Peter Grist - Flashback

They both got out of their cars at the same time. “Wow Linda, this place is great!” Having seen the poor condition of her car, Ed assumed that her house would be in a similar condition. With obvious pride, she turned and replied, “Yes, it is, isn’t it? You seemed surprised. Come inside and meet Josh”. Josh must be her husband he thought to himself. Forcing a smile he followed her through the net-covered outer door through the already opened polished wooden door. He was no expert but it looked to him like solid oak and very old. It matched the highly polished wooden flooring in the spacious hall. The wood continued halfway up the walls but was now painted shaker blue. The wood panelling gave way to wallpaper depicting small roses in various colours and maturity. He breathed in the smell of polish mixed with something even better coming from the kitchen. He glanced around appreciatively and took in the large dark wood coat rack to the right with a large mirror at its centre. There were few coats on it; just a woman’s knitted poncho, a couple of bad weather faded yellow sou’westers and a bright blue anorak hanging from its hood. The hook above the anorak held a brown woollen hat with a crazy yellow zig-zag pattern running through it. Next to the coat rack was a set of stairs that lead up to the next floor and before the coat rack was an open door that at a glance seemed to lead off into a reception room. Under the stairs was another door that Ed guessed would lead to a washroom and at the back was yet another door that clearly led to a kitchen. Linda tossed her keys into a ceramic bowl that sat on a semi-circular table in front of the mirror, then lead him over to the left to the last door he could see. As they entered the large room the wooden floor gave way to a burnt umber-coloured carpet. It felt homely with a large unlit fire on the back wall, surrounded by a two-seater and two single armchairs, all covered with a matching floral design. Above the fireplace was not the Wild West scene Ed expected but a large framed print of three World War Two P-51 Mustang fighters flying over a snowy European countryside. On the mantelpiece were two family photos held in matching silver frames. He looked at the posed picture of a slightly younger Linda standing next to a handsome fair-haired guy in Air Force uniform. Linda was holding a toddler of about two. The other photo was more natural and Ed guessed it was the same toddler but ten or so years on, sitting in the porch swing he had seen outside, reading a book, the photographer unobserved.

The two-seater was occupied; an elderly woman sat quietly reading to a young teenager, the kid from the photos. “Hi Josh! I’m home, and I brought a friend with me”. The woman and boy both looked up at the same time. The woman showed relief on her face while the boy’s expression quickly changed from welcoming to consternation.

“Oh hi Linda, have a good day?” the woman asked as she stood. She wore a simple patterned floral cream dress and flat, comfortable brown shoes. She looked to be in her late sixties but well groomed with a short, neat bob of grey hair and tasteful, restrained makeup.

“Same old same old I guess, how was Joshua today?” Linda replied.

“Well, okay, but it wasn’t one of his strong days. We went for a walk as usual after lunch but a couple of jets from the base flew over fairly low and that upset him. He’s been very quiet since then, but no episodes thankfully”.

She nodded towards Ed “Are you going to introduce me to your guest or do I have to burst with curiosity?” “Oh I’m sorry Esther, this is Ed Saunders, a friend, he’s come back for supper.” Esther gave Ed an approving once over, then looked back to Linda.

“Ed, this is Esther Mourn, my saviour from insanity.” She continued the introduction.

“Pleased to meet you Mame.”

“You too.” She replied. “Well, seeing as you’re back on time, I’ll git going myself. Jed said he’d take me out to eat tonight ‘stead of me having to cook. Nice meeting you Mr Saunders”, She gave Linda a knowing wink and added “have a good evening you two”.

Linda’s cheeks flushed pink at the remark then turned away from Ed towards Josh so that Ed couldn’t see her blush. She went and sat beside Joshua who hadn’t yet moved and was now giving all of his attention to the open pages of a storybook. Although it was a warm day he wore a thick navy jumper over his dark blue jeans. She gently put her hand over one of his “Hello Josh, how are you, did you miss mommy today?” Josh withdrew his hand from hers, closed the book and walked out of the room, head down, without saying a word. Now he was on his feet Ed could tell that the sandy-haired, freckle-faced kid was about fourteen or fifteen years old and fairly tall but he seemed much younger than that in the way he moved and his facial expression. He heard the boy stomp up the stairs, along the landing above them then slam his door shut.

“Oh dear,” she said, “he’s not happy”.

“That’s a bit of an understatement, is it because of me?” Ed asked.

“Oh no I doubt it, you wouldn’t have helped, but no, it will have been the aeroplanes from lunchtime. Come into the kitchen and I’ll explain. Would you like some coffee?”

She led him back through the hall to the kitchen at the back of the house. It was how he pictured a farm kitchen should look, with a large wood table at its centre, four chairs, lots of work surfaces and cupboard space, again in shaker blue, but a modern electric double oven where once a wood-burning stove must have sat and a large chrome double-door refrigerator across the other side. There were blue and white check curtains hanging from a white wooden pole halfway up the long window. She turned on the faucet at the big old ceramic sink and filled the jug from a coffee machine with water. She busied herself filling the machine with coffee and getting it going as she started to talk.

“Ben’s been gone nearly ten years now; he was a Major in the Air Force. Everyone called him ‘Big Ben’, you know, because of the clock in London? He died in a training accident; he was on a C130 that crashed in bad weather. He wasn’t even flying it; he was a passenger that day. He was an instructor on the jets. We bought this place about a year before he died. It was a fixer-upper as the real estate people would say. Joshua was five when the accident happened. We knew he had some problems quite early on. When he was born he came out real fast, but the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck. He lost air for a little while. The doctors did some tests when he was a little older and said it was nothing and probably wouldn’t affect him at all, but there were signs that he wasn’t quite the same as other kids. When Ben died he took it really badly, we both did of course, but Josh went into himself and has hardly recovered. The doctors say it is a kind of autism and he should improve as he gets older. I’m not so sure. The kids at the local school teased him, called him a dummy but he is actually very bright, ‘specially with numbers. Esther schools him and cares for him during the days when I’m working, but as you saw, he doesn’t show much affection and doesn’t like change or strangers. Here’s your coffee, you like lots of cream don’t you?” As he took the offered mug and mumbled a thank you, he could see tears welling in her eyes. “I’m sorry”, she said, fumbling for a tissue in her jacket pocket. “I haven’t had to tell anyone any of that for a while now, but it doesn’t seem to get any easier though”. Ed felt shocked. The obvious questions popped into his head.

“I’m so sorry Linda, c’mon on, sit down.” He sat her at the kitchen table then took the chair opposite hers. “How do you manage? I mean, why don’t you go home, wherever home is, to your family?”