Desperate Measures(33)

 

“Excuse me?” was Jack’s surprised response.

 

“You heard me. Manners. I’m pretty sure you’re not as stupid as you look, so let me give you a little piece of advice.”

 

“I don’t need any advice from the cleaning lady, I can assure you,” he said arrogantly.

 

“Ha! I wouldn’t clean up after your messes if I were on welfare and eating cat food right out of the can. Your kind of dirt doesn’t clean, if you catch my drift.” She looked over at Aimee and gave her a nod. Then she turned back to Jack. “Now shut up and listen, because I’ll bet you don’t do that as often as you should. Remember the adage – as you sow, so shall you reap. One day you’re going to look back on all of this, if you’re a very lucky man, and regret the things you’ve said and done. Change your ways, before it’s too late.”

 

“Go to hell,” said Jack in a low, menacing tone.

 

Betty sucked her teeth, staring Jack down, even though she was nearly a foot shorter than him, and then said in a sunny voice as she turned and left the kitchen, “Have a nice day, asshole!”

 

Aimee stood in the hallway, frozen in place and unable to move.

 

“Come on, sweet pea,” said Betty, “let’s get that platter out to the car. I have some friends waiting for me who are getting closer to death’s doorstep every minute. Can’t waste any time. I want to see the looks on their faces when they see these treats you made.”

 

Aimee felt Betty gently push her shoulder to get her moving, which woke Aimee up from the living nightmare she had just watched unfold in front of her. She walked, Betty still behind her keeping up her prattle all the way back to the car.

 

Aimee had to force herself not to look back at the house. She half expected Jack to start throwing her boxes out the front door. No, he’ll probably want to go through them first before throwing them out, to see if there’s anything in there he or his girlfriend might want.

 

Betty opened the back door so Aimee could place the cakes on the seat. When Aimee finished settling them in and stood up, Betty put her hand on Aimee’s arm.

 

Aimee looked down at the little old lady who was looking up at her with a very serious expression.

 

“Aimee, honey, do you have a gun?” Betty asked.

 

Aimee looked at her confused. “A gun? No. Why?”

 

“Because if I were you, I’d get one. Soon. That man is a keg of dynamite ready to blow. And I have a feeling he’s wanting to blow on you.” She emphasized her point by poking her finger into Aimee’s shoulder.

 

Aimee nearly crumbled. She felt so terrible that Betty had seen all that. “Jack’s a jerk, I know. And I’m super sorry he was so rude to you. I don’t know what’s gotten into him lately. He was always bossy, but the last couple weeks ... I don’t know ... ”

 

“I can tell you what it is,” said Betty, getting into her car and rolling down the window. It was one of the old hand-crank kind. “He’s jealous of you.”

 

“Of me?” laughed Aimee. “That’s a good one.”

 

“You’re happy. He’s not. That’s obvious. Miserable people despise happy ones. It reminds them how worthless their lives are.”

 

Aimee thought about that for a second. “Well, I’m not miserable, but I don’t know that I’d call myself happy, happy.”

 

“You seem happy to me. Always smiling, always positive-minded. That man in there doesn’t like it. That’s as plain as the nose on his snobby face.”

 

“I have been happier since I started going to the book club meetings. Even though there’ve only been two, it’s made a difference in my life. Doesn’t that sound crazy? My life must be pretty pitiful.” She looked down at the ground, embarrassed about how weak she felt.

 

“No, it’s not crazy at all. Women need connections with other women. That’s how we’re wired. That’s why I play mahjohngg, even though I have to suffer through Madge’s jello molds the whole time. I’d bet my false teeth that man in there never liked you to have women friends. Am I right?”

 

Aimee searched her memory, digging up past moments of friendship. “I never really thought about it much before, but all the friends I had were wives of Jack’s friends.”

 

“And where are these so-called friends now?” asked Betty, starting her car.

 

Aimee answered in a soft voice. “They’ve all pretty much disappeared. It’s as if we were never friends.”