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It was a silent ride. Mel couldn’t think of anything to say, and he figured that everyone else picked up on his somber vibe.
When the van pulled up in front of the new building, they all clambered out. Adrienne and Charlene waited on the stoop and watched the three men struggle once again with the huge bureau. Mel saw the front door open. A tall man with butterscotch skin appeared and stood watching alongside Adrienne and Charlene. He was wearing jeans, boots, and a bomber jacket. A big man, Mel thought. That’s good since we could use some help.
“Hey, man, could you give us a hand?” he yelled.
The man trotted down the steps and grabbed an edge of the bureau. Adrienne went up to the second floor to unlock the door, and the four men grunted and gasped their way up the stairs and into the apartment. They set the bureau down in what was to be the living room. After a couple of trips back out to the van, all the boxes were in as well. Mel shook the stranger’s hand. “I’m glad you came along, man. Thanks a lot.”
“No trouble at all. I live on the first floor in the back.”
“You must be the cop,” Mel said bluntly.
The guy laughed. “I hope there’s more to me than that. My name is Ed Winsome. Welcome to the building.”
Mel introduced everyone, and then Adrienne gestured to Dan and Charlene. “Come on, let me show you the place.”
“Do you like it?” Adrienne babbled nervously as they walked through the rooms. “I thought I could buy a navy blue leather sofa like Mel always wanted. We could put it on this wall. What I want to do is recapture the homey feeling of our old apartment while at the same time creating something new.”
Mel smiled at Adrienne, realizing that she was anxious, too, and concentrated on maneuvering the bureau into the space where Adrienne wanted it. Mel moved some more boxes, then straightened up. His back hurt. He groaned.
“Are you all right?” Adrienne asked.
“Yeah, baby. I’m just getting too old for this shit.”
“Don’t worry,” Adrienne said. “I don’t see us moving out of this apartment for a long time.”
“I’m glad to hear we’re not moving soon, baby, because my back feels like it’s about to quit on me.” Mel laughed lightly.
“I have to be going now,” Ed Winsome announced.
The other two men and Charlene headed for the door, too, murmuring their good-byes as Mel pressed Ian’s payment into his skinny hand.
When everyone had gone, Mel pulled out his knife. “I’ll cut the tape on the boxes, and you figure out where to put things, okay?”
Adrienne smiled. “We have one bureau and nothing else. There’s nowhere to put anything yet.”
It was the truth. Mel sighed. “Okay. Do you have some blankets? We can’t sleep on this hard-assed floor.”
Adrienne looked at the boxes. She pointed at three that were clustered in a corner. “Try those.” Mel slit the tape on one box and peered in. “Makeup,” he said, bewildered.
Adrienne hastened to his side and pulled on his arm. “A gal’s got to look good,” she joked nervously.
Mel knelt down and removed each item. Five tubes of mascara, ten tubes of lipstick, ten lip liners, six packs of false eyelashes
, five bottles of White Diamonds perfume, three pumice stones, nine bottles of nail polish and four packs of Fashion Fair foundation. Every item in the box was still in its original package—unopened. Mel blinked and looked up at his wife, who was anxiously wringing her hands.
“What does this mean, baby?”
“I like to buy on sale, Mel.”
Mel slit the tape on the next box. There were three blankets and a radio. A big book lay at the bottom. Mel lifted it out. It was their wedding album. But that didn’t make sense, everything they owned had been destroyed in the fire.
“Did you have an extra album at Dan’s house or something ?”
Adrienne shook her head. “No. Mama sent me hers.”
“That was nice of her.”
“Yes, it was,” Adrienne agreed softly.
