Chapter 7 – Three's Company
Even in the darkness, the duplex stood out. Painted jet black, surrounded by a forbidding looking wrought iron fence, the place screamed, "Stay Away" as Fusco escorted Nurse Shaw through the gate. She stumbled against him, and the Counselor swore as his hand caught on one of the spiky shrubs lining the narrow pathway. He pulled his hand back, only to have his jacket sleeve catch on another branch, thorns gleaming in the moonlight with his blood as he struggled to pull himself free. "What is this, some kind of obstacle course?"
"It's a M-I-L Garden, Fusco."
"M-I-L…" Fusco looked around. "A Mother-In-Law garden?"
"Yeah, keeps people away, you know, like if you had a nosy mother-in-law."
The plants, while beautiful and well cared for, were covered with thorns, spiky stems or razor like sharp leaves, each one a lethal weapon in its own right. Gathered together, they would be a formidable challenge for anyone daring to pay a visit, even in broad daylight.
"She do consulting work? I got an ex-M-I-L I could see less of," Fusco smirked as he knocked on one of the duplex doors.
"Trick or Treat!" The Nurse yelled, giggling as the door slowly opened.
The Groundskeeper folded her arms as she looked at the two people on her front steps. "Neither one of you is a treat, so I guess there's a trick involved."
"I know you two had a fallin' out, but she needs someone to look afta her tonight, and since you're neighbors..." Fusco tilted his head towards the other duplex door.
"She tried to kill me today, did she tell you that?"
The Nurse winked at Ms. Groves. "Nobody's perfect, remember?" Her smile faded, as the two women stared at each other. "I'm sorry, Root," she whispered finally, then promptly turned and vomited onto the bushes.
The Groundskeeper gently pulled Ms. Shaw's hair back as the Nurse finished retching. "I'm sorry, too, Sam."
Fusco raised his eyebrows as Collier suddenly appeared beside Ms. Groves. "We'll both take care of her, Counselor."
"Are you sure, Peter?" The Groundskeeper asked. "You don't have to do this."
"Sameen is important to you, Samantha, so she's important to me." He picked up the tiny woman. "Let's get you to bed."
"I thought you'd never ask!" The Nurse laughed as the Civics teacher carried her inside.
"You owe me," Ms. Groves said sternly to Fusco, but her eyes were soft as she closed the door.
Fusco smiled as saw that one of the bushes the Nurse had vomited on, was the one that had scratched him. "Right back at ya," the Counselor smirked, as he walked away.
A/N: the idea for a M-I-L garden came from a friend of mine. We were discussing how a property owner, who home is next door to his town's public library, used spiky bushes, like barberry, to stop people from cutting across his yard as a shortcut to the building. My friend quipped that she wanted to do the same thing to keep her mother in law away!
Three's Company was a television show about two women and a man platonically sharing an apartment together. Airing on the ABC network from 1977 to 1984, the series was noted as 'Jiggle TV', a term used to describe shows that used scantily clad women and sexual innuendo to lure young men to the television screen. - Wikipedia
Next, dinner and a show
