Rain by Frederick K Foote
Rain by Frederick K Foote
“Odell, what’re you doing standing there by the window like a statue?”
“It’s raining, Maud. I checked the weather report last night and this morning. There was nothing about any rain.”
“No one’s perfect, and we need rain.”
“Forty years ago, Maud, you said we were perfect for each other. You do remember that?”
“I was young, foolish, and under the influence of sex, weed, and moonlight. You should just consider that pillow talk.”
“I remember it like it was yesterday. And then you had your way with me—again.”
“Odell, you need to stop reminiscing and start vacuuming. Remember, we have a 12:15 movie date.”
“What an odd rain. Honey, the vacuum cleaner looks like it may be broken or sick or injured.”
“Odell, there will definitely be an injury in your future if I don’t hear that vacuum cleaner start in the next five seconds.”
“Maud, you’re still beautiful, but you have gotten cranky and mean in your old age.”
“Honey, you need to speak louder. I can’t understand you over the vacuum cleaner.”
&&&
“That was not Spike Lee’s best.”
“How would you know Odell? You slept through half of it.”
“That is an extreme exaggeration. I may have catnapped for a minute, and quite understandably so, after all of that exhausting vacuuming.
“Gee, Odell, it’s still raining.”
“Yeah, and at the same regular and unrelenting rate. I have never seen it rain like this before.”
“Are you going to take me to dinner?”
“Absolutely. What will it be, Burger King or Carl’s Jr.?”
“Oh, I have a text from Randle.”
“How much does your son want this time?”
“Don’t be so negative, Odell. Our son says it’s raining in the Bay Area too.”
“Maud, we talked about this, remember? We don’t want him to become dependent on us.”
“Let’s go to Scott’s. I have a taste for seafood.”
“How much does he want, Maud?”
“One thousand dollars, but just until payday. The world is so difficult for young people out there today.”
“I say no. No more loans until Randle pays us back what he promised to pay us. That’s what we said we were going to do, remember?”
“If it were your precious daughter asking for a loan, you would not think twice about it.”
“Of course, I would. Reva doesn’t ask for loans. It would have to be some kind of real catastrophe for our daughter to come to us for a loan.”
“You know the world is far more challenging for Black boys.”
“Not for the one that has you as a mother and a banker.”
“Odell, look, there is already street flooding.”
“You are going to give it to him, aren’t you?”
“Honey, do you remember 40 years ago when I said we are perfect for each other?”
“Really? Maud, I don’t recall that. Watch your step. That puddle looks pretty deep.”
&&&
“Thank you, Honey. I had a lovely day.”
“Every day with you is a lovely day, Maud.”
“You’re not cross about me loaning the money to Randle?”
“I should be. But being in bed with you after a terrific date and superb meal with the rain beating on the roof, I can’t stay angry.”
“Thank you, Odell. I love you.”
“I love you too. As someone said a long time ago, ‘We are perfect for each other.'”
“Oh, that is so corny—so corny that you might get lucky tonight.”
&&&
“Odell, who were you on the phone with?”
“Reva. She’s worried about us. She’s been listening to the news reports saying that the rain threatens the Oak Valley Dam.”
“Odell, there is already flooding north of us on the Oak Valley River.”
“Maud, I have never seen it rain so steadily like this. There are no lulls and bursts. It is uncanny.”
“Odell, last night, the rain on the roof was romantic. Now every drop I hear feels like a tiny needle digging into my flesh.”
“It’s been almost 24 hours. The storm drains can’t handle this much rain. Maud, if there is any more street flooding, we are pretty much trapped here.”
“Odell! A levee broke in Elk Grove a few miles south of here. Look at the TV. It happened so fast that they fear hundreds may have lost their lives.”
“Shit! We need to get out of here. Get our go bags. I’m checking the roads. Oh, shit, flooding from the Southport Levee break has closed Highway 99 just north of Lodi. Interstate 5 and Highway 50 are parking lots.”
“What about the levee and river roads?”
“Some are already washed out. Those back roads are too dangerous, anyway.
We go to Plan B. We load our bikes in the truck and drive as close as we can to the levee bike path. We bike down to the marina and take our boat to Oakland and visit Randle and our money.”
“What about Mrs. Phillips? She’s 90, and she can barely walk. We need to help her.”
“How, Maud? How can we do that? She’s too frail to make the trip to the boat.”
“We could move her upstairs in her place, so if it did flood, she would be safer.”
“We don’t have time. Look, the water is pouring into our garage now. Our Freeport Levee must have broken.”
“We’re going to help her, even if we have to stay up there with her. I mean it, Odell Oasis Learner.”
&&&
“Odell, how long do you think Mrs. Phillips has been dead? I talked to her yesterday before we went to the movies.”
“I don’t know. The stress of the rain and levees failing and being alone—I don’t know.”
“We should have checked on her earlier. Oh, the water is almost covering the roof of our house. Oh, my God!”
“It’s like somebody programmed the rain. Thirty-eight hours is all it took to shut us down. Maud, coming over here to Mrs. Philips has given us a little longer lease on life. We would have only made it a few blocks in the truck.”
“Odell, you wanted a two-story house, remember?”
“They said it was raining from Juneau to Tijuana. How is that possible?”
“It rained for forty days and nights last time.”
“It was supposed to be the fire this time.”
“Hold me, Odell. Just hold me. I’m so cold.”
“It’s not a cold rain.”
“I’m freezing.”
“Okay. Okay. You are freezing. I’ll get us a blanket.”
“Odell, don’t leave me. Stay here. Odell? Odell!”
“I’m here. I’m here.”
“Your shoes and pant legs are wet.”
“It’s time to break through the ceiling—to get on the roof.”
“In the rain? I don’t want to be in the rain. We had a good life, Honey. I’m glad the kids are safe.”
“Yeah, they’re okay. The water is rising.”
“Odell, they will find us here—together.”
“Together. Yeah, yeah, I hadn’t thought of that. We don’t have much time left.”
“We have all the time in the world, Odell. I’m so cold.”
“I’ll hold you. Come on. We’ll be perfect together.”
* * * * THE END * * * *
Copyright Frederick K Foote 2023
For those who loved Titanic, The Notebook or Bridges of Madison County, RAIN is a touching short story.
From the banality yet lighthearted day to day conversations of a married couple of many decades, Mother Nature’s fiery and unpredictable behavior, how a good deed — saving an infirm, elderly neighbor, becomes a major life decision.
BTW, I love rain! It is Mother Nature at her erotic best, an aphrodisiac of soothing of drum beats, lulling thunder and flash of lightning passion.. I must be very creative during Northern California’s rainless summers.