Him ~ chapter one

By Maryanna Gabriel


      We were talking about the state of the cottage and I had offered to vacuum. When I returned he was on the phone on a long distance call to Quebec. "I said I would be right back?" I peered at him raising my eyebrows. He looked at me. "I did not think you would do that," he stuttered. He didn't often speak in complete sentences and here was one. Right there I decided that wherever he came from not only had a lot of garbage but people never did what they said they would. "Well, when I say I will be right back it actually means I will be right back. When I say this is when the garbage goes, that is when it really goes. You are responsible for keeping the place clean as well." I was beginning to feel exhausted. It was a conversation that had been repeated too many times.

      The day came when my grand daughter fell ill. A short trip away was necessary. While looking after her I received an odd barely intelligible email asking if I would pay him to clean the hot tub. How strange I thought. I had just cleaned it. "Just wait until I get home, please," I answered.

      When I got home a strange sight greeted me. In my yard there was fire wood everywhere. Some was chopped and stacked against my house. My axe leaned in the rain against uncut rounds where my wheelbarrow sat. My jaw clamped tight. In the falling dark and exhausted from travelling I needed to think. Clearly I was being viewed a money ticket.