Jim and Amy
By Tom Skiens
March 2009
Amy moves from
the kitchen sink to the bottom of the stairs and shouts at her husband.
" Jim, Jim, breakfast is ready." " I'll be right down, " Jim
responds.
Amy returns to the sink and continues washing dishes by hand.
Their house has all the modern utilities such as garbage disposal, a
two door refrigerator with ice and water dispenser, polished concrete
counter tops, laminated floors, a dishwasher and stainless steel
appliances but Amy still prefers to wash dishes by hand. As she removes
dried spaghetti sauce from the last soiled plate she hears Jim come
bounding down the stairs. The sound of his feet sends an unmistakable
message that Jim is in a good mood today.
Jim Bursts into the kitchen and says, " I feel great today." "I know, says Amy smiling, Your feet told me."
"What else did my feet tell you", says Jim chuckling as he
moves up behind his wife and slides both arms around her
waist. He presses close to Amy, their bodies contour becoming as one. An
inviable familiar spark rushes from him to her and back again. At first a
tingle that builds to an electrical charge promising to become a bolt
of lighting. Both of them are conscious that this is just like the
first time they raced to see who could get to the back seat of his
fathers 1966 Oldsmobile when they were 18 years old. Neither of
them had ever known another lover before or after that date and neither
of them believed that they had missed anything.
Jim gently blows on the back of Amy's right ear. She takes a
quick gasp of breath and turns her head to the right allowing better
access. She lets the quivering electrical charge run the full length
of her body as she forgets about the dishes and everything else on the
planet except for Jim, her ear and this feeling.
Jim nibbles at the ear and whispers, " I called the office and
told them I would be a couple hours late. Do you feel like racing"
Amy laughs and takes her hands out of the wet, soapy water. She
turns and puts both arms over Jim's shoulders. Amy kisses him
deeply and has no choice but to give in to the electrical storm building
inside her. " I think a race would be wonderful. You take out the garbage
while I put breakfast on hold. I will meet you in the game room."
Jim belts out a " Yahoo" as he separates from Amy and bounds up
the stairs to get trash cans out of the bathroom and study. Amy quickly
puts the kitchen on hold and passes Jim speeding down the stairs with
the trash as she dances toward the bedroom.
Jim retrieves the trash out of the downstairs bathroom and moves
to the kitchen where he combines all the cans into one large garbage
bag. He sweeps crumbs and egg cartons, paper towels and empty bread
sacks off the counter top and into the large plastic garbage bag. He
ties
the bag off with a twistie and heads out the door just in time to catch
the garbage truck.
Amy has made secret plans that involve more than just winning
the race. When she hears Jim coming up the stairs she assumes her pose.
Jim breaks into the bedroom and sees Amy standing in the middle
of the bed, legs spread apart, both hands on her hips, wearing a white
Stetson cowboy hat and a pair of red white and blue cowboy
boots. Amy has nothing
else on but the tape recorder that is playing their favorite love
songs. Jim laughs out loud and
starts leaving a trail of clothing as he hops, drops a shoe and loses
a sock, switch legs, hop, hop, skip, free a pant leg, remove a
T-shirt and clowns toward the bed. Amy
giggles as she kicks off her boots, throws the hat across the room and
dives under the covers.
Jim and Amy have been married for 18 years but each time they
choose to renew their sacred vows in this intimate act of love it
is as if it were the first time. Minus of course the bumbling and
bumping caused by not knowing which side to put your nose on when you
kiss for the first time. They had established a pattern that was beyond
personal pleasure. Their games were fun, intimate, soft, caring,
passionate and above all, funny. They loved to laugh or laughed to
love. Either way, humor carried the day.
After they finish Jim hits the showers first so he can get to
work. Amy closes her eyes and puts her mind in free flow so she can
enjoy every tingle, sparkle and warm glow after thrill of their love making.
Jim finishes his shower and sees that Amy has fallen asleep. He
quietly dries himself off, redresses and tiptoes down the stairs not
wanting to disturb Amy's dreams. Jim has a smile on his face that he
can't or won't wipe away. A good day indeed he says to himself.
Amy awakes from a dream of love and music, flowers and joy, god
and peace. She sees that it is 9:30 AM and smiles at both the memory of
her love for Jim and the lingering scent of his body, a shiver rushes
through her as she audibly releases a sigh. She tells herself to
get moving, take a shower and return to the housework. Go, she says,
go. OK, go.
Jim is pouring over the plans for a new 300 unit apartment
complex. The phone rings and he sees that it is Amy calling, he glances
at the clock which says 10:45 AM. He answers the phone with, " this is
your lover, how may I help you."
Amy is out of control on the other end of the line. She is
crying and talking and blubbering and Jim can't understand a word she
is saying. "Amy, what is wrong, I can't understand you, slow down
honey, whats wrong, do you want me to come home?" Jim has picked up on
the vibes and he doesn't like it. He Says, "Whats wrong honey. If you
can't tell me I am coming home."
Amy catches her breath and blurts out, " I can't find my wedding
ring, I took it off to do the dishes and set it on a paper towel beside
the sink and now I can't find it. Jim stops breathing for what seems
like a week. "Honey, Jim says, I know where it is at, don't worry, I
will get it back for you, I know where it is at. It's ok, it's ok, it's
not your fault. I put that paper towel in the garbage and I will get it
back even if I have to swim through every trash bag in the landfill."
Jim's awkward attempt at humor grounded Amy enough that she agreed to get off the phone and let him call the land fill.
Jim pulls into the driveway at 6:15 PM and notices his parents car parked
at the curb. Amy had become good friends with his parents even before
they were married and that relationship had continued to grow
throughout the years. Jim would have been surprised if Amy had not
called his parents after their phone conversation about the ring. Jim
parks the car, grabs the flowers and candies he had bought on the way
home and decides to ring the door bell knowing that Amy will answer and
be the first to see the gifts he bore.
The door bell interrupts Amy's conversation with her in laws. I
will be right back she says. She opens the door and sees a dozen
red roses and a box of candy being offered to her. "Quick, get into the
house before my husband sees you, she says." Jim laughs as Amy takes the
flowers out of his hands and kisses him. They walk into the living room
together so Jim can say hello to his parents. Just as the conversation
starts the door bell rings again. Jim says he will get it and Amy says
she will be right back after she puts the flowers in a vase.
As Jim moves to answer the door he looks out the window and sees
a white pickup truck parked behind his parents car at the curb. The
lettering on the door of the pickup says, King County Land Fill. Jim
opens the door in anticipation. Two men, one his age and one his
fathers age, are standing on the porch.
"Mr. Waterman, Mr. James Waterman ," asks the youngest of the
two men. " Yes " Jim responds. " Mr Waterman, we spoke earlier today on
the phone. My name is Richard Adams, this is my father, Harold
Adams , I am the
manager of the King County landfill. May we come in sir and speak to
you please." "Yes, of course" Jim says as he opens the door wider and
takes a step backwards. He leads his two guests into the living room
and makes introductions all around. Amy offers everyone drinks and each
person declines in turn sensing a building excitement and wanting to
reach the peak of this swelling anticipation.
Jim breaks the tension by addressing the younger of the
two Adams, " Mr. Adams, Richard, I assume you have some news about my wife's
wedding ring?"
" Yes I do but you know how the county is, dot the I's,
cross the T's etc. I need to ask you a few questions if you don't mind.
Your full name is James Waterman, Jim nods his head in agreement.
Your full correct address is 20447 SW Hill view, Hampton Va? Jim again
nods in agreement. Can you briefly describe the ring please? Amy waists
no time in giving up more details about the ring than the jeweler who
made it could have offered. "Was there an inscription on the ring and
can you tell me what it said?" says Richard . Amy again responds, "yes
there is an inscription and it says, Mr. and Mrs. James Watermen
and the jeweler misspelled waterman with an (e) instead of an (a). "
Richard looks over at his father Harold and both shake
their heads in silent agreement. Richard stands up, pulls the ring
out of his pocket and hands it to Amy saying. " I believe this belongs
to you."
Amy began crying again and falls into Jim's arms wiping her tears
on his chest. Jim has a, "cat ate the bird", smile on his face and his
eyes are glowing from moisture which could be tears. "We just have one more
thing to go over then we can leave you folks alone, Richard says. I
think I need to turn this part over to my father."
Harold turns to face Mr. and Mrs. Frank Waterman and
says, " Sir,
I had planned on bringing this up with your son but sense you are here
I guess I should speak to you directly. Sir, Have you ever had an
experience where your wife lost her wedding ring?
"As a matter of fact we have," says Frank. Harold Adams asks, "I know
this is personal but do you have a pet name you call your wife and was
it engraved on the ring.?" Frank Waterman responds, " yes and yes, why do you ask". Please sir, can you
tell me what that pet name is", says Harold . Frank looks over at
his wife and she nods consent. He shrugs his shoulders in a," what the
hell," gesture and says to Harold , "OK, it's Bunny."
Harold Adams looks over at his son and Richard says, "I think
so, it's strange but I think this is it.." So do I", says Harold as he reaches into his pocket and produces
a ring box that he hands to Mrs. Frank Waterman . Harold says,"I was
the land fill manager before I retired and my son took over 12 years
ago. About 15 years ago I found this ring in the land fill and have
been looking for its owner sense then. I believe you are that
owner."
Mrs. Frank Waterman opens the ring box and all of the
strength in her legs turns to jelly. She starts crying and wiping the
tears on her husbands chest. Richard looks over to his father and
says, " We walk into a strangers house and turn everyone into
a blubbering mess, our work here is done don't you think." " I
believe so," Harold says smiling broadly. " I believe so."