Chapter 22

Mr. Parsons liked to drive fast. We were in his car, on our way out to the country club to get my clubs. I told him that I wanted to keep practicing so I wouldn't get too rusty. When we pulled up in front, he went in, telling me to stay in the car. Five minutes later, he came out with one of the employees who was carrying two sets of clubs. Mr. Parsons opened his trunk and the attendant put the clubs in there. I saw Mr. Parsons giving him some money, but I didn't know what denomination the bill was.

We drove back home and Mr. Parsons opened the trunk and took out his bag, letting me reach in and grab my own. We went around to the side of the house, close to the back, and Mr. Parsons leaned his clubs up against the shed where Hans kept all of his gardening tools and the big lawnmower.

"Kenny go ask Hans to come out here please." I walked inside and asked Gerta where Hans was. She walked over and pushed the button for the buzzer in their bedroom. A few minutes later, Hans walked into the kitchen. He looked like he'd just woken up. I told him that Mr. Parsons was by the gardening shed and had asked me to come get him. As soon as he heard this, Hans walked out to find out what Mr. Parsons wanted. "Hans, do you remember when you made that practice area for Bertie? Could you take the mower and make something like that for Kenny and I to use as a target? Something round, and about forty feet in diameter. Cut it short like you used to do when Bertie practiced back here."

We went back inside, while Hans got out the mower. Gerta asked us if we'd eaten when we were out, and Mr. Parsons said that we hadn't. Gerta went over to the refrigerator and got out a large bowl of egg salad, and a head of lettuce. She put them on the kitchen table and then turned back to get the bread, two plates, a large spoon, a regular knife, and a butter knife. In only a couple minutes Mr. Parsons and I were eating egg salad sandwiches, both of us sitting at the table in the kitchen. We ate, hearing the sound of the mower out in the back yard as we did so. The sandwiches were good, and I ate three of them. Mr. Parsons only had two.

When we got done eating, we went out into the back yard and took a look at the area where Hans had mowed. The grass there was cut to about a quarter of an inch. You couldn't putt on it, but you could sure use it as a target to shoot at. After thanking Hans, we went and retrieved our bags, then set up five different areas to shoot from. The shortest was about forty yards, and the longest was about ninety yards. We each got out ten balls to hit with. Mr. Parsons used Golden Ram's, while I used mixed brands of balls, whatever I had in my bag. We played for a quarter a shot, closest to the stake that Mr. Parsons had pushed into the ground in the center of the cleared area. The way we decided it was that it would be my best shot against his best shot. We'd see who won, and then, after we picked up both those balls, we'd do the same for our next closest two.

When we had played before, Mr. Parsons had out driven me, but his weakness, in the beginning, had been his putter. I had been taking a lot of lessons, and my chipping and pitching were much improved. With the regular lawn grass as high as the rough at the country club, I decided I'd try to pitch everything rather than attempt to chip or punch the ball. After an hour, I had lost seven dollars to him. We decided to change the game to make it more even. He still let me hit two balls from each position, but he hit only one from each himself. By the end of another hour, I had gotten my losses down to two dollars and fifty cents because of this handicap he'd given me.

I proposed the next change, hitting right at the stake from different positions inside the area that Hans had mowed. this shot was one that Dave and I had worked on a lot, the bump and run. I was confident I could do well in this competition. Half an hour later, I was back to owing him seven dollars again. We stored our clubs away in the garage, and went inside. I gave Mr. Parsons a ten dollar bill, and he went upstairs to find me the change. I didn't mind losing the money to him, he was the one who gave it to me in the first place. I didn't like the actual losing to him though, especially when we had played the game I'd selected for us to play. I figured I could practice though and then win the money back the next time we played.

Mrs. Parsons came home around five o'clock, and it was pretty obvious that she had been drinking a lot. I wondered if she had been feeling bad and needed to drink to help it go away, but when she started talking to us, she seemed in a real good mood, not sad or depressed at all. She told us that she had needed to help Mrs. Connor into her house when she drove her home. For some reason she really thought that was funny. I'd never seen Mrs. Parsons acting like that, laughing and kidding around with Mr. Parsons and me.

"Kenny, you'll never guess what Mrs. Connor told me today. About you and Brenda." I waited for her to go on, but she didn't. "Thomas, please make me a cocktail before dinner, something tall and cool, perhaps a Tom Collins would be nice."

"Bertie, don't you think you've already had enough?"

"Not too sweet. No cherry juice."

"Bertie."

"Do you want me to get Hans or Gerta to make it for me? I'm having a very good time today, Thomas. I'm in an excellent mood. Please don't spoil it." Mr. Parsons went over to the bar and made both of them a drink.

"Kenny, would you like me to make you a drink as well?" I thought he was joking with me, but I played along with it.

"Sure, I'll have what Mrs. Parsons is having, but I like mine sweet." In a few minute, he came back carrying three tall glasses. He handed one to each of us, keeping the one that was a golden color for himself. My drink looked pinker than Mrs. Parsons, I guess because I'd asked for it to be sweet. It tasted good, a little bitter like from lemon juice. Mrs. Parsons was the first to finish her drink, holding up her glass and asking for another one. This time, Mr. Parsons didn't try to talk her out of it. Instead, he drank his whole glass down first, and then went back to the bar again, making two new drinks. It became a contest between them to see who could drink theirs down the fastest. When Gerta came in to announce dinner was ready, both of them were on either their sixth or seventh drink. Some of the things they were saying were very funny to them, because they both were laughing, but it didn't seem funny to me.

Mrs. Parsons and I sat in our usual places, but Mr. Parsons decided to sit across the table from me. Mr. Parsons told Gerta to bring us a bottle of wine with dinner. We were having thinly sliced pieces of beef, in a rich gravy sauce. Gerta came back with a bottle of red wine and two glasses. She looked worried about Mrs. Parsons drinking, but she didn't say anything. When he had filled their wine glasses, Mrs. Parsons took a small sip and smiled.

"Good food, good wine, good company, and good news. This is turning out to be a good day, don't you think so, Kenny?"

"Yes ma'am. What did you shoot today?"

"Oh, I played poorly. I think it was either five or six over par, but we both enjoyed being out of the house, enjoying a full day of relaxation. Georgia was telling me how hard it's been for her this past week, Thomas. You really must do something to soothe Walt's feathers. Georgia says that he's been on a rampage ever since he first heard about Kenny and Brenda. She kept telling me how worried she was that his behavior towards you would spill over into your business relationship. I told her that she needn't worry. Isn't that right Thomas? You wouldn't do anything that might hurt Georgia or the children, would you?"

"Bertie, I told you at the time this first came up, that it wasn't anything like what you were suspecting. There has never been anything to those suspicions you entertained."

"Like Bea? Is she another case of my groundless suspicions too."

"Do we really need to discuss this in front of Kenny?"

"You don't think Kenny already knows? Everybody else knows about it, why shouldn't he."

"How does it help anything for us to dwell on it? I'm sorry. It was a moment of weakness, of stupidity on my part. I shouldn't have allowed it to happen, it won't ever happen again."

"I might believe you Thomas, if you would just be honest and admit your little fling with Georgia. I can't see why you keep denying it. Do you expect me to believe you'd sleep with Bea, here, in our own home, but you somehow managed to resist all of Georgia's attempts at seduction? Please. Why can't you be honest at least?"

"Bertie, that's quite enough! I'm not going to keep denying it, only to have you contradicting what I've said. I've told you before that I've no interest in that woman, none. If anyone is interested, besides Walt, it would be Bunny. Sometimes I think you want it to be true."

"Do you know what it's like for me, being surrounded by these paramours of yours? You're right though, it is quite enough. Tonight I'm celebrating. It's a night to rejoice, not go over any past mistakes. Kenny, you never answered me when I asked if you could guess what Mrs. Connor told me today. We were having lunch after we finished playing. Georgia ordered the flounder, you know the one Thomas, you order it quite often when we dine at the club. With that heavy sauce, it looked divine, but she only picked at it. Perhaps that third drink she gulped down, even before our meals arrived, had spoiled her appetite for her food. It was while she was toying with the fish that she shared with me some information that Brenda had admitted to her. Kenny, tell Mr. Parsons and me again how you managed to invade Brenda's person over her protests."