Abby showed up at Jack's door at nine in the morning. Her car was filled with her clothes and other essentials, but she still had an apartment full of goods back at her old place. She was going to have to make a dozen trips and her little Camry wouldn't hold the furniture. She looked at the pickup truck hoping that Jack would help her move.
After having spent the morning cleaning out the room for Abby, Jack opened the door and said, "You're here."
"That's right. I've brought my clothes," Abby said.
"Let me give you a hand getting your stuff in the house," Jack said stepping out of the house and leaving the front door open. He figured that with a half an hour of work, he'd get her moved into the house and then he would be able to mow a couple of lawns.
"Thanks," Abby said with a little relief.
It took three trips for the pair of them to carry her stuff into her room. Once her car had been unloaded, Jack said, "There you go. Now you're moved in."
"Uh, not exactly," Abby said biting her lower lip.
Frowning, Jack asked, "What else have you got?"
"Well, all of my furniture and kitchen stuff. I've packed up everything in boxes, but they won't fit in my Camry," Abby answered. She had furniture for her living room, dining area, and bedroom back at the apartment. In addition to an entertainment center, she had a bookcase and a couple boxes of books that weighed a ton.
"Furniture?" Jack asked realizing that he hadn't thought that much about what it would mean to have her move in with him. There wasn't even a bed in the bedroom. He hadn't even considered what she would sleep on.
"I've got my own bed. There's no way I can carry my mattress in my little car," she said looking at empty space where she planned to put her bed. The room wasn't very big and her furniture would fill it.
Jack frowned upon hearing her answer. He could see that his plans for mowing lawns that afternoon were out the window. Giving into the inevitable, he said, "Let's get on the road. You lead and I'll follow you."
"Thanks," Abby said feeling a little embarrassed. She knew that she should have rented a moving van, but she couldn't afford it.
They made three round trips to pick up her stuff from the apartment. Driving back from the last trip, Jack looked down at the gas gauge on his truck. At nearly four dollars a gallon, he was pretty sure that this had cost him twenty dollars. He swore and said, "I've burned up half a week's worth of gasoline today and lost out on earning some money. This day probably cost me a hundred and forty dollars."
He pulled into the driveway and looked at the furniture in the back of his truck. He had no idea what he was going to do with her couch. There wasn't a place in the house for it. He had to admit that her furniture was better than his, but he felt that his was more comfortable. He opened the tailgate and pulled the couch to the edge.
Abby pulled up behind him. Her car held the last of her household goods. All of it was from the kitchen. Getting out of her car, she said, "We should probably get my food in the refrigerator."
Jack looked over at her and said, "I don't have electricity."
"I keep forgetting that," Abby said with a sigh. She looked at the boxes of food in her car and said, "We're going to have to have a feast tonight."
"Sorry," Jack said despite the fact that the idea of a feast sounded pretty good to him. It had been a long time since he had sat down to a large meal.
Jack and Abby carried her couch into his living room. He looked around at the room and how crowded it had become. With the addition of an entertainment center, her furniture, and a television set, there were just too many pieces of furniture for a single room. He had a couch and his comfort chair. Now she had a couch and her comfort chair. There was still a table and four chairs in the back of the truck. Jack took a deep breath and said, "Something is going to have to go in the garage."
"You're not putting my stuff in the garage," Abby declared standing beside her chair protectively.
"I'm not moving my stuff," Jack said crossing his arms and thinking that he had made a really big mistake. He was beginning to get tired of this woman and she hadn't even been there a day.
"I'll put my couch out there, but not my chair," Abby said seeing that Jack wasn't going to give in on this issue. This was why she didn't want to just rent a room.
"Fine," Jack said.
Abby said, "Your chair has to go out there."
"My chair is staying right where it is," Jack said.
"Something has to go out to the garage. There's not enough room for two chairs and a couch," Abby said. She still had the bookcase to put up.
"The couch can go out there," Jack said unwilling to give up his recliner.
"Where will other people sit?" Abby asked.
"In the garage," Jack answered realizing for the first time that she would be having company over too. Rather than simplifying his life, having her rent a room from him was beginning to complicate his life.
"Okay," Abby said. She figured that with time they would come to a better agreement, but she could live with that for the moment.
The pair carried the two couches out to the garage. More furniture was carried out to the garage since they didn't need two dining room tables or two coffee tables. It seemed to Jack that every item that she brought with her on this last trip became the centerpiece of an argument. A lot of it was pretty stupid, but they were both tired.
About the time they got everything stashed away, Jack looked at his wrist watch. He said, "It is dinner time. We worked through lunch."
"No wonder I'm crabby," Abby said. She didn't function too well when she skipped a meal.
Jack was about to make a comment, but bit his lip. There was no sense in making things worse than they already were. He said, "Well, I'll start a fire in the barbecue."
"I'll cook if you wouldn't mind setting up my bed," Abby said looking into the disaster that was her bedroom. She wasn't going to be able to find anything until the boxes were unpacked.
Jack went outside to start the fire. Abby looked around the room trying to figure out how to arrange things so that they'd be comfortable. The living room did not fit in with what she thought was proper for a living room. It was overly crowded in the room and there was nowhere to entertain visitors.
While fussing around in the room, she noticed the stack of papers on the table by the front door. Thinking that leaving papers around like that was going to be another source of conflict, she looked at them. The title of the topmost page caught her eye. Reading it, she said, "Communes? He's got an article on communes?"
She picked up the papers and flipped through them. There were a dozen articles describing problems and issues associated with the communal life. She noticed that there were a few articles on Kibbutzim. Putting the articles back where she had found them, she said, "I didn't think he had taken me seriously."
Jack returned to the house and said, "It will take about twenty minutes for the wood to burn down to coals."
"Okay, I'll start to work on supper," Abby said. Her mind was still on the fact that he had collected some articles about communes.
"I'll get to work putting your bed together," Jack said thinking that he had wasted an entire day with this move. He didn't mind working all day, but he couldn't afford to go for long without earning any money.
Abby went into the kitchen where there was a stack of her boxes that held her goods. She dug through his cabinets examining his kitchenware. His stuff was a lot heavier than her stuff. He even had a set of cast iron skillets. The drawers were loaded with kitchen gadgets. Of course, his dinnerware was pretty plain compared to what she owned. She looked over at the boxes of stuff that she had knowing it was going to be tough getting everything put away.
She went to work trying to put something together for dinner that could be cooked over a barbecue grill. She hadn't tried to cook a meal over a fire since she was in girl scouts and realized that she didn't really know what to do. She exhaled loudly and said, "The first thing we are going to have to do is to get electricity."
The problem of paying for the electricity immediately raised its ugly head. She sighed at the thought that neither of them had the money for it and said, "Maybe we could have a garage sale."
She had never really considered the full implications of renting a room. She hadn't thought about how much stuff she had. She couldn't bear the idea of having it all stored away, but she didn't really like mixing her stuff with his. The idea of a commune was suddenly a whole lot less appealing than the rosy economic picture she had imagined. She understood that in marriage his stuff would become their stuff. Renting a room didn't make that the case.
In the bedroom, Jack was busy assembling the bed frame. He had to admit that she had very nice looking furniture. In carrying her stuff over to the house, he had noticed that she had spent a lot more money on the decorative items of the house than he had. His stuff was junk that he had collected over time. She even had a headboard for her bed while he just had a mattress on a rail frame. Between the two of them, they could put together a pretty nice place.
His television and stereo were much better than hers. Of course, his stuff was over at the pawnshop at the moment. The only things of value that he hadn't pawned were his tools. His tools could earn him a whole lot more money than they could fetch at a pawnshop. His father had always told him that if he could work with his hands that he'd never starve. It had been good advice. Of course, his father hadn't told him that he'd never be rich that way.
He finished assembling the frame and stood back appreciating the nice piece of furniture. It was a nice solid wood frame with a deep cherry wood finish. He wrestled the box springs and mattress into place. Standing at the door, he had to admit that she had a pretty nice looking bedroom. It was a little crowded since he was using the master bedroom.
He stood up and stretched. Looking out the window, he noticed that the shadows were getting longer. Thinking about how dark the house would be soon, he said, "Only a couple more hours of sun. She's not going to be happy when it gets dark."
He walked into the kitchen and looked around at the boxes stacked there. There just wasn't room for much more junk in the kitchen. He jumped when she said, "Would you like to fix the salad? I've got lettuce that should be used before it goes limp. The tomatoes will last a day or two, but I'd like to add them to the salad. We might as well use them before they go bad."
"Okay," Jack said. He looked at the small packages of yogurt that were on the counter. He didn't like yogurt, but knew they'd go bad without refrigeration. He asked, "What are you going to do with the yogurt?"
"I guess I'll eat them tonight," Abby answered. She had some milk, eggs, mayonnaise, and frozen vegetables. There was going to be a lot of food for dinner that night.
Jack started to work on the salad. It was a pretty easy thing to prepare. Eyeing the milk sitting on the counter, he said, "Maybe we can borrow some ice from Claire. We might be able to keep a little of the yogurt and milk for tomorrow morning. I'll admit the idea of actually eating cereal for breakfast has my mouth watering."
"Cereal?" Abby asked amazed that anyone would actually look forward to eating cereal. She looked at the refrigerator realizing that every meal from now one was going to be coming out of a can.
"Yes. I think it has been two months since I've had a bowl of cereal for breakfast," Jack said feeling a little depressed.
"Oh," Abby said. She looked at the wood cabinets in the kitchen. They looked relatively new and very expensive. She asked, "Did you put the cabinets in?"
"Yes. That was before the money ran out," Jack said. The kitchen had been the first room that he had tackled in bringing the house up to modern standards. All of the appliances were new. Now they sat there useless because he didn't have electricity.
"I've got to say that it is a nice kitchen," Abby said. The floor was a nice tan ceramic tile that was meant to last decades. The engineered stone countertop wasn't the top of the line granite countertop, but it was high quality. The dark green color provided a nice balance for the oak cabinets giving them a slightly lighter appearance.
"Thanks," Jack said.
Looking around the room she noticed some of the smaller details. The electric outlet covers were ceramic, the ceiling light was brass, there were lights run under the cabinets, and a stereo mount was under one of the main cabinets. She said, "You really put some money into this kitchen."
"Yes, I did," Jack said thinking that was money that would have served him better if it had stayed in his bank account. That was water under the bridge.
"Did you do all of the work?" Abby asked.
"Yes," Jack answered. He rubbed a hand over the smooth surface of the counter and added, "I thought it would be a good investment fixing up this old place. I got the kitchen done and had started on the main bathroom before the money ran out."
"I haven't checked out the bathroom," Abby said. Using the toilet by candlelight was going to be an interesting experience.
Grabbing the head of lettuce and his salad bowl, Jack said, "At least I got all of the essentials in place. I didn't get the wall tile I wanted so I just painted the walls white. The bath, toilet, and the original sink are in place. You can use it but it isn't pretty."
"Oh," Abby said wondering how bad it was.
Jack looked around at the work he had done with more than a little pride. Sad that he had to stop before he could finish it, he said, "I had such dreams for this house."
"It isn't too late," Abby said. The lack of electricity in the house made her words sound a little hollow. She said, "I get paid Friday."
"That's nice," Jack said. He had a payday coming that day as well. Of course, all of that money was already spent.
Abby said, "I'll see if I can't chip in a little extra for the electricity."
"I'll see what I can do," Jack said not wanting to talk about the subject. He looked out the kitchen window at the back lawn. It was a plain grass lawn without flowers or bushes. He had wanted to do so much and now he could do nothing.
"These bad times can't last forever," Abby said.
Jack wasn't sure that he believed that. Something good had to happen before he lost all of the money he had invested in the house. Looking down at the salad bowl, he realized that he had been shredding the lettuce without even thinking about it. The leaves had been torn into small pieces. He said, "I got a little carried away making the salad."
Abby looked at the salad bowl and shrugged her shoulders. She smiled and said, "You're just out of practice."
He grabbed a knife from the wood knife block that he had made in high school. Taking one of the tomatoes, he started cutting it into half, quarters, and then eights. He dumped the slices into the salad bowl. He cut up another tomato and dumped it into the bowl. He asked, "What else do you want in the salad?"
"That should be fine," Abby answered. She looked over the food that she had brought with her. There wasn't all that much. A few cans of vegetables, soup, and fruits were on the counter. There were two bottles of salad dressing. She figured they'd have to throw whatever they didn't use that night.
"I'll put your stuff in the pantry," Jack said thinking he should be doing something useful.
"Good. I'll check on the grill," Abby said.
Realizing that he hadn't known what she had brought over, Jack asked, "What are you cooking?"
"Hamburgers," Abby said.
"They've been out there all this time?" Jack asked thinking they had probably turned into charcoal by now.
"No. I've got some water on the grill to cook some corn," Abby said.
"Oh," Jack said. He picked up a big bowl and said, "I'll be back."
"Where are you going?" Abby asked.
"To get some ice," Jack said. He looked down at the floor feeling embarrassed about have to beg for ice. He didn't know if Claire even had a refrigerator with an ice maker.
"That's a great idea," Abby said cheerfully.
Jack walked the short distance to the house next door. Before knocking on the door, he said, "This is wrong. Men my age are supposed to be helping widows, not asking them for help."
The door opened before he had a chance to knock. Claire asked, "Can I help you, Jack?"
Holding up the bowl, Jack said, "Could I get some ice?"
"Oh," Claire said looking a little embarrassed. She said, "I'm afraid that my ice maker doesn't work."
"I'm sorry to hear that. Maybe I could fix it," Jack said.
"The little plastic hose sprays water," Claire said. She had her son-in-law look at it once. He had turned the water off to the icemaker and left it at that.
Nodding his head, Jack said, "I can run by the hardware store and get a replacement part for you. It won't take more than an hour to get it installed."
"You could?" Claire asked.
"Sure. I'll do it tomorrow after the hardware store opens," Jack answered. He was going to lose some time fixing the ice maker that could have been spent mowing lawns, but if he was going to be borrowing ice it would be in both their interests to fix it.
Worried about how much it would cost, Claire said, "The repairman said it would cost sixty dollars just to come out and look at it."
"The part will be about four dollars," Jack said shrugging his shoulders.
"Is that all?" Claire said surprised. She frowned and said, "Those repairmen just take advantage of elderly folks."
"That's a standard charge just to show up," Jack said. It took time and money to drive across town to a house. A company wasn't going to donate that money just because the client was elderly.
"Oh," Claire said sadly. Even though she understood the reasons for it, it didn't seem right to pay sixty dollars to replace a four dollar part.
Jack said, "I'll need to look at it before I go to the hardware store to make sure that I get the right parts."
"I understand," Claire said backing away from the door. She gestured inside and said, "I'll show you where it is."
"Thanks," Jack said.
Jack followed Claire down to the kitchen and saw that the plastic line had split in a couple of places. It was a standard refrigerator waterline made of cheap plastic that dried and cracked if it ran near a heat source. He shook his head at the shoddy workmanship and the fact that it had been run over the hot air plenum. The run was about four feet long with the majority of the plastic line tied in a loop to take up the excess. She would have pulled it loose the first time that she had pulled the refrigerator away from the wall. He said, "It will be no problem to fix this."
"That's good," she said. She looked at him with a frown and then said, "Do you think you could wait until next weekend to fix it?"
"I can do it tomorrow without a problem unless you have someplace to go," Jack answered.
"I don't have anywhere to go," Claire answered biting her lower lip. She didn't want to admit that she didn't have the money to pay for the part or Jack's time.
"I'll be by around ten tomorrow," Jack said.
She led him back to the front of the house. As she walked, she asked, "Why do you need some ice?"
"Abby has some milk and yogurt to keep cold," Jack answered.
That Abby had moved in with him was not a surprise. She had watched them carry her stuff into the house most of the day. Claire said, "She can store it in my refrigerator."
"I'll let her know," Jack said thinking that he'd eat the cost of the part in return.
"She can come by anytime," Claire said.
"I'll tell her that," Jack said.
After exchanging farewells, Jack returned home to discover that dinner was ready. With a minimum of conversation, they each fixed a plate of food and ate in the lawn chairs outside. Since they didn't have hamburger buns, the burgers were served on regular bread. The corn on the cob tasted good with lots of margarine slathered over it despite the fact that the corn had been frozen. It had been a while since Jack had margarine around the house. Desert had been the last of her ice cream.
Appetites sated, Jack warmed up some water over the fire to wash the dishes while Abby took the stuff that had to be refrigerated over to Claire's house to store in her refrigerator. For Jack, both activities were reminders that he was living without electricity. He sat by the grill waiting for the water to warm. There weren't enough coals to boil the water, but it would get warm enough to cut the grease on the plates. He stared at the pot for a minute and then said, "I've got to get some work. There has got to be someone who needs something fixed and can pay for it."
Abby returned after a ten minute visit with Claire. Without talking, they went about the process of washing dishes. By the time the dishes were cleaned it was nearing sundown. Abby looked around the darkening house and asked, "So what do you do during the evening?"
"I go over to the library and read. Not too much else to do around here once it gets dark," Jack answered. He hoped that the electricity would be on before winter although the bill would probably kill him.
"Oh," Abby said.
He shrugged his shoulders and said, "They have bathrooms there. It is kind of nice to be able to see what you're doing."
"I've got a bunch of candles in one of my boxes," Abby said.
"You'll probably want to find them before it gets too dark to see," Jack said.
"We probably ought to talk a bit," Abby said. She figured that it was time to get some ground rules laid out.
"Sure," Jack said heading out to the front porch. The chairs were more comfortable out there than the patio chairs in the back yard. He sat down thinking that the whole day had been wasted. It had ended up costing him money and he had nothing to show for it.
It was twenty minutes before Abby showed up on the front porch. She sat down on the chair and said, "What a day."
"Yeah," Jack said not wanting to voice his opinion on the quality of the day.
Abby could see that Jack was less than thrilled with her moving into the house. She said, "We'll work things out."
"I know," Jack said tersely. He figured he was about to get that 'how do you feel' grilling and wasn't looking forward to it.
Abby was silent for a moment and then said, "Claire told me that you were going to fix her refrigerator."
"It was the least I could do," Jack said.
"That's nice of you," Abby said looking over at him. She said, "I saw inside her refrigerator."
"Okay," Jack said a little confused by the change in subject.
"She had a package of bologna," Abby said. The refrigerator had been completely bare of food. She had a little margarine, some salad dressing, and a bottle of mustard.
"That's nice," Jack said wondering if she was going to give him an complete inventory of the food in Claire's refrigerator.
"That was about it," Abby said. The stuff she had taken over occupied more room than what was already in the refrigerator.
"I guess I could take her shopping tomorrow when I head up to the hardware store," Jack said. He hoped that it wouldn't require him to take two trips. He couldn't afford the gasoline by making a bunch of trips.
"She had a bunch of packages of dried noodle soup on the counter," Abby said.
Still not following her point, Jack said, "Okay."
Seeing that he didn't get it, she said, "Jack, she's eating noodle soup with bologna in it."
"That doesn't sound very appetizing," Jack said.
Abby said, "Jack. That's all she's eating. That little meal cost about forty cents."
"Are you telling me that she's sitting over there without food?" Jack asked sitting up straight.
"Her social security check doesn't come until Friday," Abby said. If it came late, she'd starve over the weekend. She bit her lower lip and said, "She can't afford to pay you for the part needed for the refrigerator."
"I figured that I'd pick up the cost of that. She's storing your stuff there and it is the least we could do," Jack said realizing that he hadn't really paid attention to Claire's lack of enthusiasm.
"She's got a bit of pride," Abby said.
"I've got a couple cans of chili. We'll have to invite her over for dinner tomorrow night," Jack said still thinking about Claire sitting next door going hungry.
"I've got some canned fruit that we can serve with the chili," Abby said.
Jack frowned while thinking about Claire going hungry. Bitter, he said, "It just isn't right for old folks to be reduced to eating noodles and bologna."
"Times are tough," Abby said.
"That's an excuse. It is not a defense," Jack said.