Drucker's General Store
While all this drama was taking place at the Douglas farm, things could not have been more normal at the sleepy old general store….well, as normal as it could get in the world of Hooterville. Sam was puttering around the store taking inventory while Mr. Ziffel and Mr. Kimball were engaging in a game of checkers. Arnold was busy in the pet section, picking out the tastiest "pig treats" (which were really dog treats, but he couldn't tell the difference).
It was while all this was going on that Oliver walked into the store. The men had already heard from Mr. Haney and Eb about Oliver's treatment towards his wife and everyone else around him, so it is well understood that they were less than thrilled to see him.
"Good morning, gentlemen," Oliver said dryly. The men muttered their greetings without looking up or smiling. Completing oblivious to their indifference towards him, Oliver walked over to the counter to be waited on. But Mr. Drucker was still busying himself with the inventory and didn't notice Oliver standing there impatiently.
"Ahem," Oliver cleared his throat pointedly. But Mr. Drucker didn't even glance at him.
"Ahem," he tried again, but still nothing. Finally, Oliver lost his patience. He banged his hand on the counter, causing everyone in the store to jump and look up at him.
"Mr. Drucker, I would like to be waited on sometime today," he said snidely. Mr. Drucker rolled his eyes and proceeded to make his way over to the counter.
"What can I do for you," he said to Oliver when he finally got behind the counter, not bothering to hide the irritation in his voice.
"Yes, I need a…" Oliver began to say, but he was interrupted by grunts coming from somewhere around his feet. He looked down to see Arnold standing next to him with a box of "pig treats" in his mouth.
"What do you want, you dirty…" Oliver said irritably.
"Arnold says he was here first and therefore should be waited on first," Mr. Ziffel translated while he ate one of Mr. Kimball's checker pieces with his own.
"Well, I don't care if…" Oliver began to tell the animal standing next to him, but realized he was talking to a pig and turned to Mr. Ziffel instead with an exasperated sigh.
"Tell that pig that I don't care if he was here first, I have some very important matters to attend to first." This sentence was followed by squeals of complaint from Arnold.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Douglas, but Arnold does have a point. He was here first," Mr. Drucker stated. Before Oliver had a chance to argue, Mr. Drucker proceeded to walk around the counter and pick up the treats Arnold had chosen. Oliver waited impatiently as Mr. Drucker charged the treats to the Ziffel's bill, bagged Arnold's purchase and handed it to him.
"There you are Arnold," Mr. Drucker said kindly. Arnold replied with a grunt.
"May I get waited on now, please," Oliver chimed in with annoyance.
"Yes, Mr. Douglas, what can I do for you," Mr. Drucker said in a less-than-friendly tone.
"I need a new part for my tractor," Oliver explained as he pulled out a part from his pocket and handed it to Mr. Drucker. "Would you happen to have it in stock?"
Mr. Drucker took a minute to scrutinize the part before responding. "Sorry, Mr. Douglas, I don't. But I can order it for you."
"Good. When will it be here," Oliver inquired.
"About three weeks," Mr. Drucker replied.
"Three weeks," Oliver exclaimed. "I can't wait three weeks for it! I have to start planting this week!"
"I'm sorry, Mr. Douglas, but that's the fastest I can have that part by. The only other thing you can do is try to borrow a tractor from someone in the valley. Otherwise, you'll just have to wait."
"I can't wait! Look here, Mr. Drucker, I need that part…." Oliver said, his voice rising higher and higher with anger, but Mr. Drucker cut him off.
"And I already told you that I can't get in it any faster than that. I'm sorry," he said in a tone that was meant to end the discussion, but Oliver wasn't going to give up that easily. He opened his mouth to say something when he was once again interrupted, this time by Mr. Kimball.
"Why don't you rent one from Mr. Haney. I'm sure he can give you a great deal…well, not a great deal…he might be able to give you…well, that is if he had one…what were we talking about again?"
"Would you keep out of this! This matter does not concern you," Oliver hissed, causing Mr. Kimball to shrink back into his chair.
"Now don't you start on him, Mr. Douglas. He was just trying to help," Mr. Drucker said in his defense, obviously more than fed up with Oliver's attitude.
Oliver stared at Mr. Drucker with his mouth agape, shocked that the usually calm Mr. Drucker would snap at him like that. After a few more seconds, he finally snapped out of it enough to get the last words in the argument.
"I don't even know why I bother talking to any of you," he said cruelly. With that he stormed out of the general store and sped off.
Meanwhile, back on the farm….
Lisa was busy passing the time by dusting around the house when she heard a familiar vehicle pull up in front of the house. She was in a considerably better mood thanks to hers and Eb's plans for the evening, so it was no trouble for her to put on a smile as walked out the door to greet the visitor. She stepped outside to see Mr. Haney's old beat up truck come to a stop a few feet from the door.
"Good morning, Mr. Haney," she said in that sweet, sympathetic tone she reserved only for when people she felt sorry for came to visit; and boy did she feel sorry for Mr. Haney. Ever since the incident with the pot, every time she saw Mr. Haney he had a dejected look on his face. Although he wouldn't admit it, Lisa could tell that Oliver's cruel words had struck a cord in him. Rumor had it that he hadn't tried to sell anything to anyone in days. Lisa's heart went out to him.
"Good morning, Mrs. Douglas," he said half-heartedly.
"Good morning, Mr. Haney. Vot brings you out here," she asks.
"Well, the Monroe Brothers' car broke down and I was just bringing them over here so they can work on that bedroom of yours," he answered.
"Oh thank you, Mr. Haney, that vas very kind of you. I can see how much you care for them and us," she said in an attempt to ease the sting of her husband's remarks. As she said this, she put a sympathetic hand on his arm, causing him to blush. "Vould you like some coffee or somes-thing?"
"Thank you kindly, Mrs. Douglas, but I best be getting along. Alf and Ralph are probably in the bedroom already. I'll be seeing you," he said as he climbed back into his truck.
"Good bye, Mr. Haney," Lisa called out as he drove away. She then turned around and walked back into the house to see if Alf and Ralph really were in the bedroom. Sure enough, there they were, laying down the bricks for the fireplace that should have been built years ago.
"Good morning, Alf. Good morning, Ralph," Lisa greeted them both cheerfully.
"Good morning, Mrs. Douglas," the said in unison as they continued to slab bricks with cement and lay them down. They worked in silence for a while as Lisa sat down on the bed to file her nails, but all of a sudden, Ralph put down her trowel and looked at her with a sympathetic look on her face.
"Mrs. Douglas, we heard what a monster you're husband has been lately, and we would like to say how sorry we are," Ralph said as she took a seat next to Lisa on the bed.
"Yeah, nobody knows better than us how bad Mr. Douglas's temper can be, and we're really sorry it's gotten worse," Alf said with a hint of cynicism as he continued laying down the bricks. Ralph turned to him and shot him a disapproving glance.
"Alf, you dope, keep you're stupid comments to yourself. Can't you see I'm trying to cheer her up!"
"Hey, no name calling or I'm telling mom," Alf exclaimed in response. This made Ralph jump up from the bed and charge towards him with her fist raised menacingly.
"You tell mom and I'll let you have it later," she said. Lisa could see that this was about to get out of hand, so she quickly intervened.
"Alf, Ralph, please don't fight. I know you vere just trying to help and I appreciate it greatly," she said with an assuring smile. Alf and Ralph returned the smile with childish glee, obviously glad that they could be of some help to a person they so admire.
"Besides," Lisa continued, "my husband has been losing his temper a lot lately, but it isn't entirely his fault. This farm is a lot to handle; I'm sure once things slow down, he'll return to his normal self."
"Which won't be a big improvement from the way he is now," Alf added, causing Ralph to elbow him in the ribs. Though the comment did offend her a bit on her husband's behalf, Lisa couldn't help but smile. Truthfully, however, she knew deep down she had already given up hope and the words of assurance were nothing but a way to make excuses for her husband. She was glad she had friends like the Monroe Brothers that cared for her so and could cheer her up during her time of depression.
Suddenly, this touching moment was interrupted by a sharp slam of the front door and the entry of Oliver to the bedroom. He paused for a moment to hang up his coat and hat in the closet and then walked over to where the three were gathered.
Without so much as a greeting to any of them, he simply paused by Alf and Ralph's side and said, "Where have you two been?"
"Well," Ralph replied hesitantly, "we had some other jobs to complete before we could come back and finish up here."
"You had other jobs to complete! On my time," Oliver exclaimed. "You two were supposed to finish this bedroom two years ago, and you're telling me that you had other jobs to complete!"
"Uh, yes sir, I mean, no sir, I mean…" Alf stammered under Oliver's glare, but Oliver cut him off.
"Never mind, it doesn't matter anyway. It would have been completed if you two had built it correctly in the first place, but now I guess all hope is lost," he said in an exasperated tone and as he sat on the bed next to Lisa.
"What do you mean, if we had built this bedroom correctly in the first place? What wrong with this bedroom" Alf asked incredulously.
"What's wrong with the bedroom! What do you mean what's wrong with the bedroom," Oliver retorted.
"I mean that all things considered, I think my brother and me built a pretty good bedroom," Alf replied in a defensive tone.
"Yeah," Ralph exclaimed as she took her stand next to her brother.
"What do you mean all things considered," Oliver asked, the anger rising in his voice.
"I mean considering the fact that you gave us such a crummy place to work with in the first place," Alf exclaimed. This caused Oliver to jump up from his seat on the bed.
"How dare you speak to me in that manner? I am your boss and therefore should be treated with respect," he said right into Alf's face.
"I'm giving my boss the kind of respect he deserves," Alf replied cynically. This comment seemed to send Oliver over the edge once more. He raised his hand menacingly over Alf's head as if he were going to strike him. The fear was evident in Alf's eyes but he did not budge.
Meanwhile, Lisa saw Oliver's gesture and could tell by the look in his eyes that he was serious. In the split second it took her husband to raise his hand and begin to swing towards Alf's face, she was off the bed and placing herself in front of him, blocking Alf from his blow. Not daring to hit a woman, let alone his own wife, Oliver stopped his hand in mid air, just inches away from where Alf's face would have been.
"Lisa, get out of the way. This doesn't concern you," he said with anger flashing in his blue eyes, but Lisa stood her ground, knowing that her presence would at least keep him from resorting to violence.
Oliver knew why she refused to move and sighed in exasperation at the fact that he was interrupted from giving those Monroe brothers, or at least the male Monroe brother, what they deserved. Instead he looked over her shoulder at the pair and cast a look of contempt at them.
"You're both fired," he announced. And without so much as another word to any of them, he turned around and stalked out of the bedroom. As soon as he was out the room, Ralph burst into tears. Alf rolled his eyes and handed his brother…er, sister…a hankie from his pocket.
"Oh, Ralph, please don't cry," Lisa said sympathetically as she wrapped her arms around her shoulders. But this only made Ralph bawl louder.
"Ralph, quit your bawling. This isn't the first job we've been fired from and it won't be the last," Alf said as he began gathering up their tools. He tried to keep the shock out of his voice, but anyone could see that he was shaken from scene that had just taken place.
"Yeah, but this was my favorite job," Ralph exclaimed through tears. "I sure am going to miss you, Mrs. Douglas! You're my best friend!"
"Oh Ralph, don't vorry. This isn't goodbye. You can come over anytime you vont, even if it's just to talk. Ve can still be best friends," Lisa said reassuringly.
"That's a nice idea, Mrs. Douglas, but I don't think I'll be very welcomed with your husband around. Why does he have to be such a grouch," Ralph asked as she wiped the tears from her eyes and blew her nose loudly. She proceeded to hand the hankie back to Alf, who grabbed it gingerly with his fingertips and tossed it aside with a look of disgust on his face.
Meanwhile, Lisa opened her mouth to defend her husband, but for the first time, couldn't think of a thing to say. "I don't know," was all she could come up with.
"Well, it was nice knowing you, Mrs. Douglas," Alf said after a few seconds of sad silence. "Come on, Ralph."
"I'm coming," Ralph said between sniffs. "Goodbye, Mrs. Douglas. I sure am going to miss you." Lisa smiled as Ralph turned and enveloped her in a tight hug.
"Oh Ralph, this isn't good bye. I promise," she said. Ralph smiled a watery smile in reply and followed her brother out the closet door. Lisa sighed once more and sat down on the bed to continue with her nails, pondering at what just took place.
Before, Lisa had always been able to defend her husband, no matter how barbaric his actions had been. But a few minutes ago, she couldn't think of a thing to say on his behalf. She just couldn't understand.
Suddenly, as she sat on the bed alone filing her nails, it hit her. She was tired; tired of making excuses and lying and being alone all the time. She just couldn't take it anymore. It was not only destroying her health and marriage, but her spirit as well. Lisa decided right then and there that she had to do something to save the old, happy version of her husband soon, or it would be the end of her as well.