Another Day in the Trigmore House

Today’s the day I change. I’ve been letting Casey get away with murder her whole, and now I’m going to put my foot down. She absently wiped a tear away. What happened to my baby girl? Yes, she’s done some naughty things, when she was young, like stealing candy or teasing her younger brother, Paul. But when I caught her in her bedroom, half naked with that boy, it was too much. What was she thinking of? Yes, she was seventeen, still she should have had enough sense to say no to him.

Nora Trigmore threw her hands up in the air. And now that “cat in heat,” daughter of mine snuck out of the house, even when I grounded her. When I talked to her on that dreadful day, I was convinced Casey felt remorse for what she did and wouldn’t act so stupidly again. Oh, I was wrong, though, wasn’t I? She is her father’s daughter when it comes to deceit.

Nora composed herself and called some of Casey’s friends, in hope they would know where she was. Unfortunately, either they didn’t know, or they weren’t telling. All she could do was wait for her to come home. Sitting down in the living room, Nora began her gauntlet.

Tonight, will be different. There will be no television, nor any distractions tonight. I’ll just sit here and wait.

The house was quiet. Paul was upstairs in his room and everyone else was gone. Nora glanced at the lifeless TV. No, I won’t turn it on. She looked towards the front door, willing it to open, revealing Casey walking inside. The door remained closed, and the silence continued.

She looked back at the blank TV and thought about her husband, Jim. I should tell him about what Casey has been up to and let him deal with her problem. Nora laughed. I can see how Jim would deal with it. He would ask Casey if she would name the baby after him. Once again, she looked at the TV. She could almost hear it calling to her. Would it be wrong to ask her oldest son, Alex to help her? He knows things other people don’t. She recalled the day she was arguing with Jim and Alex blurted out how he knew she had a miscarriage. She never told anyone about it, not even Jim. A question lingered in her mind. Does Alex know Jim wasn’t the father of that baby?

Since the beginning of the year, Nora had been sleeping with Bert, the Assistant Manager of the Grand Union grocery store. Nora was a woman who needed tender loving and Jim wasn’t delivering. Her wants and needs overpowered right and wrong and by the end of June, she knew she was pregnant.

She confronted Bert with the news, but he refused to take any responsibility for the baby. Nora’s heart was shattered. Bert said she could keep working at the store the same as before, but if word got out, he was the father of her baby, she could forget about working there or anywhere else in town. She had no doubt he would carry out his threat.

Afraid of what Jim would do, she didn’t dare tell him she was pregnant. He would never believe it was his. The last thing she needed was for Jim to walk out, or even worse, divorce her. What would everyone in town say? Still, she knew she was going to be showing soon and Jim was going to find out, whether she told him or not.

And then, it happened. In the middle of July, Nora had severe cramps and heavy bleeding and before she made it to the hospital, she’d lost the baby. Looking at the lifeless fetus, she saw it was a girl. Tenderly, she picked up the remains and disposed of them in a trash can behind the Grand Union. That moment of time was buried in the past, until Alex brought it to the present.

Again, she asked herself. How did Alex know? Unable to answer the question, Nora’s mind slipped to more pleasant things.

When Nora went to work that morning, Bert greeted her. “Good morning, Nora,” he had said. “I haven’t seen you for a while. How have you been?”

That was the first time Bert had spoken to her since she confronted him about the pregnancy. “I’ve been fine Bert. How about you?”

“You know me,” he said. “Always busy. Ever since our head cashier left, it’s been chaos around here. The boss man says I can promote one of the cashiers to that position and I was thinking about you. After that incident about the baby and how I treated you, I felt bad. Anyways, if you have time, we can talk about it over dinner tonight. What do you think?”

Nora had thought about her financial situation. Her bank account has been dwindling, since Jim became unemployed, and it looked like there was no relief in sight. That and her feelings for Bert, she answered “Could we make it an early dinner? I must get back home by six to take care of my family. Things have been really stressful for us.”

Bert smiled. “I understand completely. Does four o’clock at the Colgate Inn sound good to you?”

Nora smiled back. “Thank you, Bert. I’ll see you then.” Nora went to punch in and start her shift. As she was putting on her smock, she began to wonder. Will it be like it was before, for Bert and me? Do I want to go down this path again? She thought about her life with Jim and everything it lacked. Yes, I can see me doing this. There’s no life with Jim and as for Art Fleming and Johnny Carson, they’re nothing compared with what Bert has to offer. As time went on, dinner with Bert started to sound more exciting.

Nora glanced at the TV, and it seemed to be begging her now. She finally gave in to her urge and turned it on. Hello, my old friend. She flipped the channel and found Johnny Carson doing his monologue. She leaned back in her chair and drifted into the land of the boob tube. Soon, all thoughts of Casey and Alex left her mind. Was Johnny going to do Carnac, the Magnificent, tonight?

Engrossed in the television and fantasizing about sleeping with Bert, the sound of the front door opening, and closing was lost on Nora’s ears, as Casey snuck into the house, with another boy.

Another day in the Trigmore house.