The Class Menagerie

California and raspberry is Connecticut.“
    Jane laughed. “And what does mayonnaise and lettuce mean?“ she asked as he slapped some rather limp leaves onto his sandwich.
    “Outer space,“ he replied, biting into his construction with a happy grin.

    After Mel ate, they sat on the sofa watching an old Jean Harlow movie. Mel had his arm around Jane, and after a while, gently leaned his head on her shoulder. She shivered with anticipation of the nice neck-nuzzle kiss that was coming.
    But after a moment she realized his breathing was altogether too regular and even for kissing. He’d fallen asleep. She smiled and snuggled closer, thinking how very comfortable it was to have a sleeping man around again. She didn’t really think she wanted it to be a permanent situation, but it was certainly nice for a change.

- 21 -

    On Saturday morning Jane broke down and cleaned out the refrigerator. This was like closing the barn door after the horses had gone, but made her feel better anyway. She’d have to be sure Mel saw the inside of it next time he was here, just so he’d know it didn’t always look like it had the evening before. Although, in fact, it usually did.
    As always when she did this chore, she found things she had no memory of buying. The red cabbage, for instance. What had she been thinking, getting that? It had rolled back into a corner and turned papery with age. There were the usual sprouting onions and potatoes and a carton of unspeakable cottage cheese. What if Mel had noticed and opened that , she thought. The answer was that he’d probably have fallen over, asphyxiated, as she almost did when she discovered it. Even Willard, who considered the refrigerator a veritable feast of odors, had backed away from it.
    “Mom, what’s that smell !“ Katie said, stumbling into the kitchen in her nightgown. She picked Max up and cuddled him. Max, who’s idea of what was edible was at significant variance from Jane’s, meowed to be put back where he could watch for any tasty morsels Jane might unearth.
    “A lot of very old things,“ Jane said. “Why did somebody put the lunch meat back here without closing the wrapper?“
    “Must have been Todd. He’s the only one who eats that yucky stuff,“ Katie said with a yawn. “It looks like a frilly hockey puck.“
    She leaned around Jane and fished a can of tomato juice out of the refrigerator and took it back upstairs, presumably to give her strength to begin a strenuous day of telephoning.
    Mike came down a few minutes later, already showered and dressed. He poured himself a gigantic bowl of cereal and Jane automatically handed him the milk. “She’s already on the phone,“ he mumbled around the first mouthful of flakes. Meow was sitting on the chair opposite, watching him eat.
    “I know. Don’t give that cat milk on the table! What are you up to today?“
    “Scott and I are going to the library, then over to some school that’s having a football game he wants to see.“
    “Funny, I didn’t think Scott was that crazy about football,“ Jane said, sponging off a shelf with baking soda solution.
    “Cheerleader,“ Mike explained. “You didn’t need me for anything, did you?“
    “No, but I need my car.“
    “It’s okay. Scott’s driving.“
    Mike had left and Jane had the refrigerator done when Elliot’s mother called. “Jane, I saw something in the paper this morning about a county fair that sounds like fun. We’re going to make a day trip of it. Well, day and night really. We’ll probably go to the carnival in the evening and stay overnight. You don’t mind if Todd comes along, do you?’.’
    “I’d be thrilled. Dorothy, I’ll keep them both out of your hair next weekend.“ Jane went upstairs to shower off the stale odor of elderly vegetables, then told Katie she was leaving.
    Katie covered the phone with her hand. “Mom! I’ve got to get a haircut today!“
    “You should have said so earlier. I don’t have time to take you. I told you I was going to be busy today, remember?“
    “Everybody’s going to stare at me. I look like a witch!“ She flounced her hair to make the point clearer.
    “You’ll tough it out and be a better person for it,“ Jane assured her. “Be sure and lock up if you go out.“

    When she got to the bed and breakfast, nobody seemed in much of a picnic mood, understandably enough. But they’d all decided to go along anyway, because otherwise they would have been trapped at Edgar’s all