Love in Bloom?

THE FALLING LEAVES

 

The doorbell rings. I yell, "Who's there?' 'Mrs. Bloom, are you home?' 'No, Maishie, I'm answering you from my grave. What do you want?' 'Mrs. Bloom did you know your roof gutters  are already stuffed with leaves. Last nite's rain didn't come thru.' 'Who says so, Maishie?' 'I said so. Didn't you hear me? I could see from my kitchen window, that's how. So do you want me to clean them out for you?' 'No, thanks. I'll wait until the trees are almost bare. Goodbye, Maishie.'

 

'Sarah,' I say to my younger sister, 'What does that man want from my life? He's always finding things that he can fix for me and never takes money.' 'Sarah, I think he has eyes for you and is using me to work his way in your favor. I know it!' 'You're crazy, Millie, really crazy. He's too old and sloppy for me.' 'What do you mean too old for you? He's only 67, maybe 68, and you are 58. Who do you think is going to go after you eventually, a handsome 48 year old hunk in an Armani suit? Give Maishie a chance!'  'Leave me alone, Millie. You are mean.'

 

I drop the subject, go into the kitchen, fix a bowl of cereal with fresh blueberries, make toast and thickly spread orange marmalade on it while it is still hot.  After a quick clean up I go outside for a walk around my house to see what I can see. The trees are far from bare, but maybe leaves from the Fishman's and Ensor's trees are in my gutters and some of mine are in Maishie's. When I see him again, I'll ask him in for coffee. We'll talk. I can drop a few hints about Sarah's good job, how busy she is, how young she is. Maybe he is too shy to approach her, afraid to be turned down.

 

I look again at the leaves, go back in the house, turn on TV, watch the always dreadful news on CNN, switch to The View and then at noon the weather channel. 'A fall storm is on its way. Heavy rain will reach us about 3 a.m. Strong winds 25 to 35 mph. Temperature is expected to drop below freezing, rising to 36 by mid day.'

 

I go outside again.' Hey, Maishie. Come down a minute. Have you heard the latest weather report? ' 'No, Mrs. Bloom, haven't you noticed I've been on my roof cleaning my gutters all morning?' 'If the weather report happens to be on target today, aren't you wasting your time?' 'Maybe, maybe so. Maybe my house will fall down. Who knows?' He climbs back on the ladder and waves to me.

 

Sarah has gone to work and for some crazy reason, I feel lonely, go out to my terrace and watch Maishie working hard . I can see a few mimosa seedlings had taken root in the leaf mulch. He throws them into the 3 almost filled big, black plastic bags, ties the tops and drops them to the ground. After he carries them to the alley, he comes back and I ask, 'Maishie, want to take a rest and have a cup of coffee with me? You must be exhausted. That is dangerous work you do up there.' 'Thanks, Mrs. Bloom. I can use that coffee.'

 

He sits down at the table while I reheat the coffee I had made before coming outside. I can feel it, know right away, he is going to mention Sarah. We talk about neighbors, a little politics, music, movies. Maish pauses. I'm ready for his Sarah questions. The first question is, 'Will you have dinner with me Saturday night? I am struck numb and dumb, can't answer.

 

Maishie says, 'You've called me Maishie for a very long time. May I call you 'Millie?'

 

 'Of course, Maishie.'