taboo subject was Ginger.
It was three days after I was asked to leave Ginger that I made a suggestion. “Roxy, we get along great together. You have a reputation as a prostitute here in the city. I certainly am leaving. Why don’t we both leave? Leave together I mean. We can be Roxy and Rodney Thomas.”
“You’re married. I can’t be Mrs. Thomas.”
“I was thinking more of being sister and brother.”
“That’s too complicated and would mean you have a whore for a sister.”
“Here maybe, but somewhere else you wouldn’t have to be. I have a wife that could be classified as one.” I paused. “You know if I thought she would change, I would take her back.”
“You still love her don’t you? I have wondered how you feel about her after all of this. Rodney, do you think I could change my lifestyle living somewhere else?”
“I do. Does sex mean that much to you? Could you go without it?”
“I could if I could pay my bills. I’m on a savings program and didn’t plan to do this very long, so I live as cheaply as I can.”
“Do you want to try it? The brother and sister thing I mean.”
“We couldn’t make love if we decided to go that route.”
“We haven’t decided that yet.”
“Then we better make love before we decide, in case that is the decision we come up with.”
We spent the daylight hours, and some time after the sun went down making love. I said the words Roxy so wanted to hear. I truly believe I said them in such a way that she believed me. I think I was half in love with her. At the moment, I certainly loved her more than I did my cheating wife. We lay cuddled together all night. It was six in the morning when we made the decision. Roxy set about getting her bills paid and the rest of her affairs in order. This took another day.
I drove Roxy’s car by my former home late Tuesday evening. Barry’s car was parked on the street and the one I left for Ginger was in the driveway. I couldn’t ascertain if he might be going home or staying. I would wait a little while and find out. I had in my hand a couple of things that Roxy used for protection when out on an uncertain date. The house was dark and I waited in the shadows for over an hour. Finally the hall light came on and I could see Barry and Ginger kissing.
He came down the steps as Ginger closed the door. Did I care if she saw me ... not really. I came up behind him with a small stun gun which was just powerful enough to send him to the ground. He got a good dosage of pepper spray in the face and a couple of hardy kicks to the ribs. I just wanted him to feel a little pain. I was sure this would do it. This was so out of character for me, that if anyone saw me getting away, they wouldn’t connect me.
Two hours later we had the car packed and loaded, and drove west out of the city. We left Roxy’s reputation and my cheating wife behind. Now we were just a brother and sister out looking for a new life. One we hoped would be better than what was behind us.
Chapter Two
The town marker said there were 11,562 inhabitants in the town. Big enough for some business, but with the small town feel to it. It would be mostly agriculturally connected, although we went by an industrial park on the outskirts. I pulled into Milford's Diner for lunch. When we got inside we found it clean and it had a menu posted. We had been on the road for two days. We could have made it this far in one, but had made a leisurely journey out of our traveling. We had slept one night in the same bed and one night in twins. A sister and a brother didn’t ... or shouldn’t, so we didn’t. Hey, this was going to work.
We ordered the special of soup and a seven-ounce steak with fries. Apple pie and coffee completed our meal. As we were there on the tail end of the lunch hour, we were soon the only customers. The lone waitress, Bertha, pulled a chair from a table and sat at the end of our booth. “I see your car tags say you are from the state of New York. On vacation are you? Nice for a man and wife to go on vacation this early in the summer.”
“Nope, we aren’t married. We could be brother and sister and looking to relocate. I might take a job if I could find a decent one. We’d have to find a place to live though, that isn’t too expensive.”
“Well now, half the businesses in town are looking for help, but you probably will want to go into one of the new factories. They pay more. Christ we can’t even get anyone to wash dishes here in the diner. Too bad you two aren’t husband and wife. This diner is up for sale. It would be a good business to own. It’ll get better as soon as all of the factories start up.”
“How much would it take to buy, say on a lease-purchase agreement?”
“You could do better than that if you want an investor to go in with you. I’d put up half and you could sign for the remainder. I have a few pennies saved and I have been waiting table here for seven years. ’Course, you’d have to work about every day. If you have never run a diner before, I could train you. There is a two bedroom bungalow out back that could be fixed up to live in if you ain’t too fussy.”
“You sound desperate.”
“I am. I love this place. I’d buy it all myself, but then as I said there is the problem of getting help and I ain’t much on managing. With two new young people that wouldn’t mind working, this place could really hum along.”
“It is a thought. We are going into town for the night. If you see us for breakfast, maybe you will have time to talk with us again.”
“I’ll make time. I still have dishes to do and better get busy. What did you say your names were?”
I smiled to myself. This woman was a master at getting information out of a person. “We are Roxy Andrews and Rodney Thomas.”
We found a small motel on the other side of town. There was only one room available, but it did have two single beds in it. When we signed in, the lady on the desk made note that Roxy signed her name Miss and we stated we were sister and brother. But we would be comfortable sharing a room. Close enough, let her figure it out.
We walked around the settled part of the town, and yes, just about all of the businesses had a sign in their window saying they were hiring, or just plain help wanted. We lay down on our respective beds in the afternoon and talked.
“What do you think? Is this the town we want to start a new life in?”
“Looks promising. I don’t mean to pry, but how much money do you have with you? I only have about $2500. Some of that I suppose belongs to Ginger, but she most likely got that much from Barry for spreading her legs.”
Roxy started laughing. “I got my money from spreading my legs the same way. If we bought the diner, we could say this is the business that twat built. That struck me really funny and it was infectious, keeping us in stitches for several minutes. “Seriously, I have almost $17,000. Put together it probably isn’t enough to buy the diner, but we will never know unless we ask. Let’s go back and have dinner tonight and see what it is like with more customers in attendance.”
The diner was almost too busy. The owners were the ones that prepared the food. They were good at it without any lost motions. Many of the customers were well-known and their meals were started just as soon as they came through the door. Bertha had a young girl helping on the tables and both were swamped. The customers all understood if their meals were delayed and never complained. There was a nice family atmosphere to the diner.
As we were finishing up dessert, Roxy spoke, “The place needs one more experienced waitress and more help in the kitchen. If the owners are doing the cooking for all three meals, they must be exhausted. You and I could work here and there still wouldn’t be enough help. Wouldn’t it be fun if we knew all of the customers by their first names like Bertha does?”
I was getting more and more interested as Roxy talked. She was much more at ease with people than I was, men especially. I had worked in a stockroom with very little interaction with other people. I could learn to be friendly by watching the way Bertha treated the patrons.
When Bertha came by with our check, I asked, “Customers are about all gone. How long before you clean up and get to go home?”
“There are the pots and pans I have agreed to do. I get a little extra for doing those, just so they get done. An hour or more after that. That doesn’t do it all either. I will have to come in early and do the prep work and set ups that should be done tonight. I’m so tired I’m google-eyed.”
“Would you like help with the dishes tonight? We are kind of interested in what you were saying this afternoon.”
“I’ll show you what has to be done. There is a God up there and he is smiling down on me as we speak.”
“Wow, I haven’t got up this early for years. The diner opens at six-thirty and the coffee has to be ready by the time the door opens. Not like going to work at three in the afternoon, that’s for certain.”
“I never got up before noon many days. Of course I never went to bed many nights before three either.”
“Are you sure?”
“To sleep anyway. Bed was my work place just as your stockroom was for you. Those days are behind us now and I’m glad, even though I have to get up this early.”
We parked behind the diner and went in the back door to the kitchen. We had become familiar with the interior last night while doing the pots and pans. This morning the elderly owners, Burt and Betty Milford were there already starting breakfast and Bertha was in the dining room making sure the sugar bowls were filled, etc.
It seemed as if half the time Roxy and I were in the way, but Roxy was taking care of the dishes as they were used and when the plates and silverware came out she kept up with those. Myself, I tried to help with the cooking, but it was mostly having stuff at hand for Burt. As the orders were prepared, I passed them through to Bertha where she grabbed them and carried them to the correct table.
That was the start of the first day. A month later Burt cornered us as we were tidying up after breakfast one morning. Roxy, Bertha and I had handled the whole meal without a glitch. I had nosed around and found some part-time service help to hire. Sometimes the help was only signed up for one meal a day. I had contacted the parent teachers’ association and the president had put me onto some women that could use a few extra dollars.
When school began, I knew we would have people vying for this work and the few dollars it paid. Anyway as I said, Roxy and I were cornered. “Will you two buy the diner from Betty and me? Bertha wants to buy half, but is concerned she can’t operate it and take care of everything else that goes with running it. I can see where the three of you can do well. Better than the Mrs. and I have, in fact.
“You have done things that I have never thought of. That night we ran out of rolls to set on the table. You substituted the little fake pizzas to keep the table occupied while they were waiting for their meal. That was a stroke of genius. Where did you get that idea from?”
“My folks grew up poor. We always had a garden and Mom always canned salsa to preserve the garden produce. Sometimes when I was just a little hungry, I would spread a little salsa on a slice of toast and put a slice of American cheese on it. Heat it up and there was my snack. Takes about five minutes now that we have microwaves.
“The cost to buy everything for the item now amounts to about thirty-five cents. Well worth the cost to have a satisfied customer. You notice a customer usually orders a little extra off the menu. So that little item amounts to about the same as a single roll. So what kind of a deal are we talking here?”
The first of September, one waitress, one retired prostitute and one cheated-on husband owned a very busy diner together. Burt was seventy years old and the diner had been his whole life. We didn’t see Betty very often after we bought it, except when she occasionally came in for a meal. Burt, though, showed up almost everyday to lend a hand. He wouldn’t take any money for what he did, saying he wanted to keep his hand in.
Eventually when I asked about the building out back, he decided he would fix it up for Roxy and me to live in. All we had to do was buy the materials. It wasn’t specified but he said it went with the property. Roxy was quickly learning how to wait tables and enjoyed being out front with the customers. She made an excellent waitress and when someone flirted with her, she gave back as good as she got. If they got too fresh, she threatened to call on her brother. Usually it was all in fun, so problems never developed.
I spent the first Thanksgiving away from Ginger feeling really sad. She had always made so much of the holiday. I almost called her, but figured Barry would probably answer the phone and I would feel worse than ever. I was pretty blue and it wouldn’t leave me. Her twenty-second birthday was in ten days.
“Rodney, fly home to see her. You either have to forget her or divorce her. If you talk to her, you should be able to decide what to do.”
“The diner will be okay without me for a few days?”
“Go, I’m giving you five days. The Milfords will come in to cover for you.”
I bought a plane ticket and was soon in the air. When I reached the airport I rented a vehicle and drove the half hour to my home town. The Mustang was in the driveway and I could see lights on in the house. I walked up to the door. It was locked, but my key still worked, so I opened it and went into my former home.
Ginger was on the couch in the living room eating a snack from the TV tray in front of her. She took her eyes off the TV screen and looked reluctantly toward me. This told me she was expecting someone else. Tears started pouring down her face and she started sobbing. I wanted to go to her but held back, waiting to see what she would say.
“Rodney, I wondered if I would ever see you again. Did you come to gloat over your cheating wife?”
“I don’t know what you mean. Why would I gloat?”
Ginger pushed the tray and table from her and stood up. “Because I’m pregnant, that’s why.” She was beginning to show a pregnancy. “It’s Barry’s baby, but he won’t have anything to do with either me, or the coming child. I’ve been such a fool. Rodney I want to say I’m so sorry for what I did to you.”
This made me angry. “I suppose if Barry was still loving you and wanted the baby you would feel you wouldn’t have to tell me you were sorry. Am I right?”
Ginger collapsed back onto the couch, crying even harder. “I don’t mean to cry. I’ll stop if you just give me a minute.”
I went out to the kitchen and put the coffee on. The cupboards had some food in them, but were not as well stocked as when I lived here. Coffee was just about perked when the back door opened and a woman stepped in. She was older than we were and very plain looking. “Who are you?” I remembered her as being Ginger’s aunt from some town upstate. I couldn’t remember her name though.
“Ginger’s former husband.” A look of recognition came over her.
Ginger spoke from behind me, zeroing in on the words, former husband. “Did you divorce me, Rodney?”
“No, didn’t you divorce me? That was the plan wasn’t it?”
I received a subdued, “No.”
The woman said, “Good, that solves all of Ginger’s problems. You two can get back together and go on with your lives.”
Ginger stared into my face. What she read there told her, “It isn’t going to happen, Aunt Sylvie. I can’t ask him to after the way I have treated him.” Aunt Sylvie shook her head, but didn’t say anything. I got down cups and poured the coffee. Soon the questions started.
“Rodney, were you the one who beat up Barry?”
“When? No, I swear I haven’t seen him since the night before I left. Why, what happened?” I wasn’t going to admit anything.
“He got hurt a day or so after you and Roxy were here. I thought it must be you.”
“It wasn’t. How come you got pregnant?”
“Rodney, I was so pissed at you and Roxy that I thought I would show you. I was going to get knocked up and say the baby was yours. It didn’t work, because it took too many weeks before that happened. Even Barry couldn’t deny that it belonged to him. I made him pay for it though. What about Roxy? Did you ever see her again after that night?”
“I’m living with her. We are in business together.” I suddenly remembered what Roxy had said about how the business was financed. (The business that twat built.) I tried to contain my smile, but couldn’t. Ginger thought I was having pleasant thoughts about the woman who she had to believe was a prostitute.
“Oh Rodney, does that mean you are her pimp?”
“No, and for your information she hasn’t had a john and I don’t have sex with her. We are part owners of a diner and live in the same house. So how do you stand with Barry? Does he still come over?”
“God no! When he found out I was pregnant, he fired me. I had saved a little money after you took all I had and I hired a lawyer to file harassment charges against him. So rather than go to court and end up with losing his sub shop, he is paying what I asked for. I get a monthly income and when the baby comes he is going to pay all of the bills and maintenance until the baby is eighteen. Barry has to keep a paid up life insurance policy to cover me and the baby until he is eighteen in case anything happens to him.”
“What happens to the baby if something happens to you?”
“It goes to the person the court designates as care giver. What Barry pays goes with the child, except if he is the care giver and then the administrator is to fight against him having the baby. I have named the person that I would be my first choice and my lawyer says the court would follow my wishes.”
Ginger was quietly thinking over what we both had learned. “I know you are living with Roxy and you say you aren’t sleeping with her. I don’t believe you.”
“Believe what you want. You drove me to her. It was our decision not to continue having sex. You want to know why and it has nothing to do with you. She is waiting for someone to come along and tell her he loves her. I used her to get back at you without thinking of her feelings, and there is no getting over that. But we are still the best of friends and I respect her and I do love her. Just not in that way.”
I had ignored the aunt, but now I said, “Aunt Sylvie, it was nice to meet you again. I should be getting along. Take care of Ginger will you? Ginger, I don’t know what to say to you about the baby. I guess I wish things had worked out in our marriage where it was us who were having a baby.” Tears came to Ginger’s eyes and she went into the living room.
Sylvie put on her coat and walked out with me. It was cold and as I unlocked the door she slid into the passenger’s seat. “I want to have your address and phone number. I also want to know if you are going to divorce my niece?”
“Not at present. I don’t have the money because everything is tied up in the diner. If she wants one, she will have to be the one to pay for it.” It was a nasty remark when I said, “Maybe Barry will pay for it.” I said this as I was writing down what Sylvie wanted.
“Stop it! Ginger brought this on herself, but she is asking nothing from you. She is soon to be a single mother with no one except me to love her. She is paying an awful price for what she did, but she is making the best of a bad situation. Give her that at least.”
“You just don’t know how much she hurt me, do you? For four years I lived every moment for her.” I had to stop a minute before I continued. “But that is behind us now.” I reached over the front seat and grabbed a package from behind me. “Tomorrow is her birthday. I know how excited birthdays always made her. I had a friend buy this for me to give to her. She’ll suspect that it was my friend Roxy that I had buy it, but it wasn’t. It was a woman named Bertha who doesn’t even know I am married. I know the dress won’t fit her right now, but it should someday.” I had had enough. “You better go in as it is cold out here.”
“I think you still love Ginger. This is all so terrible. Rodney, if you want to contact me, remember, my name is Burns, Sylvia Burns. I’m in the phone book here in town.” I watched my wife’s aunt walk to the door. Ginger was holding it open for her and was waving good-bye to me as I pulled away. I drove back to the airport, sleeping on a bench until I could get on a flight back to Ohio.
Chapter Three
Business was good all winter long. New repeat customers were naming our diner the place to eat. Our seating for all three meals were nearly full to capacity. Bertha was the first to mention expansion. Roxy and I discussed it, but we knew it would mean a heavier debt load. Then suddenly a factory went into production and we were asked to cater their lunches. The bank that held our note was more than willing to lend money for the expansion at the diner. Money for equipment to set up in the factory was available as well.
Getting experienced help was the biggest problem and we were having to advertise out of the area. Often we went through three applicants before we were satisfied with a cook who could prepare our menu to our satisfaction. The lunch program at the factory was handled by one full time person and one part time worker at serving time. The meals were all cooked and prepared in the diner and transported to the site.
I turned twenty-two in January and discovered I had found my life’s work in managing the diner. Finally we were able to hire enough help so that Roxy and Bertha had to wait on only two of the three meals each day. They alternated each week, doing breakfast and lunch one week and lunch and dinner the next. Lunch time was the busiest so both women were there for that meal.
I came back from transporting the hot containers of food and trays of sandwiches to the factory on April 19th. Bertha met me at the door as I came into the kitchen. “Rodney, some woman named Sylvie Burns called. She said your wife gave birth to a boy this morning about six a.m. She has named him Rodney Roger Thomas, Jr.”
“That’s nice.” I pushed by her and came into the kitchen. Somehow this wasn’t a surprise. I knew the baby was coming, of course, and knowing Ginger, the name wasn’t that much of a surprise either. I would have to think about this before I decided if what Ginger had done bothered me all that much.
Bertha stood there watching me as I ignored her and went about my duties in the kitchen. “I didn’t know you were married. Congratulations. You must be very happy.” She was fishing for information.
I gave her some. “I’m married. The baby isn’t mine. We are estranged because he is someone else's. What she named the baby was her choice and I wasn’t involved at all. We will not be having a conversation again about my life before I arrived here. Is that understood?” Bertha nodded her head.
I did see Bertha and Roxy with their heads together off and on throughout the rest of the day. Roxy tackled me about the information I had given Bertha. We had the evening meal to serve together and Bertha wasn’t present. I pretty much shut Roxy down the same as I did Bertha. I just didn’t want to discuss it with anyone.
June 10th I received a letter from Aunt Sylvie addressed to me here at the diner. Bertha, as luck would have it, was the one that happened to sort the mail that day. The letter just had a note and a snapshot in it.
Rodney, Ginger isn’t aware that I am sending you this note and the picture of her holding your namesake. She is wearing the dress you handed me when you were here last. Motherhood becomes her and Ginger is fast returning to the woman she was when you and she were happy together. She never mentions you, but I know you are in her thoughts. It is the loving way she talks to Junior. Most of the time I never know who she is talking to ... you or the baby. I know I am meddling and shouldn’t be writing, but I feel so sad that Rodney Jr. doesn’t have the love of a father. Love, Aunt Sylvie
I was angry at first, but then I remembered that this was Ginger’s only relative. That made me think of my own aunt. I had really neglected her. I would visit her soon. Sometime this summer for sure!
Women do meddle. Roxy was a woman. “I understand you received a letter from home today.”
“Yes, a note from Ginger’s aunt.”
“Well what did it say? Come on Rodney, share with me. We left town together and in a way I’m involved, especially if there are any changes coming up.”
“No changes that I know of. The note just said that Ginger was reasonably happy because she now has a baby to love. I had Bertha buy a dress last December for Ginger’s birthday, although she didn’t know it was for my wife. I left it there, even after I found out Ginger was pregnant and the dress wouldn’t fit her. Aunt Sylvie sent a picture of Ginger in the dress holding the baby.”
“Show it to me.”
“I will if you don’t make any comments of what I should or shouldn’t do. Promise that and you can see the note and the picture.”
“I promise.”
She did keep her promise. Tears were in Roxy’s eyes as she stared at the image. All she said was, “He is so beautiful. Rodney, I want a baby just like him.” She came into my arms and kissed me. There was hunger and some passion in the kiss. Wouldn’t you know I looked up and Bertha stood behind us.
“What you just did is incest. That’s no kiss that a brother and sister should share. Are you two kinky or something?”
We turned and faced our partner. We looked at each other and then burst out laughing. Roxy was the one to explain our relationship. “Bertha, that wasn’t incest. Rodney and I are just friends and not the sister and brother we have led you and others to believe. We go back as far as first grade in school. We grew up in houses only two doors apart. We were friends all through the years until Rodney first became attracted to Ginger, the girl he later married.
“By the time he met her, I discovered what I had between my legs was something that other boys would give anything to see or feel. So I gave it to everyone, except Rodney. After we graduated, I started getting paid for what I was giving away for free. I was making good money at it too. You know how much I came here with. I made that on my back with my legs wide and in the air.
“Rodney and Ginger were married and I hung out my shingle as a prostitute. A couple of years later, and just before we arrived here, Rodney discovered she was cheating. He was badly hurt, and he did the meanest thing he could think of to his wife. He hired a prostitute and did her right in the marriage bed, just as his wife was coming home from work just so she would see him. That was as far ahead as he had planned.
“She was humiliated just the same as he was. Ginger was aware that Rodney and I had been close friends for years. She also knew what my reputation was and what business I was in.
“Insulted and probably believing we had been carrying on for years, she kicked him out, never wanting to see him again. Rodney left and stayed with me for about five days before we left town. During that time we had one session of ten-hour non-stop sex. When the marathon was over, we decided we would go somewhere and find jobs and treat each other as if we were brother and sister.
“We would leave my reputation and his cheating wife behind and start a life. That’s how and why we came here. Rodney and I have lived in the same room many times and now we live in the same home together. Not once have we had sex since that time a year ago. Actually we haven’t had any with anyone else either.
“So the kiss you observed was more than what would happen between brother and sister ... more than should happen between good friends as well. I was carried away with wanting something when I saw the picture of his wife and her baby. Rodney is a good man and always will be, so it isn’t going to happen with me.”
Roxy defended me. I could only do the same for her. “Don’t you ever disrespect Roxy. She is a wonderful woman, no matter what she says or what she was. Laugh if you want, but I have always respected her. I wish she could say the same for me.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ll answer that. Rodney thinks he traded on our friendship by hiring me to get back at his wife. I give it no thought, but he has always felt guilty about asking it of me.”
“Rodney, may I see a picture of your wife? I can’t visualize her at all.”
I handed Bertha the picture. “I recognize the dress. I wondered who you planned to give it to. Your wife is so beautiful. And the baby is adorable! You have to bring your wife back into your life if there is any chance at all.”
I looked at Roxy. “You tell her what I made you promise. The same applies to her. I’m leaving.” I was almost out the door when I thought about the picture and the note. Going back, I took it out of Bertha’s hand.
I didn’t sleep much that night. I was up twice to look at the picture. First of course, I studied my wife’s image. My thoughts ran the gamut, from anger, to sadness, and finally to love. Love, but if only the kid wasn’t there. I could see love shining in her eyes for the baby she was holding. I could remember when at one time that love shining in her eyes was for me.
I was back to being sad again. Could I ever have that much love for two people at the same time? It didn’t seem possible. Especially with all that happened between the two of us. Was it possible? Given what had transpired, I would have to show that amount of love for Ginger, then double it, and then transfer half to the baby she was holding.
I studied his image. He was a baby, for God’s sake! He had a mother and that is about all he had going for him. What would he have ... say if I was father to him? Would he grow up to have my values? Would he follow in my footsteps? Could I give him a better life than I had?
So many questions and so much turmoil in my mind. I suppose even if a man and a woman had a child together, could they be sure their kid would turn out to be one they were proud of?
I did sleep for a bit. Then I woke with the question in my mind about Ginger. Could I trust her to be faithful to me, as she vowed to do when we were first married? Her track record wasn’t good at all. Before going to sleep the second time, I looked at the image again. I no more than glanced at Ginger’s image. I centered on the baby. Rodney Roger Thomas Jr., not bad at all ... had a nice sound to it.
Bertha had the morning shift. She was almost as haggard as I was. I wasn’t needed now in the kitchen and I often did my paperwork, ordering supplies and doing payroll, sitting in a corner booth. Whoever was waiting table kept my coffee cup filled. We stopped serving breakfast at ten. Shortly thereafter, Bertha said to me, “I need to talk to you. I want to tell you the story of my life.”
“I suspect this has something to do with my wife. I asked Roxy and you not to discuss this with me.”
“It has nothing to do with you and your wife, or Roxy, either. I just want to talk, that is all.”
“How long is it going to take?”
“A couple of hours. After lunch would be the best time. That’s because I may get emotional.”
“Is this something I need to know? We have been in business together now for a year. Why now?”
“I just want to get some things off my chest.”
Bertha was upset and nervous, I could plainly see that. “This afternoon at three. Would you like to do this somewhere besides here?” She nodded and walked away, leaving me to think I needed a place more private.
I knew Roxy would be in the house and Bertha had indicated she didn’t want to share whatever she was going to say with anyone but me. It had to be her own apartment. I was out in the kitchen on the dot of three. Bertha came through and straight to my car. I slid in and said this had to be at her home. She nodded okay.
We arrived at her small apartment and went inside. I had never been invited to her home before and we had never socialized at all. It was sparsely furnished, but of good quality. She led me through a mini kitchen with a small table and one chair. The living room held a TV that was an older 19-inch model and I saw no evidence of a VCR or DVD player. There was a nice radio, though, sitting on the sideboard.
She saw me looking around. “I’m not into much TV. I hate sitcoms and prefer to listen to the radio. There are a couple of country stations that I have on when I’m home. They play the older cheating songs that I’m addicted to.
“Would you like something to drink? I don’t have much on hand because I don’t drink at all. That’s part of what I’m going to be telling you.” I declined the alcohol. “I’ll get coffee then.” As she was making this, I glanced more closely around the room. There were several pictures of a seven-year-old girl on the mantel, the walls, and I could see one through the open door to her bedroom on the night stand. She brought the coffee in and set it on the table in front of the couch. It was sweetened but without cream, just as she served it to me at the diner. There were a few butter crackers on a plate to go with it. I took a sip of coffee and looked at her expectantly.
“Rodney, you are twenty-two, and have had to mature early. Life has tossed you a curve, but I think you are handling it pretty well. You seem to focus on one problem at a time. I never was able to do that. Look closely at me and tell me what you see.”
“I guess I can do that, but I don’t know why.” She didn’t say anything and was just waiting for me to do as she asked. “I see a plain, but pleasant-faced woman, maybe forty or so years old. You have a nice figure and you keep yourself well. You have many friends from what I see of you at the diner. You are not afraid to give a little more of yourself if you can help someone.
“I know you are generous, first, because you helped Roxy and me get started in the diner. And second, because you knew it was time for the Milford's to stop working so hard and retire. The only thing that puzzles me is that I have never known you to go out on a date.”
“You did pretty well, Rodney. Actually that is me, but that is me now, not what I was years ago. That is what I am going to tell you about ... what I was years ago. I wasn’t married as early as you were, I was twenty. My childhood was a fairly happy one with my mother having me when she was almost to the end of her child-bearing years. My father was older than Mom. They are both dead now.
“I started to go a little wild in my late teen years. Not bad, just some drinking and some sex. I wasn’t as pretty as my peers and I wanted the same attention that came to them. I met a man and fell madly in love with him. We married and things were great for a few years. I became pregnant shortly after we married, and had the girl you see in the pictures around the room here.
“I suppose I paid too much attention to my baby and not enough to my husband. That happens to a lot of couples and it never causes any problems. When Sarah, that’s my baby, was four years old, Hank, my husband, sat me down and said he wanted to swap with another couple for sex. This crushed me, but to keep his love and my family intact, I agreed.
“Hank should have married someone prettier than I am, for he was handsome and just naturally attracted women. He is still handsome for that matter. Anyway we contented ourselves with this other couple for more than a year. Sex wasn’t much different with the other man than with Hank, so it didn’t bother me that much. I was thinking that Hank would get tired of swapping and we would be exclusive again.
“This other couple hooked up with a different couple and invited Hank and me to enlarge the group to include us. I objected and wouldn’t go. This was getting too far from a loving family in my mind. Hank went out with them and I found out later that this was a full blown swing organization. A pretty wild one with orgies and drugs, etc. I was very bitter and fought with Hank continually.
“These were his words, ‘Once, try it just once. You’ll love it! You like sex and for once you can get all you want in just one evening.’ Pissed off, I agreed to attend. Rodney, do you know what a pig party is? Actually you don’t want to know. Anyway I was the pig and I was set up by my own husband. I will say I was out of it from the drugs and alcohol they were feeding me. I did not know what or how bad I was until I saw some tapes that were passed around of me as the pig.”
Bertha was talking just as if she was describing a trip to the mall without much inflection in her voice. “Three years I was the star, no, two years. I counted the year we just swapped with the one couple. It had to stop sometime, of course.
“One night Hank and I were headed to the party. When we got out front, he said he wasn’t feeling well and was going home. He’d send the baby-sitter home and would watch Sarah. I didn’t want to go inside, but he urged me, telling me he heard that they had two new couples and a good supply of drugs. You see where I was by this time Rodney? I had the wrong priorities, mostly because I was addicted to something other than family.
“Three hours later the party was raided and I was led off to jail. Hank wouldn’t bail me out, saying he didn’t want me around Sarah. I spent two months in a cell waiting for my trial to come up. The night I went into the party there were thirty-three people there. When the raid took place there were only nine of us. It was always suspected that many of the party-goers had been previously tipped off that a raid was going to take place and at what time. I was so far out of it anyway, I probably wouldn’t have believed anyone, even if I was told.”
The story was catching up with Bertha and she was quietly sobbing. I didn’t know if she was going to tell me the aftermath or not, but she did. “Social Services took Sarah. Hank was never charged. Hell, he escaped everything by saying he was home watching his daughter the nights I went out. The prosecution brought in the tape of me at the pig party and as there were drugs found the night of the raid, I was sent to jail for two years and labeled an unfit mother. Hank ended up with sole custody of Sarah. He also has a restraining order against me. I am not able to go near or see Sarah until she is eighteen.”
“Hank got off free then?”
“Yes. Over the years I have come to the conclusion that he was the one that tipped off the cops to the party. You see, he married one of the women that was a regular before the raid. Her husband and I both spent jail time. She was quite well-to-do and she got everything. She even got Sarah to mother.”
Tears were flowing freely now. I got up and pulled Bertha into my arms, holding and hugging her. I waited until the tears slowed before asking, “How did you come to the Milford's and working at the diner?”
“I did about like you did. When I got out of prison, I didn’t have a home, a family, or any money. I was on probation and couldn’t leave the state. Fortunately I had a nice probation officer and she gave me the Milford's name. They needed a waitress desperately. One Sunday afternoon the probation officer brought me here to be interviewed. She has really put herself out, because I lived two-hundred-thirty miles from here. That was seven years ago.”
“Why are you telling me all of this?”
Bertha was quiet. Then, “I made you a promise not to talk about you and your wife. Rodney, I was about as screwed up as a woman can be. I changed. I have a feeling your wife has or can change. Please give her the chance. I don’t want that little boy that she is holding in the picture to end up like my Sarah has. Not the same, maybe, but the little boy needs a father and you seem the best chance for him to have one.”
“That means I will have to forgive my wife.”
“Will that be so hard? I will caution you, though, if you can’t forgive her totally, you both will be miserable.”
I didn’t answer, but asked a question instead. “Will you be seeing your daughter soon? The restraining order must be almost up.”
A smile broke over Bertha’s face. The first one I had seen today. “She is coming to see me next week, I hope. I told you how fortunate I was in having the probation officer. For the last three years I have been corresponding with Sarah through her. Come see what she looks like now.”
Bertha led me into her bedroom and opened her nightstand drawer. There was the image of a beautiful young lady. It looked to be her graduation picture. “Sarah knows all about me and what happened between my husband and me. My understanding is that Sarah barely tolerates her step-mother, hates the step-sisters and is quite reserved around her father. They know she knows what they did do me, although they don’t know how she found out.”
“Why have you told me about your life?”
“I don’t know much about the situation between you and your wife. I do know you should resolve it before the baby in the picture is hurt in any way. You and she may have a lot on your consciences, but don’t let it carry over so he is hurt as well.”
I looked at Bertha. I should be angry at her butting in on my affairs. She was watching me as well for my reaction. “I know you mean well, Bertha, but how can I resolve this when I don’t know my own mind. More importantly, I don’t know Ginger’s mind either. Her Aunt Sylvie is the one that keeps notifying me of what is happening, but I have no idea whether Ginger is aware that I know about the baby’s birth.”
“Well, find out!”
“I could, I guess. I should go see how my aunt is. The one who took care of me after my parents died.”
Chapter Four
I announced in the morning that I was going back home and look in on my aunt. I might be away for four or five days. Roxy asked, “Have you made a decision about Ginger and the baby?”
“No, and I can’t, because I don’t know how she feels. I don’t want to start trying to resolve this without facing her directly. I need to be able to gauge her reactions if I say something.”
“I understand that. I wish you would remember one thing. This is your home now. You would give up an awful lot if you stayed with her in New York.” Roxy had her head down, not looking at me. Her hands were quivering just a little as she twisted a napkin between her fingers. It came to me. Roxy was in love with me! I mean she was more than the childhood companion I had always considered her to be.
“I’ll be back Roxy.” I couldn’t say more. How could I? We had backed ourselves into a corner by arriving and letting others think we were sister and brother. I had a wife who had a child by another, and I didn’t know how I felt about it. I was sure that Bertha on my end and Aunt Sylvie on Ginger’s end, wanted me to take Ginger back into my arms. They were thinking that was the manly thing to do and the best for the baby. Maybe it was, but I didn’t know if I would be happy.
I made sure my paperwork was caught up and got a round trip ticket for New York. I arrived in town just before lunch time. Again I used my key to enter my former home. No one was there, but there was a stew bubbling in a crockpot. Fifteen minutes later Ginger and Junior came in. “Hi Rodney, it is nice to see you. Lunch is about ready. You’ll eat with me won’t you?”
“Yes. Let me hold the baby while you get it ready.”
“He needs his diaper changed.”
“Tell me how and I will attempt it.” Ginger looked at me with disbelief in her eyes. She shrugged and proceeded to show me what had to be done. When he was dry, I sat with him and watched my wife put the stew on the table. “Where is your aunt?”
“She is up north visiting friends for a few days. I am glad she isn’t here. We need to talk and she butts in. I know she means well, but it isn’t always what I want.”
“I know what you mean. One of my partners is the same way.”
“Roxy?”
“No Bertha. The one who selected the dress I gave you for your birthday.”
“It is a beautiful dress. I love it. I couldn’t believe you left it after finding out I was pregnant with Junior. I have had some pictures of me taken while I was wearing it.”
“I know. Aunt Sylvie sent me one.”
“She has your address? I didn’t know that.”
“She has called and sends notes about you. How else would I have known that you named the baby after me?”
“Does that bother you?”
“The baby had to have a name and I’m not ashamed of mine, so I’m okay with it.”
Ginger filled the bowls with stew and sat down. She was decidedly nervous as she faced me from across the table. Junior was getting fussy.
“He needs to be fed. I’ll go in the other room.”
“No, I want to watch. I’m still your husband and I have some rights.”
“Okay I guess, but I don’t think it is. Right I mean, under the circumstances.”
I didn’t say anything. Ginger’s face was flushed at first and then a look of contentment settled over her features as Junior hungrily went about getting his dinner. “I suppose that turns you on? Me doing this in front of you.”
“Not really. I was interested, that’s all. I have never seen a baby nursing before. I think it is time for us to decide where we are together in this marriage. First, I think you should tell me what you want. We both are twenty-two, almost twenty-three. I’m not going to discuss how much you have hurt me. There is no point in that. You have arranged for Barry to pay for the baby’s upkeep. In a way that is still going to be between us, and reminding me always that the baby isn’t mine.
“I’m surprised you haven’t asked for a divorce. I know if you don’t have the money, Aunt Sylvie would pay for it. She hasn’t offered because she thinks the best for you and the baby is with me. Right?”
“Right. Really Rodney, I haven’t asked for a divorce, because I’m afraid you would charge me with adultery. I don’t want my baby to grow up with having to deal with a mother marked with that label. I can make my way as a single mother. Believe it or not, there is a man that knows of my situation and still is interested in me. I’m interested in him as well, but I haven’t encouraged him because I’m still married to you.”
“Do you have an attorney?”
“Yes, and he is a pretty sharp one too. It was he that got the deal with Barry to support me. He is a semi-retired judge with office hours in the morning.”
“Would he come to the house this afternoon if you called him? I need to talk to someone, and I don’t want our business to be public at all.”
“I’ll call. You hold the baby and burp him. Just as soon as he does that, he’ll go right to sleep.”
The meeting with the attorney lasted for almost two hours. I had planned to see my aunt in the nursing home today, but that would wait until tomorrow. It would be two more days before the papers the attorney was preparing would be ready for my signature. If all went well, my life was getting back on track again. It would take some time, but I expected that.
I did not sleep with Ginger and we were not intimate. We talked all night until the baby’s two o’clock feeding and then I went to sleep in Aunt Sylvie’s bed. I learned all about my wife’s descent into adultery and this kept me from wanting to have sex with her. I had been so unaware of the deception at the time, I couldn’t believe I had been that naive. I thought back to how much I was in love with Ginger, and it was understandable I suppose.
While eating breakfast, Ginger asked me to forgive her. I hesitated with the answer. “I don’t think I can, not totally, anyway. You told me when I was here last time that you tried to get pregnant and say the baby was mine. I understand because you were trying to get back at me for screwing Roxy in front of you. That is way too much for me to forgive.”
“But you seem to like Junior.”
“I do. The baby isn’t really the issue here. It is your cheating, then me getting even, and then you making it worse by trying to stick me with someone else's baby. Tell me, were you thinking about a little one like Junior when you were screwing Barry’s ass off trying to get pregnant and blame it on me?”
It was two minutes before she answered while she thought over what I had said. “You are so right, Rodney. I shouldn’t have asked for forgiveness. But you have been so nice to me about everything.”
“I’m trying, but it is difficult. In the meantime, the getting evens have to stop somewhere. If we continued together, sometime we would hurt each other again. If the attorney can get the court to go along with what he wants, we can be friends, but nothing more. You know, I hope we can keep in touch. I would like to follow Junior as he grows up. After all he has my name.”
“That’s a promise.” Just then the front door opened and Aunt Sylvie came in. Ginger was sitting across from me and had just opened her blouse to feed Junior. Sylvie reached the wrong conclusion immediately. She thought that all was well between us and we were living as husband and wife again.
I stood and took her sweater as she removed it. Before I could hang it up, she came into my arms and hugged me to her. “I just knew if I sent you a picture of Ginger in the dress that matched her eyes you would hot-foot it here from Ohio. Or maybe it was your son?”
“Sit down Auntie. Rodney got here yesterday morning before lunch. He came to see his aunt in the nursing home. We are not getting back together. In fact, we are trying to get our marriage annulled. I agree it is the best thing for us to do. I disrespected my husband too much and too often to think otherwise.”
“But what about him sitting there watching you feed the baby? Your breast is out where he can see it.”
“So, he has seen them often enough before. I’m not quite ready for sex again. We are still husband and wife for a few days and it may seem odd for that reason. You must remember this is a different age than when you were growing up.”
“Where is he sleeping?”
“He slept in your bed last night. Tonight he can sleep on the couch or you can sleep with me and he can have your bed again. I showed him how to change the baby and someday when he has children of his own he will know how.”
“Not with you, I take it?”
“No, not with me.”
I broke in with, “I’m going over to the nursing home. I’ll be back and take you all to dinner. I’ll tell you all about the diner that I’m part owner of this evening. I’m pretty proud of all of my accomplishments in the last year.”
Ginger had on the sky-blue dress I had bought her. She was lovely. The car seat had a section that you could remove and carry the baby in. I carried it when we went into the restaurant. It was positioned next to Ginger. I sat across the table from the baby and couldn’t take my eyes off him. Ginger and Aunt Sylvie carried on a conversation as if I wasn’t really included. I knew I wasn’t being ignored. I just wasn’t that involved in their lives that much at present.
This could be me and my family sitting here if I wanted it to be bad enough. But one, I had to forgive Ginger and two, accept that she had cheated on me and I had to forget about it. It was too much. I kept my attention on Junior the rest of the meal.
I called the diner when we returned from the restaurant. Bertha answered the phone. “How are things going, Rodney?”
“Fine. I am staying at my old home with Ginger and the baby. Aunt Sylvie is here as well. It is kind of crowded and I don’t get too much sleep. The baby is up about two every morning. I get up and help change him. Ginger feeds him and then we go back to bed.”
Bertha was curious. “Are you two getting back together? I mean are you coming back here and bringing Ginger with you?”
“We have an attorney and he is getting things straightened out for us. Do you guys miss me?”
“I do. Roxy hasn’t said too much and is kind of quiet. How soon before you are going to tell us what your plans are? Rodney, we can’t lose you. Roxy isn’t too thrilled if you bring your wife with you, but would understand if you do. I’ll tell her you called. Oh, my daughter will be here a week from Friday. I’m planning a big celebration. I wish you could be here.”
“I’ll try to make it. Say hi to everyone for me. I’ll hang up now. Love you.”
Our attorney made us a court date on Monday before the family judge. He thought that the annulment would go through. The attorney had really worked on his presentation. There was no property to divide. Also the child was being supported very generously by the biological father. The wife also had some income so she could well take care of her child. And, this was important, there was no animosity between the parties. There just was no love and in the interest of all concerned, the marriage should be dissolved.
Monday night after the court had taken the annulment under advisement, I called Roxy. It was late and she had been sleeping. “Roxy, I was seeking an annulment in court today. I don’t know how the judge will rule, but the attorney thinks he will rule to dissolve. If he doesn’t, I will have to divorce Ginger the regular way. That takes six months, which is a long time to put one’s life on hold. It is a path that keeps me from doing what I want to do. I just called to let you know where I’m at.”
“Thank you for calling, Rodney. Is the baby as cute as he is in the picture you showed me?”
“More than that, even. I’ve even helped change him. God, a baby can make a nasty smelling mess.”
“How’s Ginger with all of this?”
“She’s good. Beautiful as ever, of course. She wants this to go forward as quickly as possible, and I’m staying here with her and her aunt. I kicked the aunt right out of her bed and she has to sleep with Ginger. The old lady is pretty disappointed we aren’t staying together. She likes me. I like her too. Hell, I still like Ginger. I have to say, I love the baby. Someday, I’m going to have a son to call my own.
“Ginger and I have talked a lot. She understands she lost my trust and can’t get it back. She asked me to forgive her, but I couldn’t. I told her maybe someday, but not yet. Anyway, I called to see how you were and tell you I am anxious to get home. I should be home by Friday. Bertha wants me there to meet her daughter.”
“You know about Sarah?”
“Yeah, she told me about her and her life. That was before she came to work for the Milford's. You think you and I had it difficult, Bertha’s life was ten times as bad as ours. In a way, hearing her story made me decide what I want for the rest of my life. It certainly isn’t with Ginger.”
“I wish I was as certain about my future.”
“Maybe we should sit down when I get home and see what we can do about your life. I want you to be happy. We have always been pretty honest with each other. I bet we can figure out something. And you know something else? I have almost shared with Ginger our little joke about how you and I came to own the diner and how we financed it.”
“Why didn’t you?”
I didn’t answer for several heartbeats. “I didn’t because I felt it would be disrespectful to you. I couldn’t do that to you. Hey, I’ve talked long enough. Love you Roxy, Good-night.” I suppose I was chicken in not declaring myself, but what if Roxy didn’t feel as I did.
The judge ruled to dissolve our union through annulment. There was some question when Ginger wanted to take her maiden name of Roberts back. This would leave the baby with the name of Thomas. Ginger said that before the baby was old enough to understand what a last name was, she intended to petition for a name change. It could be Roger Junior Roberts. She would be calling him R J until that happened. I was in agreement and would not be against the change.
I flew home a single man late Thursday night. The only responsibilities I had now, were to myself and the diner. Yes, and to anyone in my future I chose as a partner in life.
I was sitting in the corner booth when Roxy opened the diner in the morning. She didn’t see me at first as she was busy. When she did, I stood and as she came toward me I advanced into her arms. We kissed on the cheeks as we had done for more than a year. “I’m glad to be home.”
“I’m glad you are too. We missed you. How come you are so early? You must have been up most of the night. You should be in bed.”
“I’m getting to that a little later. Could you bring me the first cup of coffee when it is ready?”
“Sure. Ten minutes. You want a sweet roll?”
“No, not yet. I’ll ask when I want one.” I sat back down and questioned as Roxy moved away. “Is Sarah here yet?”
“Came in yesterday. She starts work with us next week. She is so sweet and loves her mother so much. The lady that brought her stayed over to meet you.”
“Good.” My coffee arrived, sweetened ... no cream. As Roxy turned to walk away I said, “You deserve a tip. Will this be sufficient?” I held out an opened ring box.
Roxy took it reverently between her hands, not looking at it because her eyes were glued to mine. Then she said, “I want to do this so much, but we can’t. People here think we are sister and brother. What would they say?”
“I have it figured out how to explain it. All you have to say right now is whether you want to become my wife or not. Will you accept my proposal of marriage?”
“Yes I will. I’ve waited so patiently for so long. I don’t even care if people think we are brother and sister. No, I do care. I want a good clean life ahead of us.”
“Roxy, I said I would ask when I wanted a sweet roll. Would you be so sweet as to roll into my bed tonight?”
“I’ll be waiting there for you!”
Our words were almost incoherent as we clung and whispered love words to each other. The words she was waiting for, “Roxy, I love you” were uttered. I wondered how I could have almost missed this chance for happiness. It could have been mine as far back as the time before I had met Ginger. I held her now, though, and I would never let her go.
It was going to take some time for Bertha and Sarah to become used to each other again, but Roxy and I were there to help make it happen. When Sarah saw how much her mother was loved, not only by Roxy and me, but by all of the patrons at Milford's, she came to see her mother through our eyes and not those of her twisted father’s.
The Milford's Diner is still in business I posted a large sign just inside the door and I quote: Rodney Thomas and Roxy Andrews ran away from their past and found love. The marriage will take place on Labor Day. Free barbecue to our patrons. There was a copy of my birth certificate after my name and a copy of Roxy’s after hers. No one yet has the gall to question our right to happiness.
Ginger and Aunt Sylvie were invited to the wedding. Ginger sent her regrets just saying that she was vacationing in Vermont that week with a friend and wouldn’t be able to attend. Aunt Sylvie did attend and told me all about the new man in Ginger’s life. She declared she liked him almost as much as she liked me. Before the year was out, I was informed Junior was adopted and that I didn’t have a namesake anymore. His name was now Graham.
Roxy and I took to the road more than a year ago, not knowing where it would lead. It led us to several places, Milford's Diner for one, but mainly to each other and to happiness.
The End
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