Read Online Bitter Sweet by Lavyrle Spencer - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Lavyrle Spencer
Tags: Fiction
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weighed the fish, hung
them on a hook board reading Severson’s Chart’s, OLS ROCK, lined the proud fishermen up behind their catch, took the customary series of Polaroid photographs, gave one to each customer, cleaned the fish, sold four Styrofoam coolers and four bags of ice and went up to Ma’s for dinner.
By
seven o’clock
that night he’d repeated the same routine three times. He’d baited lines a total of forty-two times, had met eight new customers and eleven old ones, helped them land fifteen chinook salmon and three brown trout, had cleaned all eighteen fish and had still managed to think of Maggie Pearson more times than he cared to admit.
Odd, what a call like hers began. Old memories, nostalgia, questions like, what if?
Climbing the incline to Ma’s house for the last rime, he thought of Maggie again. He checked his watch.
Seven fifteen
and Nancy would have supper waiting, but his mind was made up. He was going .to make one phone call before heading home.
Mike and the boys had gone home, and Ma was closing up the front Office as he went through.
‘Big day,’ Ma said, unplugging the coffeepot.
‘Yeah.’ In the kitchen the
Door
County
phone book hung on a dirty string from the wall phone beside the refrigerator.
Looking up the number, he knew Ma would be coming in right behind him, but he had nothing to hide. He dialled.
The phone rang in his ear and he propped an elbow against the top of the refrigerator. Sure enough, Ma came in with the percolator and started emptying coffee grounds into the sink while he listened to the fourth ring.
‘Hello?’ a child answered.
‘Is Glenda there?’
‘Just a minute.’ The phone clunked loudly in his ear. The child returned an d said, ‘She wants to know who this is.’
‘Eric Severson.’
‘Okay, just a minute.’ He heard the child shout, ‘Eric Severson!’ while Ma moved about the room and listened.
Moments later Glenda came on. ‘Eric, hello! Speaking of the devil.’
‘Hi, Brookie.’
‘Did she call you?’
‘Maggie? Yeah. Surprised the hell out of me.’ Thee too. I’m sure worried about her.’
“Worried?’
‘Well, yeah, I mean, gosh.., aren’t you?’
He did a mental double take. ‘Should I be?’
‘Well, couldn’t you tell how depressed she was?’
‘No, I mean, she didn’t say a word. We just- you know caught up, sort of.’
‘She didn’t say anything about this group she’s working with?’
‘What group?’
‘She’s in a bad way, Eric,’ Brookie told him. ‘She lost her husband a year ago, and her daughter just came back east to college. Apparently she’s been going through counseling with some grief group and everything sort of came down on her at once. She was going through this struggle to accept the fact that her husband was dead, and in the middle of it all, somebody from the group tried to commit suicide.’
‘Suicide?’ Eric’s elbow came away from the refrigerator.
‘You mean she might possibly be that bad, too?’
‘I don’t know. All I know is that her psychiatrist told bet that when she starts getting depressed the best thing to do is to call old friends and talk about the old days. That’s why she called us. We’re her therapy.’
‘Brookie, I didn’t know.
Ill
had.., but she didn’t say anything about a psychiatrist or therapy or anything. Is she in the hospital or what?’
‘No, she’s at home.’
‘How did she seem to you? I mean, was she still depressed or...’ His troubled gaze was fixed on Anna, who had stopped her work and stood watching him.
‘I don’t know. I got her laughing some, but it’s hard to tell. How did she seem when you talked to her?’
‘I don’t know either. It’s been twenty-three years, Brookie. It’s pretty hard to tell from just her voice. I got her laughing, too, but ... hell, if only she’d have said something.’
‘Well, if you can spare the time, give her a call now and then. I think it’ll help. I’ve already talked to
them on a hook board reading Severson’s Chart’s, OLS ROCK, lined the proud fishermen up behind their catch, took the customary series of Polaroid photographs, gave one to each customer, cleaned the fish, sold four Styrofoam coolers and four bags of ice and went up to Ma’s for dinner.
By
seven o’clock
that night he’d repeated the same routine three times. He’d baited lines a total of forty-two times, had met eight new customers and eleven old ones, helped them land fifteen chinook salmon and three brown trout, had cleaned all eighteen fish and had still managed to think of Maggie Pearson more times than he cared to admit.
Odd, what a call like hers began. Old memories, nostalgia, questions like, what if?
Climbing the incline to Ma’s house for the last rime, he thought of Maggie again. He checked his watch.
Seven fifteen
and Nancy would have supper waiting, but his mind was made up. He was going .to make one phone call before heading home.
Mike and the boys had gone home, and Ma was closing up the front Office as he went through.
‘Big day,’ Ma said, unplugging the coffeepot.
‘Yeah.’ In the kitchen the
Door
County
phone book hung on a dirty string from the wall phone beside the refrigerator.
Looking up the number, he knew Ma would be coming in right behind him, but he had nothing to hide. He dialled.
The phone rang in his ear and he propped an elbow against the top of the refrigerator. Sure enough, Ma came in with the percolator and started emptying coffee grounds into the sink while he listened to the fourth ring.
‘Hello?’ a child answered.
‘Is Glenda there?’
‘Just a minute.’ The phone clunked loudly in his ear. The child returned an d said, ‘She wants to know who this is.’
‘Eric Severson.’
‘Okay, just a minute.’ He heard the child shout, ‘Eric Severson!’ while Ma moved about the room and listened.
Moments later Glenda came on. ‘Eric, hello! Speaking of the devil.’
‘Hi, Brookie.’
‘Did she call you?’
‘Maggie? Yeah. Surprised the hell out of me.’ Thee too. I’m sure worried about her.’
“Worried?’
‘Well, yeah, I mean, gosh.., aren’t you?’
He did a mental double take. ‘Should I be?’
‘Well, couldn’t you tell how depressed she was?’
‘No, I mean, she didn’t say a word. We just- you know caught up, sort of.’
‘She didn’t say anything about this group she’s working with?’
‘What group?’
‘She’s in a bad way, Eric,’ Brookie told him. ‘She lost her husband a year ago, and her daughter just came back east to college. Apparently she’s been going through counseling with some grief group and everything sort of came down on her at once. She was going through this struggle to accept the fact that her husband was dead, and in the middle of it all, somebody from the group tried to commit suicide.’
‘Suicide?’ Eric’s elbow came away from the refrigerator.
‘You mean she might possibly be that bad, too?’
‘I don’t know. All I know is that her psychiatrist told bet that when she starts getting depressed the best thing to do is to call old friends and talk about the old days. That’s why she called us. We’re her therapy.’
‘Brookie, I didn’t know.
Ill
had.., but she didn’t say anything about a psychiatrist or therapy or anything. Is she in the hospital or what?’
‘No, she’s at home.’
‘How did she seem to you? I mean, was she still depressed or...’ His troubled gaze was fixed on Anna, who had stopped her work and stood watching him.
‘I don’t know. I got her laughing some, but it’s hard to tell. How did she seem when you talked to her?’
‘I don’t know either. It’s been twenty-three years, Brookie. It’s pretty hard to tell from just her voice. I got her laughing, too, but ... hell, if only she’d have said something.’
‘Well, if you can spare the time, give her a call now and then. I think it’ll help. I’ve already talked to
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