Myrtle Is Dumbfounded

What a wacky family to have gotten involved with, Myrtle chided herself, shaking her head. Like it wasn’t enough that Fred’s mother was an extraordinarily loud, rude monster of a woman, and Fred kept his brother’s ring for him while said brother went off to cheat on his wife, now the wife had apparently raped Fred? Was she really supposed to believe this? It was all just too much. Myrtle felt angry, heartbroken, and amazed all at once. She wondered for a moment if she hadn’t really been in some sort of coma since her accident and all of this was just an ongoing bad coma-dream. She gave her head another shake.

Myrtle had already made arrangements to meet Winn at the car dealership Thursday after work to help her pick up her new car and return Fred’s. So Winn followed Myrtle from the dealership to Fred’s apartment and gave Myrtle a lift back to the dealership. In between, Myrtle put the apartment door key on the ring with the car keys and tapped on Fred’s door. Again, she knew he was peeping out to see who it was, though he opened the door quite quickly

“Oh Myrtle...” he began.

“The car is in your parking space,” she interrupted. “The tank is full. Your apartment key is here too,” she said sternly, as she plunked the keys into Fred’s hand. She looked at Fred sadly, then turned away.

“Myrtle pleeeeaaase...” Fred moaned to her retreating back. But Myrtle didn’t stop. She disappeared through the door to the stairs while Fred watched, again feeling helpless.

Myrtle wished she could have enjoyed that drive home in her new car more. It was a really good buy, she assured herself, trying to feel happy about it. But of course, thoughts of Fred kept intruding. The whole situation was just absurd, she thought.

She went through Friday at work in something of a daze. Fortunately nothing there happened to make matters worse. She had lunch with Winn who was wanting to talk about Myrtle’s new car. Myrtle tried to seem enthused, and in a way, she was, but she felt an overriding sadness. Winn noticed that something was wrong.

Myrtle just shrugged, “I don’t seem to have a lot of luck with men,” she smiled sadly.

“It’s a big club,” empathized Winn. “Men can be such beasts.”

“You know,” said Myrtle philosophically. “Part of me is glad I never had sex with Fred, but another part of me wishes I had, at least once. It’s been awhile,” she smiled sadly. “And at least I’d have a better idea what I lost.”

“Is it hopeless then?” asked Winn.

“Fred seemed so gentle and innocent somehow, I really thought he was the one,” sighed Myrtle. “You know, I’m 26 and this is the closest I’ve come to a real relationship with a man. I’m thinking maybe I’m cursed, like other women in my family.”

“I’m 30 and haven’t given up yet,” said Winn. “And what do you mean cursed? Your mom did ok, didn’t she?” asked Winn.

“Well, the women on my dad’s side,” explained Myrtle with a wry smile. “I honestly don’t know much about my mom’s side. She died when I was so little. I think there was an aunt and uncle and some cousins there, but I never heard from them.” Myrtle shrugged. “The only grandparents I had were my dad’s parents. They got custody of me.”

“And your aunts?” asked Winn.

“The cursed women,” said Myrtle with a smirk. “They had a hand in raising me because they were home, on the farm. Neither of them ever married.”

“That must have been rough,” said Winn.

Myrtle looked up to see if her friend was kidding, but she seemed sincere, so Myrtle shook her head vehemently. “Oh no, it wasn’t. I had a great childhood, growing up on a farm with chickens, goats, cats and a great dog for a friend, doting grandparents and two eccentric aunts who spoiled me. I often wondered what it would have been like to have a mom and dad, but you know, I had it great,” she smiled. “In fact, I think I’ll give my new car a little run this weekend, and go out to the farm,” she said decisively.

“Ah... maybe a visit with your aunts will do you good,” smiled Winn.

Fred meanwhile, was slouched sadly on his couch, at the other end, staring at a TV that wasn’t even turned on. Again he hadn’t slept, and he was a lot less interested in food than he had been when he was scared and nervous. He just sat staring at the dark TV screen and eventually nodded off that way. He woke up a few hours later and stood up, almost immediately falling back down onto the couch feeling dizzy. He sure hadn’t slept right. He moaned and massaged the back of his neck for a bit, then stood up more slowly. He supposed he should have something to eat. He was almost out of bread, except for the crusts, but he found some English muffins in the freezer that Myrtle had put there. He wanted to fry an egg, but the pan was under several dirty dishes in the sink and he couldn’t be bothered. He decided to just spread peanut butter on the toasted muffin instead. He had a glass of milk with it, noticing that he was also running low on that. He sat down at the table to eat, sighing sadly the whole time. Cynthia had destroyed his life, he thought. It was hopeless... just all hopeless.

Myrtle called her aunts after work on Friday to let them know she was coming for a visit. It was a little over two hours from Upton to the farm, near a little village called Rainy Creek and Myrtle was looking forward to a weekend on the farm.