SIX

It wasn’t the banjo or the cheering that should’ve woke me up, it was the saliva that’d been

pouring out of the corner my mouth that made me open my eyes. I blinked a few times and my reality had come back to me. Only, it’d gotten dark, my stomach was growling, and my hair was plastered to my cheek. Not a pretty sight.

“Become that girl you used to be.” I propped myself up on the floor where I’d fallen from my crying spell from earlier today with a little more rest in my bones. “You are used to living on your own. You’ve only been with Paul five years. What’s your problem? Find that girl.” I demanded of myself.

The pep talk was good until I noticed the stained spots along the bottom edge of the RV couch and dirt in all the corners.

“Okay. So I’ve never been the best at cleaning, but I can do this.” I said and pushed up to stand.

It was that moment that I knew I was on my own. Before Paul floated up dead, I really hadn’t grasped the thought that he wasn’t coming back. Of course, I divorced him, but there was a tiny bit of hope that all of this was somehow going to work its way out and he’d come back with a really big excuse as to why they thought he’d done it, plus give everyone back their money. His dead body confirmed the finality of it for me.

By the sound of it, there was a party happening in the campground. I looked out the window and caught myself smiling when I noticed a few campfires dotted around the park. There was some banjo music, a little singing, and a lot of laughter. I sure could use some of that. The cleaning was going to have to wait. Besides, I didn’t even have anything to clean with. I’d been able to make do with one roll of toilet paper and a few groceries that’d now gone bad from me not hooking in the electric plug. But, tomorrow was a new day and I was going to make a plan. I always did.

I headed back to the bedroom and grabbed a sweatshirt from the rest stop bag I’d purchased when I rolled over the Kentucky bophrder and threw that on. I’d not gotten into the storage unit where Dottie said she’d put the boxes that were shipped from Stanley. I’m sure there were clothes in there for me wear. Going to get them needed to be put on my to-do list.

On my way to the front of the RV, I stopped in the small bathroom and bent down to look in the mirror while I brushed my hair. There was a knock on the door.

“I’ll be right there,” I called and gave myself a good once over before I flipped the bathroom light off and headed to the door, sure it was Dottie Swaggert. Besides Henry, she was the only person I knew in the campground, but I was determined to change that.

“Can I help you?” I asked the young woman at the door.

“I’m Betts Hager and I’ve come with welcome food from the Normal Baptist Church Women’s Group.” She held out a casserole dish.  I also spotted  two brown bags on the ground next to her.

Secretly I wondered if she were going to offer up her cute cowboy boots. There was a jealous ping in my soul as my eyes scanned over her white off-the-shoulder peasant top with a few bright flowers embroidered across the top. She tucked the front of the shirt into a pair of skinny jeans. She had cute, brow, wavy chin-length hair and blunt bangs, which made me even more envious because I could never get my curls tame enough to wear bangs.

“I think I’ve heard of you from the gals at the laundry mat.” I opened the door wide.  “Come on in.”

“Grab those bags, please.” She pinched a smile.

I grabbed them and held the door open for her.

“Let me tell you,” she walked up the steps and into the RV. She looked around and her scared look didn’t go unnoticed. “You won’t find no better gals to chit-chat with than The Laundry Club. Now, where do you want these?”

“Here is good.” I put the brown bags down on the kitchen table and patted it. “It smells so good and I can’t begin to tell you how grateful I am for this.”

I started to laugh and poor Betts looked at me like I was a fool.

“You’ll find some cleaning supplies in one of the bags.” She continued to assess my cleanliness. At some point, I was going to have to take that seriously, because there was no way I could even begin to let Stanley bring potential buyers around right now.

“You don’t understand.” I shook my head as I continued to laugh and point at the refrigerator. “I had no idea I was supposed to plug in electric cords, then the cop who thinks I killed my ex,” I bent over laughing, “he actually took time out from interrogating me to show me how.”

When I stood back up, tears were streaming down my face and Betts’s jaw was practically on the floor. Apparently, she didn’t think it was as funny as I thought it was.

“I’m sorry.” I ran my hand through my curls and swallowed hard. “I’m thinking I’m having a nervous breakdown.”

“Well then.” She perked right up. “I’ve got just what you need.” She reached into the bag and pulled out a cast iron skillet.

“I’ve never seen one of those in person.” I took it from her and surprised how heavy it was.

“And we need these, these, and these.” She pulled out chocolate chips, marshmallows and graham crackers. She headed to the door. “Let’s go.”

“Where?” I asked.

“You’ve got dessert and they’ve got the food.” She pushed the door open and when I hesitated, she stuck her head back in the door. “You comin’?”

“Yeah.” I nodded not really sure what was going on, but I was hungry, and I wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. At least, according to Detective Hank.

She hurried down the gravel road and over to one of the fire pits with the sweets. I followed behind her and was met with several people with smiling faces. They all seemed to know each other and I was happy to see that a few of them were Dottie, Abby, and Queenie.

“Well, if it ain’t Mae West.” Queenie grinned. This time she was wearing a jogging suit minus the head band. “Whatcha got there?”

“We’ve got skillet s’mores.” Betts reached over to get the skillet from me.

“Oh, those are my favorite.” Abby took the ingredients from Betts.

“Since you brought a dessert, you get to go around to all the campfires with a tin plate.” Dottie handed me one with dents all in it. “Fill it up with all the good food and dessert after.”

I stood there in amazement of their kindness to a stranger that had not been quite as giving as them.

“I didn’t know you two lived here.” I looked at Queenie and Abby.

“We don’t.” Abby shook her head. “We just came for the food.”

“Go on now and make you a plate before them Randal boys get here. They’ll eat everything after they get home from whatever sport they’re playing this season.” Dottie shooed me towards the burning fire closest to us.

I didn’t know who the Randal boys were so I’d have to look on the list Dottie had given me earlier of long-time campers to see the exact location of  their RV.  I hurried around the lake and by the time I’d made it back to where I’d started, my plate was full and so was my heart.

“Are you okay?” Betts asked after I’d finished my plate full of food, sinking into one of the camping chairs where you just melt right on down in to.

“I’m great and full. Why?” I asked her. The fire flickered in front of us.

“Because you are smiling. A far feature from when I came to your door earlier.” She snapped a graham cracker in half and dug it into the s’more dip that was in the cast iron skillet over the fire.

“You know, when I pulled into the campground this morning, I thought my life was just over. When in reality, I think it’s just beginning.” I couldn’t get over how these people had just accepted me into their community after what Paul had done to them. “I’m sorry for what Paul did to the campground and the people who live here.”

All the gals from The Laundry Club smiled.

“I’m going to do my best to clean it up and make it a great place again. I know it’s going to take money and I don’t have it, but I’ll take a side hustle to help.” I nodded.

“I could use someone to help shelf the library books. I can’t pay much, but it’s something.” Abby offered.

“That sounds perfect.” I said. “Is there one of those dummy books for RV owners?”

“I think I can grab some books for you.” Abby took a graham cracker and dipped it into the skillet with the melted chocolate chips and marshmallows.

“I can help clean up your RV and, on a budget,” Dottie said. “It’s a mess.”

I forced a smile, hoping she didn’t think her camper was what she’d called cleaned up.

“I heard that you were going to host a fundraiser.” Betts stood up. “I can take you to a few stores around here and get some items for cheap.”

“Sound perfect.” I was on the verge of crying over all of their generosity.

“I’ll pick you up in the morning around 10 a.m. Now I’ve got to get home.” She bent over and hugged me. “My phone number is written on a piece of paper in one of the sacks. Call me if you need me.”

“I guess we should give all our numbers to you,” Queenie offered.

“Don’t worry.” Betts winked. “I wrote them all down.”

“I’ll be. When you walked into The Laundry Club this afternoon, I never figured you to be one of us. I guess you are in our club now.” Queenie lifted her graham cracker. “Welcome, Mae West.”