Red White and Black

Chapter Twenty Six - Part A

Sammy

The throbbing pain in his knee battled the war drum beating in his head, each trying to inflict as much agony as possible. Sammy rolled over on the sofa hoping to find a more comfortable position and muffle the pain. Instead, the movement strained his knee and he unleashed a string of obscenities and grumblings under his breath. He clenched his teeth and the pain subsided, allowing him to believe a few more moments of sleep were possible. He kept his eyes closed, soldiering on, willing himself to fall back to sleep.

Minutes passed but his body refused to cooperate as the frustrations of the past week wormed their way through his mind. It was too hot to sleep anyway. He was slick with sweat and the fan aimed at him did nothing other than replace hot, stagnant air with hot, moving air. Even the tiny tick, tick, tick of the fan set his teeth on edge.

Nothing was going his way, nothing at all. Passed over for a promotion, shredding his knee and facing surgery, dealing with his mother's declining health and injury, and now allowing a couple of kids to get under his skin. It all was very tiring.

His stomach rumbled and he decided a sandwich might hit the spot about now. And a beer. Maybe even two beers.

He hobbled to the kitchen and scratched his head, running his fingers through hair in dire need of a comb. A cool shower sure would feel pretty good, he thought. But those beers will be better. A note taped to the door of the refrigerator left him slack jawed and confused. He stood with his hand on the door to the refrigerator, unable to recognize the handwriting until he saw the initials "A. M." Abbie. It clicked and he felt like an moron. She was letting him know she had driven to the hospital planning to sit with Grandma for a few hours. Good. He needed some peace and time to think. He crumpled the note then opened the door to the fridge, reveling in the cool air as it washed over him and for a moment toying with the notion of pulling up a chair and camping out right there.

A chunk of leftover meatloaf on the second shelf looked like it might make a decent sandwich. He rifled through the other shelves and bins, waiting to see what other ingredient provided inspiration. Nothing other than some spicy mustard and cheese slices of an indeterminate variety, but that was good enough for him to assemble a two-fister--Abbie's name for the size of his Mt. Everest proportioned sandwiches. Given half a chance, she could find something to poke fun at him in about everything he did. And of course, he loved her all the more for it.

He hunkered over the sink to avoid creating a trail of meatloaf debris throughout the kitchen and wolfed down the first half of the sandwich. Well into his first beer, the curtains began to billow at the open window facing out toward the west. Dark clouds churned through the sky, heavy and threatening while leaves and debris scuttled across the yard as if seeking shelter in the face of the advancing storm. Far off in the distance heat lightning danced across the horizon casting an eerie staccato glow through the advancing darkness. Finally, he thought. We're gonna get some rain. And maybe a tornado or two, it looks like.

His thoughts drifted back to his conversation with his neighbor, Sadie. The words and anger he had shown her were embarrassing in hindsight. She had been nothing but kind, even when faced with his rude and callous behavior. And no matter how he tried to rationalize it, he sounded like a child. It just seemed his life was going haywire these days and everybody irritated him. Of course, it didn't help he was in constant pain. That just made everything worse. Maybe he could find a way to be a little more... what? Approachable? Kinder? A better neighbor?