Powered By Blogger

Friday, July 8, 2011

Chapter 7

Chuck started doing work around my property again after I left. I had invested in a cell phone to leave with him so I could reach him wherever he was in case of anything urgent. I also signed up for a very affordable long distance service on my other phone and we would talk for hours on end.

He was doing alterations to the house and keeping the property looking nice. I paid him constantly for everything he said he did. One time he called me collect on the cell just to ask a simple question he could have asked about in an email. I told him to please not do that as it cost 30 cents a minute and that could add up pretty quickly.

Later I got this e-mail:
Consider sending me a money thingy for another 400 or so - what I have will barely cover 1 battery and 5 bundles of insulation - I don't wanna discuss it now - unfortunately I feel somewhat reluctant to ask you for money - that's your fault for going on a rag about 30 cents for a one-minute phone call - work on that - we both know I will need $$ for the property- not me, the property . . .
I replied:
Check is in the mail.
Finally it was time to return. Chuck had a court date and I was to be a witness, along with Bernie. We both knew that Chuck had done no damage to the house. We were going to testify to what a conscientious, honest person he was.

I was informed that I would have to drive myself to the court house since Chuck wasn't sure what he would want to do afterwards. So I followed him to Northview and Bernie met us in the parking lot. Several of the police force from Whispering Springs were also there as witnesses and we ended up waiting outside the court room all day as his was the last case called. I did have a nice time chatting with Bernie all day.

At long last Chuck was called in. He was not allowed to call either me or Bernie as we were just listed as character witnesses. The case was all about did he pay or did he not. The judge had no interest in what his character was. When Chuck came out of the courtroom he said he got confused and wasn't sure what to say. But he had a feeling it would be alright. He had turned over all his pictures and documents of what happened to the judge. Now he and Bernie were going to go out camping and I should just go back home. Thanks for coming. 
 
Yes, I was extremely pissed off about that. But a little later that night, they called me. Drunk, silly, funny, they both raved about what an awesome woman I was. All was forgiven.

Then I left the country again, to stay within my time allowance. I got an email from Chuck. He lost the case and had to be out of the house in 90 days. Worse news, his father had died. The man was 95 and had been ill so it wasn't a complete surprise. He had lived in a big city, too far for Chuck to drive, and he couldn't afford a train ticket to attend the funeral. So I asked what it would cost and sent him a wire transfer for the amount.

Sixty days later I returned. Again, I had heard nothing from him since he had come back from the funeral, when he wrote once to thank me and told me it was a very difficult time for him. But I knew the date he was to be out of his house. I started driving by the place to see if there was any sign of him moving. None.

I did, though, get an interesting phone call from Ellen. “Hi. Remember me? I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get in touch, my life has been very busy. I've finally got my house all painted and everything put away. I was wondering if you would like to come over this weekend. I'll make some snacks and I have a lovely bottle of wine we could share. Ask Chuck if he'd like to come, too.”

Well, Chuck probably wouldn't be interested right now. His father died and he's having a hard time with that. Plus he's being kicked out of his house and I don't know if he has another place to move to or not. But I'd like to come over. I could really use someone to talk to.”

She gave me directions and a couple of days later I drove out to her place, which was even more remote than mine. There were no neighbors to be seen, anywhere, for many miles. Her house was absolutely adorable.

She told me all about her life and how she had finally come to this remote spot. She had long been in animal rescue and this always caused problems with neighbors, so she decided she didn't want neighbors anymore, ever. She now had three dogs and eight cats.

Being an animal lover myself, I was in fur heaven there. I told her I had always had cats but with my situation of having to go back and forth all the time now I couldn't possibly take on the responsibility of a pet. Someday, though, once all the hurdles had been overcome I would be able to stay and then I would sure have cats. And dogs. And chickens. Maybe a horse or two. We bonded like crazy.

She told me how odd it was that first time we met. Chuck had called her and practically begged her to come over that day because he wanted her to meet me. We finally agreed we didn't understand why it had happened but we were both glad it did.

By our second bottle of wine, I was pouring out my heart about Chuck. “I am so in love with the man. He is like a dream come true, except I'm never sure what he thinks about me. He has so many problems in his life, and if he would marry me all those problems could be overcome and he could finally have the chance to live the life he desires. We are so perfect for each other. But he just seems to be so inside himself that he can't see what's going on right next to him.”

I think it's all going to work out, Maria,” she said. “You two really do seem to be meant for each other.” I slept on her couch that night.