Winners and Losers, book 1, The Gentiles

"And we humbly beseech thee, of thy goodness, O Lord, to comfort and succour all those who, in this transitory life, are in trouble, sorrow, need, sickness, or any other adversity." Episcopal Book of Common Prayer, 1928

Chapter 1

     Eighty year old Bob Armstrong sat down by his rotary telephone, lifted the receiver, and dialed 0 for the operator.

     "Give me New Orleans, area code five zero four, six nine one zero one two five."

     Bob was calling his wife, Julia, who was visiting their daughter, thirty nine year old Mary Anne.

     Mary Anne, in her third month of pregnancy, had been having some problems.  She had only one other child; a twelve year old boy, Clarence, and was just as surprised as everyone else when she learned she was, after all these years, again pregnant.  Julia went immediately to New Orleans when she learned of Mary Anne's difficulties, and helped her with the cooking and housework.  Julia saw to it that Mary Anne stayed in bed as much as possible.  Mary Anne's husband, Carson Toddman, was on the road a lot in his pharmaceutical business.

     "Julia, this is Bob.  How is everything?"

     "I feel like I'm the one in labor!" Julia replied, in her usual caustic manner.  "I might take this baby and feed it to the alligators!"

     "Hell fire, Julia," Bob replied, "don't talk like that!"

     "Are you eating all right?" Julia asked.

     "Yeah," bob answered, "John and Clara across the street are feeding me every day.  They're good neighbors.  I insisted on paying them, of course, and John's so tight he wouldn't have it any other way!"

     "Certainly," Julia replied.  "Have they thrown any parties since I've been gone?"

     "That's why I called, honey.  I didn't want to miss you if you called here tonight, so I called you first.  I'm going to John and Clara's in just a little while for cocktails."

     "What's the occasion?"

     "Nothing, really.  They're just getting some old friends together."

     "Well, Julia cautioned, "for God's sake, don't drink too much.  I don't want you to fall and break your neck on the way home."

     "Well," Bob replied, "until the town of Cole fixes the broken streetlights, getting across the street at night is a challenge for even a sober man! I promise I'll be careful, though.  I'll give you a report on it tomorrow."

     "I'm sure you will! By the way, has young Kevin been by to see you?"

     "No, not yet."

     "Well, he said he'd come by and help you with anything you need.  I guess his schoolwork takes up a lot of time--he might be having tests or something.  Has the maid been by?"

     "Yes, and she's careful as ever dusting around all your old silver and stuff."

     "Well, tell her to be extra careful dusting the frames of the portraits.  Some art history gal from Atlanta whose doing her dissertation on painter Thomas Healy wants to visit soon and look at our antebellum portraits."

     "Hope she doesn't find any skeletons in the closet!" Bob laughed.

     "Bye!" Julia replied, as she slammed the receiver on her end, down.


     At the Madison home, directly across the street from Bob and Julia's, Clara and John were awaiting the arrival of guests.

     "How does it look?" asled Clara, surveying the spotless living room and adjoining bar.

     "Couldn't be nicer," John, already drinking, replied.

     The doorbell rang.  John answered.  "Greetings, neighbor," he welcomed bob.

     "Thought I'd come by a little early," bob said.  "After all, you two are feeding me well.  It'll do me good to help you!"

     "How is Mary Anne?" asked Clara.

     "We really don't know," Bob replied.  "She's mighty tough, though.  It's not every day that a woman who is almost forty has a baby!"

     "Will Julia be there until the baby is born?" Clara asked.

     "Hell, no!" Bob laughed.  "She's too damn restless for that!"

     Joycie Madison, the attractive eighteen year granddaughter of John and Clara who was visiting from Florida for a few weeks, entered.

     "How's my honey?" Bob asked, as the two hugged.

     "I'm fine, Mr. Bob," Joycie replied.

     "Joycie has a date with Sam Masters tonight," Clara said.

     "Oh-oh!" bob laughed.

     Kevin Savacier, too, had a good laugh when he'd, some months earlier, received a better at summer camp from his friend, Donnie Back, who talltled that when he and some mutual friends were going around town one night looking for bicycles to borrow to ride, they heard strange sounds emitting from the garage apartment behind the Madison house.  Climbing up the side tree and peering inside the lighted room, they saw, according to Donnie's letter, "Sam and Joycie [were] screwing.  He had his fist up her pussy, and she was beating him off! You'd have thought they'd at least have had the courtesy to close the curtains, but I guess they didn't think anyone would climb the tree to look inside, man!"

     In the more subdued company of older folks inside the main house now, Joycie just blushed.  "Sam's okay, Mr. Bob."

     "Come in at a decent hour, honey," John said.

     "Certainly," Joycie replied.  "I'll get out of your way now so you can get ready for your party.  See ya later!"

     "When I was a girl, I'd have never acted so anxious.  In those days, young ladies waited insude until their callers arrived," said Clara, Joycie having already left before Clara concluded her comments.

     Bob again laughed, and recalled a tempestuous courtship of himself and Julia, fifty years earlier.