The Widow's Friend

by Dave Stone; Callii Wilson

  One of my favorite songs just came on, “You Didn’t Have To Be So Nice” by the Lovin’ Spoonful. It’s a little sugar from the past.

  I’m glad that you’re basically a country mouse. We’d be good friends anyway, but I’m more comfortable knowing that you don’t do yard work in your high heels, though I have no doubt that you have done it on occasion—but please, don’t put on any airs for me. Or is that the opposite of putting on airs, when you go from the raised little finger to eating meat with your hands? Anyway, that’s another thing that I am, is quite liberal or nonjudgmental when it comes to other people. I figure I’ve got enough problems of my own and all kinds of things could happen to just about anyone. A thought keeps going through my head over the last several years: Everyone does the best that they can. And I really believe that that they do. I like people.

  Oh, now another good song came on: “You Baby” by The Turtles. And now there’s an average one: “96 Tears” by the Mysterians. Remember that one? I didn’t either until I heard it tonight.

  You must be quite good at making dolls, and you must sell a lot of them to be able to travel to Salt Lake City for a show, put yourself up, and still come out ahead. Someday I’d like to see some of them.

  Speaking of hobbies, I need to get back into the writing groove. I haven’t done very much this week at all. I’m editing “Hollow Chill” right now. It’s my third book, and I originally wrote it about nine years ago. So far, it’s been pretty rough. I used a ton of dashes between phrases at that early stage of my writing career, and I have to repair all of that plus there are many other things that are bad. The average person wouldn’t pick up on a lot of it, but editors and writers would. I have always been a storyteller that works on his writing, but I think I’m improving.

  Do you mind if I ask how long you and Kevin were together? Dating, married, and total time? According to the approximate age of your kids it must have been for a long time.

  And I love Christmas too. Who doesn’t? Though, when I was working retail all those many years I had to run the Christmas aisle, and it was a lot of work. All the old ladies would pass by and say, “Christmas already?” like they were being funny or something, and I would always give them my standard reply, “Oh, I love Christmas. I wish we could have it all year round, don’t you?”

  Is your boy down from Vancouver right now?

  And yes, I do believe you’re an upbeat person, Callii. I have no doubt. It’s just that when your kids are divorcing and she’s about to deliver a baby, I can only imagine your concerns, especially along with the other little girl that you already help out with and feel responsible for. So again, hang tough. You’re lucky to have Anne and your daughter and all of the others to help you through it all.

  And so now, my good friend, I will proceed to unwind a few e-mails over the next few days dealing with my marriage. These are things that I don’t usually talk about. I have a brother who I used to confide in, but he has lost my confidence. Sherry, my sister, knows the basics but I don’t tell her the details. Lon Moore knows the basics but not the details, either. Jed Best knows the basics but not much more. Lynn Brown knows almost nothing, like most other people. And so I must ask that you don’t share any of this with anyone—please. And I know that you won’t.

  Often I don’t know who knows things and who doesn’t. I talk to Dentist Rick Sundstrum’s receptionist, Lisa, occasionally. (We have a soft mutual admiration—she’s single.) Anyway, when we talk I have no idea what she knows about my marriage. Rick sits right next to my brother, Paul, at the Idaho State football games, and I’m sure they share things. So I don’t know what gets passed around and what doesn’t, though I’m certain it’s much more than I’d care to know. You get the point? I have no idea who knows what or how much that they know, not even Rick.

  The worst thing I ever did was when I shared information, in the dark of the night, with my own mother. It happened many years ago, fifteen or so. We were on vacation in a condo. She was in a bed across the room from mine. It was midnight and it was dark. I told her of my marital troubles and she told me of the “affair”, more or less, depending on who you talk to, that my dad had at his store when I was in junior high. It was hard enough learning about my dad’s old infidelity problems, but it was just that much worse when mom informed my whole damn family about my own marriage problems. You’d think you could confide in your own mother. Sheesh!

  So, it’s not exactly a sealed book or anything with my family members anymore. Sherry is the one that Mary likes the most and Sherry likes Mary too, for the most part. Sherry has her own problems, but that’s a whole other story.I was sitting at Ty Morrison’s party a few weeks ago and I was thinking about the guys in the room and their marriages. Most of their marriages are rock solid and they’re generally committed to their wives, and so of course I had to think, here I am! It was a why me kind of a thing. Rick has, I think, a volatile marriage, (Lisa, his wife’s best friend and his receptionist, has shared a few things with me) but through it all Rick loves his wife and is totally committed to her. Jack Davis and his wife are totally in love and devoted to one another, and Gaylen Best is completely in love with Charlene. Of course Ty Morrison just lost his wife to cancer. I still don’t know if it was a good marriage or not, do you? I’ve heard it both ways.

  Now Kenny Pickering is a whole other story in itself. I don’t understand how he thinks. He’s been single for the last twenty years and he doesn’t even seem to care.

  I sometimes tell a little joke, “I had a lot of trouble with my first wife.” Folks will respond, “I didn’t know you were divorced.” I answer, “I’m not.” On the team I used to work on I would pop off with first wife jokes all the time. We had a lot of fun with it.

  So anyway, if you don’t mind telling me that I can keep your confidence, I’ll fill you in. It will probably be somewhat therapeutic for me, and it may take awhile. And if not, you’ll save me from several hours of writing. :^)

  Thanks, Levi

  P.S. Did you know you can get close to someone by writing? I learned that when my son went to school in Texas. So, maybe we’ll be great friends when all this is behind us. I hope so. :^) (Boy, I sure send you a lot of smiley faces :^)

  Levi

  ***

  From Callii Wilson

  Nov 2nd

  Hello again to you my friend. It has been an interesting few days. My son is here staying with me for awhile. His wife will be having the baby tomorrow. I am the assigned baby sitter for both the 16 month old and the 7 year old for the entire day. I had the 16 month old most of the day today. He is a handful. It is just a reminder of why you get kids when you are young. He is really cute, though.

  You asked how long Kevin and I were married. We were only married for about eight yrs. It took me a long time to find him. When I did he was a definite keeper. He loved my kids like they were his own. He was a very good man. My boys were from a previous marriage. Did you know how many times I had been married? Yes, I do have my own soap opera. I think I told you that in the beginning.

  I want you to know that whatever you tell me is safe with me. I will not share with anyone. I hope you feel that I am sincere.

  I am glad you had a fun time in town here at the Main Street Trick or Treat. I was coming down Main Street in the middle of it all and I don’t think I have ever seen so many kids in one place at the same time. It’s too bad the weather didn’t cooperate. You should have come to visit me. I live less than a block off of Main Street.I have decided to put my house up for sale this spring. It is too big for a single woman like me, and it is too much for me to take care of. I hope I can get what I need out of it. I have a building lot over in Sugar City, you know, that little town that you grew up in. I love my property and would like to build a small home on it that I can retire in. It is right behind the new junior high, and the tennis courts are right in front of it. It has two ponds, one in the back yard and one to the side. Do you know the place I am talking about? I am looking for a bui
lder right now so I can get an idea about how much it is going to cost me. I have also considered selling the property and moving closer to my daughter. She would love that. It is still something I might do. It is just good to have options.

  Did you get out and vote today?

  As far as the kind of music that I like, I like most anything, but I am stuck on the oldies. My radio in my car is on the oldies station most of the time. Thanks for sending the music my direction. Those old tunes bring back good memories. It’s funny how music brings back recollections of the old days and the things that were going on in our lives.

  Can you believe this beautiful weather? I love it. I got out yesterday and mowed my leaves. My grand baby, the one that I will have tomorrow, loves to be outside. He takes my hand and leads me to the door, and then he cries if I don’t let him go out. We walk around the block about twenty times in a day. He loves to watch the big trucks that come down the street. Today we watched the garbage truck till we couldn’t see it anymore. He’s all boy, that kid.

  Well, I’m sure I have bored you with my chit chat by now and it is about my bedtime anyway, so have a good evening or day or whatever it may be when you read this, and I will talk at you again soon.

  Your tired and soon to be even more tired friend, Callii

  ***

  From Levi Stone

  Nov 4th

  Dear Callii, it’s so nice to hear from you again. I know that you’re busy right now with everything that’s going on. Reply as you can, but don’t wait too long, darn it!

  I do trust you with things Callii. You’ve had a lot of adventure in your life, but the same sweet little Callii from thirty-plus years ago comes through in our conversations. I hope you can accept who I am as well, and I hope I don’t come through as too syrupy or long-winded with my lengthy responses.

  I’d like to hear about your marriages and “what happened” in each of them someday, but e-mails are probably not the proper forum for that. When we started e-mailing you told me that your life had been an adventure, and I told you that I was just plain boring. There’s a bit of truth in all of that. It is such irony that you finally found Kevin and then he suddenly had to go and pass away. I know you’re a tough little woman who’s been through much, but I’m sure you have a bit of emptiness in you after all of that. And how many times were you married? May I ask?I don’t want to give you the impression that I have circled you as someone to “run to” if my marriage ends, though I wouldn’t be truthful if I told you that I’m not still a bit romantically inclined towards you. I can’t help that Callii, you will always be more than just a friend to me – we have a history. But keep in mind that you are too tall for me. I was talking to three women as we all waited in line to vote the other day. After about twenty minutes I noticed that one of the women, the one standing right in front of me, was wearing high heels. I eyed her up and down and then screwed up enough nerve to ask, “How tall are you?” She told me she was five foot six and smiled. (She, as I expected, was the same height as you!) I smiled back and told her the basics of our discussion in e-mails. She laughed and was nice about it. I have no idea who she was. That’s why I could ask and that’s why I could explain. She looked about six foot tall in her heels –sorry. Sorry for me, I guess, but not for you. That’s the way you like it.

  Callii, if I should ever end my marriage, it would not be because of you, so relax, but if it did end I would certainly want to see you. I told my mother once, as we were confiding to one another, that the only thing I ever really wanted in life was a wife, and that is sad for me and it was sad for her to hear, but it was the truth. And now I’ll give you a quiz, but don’t worry, there is no right or wrong answer. Can you tell me what the definition of a wife is, or should be, in just one or two sentences? Let me know and I’ll tell you what I think it is too. Trust me—I’ve thought about it a bit.

  I’ve decided not to tell you all the good, bad, and ugly about my marriage. It serves no real purpose and it makes me feel dirty. Just know that my marriage is on the precipice of tipping over at all times. You just never know. Rather than bludgeoning Mary to death with one long bloody e-mail, I’ll kill her with a million little cuts through the length of our conversations. Thanks for listening, but honestly, I don’t tell people things like this about my wife—really. I’ve learned to be private. But know this; a person doesn’t have to be single to be lonely. I’m a living testament.

  By the time you read this, you’ll have a new grandchild. That’s always fun. I hope your son and his wife can get along reasonably well as they make it through the entire ordeal. Are they still friends or is it a fairly icy relationship? And I’m sure you’ll be right in the thick of things. It sounds like you love your children and have fun with the grand kids as well.Speaking of being buried in children, Lexi’s mother has twin boys that are eighteen months old. Their names are Ryder and Diesel, both named after trucks. What a life that woman lives, she farms the kids out to three different dads (I’m one of them) each weekend and runs off to play with her friends. Vickie, the mother, is a beautiful, tall, thin, thirty-year old with a sparkly personality. She is a party waiting to happen. (Can you relate to that at some point in your life?) Anyway, she won’t do some of the things a mother should do with her older kids because she says she’s burdened down with the twins. It’s probably true, unfortunately, but Lexi and Jordan could use a little more attention sometimes.

  Thanks for the invite to visit at the art show awhile back. I’m sorry that I couldn’t make it. At some point in time we’ll get together, when you’re ready and under the right circumstances. I’ll probably deliver you some books some time, if nothing else.

  You know, I guess it would be tough to sell a home, right now, but I don’t really know. My house is paid off and I haven’t paid much attention to the market. I have no idea what I could sell it for and I don’t much really care at this point, but things can change quickly. Every year brings new surprises.Kenny told me that your house is beautiful both inside and out. I imagine your touch was put into every decision that was made, and I’ll bet it was fun. Good luck with your sell. The spring will be the right time to sell it. If you’re serious, even getting it listed in February is a good start. A realtor told me that once.

  So, which town does your daughter live in? Idaho Falls? How old is she and what is her name? I still don’t know.

  The thought of moving back to Sugar City has a certain appeal to me, of course. There is a certain magic to Sugar City, somehow. I write books about it. But I read something once that I tend to believe. It basically said that people often long for their home town, but when they finally return there, they realize it was not their hometown that they miss but their childhood. There is a kind of wisdom in that. All the old town folk, about mom and dad’s age, are about to die off, if they haven’t already, and then it just won’t be the same.

  I know where your building lot is. My brother Brent teaches at that junior high and he showed me a town home in that same area that he was thinking of buying. It’s a great spot, but then I’m partial. And you say that it’s right next to ponds? Imagine that, ponds in Sugar City. Maybe you’ll even have a few mud ducks over there or maybe some friends for your frog.You probably don’t know this but my old friend, Matthew Bills, lived in the home adjacent to the burger joint, right there by the junior high. His tale is such a sad one, to die at such a young age—sigh! Most homes in Sugar City I could tell you about, the people, the history, and all of the other stuff. In small towns, everyone is a person, and everyone pretty much knows everyone else.

  If you don’t mind sharing, could you please tell me the basics of your son and his divorce sometime? I’d like to hear if he goes through with it and the basics of why, both his side and hers too. It’s pretty hard to pull for her, I know. Blood is always thicker than water. There was a time when my sister was thinking of leaving her husband. The whole family was on her side, which was odd to me because Joe is such a great guy! That’s the way it works, tho
ugh.

  And finally, you really seem to enjoy working in the yard. That’s a good quality and I smile every time you mention it. I don’t have that same “desire” in me, but I do enjoy the outdoors. I remember how I hated the wind way back in the old days when we were dating. There was nothing worse than wind to ruin a good tennis match. I got way too much sun back then.

  Well, dear sweet grandma Callii, we’ll talk again soon.

  Your friend, Levi

  ***

  From Callii Wilson

  Nov 5th

  There’s one more advantage to being tall—you can reach things on the top shelf without a ladder.

  ***

  From Levi Stone

  Two hours later

  We don’t have top shelves at our house.

  Chapter 16

  “Dorothy”

  Callii and I were bantering back and forth pretty consistently now in our e-mails. I sent her another message about her height. It was a Youtube clip about Dorothy leaving the land of the Munchkins, towering over them in her ruby-red high heels. I said, “Dorothy seems roughly the same size as you in her high heels. She seems to stand out a little, don’t you think?

  Callii responded with her own e-mail by saying, “There are way too many munchkins in this world. It’s too bad that everyone can’t breathe the clean air up here.”

  I had to laugh. The girl was amusing and she was definitely fun to talk to. I was still a bit uncertain about all the pieces of her life, but I had learned a lot. She lived in a house and not an apartment, I knew that now, and she had never mentioned anything about a boyfriend or going on a date, at least not unless it was with one of her girlfriends. Was she just being polite?