Heaven Bound

“Yah, you got a good woman in that sense,” said Clay. “Why she still workin’? I thought you been sellin’ books and doing good.”

Putting my on my shoes I gave a quick reply while heading for the door.

“She likes it and it gives her a reason to be in town. She’s a city girl at heart. All right then, I’ll be back soon. Let’s see, it’s just after 2 PM. When I get back we should watch some television and blow the remainder of the day on relaxing.”

Clay, still wearing an odd expression, only nodded. Feeling suspicious, I changed my mind and took my car. I put my phone on the charger as I drove the quarter mile to the station. I wouldn’t need to use a pay phone. I could’ve done the same at Clay’s but wanted to break away. After parking, I checked voice mail and texts.

“Thinking of you. Hope it’s going well. I’m fine except for allergies gearing up.”

That was the last message from my wife sent at about the time of Grand Entry. I must have missed it for all the noise. I recalled her having severe reactions to bee stings and it was about that time of year. Even with an Epi Pen, if she had to use it she would be pretty sick afterward. Maybe she did call. 

I tried calling her and got no answer so started to worry. I decided to pack up and head for home. I would come back in a few days or a week. Driving back to Clay’s and finding an empty driveway left me disappointed. His Favorite Gal, whose car was missing, was choosing to stay gone.

Entering the house I found it empty as well. Yup, Clay was gone and left no note.

“Fine. I’m out of here. In my opinion, he isn’t making a sincere effort,” I told myself.

Not bothering to close the door, I loaded my travel bag in the car and left. Every mile I put behind me increased a sense of relief and decreased the distance to the Upper Peninsula. I drove for a couple hours and figured I’d stop for a burger when I made it to the town of Indian River.

“Yup Big Nob, I’m heading for heaven and eager to hand you my four bucks entrance fee,” I whispered to myself.

And what is heaven if not a place free of strife and turmoil. I felt good thinking about being in my comfy bed with a lovely woman beside me. I looked forward to cleaning up the yard from winter shed tree branches. I thought about going Brook Trout fishing and…

My cell phone chirped to tell me of a text message. It was my wife telling me to call her ASAP but it wasn’t an emergency. I was about to merge unto northbound I-75 where a rest stop would welcome me within a mile. Once there, I called.

“Hey, there you are,” said my wife. “I tried getting through earlier.”

She sneezed and continued chatting.

“I decided to come down and see you guys. I’m done with work until after Memorial Day. I wanted to catch the Pow-Wow. What do you think?”

I lingered long in silence wishing I had a toilet plunger. My gut, having wrapped itself around my spine from the verbal kick it received, required being sucked back into place.

Copyright © 2015 Migizi M. New Song. All Rights Reserved.