Chapter 60

"I'm sorry for dropping in without calling," said Rod as he walked into the trailer, "I was working late, and I figured I'd swing by and drop of some money for Annalee's trip.

Tabby shut the steel door and turned around to face Rod, who was standing in the middle of the room.

"Don't be sorry," said Tabby awkwardly, "I wasn't doing anything tonight but sitting on my big ass anyway."

Rod chuckled at Tabby's joke after which she began walking out into the kitchen.

"Pepsi?" asked Tabby as she opened the woodsy brown 80's Sears Coldspot refrigerator

"Sure," said Rod.

Tabby grabbed two cans of Pepsi out of the refrigerator and returned to the living room. She handed one of the cans to Rod, who quickly opened it and took a rather large sip. After he finished his sip, he set the can down on the coffee table and took a seat on the left end of the couch. Tabby opened her soda and sipped hers in a gentle manner as she retook her seat on the rightmost couch cushion.

The two sat in silence for a few seconds until Rod remembered the main motivation for his visit; to talk to Lee about the retreat that Tabby had mentioned to him on the phone the previous night. Upon entering the trailer he realized that the trailer was much quieter and emptier than usual.

"Where are the girls, shopping?" asked Rod.

"No," said Tabby, "They're actually at a friend's house."

"Really?" asked Rod in a surprised tone.

"Yes," said Tabby, "You met Edd right? He's having a little get together for all of his friends tonight and the girls were invited."

"That's great!," said Rod, "He's a great guy. Very respectful of others, especially Annemarie. I really liked that about him. You can tell that they are really close just by the way they look at each other."

"So you see it too," said Tabby as she smiled, "It's hard to believe that Annemarie is already old enough to have a boyfriend, let alone be in love."

Rod and Tabby sat in silence watching the television for a few seconds. Tabby took a quick sip of his soda and continued speaking.

"So I heard you finally took the fireman's test a few weeks ago," said Tabby, "How'd that go?"

"Great," said Rod, "I scored a 95, but my veteran's points boosted me up to 105. They sent me a letter congratulating me, and said that they're gonna be starting a class at the academy next month."

Rod turned towards Tabby.

"You're looking at a future city fire fighter." said Rod as he smiled.

"That's great Rod!" said Tabby excitedly, "I take it you didn't tell the girls the good news yet?"

"Nope," said Rod, "I was going to wait for a while to surprise them."

"Now it all makes sense how you were able to pick up that new insurance plan to get May's braces," said Tabby, "You'll be able to afford it no problem with that new $60,000 solid salary."

Rod smiled at Tabby after which he continued speaking.

"Now don't tell the girls just yet," said Rod, "But I'm thinking about buying that nice little split on that cul-de-sac right across from where Edd lives. When I picked him up, it was up for sale for a pretty decent price. I'll finally be able to get out of the city and be closer to the girls at the same time."

Tabby was astounded.

"I think that's a great idea!" said Tabby, "The girls would certainly enjoy that."

"Remember, don't tell the girls just yet," said Rod calming an excited Tabby down, "It's not set in stone and I hate to make promises that I can't keep."

Tabby smiled and nodded at Rod, after which she turned her attention back towards the television.

"So when are the girls expected to be back tonight?" asked Rod.

"I don't know," said Tabby, "Annalee said around 10:30, but that probably means 11:00 to her."

Rod and Tabby laughed.

"Oh my god Rod, you should have seen the girls tonight," said Tabby, "I took them all to my salon to get their hair done before the party. It was amazing, they all had smiles on their faces, and were getting along with each other no probelm. It's like they suddenly turned back into grownup versions of the little girls they were before they started school."

Tabby looked into Rod's eyes.

"It's been like that for the past few weeks," said Tabby, "It feels like it's been forever since the school had called me to say that one of the girls had been suspended or cut class."

Tabby paused.

"The girls had so much potential Rod," said Tabby, "Annalee was able to read short Dr. Suess books to my dad when she was two years old. Two! That's almost unheard of. Have you ever seen Annemarie's drawings? They are amazing! Not only that but she can play the piano and sing like an angel. Remember when Annamae played softball for junior girl's league back in the city for a few years. Her pitching was flawless. Those girls at bat didn't even know what was coming at them."

Tabby looked towards her feet with watery eyes.

"I just wish I could have gotten them out of that environment sooner so that they could have explored their talents and lived up to that potential they had," said Tabby, "They were beautiful kind hearted girls that didn't deserve any of that shit."

Tabby turned up to Rod.

"I don't know if I ever thanked you for asking your boss to sell us this trailer when we got evicted," said Tabby, "We probably would have wound up living on the street if you didn't"

Rod's boss happened to be the owner of the Park n' Flush trailer park, and rented out the trailers to make extra money on the side. Rod was close to his boss, and managed to convince him to sell the trailer to him for $5000. Needless to say, Tabby wound up with a small, yet secure home and only had to worry about paying for utilities.

"Tab," said Rod, "I would have let you and the girls stay with me at my house before seeing you out on the street, and that's a promise."

Tabby smiled at a Rods words.

"Moving back here was probably the best thing I could have done for the girls." said Tabby, "I can tell you first hand that out of all of my years of school, junior high was the worst for the bullying. I was sure I would have lost them completely if we didn't make the move."

Tabby paused.

"You don't know how happy I am to finally see the girls breaking out of their shells and going out with their friends. They looked so happy tonight Rod, happier than they have been in years. Even Annalee, who hardly ever smiles, was grinning from ear to ear out of pure joy."

"I'm glad things are finally looking up for them," said Rod, "I'm sure they looked beautiful. I wish I was there to see them."

Tabby sat staring into Rod's eyes, an act that always seemed to mesmerize her. Tabby could not deny that she was still attracted to Rod, and she really enjoyed the conversation that they were having. It had in fact been the longest most intimate conversation they shared since their breakup. Tabby in all honesty didn't want their night to end quite yet, so she decided to make Rod an offering.

"How about you stick around until they get home?" asked Tabby as she got up off of the couch, "I'll put popcorn in the microwave and we could watch a few movies."

Tabby looked down into Rods eyes smiling. Rod returned a smile of his own.

"I would really like that Tab," said Rod.

Tabby turned around and walked out into the kitchen. She reached into the kitchen cupboard and pulled out a bag of popcorn. As she placed it into the microwave, she couldn't help but look towards the ceiling and smile.