She Remembers
Yes, she remembers, and it is the smell of the harbor keeping her coming to the same bench almost every morning at the same time. People may think the pier may have a quite a fishy smell at the end of the town's long pier, but she loves it, the smell, the pier. The anglers keeps their bait in the water, with anticipation of the surprise they will pull out of the dark water. She understands, she fishes here when she can, when she cannot, then she enjoys the smell of the water, the fish and the beauty from her side of the water. She can sit there all morning. People come and go, jog or power walk pass her without her noticing.
Once in a while, she catches a glimpse of a small child, who will welcome her, with a Fairhope' shirt on. The little one may ask, "Where are you from?" She smiles and says, "I live here, where are you from sweetie?" There is usually an answer of Pennsylvania, Indiana, and Ohio almost anywhere else. She is never surprised at the answer back; she knows she lives at a place where people from all over the country would like to visit. She understands why, yes, she understands, she thinks to herself as she stares at the water and the RSA towers.
Someone yells for help, "I have a red, does someone have a net?!" Excitement surrounds her, crowds gather but her mind is at the towers, memories have overtaken her to a time, though they are neiher lost or not forgotten to her.
She remembers:
"What is it? What happened?" Mary asks. Her husband said, "It will be ok. We can start all over." Mary is anxious, no patience for her through the years. "Ben, tell me what is it?"
Ben seeing the worry in Mary's face realizes there is nothing he can do to let her down easy. He wants to, it is his job to make his wife comfortable and provide for her and fixing the problems of life. Ben takes a deep breath and sits down on the couch.
Mary takes the position beside him, insisting, "What is wrong?" Ben holds her hands and tells her the story he has hoped to hide from her.
"Phone-El is merging in December, you know that?" "Well, of course, I do. You have worked for months on the project with your team to join the sixteen states so your company can do this. I do not understand," Mary waits, there must be more.
"The merger will happen. There is a rule for this to take place. There must be six thousand people to leave, or it will not happen. Phone-El will not let the merger be neglected. These people will have to go before Christmas."
Mary stared at him quietly for the first time since her husband has been home. Almost afraid to speak. However, eventually she does, "What does it mean for us?" Ben looked at his wife of almost thirty years and his best friend for longer in his life, and tells her, "It means we will leave the house, we will move. There are no jobs in a rural town like this and Atlanta is in a slump. Job sources are not what they were when we came here."
"But what about the house? We cannot sell it, we owe too much," as tears begin to happen. "It's ok. I talked to Donny last week. Told him we may be selling, he said they would want to buy it back, keep it in the family." Ben looking to see if this information is of comfort for his wife.
"You knew? You knew last week, we would be moving?" she asked. Ben admitted, "There have been rumors. Until today, I was never sure." Mary stared at him, looking lost. "What will we do?"
"We will move to the gulf, to the beach." "But how?" Her husbands explain, "There will be a moving package. We can pay most of our bills and set up at another house, a rental this time. But there will not be much left," he continues, "We will be just fine. I can work anywhere."
Mary tells him, "We cannot afford the beach." Ben disagrees, "You have your health problems to consider, and we should do what we always wanted to do." They hold each other close and do not let go. Together they are scared, but Ben is determined not show it. He will come through with his promise to her, one way or another.
Finally, Mary whispers into her husband's ears, "How long do we have?" Ben holds her tighter, as he answers, "Two weeks." Mary closes her eyes.
In two weeks of living, a world of happenings can occur. Ben and Mary spent the weekend coming at the beach. They were looking for houses off the highway fifty-nine, but no luck. This happened to be the summer Katrina victims were returning. Houses would appear and disappear as quickly as Mary could step on the porch with a realtor. However, by Saturday, the two learned to stop looking and start playing the game.
Truth was the further from the beach itself, the housing was more affordable. A realtor told them of a house on the Eastern Shore. "What is the Eastern Shore?" they both inquired. Kate, the realtor explained, "The Eastern Shore is the side across from Mobile. It is very lovely. A town across the harbor and a unique community all to itself. It is as if you have never experienced life like this. This area is still forty minutes away from the beaches but a world away from everything else."
It did sound wonderful, but the Jones' had thought this realtor was perhaps, very good at her job too. They were desperate for a house; they agreed to see the place.
The drive from the highway ninety-eight was traffic building from the tourist, the ending of summer. Ben and Mary followed the white SUV, until they reached a place called Fairhope.
Mary and Ben did think Fairhope was nice as they drove up but not until they drove through the old town did they understand how beautiful it was. The quaint shops lining the streets. The corners of every intersection filled with flower baskets and flowers blooming from the pots in the pavement. There was also a sea gull on every corner, commissioned by a local artist. Fairhope was beautiful but Ben and Mary could only say to each other, "Look at this, look at that." They were amazed.
The drive through the town was downhill; eventually they came to the end, to the harbor. A vast huge body of water, decorated with heavy equipment and workers, building back the pier.
Then there was a left turn. They rode a long the harbor view, but for long. They followed the SUV into a small apartment complex. There, they walked into an apartment, painted white and bright, with a fifties kitchen. Mary loved it. Ben loved the look in Mary's eyes. The price was affordable and there was a couple waiting outside the door to see it after they did. Mary and Ben of course, took the small, quaint apartment. Not for the size, mind you, but for the view and the smell of the water. In two weeks time, life was changing.
On Sunday, they stayed at the hotel and went back on Monday. They missed the sounds of waves as the turned their backs to leave.
The closing of the house happened quickly and Tuesday, the rented truck was packed. The couple left as quietly as the arrived in their new town, the next day. It was easy to tell when they were close, Mary would say, "I can smell the water, the salt, can't you honey?" Ben said something like, "Hhmmmmmmmm." As he might be thinking about it. He was just happy to see Mary's smile. Ben knew this was the right move in their lives, everything would work out.
When they arrived to their apartment, they unload their things quickly. A small place it was, Mary was an organized person when it came to putting things away. The place started to look more as if they had been living there a long time.