Acacia Close: Part Seventeen

~ beetleypete

This is the seventeenth part of a fiction serial, in 776 words.

While they were eating the fish and chips, it occurred to Grace that this was the first time for years that she had managed to have a conversation during dinner, and also the first time during that period that she hadn’t been forced to eat her meal secretly at the kitchen worktop in case Sam decided it was his food, and wrestled the plate away from her.

Stanley was being very polite and very much the gentleman. Even at his best, Sam had never been like that. He was the kind of man who considered that showing kindness and affection displayed weakness. As Stanley cleared away the plates and cutlery, her overriding emotion was guilt. She felt guilty for one reason.

That reason was because she was hoping with all her might that Sam would die.

Jenny the nurse had been kind to her, and Grace had been aware that the woman had expected her to be tearful, if not hysterical. On the way back in the car, she had almost told her that she thought it was better if Sam died, but she didn’t want to appear heartless. Stanley came back with two glasses of wine. “I thought a drink might be good. You know, for the shock”.

They sat quietly sipping the wine, and Stanley didn’t turn the TV on. Sam would always have turned the TV on, whatever had happened. He had been her first boyfriend, and the only man she had ever kissed or had sex with. When he asked her to marry him after two years seeing each other, she had accepted. Of course she had. It was what you did then, and her parents were delighted that she had found a hard worker and a suitable match.

Grace had always thought of Stanley as quite a rude man, and a loner. She had never seen him smile, and when Sam had tried to befriend him after he moved in, he had been rebuffed.

So she had been very surprised when he had come to offer her a room, and by how pleasant he had been to her since she had walked though his door. Considering he lived alone, his house was well-kept. Very tidy and clean, almost bordering on immaculate. If you had walked in there when he was out, you could be forgiven for thinking nobody lived there. Sam had once told her that he had seen Stanley going into Veronica’s house late one night when he was putting the wheelie bin out. But she thought he must have said that to be nasty.

When the wine was finished, she asked Stanley if it would be alright if she went to bed. “Of course my dear, treat the house as if it is yours, you don’t have to ask permission for anything. I have a new toothbrush somewhere, hang on while I find it.”

After she had brushed her teeth and gone into the bedroom to get undressed, Grace remembered she didn’t have her cosmetics, or a nightdress to wear. So she went to bed wearing the dressing gown Stanley had lent her, and within minutes she was fast asleep.

Dennis was sitting up alone, reflecting on the day. The fire, and Sam being rushed off to hospital, was the most exciting thing that he could remember happening in Acacia Close. And it had achieved something rare, it had got everyone outside together and talking. He had enjoyed seeing the nurse across the road in her uniform, and later when he was sitting in his hobby room, he had seen Stanley arrive at her house, leaving shortly after with Grace.

That made him chuckle. So old Stan the woman-hater had made a play for Grace, had he? Dennis wondered if Stanley would be creeping into the spare room in the early hours, trying his luck. Grace was getting on a bit, and she always looked tired, but given the chance, he would be happy to have a go with her if Stan wasn’t interested. He had scanned the nurse’s bedroom window with his binoculars for a while, but when she went in there she closed the curtains before getting undressed.

Just his luck.

At work the next day, Colin decided to take an extended lunch break and go to the travel agent’s in town. He was going to have to fly to Thailand and meet the agency representative there to be introduced to the women he had chosen. He would sort out the flights and some accommodation and make the booking for some time in the summer.

June would be good, before the school holdays when everyone wanted time off.

36 thoughts on “Acacia Close: Part Seventeen”

  8. Colin and Dennis deserve each other. Maybe Colin will have something nasty happen to him in Thailand. If I was the nurse, I would write a rude message for Dennis and display it for him on the curtains! Oh dear…maybe I’m not very nice either>

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  10. (1) The Cowardly Lion (Stanley) yearns for the courage to take Grace to bed. The Scarecrow (Sam) wants a brain, as he is now a vegetable. The Tin Woodman (Grace in disguise) wishes for a heart, but, in the meantime, cares not that Sam may die.
    (2) Overheard:
    Stanley: “I thought a drink might be good. You know, for the shock.”
    Grace: “Just give me the bottle already!”
    (3) Grace had found a suitable match, but it was Sam who struck it big by burning the house down.
    (4) According to a news bite that I read in a sucky online rag, Buffy the Vampire Slayer was known to rebuff vampires. (I’ll admit that as slayers go, she was a smooth operator!)
    (5) “Sam had once told her that he had seen Stanley going into Veronica’s house late one night when he was putting the wheelie bin out.” Grace was not surprised, as Sam was prone to talk trash about the neighbors.
    (6) Bad citation: “After she had brushed her teeth and gone into the bedroom to get undressed, Grace remembered she didn’t have a nightdress to wear. So she ran around the house naked looking for the nightgown that Stanley had secretly hidden under his own bed.
    (7) Dennis was disappointed in the X-ray glasses he’d bought. They didn’t even allow him to see through the thinnest of curtains.
    (8) June would be good, but that’s not the name of the Thai girl that Colin had chosen. Her name was actually Junko (which means obedient, genuine, pure), but Colin couldn’t bring himself to use the girl’s true name.

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  11. Interesting that Stanley is being so accommodating to Grace. Where will it lead? I can understand her feelings about Sam. She “lost” him to the dementia, years ago and her life would be easier if she didn’t have to look after him. I’m surprised at the lengths Colin is going through to find a compliant woman. I doubt it will be as easy as he thinks. Let’s hope not! 🙂

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