by L. M. Reed
~ * * ~
“Dun patched all them holes, Miz Wilson,” Jed said gravely. “Don’t see no more.”
“That’s wonderful Jed.”
I turned toward him and smiled gratefully, careful to keep my paintbrush over the bucket in order not to drip the acrylic paint all over myself or anything else. Although the latex water-based paint was fairly easy to wash out, the acrylic was well nigh impossible and required paint thinner for cleaning, but I wanted washable walls in the kitchen. I determinedly blocked out the unwelcome memories of another time and another place that came crowding into my mind at the thought of paint thinner.
“Thank you so much.”
“No problem,” he mumbled eyes downcast. “Whatcher got left?”
“Would you mind checking the toilet in the master bathroom?” I asked hopefully. “We’re having trouble with it not wanting to flush, but the other toilets in the house all seem fine.”
“Shore thing, Miz Wilson,” he loped off towards the offending toilet quickly, anxious to please.
He was back within minutes. “Gotta git my snake outta the truck,” he said casually as he passed me, just as if it were an everyday occurrence.
“Snake…?” I repeated in alarm.
“Don’t worry, it ain’t a real snake,” he chuckled as he let himself out of the house.
“Thank goodness,” I murmured.
Carefully, I slipped my paintbrush into a baggie and waited curiously for Jed to come back, wondering what he could possibly have out in his truck that deserved the title of snake. He came back in carrying a long skinny pole with a turn handle on one end. His other hand held an old empty bucket.
“Ya got any ole rags?”
“Yes, of course,” I answered, hurrying to the linen closet.
Pulling out some of the hand towels I had gotten from Mrs. White over the past few years—my parents always insisted on new guest bath linens every year so Mrs. White had started saving them for me once I moved into my apartment—I moved to the master bath and tried to hand the towels to Jed.
He shook his head saying “Not yer good ones, cuz I don’t think yer gonna wanna use them rags agin when I git through with ‘em.”
“It’s okay,” I reassured him “These are old.”
“Perty fancy ole rags,” he muttered to himself as he got on his knees in front of the toilet.
I hid a smile as I asked, “Would you mind if I watched?”
“Suit yerself,” he shrugged “might be nasty, though.”
“Nasty?”
“No tellin’ what’s gonna come out,” he warned.
“Oh…oh!” I exclaimed as realization dawned. “I should probably get back to…um…my painting before the brush dries,” I added hastily beating a retreat.
I could hear his laughter booming all through the house, but I didn’t care. The toilet hadn’t been working very well when the inspector had checked out the house so I knew whatever was clogging it up wasn’t ours and I had no desire to witness firsthand any…leftovers…from the previous owners. The dirty, cockroach infested diapers had been bad enough, but adult stuff…I shuddered…it didn’t bear thinking about.
Suddenly, I heard a horrendous noise coming from the general direction of the master bedroom and could feel a…vibration of some sort under my feet.
Making a decision, I called out loudly “Jed, I’m going to go check on the baby.”
The only answer I received was more laughter. I was glad no one was around to witness my red cheeks as I left the house and headed towards the small 25-foot hard-bodied camping trailer we had purchased to live in while renovating the house.
Although James had agreed to purchase the house and allow me to do the painting, he had insisted on keeping Mark away from paint fumes. With that in mind, we had gone shopping for a used trailer that we could temporarily use as a home. We’d been able to store our few possessions in the garage—which was in better shape than any other part of the house, most likely because it had been storage and not as a living space like the rest of the unfortunate house—and were relieved we hadn’t needed to rent a storage unit.
Elsee had insisted on living in the house in order to give us some privacy so I had finished her bedroom and bath first. She kept Mark in the trailer during the day while we were at work and we fixed and ate our meals there since the kitchen had to be totally gutted.
We hired an electrician to install a 220 outlet in the garage so we could run the electrical cord from the camper to the garage and, thankful that the trailer had a bathroom with a small hot water heater and a shower, paid a plumber to hook the trailer up to the city water and sewer.
Jed had been patching holes for a little over a week, moving excruciatingly slowly at times, but finally getting it all done, and I only had one more room to paint, the living room he had just finished, before we could have the flooring installed. The kitchen cabinets were in and I was expecting the countertop and appliances the following week.
James had been too busy and tired to pay attention to how the house was progressing, and I was excited to think I could unveil it for him by the next weekend. His job had begun two weeks before school actually started with what he called two-a-days and I had gotten most of the painting done during that time. Once teacher in-service started my time was limited to evenings and weekends and the work slowed considerably.
James was too occupied with workouts and football games to pitch in and I honestly didn’t want him to help. He was still skeptical about the house and I didn’t want him to see it until I was totally done.
Although it had taken almost every bit of our savings, it was worth it. The once dark, dingy, hole-filled walls were bright, cheery, and whole again. The disgusting carpeting was gone and the concrete floors would soon boast ceramic tile, hardwood floors, and new carpeting. All of the old, cheap kitchen cabinets and appliances were history and newly installed custom cabinets along with a gorgeous granite countertop and stainless steel appliances, which would be arriving within a week, would comprise my dream kitchen.
I could picture myself happily cooking in that kitchen watching out the window over the sink while James and Mark played in the backyard and Elsee looked on from her chair on the back porch. I was so thankful Elsee had been able to come with us. My family and my world were complete. Quietly opening the door to the trailer in case Mark was napping, a happy sigh escaped my lips. Life was good.