Summertime Part III

Still continuing the summer fun, please enjoy Part III of my short story "Summertime", from my Guppy Soup literary short story collection.

Guppy Soup by JT Therrien

Summertime

Part III

"Marty? Yeah, it's me. She's awake and she's calling for you. I don't know why. No, not yet, she's fine... healthy as a horse... I told you, she's fine! Look, Marty, I'm just giving you the damn message, okay?"

Eugenia unconsciously clenched her teeth. Fanny's voice intruded upon the memory of the accident, shattering it as if it existed on flimsy celluloid.

When Fanny's whine faded, Eugenia's jaw relaxed.

"I'm telling you, Ethel, you're taking that fur coat right back to the store!" Fred yelled at his wife.

"I'll do no such thing! Why, Lucy told me that it looked—"

"Lucy! Lucy's crazy! You listen to me, Ethel. You take back the coat or you'll be going to that wedding accompanied by your screwball friend instead of me!"

"Fred! How dare you talk that way about Lucy. She's my best friend!"

Laughter, so much laughter.

Eugenia smiled, knowing that Lucy would soon be involved. Then all heck would break loose for sure.

"Look. I don't care what you do or when you get back. How long till the end of the game? All right, I'll tell her... something... I don't know what! Look... don't worry about it. You sit and finish your beer, I'll be fine!" Fanny slammed the telephone receiver so hard into its plastic cradle that the ringer dinged.

A moment later she heard Fanny's heels clicking neatly on the hallway linoleum tiles outside her bedroom. Eugenia closed her eyes, feigning sleep.

Fanny entered the room and strode directly to Eugenia's bedside, her body casting a shadow on Eugenia's face. She nudged the bed with a fleshy thigh. "Mother Adams? Mother Adams?" Eugenia tried not to gag on the cloying scent of Chanel No. 5 when Fanny towered over her.

When she coughed she opened her eyes and stared into Fanny's sun-wrinkled face, so close it seemed to draw the very breath from her lungs. Fanny's bulbous nose was in direct competition with her black-rimmed eyes for attention. Lifeless, loveless spheres, they absorbed life and discharged indifference in return. If it was true that the eyes were mirrors of the soul... Eugenia shivered at the thought of Martin staring into those eyes for the rest of his life.

Fanny smiled at her, flashing bright white dentures that were too long in the front, creating a buck-toothed grin that contrasted with her fashionable hairstyle, the bleached-blond strands tucked behind oversized ears, making her long equine face appear longer and even less attractive than it already was.

"Are you cold, Mother Adams?" Without waiting for an answer, Fanny dropped another layer of sheets over Eugenia's body.

"Where's Martin?" Eugenia asked weakly, pawing ineffectively at the heavy layer to get it off her sweltering body.

Even though there wasn't anything humorous in what Eugenia had asked, Fanny laughed as she answered, "Oh, you know Marty. He's out and about. Gallivantin' like he does. I think he went to get you a few groceries. You know," she said casually, looking down at her glossy blood-red fingernails, "that's probably the reason why you had that spell. You don't eat too good, living by yourself and all, in this big old house full of cold drafts."

Eugenia inhaled deeply again, trying to draw oxygen in her lungs. She turned over, away from Fanny and her dreadful cloud of perfume.

Fanny harrumphed and walked over to the other side of the bed, blocking Eugenia's view of the old willow tree. She struck a match and lit a cigarette, blowing a puff of smoke over the bed and across the room.

Eugenia coughed lightly.

"You don't mind if I smoke, do you, Mother Adams?"
Fanny inhaled deeply, a moment later releasing the smoke above Eugenia's bed. "You know," her daughter-in-law continued, "you should really think about moving into Glenwood Manor, that new residence in town. Did Marty tell you that we went over there last week, just to have a look-see?" Fanny's pencil-thin eyebrows raised inquiringly as she waited for Eugenia's response.

Eugenia remained silent, trying not to panic as she struggled to draw a much-needed breath.

"Well, anyway, we went there. It was Marty's idea, you know. And it was just so wonderful! They have dancing on Saturday nights, and there's a big TV, and a large common room full of picture puzzles and games. And… if you moved there you wouldn't have to worry about cleaning this big old house or walking up and down those nasty stairs."

And you could finally lay claim to my house and move in, Eugenia considered.

Her breath sounded as raspy going in as it did coming out. She closed her eyes to mere slits, the whole world reduced to a slice of grey.

Fanny stretched her hand out. Eugenia thought she was examining her latest manicure, paid for with Marty's hard-earned money. Twelve hours a day, six days a week, the poor boy sweated in that smelting factory. Fanny turned her face toward the sunshine and closed her eyes. "God, I hate the sunshine. Look what it's doing to my skin."

As Fanny left Eugenia's bedroom, sinewy strands of cigarette smoke trailed behind her like a long veil, torn into ribbons.

TO BE CONTINUED...

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I hope you enjoyed Part III of "Summertime". Look for Part IV in the next few weeks.

If you absolutely need to finish reading "Summertime" before I post the other parts, you can find Guppy Soup for Kindle on Amazon. The literary short story collection is also available on Smashwords for all other e-formats, including Kobo, ibooks, B&N, etc.

~JT~