Monday, April 25, 2011
UP NEXT: New York Revisited
Back to New York? So soon? Will Debbie stay? Or will this be one of many trips she will take in her future? And when, oh when, will Debbie ever make it big? And, um, find that other thing called love?
CONCLUSION: Single Mom of Cactus County
On her last day in Arizona, Debbie and Carlotta stopped by Toni's house. On the way out, Charlene said,"Bye, Debbie, I love you. See you tomorrow."
At the airport, Carolotta and Debbie hugged.
Black clouds came into view as the airplane nose dived into Logan Airport.
"The most beautiful sight I've ever seen," Debbie confessed to the girl sitting next to her.
"Not me!" the girl laughed. "I want to go back to Arizona." She wanted to start her own business in massage therapy.
"I missed the ocean so much," Debbie said.
"What sign are you?"
"Pisces."
"Of course. That's a water sign."
HOME SWEET HOME
"Did you go to the beach?" her sister Nicole asked her, sitting at the kitchen table.
"No, there's no beach!" Debbie laughed.
"Well, are there lakes?" Nicole asked.
"No! That's just it! You can't go to the beach. There are no oceans. No lakes. All the rivers are dried up."
Nicole looked at the table and frowned.
"There are palm trees," Debbie said. "They remind you of the beach, but there isn't any beach!"
"It's like a teaser," Nicole nodded in understanding.
"She'll be back," her father had told her mother. "There's no ocean."
At the airport, Carolotta and Debbie hugged.
Black clouds came into view as the airplane nose dived into Logan Airport.
"The most beautiful sight I've ever seen," Debbie confessed to the girl sitting next to her.
"Not me!" the girl laughed. "I want to go back to Arizona." She wanted to start her own business in massage therapy.
"I missed the ocean so much," Debbie said.
"What sign are you?"
"Pisces."
"Of course. That's a water sign."
HOME SWEET HOME
"Did you go to the beach?" her sister Nicole asked her, sitting at the kitchen table.
"No, there's no beach!" Debbie laughed.
"Well, are there lakes?" Nicole asked.
"No! That's just it! You can't go to the beach. There are no oceans. No lakes. All the rivers are dried up."
Nicole looked at the table and frowned.
"There are palm trees," Debbie said. "They remind you of the beach, but there isn't any beach!"
"It's like a teaser," Nicole nodded in understanding.
"She'll be back," her father had told her mother. "There's no ocean."
Thursday, April 21, 2011
UP NEXT WEEK
See you all here next Monday or Tuesday, after the Easter holiday. UP NEXT: The dramatic conclusion to THE SINGLE MOM OF CACTUS COUNTY. UP UP NEXT: New York Revisited. UP UP UP NEXT: More from Corporate Headquarters: "McGrath & O'Connor," New York, NY...from late 1980s midtown Manhattan.
Until next week,
Debbie, ah....
Denise(...Dances...2011)...21 years later!
Until next week,
Debbie, ah....
Denise(...Dances...2011)...21 years later!
Monday, April 11, 2011
UP NEXT: Back East
UP NEXT: The dramatic conclusion to THE SINGLE MOM OF CACTUS COUNTY, here on the Fool's Gold book blog! I hope you've enjoyed reliving Debbie's travails in the Desert Southwest as much as I have. I'm going to miss it, aren't you? And when, oh when, are we going to get some nice weather "back east?" This weather is enough to make anyone want to pack up and leave. Sarasota, FL, anyone?
See ya here. Same time, same place. Next week. Y'all come back now, y'hear?
Until next time,
Denise
See ya here. Same time, same place. Next week. Y'all come back now, y'hear?
Until next time,
Denise
MEET...THE SINGLE MOM OF CACTUS COUNTY!
"We don't want you to leave. We want you to stay," Toni insisted. Debbie sighed. Carlotta had introduced Debbie to Toni and her three kids. Toni loved to go out. One night, they had all met at a Mexican Restaurant for happy hour. Carlotta grimaced teasingly at Mindy and Charlene as Bruce fell asleep on his mother's lap.
The next day, Toni drove Debbie and the kids to Cave Creek. Desert plains and olive green cacti surrounded them for miles. This was not the leafy green lush existence of New England. The desert Spring had already passed when cactus flower graced the now barren landscape.
"A filming crew was out here one day," Toni told her. "They were filming Real Life Adventures."
Upstairs in the Treehouse Restaurant, aptly named, Toni, Debbie, Bruce, and the girls had lunch. In the back seat of the car, the kids dozed in the heat. Bottles of juice and koolaid, half finished, lay on the back seat. Toni drove into a greenhouse parking lot. She knew the people who owned it. The man gave Debbie a small potted cactus to take home.
MEET THE SINGLE MOM
Toni wanted to have a child.
"You can be as involved or uninvolved as you want," she had told the prospective father.
Driving her pizza delivery car gave way to her own at-home daycare business. "I don't much believe in babysitters," Toni told Debbie, and then, "Get away from the windows!"
Five tots scrambled off the old couch and sat sedately on the rug in front of the television set. A striped cat lay under the end table. Mindy smiled at Debbie, at once shy and sly. Charlene asked Debbie what colors she liked. She colored a blue gown onto Cinderella.
"Elizabeth is a beautiful child. She and Bruce could read books all day. Todd likes to climb trees, get dirty." The girls eyed a lovely long-haired slender girl. At age seven, Elizabeth was the oldest of the daycare kids. She reclined against the edge of the couch, sitting on the floor next to Bruce.
"I tried leaving him with a sitter when I delivered pizza. He cried all day," Toni said. Bruce read silently, his white-blond hair neatly framing blue, long lashed eyes, his mother's eyes.
"Their mother calls every Easter and Christmas to talk to the girls." Toni nodded toward Mindy and Charlene.
"But you won't let her, right?"
"No. People ask me why I get involved with other people's children."
"At least, they have somebody." Debbie eyed Mindy and Charlene, sandy-haired; watching cartoons quietly. Their mother had left them at Toni's at home daycare center one day and had never returned. The adoption papers were complete and Bruce, Mindy and Charlene had formed a natural stairstep trio at ages three, four and five. "I didn't tell Terry I have three children under six. Think that would scare him away? Get away from the windows!"
The toddlers had flocked to the couch again and had become entranced with a sewer truck outdoors. A tree grew out of the dirt front yard. There were no lawns here, just yards. An arrangement of cacti twisted out of the sand in the front yard across the street. It was a yard; there were no lawns here. Well, Carlotta did have a lawn over at the apartment complex. Holes had been bored into the curving sidewalks on the grounds so that pink petunias could be planted at Carlotta's apartment complex.
Debbie needed to use the bathroom. She closed the door. The knob turned from the outside. Mindy peeked in. "No!" Debbie said. It was a dilemma she was to deal with for the rest of the day. The bathroom door didn't have a lock on it andthe girls were accustomed to opening the door at their convenience.
Debbie imitated a cat, fingers for ears, and went through the kitchen after the two girls. They howled with delight, their blue eyes round with fright. Debbie was inspired by the tabby cat wearing a coat of unusual, distinct markings, hiding under an end table in the living room.
The heat was stifling. Mindy and Charlene kept coming over to sit close to Debbie on the couch.
"She doesn't want you around her! Go watch TV!" Toni commanded.
Debbie looked up from Charlene's colored picture she had given her. Elizabeth was inside the screen door, her eyes swollen, trembling with tears. The tears kept flowing out of her already puffy eyes. "Bruce and Todd are making fun of me." She sobbed in disbelief.
"Bruce! Todd! Get over here now! Look at her! How does that make you feel?"
Both boys stared at their shoes and squirmed.
"Well? It should make you feel pretty yucky. What are you going to say to her now?" Toni demanded.
"I'm sorry, Elizabeth," Bruce said politely.
Todd hesitated. "Sorry, Lizzy."
At four o'clock, Debbie glimpsed Carlotta through the screened window.
"Doesn't Toni make it look easy? How does she do it?" Carlotta wondered.
Debbie agreed. "One, maybe two kids. Definitely not three or four."
UP NEXT: BACK EAST.
The next day, Toni drove Debbie and the kids to Cave Creek. Desert plains and olive green cacti surrounded them for miles. This was not the leafy green lush existence of New England. The desert Spring had already passed when cactus flower graced the now barren landscape.
"A filming crew was out here one day," Toni told her. "They were filming Real Life Adventures."
Upstairs in the Treehouse Restaurant, aptly named, Toni, Debbie, Bruce, and the girls had lunch. In the back seat of the car, the kids dozed in the heat. Bottles of juice and koolaid, half finished, lay on the back seat. Toni drove into a greenhouse parking lot. She knew the people who owned it. The man gave Debbie a small potted cactus to take home.
MEET THE SINGLE MOM
Toni wanted to have a child.
"You can be as involved or uninvolved as you want," she had told the prospective father.
Driving her pizza delivery car gave way to her own at-home daycare business. "I don't much believe in babysitters," Toni told Debbie, and then, "Get away from the windows!"
Five tots scrambled off the old couch and sat sedately on the rug in front of the television set. A striped cat lay under the end table. Mindy smiled at Debbie, at once shy and sly. Charlene asked Debbie what colors she liked. She colored a blue gown onto Cinderella.
"Elizabeth is a beautiful child. She and Bruce could read books all day. Todd likes to climb trees, get dirty." The girls eyed a lovely long-haired slender girl. At age seven, Elizabeth was the oldest of the daycare kids. She reclined against the edge of the couch, sitting on the floor next to Bruce.
"I tried leaving him with a sitter when I delivered pizza. He cried all day," Toni said. Bruce read silently, his white-blond hair neatly framing blue, long lashed eyes, his mother's eyes.
"Their mother calls every Easter and Christmas to talk to the girls." Toni nodded toward Mindy and Charlene.
"But you won't let her, right?"
"No. People ask me why I get involved with other people's children."
"At least, they have somebody." Debbie eyed Mindy and Charlene, sandy-haired; watching cartoons quietly. Their mother had left them at Toni's at home daycare center one day and had never returned. The adoption papers were complete and Bruce, Mindy and Charlene had formed a natural stairstep trio at ages three, four and five. "I didn't tell Terry I have three children under six. Think that would scare him away? Get away from the windows!"
The toddlers had flocked to the couch again and had become entranced with a sewer truck outdoors. A tree grew out of the dirt front yard. There were no lawns here, just yards. An arrangement of cacti twisted out of the sand in the front yard across the street. It was a yard; there were no lawns here. Well, Carlotta did have a lawn over at the apartment complex. Holes had been bored into the curving sidewalks on the grounds so that pink petunias could be planted at Carlotta's apartment complex.
Debbie needed to use the bathroom. She closed the door. The knob turned from the outside. Mindy peeked in. "No!" Debbie said. It was a dilemma she was to deal with for the rest of the day. The bathroom door didn't have a lock on it andthe girls were accustomed to opening the door at their convenience.
Debbie imitated a cat, fingers for ears, and went through the kitchen after the two girls. They howled with delight, their blue eyes round with fright. Debbie was inspired by the tabby cat wearing a coat of unusual, distinct markings, hiding under an end table in the living room.
The heat was stifling. Mindy and Charlene kept coming over to sit close to Debbie on the couch.
"She doesn't want you around her! Go watch TV!" Toni commanded.
Debbie looked up from Charlene's colored picture she had given her. Elizabeth was inside the screen door, her eyes swollen, trembling with tears. The tears kept flowing out of her already puffy eyes. "Bruce and Todd are making fun of me." She sobbed in disbelief.
"Bruce! Todd! Get over here now! Look at her! How does that make you feel?"
Both boys stared at their shoes and squirmed.
"Well? It should make you feel pretty yucky. What are you going to say to her now?" Toni demanded.
"I'm sorry, Elizabeth," Bruce said politely.
Todd hesitated. "Sorry, Lizzy."
At four o'clock, Debbie glimpsed Carlotta through the screened window.
"Doesn't Toni make it look easy? How does she do it?" Carlotta wondered.
Debbie agreed. "One, maybe two kids. Definitely not three or four."
UP NEXT: BACK EAST.
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