Chp.10: Jim's Tuna Casserole

"She'll be happy to get rid of me anyway." Jim said to Lucy over the phone. He sat in the basement of his sister's home laying on his California King mattress. It was covered with a silk navy blue comforter with eight matching pillows neatly placed all around. The room smelled sweet and fresh with pineapple scented air-freshners plugged in three spots around the room. "You talked with Stacey yet?" he asked her, staring at the many awards and plaques he'd accumalated over the years. "Well she's a big girl now, I reckon she'll be alright..." After a few more minutes of being on the phone he finally ended the call with a "Love Ya." and hung up. He looked over across the room at a huge dark blue suitcase. It was open yet empty. He reached over and grabbed the remote from the nightstand and turned on the 42' flat screen television hanging on the wall. "Hola! Benthe Cinco, Cinco Ocho-" screamed the television, as lottery numbers popped up on the screen. He quickly turned the volume down and changed the channel. "What's been up with me and the spanish channel lately?" He asked himself as he focused his attention to the news. "Those of you just turning in, we are at the scene of a horrific accident. A cab driver has driven off Jumping Jacks bridge. It has been confirmed that the driver was not alone and took a passenger along with him. This is happening just 24 hours after-" Click! He threw the remote across the bed and laid back down. He couldn't stand bad news. It was bad enough one of his favorite little buddies from the school was lying in the hospital broken up. He needed to get away from this place. To much was going on around there. Besides, as of late all he could think of was heading to those beautiful corn fields in Nebraska. He'd gotten word from a good friend they were hiring out there and he really wanted to be there. Plus he really liked Nebraska's college football team. But he had so much going on here in North Carolina. "I know the church won't be to pleased." he thought to himself looking at the his award for best soloist at the North Carolina gospel showdown. "Oh well. Let me go tell sis." he said to himself, getting up from bed and heading up stairs.





"I'm reporting that damn woman to the principal! The nerve of her, making our kids come home with a silly project like that!" Cried his sister over the phone in the kitchen as she played with her brunette ponytail, smiling at her brother as he came up the stairs. "Well I gotta go, let me call ya later hon'... ok Bye Bye." Jim looked over at her, "You still givin' that science teacher grief?" he said going into the fridge to get a beer. "That woman had the nerve to send our kids home, telling them WE gotta do a 5 page report on dinosaurs and cavemen. I have to write 2 1/2 pages and so does Ronny. What kinda mess is that!" said the woman out of frustration. "Oh the woman is just doing her job." he said smiling at his sister. "What have I told you about all that dang drankin'?" said the woman grabbing the beer out his hands. "Besides you ain't turned the stove on yet to cook your world famous tuna casserole you been promisin' for the last two weeks. He frowned as the coldness of the beer left his hand. He held his head down and looked at the tiled floor. "Who has blue tiles on there kitchen floor?" he asked himself. "What's the matter Jim?" She asked, sounding concerned. He looked up at her and sighed. "Maggie, I wanna move to Nebraska." he said in a low tone sounding ashamed of himself. "Nebraska? Jim, stop it. You don't want to move to Nebraska." She said returning the beer back to the fridge. "What's in Nebraska Jim?" She said jokingly pulling out the ingredients for him out the fridge. "Work." he responded, turning on the sink water preparing to wash his hands. "They need some people out there to tend the corn fields, plus I've always wanted to go to Nebraska." "Stop saying that Jim, you've never wanted to go to Nebraska." Jim took a deep breath and placed both hands on the sink. "Now, Maggie, i've thought long and hard about this and i'm going to Nebraska." He said boldly. Maggie looked at him slamming a huge can of tuna on the counter with a half smile. "Jim, your fine right were you are. You got a place to stay, people who love and care about cha here. Heck, the people at church love ya and the kids at school. You need stability Jim. Your not going to Nebraska!" She said turning her attention back to fridge to get more ingredients. "Me and Lucy already talked it over, we're going next month. The money I saved up working at the Airport should be enough to get us started for a few months." "You and Lucy?" Maggie said with disgust in her voice. "Lucy on the corner in the blue house? Orange haired Lucy? White trash Lucy?" "Now wait a darn minute!" interrupted Jim. "Don't you go bad mouthin' my woman." He found himself pointing at her. She hated when he pointed at her. They stood staring at each other in the blue kitchen. The walls were blue. The countertop was blue. The fridge was blue. Maggie had a thing for that color. She wanted the blue house on the corner years ago when Lucy and her then husband Earl outbid her for it.





"Yay! Uncle Jim is making his tuna casserole!" Yelled a young voice coming into the kitchen. Jim looked over and saw his nephew and brother in law come in. "I've been waiting weeks for this Jim" said the man kissing his wife on the cheek and pulling a beer from the fridge. He looked at his wife and Jim. "You two keep looking at each other like that and the kitchen might turn red." he said smiling. "Jim's leaving us." Maggie said with disappointment. "Nebraska. He wants to go to Nebraska and play with some corn." "Well, If that's what Jim wants to do, I say go for it." said the husband opening the beer and taking a drink. Jim looked at the beer and his mouth began to water. "Don't go uncle Jim!" cried the young boy. "who's gonna help me with my homework and play ball with me, and cook. Mom can't cook-" "Ronald! Get upstairs and start on your homework!" "But ma, you said I didn't have to do this assignment..." "Go!" She said pointing towards the stairs. Jim watched as the kid ran upstairs pouting. He then turned his attention back to his evil sister. "I'll let you two discuss this." said the husband as he took his beer and fled the room. "What's your problem?" asked Jim, bending over to pull out a casserole dish from the bottom cabinet. "My problem, is that I don't think you need to be fleeing town with a newly divorced woman, talkin' about getting a place together in freakin' Nebraska. Hell, you just got divorced yourself. You need to just take it easy and settle down." She said with her hands on her hips watching his every move as he gathered the ingredients. "Maggie, we're not kids anymore. I'm a 47 year old man. If I want to get outta North Carolina, than I can do what I please. And that's that!" Maggie stood there watching him, until she figured she'd had enough of seeing his face. She reached over and grabbed the dish from him and the can of tuna. "Maggie, what are you doing!?" He said moving out of her way. "Just go!" she said with tears growing from her ducts. "You wanna go just go! Don't worry about dinner, i'll make it myself!" She said turning the water on full blast to rinse out the dish. Jim knew she was pissed and didn't bother to say anything else to her. He sighed heavily than headed back to his room. He looked at the empty suitcase and shook his head. He turned around and looked at the blue doors of the closet. He walked over and opened the twin doors. On the top shelf he pulled down a big bottle of Vodka. "This should carry me through the night." He said to himself as he opened the bottle and took a huge gulp...