A Plan?
October 1967
Alma was at the store. Looking at the underwear. But here there ain’t nothing like the ones in the magazine. The ones they call negligee, they were black and pink and there were holes cut out all over, and they promised it would drive your man wild. Alma looked around the store.
“Nothing like that here” and she walked out.
Alma went back to the supermarket.
“You okay?” Monroe asked.
”Sure” Alma said, and went back to stacking the cans of corn and tomatoes.
But Alma knew she wasn’t okay. Nothing was the same since that day. They day that she saw what she saw. Monroe was right by her again.
“Alma, you sure you’re alright?”
“Yes Monroe, I’m fine, really.”
He looked hard at her and walked away.
Alma walked home slowly, the girls were at her sisters for the day. She hoped Ennis was home already, he left real early this morning. Maybe she would just act like she was wearing the fancy pink negligee.
Alma got home.
“Ennis, ya here?
No answer, but she found him sitting on the bed, staring at a postcard that must have come today. He didn’t hear her, he just sat staring at that postcard, rubbing it over and over, not seeing her even though she was now right in front of him. He was softly murmuring to himself, and then he put the postcard to his lips.
She turned around and said to herself “Sure won’t do me any good” and went to go pick up the girls.
(252 words)