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We all leaned into it, grabbed hold under the broken frame, and tried to slide the damn thing away from Rascal.
“On three,” Luke ordered. “One. Two. Three.”
Each of us put all our strength into sliding the thing over with everything we had, but the damn thing barely moved… well, until there was another loud crack, and this time, one side of the canopy came crashing down.
“Look out!” I yelled as we scattered.
“No. No. No. No,” Rascal yelled. “This can’t be happening.”
And just to make matters even worse, now one side of the canopy rested on Rascal’s feet, which were up in the air, and right there to catch it.
“That hurt,” he calmly said, once the canopy stopped moving. “What the hell is this bed made of… lead?”
“Um, it’s oak, and it took three burly guys to get it up here and into place,” I told them, remembering that day and how difficult it was to move all the parts. They had to use a dolly to pull the parts up the stairs, and it took all three of them to assemble it.
It was my one piece of nice furniture, or at least I always thought so. Now, I wasn’t too sure.
“I think it’s going to take those same three burly guys to move it away from Rascal. Especially now that the top came down,” Josh said.
“I don’t want anyone seeing me like this,” Rascal said.
But I was already on the phone to the fire department. I didn’t want to wait any longer. They’d send EMTs as well.
“It is what it is, buddy. We can’t get you out of there, so it’s time to call in the troops,” Luke told him.
“Might need the jaws of life,” Josh teased.
“Yeah, go ahead and make jokes now, but when it’s all over, I don’t want to hear any cracks from you guys,” Rascal ordered, but I could tell his words would have no meaning with any of us.
We would reflect on this moment and embellish it for our entire lives, and this was only our first attempt at group sex. I couldn’t even imagine what was in store for us in the future.
“Oh my!”
Luke 14
As it turned out, it took five men to move Connie’s ridiculously heavy bed, and even then, part of it had to be destroyed to get Rascal out of there. He emerged sore, and somewhat embarrassed, but nothing was pulled or broken. In the end, we were all able to laugh about it… even Rascal.
Why anyone would own such a heavy bed was beyond me, but then I never could figure Connie out. She continued to surprise me at every turn. In the scheme of where our relationship was going, that was a good thing. Still, the woman was like a continual surprise package filled with everything I could never anticipate, even if I tried.
We left her soon after Rascal’s release. The EMTs suggested he take his favorite pain medication and to get some sleep if he wanted to avoid what would surely be a rough night. We stopped at a local drug store, picked up whatever Rascal thought he needed, and by the time we walked into our rooms, Connie had sent us a group text announcing that she’d made another major decision:I’ll be moving to the ranch tomorrow. Gave my thirty-day notice to my landlord. Secured a local moving company. They arrive early in the morning. Please pick me up around noonish.Should be done by then.
Then she sent a couple sleeping emojis.
I was floored by this news and had to take a couple of minutes to absorb what it meant. I hadn’t even opened my room door when I read the message, and by the time I lay back on the normal-sized bed, I finally was able to react to it.
“Fucking great!!” I said aloud.
We all responded with brief texts congratulating her on yet another decision. I knew that none of us wanted to detract her from her cause. I, for one, couldn’t be happier with this turn of events. I only hoped she didn’t come to regret it later. Connie was going through a lot of quick-fire changes, and although those changes worked for us, I wondered if they would work for her.
Yeah, she was now a very rich woman, but I had a feeling money didn’t matter much to Connie. Not that she wasn’t happy about having it. I believed she was, but it was her daily life that made her happy, and she’d made it abundantly clear that she was already happy before we arrived, and before Dusty left her even a dime.
The next day, we arrived exactly at noon, as per her text message. The moving truck was still out front, and two burly guys were shoring up the last of the many boxes.
“Are you sure?” I asked her as she closed the front door to her now completely empty apartment. “Sure you don’t need one more walk through?”
“Thanks, but I’m good. Did two walk throughs already. Everything I want to keep is on the truck. Everything else, Shea and I donated to AmVets early this morning. I didn’t have that much. What took up a lot of space was all knitting stuff, and that’s all on the truck. As far as any of my furniture, the only thing I kept was my kitchen table. It belonged to my grandmother. My grandfather made it for her, and I have a lot of memories around that table, including recent ones with Shea. It’s where she learned to cane all over again. Anyway, too many good memories to let it go. Hope to put it in my oversized bedroom on the ranch and make more memories.”
“And the bed?” I asked, unable to keep from chuckling whenever I thought about it. “We all have memories with that piece of furniture.”
