Taking Care by Joy Williams Read Free Book Online Page A

a hot bath, listening to the radio.
    Elizabeth says, “There were two men wrecked on a desert island and one of them pretended he was home while the other admitted …”
    “Oh Mummy,” the child says.
    “I know that one,” Sam says from the tub. “They both died.”
    “This is not a primitive story,” Elizabeth says. “Colorless, anticlimactic endings are typical only of primitive stories.”
    Sam pulls his knees up and slides underneath the water. The water is really blue. Elizabeth had dyed curtains in the tub and stained the porcelain. Blue is Elizabeth’s favorite color. Slowly, Sam’s house is turning blue. Sam pulls the plug and gets out of the tub. He towels himself off. He puts on a shirt, a tie and a white summer suit. He laces up his sneakers. He slicks back his soaking hair. He goes into the child’s room. The lights are out. Elizabeth and the child are looking at each other in the dark. There are fireflies in the room.
    “They come in on her clothes,” Elizabeth says.
    “Will you marry me?” Sam asks.
    “I’d love to,” she says.
    Sam calls his friends up, beginning with Peter, his oldest friend. While they have been out of touch, Peter has become a soft contact lenses king.
    “I am getting married,” Sam says.
    There is a pause, then Peter finally says, “Once more the boat departs.”

     
    It is harder to get married than one would think. Sam has forgotten this. For example, what is the tone that should be established for the party? Elizabeth’s mother believes that a wedding cake is very necessary. Elizabeth is embarrassed about this.
    “I can’t think about that, Mother,” she says. She puts her mother and the child in charge of the wedding cake. At the child’s suggestion, it has a jam center and a sailboat on it.
    Elizabeth and Sam decide to get married at the home of a justice of the peace. Her name is Mrs. Custer. Then they will come back to their own house for a party. They invite a lot of people to the party.
    “I have taken out ‘obey,’” Mrs. Custer says, “but I have left in ‘love’ and ‘cherish.’ Some people object to the ‘obey.’”
    “That’s all right,” Sam says.
    “I could start now,” Mrs. Custer says. “But my husband will be coming home soon. If we wait a few moments, he will be here and then he won’t interrupt the ceremony.”
    “That’s all right,” Sam says.
    They stand around. Sam whispers to Elizabeth, “I should pay this woman a little something, but I left my wallet at home.”
    “That’s all right,” Elizabeth says.
    “Everything’s going to be fine,” Sam says.
    They get married. They drive home. Everyone has arrived, and some of the guests have brought their children. The children run around with Elizabeth’s child. One little girl has long red hair and painted green nails.
    “I remember you,” the child says. “You had a kitty. Why didn’t you bring your kitty with you?”
    “That kitty bought the chops,” the little girl says.
    Elizabeth overhears this. “Oh my goodness,” she says. She takes her daughter into the bathroom and closes the door.
    “There is more than the seeming of things,” she says to the child.
    “Oh Mummy,” the child says, “I just want my nails green like that girl’s.”
    “Elizabeth,” Sam calls. “Please come out. The house is fullof people. I’m getting drunk. We’ve been married for one hour and fifteen minutes.” He closes his eyes and leans his forehead against the door. Miraculously, he enters. The closed door is not locked. The child escapes by the same entrance, happy to be freed. Sam kisses Elizabeth by the shower stall. He kisses her beside the sink and before the full length mirror. He kisses her as they stand pressed against the windowsill. Together, in their animistic embrace, they float out the window and circle the house, gazing down at all those who have not found true love, below.

Woods

     

 
     
     
     
     
     
    T HE trailer was sitting on ten ruined