Wallace Nutt and the Linen Closet Bellhop

A New Start

If you were standing in Florence McGillicuddy's freshly mown front yard on the afternoon of July 23rd at exactly 4:28 pm., you probably would've noticed two things: her painfully off-key rendition of Stevie Wonder's 'I Just Called To Say I Love You' as it unmercifully wafted out her open kitchen window. And secondly, a head of loose, curly blonde hair bobbing along just above her perfectly trimmed hedge as it moved north along Victoria Drive.

    This particular head of hair belonged to one Wallace James Nutt, and although it was impossible for him to know it at that moment, his life was about to change completely in exactly 14 minutes and twenty-eight seconds.

    So, on this beautiful afternoon, as he rounded the last corner and squirrelled his way through the gap in the fence in front of their apartment building, he couldn't have imagined his mom would be upstairs with a huge smile on her face as she re-read the same letter for the sixth time. She had good reason, too - after two full years of sending out countless resumes and interviewing practically everywhere, Wendy Nutt had finally gotten a position as an English professor halfway across the country.

    And at this particular moment, she was having a very hard time containing her excitement.

    Exactly thirteen minutes and 23 seconds later, Wallace finally made his way up the last two flights of stairs to the small, two bedroom apartment they shared and let himself in.

    "Hey, mom! I'm home!" he called out as he walked in.

    He tossed his red canvas book bag, filled to bursting with library books, onto the sofa and plopped down in anticipation of a delicious early dinner. His mother, who had been impatiently hovering in the kitchen waiting to surprise him, finally emerged from the kitchen with a barely-containable grin on her face.

    Wallace looked up and watched her as she came in. Right away he could tell something was up.

    Now almost to the point of bursting, Wendy Nutt nervously cleared her voice and made the announcement.

    "Da – da –tada... I got it – I got the job!" she squealed, and then proceeded to jump up and down. Wallace was soon on his feet and jumping, too. They hugged each other, and there were tears. And most of them were happy ones. 'Most' because things hadn't exactly been easy for them.

    Six years earlier, Wallace's dad went missing during a camping trip, and never came home. Ever since, their once cozy apartment had slowly become too cramped with too many memories and regrets. And it went without saying that it was a curse being an only child being raised by a single mom in a small, gossipy city like River's Fork; neighbors would openly ask: 'what happened to your dad?' and 'what was his widowed mom going to do?', etc. Tongues wagged, and the rumors and whispers became too much to bear. Eventually, there were even accusations that Wendy Nutt was an incapable mother. Wallace had heard them all, and then some.

    The news couldn't have come at a better time.

    They sat down and Wallace listened to the details, the most important of which had to do with the living arrangements. Much to Wallace's pleasant surprise, the university was offering them a house to live in, free of charge - donated by a former professor several years earlier who had left his entire estate, including the house, to the university. They would only responsible for paying utilities and could reside there as long as Wendy worked at the school.

    After they had almost worn themselves out jumping around, Wendy had more news.

    "And... I just picked these up downtown" she said, pulling out a thick white envelope. "You wanna guess what's inside?" she asked, waving the envelope back and forth.