Gilbert's New Girl

I had gone to church as usual. Well, not really as usual, because ever since Tally moved in with us, I didn’t feel right about attending church in Endora, so I had started driving over to Motley to pray for Gilbert’s soul. I knew my prayers had gone unanswered when I got home that Sunday and went upstairs to change out of my good clothes. Tally’s room door was open, and her bed was unmade, but she was nowhere to be seen. She certainly wasn’t downstairs, and it didn’t take long to realise that she wasn’t in the bathroom either. That left only one place for her to be; behind the closed door of Gilbert’s room. They must have knew I was home, I made enough noise about it as I vacuumed the carpets with almost as much viciousness as Gilbert inflicts on the lawn when something is upsetting him. I guess my brother and I are more alike than either of us care to admit.

It was almost noon before they came downstairs. Gilbert looked like the cat who got the cream and Tally was blushing like a bride, minus the wedding ring. ‘Me and Tally are gonna go to the Craft Fair over at Fern Creek,’ Gilbert said, unable to keep the smile off his face. ‘D’you wanna come with us?’ To this day, I swear I don’t know if they wanted me to say yes or no, but given that they were barely able to keep their hands and mouths apart, they probably wanted me to say no. I said yes, and the three of us headed off to the Craft Fair. Gilbert bought Tally some glittery silver earrings and she bought him a second hand paperback copy of ‘Dune’. They held hands as they strolled from stall to stall; the tenderness of their love tore at something inside of me and I wished I had stayed home. I even wished Tucker was here; at least he would have made me feel a bit less like a loveless freak. I bought nothing for myself or for them, but Gilbert bought me an Elvis fridge magnet, and although it was kind of tacky and tasteless, I liked it; just like Gilbert knew I would.

The consummation of their love was never openly acknowledged and certainly never spoken about, but the spare room was back to being the spare room, and Tally spent every night wrapped up in the arms of my brother. They were happy and deeply in love, but the deeper their love grew, the more opposition it met from the townsfolk. Part of me agreed with their objections---it was wrong, the age difference between them. And part of me found it hard to ignore their happiness. Gilbert glowed with pleasure every time Tally looked his way, and all he had to do was pull her closer to him for Tally to melt like an ice cream cone in the noon day sun. So why did I still feel it was so wrong for them to love each other? And of course, I had Tucker constantly reminding me that if anyone in this world deserved a little happiness, it was Gilbert. ‘He did everything for the family, and none of you ever really appreciated what he did.’ Tucker was on his knees fitting a new door seal to the washer. ‘I know what he did---you don’t have to remind me of what he did, but taking care of Arnie doesn’t give him an exemption from acting like a responsible adult for the rest of his life.’ Tucker raised his head and gave me a look that said it all, but just in case I missed the point he said, ‘You got a nerve, Amy. You really do. So your boyfriend dumps you for your sister and you sign up for a lifetime of loneliness and misery, and you expect Gilbert to do the same just to keep you company. Well, I got news for you, you’re stuck with me, because Gilbert’s not going to spend the rest of his life being miserable just to make you feel better about yourself.’ Sometimes I hate Tucker more than I hate….no, I’m not going to say his name; I don’t want anyone to think I care enough to remember it.

Another couple of weeks went by and Mrs Fenner from across the street, pulled me aside and said, ‘I feel bad for you Amy, having to live with the shame of your brother’s selfish behaviour, and I just wanted you to know that I would be happy to let you board with me. It’s a real nice room and the rent would only be…..’ I cut her off politely, saying, ‘Thanks for the offer Mrs Fenner, but I’d rather die than have to live with you.’ When I told Tucker he said it was as close to a ‘fuck off’ as I was ever likely to come, and that he was proud of me! It was round about that time when Gilbert told me that Dale McAvoy, the accountant who looked after Mr Lamson’s affairs, had called and said that maybe it was time to look for someone else to manage the store. Gilbert seemed more accepting of what I saw as an act of betrayal. I was furious that they were thinking of letting Gilbert go.

‘What else is he meant to do, Amy? The store is losing money and it’s the only source of income Mr Lamson has. Dale knows what’s going on. He knows why the customers are staying away, but at least he didn’t tell me to get rid of Tally to get things back on track.’ Gilbert gave me a sad little smile and suddenly I felt a wave of sympathy for him wash over me. I was on the verge of saying the first kind thing to my brother in months, when Tally called him into the kitchen and the moment was lost. Tally was learning to cook and some of the creations she placed in front of us were truly terrible! But the girl was a trier, I have to give her that, and no matter how awful the food was, Gilbert ate every bit of it like it was some gastronomic delight straight from Julia Childs’ kitchen. I guess you do things like that when you’re in love.