MAMs: Dead Old And Loving It

VC MAMs; Dead Old and Loving it!!!!
Terr(i) — 11 Nov 1998, 11:05 AM

"When did they extend this walk way !?!" Kiteman wheezed as he labored up the steps to the VC nursing home.

"I was only here yesterday and it certainly didn't take this long for me to get to the front door!!!".

His wife, if she were passing on the mainway in front of the nursing home would have disagreed with him. It did take him that long to get to the front door. In fact it took him that long to get there everyday when he went to visit Ole Mike D. He just didn't remember.

"Of course I remember" he grumbled to no one in particular. Kite was talking to his wife as if she were there, arguing with him. 50 years of marriage can do that to a man. His wife doesn't have to be near him for him to disagree with her. He did it as a matter of course.

A townswoman, passing on the mainway, glanced in his direction with a puzzled look on her face. When she saw who it was, she gave a smile. She should have known better than to be surprised given the day, the time and the location. The ritual she was witnessing was more regular and more predictable than that which accompanied the participants' bed time.

Ten minutes and two feet later, Kiteman was through the front door of the nursing home.

"Mr. Kiteman" Mrs. Sevenita Windes greeted him.

Kiteman remembered to start his breathing exercises, the ones that the doctor had taught him to do when he became excited and his heart started racing. He didn't know why, but every time he was near to Mrs. Windes he kept thinking of his favorite kite, and that would get him excited as he remembered the good old days. Good ole Barbie-Borg, a large kite made up of two round watermelon shapes across a rack. The kite material was silver in color and had always been a pleasure for Kite to fly because it never succumbed to gravity, like so many of the things in his life at this time.

"Come let me help you to get to Old Mike D's room"

"You're much too kind. Have I ever told you that you remind me of my favorite Kite......." Sevenita listened patiently even though she had heard the story every time as she came to drop her husband off to their twice-weekly card game with Ole Mike D in the nursing home. She knew that Kiteman would come in at precisely the time that she was coming out in order to tell her the story. He seemed to get such a thrill of telling the story that she always indulged him. She knew from being married to Reverend Windes, that at their age, it was likely to be the only thrill that he would get for the day.

***

"I don't need your help you young whippersnapper and I DON'T NEED YOUR GIFTS EITHER!!!!"

Eric closed the door quickly as the floral arrangement in the ceramic vase, which he had so lovingly slaved over, was shattered against it. He sighed. Ole Mike D was the most difficult patient on his nursing home visitation rounds which he did being part of the VC Church YAMmers Volunteering Brigade. Secretly he was jealous of the life that Ole Mike D had lived when he was younger. How he wished that his life had been like his. Instead of being a florist, he would have been a gunslinger turned gunsmith and would have been in the thick of the action whenever trouble was in town. But deep down he knew that it wasn't to be, he couldn't even load his six-shooter, far less aim and fire. No he had chosen the right type of lifestyle for the man he was. Eric gave a small smile. His florist shop and wedding catering business was thriving and he couldn't have chosen a better wife than the sweet, sensible, compassionate Kes. He was indeed very blessed.

VC: MAMs Dead Old and Loving it!!! pt 2
Terr(i) — 11 Nov 1998, 11:08 AM

"Mrs. Windes, you brought Mr. Kiteman to see Ole Mike D. Good to see you again Mr. Kiteman." Eric shook the old man's hand gently so as not to aggravate his digital arthritis. "Go right on in, he's there with Ole Max and Ole Rev Winds. and he's his normal cheery, cranky self."

"I HEARD THAT!!!!!" A voice bellowed through the hall. It had such a tremor in it that it sounded like a warped gramophone record. Sevenita smiled and Kiteman began his breathing exercises again at the sight of it.

Reverend Windes was nicknamed Ole Rev Winds as it was noted some years ago that his stories, though they were the same in content, seemed to get longer and longer each year. And of course there was another reason. Not that it mattered to Sevenita. She loved her husband as much as she did the day that she married him.

Kiteman shuffled into the room and saw three of his best friends sitting around a table. Ole Mike D was wheezing as tubes and bottles were connected to various parts of his body. Ole Max was in a chair next to him with his walker at his side and Rev Winds was busy shuffling the cards for their game of Poker. Well as busy as one can be when one keeps forgetting what number he's on during the third round.

"Kite, you fool, shut the door before that young whippersnapper comes back in here and wants me to teach him how to play!!" Mike D shouted

"What took you so long Kite?", Ole Max called out to him. "Did they extend the walkway to nursing home again?"

"As a matter a fact they did. I don't know what it was with these young'uns these days, they can never leave well enough alone........"

"That reminds of the time 20 years ago, when I was still a youthful 45 years old......"Windes started

His three companions rolled their eyes. This particular story could take days, if they counted the amount of times that Ole Rev Winds would fall asleep while telling it.

Ole Max snored and then coughed. "Who you're trying to fool, you old fart, twenty years ago you were 75 years old!!!!"

This was the way the always greeted one another affectionately, with insults

"Speaking of old farts, where's JTM?" asked Ole Mike D.

VC: MAMs Dead Old and Loving it !!pt3
Terr(i) — 11 Nov 1998, 11:10 AM

"WHAT!?!" came a voice from the doorway. Mad Man Miles was wheeled in accompanied by five of his ahem...young nurses.

Kiteman began his breathing exercises again. His doctor had always encouraged these poker games. Somehow or the other his breathing was a lot more regular at the end of it.

Ever since he had struck it rich years ago, Mad Man Miles had always had the employ of seven of Madame Maxine's prettiest fillies (one for each day) in his sprawling ranch. It was his way of thanking Madame Maxine for the invaluable help that she gave him during the time when he struck the Mother Lode. Madame Maxine's House was now being run by her daughter, but her mother still lived in a house next to the Provential, in order to "keep an eye on things".

When he was younger, and it was observed that the particular fillies in question would be unavailable a day after they had been up at his Ranch, people would ask with a wink what "went on up there?" To this Miles replied that they "shared needlepoint techniques and would stay up all night just talking".

Most people were astonished at he could give such a reply with a straight face and it was the nature of the reply that earned him the nickname JTM, "Just Talking" Miles. JTM was actually the name of a horse that was owned by a woman named Lee-Marie. No-one else ever mounted that horse but Lee-Marie who rode him hard and rode him well. But he was most famous for being the oldest horse in her stable to win the Leola Root Festival Race one year, beating horses 1/3rd his age. With him being so famous for his performance and Mad Man Miles claiming that he never performed, people thought it would be ironic if they had the same initials.

He normally asked five of the girls to accompany him when he left the ranch. With all the things that needed attending when he traveled he required the extra help. And there was also a maid to bring his favorite invention, which he took with him every where that he went.

One of his nurses wheeled him over to the table where the other four were sitting. The made brought his invention in and arranged it on side table next to him.

"Still playing with that thing?" Ole Max wheezed out at him.

"It's not a thing," Mad Man Miles replied huffily.

"That's right it's a contin-uo-us ab-ba-cus" Ole Mike D said.

"No, No, No it's a Comp_u_ter. And yes I'm still playing with it. Just last week it was acting up again and I had to change the tube from a 133 Meter Hoze (MHz) to an 85 MHz. The 133 was just too slippery and fast for me.

"Wasn't that thing, a 450 MHz when you first made it 45 years ago?" Kiteman asked.

VC MAMs: Dead Old and Loving it!!! pt 4
Terr(i) — 11 Nov 1998, 11:12 AM

The others rolled their eyes. If Windes was long winded when it came to his stories about the "good ole days" Mad Man Miles was even more so when he got to talking about his continuous abacus.

"Well yes........" he was all prepared to go into a long explanation when he caught sight of his maid picking up the pieces of the broken pottery in Mike D's room.

"Sonya!!!!," Miles yelled in alarm. "Don't pick that up, you'll cut your hands and how will you needlepoint my initials on my feeding bibs later. Let Paula do it after she gets me my cigar."

"Don't you dare light that thing in here?" Windes said when Paula produced the cigar and was about to give it to Miles. "With the amount of oxygen and alcohol in here, you'll kill us all when we're in our prime."

"Sorry, I wasn't thinking", Miles said as Paula removed the cigar from his mouth.

Just then Windes had finally finished dealing out all the cards.

"Hey I thought we were going to play poker?" Max said. "Why did you deal out all the cards?"

"Isn't that what I was supposed to do?" Windes asked perplexed.

"No, No, NO!!!" roared Mike D, the tremor in his voice more noticeable than ever. "You're supposed to do that for Spades you fool!!!!"

"Well leave it let it be." Kite replied. "We'll play Spades. If he deals out another game, it'll be our nap time by the time we get started playing."

The others agreed. If there was one activity that was sacred for each of them at their age, it was nap time. They ensured that nothing ever interfered with it.

"JTM, did your nurses bring the goodies?" He continued.

"Ruthie?" Miles asked questioningly. He always kept a nurse whom he affectionately called Ruthie in loving memory of the woman who had given him more joy and excitement in his life than any other woman. Miss Ruth Gulch, deceased schoolmarm of Voyager City. She was the woman who taught him how to tatter, sew and embroider. He was a changed man after he had met her.

Another perky young nurse came up and took out their treats. There were bowls of cream of wheat, bowls of pureed apples, a bowl of prunes and a strained carrots; Mike D's favorite.

"Hey Max did you bring the 'juice'?" Mike D asked.

"Got it right here." He grinned as he brought out a brown paper bag and extracted a bottle of Southern comfort.

"I hope you made the cocktail right. The last time you put in too much apple juice."

"Nope, the Missus made sure I did it right. One teaspoon of southern comfort and then fill the one liter bottle with juice." Max replied

"Good, now whose turn it is to start this game?"

"I believe it's mine" Kiteman said.

"No it's mine" claimed Windes

"Are we supposed to start from the right of the dealer?" Miles asked.

"His right or your right?" asked Mike D.

They never did play a game before nap time three hours later.