Chapter 38

‭The thing I wanted to do least that night was to talk to Mary Beth’s husband about his retirement. I didn’t have any idea what I did want to do, but I knew discussing Michael Wilson’s retirement plans was not it.

‭Before I could suggest to Maurine that we make a break for it, Mary Beth opened the front door. “Come on in you two,” she said stepping back.

‭”I hope we aren’t late, but I had to stop and vacuum out the car,” I said. It was true, but I said it just for show, since everyone picked on me for my habit of being early.

‭”You are fine. I just have to put the bread in the oven then dinner will be on the table,” she said turning her back on me.

‭Maurine smile then followed her into the kitchen. I had never been inside Mary Beth’s house, but I was able to follow the sound of the evening news into the den where I found Michael.

‭”Hello Michael how is it going?” I asked. He naturally assumed I meant our little project.

‭”Your friend Gerome has filmed the layout of the land. Now he wants me to give a lecture about the danger to, and importance of the crane. He doesn’t have any shots of the cranes yet, but he wants a voice tract ready to go when the birds return,” Michael Wilson replied.

‭”So how is Lucinda doing with the land ownership search?” I asked.

‭”I’d have to give her and ‘F’ if she were a student of mine. She can’t maintain her focus long enough to complete anything. It was a simple task for Mary to find them in an hour. Lucinda had the task for two days and it went absolutely nowhere.”

‭”She will flower when we start negotiations,” I said.

‭”If you say so,” he stated with some doubt showing in his voice.

‭”It would be best for everyone, if you didn’t show any concerns about Lucinda,” I suggested.

‭”Mary said I should express them to you,” he said.

‭”That’s fine and I tell you she has other strengths. I guess as coach I have to learn to fit the game to her strengths, not try to fit her round ass into a square hole. You know we are still feeling out things as we go.

‭You might want to consider easing you expectations. I’ll tell you what I am telling my own people. Just give it some time before you make any drastic changes in your life. Things are working for you now. Just let them evolve, Don’t try to drop a comet on your life,” I suggested.

‭”So you are telling me not to kill off the tyrannosaurus while hoping a white rat will emerge,” he said. I just nodded.

‭I had not planned the conversation, it just evolved somewhat naturally. At that point I was ready to go. That was another part of Mary Beth’s devious plan. She knew that I was not the kind of guy to leave Maurine stranded. Mary Beth was one devious bitch, I decided. I was also glad she was on our side.

‭I sat beside Maurine who was having a glass of wine. I didn’t matter but she didn’t seem to notice that I had water. Dinner was very good. Then it was hard to muck up Mac and Cheese from a box. Mary Beth had added the ground beef, onions and a bunch of Mexican spices to the dish. It was unrecognizable as Mac and Cheese when she finished. She even had a little saucer of extra hot chili sauce for me. It was so hot that I broke into a sweat.

‭The conversion switched to our kids. Each of us took a turn bragging about the next versions of us. John was still struggling with his soul and his life style. I tried to tell him that he had to live in the real world, not the world of superstition. He didn’t buy it, I explained it all to whoever was still listening.