Murder at the table- A we-write Short Story
Grandma put up with Grandpa for 60 years
of marital bliss, aka un-bliss. Lloyd and Leona, living like paupers while "his" (their, she reminded him in vain) assets were frozen in several million dollars worth of land, tractors, combines (yes, two, not one, of the house-sized, house-priced behemoths), and grain bins bursting at the seams with rotting corn or beans because prices were too low for him to sell, or so high, Lloyd Bossum would have to - gasp! - pay taxes.
Every birthday, Valentine's Day, holiday and Mother's Day, Leona cooked as usual for the man who was once upon a time handsome and charming. He swept her off her feet and lured her from town life, social life, a life, and overnight, after the "I do, until death us do part," he transformed from handsome boyfriend to Property Owner. She was his property. His servant.
All their children wearied of her complaining and his narcissism, but that's just the way things were, and Leona declared it was her lot in life. See, right in the Bible, it said so. "Accept your lot in life." She could recite it from memory but she didn't get it: It is good for people to eat, drink, and enjoy their work under the sun during the short life God has given them, and to accept their lot in life. Ecclesiastes 5:18.
Funny how she passed over the part where her God wanted his people to enjoy life. The county fair was on, but "it took all the fun out of it" to pay $5 for a hot dog, Lloyd said, he who was worth millions. He was no longer able to climb the fence to avoid paying admission at the gate, and Leona had half a mind to go without him, but Lloyd knew that would never happen. Now that Lloyd was 87 his mind wasn't as sharp as he'd always claimed it to be, and even his tongue wasn't as sharp as it once was, but Leona's was sharper than ever.
He stood in the doorway of the hot August kitchen as she canned tomatoes, froze sweetcorn and pickled his beloved beets. Work, work, work, and never a break from it, she whined.
Lloyd shuffled out to the barn.
"All the good people dying," Leona muttered over the steaming kettle of fruit jars being sterilized, while Lynnae, their youngest, pursed her lips and shucked corn. "Mean old S.O.Bs like him never die."
Well, there was a new twist! Leona had never uttered a profanity in all her life, and S.O.B. was in itself a blasphemy, so Lynnae knew her mom's stoic endurance was being strained to the limit.
Lynnae had blurted out what her sub conscious had been mulling over. 2 days ago -at the bi- annual un-official cribbing meet of the Bossum clan that had attracted the 4 brothers, 3 sisters ( including Lynnae) and 5 of the 11 grandchildren (including Lloyd Jr.) S. O. B. was about the kindest word in the floral descriptives used for grandpa. Grandma on the other hand was defended by the shrill protests of the 2 daughter's that had married away into far away cities as soon as they were 19 years old. The feisty twins, the granddaughters had also defended poor gramma -always slaving away for you louts- as well.
All in all the opinion was that even if grandpa died soon- which was pure fantastical thinking- grandma would be a worse boss- not so overbearing, self centered and mean but even more stingy and myopic by habit of living the frugal farm life for last 60 years- The 16 year old Christmas decorations was a classic example not to mention the 30 year old bathroom fixtures and the 40 year old kitchen utensils and crockery. The near drunkenness had evaporated fast when Lloyd Jr. - the eldest grandson had squawked out about how six months ago he, Lloyd Jr.had persuaded grandpa by hounding him very morning for nearly 100 days to take out a 3 million dollar life insurance policy citing that they could fleece the same company for Medicare discounts potentially worth over 500K once they had a policy in place. The idea of fleecing a multi-national giant had pleased grandpa more than the policy details.
So Lynnae was just echoing the sentiments which most children were thinking. She lapsed into silence as the mound of corn grew steadily and in a few minutes she was half asleep over the mound of corn hands still working- zoned out was what the grandchildren called her- when Lloyd came in and plonked down in his favorite chair. He literally shook her out of the stupor to ask where the mum was as them jars were ready. She did not notice the blue velvet envelope he was clutching as she left the kitchen in search of her mother.
" The finagleling scrub, dagnabit! Twenty Seven Thousand Dollars! Holy Mother. The old scoot is off the rails!"
Lynnae was too shocked to respond to this. Her 84 year old white haired, pink cheeked, wholly docile mother was punching the laundry basket uttering unheard of curses. "Mother! you OK; come come sit down."
"Let go Lynnae, don't act daft. I'm right angry at your poppa; enough to burst a vein. For 60 years I keep him in line, going straight to work an back; not spending a penny on nothing but farm equipment. And when he learnt, he himself came to save money, I thought my work was done and he had changed his spending ways. Not spending on fairs and theater and potzblitz, I had made him a right man. But today I discovered in the roll top a receipt for- for $27000! AArgh." She threw a paper ball at Lynnae and stalked towards the kitchen murder on her mind.
P.S. I really think women are good with saving money contrary to popular belief.
This is the first part: https://steemit.com/freewrite/@carolkean/death-on-the-table-part-one-or-we-write-or-carolkean-with-sarez
The Contest: https://steemit.com/freewrite/@freewritehouse/2ava83-we-write-partner-up
Awesome shift in perspective - more than one side to every story! even if grandpa died soon- which was pure fantastical thinking- grandma would be a worse boss- not so overbearing, self centered and mean but even more stingy and myopic by habit of living the frugal farm life for last 60 years - you nail it! But this slays me. The 16 year old Christmas decorations - heavens - even my own are 30+ years old. My mom's are more than 60 years old, I kid you not, but she did give up on the electric lights - a fire hazard.
So, "death on the table" comes in when Junior tries to hasten Dad's death in order to cash in on that life insurance policy?
My Christmas decorations range in age, but I began collecting them in 1982, because that was the year I lost all the decorations I had collected up to that time.
My sister my mom felt so badly that I'd lost them that I got ornaments for my presents that year, and that started a tradition of giving one another cool ornaments every year thereafter. ;-)
The first ornament Carol gave me was a rocking horse that she made, and hand-colored, out of felt. I still have it, and it has a place of honor every year.
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Cool tradition - though our youngest is very particular, with a new theme each year. She/we collect ornaments at the end of the season, so there's the lavender and green theme, the blue-lights-only with silver and white, the multi-color traditional look, the all-white lights with straw ornaments from Germany... it takes a long time to repeat a look. My redbird ornaments (made with real feathers) are falling apart and need to be re-glued.
@sarez, most of Mom's ornaments are scratched, faded, chipped, and well-worn. Hardly any monetary value.
Yeah, my tree is pretty eclectic, putting it kindly. ;-)
I'm into one of a kind ornaments, old European glass and modern replicas, blown and handpainted glass, a number of glass icycles, nature-inspired straw ornaments, and a lot of handmade wooden and paper ornaments.
I have very few plastic ornaments and have replaced most that I had once upon a time. Plastic just doesn't say "Christmas" to me.
There are also several strictly for laughs, such as a SCUBA cat with articulating arms and legs that I picked up in the Keys, Santa riding on a whale, plus a whole lot of nautically-inspired ornaments, including my favorite glass ornament, which is a lighthouse.
I also have a flurry of hand-crocheted snowflakes, made at various times by myself and my mother, a couple of bells and angels that she crocheted, and even a couple of papier mache globes and large brass balls that open to put small gifts inside.
I also have a thing for living trees, and had a Norfolk Island pine in Florida that literally got too tall for the house. We have another one now, in a large green pot, which we've used as our Christmas tree for the past three years and counting.
Before that, much to Marek's consternation, I used a dead pear tree for a couple of years, thorns and all, as an absolutely awesome Christmas tree. He finally put his foot down, hence the return to the Norfolk Island pine, which I agree is lusher and more lovely.
In any case, I prefer it to killing a tree every year, and I've never cared much for artificial trees, Christmas or otherwise.
We both have goal of growing a Norway spruce for the purpose, though I'm guessing it won't be happy inside for any length of time, so it may be a short-lived experiment. But perhaps it could be happy as our front porch Christmas tree.
And since Norfolk Island pines have to be inside for the winter anyway, in our climate, I don't feel badly keeping it decorated and in the window. It has come through like a champion every year, and thus far we haven't had too many issues with the cats, but I do keep its spent branches as a mulch around the base, and thus too prickly to be comfortable for kitty paws. ;-)
"I used a dead pear tree for a couple of years, thorns and all, as an absolutely awesome Christmas tree" -- classic! but glass ornaments - with cats!-- what about kids? -- I avoid glass and stick to wood or other materials now. In everything except dishes (Corelle, slightly less fragile than china). I drop things. Break things. Ultimately, everything is perishable. We still buy real trees to support local tree farmers but I don't buy cut flowers to support local florists. I know, I know...
And there's not a thing wrong with any of it. ;-)
I have a thing for glass ornaments, though these days I keep them higher, and the ones at the bottom, that the cats can easily reach, are not breakable.
My treasured ornaments, that would really upset me if they break, are usually way up high, and not actually on the tree itself.
Along the edge of the pot itself I have the brass ornaments, a few that are knitted or crocheted, and a whole lot of other things that they can't really hurt, unless of course one of them leaps onto the trunk of the tree, as my cat Bonnie did a couple of decades ago. ;-)
And, while I forego cut trees these days, I do buy cut flowers on occasion, so there's that. I love fresh flowers in our home.
You have matters well in hand! Ornaments too. :)
I'm not on a mission to put any florists out of business. It's the pressure and guilt-tripping of Valentine's Day to buy the cliche of a dozen roses that I oppose, and dining out on the busiest days of the year - calendars don't get to dictate how I celebrate any occasion, if I want to avoid the crowds and the pressure to do what everyone expects of us. But I can be as irrational as my dad, who has so few ways left to act out (in his 80s), he tells his doctor in a fit of rebellion, "I'm going to take one day off every month from the pills you prescribe." One day out of 30, he refuses to takes his meds! OMG, Dad! Let's go all James Dean on your doctor just to prove you still have free will and some kind of autonomy....
Lol, right there with you.
Because Marek travels so much, any number of special occasions have been "missed"as far as the calendar is concerned, but my attitude has always been that we'll simply celebrate the next time wee see each other. And it works.
As for your dad's rebellion, more power to him! If that's what it takes for him to feel better about his situation - so be it. It hurts no one, and may help him in more ways than you know.
God knows we have little enough real control in what happens, and sometimes the illusion of control can really help emotionally.
60 year old decorations will be worth a fortune for collectors. She is rich.
Back to the story. Death can be only of life? or of ideas or romance or pragmatism of Leonia dies and love is born?
"Death on the Table" can mean whatever you want it to mean. ;)
congrats on the curie vote!!!!
They both sound like my grandparents especially my grandmother. She resents wastage of resources. I enjoyed reading your story because i can relate with it. Funny twist towards the end!
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To support your work, I also upvoted your post!
Wow well this is awesome I really saw a side to grandpa and I compared it to the modern day toxic marriage that seems to go on for decades yet there seems no love in the relationship, but just a sole reason of having no where to go but being stuck in the relationship or marriage.
This is what I see of grandpa and ma however I do not see any much difference between them except that grandpa may die soon and grandma will reign supreme.
Beautiful story here, well done
Thank you for this support. I draw on my gramma for inspiration. ;)
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Thanks for the support.
I have to hand it to them, they sure have a house full of antiques then. Old stuffs turn out to be really valuable. I don't think i have any stuff that is that old but my mum does. When i go home hear statements like, "handle that stuff with care. I hope you know it is older than you are." I can't help rolling my eyes when she says things like that. But i do agree with you, women are better at saving than men. I love this story. It made me laugh a lot. The assumption was grandpa was the tight fisted one but grandma turned out to be the one at the helm of affairs. This sto can relate with a lot of relationships around the world.
Thank you for this support. I hear you. Mom's seldom change- wherever in the world. "Take Care now.." will always be around.
Interesting twist from @sarez, the grandma being the one in charge! In my world, far too many women are under the thumb of controlling husbands. They complain behind his back, but submit to his orders and demands, and fail to assert themselves and get out of a toxic marriage (prison). Just TOO MANY WOMEN. But I am aware that many men suffer from nagging, domineering wives, so it's all perspective.
This was such a nice story. And half of it truth in real life, the relationship between husband and wife. If i saved every penny and found out a receipt of $27000, I sure i would another Leona. Back to your story, I love this story, you have wrote the character of Lloyd and Leona well. How Leona frustrated with LIyod throughout the years and end with killing in her mind. I enjoyed the story very much.
Thanks!
Thank you to you as well by sharing this interesting story.
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That's life, change becomes constant and as we advance, strength goes. Just like grandma's role over grandpa, women have a means to making the betterment of their men. Just wondering the children experience