Chapter 14

John leaned against his walking stick waiting for Mr. Jensen to settle into his chair. It was an old chair, one that had been repaired many times yet remained functional and level. The yard was neatly trimmed and free of weeds. The grass was green despite the time of year. The porch was clean. He swept it every morning with a broom that looked as old as he. The house was in good repair. John had watched him paint the outside of the house last summer. For a man in his seventies, he was still very active.

“Oh, John. I didn’t see you there.”

“I was just waiting for you to get settled, Mr. Jensen.”

“Call me Jim.”

“Sure, Mr. Jensen.”

“I had to try. You’re too polite for these times. A kid called me old fart this morning. I guess I prefer Jim to Mr. Jensen and Mr. Jensen to old fart.”

John laughed and said, “I hope you hit the kid with your cane!”

“Nah, he was just a young punk raised by irresponsible parents. You can’t teach them manners once they reach a certain age.”

“I must agree with you on that, sir.”

Jim assessed John and said, “Your parents did well with you.”

“Thank you, Sir. I must admit there were times that it must have been rough for them.”

“Kids are still kids. Never saw a perfect parent-child relationship. The kids want to grow up and the parents want them to stay kids. That’s always a recipe for conflict.”

“True.”

John readjusted his stance a little impatiently. Mr. Jensen noticed and asked, “So why are you stopping here to talk to this old fart, anyway?”

John laughed and answered, “Old fart indeed. You’re twice as spry as a man half your age. I stopped by because I need to ask a favor of you.”

“Ask away,” Jim responded. He liked the idea of being useful and appreciated John thinking he could ask him for something. One of the greatest tragedies of growing old was being treated as if you were useless.

“Well, I’m wanting to do some electrical work on the house where I’m living. You know, the wiring is close to 60 years old. Modern appliances have plugs that don’t fit sockets. The front light should be changed to allow it to come on by detecting motion. Just a number of things like that.”

“It sounds to me like you have a handle on it.”

“Not really, I know what isn’t right. I don’t know how to make it right. So,” John paused, “I was wondering if you could give me advice and watch over me. Make sure that I don’t make any major mistakes that could burn down the house.”

Jim sat back and stroked his chin for a minute. He said, “I guess you know I was a licensed electrician at one time.”

“You know, I do recall you telling me that fact once upon a time.”

“Sure, John. I’ll do it for you. You help everyone around here all of the time. I suppose a little turn about is fair play.”

“I can offer you $10 an hour cash. It’ll add a little something to your pension. You might be able to take some girl out for an early dinner and a movie.”

Mr. Jensen laughed and said, “Dinner and a movie? Young man, I take my women to the submarine races.”

“What are those?”

“Well, it’s a very special kind of date. You drive her up to a quiet place along a river and tell her you are there for the submarine races. Since submarines race under water, there isn’t much to see. So that leaves lots of time for other things, if you know what I mean.”

“So I take it you’re still active?”

Mr. Jensen laughed at the question and answered, “Ever hear of Viagra, boy?”

“So you get many dates?”

“Nah, old women turn into a bunch of prudes. You’d think they were all virgins by the way they act.”

John smiled as he thought about his landlord. She definitely wasn’t a prude. He asked, “So you’ll help me?”

“Sure thing and don’t worry about the money. Having something to do is reward enough.”

“If you say so. Can you come by the house tomorrow around 11?”

“Sure,” replied Mr. Jensen.

John gave him the address and reconfirmed the time. He turned towards home walking in a happy manner. Finally, he would be able to plug in his computer and have the front porch light turn itself on when he got home late at night. Those were reasons enough to have Mr. Jensen help him.

Returning to the house, he told Mrs. South that he had asked a man to help him do some work around the house. He gave her the time Mr. Jensen would arrive. He said that he would be returning from the university in time to meet him.

The next morning, John sat in his office watching the clock. A few minutes before eleven, he called Mrs. South and told her he would be arriving a little late. He asked if she could take care of Mr. Jensen until he arrived. He waited another fifteen minutes and then headed home.

He entered the house to find Mrs. South, Betsy, and Mr. Jensen having coffee at the table. He poured a cup of coffee and joined them. The conversation turned to the work that John wanted to do around the house. Mrs. South made a couple of other suggestions, including adding a dimmer switch to the lights in the living room. She made a remark about wanting to be able to set a more romantic environment. Betsy seconded the remark.

John and Mr. Jensen went around the house examining all of the outlets and coming up with a list of parts to purchase. John asked Mr. Jensen if he would come back Saturday and help him do the installation. Mr. Jensen readily agreed.

John and Betsy left the house together. John dropped her off at the blood bank before heading back to his lab to finish his work there. He felt pleased with himself for introducing Mr. Jensen and Mrs. South. Even Betsy didn’t know what he had planned. He even had left them alone without it looking obvious.

Saturday morning, John was in the hospital burn unit reading stories to the children. There was a new girl in the unit this week and she was having a miserable time. Her name was Mary and she was sixteen years of age. John was very familiar with her case, as he was the one who had rescued her from the fire. He entered her room after reading to the younger kids and addressed her, “Hello, Mary.”

“Am I supposed to thank you for saving me?” spat out Mary in anger. She could see that she had lost her beauty. The burn had ravaged her face.

“No, you aren’t,” replied John in a manner that was completely unperturbed by her anger. He could see the pain in her and recognized it for what it was. She now believed that she was an ugly woman.

His answer and manner surprised her. She queried, “Huh?”

“You asked me if you were supposed to thank me for saving you. I said that you weren’t.” He smiled at her.

“You don’t expect to be thanked?” she asked. She had rehearsed this scene a thousand times in her head and it wasn’t playing out as she had intended.

“I don’t expect it. In fact, I don’t deserve it.”

“Why? You saved my life!”

“Did I?”

“I’m still alive!”

John smiled and said, “Good, I had my doubts.”

“I don’t understand you,” Mary blurted. She was totally off balance by this entire conversation.

“I’m sorry. Let’s try starting this conversation over again,” answered John. He smiled and then nodded his head as he said, “Hello, Mary.”

Much less argumentative this time, she replied, “Hello, John.”

“Are you feeling better today than yesterday?”

“I guess,” Mary replied rather guardedly. She was trying to figure out what he was attempting to achieve with this visit.

“Good, I remember when I was in here. Every day was a little better than the one before. Of course, sometimes you have a little negative progress. I guess that’s to be expected, though.”

“You were in here before?” She hadn’t realized that he was once a patient here and probably understood her situation better than she. It was even more remarkable that he would run into a fire to rescue her if he had already experienced what it was like to be burned.

“Oh, yeah, I was a patient. Didn’t stay long, but I like to come back and read stories to the kids every Saturday when I’m in town.”

“You’re that, John?” She had heard about John from the other kids, but had not recognized that the John adored by the kids here was the same John that had saved her from the fire.

“I guess I’m that John.”

“Why did you come to see me?”

“Nurse Betty said that you were feeling down. So I came by to see why.”

Mary looked away for several minutes. When she looked back, there were tears running down her cheeks. In a very small voice, she said, “I’m ugly now.”

“Do you think the kids in that other room are monsters?”

“Not really. They are all great kids. Every one of them has been by here to cheer me up.”

“So why are you harder on yourself than on them?” he asked. He looked at her for a minute and then added, “Don’t answer that now. Think about it, and tell me your answer the next time I’m here.”

“I will.”

“Goodbye, Mary, I’ll see you next Saturday.”

“Goodbye.”

There was no need for John and Mary to ever talk about that subject again. She would come to understand that she wouldn’t have the great looks of some women. She would also discover that things weren’t impossible for a real life afterwards. She would soon meet other girls her age that had been through the burn unit in the past.

John arrived home much later than he had told Mr. Jensen that he would be there. It wasn’t a problem, as Mr. Jensen and Mrs. South had become quite friendly. John found them in the kitchen drinking coffee and talking. He poured himself a cup and sat down at the table. He apologized, “Please excuse my tardiness. I was hung up at the hospital. Poor Mary is feeling quite ugly, and unloved.”

Mr. Jensen, unaware of the history, asked, “Why?”

“Forgive me. I rescued Mary from a fire earlier this week. She was quite badly burned. She is sixteen, and that’s an age where beauty is more important than life. I go to the hospital every Saturday and read to the kids in the burn unit. The nurse on duty told me that Mary was very upset, so I went in to talk to her.”

Mr. Jensen said, “That’s very nice of you to do those kinds of things. I was telling this pretty lady that you are a good young man. I guess I didn’t even know half of it.”

Mrs. South asked, “Do you know that many people call you Hero?”

John shook his head and answered, “I know and I’ve tried to stop it, but they continue to do it anyway. It’s quite disgraceful really. So many people are heroes, yet no one notices it. If I’m there, everyone goes wow look at what he did!”

Mr. Jensen winked at Mrs. South. He said, “Well, Vicky and I were discussing all of your activities. You’re quite a busy young man, you know. So we decided that I would do the electrical repairs around the house and give you a chance to visit your girlfriend.”

“Mr. Jensen, there’s no need for you to do all of that work. I just need you to show me what I’m supposed to do.”

Mr. Jensen laughed and said, “Boy, you thought you had us fooled. I know you’re fully capable of doing the work yourself. Hell, you probably know more about electronics than anyone I’ve ever met. I saw all your books on the subject the other day when we checking out the outlets.”

John looked around the table at the smiling faces of Mr. Jensen and Mrs. South. He knew that he had been caught. Trying to look innocent, he said, “Well, I guess I do know a little about the subject.”

Mrs. Smith interjected, “Besides, Betsy told us that you knew how to wire up a house. She’s seen you working in your lab.”

“Oh, she said that?”

Chuckling, Mr. Jensen answered, “Yeah, right about the time we all figured you were trying to set us up.”

“Oh, and I was so proud of myself for being subtle.”

“It was pretty smooth.”

“I hope you’re not mad at me.”

Mrs. South laughed and said, “We figured that if you went to that much trouble, you had to have a reason. It took us a while to figure out why.”

Mr. Jensen laughed. He said, “Yeah, I wasn’t about to admit that it was because I was a horny old goat.”

“Or that I was a randy slut looking to get laid.”

“I wouldn’t have put it that way. I just felt you both were still interested in many of the same things,” answered John. He was rather embarrassed because that reflected his thinking at the time accurately.