A Yoke Unequal

by Darrel Bird

girl knocked on the door, “Hi, I’m Madelyn, you needed a sitter?”

  “Hi, yes, the kids are sleeping down the hall right now.”

  “I’ll go sit in the room with them until they wake up, how old are they?”

  “My son is five, and my daughter is four.” Ellen said.

  “Oh what a fun age! My cup of tea, I’ll take good care of them.”

  “Fine, there is food, and drink in the fridge, help yourself to whatever you need, just make yourself at home.”

  “I’ll do that, no worries.”

  Ellen looked at Jane, “How long will we be gone?”

  “Oh, a couple hours.”

  “That’s ok, stay as long as you need; I don’t have classes until tomorrow morning.” Madelyn smiled.

  “We’ll take my car, I know of a really nice restaurant down town. Do you like Italian?”

  “Love it.”

  She wove her way expertly through the down town traffic for twenty minutes before pulling the car in front of a swanky Italian restaurant. A valet came to take the car.

  She led her through the front door and to the desk where a man picked up two menus off the counter, and smiling at Jane motioned them to follow him. He seated them at a table by the window, the table had a red and white checked table cloth, “Thank you Alonzo.”

  The man smiled, “You’re welcome miss Fredrick. What would you like to drink?”

  “Bring us some vodka cocktails please.”

  “Oh, I don’t drink!” Ellen said, startled.

  “Oh, one won’t hurt honey, we need to get you down, I see the signs.”

  Alonzo looked questioningly at her, “I guess that will be ok Alonzo, thank you.”

  Another waiter brought ice water, and poured their glasses then went away, “So, how long have you two been married?” Jane asked.

  “Eight years this June, are you married?”

  “Heavens no honey, I’m CIA, and a woman in the CIA can’t afford a pregnancy.”

  “What is a woman in the CIA doing escorting a tired wife around?”

  “They like to keep CIA business in house. Tired wives are our business too.”

  “No stone left unturned huh?”

  “More like no detail left out, we thrive on details sugar. If you take a piss we write it down.”

  Ellen was a little taken aback by the crude speech, but she understood a woman working in a man’s world. That last little thing the woman said gave her a tiny glimpse into the woman’s rock hard soul that she tried so hard to cover up. This woman bears watching. She soon forgot about the little incident as she sipped on the cocktail. The liquor in it made her feel sort of strange, but in another way, completely relaxed.

  “Do you know where they are sending my husband?”

  “Oh no honey, I’m not that CIA, I am in the elite group of ‘go fetch’ bitches.” Ellen could plainly hear the bitter undertones in that, because after all, dear old Jane was drinking vodka too. She smiled at her new found wisdom and then thought, Am I getting drunk? I do believe I am. The waiter brought their dinner, and by that time she was ravenous.

  And a Bird in a Pear tree

  It had been almost a week since Jerry had been home, as the CIA shifted him from department to department; they had even flown him to Langley Virginia in a CIA jet to test the cold weather gear. The gear had tested well in the cold room at well over -40 degrees, but when they had put holes in the suit, the holes had become worrisome. They told him not to worry that they had stick on patches, besides it was well above zero in the summer in that part of Siberia, they said.

  The weekend came and they cut him loose to go home, the apartment looked deserted as he drove into the driveway. He unlocked the door and went in. The apartment felt stifling and he raised the window that looked out over the Potomac to feel the cool breeze of the river, it was the end of June. The Cherry blossoms were gone and DC was heating up to a long hot summer. He lay down on the couch, and immediately fell into a deep sleep where he dreamed of parachuting into a frozen waste land, far from his wife and family. He fought his way up out of sleep to find his wife shaking him awake, “You were crying out in your sleep honey, what were you dreaming?”

  “Dreaming I had lost you.” He looked at her beautiful face, her dark hair with a wisp lying over one eye. She looked as good as the day they were married, and he reached for her to pull her down on him. She struggled to rise under his grasp, “I have to get the kids down for their nap baby, I’ll be back. They wanted to stay up to see you, but I don’t want to break their routine, or I’ll never get them down.”

  “Hurry back I missed you, where were you anyway?”

  “I took the kids to the park to let them wear them out. I was hoping you would be home this morning.” She smiled and threw him a kiss as she left the room.

  In a few minutes she came back, and eased her body down on his, and he kissed her tenderly. Her body laying full length on his soon made him exited, and they went to the bed and made love. “I love you so much.” He said.

  “I love you too honey, it’s empty around here without you.”

  “What say when I get through with this job, I ask for a transfer back to Atlanta?”

  “Was the training difficult? Or are you having misgivings about the job?”

  “Maybe a little bit of both.”

  “Can you tell me what the job is?”

  “You know I can’t. We’ve already been over that ground. I can give you a heads up time wise though, I may be gone for more than a month.”

  “A month! Jerry, the kids are growing fast, and they need their father, I need their father.”

  “Now don’t start Ellen.”

  “No, I guess not, not when talking does no good. I’ve got to see to the kids. And don’t raise your voice; they can hear you through these cheap walls.”

  “Now the walls are cheap.”

  “Cut it Jerry!” She glared at him and left the room.

  He hated it when they had disagreements, and it made him look forward to time away.

  The rift between them seemed to widen on Sunday, but she took the kids to a church which was only a few blocks away. She would be gone until about twelve thirty, so he took the time to go over the operation again, by the time she got home he was relieved that the tension between them had lifted somewhat.

  The next morning he had to fly back to Langley for the cold weather gear. When he arrived back in DC they sent word for him to come back to the same room where he had met Miny, Moe, and Jack. He opened the door of the room and had a bad case of de `ja vou when he saw the three there with their coffee cups in hand.

  “Pour yourself a cup.” Miny said.

  He poured himself a cup of the coffee, At least the coffee is good, but I don’t care for these three.

  “The operation has been moved up to next week, so tomorrow, you fly to Alaska.”

  “Tomorrow? Jeez, you guys don’t let up do you? What about my family? They have just barely got their feet on the ground here.”

  “We’ll take care of your family, we have been studying them to find out what they like to do, and the service takes care of its own Gray.”

  “Studying them? Do you really believe that crap?”

  “Gray, we can’t have you going family on us in the damned Siberian arctic, now can we? You need to trust us with this stuff. I’ll personally see to it that Jane drops in often. Hell, I’ll even drop by myself if it will make you feel any better.”

  “No thanks Jack, Jane will do, I can’t have you scaring the piss out of my wife while I’m gone. Ok, if we’re going to do it, lets just get it done.”

  “Atta boy!” Moe slapped him on the back.

  “Don’t do that, I might choose to knock your head against the wall.”

  “Tough guy huh?”

  “I doubt if you chose me for my lovely disposition.”

  “Break it up, go home Gray, sleep with your wife, and meet us at the chopper pad at ten in the morning, we’ll fly you to Langley
where you will take off on a Navy Jet for Alaska. You’ll be choppered out to a ship that’s waiting for you off Point Hope. There you will be ferried out to sea where the chopper will take off, and drop you in at night. Remember, your radio is your only life line. Once you break radio silence, we only have a short window in which to get in, and pick you up. We won’t be there in the morning to see you off, it will be your handlers only. I want to take this opportunity to wish you good luck, and God speed you back home.” Jacked shook his hand and then Miny and Moe followed suite, and the three of them left the room.

  Well, what do you know about that? Maybe they had an earth mother after all. Huh!

  By the time he got home it was six thirty, the kids swooped over him like pups would climb their mother, “Hi, you little rascals!”

  “Daddy, are you going to leave us?”

  “Who told you that?”

  “Mommy said you had to go away.”

  “Only for a while squirt, I’ll be back before you know it. Now give me a big sloppy kiss!”

  “Aw Daddy, stop it!” Bobby leaned his head back and laughed.

  “You two know I love you don’t you?”

  “Uhuh.”

  “Good, lets get some supper, I’m starved.”

  Ellen was standing in the door of the kitchen thoughtfully staring at him; he walked over and kissed her tenderly, “What’s for supper my love?”

  “Pork chops.”

  “Ummm, and what else?”

  “Me.”

  “I’ll take you up on that, but I have to tell you first, I leave from the pad in the morning.”

  “Oh Jerry…!

  “I know. Its hard on you and the kids. After this job I intend to correct that.”

  “Do you really mean that?”

  “I really do. Now can we eat?