No Team To Root For (3) There were no goodbyes. * III Barrett, wearing a new all-silk Pierre Cardin warm-up, sat quietly in his small private office. He never wore a tie or a white jacket, equating a white jacket with a uniform and a tie with a noose. As usual he was looking over an assortment of colored brochures on Aruba and Maui. The glossy advertisements were scattered across an already cluttered and overloaded desk. How wonderful it would be, he thought, to dress even more casually in the tropics. Just a loud Hawaiian shirt and white shorts. He continued to see Aruba and Maui as his utopia. It was to be his fantasy life after he retired in six years. He could visualize him-self walking barefoot along the clean sandy beaches. He ignored the intercom. "Doctor Jessop." He could feel the cool splash of the ocean against his naked legs. "Doctor Jessop." He could see the glorious sunset. "Doctor Jessop!" Marie was yelling now. "Oh --- ah --- yes, Marie. I --- was --- uh ---. What is it?" "Mrs. Lunt is here for an eye exam." Barrett quickly gathered up the brochures and put them back in the top drawer of his desk. "I thought we didn't have any appoint-ments scheduled today so I could finish all this damn paper work." "Well, we don't --- didn't. I tried to tell her that she needed an ap-pointment, but she insists on seeing you." "She insists. Goddamn it!" How could some disconcerting bitch have the fucking gall to walk into a professional office without an appointment --- and insist yet! "Hello, Mrs. Lunt." Barrett wore his best and biggest phony smile. He would be the first one to admit that ninety-five per cent of his patients were nice, considerate and appreciative. He surmised that Dora Lunt represented the other five per cent. "Now, Dr. Jessop, I hope you do a better job than the last person I went to." I wonder who the poor son-of-a-bitch was! "My two children said not to come here. They said that I should go to a real doctor. But you are so close to where I live, that I decided to come here anyway." How decent of you and how fortunate for me! Barrett did his usual eye examination, trying to get her to choose, or at least come close to choosing those lenses that would appear to improve her vision. "Oh dear!" Mrs. Lunt was almost in tears. "I am getting all con-fused. You are going too fast. I can't tell any difference. All the lenses look alike to me!" The optometrist impatiently pushed the lens phoropter. "Okay, Dora. The exam is over!" Then he roughly escorted the elderly woman, confused now more than ever, to the large frame room where Marie would take over and help Dora Lunt select a frame for her new glasses. Marie Sylvan was sixty years old, short and plump, with large ha-zel eyes and long graying auburn hair. Never having married, she had been Barrett's assistant since he opened his office twenty-nine years ago in the small downtown section of Patton. Barrett always marveled at how Marie, with her infectious smile, her calm manner, and her pleasant disposition, could erase the hostile atmosphere he created and make someone as flustered as Dora Lunt feel totally at ease. Marie always knew what to say and exactly how to say it. So for the time being at least, his problems with Dora Lunt were solved. Barrett went wearily to his desk, each step seeming a major ef-fort. He resisted the impulse to take out the brochures on Aruba and Maui and instead found himself staring at a huge stack of insur-ance forms that needed to be filled out. He hated this part of the job, but in order to compete, he knew he had no choice. The insur-ance companies were notoriously slow to pay. And when they fi-nally did, it was only seventy or eighty per cent of the actual fee. And Barrett had to accept this reduced fee as payment in full. Be-cause if he didn't, there was always some asshole who did. It was a no-win situation! "Dr. Jessop." Marie was on the intercom again. "Yes, Marie." "Mrs. Jessop is here." "Really? Send her in." Janet rarely came to the office. And when she did, it was always for money. ( And of course Barrett was al-ways accommodating!) "Hello, Barrett." Janet wore a red lightweight wool suit. Her high heels and tight skirt accentuated a better than average figure. When Barrett looked at her like this, he remembered how he used to enjoy being with her. How he loved to touch her. How he loved to hold her. He remembered when they actually slept in the same bed! "Hello, Janet." Both spoke unenthusiastically and each seemed to sense the other's uneasiness. "Barrett, I need some money. I have to get a --- " "Sure." Figures! "How much?" "Well --- " "Fifty?" "I think that --- " "A hundred?" Christ! I can't fucking believe I'm doing this! "That would be fine." A faint smile appeared on Janet's face. Barrett reached into his wallet and handed her two fifties. "Well that was simple enough." "Yes." answered his wife. "Simple and painless." "I said simple. I didn't say painless." "Well --- thanks." She put the two fifties in her purse and turned to leave. "Janet --- " "Yes." She was still facing the door. "I --- I --- " Barrett stuttered. The atmosphere was still tense. "You what?" Derision crept into Janet's tone. Barrett did not respond. "Look." Janet turned to face her husband. "I am in a hurry. What?" He looked his wife in the eye and said softly, "We have both said --- things." "We have?" Janet looked at her watch. " --- painful things." "Barrett, get to the point!" The smile had long since vanished. "I know it has been awhile --- " The optometrist paused. Her eyes bore into his. "This is exasperating, Barrett. Talk!" "Well --- I thought maybe we could --- share a twin bed tonight --- if you know what I mean." There were several seconds of silence. "Yes. I know what you mean." "I mean --- it has been a long time --- " What the hell am I do-ing? Janet took a deep breath. "I --- I don't know, Barrett. I --- " "One night, Janet. One night! It won't be the end of the world!" Janet paused. "Tonight?" "Yes. Tonight." Barrett waited. "Well, what do you say?" Janet looked at her purse with the two fifties in it. Then she nod-ded. "Okay, Barrett." "Okay, Janet. See you --- " But she had already left. * Barrett Jessop canceled his last appointment, then stopped at the florist for daisies. Janet loved daisies. He ardently entered his home at 6:30. Janet had just finished vacuuming the family room carpet. He laid the daisies on the coffee table. "Hi, Janet. I --- " "Listen, Barrett, I cleaned the kitchen. Try not to mess it up." She took a purse from the closet. "Where are you going?" Pain and anger were mixed. "I have a canasta game tonight. I'll probably be late." "But I thought --- " Barrett's knuckles were white. "Barrett, you are tracking dirt into the ---" "Fuck the dirt! We had a date tonight." Barrett could feel his heart beat in his throat. "A date?" Janet's gaze was focused on the knotted vacuum cord. "Well --- " Barrett picked up the daisies. " --- sort of a date." "I don't think so." The knot was out and the vacuum cleaner was put away. "Goddamn it!" This time he threw the daisies on the table. "Don't yell at me! I don't like being yelled at!" "I --- I'm sorry. I --- " "Sure you are!" said Janet sarcastically. "But today at the office we made a date." Barrett knew he was on the verge of crawling. Janet paused for several seconds before she responded. "I know we did, Barrett. And we shouldn't have." Barrett stared at his wife. "Why not?" Janet took a deep breath. "I --- I guess I'm not interested in that aspect of our marriage any more." "Well, maybe we can --- " Barrett cleared his throat. " --- work toward making it better --- " He cleared his throat again. " --- that aspect, I mean." Janet shook her head. "No, Barrett." "But if we tried real hard --- " "NO!" Barrett waited for what seemed like hours before he answered. "There was a time you would never have said all that." "Maybe there was a time I wouldn't have had to say it." Agitation replaced composure. Barrett was certain his entire body was blood red. "And we have a class a lousy marriage! Are you aware of this?" Janet clenched her teeth. "How many times do we have to go over this? For me this marriage works fine." She pointed her finger at him. "I told you, it's you!" "Like hell it is!" He could feel the veins in his neck bulge. Janet took a step toward her husband and looked him in the eye. "It sounds like it's your problem, Barrett. So why don't you deal with it and leave me alone!" "My problem?" My problem?" "Yes. Your problem." She put her purse under her arm. " You tell me you never loved me! You compare our sex life to a virus! You --- "Barrett --- " "How can you say it's my problem?" "Barrett, I have no time now for this." Janet's hand was on the doorknob. "I told you I have a game tonight." "Screw the damn game!" "Don't you talk to me that way!" Barrett took a step back and spoke softly. "I'm sorry. But we have to resolve this." "There is nothing to resolve. Why do you keep saying that?" Barrett looked down for only a second. "I --- I still have feel-ings." "So do I." Janet sneered. "All negative!" "Janet --- please --- " "Barrett, don't beg." "Janet. I am asking you nicely." "Goodby, Barrett. And don't dirty the kitchen!" * IV "Dr. Jessop." It was Marie on the intercom. "Yes, Marie." Barrett put away his exotic travel pamphlets. "Isaac Parsons is here for his appointment." Barrett saw Isaac Parsons as the stereotype farmer. He wore old, stained, faded, ill-fitting blue overalls. His hands were dirty and his fingernails were black. At age sixty-seven, he still worked twenty hours a day. Barrett did the eye exam and took Isaac into the frame room. The only question the farmer asked was, "How much is all this gonna cost? Remember, I'm just a poor farmer on a fixed income!" "Bullshit!" thought Barrett. The entire town knew that Isaac Par-sons was one of the wealthiest men in Patton. But he still bragged about having the first dollar he ever made! Barrett had no compas-sion or patience for people that were this rich and this cheap. "Here, Dr. Jessop. Let me help." Marie, with her warm smile fully intact, once again stepped in to avert an apparent conflict and save a seemingly hopeless situation. It was something she was most adept at. She had certainly done it plenty of times. "Well, Marie." Barrett walked up to the front desk as soon as Isaac Parsons left. "Thanks again."
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