Page 51 of Snow Blind
"You and that man are nothing alike," she said. "You are kind, thoughtful, and loving. Jay, you give when no one asks, and you ask for so little in return. I hung those images in the hallway to commemorate how giving and loving you are. My father is a self-centered ass. Aunt Stephanie is a flighty bird that, if given seeds, she will sit still and spend hours picking out her favorites. He loves her, but it's weird."
Suddenly, a thought hit her. In the recesses of her mind, she began to go over the plants Lemon had her catalog in the greenhouse. She thought of all the natural herbs and plants that could be used to achieve a desired effect in a human body. Plants that were used by pharmaceutical companies to make medicines. Medicines which were sold to hospitals.
Her mother was a nurse. Her mother had access to medicines. Her mother understood how certain medications, when mixed with certain natural remedies could affect a body. A second thought hit her hard and low.
"Nah," she said, dismissing the idea of her mother, possibly, chemically, partially lobotomizing her sister so she could have her man.
"Penny for a couple of those thoughts," he said.
"Dismissed and moving on," she replied. "Are we loading the truck tonight so we don't forget anything for the trip tomorrow?"
"We should be okay," he said. "A two-hour drive sure as hell beats all day travel across the country. I'm just worried that being so close, every weekend I will probably have one or all of them here."
"You set the terms. You make the rules," she said. "Be firm! Stand your ground!"
"Yeah, tell Mark Neary that when he finds out that I've been here for nearly four months and haven't said a word about it."
"Jay, you have a new job, a new home, and a new state, and you have so much to learn."
"Helen, you left out the part about a new wife," he said, smiling.
"Yeah, there's that," she said, looking at him. "It's going to be a long fucking week. There is the happy chance that my cousin sister won't be whining and expecting me to rub her feet."
"True, but we have our own living space that we can retreat to get away from them all," he said, smiling. "It's going to be a great trip."
Chapter 15-Mishap
Jarius "The Mustang" Neary learned two very important lessons on being a husband, all in one day. The first lesson was that he didn't understand "wife speak." He completely missed the cue when he was asked the previous day if the vehicle needed to be loaded prior to departure the next morning. In the brisk cold of the morning, when he thought he would be sticking in two suitcases, he found himself lowering the rear seats of the SUV in order to load in four large storage tubs. Being the smart man that he was, he refused to lower himself by asking his wife about the contents of the heavy ass containers, which would undoubtedly alter the amount of fuel to be used for a two-hour trip. His brain also felt fuzzy after he loaded in his suitcase that by airline standards was the ideal weight, versus the one his wife had with a matching cosmetic case and flowery carry-on bag. He also couldn't understand why the suitcase had a cup holder and weighed enough to safely carry a small child.
"Do you have everything?" Mustang asked, looking at his wife. To his shocked face, she actually went back inside the home for a walkthrough and came out with more items in her hand.
The second lesson he learned about being a husband was that all the items loaded into the vehicle had to be unloaded when they arrived at their destination, meaning he would need to help remove the contents of the tubs. He’d missed the memo on that portion because as soon as they reached Louisville and the vehicle was parked at Helen's double wide manufactured home, his father and brother were waiting for him. Both seemed shocked to see Helen climb from the vehicle, but her brother-in-law was extra happy to see her.
"Helen," Slow said, actually pulling her into a hug. He squeezed her so tightly, she knew there would be bruising.
"Michael, Mark, good to see you both," she said. "Abi and Ruth inside?"
