She answered the door wearing her usual evening attire, an old worn cotton print bathrobe and slippers. Mrs. "B" was busy hanging drapes, and wasn't sure what time Danny, her son would be home. He had gone with his father to a friend's house for a game of cards and pizza. I had stopped by to see if Danny was ready to go. He and I had talked about shooting some hoops at the park and then cruising the local burger joints and hangouts tonight.
"While you're here, would you mind giving me a hand with these drapes" she asked." "It will keep you busy until Danny gets home." And, since I now had absolutely nothing else to do, I agreed.
Danny and I were the best of friends. We lived two houses apart and were constantly hanging out at either his or my place. He was a couple of years older than me, having graduated high school three years ago, but we really got along well despite the age difference. His mom was always very nice; bright eyes, smiling, and a friendly face. She didn't work outside the home, but was always busy with some volunteer church work or social function. When at home, she would pass the time by sewing or reading. She was quite a bit older than the other moms of the guys we hung out with in the neighborhood.
"Danny was a late life mistake" as she joked more than once. Mr. and Mrs. B had Danny when they were in their forties. She was not an entirely unattractive woman, just very plain. She stood about 5' 2" and weighed roughly 150 lbs, almost never wore any makeup, and was kind of matronly; with almost shoulder length graying hair that was once chestnut brown based on the photos I had seen of her in her younger days. Definitely not someone you would give a second thought to walking down the street, except for her smile. That alone could brighten a room.
We headed in to the living room where Mrs. B had just started to re-hang some drapes she had taken down to clean and repair. She had some old Tony Bennett album playing on the stereo, the light from a table lamp in the corner of the room seemed dim compared to the hi-intensity lamp over her sewing machine, but gave a nice soft glow to the room. Next to the windows at the front of the house, illuminated by the table lamp and the light from a streetlamp coming through the windows, stood a small wooden three step ladder.
"Anthony", she said, "you couldn't have come at a better time. I wasn't sure how I was going to hang these without killing myself. If you could help hold the drapes neatly so they don't get wrinkled and kind of steady that old ladder for me, it would be a great help. Hold out your arms and I'll place these drapes over them to keep the pleats together." I did as instructed, and she laid a drapery panel across my extended forearms.
She then climbed the ladder to the top, reaching up to hook the drapes in place. "Could you try and steady this ladder for me? It's a little wobbly and I don't want to end up tumbling through the windows" she said half jokingly.
I reached out to steady the ladder from behind her, my head just brushing against her left hip as I had to bend down to reach it. This of course made the drapes bunch up as they slid down my arms, and made it difficult for her to access them.
"Maybe it would be better if you held onto me. You won't have to bend over like that" she said.
Now I had known Mrs. B for most of my life, but had never really touched her other than the occasional birthday or congratulatory hug, so I tentatively reached out, grabbing hold of her legs outside of her robe at the knees, and did my best to steady her. She pulled the top of the drape around her and reached up to begin hanging the first panel and in leaning forward, started to fall toward the glass. I panicked, trying to steady the ladder and her from behind, and in doing so dropped the drapes to the floor. She let out a slight yelp as she wobbled forward on that rickety old ladder, but managed to stay upright.
"Well that isn't working" she said as I gathered up the pile of material from the floor. "Let's try again. Why don't you come around to the front of the ladder? That way I can get to the drapes a little easier, and you should be able to steady me better from this angle."
