Village Squire, 1973-05, Page 7while, in the rest of the house things weren't going well either.
Marion was learning what it was really like to be married to a
writer. The second-hand refrigerator was sputtering. The
bottom burner in the oven just lay there like a cold fish when
the switch was turned on. Of course with the book and all I
hadn't had time to finish the home -built stereo set either so
she couldn't even use that to keep her mind off her troubles.
We were on the verge of mental breakdown, physical exh-
austion and divorce by that Friday night. Marion, after two
patient weeks, had threatened never to speak to me again if
I didn't stop long enough to fix some of the breakdowns. I
said that was fine because I needed the quiet to work anyway.
Supper was cold bologna sandwiches and instant coffee bec-
ause she refused to cook anything until the stove was fixed.
We were sitting in the dining room when through the wind-
ow we saw the car turn in. Actually it was a station wagon
and we were sitting there trying to imagine who on earth it
could be. It looked mightly full We didn't know anyone
with THAT many kids. I followed Marion out the door just
as the car pulled to a halt. The driver got out and my heart
dropped.
"I told you I might take you up" he beamed with a mouth
so full of white teeth that he could have been a walking tooth-
paste commercial. "How are you old man?"
You must say I gave it my best.
"Well Max, how are you? 1Tice of you to drop in."
"We had quite a time finding you" he admitted. "You pe-
ople sure like to live back in the woods, don't you?"
Not far enough, I thought but instead I managed "Well we
like the peace and quiet."
"Come in, won't you?" Marion invited as I scowled at her.
For her part she didn't look too happy at the prospect of enter-
taining company with a disaster area for a kitchen but her
politeness wouldn't let it show.
So they took her offer. First Max got out, then his wife,
then one, two, three, four, five, six little products of Max's
invent ivness.
"Big families are a family tradition" he said with another
of those big grins as he saw my lower jaw collapse.
"How long have you been married?" Marion asked Max's
wife.
"Seven years."
It was Marion's turn to have trouble with her jaw.
We sat in the livingroom chatting about the weather and all
those topics that people who don't really know each other use
to try to start a conversation. Meanwhile the kids began to
undo what three years of hard work had managed to make a
respectable home. It wasn't that they were bad kids, just
that there were so many that Max couldn't keep track of them
all.
After about two hours I finally found the courage. "Look
Max, I don't want to be a bad host, but I've got two chapters
of a book that have to be done by Monday night or I lose the
most important contract of my life. So..."
"Oh that's all right" he interrupted. "We can get along by
ourselves. We brought ow tent along so the kids can sleep
out in the yard and we'll manage okay."
He beamed. His wife beamed back. I managed a weak
smile. A tear trickled down Marion's cheek.
Max and I set up the tent and the kids were finally bedded
down about nine -thirty although it took them quite a while to
get to sleep. A couple of hours later the rest of us went to
bed too.
As soon as the bedroom door closed I could see the strange
look on Marion's face. "Yes, I know" I said. "I don't know
how I'm going to finish that work with them here. We can't
afford to lose that offer."
"That offer" she exploded. "The publisher might wait.
But how the devil am I supposed to feed all these people with
a refrigerator that sounds like it has indigestion and a stove
that is colder than the refrigerator.
"Look, dear. If I make this deadline I can buy you a new
stove and refrigerator. If I don't we might have to forget
about eating altogether."
We glared at each other until we shut out the lights. She
lay as far on the other side of the bed as she could without
falling off. Ten minutes later I apologized. "But what can I
do?"
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