Jessie & Rick

Today Jessie resigned herself to meat pie for dinner. She was facing the fact that gourmet meals, braised, sautéed, poached or otherwise, made no good impression on her young husband. Rick was an oilman who lived in coveralls, grease-stained like his fingernails. He was a meat-and-potatoes-at-the-dinette-table kind of guy. Shepherd pie and King of the Hill of TV. A “Thanks for dinner” and a pinch-on-the-tush sweetheart.

Jessie tried to spruce up the bachelor-pad-gone-coed since their wedding, but there’s not much that can be done to improve a room whose singular piece of art was a neon beer sign. She was young – a woman on the old side of girl with glossy black hair pulled into a ponytail that was backcombed at the crown. Her cheekbones were high and pink with blush like pale roses. Ever since eighth grade, Jessie had worn Cover Girl’s “Petal Silk” because it matched the color of the roses her mother planted to celebrate her conception. Hers was the well-planned mother who owned a flag for every season and holiday, proudly displaying hearts, shamrocks, birthday cakes and snowmen at the appropriate times.

Jessie had grown-up to get married, make a home and start a family. Rick married for warm dinners, clean socks, frequent sex and dead-of-sleep cuddles. As Jessie sat at the kitchen table, she sipped lemonade, planned meals for the week and made out a grocery list. She was distracted by memories of their morning kiss when Rick pulled her close gently securing her body next to his with one strong arm embracing her back and hips. As her eyes focused again on the notepad where she had written a seven-day menu, she sighed and crossed out each entry. Where she had first written “pasta primavera” she scribbled “Hamburger Helper.” “Shrimp and vegetable ka-bobs” became “fish sticks and canned corn.” “Parmesan crusted steak with asparagus and rice” became “meat pies and canned peaches.”

Jessie held her glass of lemonade, now sweaty with condensation, and stared into the wood grains exposed by the wearing table varnish. She added “tin foil pie plate” to her list and headed for Safeway.