Pearl was at her wits end. Her little boy was burning up with a fever. Aspirin was not bringing it down. Cold compresses were not bringing it down. Uncle Pete’s Hot Whiskey and Lemonade cure was not helping in the least. She needed to get her boy to the hospital. Tom was away on one of his futile religious retreats, it was the middle of the night and she was just going to have to call for an ambulance. Tom Sr. would be furious when he got home but she would deal with that when it happened.
Pearl steeled herself and picked up the phone. It was a Party line and it was being used. What the hell were people doing on the party line at 2 AM?
Someone named Ruby was slobbering over someone named Frank. Ruby was telling Frank what she wanted to do to him. Frank was laughing and breathing heavily.
Pearl said: “Excuse me but I need to use the line, my boy is sick.”
Frank said: “Well that is too bad, lady. It’s our time now and we want to talk.”
Pearl yelled: “Listen you son of a bitch. Put your dick back in your pants and get your goddamn ass off this phone now.” Pearl could be an effective communicator when she needed to be and the required click was heard on the party line.
Pearl called Emergency who dispatched an ambulance to their tiny house.
Tom Jr. was in the bedroom crying more weakly now. Pearl brought him a cold compress and told him that an ambulance was coming to take him to the hospital and that she was going to go along with him, and that it was all going to be OK.
Ten minutes went by and no ambulance. Pearl went back to the phone to see if they were close to getting there, but when she picked it up Frank and Ruby were back at it so Pearl yelled, “get the goddamn hell off this phone until that ambulance gets to my house, do you hear me?!
Click
Pearl paced a bit and then went back to check in on Tommy who had his hands on his head trying to soothe the pain. When his mom came into the room he looked at her and asked: “Mommy were you swearing?”
Yes, Tommy. There were some people who wouldn’t get off the Party Line and I needed to get help for you. I’ll go to confession on Saturday. At then Pearl heard the Ambulance siren. She got Tommy up, got his Piddow (the pillow he was so attached to) and they headed toward the door.
Tommy had an extensive sinus and maxillary infection that was causing the majority of his pain. The hospital put him on IV medications and kept him overnight. They told Pearl it was critical that she had brought him in. The barrier between the sinus and the brain is thin.
When Tom Sr. arrived and he heard about the hospital and the costs, he was furious. “Jeepers Cripes Pearl, you should have just waited it out and let him burn through the fever. You think we’re made of money?”
Pearl told him she no longer believed in his wishes and prayers, she picked up one of the dinner plates she had been cleaning and threw it straight at his head.
— DanielSouthGate
Pearl steeled herself and picked up the phone. It was a Party line and it was being used. What the hell were people doing on the party line at 2 AM?
Someone named Ruby was slobbering over someone named Frank. Ruby was telling Frank what she wanted to do to him. Frank was laughing and breathing heavily.
Pearl said: “Excuse me but I need to use the line, my boy is sick.”
Frank said: “Well that is too bad, lady. It’s our time now and we want to talk.”
Pearl yelled: “Listen you son of a bitch. Put your dick back in your pants and get your goddamn ass off this phone now.” Pearl could be an effective communicator when she needed to be and the required click was heard on the party line.
Pearl called Emergency who dispatched an ambulance to their tiny house.
Tom Jr. was in the bedroom crying more weakly now. Pearl brought him a cold compress and told him that an ambulance was coming to take him to the hospital and that she was going to go along with him, and that it was all going to be OK.
Ten minutes went by and no ambulance. Pearl went back to the phone to see if they were close to getting there, but when she picked it up Frank and Ruby were back at it so Pearl yelled, “get the goddamn hell off this phone until that ambulance gets to my house, do you hear me?!
Click
Pearl paced a bit and then went back to check in on Tommy who had his hands on his head trying to soothe the pain. When his mom came into the room he looked at her and asked: “Mommy were you swearing?”
Yes, Tommy. There were some people who wouldn’t get off the Party Line and I needed to get help for you. I’ll go to confession on Saturday. At then Pearl heard the Ambulance siren. She got Tommy up, got his Piddow (the pillow he was so attached to) and they headed toward the door.
Tommy had an extensive sinus and maxillary infection that was causing the majority of his pain. The hospital put him on IV medications and kept him overnight. They told Pearl it was critical that she had brought him in. The barrier between the sinus and the brain is thin.
When Tom Sr. arrived and he heard about the hospital and the costs, he was furious. “Jeepers Cripes Pearl, you should have just waited it out and let him burn through the fever. You think we’re made of money?”
Pearl told him she no longer believed in his wishes and prayers, she picked up one of the dinner plates she had been cleaning and threw it straight at his head.
— DanielSouthGate
I loved this, thinking it just a funny aspect of a minor character: "Tom was away on one of his futile religious retreats..." but the info is very important in this story! His wife, the responsible one, clearly has an opinion of Tom's religion: "wishes and prayers." I love the dish throwing, though, because it gives me hope that it might change Tom a little, and that maybe they'll stay together. Isn't that an odd response? What did YOU intend? ___Macoff
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure on this one. I did not imaging Tom would change, though.
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