The Selected Stories of Richard Bausch by Richard Bausch

Author:Richard Bausch [Bausch, Richard]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-82277-2
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2012-06-28T00:00:00+00:00

The Fireman’s Wife

Jane’s husband, Martin, works for the fire department. He’s on four days, off three; on three, off four. It’s the kind of shift work that allows plenty of time for sustained recreation, and during the off times Martin likes to do a lot of socializing with his two shift mates, Wally Harmon and Teddy Lynch. The three of them are like brothers: they bicker and squabble and compete in a friendly way about everything, including their common hobby, which is the making and flying of model airplanes. Martin is fanatical about it—spends way too much money on the two planes he owns, which are on the worktable in the garage, and which seem to require as much maintenance as the real article. Among the arguments between Jane and her husband—about money, lack of time alone together, and housework—there have been some about the model planes, but Jane can’t say or do much without sounding like a poor sport: Wally’s wife, Milly, loves watching the boys, as she calls them, fly their planes, and Teddy Lynch’s ex-wife, before they were divorced, had loved the model planes too. In a way, Jane is the outsider here: Milly Harmon has known Martin most of his life, and Teddy Lynch was once point guard to Martin’s power forward on their high school basketball team. Jane is relatively new, having come to Illinois from Virginia only two years ago, when Martin brought her back with him from his reserve training there.

This evening, a hot September twilight, they’re sitting on lawn chairs in the dim light of the coals in Martin’s portable grill, talking about games. Martin and Teddy want to play Risk, though they’re already arguing about the rules. Teddy says that a European version of the game contains a wrinkle that makes it more interesting, and Martin is arguing that the game itself was derived from some French game.

“Well, go get it,” Teddy says, “and I’ll show you. I’ll bet it’s in the instructions.”

“Don’t get that out now,” Jane says to Martin.

“It’s too long,” Wally Harmon says.

“What if we play cards,” Martin says.

“Martin doesn’t want to lose his bet,” Teddy says.

“We don’t have any bets, Teddy.”

“Okay, so let’s bet.”

“Let’s play cards,” Martin says. “Wally’s right. Risk takes too long.”

“I feel like conquering the world,” Teddy says.

“Oh, Teddy,” Milly Harmon says. “Please shut up.”

She’s expecting. She sits with her legs out, holding her belly as though it were unattached, separate from her. The child will be her first, and she’s excited and happy; she glows, as if she knows everyone’s admiring her.

Jane thinks Milly is spreading it on a little thick at times: lately all she wants to talk about is her body and what it’s doing.

“I had a dream last night,” Milly says now. “I dreamed that I was pregnant. Big as a house. And I woke up and I was. What I want to know is, was that a nightmare?”

“How did you feel in the dream?” Teddy asks her.

“I said. Big as a house.

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