Epilogue

Epilogue:  Me and Madame Curie

Five weeks after me and Mary Lou got to Colorado, we broke up. Being in the truck so long, maybe that was part of it, and not knowing nobody in Denver except each other. When we had our big fight, she said she was going home to New Naples. I was so mad I said, "Fine. Who needs you?"

But I felt pretty rough. I missed her so bad. My chest hurt like I had pneumonia or something, I couldn't get my breath at night when I laid down. I wanted Mary Lou to talk to, now I didn't know nobody in Denver besides me.

Plus I thought Marlene's house would get sold right away, but it didn't. The real estate guy knocked it down two thousand dollars and nobody took it anyway. I had to get a job at a bak­ery, and I got robbed twice. It was a crummy job, but it was on the bus line. I wished I hadn't give my car to Marty. But I went out and put in job applications every day.

Things have got better since then. Last month I got a good job, driving for the library. I'm the Home Bound lady, when people are old or sick or something, the library sends them out books to read. The people order them up on the phone, and I drive out to their house. I use the library car now, but I'm going to get me another car pretty soon. Then the library will pay me for my mileage.

There's this woman named Marie that works at the library. She don't live in Denver, she drives in from some dinky town. I told her about New Naples, she said it sounded like where she lives at. Some night this week me and her are going bowling. I don't sit home by myself like I used to.

Every day before I drive out on my Home Bound run, I have to go through the library shelfs and get down whatever books my people want to read. When I see Spanish Made Easy or The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, it makes me think about Rusty and I feel sad. But then when I want to cheer up, I get down the book about Madame Curie.

The End