Winning Minnie

Winning Minnie

by Harry Buschman

A sudden flicker of sunlight on the ceiling of her living room made Minnie O'Shea look up. There was a car in her driveway. She walked quickly to the window and looked out without moving the curtains aside. Then, she shook her head. It was Ollie! – Ollie, in his red convertible. Well, it had to be faced somehow.

She quickly pulled her hair back and tied it. She got out the vacuum out of the closet, plugged it in and turned it on just before he rang .... Ding, ding, did ding, ding, DING DING! Ollie all right, the salesman's ring. A bottle of wine and a box of candy ring. Well, he was in for a surprise.

She left the vacuum running and opened the door. "Minnie, my dear, Ollie's here – you ready for a day of fun and frolic? My God, woman, what are you up to, cleaning? Nobody cleans on Sunday."

"Nice of you to call ahead, Ollie."

"Well yeah, sorry, I was about ready do that, but I figured I'd be wasting time on the phone. We've only got today my love – one day 'til Monday. One day to live a lifetime in, love." He put his presents on the coffee table and extended his arms. "Come into my lovin' arms, Minnie my dear – here where the fat lies a'bubblin"

"Hands off, Ollie."

"What's the matter old girl, did I catch my Minnie at a bad time?"

"First of all I'm not your Minnie, and if you think you can drop by once a month without even having the decency to call me, you can just turn yourself around again, get back in your fancy red car and drive on – and get that junk off my end table, I'm cleaning in here." She ran the vacuum into his highly polished shoes and he shuffled away from her awkwardly.

"You know how long I waited for this Sunday Minnie?"

"No! How could I? And look at you! You've still got your hat on. Come walking in here without calling after a month’s gone by, think you own the place and don't have the decency to take your hat off!" Ollie took his hat off, and as though it was a switch, Minnie shut off the vacuum cleaner. In the sudden quiet they looked each other up and down tentatively, for the first time like boxers before the bell. "Listen to me Ollie, it ain't like you and me is man and wife. God almighty knows what you're up to when you're on the road."

"I couldn't wait to see you, Minnie."

"I know, I couldn't wait either, so I didn’t. So what! Both of us couldn't wait, that's the sad part about us. It ain't enough, Ollie. Just plain ain't good enough, what we do – not fer me. Look at me! I'm thirty-seven years old – you've got to be, what, forty-five?"

"I'm a young forty-three, Minnie."

"Forty three years old and still a pharmaceuticals sales rep, a girl in every doctor's office all the way from Yonkers to Buffalo. Got it all worked out right? You still selling' prescription drugs on the side, huh, Ollie?"

"What's gotten into you, Minnie?"

"My last damn birthday, that's what! It came on a Wednesday three weeks ago. You were God knows where and the guys down at the Highway Department were all busy. I got stinkin' here all by myself – right here in this ratty condo. In my own living room. What were you doing on that Wednesday Ollie – huh? Tell me what you were doing?"

Ollie hung his head. He didn't dare answer because he wasn't exactly certain which Wednesday Minnie’s birthday was.

"What it comes down to, Ollie, is – well, I went on retreat right after my birthday, that's what."

"Retreat? You mean like a nun?"

"No, not like a nun. It's a retreat house. You meditate and contemplate and read the Bible. There was a Director there – Father Andrew. He'd come in my room every afternoon and we'd talk over what I'm going to do with the rest of my life."

"Kinda like re-hab, sounds like."

"I don't know, I never been to a re-hab. But it done me a world of good, I can tell you. I quit my job at the Highway Department – that was one of the problems. I was the only woman in an office of twenty seven men. I'm working for the Gazette now – "Goldie's Homemakers Page."

Ollie experienced a wave of dizziness. "Y'mind if I sit down, Minnie?"

Minnie untied her hair and unplugged the vacuum cleaner. "Go ahead, sit Ollie. Comes as a surprise, huh?"

"Somehow I can't see you in a retreat, or in a newspaper either for all that. What do you know about homemakin' anyways?"

"Goldie Pfeiffer writes the page. I help her. We're in three newspapers, Goldie thinks we can syndicate soon."

The sight of Ollie sitting on the sofa with his candy and wine in one hand and his hat in the other was more than Minnie could bear.

"Can I get'cha something Ollie?"

"Wanna open the champagne?"

"No, liquor's out – that's another one of the problems. Tell you what though, I'll make you a nice cup of tea."

Ollie looked up at her helplessly. "Okay, thanks, I'll have a tea."

"I got jasmine, orange and lemon and sassafras."

"I thought you said tea."

"It is tea, it's herbal tea. Don't look like that, it's very good for you."

"Skip the tea, Minnie. .... er .... this retreat business .... does it mean like .... well you and me used to .... you know."

"Exactly!"

"I didn't get a room Minnie."

Tell you what, Ollie, I'll get dressed, we'll take a walk in the park. It's a beautiful afternoon. You can get a room at the Bigelow. No problem in this town, nobody comes here. Then we can have a long talk."

Ollie still sat holding the candy and the wine. Normally he would have followed Minnie into the bedroom and fooled around while she dressed, but not today – he didn't dare today.

"Well, maybe she'd loosen up later. No she won't. Maybe I can talk her out of it. No I can't. This never happened before. Must'a been that Father Andrew. Imagine Minnie talkin' to a Priest! When was the last time I talked to a Priest? When Mom died, right? I tell you, there's no standin' up against the church, once they get their claws into you. I didn't get to tell her my news either. My last trip as a drummer – I wanted it to be special. Well, she's a class woman, right? Y'can't just drop in on her like she was a .... no! .... course not. Is it worth it? Well, sure it is, you know how you feel about Minnie. She's more than special, right? Yes .... but .... it was nice the way it was, too -- comin' and goin'. No strings. Why spoil a good thing?"

"Ready, Ollie?"

Ollie had dozed off on the sofa. He caressed the arm of it and recalled the afternoon he and Minnie had gone out to get this particular sofa – when was it, five or six years ago. Had some great times on it too. Scoring while the football games were on and watching the weather report on Monday morning before he had to leave.

He rose from the sofa and put the candy and the wine back on the end table. "Okay if I leave these here, Minnie? Gee, y'look great old girl – it's Okay for me to say that, ain't it?"

They stepped out into a fine spring day. A high blue sky with a flock of sheep clouds shepherding themselves across the western sky.

"We can take my car, Minnie."

"Forget it. It's too nice a day to ride. It's a walking kind of day Ollie. Walking and talking kind of day. You can come back and get your car after you get a room."

Even Ollie had to agree it was a great day for walking. They wandered into the Highland zoo just as the seals roused themselves from their after lunch siesta. With their raucous barks and flippers flapping they had drawn a crowd of children.

"Look at them," Ollie remarked. "They don't ask for much, do they? A little love, a chance to show off and someone to watch over them?"

"Come over here on this bench, Ollie. Sit down. Do you realize what you just said?"

Ollie sat down and took off his hat. He looked up at Minnie plaintively. "Jeez, Minnie – now what'd I do?"

"You just described yourself to a "T," that's what! That's what I been telling you. You got the brains and about as much responsibility in you as one of them seals over there. Well, maybe that's okay with you but I'm not like that anymore – I've changed Ollie. I don't know what I changed into exactly, but I'm somebody now. I'm not your fancy lady anymore Ollie, and nobody else's neither."

"Aw Minnie, I never said you was a fancy lady. I never thought that neither. You were my high spot, you were the reason I stopped off in this crummy town."

"Then off to Syracuse and Binghamton! 'See'ya Minnie – you were great Minnie old girl.' There came a time Ollie, when I hated to see you at the door."

Minnie O'Shea glanced quickly at Ollie. "Poor Ollie," she thought, "Would he ever be anything more than a traveling man? We've had such good times together. Maybe I was too pushy. Look at him, poor soul. He ain't the best lover – not by half he ain't, but he's the one I wished it was every time. I never told that to Father Andrew. Never told it to Ollie neither – but I told it to God, and I told it to myself a thousand times. .... Oh, Ollie, Ollie! We ain't gettin' any younger, it's time."

They sat quietly, side by side on the bench by the seals, leaving a little space between themselves – not touching, each a little fearful of the other. Ollie loved Minnie but the lure of being free and easy on the road had been, (up until now at least) irresistible. He thought about the news he kept to himself – a steady job at the home office in Yonkers. It was tempting, but the call of the road, even the excitement of seeing Minnie every couple of weeks or so had kept him from considering it. The idea of Minnie full time – Minnie as a wife! Somebody to care for, to come home to every night! He turned to look at her sitting beside him. "Look at her," he thought, "Sitting straight and proud! Is she the woman you'd build a house around? Raise kids with? KIDS!! – c'mon, be sensible, what kinda father would I be?"

"Y'know, Minnie," he began, "this was gonna be the last swing."

"What are you trying to say, Ollie?"

"Anderson says I should come in from the road. That's what we call it, 'the road,' like we was entertainers or something. Anderson's the head sales rep in Yonkers. They're looking for youth Minnie."

"You're a young 43 you said."

"There's no such thing as a young 43 on the road. I gotta lotta miles on me Minnie. I stood a million rounds a drinks, paying off whoever I owed and never a thought for tomorrow. You're right Minnie, you're right, I am like them seals over there. But this was gonna be the last swing. On the way back I was gonna stop here – and get you."

He paused and moved a little closer to Minnie and fished a paper from his inside pocket. He opened it carefully and gave it to Minnie.

"What's this, Ollie," she asked.

"My birth certificate, you got one? You need a birth certificate to get married."

She made a mental calculation. "Says here you're 46."

Well, I'm a young 46, what difference does it make anyways? The thing is when Anderson gave me the news, the first thing I thought about was you. Being on the road meant I could stop off and see you. I couldn't stop seeing you Minnie." He took a deep breath. "It's hard for a man in his middle forties to say he loves somebody – 'specially a road man. But to put it plain and blunt like I always been with you Minnie, I love you enough to wanna marry you. I'm awful set in my ways and I got some habits I don't know if I can break out of or not, but I'll work damn hard to make you love me."

It was a left-handed proposal but it sounded good to Minnie O'Shea. Ollie was not the catch she would have settled for when she was younger, but as she grew older she saw her own faults too, and she was wise enough to know that marriages are not held together by perfection. There were pluses and minuses – just so long as they balance out – that was the main thing.

"You sayin' you want to marry me, Ollie?"

"I don't know, I never asked nobody before, but I guess that's what I'm doing Minnie .... what do you say?"

"Well, if you're sure .... " she turned her face away, "I been around the block a few times myself, Ollie. On top of that I been so long alone I'm a little set in my ways just like you. Maybe we both have a lot to learn about each other. Be a good idea if we get started."

"What’cha mean, Minnie?"

"I mean – no sense in your gettin' a room, there's a lot we gotta talk over, you and me – let's stop off at the Chinese take-out. I know you like Chinese food."