The Curious Prayer Life Of Muriel Smith

by Raj, Carol;

  Muriel pressed her lips together to keep from speaking. If Natalie thought her husband was innocent, Muriel would not argue with her. Natalie had reaped so many benefits from Stan’s malfeasance. Hawaiian vacations. Expensive jewelry. Enough antique furniture to fill her mansion-sized home. Perhaps denial was the only way Natalie could live with herself now. Muriel would not shatter her illusions.

  Kevin backed out of the screen door with two glasses of lemonade, one in each hand. “Hey, Mrs. B. I couldn’t find those little cherries you sometimes put in. I hope it’s OK that I looked.” He set the glasses down and went back inside. Seconds later, Muriel heard the sound of the TV.

  “What’s with this ‘Mrs. B’? Your name doesn’t start with a ‘B.’ Even your maiden name didn’t start with a ‘B’. It sounds ridiculous.”

  “Kevin thinks it is ridiculous. That’s the whole point. He started calling me that before he knew my name. When we first met, he asked me what my name was. And I said Mrs. Smith. And he assumed I was using an alias.”

  “An alias, Mother? Really? That still doesn’t explain ‘Mrs. B.’”

  “I kind of like it. It reminds me of old farm wives and pies left to cool on the windowsill. I never had a nickname. Not even when I was young.” Muriel thought again about Stan. How he always called her by her first name. Anybody could call her by her first name. The technician at the drugstore called it out when her prescription was ready. The server at the fast food restaurant did the same thing. It didn’t mean they had a personal relationship.

  “Well, I don’t like it, Mom. And I don’t like him hanging around here. Maybe he’s casing the joint.”

  Muriel laughed. “What would he steal, Natalie? I don’t even have silverware. Just stainless steel. And the pieces don’t even match.” She looked down at her ring finger. “The only jewelry I have is my wedding ring. I haven’t taken that off since the day your father put it on.”

  “I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that, Mom. Maybe you should take it off. I mean, I know you’re lonely. It’s been ten years.”

  Muriel pushed the ring farther onto her finger. “I’m not in the market. If God wants me to get remarried, he’ll have to throw someone up on the sidewalk outside this house.”

  Natalie looked down at her lemonade and swirled it round and round. “Did I tell you I got a job at the Landry Conference Center? I don’t mind working in the kitchen. But I hate waiting tables. Members of my women’s clubs come in, and I ask them what they’d like to drink. It’s humiliating.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with waiting tables. It’s good, honest work.”

  “They didn’t even want to hire me because of my lack of experience. Then Mr. Landry noticed my maiden name on the employment application and started asking me about my parents. When I told him my mother used to teach high school geometry, his whole face lit up and he offered me the job. Isn’t that strange?”

  Legs Landry. Patrick’s chum. So he’d remembered her, too. But she would never tell Natalie. Natalie had looked down on her for so many years. “Just a teacher.” Now Natalie was reaping some of the benefits. Maybe I did do something important after all. Maybe I wasn’t such a failure. Her teaching was a pebble thrown into a still pond. The ripples kept spreading wider and wider even though they could no longer be seen on the surface. If only Natalie would see it that way. “You know, if we pooled our money, all three of us could live quite comfortably in my little house. We could split the bills. Take turns babysitting. It would help everyone out.”

  “Mother, your house only has two bedrooms.”

  “I know. Maybe you and Chloe could share. Or you and me. Or we could set up a screen to portion off part of the dining room. We could work it out.”

  Natalie shook her head. “I don’t think so, Mom.”

  “Well, if you change your mind, let me know. And, in the meantime, let me know if there’s anything I can do.”

  “Could you maybe lend me a twenty? Just until next week?”

  There went Muriel’s grocery money. And her dream purse with a reliable clasp.

  Thankfully, there was some leftover chicken in the freezer. At least Chloe and the baby wouldn’t starve. Muriel wouldn’t allow that to happen. Now if only she could talk Chloe into letting her baby live.

  22

  Muriel should really learn to think before she spoke. Just because Kevin mentioned that his parents were too busy to take him for driving practice didn’t mean she should offer to help. So he needed a mature licensed driver in the passenger seat. That wasn’t her problem. What had she been thinking?

  As Kevin hurtled down the two-lane road at an alarming thirty-five miles per hour, Muriel was sure she’d made a mistake. Perhaps a fatal one. He was driving perilously close to the right-hand side of the road. Close enough to take out a mailbox or two. Muriel sat with her hands between her knees, leaning toward the driver’s side with her whole upper body. If a mailbox did decide to crash through her door, perhaps she’d only be bruised.

  “There’s the sign for the highway up there. See?” Kevin took his right hand off the steering wheel and waved it at her.

  Muriel swallowed. “Two hands on the wheel. Remember? And about the highway. Maybe we could do it next time?”

  “No, Mrs. B. I need some experience on the highway. My parents said. And you know what we have to do to get on the highway, don’t you?”

  “Merge? Oh, goodness, we don’t have to merge, do we? You know, I really do think next week would be a better time.” Maybe next week Roxanne would want to go somewhere, and Muriel could bow out. Or maybe she’d develop more courage by then. It was possible. Not likely. But possible.

  “Nope, we’re going to merge today. Don’t worry. I’m going to do an awesome job.”

  “Oh, Kevin, you know how much I hate merging.”

  “Yeah, but I’m the one driving this time. You’re just a passenger. So you’re really not merging at all, are you? See the ramp on the right? I’m going to get on the highway there. I have it all planned out.”

  Muriel swallowed again and gripped the door handle as Kevin took the turn onto the ramp, throwing her farther away from the door as centrifugal force took over. She glanced out the back window on Kevin’s side. The cars were coming at them so fast. Too fast. She couldn’t die now. She had too many young people scheduled for tutoring. And she needed to keep Chloe’s spirits up. Help her forget about the possibility of an abortion. Muriel did so want to see her great-grandchild! There was only one thing to do. She squeezed her eyes shut and braced her body for whatever pain and suffering she would have to endure.

  “You can open your eyes now,” Kevin said.

  “How did you know my eyes were closed? You’re supposed to be watching the road, young man, not looking at me.”

  “It was just a guess, Mrs. B. And look. We’re all merged and now I can go faster than thirty-five for the first time ever. I wonder what the speed limit is.”

  “Sixty-five. I remember from when Roxanne went on this highway.”

  “That means I can go seventy without getting stopped. The police give you a five-mile leeway. Did you know that?”

  Muriel swallowed. “Minimum speed is forty-five. You could go forty-five. Or forty. You just said there’s a five-mile leeway. Forty sounds like a reasonable speed to me.”

  “Forty, Mrs. B? Does that sound like something any teenager in his right mind would agree to?” Kevin stepped on the gas.

  Muriel’s head hit the back of her seat. Oh, Lord, just get us safely home. “Which way are we heading, Kevin? I didn’t notice.”

  “West, Mrs. B. We’re heading west.”

  What did Kevin really have in mind? “We’re not going to Montana, are we?” Her old lady voice quavered.

  Kevin glanced over at her. “Montana? Mrs. B, who in their right mind would want to go to Montana?”

  Thank goodness. Muriel let out the deep breath she was holding.

  Then Kevin grinned. “Wyoming’s supposed to be a l
ot nicer.”

  Muriel sputtered.

  “Oh, don’t worry, Mrs. B. I’m just kidding. So assuming we get home without my killing us both, can we go driving again next week?”

  “We can do that, Kevin. But I’m not sure which day. I’ll have to check my calendar.”

  “You got big plans, huh?”

  “Actually, I do. My friend Roxanne finally got tickets. You’ll never guess where we’re going.”

  “No idea.” Kevin put on his left-turn signal, glanced at the car mirrors, glanced at the blind spot just behind his window, and then pulled over to pass a slow moving sedan.

  Muriel put her hand over her chest. “Roxanne got tickets to that TV antiques show. The one she’s always wanted to be on. And she’s asked me to take two items in for her. Can you believe it?”

  “You taking your mirror?”

  “No, not my mirror. I told you it’s not worth anything. I even asked Roxanne and Natalie. They’re both into antiques. They just laughed.”

  “Oh, well. Hey, don’t forget my birthday party tomorrow! Mom and Dad really want you to come. They keep saying how nice it was that you didn’t sue them. And your helping me learn to drive practically makes you one of the family.”

  23

  Muriel should never have explained why she couldn’t meet Natalie at the mall for tea. She should have just said she was busy. Though, given Natalie’s predilection for argument, maybe it wouldn’t have mattered.

  “Well, honestly, Mother. I never thought going to a birthday party for some young punk would be more important to you than going to tea with your own flesh and blood.”

  “I’m sorry, Natalie. You and I don’t make plans to go out together very often.” We haven’t for years.

  “All the more reason for you not to turn me down.”

  All the more reason for me not to turn down other invitations. If I can’t depend on any one person, I need a wider social circle. “I’m not turning you down. I’m just suggesting another day. How about tomorrow or the day after? Would one of those work for you?”

  “Honestly, I think you care more about that punk than you do about me.”

  So that’s what this was all about. “Of course, I don’t. I care more about you than I do about anyone else. Kevin’s parents are just grateful I didn’t sue them after the carjacking. They want to pay me back in their own way.”

  “May I remind you, Mother? Suing them would have solved all our financial problems. That’s how they could have paid you back. With a few million, not a lousy piece of birthday cake.”

  “There are a lot of assumptions there. Maybe a judge or jury would have ruled the other way. Maybe we’d just be out lawyer’s fees. Anyway, I can’t do something that’s wrong.”

  “You’re so much better than Stan then. Is that what you’re saying?”

  “Of course not. We’re all sinners. So, anyway, let’s get back to the point. Which day works better for you? Tomorrow or the day after?”

  “Today works for me. Tomorrow doesn’t. Nor the day after. Just forget it.”

  The line went dead. Had Natalie hung up? Or was there some anomaly in the service? Muriel put the receiver back in its cradle. Should she call her back? No matter what she did, she would be wrong. She was sure of it. If only she had the courage to ask Natalie to drive her to Kevin’s house for the party and pick her up afterward. Round-trip cab fare would put a big dent in her weekly budget. Probably Natalie was right. Probably she shouldn’t be going at all. Lord, help. Just as she took a step away from the phone, it rang. She grabbed the receiver. “Sorry, Natalie. I don’t know what happened there.”

  “I’m not Natalie, Mrs. B.”

  “Kevin! Sorry. I just got disconnected from my daughter.”

  “I thought maybe you were going senile. Couldn’t tell a teenage boy from a middle-aged woman.”

  “Nope. Not senile. Just no caller ID. What’s on your mind?”

  Kevin cleared his throat. “My father wants to know if you’d like me to pick you up. Like for my birthday party. You know I only have a learner’s permit, so he’ll be in the car, too. But please, Mrs. B. It’ll give me more experience on the road.”

  Well, goodness, Lord, You answered that prayer quick! “Sure, Kevin. That would be great. It’ll be just you and your family, right? I don’t want to get in the way.”

  “It’s never just family. Not at my house. Uncle Clarence always comes. And I invited some friends, too.”

  “Uncle Clarence sounds like family to me.”

  “He’s not. He’s just an old man my parents kind of adopted when his wife died. He’s been coming for years. My mother thought it was rude for me to just call him Clarence. And too formal for me to call him Mr. Hall. So we added the Uncle on.”

  “Well then, you picking me up sounds great. See you in about an hour then?”

  “You got it, Mrs. B.”

  24

  Muriel couldn’t remember the last time she’d laughed so hard. It must have been years ago. The last few dinners at Natalie’s house were ruined one way or the other by Stan. Sometimes he was too quiet. Sometimes he fumed about the cost of some wine they were having or some decadent petit fours Natalie bought at an upscale bakery three towns over. He would go over and over all the ways the money could have been better spent until Natalie, increasingly red-faced, retreated to the kitchen to bang pots and pans. Stan shouldn’t have behaved that way. Especially with guests there. Even if they were all related. Don’t desire a rich man’s delicacies. Better to put a knife to your throat. It was somewhere in the Bible. Probably Proverbs. Muriel had read it took fewer muscles to smile than to frown. Now it seemed she was using muscles she hadn’t used for a long time.

  There went Uncle Clarence again. Telling a story about the time he was a little boy and he ran away from school. Just slipped out the gate at recess when all the teachers were gathered in a circle talking to each other. He walked half a mile, found a rowboat, went onto a lake, and had a wonderful time. Until the police came to pick him up.

  He was certainly a good story teller. So different from Howard who had hardly ever said a word. It seemed she had known Clarence all her life. His stories about his school days made her remember her own. If he’d told her they had been in the same class, she would have believed him. They were about the same age. She held her napkin to her lips and felt the curvature. Yep. Her lips were turned up. Who would have thought?

  Kevin’s mother had spread a tablecloth over two long tables that were pushed together. A rose-colored cyclamen sat enough off center that any unexpected jerk to the tables would not send the plant crashing to the ground. The silverware wasn’t silver at all. Just stainless steel. Natalie would have been embarrassed to set her own table with it. But it was better than the set Muriel used. At least all the pieces matched. And everyone was having a good time. Even the teenage boys.

  What was Natalie doing? Muriel hoped she wasn’t moping because they couldn’t go out for tea. The more things Muriel found to do, the more it seemed Natalie wanted to do something with her. If only Natalie didn’t issue such last minute invitations. Muriel would be happy to plan around her schedule.

  Poor Natalie was having a hard time dealing with Stan’s death. There was no question about it.

  Muriel heard the rumors as she stood in line at the supermarket. How Natalie’s personality had driven Stan to suicide. How they hadn’t been getting along for years. It was bad enough to lose your husband. But then to be blamed for it, too? Nobody mentioned the Ponzi scheme even though it made front page news. Nobody else was stupid enough to have their assets tied up in it.

  Clarence leaned toward Muriel. “And what shenanigans were you up to when you were in elementary school?”

  She had never made a peep. Just sat at her desk and did her work, and got all E’s for excellent. “I never did anything as exciting as you did. My, Clarence, your teachers must have been at their wits’ end. Your parents, too.”

  “Yep, I kept them all on th
eir toes. But Muriel. Time to fess up. There must be something you can share with us.”

  “Well…not at school. But my best friend, Sarah Anne, and I once took a shortcut to her house after school. I wasn’t supposed to take shortcuts. Not through somebody’s private property. Anyway, we climbed a fence and started through a yard, and a dog came out and barked at us. It scared me half to death. If I’d been bitten, I would have had to tell my mother that I’d disobeyed her. Now that was a scary thought! So I never said a word. My mother died not knowing. It might have been the start of a life of crime.”

  Clarence roared with laughter so infectious that Muriel joined in.

  After dinner was over and the birthday candles were blown out and the presents opened, Clarence offered to drive Muriel home. He was driving himself home. It was silly for Kevin and his father to make a special trip. Especially since Kevin hadn’t yet driven after dark, and his father had to get up early for work the next day.

  Muriel had second thoughts when she saw Clarence’s old car. It looked like something out of the 1960s. But then, as she hesitated, he held the passenger door for her and waved her in with a little bow. No man had held a door for her since Howard got cancer. Howard! What would he think about another man driving her home? It’s been ten years. He’s probably wondering what took me so long.

  Clarence pulled out onto the busy highway leading to Muriel’s house. “So how did you meet Kevin’s family? And why haven’t I seen you at their house before?”

  Did Clarence know about the carjacking? Muriel didn’t want him to look down on Kevin or his family because she gossiped. “Uh, well…Kevin and I went for a ride and…”

  “So you’re the lady he carjacked.”

  Muriel breathed a sigh of relief. “Yep. That’s me.”

  “You know, most people would try to make some money out of his mistake. Sue. Settle out of court. Something.”

  It wasn’t exactly a question. But Clarence had stopped talking and seemed to be waiting for a response.

  “Everyone told me I should sue. But it didn’t seem right to ruin a young man’s future.”