Sally And The Jungle

SALLY AND THE JUNGLE

By: Cheryl Pope

It was a beautiful morning. The sky was almost turquoise and wispy clouds were tinged with pink. Birds were singing, either merrily because it was such a great summer day, or angrily because Margie hadn’t been to the store to pick up birdseed for over a week.

Margie looked up at the big oak tree where all the action seemed to be taking place. “Sparrows! You aren’t very pretty, and you aren’t very nice but at least you’re consistent.”

Two blocks away Beth was just pouring her coffee. Beth and Margie had been friends for most of their lives. The other part of the friendship was Sally, who Margie and Beth called Miss Doom and Gloom, behind her back, of course.

Today was the second Wednesday of the month and Margie, Beth and Sally were meeting for their monthly lunch. Beth and Margie got together at least one time a week but kept it a secret from Sally. They only included Sally in the monthly lunch as sort of a Christian duty and because Sally seemed so lonely and without friends.

Beth and Margie didn’t tell Sally about all the other times they got together without her but it was sometimes difficult to hide. 

Beth would say, “Remember that movie we saw about the orphans?” and Margie would kick Beth’s ankle under the table, give her a meaningful but subtle glance and reply, “No, I think you’re thinking of the movie you saw with your daughter.”

              Beth’s cheeks would redden. “Oh, yes, I think you’re right.” She’d then giggle nervously and say, “It’s hell getting old.” Mistake.

Most likely Sally would look up from choosing pills from her pill box and say, “You shouldn’t say ‘hell’. And you don’t have to tell me about getting old.”

And then it was off to the races. The rest of the mealtime would be filled with stories about who was dying in Sally’s apartment complex, her many conditions, what her doctors told her, and the latest communicable diseases that were traveling around.

Aside from illness and tragedy, Sally’s favorite topic was her two grandsons and the neighbor’s cat. 

According to Sally, her grandsons were the most loving, good looking, intelligent people. She told how they adored her and often told her that she was the most important person in their lives. She sent them texts riddled with words such as sweetheart, darling, love of my heart, my precious love. She’d pull out her phone and begin to read the texts to Margie and Sally. She then read what she wrote back. “I said, my precious darling …” 

Margie bent down to get something from her purse, glanced up at Beth and stuck her finger down her throat and then mouthed, “Gag me.”

Beth interrupted Sally mid-sentence asking, “How old are the boys now?”

Sally answered, “Jeremy is twenty and Marshall is eighteen. All grown up now but always my sweet babies.”

One of the things that made it so difficult to listen to Sally doting on her grandsons was that Margie and Beth knew the truth about them. Margie’s daughter was the guidance counselor at the middle school that the boys had attended. Of course, Margie’s daughter was sworn confidentiality because of her job, but in another state and with your own mother? Probably didn’t apply. So, Margie knew and of course, so did Beth.

Sally was the first to arrive at the restaurant. It was easy to spot her car, parked at an angle with the rear tire up on the curb. Sally was sitting on a bench outside the restaurant so she would not be in the sun (skin cancer), or the garden (pollen allergies) or too close to passersby (the latest virus). Beth was waiting in her car far out in the lot when Margie swung into the neighboring space. They had long ago agreed to walk in together as a reminder to each other not to greet Sally with, “Hi! How are you?” No sense standing on the sidewalk for the medical report when you could sit comfortably at a table drinking.

Beth asked the host for seats not near the fans or the windows or too close to other people but close to the bathroom and no high tops. The high-top thing was not a Sally thing, it was an everyone thing. No one wants to see seventy-year-olds struggling to slide onto a highchair and dangling legs created swelling of the ankles.

The ladies exchanged niceties and Margie and Beth gave each other a victorious glance because they had both avoided saying, “How have you been, Sally?”

As the ladies were served and began eating Margie said, “So, Sally, what have you been up to?”                           

Sally put her fork down. “Well, I have some exciting news. You know my grandsons Jeremy and Marshall in Pittsburgh? Remember when they went on mission trips? Not together. Jeremy went first. He’s the oldest. A year or so later Marshall went. They were both gone a few months, maybe six.”

Beth slid a sidelong glance at Margie ever so briefly before turning back to Sally. 

“Six”, Margie repeated.

Beth jumped in, “Where was it again you said they went? Guatemala? Haiti? I forget.”

Sally concentrated on squirting ketchup on her French fries for a moment. “Well, I just can’t remember. Some place like that.”

“And what did they do there?” Margie asked.

“Oh, a lot of things to help.”

“Like what? Do they have some special skills or training?” Margie pressed on.

Sally covered her mouth with her hand since she was chewing. Margie and Beth waited.

“Well, they helped build things, like churches, and schools and wells. Stuff like that. Maybe they worked with the children. They both love being around children.”

“Oh, that is so interesting. What kind of thing do you think they would do with children. Maybe give medications or something?” Margie asked.

Beth gave Margie’s thigh a soft pinch under the table. Margie ignored it.

“Oh, I don’t think so. They’re not doctors or nurses. Neither of them went to college because they felt they could be more helpful jumping right into their mission work. I don’t know, maybe they taught them English or how to build things. Marshall loved to build things when he was little. We’d sit together for hours and work with his Legos. I used to tell him that I was not much of a construction worker, just a housewife and mother, and he’d hug my neck and say that no, I was just the greatest grandma ever. 

“Don’t get me wrong. They weren’t always angels, but it was little stuff. Normal stuff for boys. Once Jeremy hit a baseball through the dining room window. There was cardboard over the hole from the fourth of July until the first snow. My daughter in law wasn’t much of a housekeeper. Whenever I left to go back home, the boys just clung to me and sobbed because they didn’t want me to leave. Sometimes I think they were deprived of love. 

And now look at them, doing mission work. I don’t want to brag but I think that had a lot to do with me being with them so much. I was a Sunday School teacher at the Suffering Martyrs church down the road and I paid, out of my own money, to send them there for preschool and elementary. I worked in the office too. I think that’s why they became missionaries. Because of my good influence. Their mother never went to church. I don’t think there was even a Bible in the house and my son worked so much.”

Taking a sip of her Sangria Beth said, “So, do you talk to your son and the boys a lot? Do they ever come to visit or invite you down?”

Sally patted her lips with her napkin and looked sad. “Well, that’s an interesting story.”

“One you want to share?” asked Margie as she caught the server’s eye and pointed to her empty Marguerita glass.

Sally noticed and said, “You know the Bible says you shouldn’t drink.”

Margie responded, “No, I think the Bible says you shouldn’t be a drunk, but I could be wrong. Where is that in the Bible? I’ll read it to make sure.”

“Well, I don’t exactly know but I could find it for you and text you a message.”

Margie reached for her phone. “Let’s just Google it. “

Sally said, “Oh I never use Google. Don’t use any of that – the Facebook, Tweeter, Snapgab or any of them. I use my phone for most things.  I take it with me everywhere.  My phone is my life. If I lost it, I don’t know what I’d do. I text and keep track of my doctor appointments. I even set a reminder so I remember to take my pills. All of my phone numbers and addresses are in there. When you use all that other stuff people steal your information and whack into your life. They can tell whether you prefer chocolate chip ice cream over peanut butter crunch. Not that I eat ice cream. Diabetes.” she sighed. 

Beth asked, “So do you talk on the phone to your family or text, or both?”

“We text,” Sally replied. “Their mother is an evil witch, forgive me, and won’t allow them to speak to me. My son either. She’s got them all brainwashed that I’m some kind of horrible person and that they shouldn’t contact me.” Her lower lip began to tremble, and tears filled her eyes.

Margie said, “Aw, that’s terrible.”

Beth said, “How sad. But the boys are adults now.”

Sally recovered from her moment and smiled weakly. “Oh yes, but they’re so busy. They do keep me up to date on what they’re doing but of course when they’re in third world countries there’s no communication.”

Beth and Margie exchanged glances.

Sally squared her shoulders and said, “But enough of sad things. I have good news.”

Beth and Margie simultaneously said, “Great!” 

Margie thought, “There is a God.”

Sally continued. “Jeremy texted me to tell me about a place he and Marshall have been informed of in Africa. It’s a small village deep in the jungle. The people there have little to eat, and their water is so dirty that it causes terrible sicknesses. There is no school, no church and the people live in huts and sleep in hammocks. Sometimes there are ten people living in one little hut. The village is so remote that these people have never heard about God or the love of Christ.”

“I’ve heard of things like that, “Beth said.

Sally leaned forward almost dragging her boob across the ketchup covered fries.

 “Well, the reason why Jeremy contacted me was to give me the opportunity to do the work of the Lord and help those poor people.”

Beth’s eyebrows shot up. “You’re not thinking of going to Africa, are you?”

Sally put her hand to her heart, “Oh, my goodness, no. My health is not good enough for that. I doubt that I’d even be allowed to bring my medications onto the plane. And there’s surely no Walgreens in the jungle!

But there are other ways to help. Maybe you girls would like the opportunity too. We can always support them financially.”

Margie folded her napkin. “You’re thinking of sending them a little money?”

“No,” Sally said proudly. “I’m going to send them all of my money!”

“Whoa, Whoa, Whoa,” Margie said sliding back into her chair. “What are you thinking? It’s not my business and we’re not that close but this doesn’t sound like a good idea to me. What about your future? What if you need your money for living expenses or healthcare?”

“Well,” Sally replied. “First of all, I believe that God will provide for me. You know, he sees the little sparrow fall. You do remember that from the Bible, don’t you?”

Margie nodded, “Yes I remember the sparrow.”

She couldn’t help it but she remembered she needed to stop for birdseed on the way home.

“But I also think God expects us to use the good brains he gave us,” Margie added.

“But I didn’t finish. It’ll be okay. Jeremy and Marshall have a bunch of big deal investors who have promised to donate to the cause. Jeremy says he talked with them, and they really want to help but their assets are tied up until the end of the year so they can’t donate until then. Then Jeremy said he thought of me and how I liked to help like I did at Suffering Martyrs and with the hunger boxes I make up. He said he was hesitant to ask but he thought that giving me this opportunity might be a way to show me how much he and Marshall appreciate all I’ve done for them. The thing is, the boys are guaranteed to get funding by January but they need it now. If I invest now the investors are going to pay me back with an extra twenty percent as an incentive. So, I’d be helping people and making money. It would be an investment in my future.”

“Well, I don’t know. I think you’d better do some research. Maybe get an attorney involved or some financial counselor, or something,” Beth said.

“I completely agree,” added Margie.

Sally smiled, “Well, no pressure, but let me know if either of you wants to invest. I’ll be in touch after I talk more to Jeremy.”

The ladies stood, pushed their chairs in and when they parted Sally called out, “Let me know!”

Margie and Beth stood silently side by side waving goodbye to Sally. It took what felt like a lifetime for Sally to get into the car, adjust her purse, fasten her seatbelt and maneuver the car off the curb and out of the parking space. Finally, she turned onto the main road and when her car was out of sight, Margie turned to Beth and said, “What the …”

Beth grabbed her arm. “Don’t say it. What are we going to do? We can’t let her go through with this. Especially not with what we know.”

“Maybe they changed. Got saved or something.”

“Wishful thinking,” Beth responded.

“Probably not,” said Margie. “Let’s think about this and talk tomorrow. I really don’t want to get involved in all of this, but I’m more worried that she’ll become homeless and want to live with one of us.”

Beth slapped her arm. “Shut your mouth. You’re terrible. Call me tomorrow.”

Margie was still awake at two am.

She went into the bathroom although she didn’t need to and stared at her reflection in the mirror. Suddenly the solution became so clear and she wondered why she hadn’t thought of it right away.

The next morning when Margie called, Beth answered halfway through the first ring. “So?”

Margie started, “This isn’t really our problem but I don’t think we can do nothing.  I don’t know what we could do on our own. Then I realized that there are people who take care of this kind of thing.”

Beth interrupted, “Hit men?”

“No, silly. Authorities.   Fraud people. Embezzlement people. I don’t know what this sort of crime is called but we should call the authorities, like the FBI, tell them all about this and sic them on Jeremy and Marshall. I’m sure they know where they are.”

Beth said, “They may be in the jungle.”

“Oh stop. That’s more my line.”

“But” Beth said, “what if Jeremy gets to Sally before the feds do?”

“We’ll just have to tell them they have to stop Sally right away. I bet they will.”

“It could work,” Beth replied, “but, I don’t think they can tell her without telling her about the rest of it.”

“You’re right and it’s going to be devastating to her to find out that her precious grandsons spent time in the in prison for possession of child pornography and that they’re both on the national list of convicted sex offenders. I guess that’s when they were ‘in the mission for six months.’ Really, we don’t have to tell her anything.”

“Well, we could look at it like we’re killing two birds with one stone. Her grandsons will be stopped, and she won’t lose all her money. Man, talk about the elephant in the room. One way Sally gets hurt and the other way Sally gets really hurt. But, maybe this way we don’t have to fess up that we’ve known about this for a pretty long time. She can be a pain but we really should try to support her.”

“Yeah, you’re right” Margie said, sighing.

 “So, who’s going to invite her to the movies, me or you?”