Chapter 8
On Monday morning, Mary Louise arrived at the Y at about 9:45. The left side of the gym was empty, so she went to the supply room and grabbed one of the large bags that contained a pickleball net and started setting it up.
A few minutes later Beverly showed up and began helping her fit the pipes together and unroll the net. Her banishment for the Lloyd incident was now over. She was grumpy, which was not all that unusual, but Mary Louise had an idea what might be causing it this morning.
“So, it looked like you were having a lot of fun on Saturday night,” said Mary Louise.
Beverly lowered her chin and peered at Mary Louise over the top of her glasses.
“Are you seriously starting with me already?”
Mary Louise smirked. She kind of was.
Joanne came bebopping in and said, “Good morning, ladies!”
Beverly snorted. Mary Louise smiled.
“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Glenda the Good WItch,” said Beverly.
“Oh, Bev,” said Joanne. “Don’t be mad. I can’t help it if Bob and I had a connection.”
“How could there not be a connection with you hanging all over him?”
“I was not hanging all over him.”
“Were too.”
“Was not.”
“Were too!”
“Was not!”
“Ladies!” said Mary Louise. “For goodness sake, we’re not in middle school.”
Beverly and Joanne settled for glaring at each other as they all finished setting up. Dottie came in as they began dinking the ball back and forth to warm up.
“Good morning!” she said.
“Good morning,” they all replied.
Dottie went to Beverly’s side of the net and joined the warm up. It didn’t take her long to notice the tension between Beverly and Joanne.
“That was some party Saturday night, huh?” said Dottie.
“Yes it was!” said Joanne brightly.
Beverly slammed the ball in the corner of the court just out of Joanne’s reach, something they usually didn’t do when just warming up.
“Geez, Bev,” said Dottie, “Take it easy. We’re just warming up.”
Joanne retrieved the ball from the floor-to-ceiling panel that separated the two sides of the gym. She lightly tapped it over the net and said, “She’s just a bit grumpy this morning.”
Joanne was petite with short salt-and-pepper hair that framed her pixie face splendidly. Her glasses were hot pink and probably would have looked ridiculous on most anyone else, but suited Joanne fine. She did yoga three times a week and moved fluidly on the court. Bob did seem to have some interest in Joanne, although being the gentleman he was, he never left Mary Louise to her own devices. He made sure she was included in the conversations and that her wine glass remained full. Beverly attempted to engage Bob in conversation with only moderate success. Joanne was a fierce competitor when it came to chit chat.
After a few more volleys they decided it was time for a game. When Joanne went to get a sip of water, Mary Louise moved over to Dottie’s side of the court, forcing Joanne and Beverly to play together. If they were going to act like children, Mary Louise would treat them like children and see if they could work things out.
Dottie’s short bowed legs and ample belly fooled many a new competitor who thought she was a weak player. One game would change their minds. Dottie was quicker than her physique would lead you to believe, and she was also a bit of a ball magnet. Mary Louise felt like she was constantly moving to get to the ball, whereas Dottie just stood in one spot up by the kitchen and popped ball after ball back over the net without breaking a sweat. She also had mad ball placement skills. She was very good at popping it where her opponents were not.
Beverly held her paddle like a samurai about to go into battle. Finesse was not in her bag of tricks. She preferred to play hard and fast. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t. For this particular game it didn’t. Mary Louise and Dottie ended up winning the game. There were two paddles stacked on the bench with new players waiting to get in. Mary Louise and Joanne volunteered to sit out.
The gym was especially loud since it was spring break week and the other half was filled with screaming kids playing basketball. Thankfully lunchtime was announced and the kids moved to the bleachers with their packed lunches.
Joanne went to the restroom and Mary Louise watched the pickleball games in play. Dottie was now paired with a thirty-something lady in a short tennis skirt, and Beverly was paired with a tall, older gentleman with two knee braces.
As Mary Louise stood by watching the pickleball games in progress, a boy of about nine looked up at her from his seat on the bleachers and said, “My friend Ethan steals pickleballs.”
“Really?” commented Mary Louise.
“Yes. Everytime we’re in here he steals a pickleball.”
“Hmm. That’s not very nice.”
The boy shrugged and popped a cube of cheese into his mouth. “He has pneumonia. That’s why he’s not here today.”
Mary Louise briefly toyed with the idea of explaining karma to the freckle-faced kid but instead said, “Oh, I’m very sorry to hear that. I hope he gets better soon.”
Apparently that was all the boy had to say to Mary Louise since he turned his attention to the boy sitting next to him who was complaining about the mini carrots packed in his lunch box. Of all the things in the world the kid could have talked to her about, he chose to rat out his friend Ethan. Maybe it was his way of confessing for his friend.
Mary Louise didn’t understand boys very well, even though she had raised one. For that matter, she understood girls even less, even though she was one herself and had raised one. It had been months since she’d heard from her daughter Carla who was currently living in Seattle and working for some tech company. Even if she didn’t understand her son, at least he talked to her.
Joanne returned, fresh-faced and smelling of antibacterial soap.
“That was a close one,” she said. “What’s the next thing to go after your bladder?”
“I’ll have to check my list,” said Mary Louise. While they were waiting, Mary Louise remembered there was a question she’d been meaning to ask Joanne. “Why didn’t you tell me Coach Deborah is Cheyenne, Dottie’s daughter-in-law?”
“I don’t know what you mean,” said Joanne.
“You didn’t know Coach Deborah is married to Dottie’s son Aaron?”
“No.”
“Then how do you know her?”
“She just got a lot of amazing reviews on Yelp. I was kind of wondering what she was doing at Dottie’s anniversary party, but I never got a chance to go over and talk to her.”
Well if that didn’t take the cake, Joanne recommending a life coach based on some Yelp reviews. Although Mary Louise had to admit, Cheyenne did seem really, really good.
“How long have you been going to her?” asked Mary Louise.
“Oh, I guess about a year now. I just wasn’t feeling myself and thought it might help to talk to someone. I just couldn’t shake the brain fog I got into during COVID.”
Mary Louise could certainly relate to that. “I’m sorry to hear that. But you’re better now?”
“Oh, totally back to my old self, but I really like talking to her so I just kept going.”
Mary Louise couldn’t imagine herself going to Cheyenne beyond the six session pack she had invested in. Unfortunately she might be forced to choose her financial health over her mental health. Maybe she should get a part time job. That would help with both. Right now she had to focus on pickleball.
After another few sweaty games, Mary Louise packed up her things, said goodbye, and headed to the parking lot. She got in and started the car, looking quickly for the AC fan button to turn up the air. As she was buckling her seatbelt, she noticed a bulge in the left pocket of her exercise pants. It was a pickleball. She had stolen a pickleball. She sure hoped this didn’t mean that now she’d get pneumonia.
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