Somewhere That’s Green

 By:  Lara

 

"Justin, you need to keep him there!" Jenn exclaimed, taping a box shut. "Because you promised, okay?  Do I need to call Lara and tell her to kick your ass?  She'd do it."

"She's off playing with JC," Justin said.  "I told you I'd keep him here, and I will.  We'll play basketball all day, and then grab some dinner."

"Thank you," Jenn sighed, shifting the phone to her other ear as she shoved the box towards the steps.

"What time are Joey and Lance getting there?"

"In about an hour, I hope."

"You do realize Lance will be no help, right?  He might break a nail."

"Justin!"  Jenn snapped. "Be nice."

"It's true!  Do you know how much he pays for those damn manicures?"

"If you'd stop biting your nails for five minutes, you might be able to get your own expensive manicure," she pointed out.

"Shut up.  Remind me why I agreed to help you again?"

"Because you love Chris, and I love Chris. Because it's his birthday, and he's totally dreading it.  Because this is a dream come true for him and you know it.  Because..."

"Okay, okay," Justin grumbled.  "I'll make sure he doesn't come home until after dinner."

"Thank you, J," Jenn said. She hung up and dialed Lara's cellphone number.

"Hello?  Wait, hold on...Joshua Scott, don't make me pull all the hair out of your head!"

"Hello, Lara," Jenn said.

"Jenn! Sorry, I...dammit, JC!  He's trying to tickle me!"

"And get your clothes off in the process, I'm sure."

"Something like that.  Josh, I mean it, stop!" Lara yelled.  Jenn heard a crash in the background. "Oh, baby, are you okay?"

"What happened?" Jenn asked, laughing.

"I pushed him off the bed and he landed on his non-existent ass."

"Are you sure you two can't bring that energy over to help move?"  Jenn asked.

"We could for a few hours, I guess," Lara said.  "JC, get up and get dressed.  We need to go help Jenn.  Where IS Chris, anyway?"

"At the gym," Jenn replied.  "Apparently the one he had built in the basement isn't good enough."

They chatted for a few moments and then hung up.  Jenn knew exactly why Chris wouldn't work out in the private gym.  It depressed him.  If he was at a public gym, he could focus on other people working out, or on his trainer, and he wouldn't have to think about the fact that he was getting older.  He would never again be as physically fit as he had been at twenty.  And when he saw Justin, and how young and strong he was, it only depressed him more, even though Justin was one of his best friends.  It had taken a long time for Chris to achieve his dreams, and there were still many dreams he had yet to reach.  Jenn was making sure that on this birthday, he'd achieve yet another one.

 

"You know, once you get married, you have no sex life," Lance told JC as JC tried to tackle Lara onto one of Chris' sofas.

"Who told you that?"  Jenn asked Lance.

"PLEASE don't go into detail about your sex life with Chris," Joey begged.

"For the record, marriage does NOTHING to your sex life," Jenn told Lance.

"I was just trying to get the bunnies to stop humping every five seconds," Lance mumbled.

"Jealous much?" JC asked, grinning.

"He thinks that because it's Chris' birthday, HE needs to celebrate," Lara teased, and JC grabbed for her again.

"C'mon, you guys, we don't have all day," Lance said, actually stomping his foot.

Lara and Jenn giggled.  JC mumbled something about flaming queens and carried a lamp out to the waiting U-Haul van.  "I can't believe he said that," Joey said.  "If it wasn't for you, we'd be calling HIM the flaming queen," he said to Lara.

"Trust me, JC is NO queen."

"Not hearing this."  Lance put his hands over his ears. 

"Get at the end of that sofa," Joey ordered, giving him a shove.

They worked quickly, and the van was over half full in about an hour.  "What about the bedroom furniture?" Lance said, weakly leaning against the van.

"I'm leaving that.  We'll have someone pick it up later. I got us a new set. It's already at the house."  Jenn looked at Lance, JC and Joey. "You guys, you don't even know how much this means to me.  Your help with moving, the money you loaned me...it means the world."

"Chris is worth it," JC said, and Joey and Lance nodded.

"This is what he said he always wanted," Jenn said with a sigh. "Even after everything he has here. I just hope it's worth all the work."

"It will be, Jenn," Lara said, giving her a hug.

 

"Honey?" Chris called into the house.  His voice echoed strangely.  The entire day had been strange.  Chris had gone right from the gym to Justin's house, and they had played basketball for almost two hours.  Justin hadn't allowed Chris to go home; instead he made him shower and change at Justin's. They went for a nice dinner, which Justin seemed intent on drawing out as long as possible.  Chris, who had been expecting some sort of evil surprise party, was actually more surprised at the fact that there WAS no party...and at the fact that his wife hadn't called him once.

Chris turned on the light in the foyer and gasped.  Everything was gone. No pictures on the walls, no plant in the corner. He hit the living room, dining room and family room, and found the same thing.  Everything had vanished, including his wife.

"JENN!"  Chris screamed.  He ran up the stairs and into the bedroom.  His bedroom furniture was still there, but none of the other things that decorated the room.  He caught notice of a note on the bed.  "Six-fifteen Seneca Street."  Chris scratched his head, then hurried back down to his car.

 

Seneca Street was part of a small suburban development that had been created after World War Two.  The houses all looked alike, and they all had small flat lawns and either chain link or white picket fences surrounding the properties.  Chris parked in front of number six-fifteen and got out of his car. 

"Nice evening, isn't it?" A man called from the front porch of six-thirteen. 

"Uh, yes," Chris said, barely remembering to be polite.

He went up to the front door and knocked. No one answered. A dim light was on in the front room of the small house, and Chris peered in the window. He was shocked to see his lamp, his grandfather clock, and his sofa.  He threw the door open and went inside. His mouth opened and closed as he looked around.  All of his belongings, at least those that could fit inside the little house.  He looked around, then slowly made his way up the small staircase.

Jenn smiled up from the bed.  "Like the new bedroom suite?  I didn't think you'd mind going to a full-size instead of the queen."

"Uh, yeah, sure."  Chris' hand rubbed over the old-fashioned oak finish.  "What, uh, what are you doing here?  What are WE doing here? What's our STUFF doing here?"

"Remember how you said that even though you had all the money in the world, it wasn't what made you happy?" Jenn sat up. "Remember how you told me once that you wanted to raise your family on a quiet little street, in a quaint little house, with a yard you could mow?  You wanted your children to be able to play in the street, to climb and hop over a chain link fence?"

"Yes, I remember."

"Happy birthday, Christopher." Jenn laid a key in one of his hands, then took the other hand and placed it on her stomach. "This is the key to your house, and this is your first fence hopper."

"I...oh, Jenn."  Chris gave her a breathless kiss and hugged her tight.  He then pulled back and grabbed her hand, eager to look at his house.  "Can we have a grill?"

"Anything you want, baby," Jenn said, laughing as she followed him out of the bedroom.

 

A matchbox of our own/A fence of real chain link/A grill out on the patio, disposal in the sink/A washer and a dryer, and an ironing machine/In a tract house of our own...somewhere that's green...

 

She rakes and trims the grass/I love to mow and weed/She cooks like Betty Crocker, and looks like Donna Reed/There's plastic on the furniture to keep it nice and clean/In the Pine Sol scented air...somewhere that's green...

 

Between our frozen dinners and our bedtime, 9:15/We snuggle watching Lucy on our big enormous 12-inch screen/She's my December bride, I'm father, I know best/Our kids watch Howdy Doody as the sun sets in the west/A picture out of Better Homes and Gardens magazine...far from skid row, I dream we'll go somewhere that's green...

 

(From the Broadway show "Little Shop of Horrors")

 

The End 

 

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