"Arrrrg!"
The scream echoed down the hallway and filled the entire house. There was a lot of anger packed in it.
Standing in the kitchen, John said, "That sounds like Rose."
Knowing there was no one else that it could be, Lisa said, "She sounds angry."
"I wonder what Mother did," David said.
"I'm going to kill her!"
"That is Rose," John said.
He wondered what his wife had done to get that kind of reaction from Rose. It probably wasn't anything that would normally have provoked that kind of response. He was aware that Rose would react negatively to any act of kindness.
"Lisa!" Rose screamed.
Lisa said, "I better see what the problem is."
John called out, "Are you okay? Do you want me to come there?"
"No! Only Lisa!" Rose shouted frantically.
John called out, "Okay."
Lisa entered the hallway to find Rose pacing outside her bedroom. The young woman tightly clutched a large paper bag in her hand. The expression on Rose's face was one of blind fury. Lisa hoped that the anger wasn't aimed in her direction.
Rose thrust out the bag to Lisa while saying, "Look at what was hanging on my doorknob."
Lisa took the bag noting that it was from a large lingerie chain that used supermodels to advertise its products. She opened it the bag and looked inside to examine the contents. Open mouthed, she said, "Wow. Those are nice."
"They're ... I don't know ... too ... private," Rose said.
"Hey, there are matching panties," Lisa said pulling a training bra and panty set out of the bag.
"Put them back. Dad or David could see them," Rose said frantically.
"Hey, these panties are French cut," Lisa said holding up the white lacy panties. "I'd like a pair like this."
"Don't talk so loud. They'll hear you," Rose said in a harsh whisper.
"I wonder how much they cost."
Rose grabbed the set out of Lisa's hand and frantically stuffed it back in the bag. She looked down the hallway to make sure that neither of the men were coming. She would die if her father and brother were to see her standing there holding up a training bra.
Red faced with embarrassment, Rose said, "She just hung this bag on my doorknob. David could have seen it and looked inside."
"I doubt he'd do that," Lisa said.
She would have looked inside the bag if she had seen it hanging there, but she was pretty sure that David would have ignored it. He tended to shy away from things like that.
"She purposely set out to embarrass me," Rose said shaking the bag angrily.
In a way, Lisa was envious of Rose. She would have loved it if someone had given her her first training bra or even taken her to buy her first bra. She had been one of the last girls in her class to get a bra just because she didn't want to go to the store alone. She definitely didn't want to go into the store with her father. The only reason she had gone was because she had overheard some boys talking about how she was walking around with her headlights on. She had been mortified when she realized what they meant.
Lisa said, "Do you want to know what is embarrassing? Embarrassing is having to go to the store alone to buy your first training bra."
"She didn't have to hang it here where everyone could see it," Rose said.
"Would you have prefered it if she had left it in your room?" Lisa asked.
"No!"
The bedroom was considered sacrosanct. No one was supposed to enter another person's bedroom without permission.
"She could have left it for you on the kitchen table," Lisa said.
"God no!" Rose shouted. She would have died if her mother had done that. Upon her resurrection she would have killed her mother in the most painful way possible.
"So where should she have left it?" Lisa asked.
Not having a reasonable answer to that question, Rose said, "Don't take her side."
Lisa said, "I'm not taking her side. I'm just saying that it was kind of a nice thing to do."
Rose opened the door to her bedroom and threw the bag into it. She closed the door and said, "I hate her."
Rose stomped down the hallway to the kitchen. Lisa followed her thinking about how she would have thanked God for that kind of present when she had been Rose's age. She looked up to notice her father and brother watching them.
John asked, "What was the problem?"
Rose answered, "I don't want to talk about it."
"Is there anything I can do to help?" John asked.
"I don't want to talk about it," Rose said in a low growl.
"Sorry," John said.
"Let's get to work," Rose said wanting to shift attention from herself.
It didn't take long for them to form an assembly line for preparing the apples for the steamer. With the long break while the juice was extracted, there was little for them to do. Lisa spent the time thinking about the training bra and panty set. The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. She had to go through the change from girl to woman alone. Her father had been less than helpful.
She recalled the sex talk her father had given her. It had boiled down to boys had penises and girls had vaginas. All boys wanted to put their penises into her vagina. It was her job to keep that from happening. The sex talk then devolved to an hour long discussion on how to physically convince boys not to put their penises in her vagina.
He hadn't helped with the emotional part of teenage relationships. That was a mother's job. A mother was supposed to prepare her daughter on how to deal with boys. Her mother hadn't been there to do it.
The longer she thought about it, the angrier she got at her mother. It would have been one thing if her mother had been dead. She wouldn't have been alive to do her job. No, her mother was alive and well. She visited occasionally, but didn't concern herself with being a mother.
Lisa was angry at her mother. She had been oblivious to Lisa's needs and that was even worse than not being there. How could a mother miss the fact that her daughter was developing breasts, was beginning her menstrual cycle, and had a marked curiosity about boys? No mother worth a damn could.
Two and a half hours later, John and the kids were removing another four quarts of apple juice from the boiling water bath. They were each taking one jar in turn. Rose had just lifted out a jar when, from the formal dining room, came a shout.
"Lunch is ready."
As soon as she was able to set down the hot jar, Rose raced towards the door of the kitchen. She heard the front door close before she reached the kitchen door. She slowed and walked to the living room window. She could see her mother getting into her car. The two of them stared at each other for a few seconds and then Vicki drove away.
Rose returned to the kitchen muttering, "Bitch."
"What's the matter, Rose?" John asked while removing the last hot jar from the boiling water.
"She's gone," Rose answered glaring through the door.
"I thought you didn't want to see her," John said.
Rose growled. "I want to talk to her."
"You don't want to talk to her," John said, "You want to yell at her."
"It's the same thing," Rose said.
"No it isn't," John said.
Rose growled.
David said, "Let's see what's for lunch."
"We aren't eating her food," Rose declared flatly.
"I'm hungry," David said while heading towards the dining room.
"She probably spit in it," Rose called out to his retreating backside.
John asked, "Why would you say such a mean thing?"
Rose said, "She's bitter. She has just discovered that we want her gone and now her feelings are hurt. She's angry and wants to punish us."
"I guess that is one theory," John said. "I'm not sure that I buy it."
From the dining room David called out, "Hey, it's Chinese."
"She brought Chinese," John said.
"Hey, there's beef and broccoli. I love that. There's some Sweet and Sour Pork, too."
"Those are your favorites," John said.
"There's some Egg Foo Yung," David shouted. "I haven't had that in ages."
"That sounds good," John said.
"I tell you, she poisoned it," Rose said.
"Let's get in there before it gets cold," John said gesturing in the direction of the dining room.
"No," Rose said.
John asked, "Aren't you going to eat?"
"I'm making a sandwich," Rose said.
"Me too," Lisa said.
It was after seven in the evening when Vicki returned to the house carrying three shopping bags. One bag contained two pairs of shoes: a pair of loafers and a pair of sneakers. The second bag contained a blouse. It wasn't much to show for having spent most of the day shopping for clothes.
The third bag contained three iPads. It was the only thing she had found that the kids might like. They had been kind of expensive, but she thought it would be worth it.
She carried her packages towards the bedroom. Hanging off the doorknob was the bag containing her gift for Rose. Scrawled on the bag was the message, "I can buy my own clothes."
Disappointed, Vicki sighed. She removed the bag from the doorknob. She knew it had been too much to expect for Rose to accept the gift. She wondered if the iPads would suffer the same fate.
Entering the bedroom, she spotted a note from John on her pillow. She dropped the bags on the bed and picked up the note. She read it aloud.
Vicki,
David is thawing. Lisa is getting angrier. Rose is furious. I will be by the house tomorrow without the kids. I'm looking forward to seeing you. We have a lot to discuss.
John
Wondering what she had done to make Lisa angrier, Vicki sighed. She knew very little about the kids and they weren't helping her learn more about them. It seemed to her that even John was holding back information that would allow her to reconnect with her family.
"Oh John. How did I ever let things get this bad?"
Vicki was faced with another night alone. Lost with nothing to do, she wandered through the house aimlessly. The kitchen sparkled. Nothing was out of place in the living room. The dining room looked like the table had been polished. The house was clean so she couldn't even do a little housework.
She paused in front of the door to Rose's bedroom. Inside that room, just on the other side of the door, was every personal thing important to Rose. The temptation to enter the room in order to discover more about her daughter was overwhelming.
Vicki was reaching for the doorknob when she noticed a piece of tape stuck between the door and the frame. She stepped back staring at the tell. It was such a little thing, worth maybe a hundredth of a penny, but that little piece of tape had the power of the most expensive lock in the world. If Pandora had been confronted by such a seal then the world would be a better place.
Vicki returned to her room to put away her purchases. In doing so, she noticed the three bags of costumes at the back of her closet. She grabbed one of the bags and spread the four outfits it contained on the bed.
The first costume was a slave girl outfit. The overly helpful saleswoman had convinced her that it was a perfect costume to wear when she wanted to let her man know that he owned her. It covered the body, but only just barely. It left nothing to the imagination. She didn't think he would ever be convinced that he owned her.
The second costume was a prisoner's costume with a black and white striped skirt, blouse, and cap. The skirt would barely cover the bottom of her ass. The saleswoman had assured her that it was the perfect outfit for those times when she wanted to be punished for being a bad girl. She stared at it thinking that it was too close to reality. Her punishment was only beginning.
The third costume was a genii outfit just like the one worn by the woman on the television show except it was a little more risque. Supposedly it was perfect for granting his every wish. She looked at it thinking that she couldn't grant any wishes John might have. How could she undo the past six years? She couldn't.
The fourth costume was a Valentine's day outfit. She stared at it with a sick feeling in her stomach. She tried to, but couldn't, remember what she had done the last Valentine's Day. She couldn't remember if she had been in Kansas City or Atlanta. Had she even thought of John? She honestly couldn't recall.
She stumbled back from the bed staring at the costume. What kind of wife couldn't remember what she had done on Valentine's Day? There was something wrong with her. Had Victoria taken over her life to such a degree that she had lost the ability to be romantic?
Furious, she grabbed the costume and tried to rip it apart. It was made of better material than she had thought. She wadded it up into a ball and threw it into a corner of the room. She sank to the floor and cried. What kind of woman had she become?
Vicki fell asleep on the floor. Sometime in the middle of the night, she climbed into the bed and slept there.
When John arrived late in the morning, he found Vicki in the kitchen polishing the silver set. He sat down and asked, "Why are you polishing the silverware? It doesn't need it."
"I needed something to do," Vicki said.
"Okay," John replied.
Vicki said, "Can I ask you something?"
"What?"
"What did you do last Valentine's Day?"
"David had a date. I had fancy sit down dinner with Rose and Lisa. You were in Denver. I sent a dozen roses to your hotel room. You called me that night and we chatted for a bit," John answered.
She remembered it now. The presence of the flowers in her room had surprised her. She had not realized that it was Valentine's Day until she had read the card. She hadn't forgotten the holiday, she had forgotten that she was supposed to celebrate it. She had sent flowers to Ann on behalf of Sid, but hadn't thought about doing anything for John.
Vicki said, "I really liked the roses. Every time I passed by them I thought about you. I was sad that I had to leave them in the hotel when I flew back here."
"We were going to do something that weekend when you returned, but it just didn't work out. I don't remember exactly what happened," John said.
"Neither do I," Vicki said.
John sat down and discussed a little of what was happening with the kids. It seemed to him that they were getting more and more resistant to letting her back in their lives. He wasn't quite sure what to make of it, but recommended that she continue to take whatever opportunities she could to do nice things for them.
Vicki mentioned having purchased the iPads. He informed her that all three kids already had them and that she should probably return them to the store. The kids had just about every electronic gizmo on the market and she shouldn't waste her time trying to buy them items like that. Vicki was not pleased to learn that. She was at her wit's end trying to find a good gift for them.
After the conversation about the kids wound down, John said, "I better get into the office. I have to do some work if I'm ever going to sell the company. Pixor Toys wants some information and I need to gather it for them."
"I understand," Vicki said.
After he went into the office, Vicki returned to polishing the silverware. She knew why they hadn't celebrated Valentine's Day after she returned from Denver. She had forgotten about it. It had been one of those weekends without sex. She rubbed the spoon she was polishing so hard that she was surprised that she didn't remove some of the silver.
After she finished polishing the silver place settings, she started on the silver service that had been a present from her great aunt. The old woman had given her the set to keep it in the family. She had been a spinster for reasons that had never been clear to Vicki. There had been hushed talk, but no one had ever told her anything. She wondered if her daughters would keep it when it was time for her to pass the set onto the next generation.
She held up the creamer and looked at the unflattering reflection. She felt uglier than the distorted image it presented to her. The guilt at her past treatment of John was eating at her.
She was waiting for John when he stepped out of his office carrying an envelope. He was rather surprised to see her standing there. He asked, "Were you waiting for me?"
Vicki said, "I give you permission to ravage me, yell at me, and beat me."
"Why would I want to ravage you, yell at you, or beat you?" John asked somewhat confused by her offer.
Vicki answered, "I think you probably feel a need to punish me."
"I don't want to punish you. I'd rather make love to you, talk to you, and cuddle with you," John said.
"I would like that," Vicki said hopefully.
Not believing that Victoria was gone for good, John said, "I would love to do it, but I can't right now. I have to drop these papers off at the post office and get back to the kids."
Standing at the front window, she watched him drive off. She would have loved it if he had been able to stay for a little longer. Instead, she was left feeling empty and alone.
She went to the bedroom and picked up the shopping bag with the iPads in it. The disappointment at not having found a gift for the kids overwhelmed her. She had been so sure that she had found a gift that no teenager could resist.
"I hope I can get my money back," Vicki said.
Convinced that it was going to be impossible to do something nice for her kids, a sudden flash of anger washed over her. Screaming, she swung the bag so that it hit the door frame. The dull thunk made when it struck left her feeling dissatisfied. She beat the bag against the doorframe until the bag broke. Three battered iPad boxes skittered across the floor.
She stood there staring at the dinged up boxes for a second. The temptation to laugh hysterically at what she had done was almost overwhelming. She clamped down on her emotions feeling like she'd go crazy if she didn't.
"I guess I won't be getting my money back."
Her frustrating day had not ended. Rose had been busy on the telephone telling everyone she knew that her father was on the market. The girls she talked with told their divorced mothers the good news.
That evening a number of single women stopped by the house, one at a time, to console John on his separation from his wife. It was obvious by their attire that they were husband hunting. No one would ever believe that so many women would decide that it would be nice evening to take a stroll around the block wearing little black dresses and CFM shoes.
It was a rather embarrassing and tense situation for everyone involved. Vicki was not pleased by the parade of women at her door, but refrained from being too curt with them. The women who found themselves dealing with an irritated woman were not pleased, but managed a modicum of politeness. Later, a lot of daughters would not be happy. Rose's popularity fell significantly.
On the up side, Vicki did hand out a number of bags of apples to her visitors. The little gift provided an excuse for the awkward visit without anyone having to explicitly state the real reason for them being there. It should be noted that the women who had come seeking a husband weren't exactly thrilled that all they got out of their effort was a bag of apples.
One of the good things was that Vicki did get to meet the neighbors who had moved into Susan's old house. Having seen the stream of well dressed women come to the door and then leave, they figured there was some sad event occuring at the house and thought it would be proper to stop by and offer to help. They were pleased to learn that nothing tragic had happened.
Vicki liked young couple. She learned they were about to start a family. She wished them a good marriage and hoped they didn't fall into one of the many traps that lay in wait for couples who didn't communicate well. It should be noted that they were absolutely ecstatic about the apples and promised to invite her over for pie in a day or two.
Much later in the evening, Vicki was about to head to bed when the telephone rang. She picked up the receiver and brought it to her ear.
Before Vicki had a chance to say a word, the caller said, "John, this is Elise from down the street. I just had a horrible nightmare and I'm feeling terrified that there's something here. Could you come here and check the house? I promise you'll enjoy breakfast."
"Elise, this is Vicki, John's wife ... as I'm sure you know. I'll be right over to chase away the ghosts and monsters that may have taken up residence in your house. I usually find that beating a pan with a wooden spoon in every room for at least three minutes every hour gets rid of them all by morning. I'm sure that I'll enjoy breakfast."
There was a long moment of silence. Elise said, "On second thought, I think I can handle it myself."
"If you change your mind, give me a call and I'll bring my big pot and wooden spoon," Vicki said.
After hanging up the phone, Vicki mimicked Elise in a snarky voice, "I promise you'll enjoy breakfast."