Grime and Punishment

spared answering his accusation by the sound of bounding footsteps on the stairs. “Hey, Mom,“ Mike yelled. “Is that Uncle Jim’s car in front?“
    “Right here, son.“
    “Hey, neat! What are you doing here?“ Mike asked with a grin.
    Jim got up and took the boy in an affectionate headlock that made Jane cringe. “Just camping out for a couple days. My apartment’s being painted and the stink drove me out. I’ve got tomorrow off work too, so I thought I’d see how this driving of yours is coming along. I’ll take you to school—uughffl”
    Mike was pummeling him in the stomach in a half-hearted attempt to break his grip. “Got-char he mumbled into Jim’s armpit.
    “Think you can beat the old man? I’ll show you a thing or two, you skinny kid! You need to put some muscle on those bones.”
    Jane left them wrestling their way around the room and went down to check on the casserole. The sounds of scuffling followed her. Mike needed a grown man in his life, she thought. He never talked about missing his dad, but he must. Wasn’t that kind of rough-and-ready male camaraderie important to a boy of his age?
    She turned off the oven and suddenly remembered that she had a chair problem. The kitchen table had five chairs, but after Steve died, she’d put one of them in the basement so they weren’t reminded at every meal of his absence. She had to find the missing chair. Of course, they could eat in the dining room, but that seemed too formal, and besides, tuna casserole wasn’t “company“ food.
    Katie came in, bubbling with enthusiasm for hair-frosting. “I think it would look great on me, Mom. I’m sure it would make me look taller, and it only costs sixty dollars. If you’d give me fifty, I could—“
    “Uncle Jim’s visiting while his apartment’s being painted,“ Jane interrupted. “I know you’ve had dinner, but I want you to sit with us anyway. You want to set the table or find the extra chair?”
    Katie considered it carefully, then grinned. “What’s easier?“
    “It’s a toss-up.“
    “Then I’ll get the chair. It’ll be neat having Uncle Jim stay here. I’m going to ask him what he thinks of frosted hair. I bet he’ll agree with me.”
    Over dinner—which Mike ate as if he’d fasted for a week Jim told the kids stories about their grandfather as a boy. Some of them were new to Jane, and she had a suspicion he was making them up for the sake of entertainment, but it didn’t matter. Funny family stories were a perfect antidote to the distress and horror she’d felt for the last few days. Jane cleared the table and started the dishwasher. She gave Max and Meow the leftover casserole, and treated Willard to a glob of raw hamburger so he’d leave the cats alone to eat.
    Jim and Todd adjourned to the living room, .where the older man helped the boy with his math homework. When Jane was through in the kitchen, she was surprised to discover that Mike and Katie had both brought their books in and were working in the same room. Katie seldom got that far from the phone when she was home.
    “Janey, you look beat,“ Uncle Jim said, looking up from the problem he and Todd were solving. “Why don’t you go on to bed? The kids and I will finish here and lock up for the night.”
    She eagerly took him up on the offer. Upstairs, she straightened up her bedroom, then stripped the wounded bed and remade it with fresh sheets. Soon enough she’d have to figure out what to do about the hole in the mattress, but not tonight. She got out her most treasured, expensive bath oil and took a long, hot soak. She tried not to think, but it was impossible to completely clear her mind. This peaceful, domestic evening had relaxed some of her tensions, but she could feel new ones coiling.
    It was awfully nice to have a man in the house again. Aside from all the frightening events that had brought him here, it was comforting to know that, for once, another responsible adult was going to make sure the kids went to bed at a decent hour, lock up the house, and make sure Willard went out one last time. Jane hadn’t fully realized the burden she’d been carrying as the only adult in the family until she’d gotten this brief opportunity to lay down a few of those tasks.
    She wasn’t the only one who appreciated Uncle Jim’s presence. The kids were obviously thrilled to have him. Sunday visits were a different matter—on Sundays he was a guest, her guest. Tonight he belonged here, belonged to