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By Misti Date: 2001 Sep 30 Comment on this Work [[2001.09.30.14.08.23679]] |
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They were driving along in peace. Well...not peace, really. Unspoken tension. "Faith" by Luscious Jackson was playing on the stereo. Sam was driving, staring at the road ahead. Eileen was sunk down in the passenger seat with her knees pressed against the dashboard. Her eyes were concealed behind cheap black sunglasses. She was chewing peppermint Freshen Up gum. Sam's chief dissatisfaction with Eileen was that she was too otherworldly and melancholy. He had always been more attracted to down-to-earth, sanguine women. But Eileen smelled nice and Sam enjoyed sleeping with her. Eileen's chief dissatisfaction with Sam was that he picked his nose and didn't have antibacterial handsoap in his bathroom. She had always been more attracted to clean, well-mannered men. But Sam had amazing hazel eyes that turned golden in the sunlight and Eileen enjoyed sleeping with him. Sometimes. "Can I talk?" Eileen asked, turning down the stereo. Sam glanced at her and shrugged. "Sure," he said. "When I was a little girl, I would spend the weekend with my paternal grandmother sometimes. During the summer. I would sleep beside her in her big four poster bed. She had a huge house. All the other bedrooms were on the other side of the house. I got scared sleeping alone. She had the most wonderful Disneyland ashtray. She didn't smoke, but she had the ashtray on her headboard because she liked looking at it. It was glass. It had a night photo of Cinderella's Castle. She used to tell me her Disneyland story. I never got tired of hearing it. Tinkerbell actually flew down from the castle at night! Like magic. And on the safari ride, she saw hippos in the water, opening their huge mouths. I wanted desperately to go there. I never did." Sam simply nodded, waiting for Eileen to finish her story. "Have you ever been to Disneyland?" Eileen asked. "Nope. Never have. I've been to Disneyworld a couple of times." "Oh, wow! What was it like?" "Long lines. Hot. The rides weren't that scary. I liked King's Dominion better. It had all the awesome roller coasters. I'm not really into Disney, to tell the truth." "Oh, I would love to go. Even now. To either one. Have you ever eaten fried pies? I'm sorry, I'm getting all nostalgic all of a sudden." "Fried pies? What are fried pies? They sound very healthy. Very Southern." "You know...Scottish people eat a lot of fried food. They even fry their candy bars. But yeah, I guess it's a Southern thing. Fried pies from the bakery were the best. Basically, they were fried biscuits made into a sort of pocket that contained fruit. Rolled in sugar and cinnamon. I was addicted to apricot fried pies for a long time. My mom made some for me once. They were so good." "Hmmm. Strange." "I never talk, and when I do you deliver these snide little judgments." "I'm not being snide. I'm not judging you. They just sound...odd. That's all. I've never even eaten biscuits." "Well, you've missed out. Biscuits are great. You can drench them in chocolate gravy, white cream gravy, put scrambled eggs and bacon and cheese in them, slather them with butter and jelly, or drizzle them with maple syrup. Okay, I'm starting to sound like that dude from 'Forrest Gump.' I'll shut up." "I love that movie." "It depresses me. The Jenny character depresses me." "Yeah." More silence ensued. An hour later they reached their destination. Eileen's sister and brother-in-law's cabin at Runaway Bay. "Come on in," Ginger called from the front doorway. "Gosh, you're tall!" Ginger exclaimed as Sam entered the cabin. "You've lost weight," Ginger told Eileen as she followed Sam inside. "Really? My butt's still big. But I think I'll keep it," Eileen said. "Ya'll sit down. Turn the TV off, Tommy." Ginger's husband Tommy was sprawled out on the sofa watching a western on TV. Tommy turned the TV off with the remote control and rose to greet Sam and Eileen. "Hey man, I'm Tommy," Tommy said, extending his hand to Sam. "Nice to meet ya, I'm Sam," Sam said, shaking Tommy's hand with a terse smile. "Likewise. Sit down, Sam. Hey, gorgeous. What have you been up to?" Tommy gave Eileen a bear hug. She hugged him back and sat down on the sofa. "Oh, not much. I'm still working at the paper. I interviewed a Vietnam vet last week. He had more tattoos than you do." "Really? Well isn't that somethin'. I got a new one. Check it out." Tommy lifted his Chicago Bears t-shirt, revealing his newest tattoo...a dagger dripping blood on his chest. Eileen feigned fascination and Sam raised his eyebrows. "Wow...that'll learn 'em not to mess with you," Eileen said with a laugh. "Did it hurt?" Sam asked. "Hell, yeah, it hurt. I was cryin' like a baby. Wasn't I, honey?" "Yes, you were. Can I get ya'll anything to drink?" Ginger asked. "A Coke, please," Eileen said. "Me, too," Sam said. "Sorry, all we have is Diet Big Red." "We're fine," Eileen said, waving her hand. "Do you have any beer?" Sam asked hopefully. "Nooooo," Ginger said with a strange look. "We've given our lives to the Lord, Sam. We don't drink or party anymore. Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?" "Tommy, leave him alone. He's from Maryland. They don't swap Jesus stories up there," Eileen said. "Well, they need to. We need to send some missionaries to Maryland, babe," Tommy said to Ginger, who was now sitting in his lap on the sofa. Sam got up and sat down in the recliner. "I grew up in the Catholic church, actually," Sam stated. "Catholic. Ya'll believe in Mary, right?" Tommy asked, barely concealing his derision. "Yes, Catholics believe in Mary and all the saints. But they believe in God and Christ, too. I don't believe in anything, personally. I'm an agnostic." "An ag who?" Tommy asked, leaning forward and fixing Sam with an incredulous stare. "Agnostic. I don't believe or disbelieve in God. I just know that the Earth is billions of years old and most Christians seem to think it's only a few thousand years old because they take the Bible literally. That's fine, but I don't feel a void in my life so I get along just fine without church or prayer." "Why not just be an atheist, then?" Ginger asked with a slight sneer. "Because atheists are arrogant. They absolutely don't believe in God. They're limited. They have their own kind of terror." "Well, I don't get it. I don't get how anyone couldn't believe in God," Ginger said. "Me, either," Tommy murmured. "Okay, ya'll. We're breaking a rule here. Don't discuss religion or politics with friends. Let's talk about...the newest 'Friends' episode," Eileen suggested. "I don't watch that show," Sam said. "I don't either. But Ginger does," Eileen said. "No, I stopped watching it. It's too sexually charged. Like 'Three's Company.'" "'Three's Company'? You've got to be joking! We saw every single episode when we were kids! There's nothing evil about Jack and Janet and Chrissy!" "Right, but there are always sexual innuendos. Like the time Mr. Ferley was in the bathroom with Janet fixing the faucet or whatever and Jack and Chrissy were outside the door, thinking they were having sex," Ginger pointed out. "We watch the 'Left Behind' series. We have all the tapes," Tommy boasted. "I watch 'The Simpsons' and 'South Park' and pornos," Sam confessed. "I like soft porn. The hardcore stuff is disgusting. I like '9 1/2 Weeks' and 'Wild at Heart.' I also enjoy 'The Real World' and 'Road Rules' from time to time," Eileen said. "Perverts! No, you're preverts! Ya'll need to find God. That's all I got to say," Tommy said. "Ya'll need to smoke marijuana and meditate. You're too poor to be Scientologists," Eileen joked. "Well," Ginger said with a sigh. Later they enjoyed a Domino's pepperoni pizza in silence. After the pizza was eaten, Sam announced that they were going to take off. "Okay," Ginger and Tommy said in cheery unison. "Keep in touch," Eileen said, giving Ginger and Tommy a hug. On the long drive back to Sam's apartment, Eileen talked incessantly about her childhood while Sam stared ahead at the road. "I loved making ceramics with my great-grandmother. I made a ceramic owl once. I painted it hot pink, just to be different. With chartreuse eyes. My sister hated it. She said,'Owls are supposed to be brown with black eyes.' She got mad at me once and threw my owl over the balcony. It shattered into hundreds of pieces on the pebbled rocks by the pool. Maybe that was her revenge for me breaking her 'Pete's Dragon' soundtrack album when I was three. I also buried her Donny and Marie dolls in the backyard when I was six. I think she still hasn't recovered from that one. What did you pack in your school lunches? When I was six I only wanted mustard sandwiches...mustard on two slices of white bread, nothing else. I hated bologna. But Mom didn't want the other kids to think I was poor. So I settled for JIF peanut butter and Welch's grape jelly sandwiches. With Cheetos and a Rome apple and Nutter Butter cookies. Those were the best. I've always loved peanut butter. My favorite ice cream in the world is Chocolate Peanut Butter from Baskin Robbins. What do you like?" "Rocky road. Could you stop talking so much, please? I'm getting a headache." "Oh, God. You're going to dump me. I can feel it in my bones. It's not enough for us to have fun in bed. We have to enjoy talking to each other, too." Eileen removed her sunglasses and wiped away a few stray tears. Sam looked over at her and patted her thigh. "You're a good woman," he said softly. "Well, do you want to keep me, then?" "Maybe. We'll see," Sam replied. When the weekend was over Eileen returned to her small apartment and wrote five long poems, helped along with a bottle of cheap chardonnay. She really liked the poem about being locked in a dark basement, hollering and crying and not being heard. Eileen was proud of the metaphor. |