Trashed! by Martha Freeman

Author:Martha Freeman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books
Published: 2023-01-17T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

At the store the next afternoon Arthur learned something that rocked his universe, or at least the part occupied by his family.

First thing when he got there, though, he saw Jennifer Y and gave her props on the ultra race.

“I can’t believe you even came in to work,” he said. “You ran a hundred miles this weekend!”

They were standing on the customer side of the cash counter, Jennifer leaning against it. “Yeah.” She smiled. “I know.”

Arthur could see she was moving slowly, that the back of her neck was sunburned, that both knees had multiple Band-Aids.

More striking was her face. No Band-Aids there, just a big smile that wouldn’t quit.

Arthur thought of Watson. “Do you feel a glowing sense of accomplishment?” he asked.

Jennifer laughed. “I hadn’t thought of those words exactly, but yeah, I’d say so.”

“Would you ever do such a crazy thing again?” Arthur asked.

“Totally,” she said. “In fact, I’m making plans for next year. Hey, Officer Bernstein! Good to see you.”

Officer Bernstein approached from the direction of Housewares. He had a shopping basket over his arm, and in it the same red pepper mill he’d been looking at a couple of Sundays before.

“Congratulations, Jennifer,” he said, and very nearly smiled.

Jennifer thanked him.

Arthur asked if he was planning to buy, finally, the pepper mill.

“European-made,” said Officer Bernstein. “Do I still get the discount?”

“That can be arranged,” Arthur said. “And perhaps you’d like a grinder for sea salt to go with it? Or cruets for oil and vinegar? Or—”

Officer Bernstein held up his hand. “Just the pepper mill, Arthur.”

“Excellent choice,” Arthur said. “I’ll be happy to ring you up.”

Jennifer did not do a ton of work that afternoon. First she and Officer Bernstein assessed her splits, which means how fast she had run different sections of the race, and then they talked elevation changes, and the times of other runners around her age.

Arthur had never known there was so much math involved in plain old running; the idea did not make it more tempting.

Later, other customers asked Jen about the banner over the door, which read: CONGRATS, JEN, OUR ULTRA CLERK! And some of them wanted to hear about the race. “The first mile…,” Arthur heard Jennifer say as he helped a customer pick out a set of pot holders, and later, “Then there was mile twenty-seven. That’s when…”

She didn’t seem to mind repeating the story.

Monday was Randolph’s day off, so Arthur was surprised to see him sorting colored markers in Art Supplies.

“What are you doing here?” Arthur asked.

“Killing time, uh-huh,” Randolph said. “I’m s’posed to take your grandpa to a doctor’s appointment, but he says he’s not ready to go.”

“Why—” Arthur started to ask, but Randolph was way ahead of him.

“Your grandma’s getting ready for company tonight, cooking, I think. So he asked me to be the chauffeur.”

“Got it,” Arthur said. “Is Grandpa okay?”

“He says he is. Your mom isn’t so sure. He’s been poorly lately. You know. Anyway, if I can help him out, I’m happy to. He helped me when I needed it.

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