The Club

Chapter 20 - Departure

I left Jason counting scorecards in the Proshop and headed to the Clubhouse. My mother and Deirdre were in conversation with Ena and Al Greene. Ena was talking a mile a minute to Lorna whilst Deirdre tried to contain uproarious laughter. I could just imagine. Al was looking for any escape from the conversation and when our eyes met he took that as the opportunity to meet me at the door.

“How are you, Al?” I asked?

“My head hurts, my feet stink, and I’m in love with a woman I can’t stand,” Al announced.

I had no response as is so often the case when Al speaks. I went to give him the particulars of the Chicago trip which, I felt, would only be the first of many times that I would have to give the rundown on the itinerary.

“Been a while since I’ve been back home,” Al said. “I think I’ll head back for a visit in September,” he continued. “They keep trying to give me work at the embassy but of course I refuse, but there is a trip to Chicago to meet a state department representative this fall and I think I’ll put my hand up for it. Great town, Chicago; you have to get to Buddy Guy’s ‘Legends’ bar, take a walk on Navy Pier, and check out Michigan Avenue. Of course you’ll want to make it to Wrigley Field even though I have always preferred Comisky Park or whatever they are calling it these days,” Al said.

“Cloudy tells me there’s a place I’ve got to go to called Kingston Mines,” I queried.

“Never heard of it,” said Al.

I made a bit more small talk and slipped off towards Deirdre and Mom who were continuing to listen to a soliloquy by Ena Greene on the lack of a decent hairdresser in Canberra. I safely rescued them by saying, “Ena, Al has been looking for you. I think there’s a problem with the timing of the hors d’oeuvres”.

“Al, Al….I’m coming. You’d think these Aussie chefs had never seen a kishka before,” she said as she floated away.

“Nice save,” said Deirdre. “That woman is hilarious”.

“Lovely woman,” my mother said, “though I have to admit she could do well to take the occasional breath”.

“So glad you could come, Mom,” I said with a big hug.

“I wouldn’t have missed it for the world,” she said. “I know you have always wanted to get over to the U.S. so here’s your chance.”

“Deirdre says the two of you will be moving in together once you get back from Chicago,” Mom said.

It’s one of those subjects that a boy doesn’t really want to bring up with his mother. There is the issue of intimacy which is to be avoided at all costs when your mother is around, and of course the “manly” need to never ask for approval comes into play.

“High time, if you ask me,” said Mom, smiling at Deirdre. “A woman’s touch is definitely needed in that apartment.”

Deirdre smiled back at Lorna. A potentially embarrassing moment had been addressed and avoided, and once again I had the women in my life to thank for putting my mind at ease.

I left the pair chatting away and headed for the table containing Harry and Tom and a bunch of new juniors from the development squad.

“I’d better not see any liquor at this table,” I said.

The boys blushed.

“What do you want brought back from the U.S.?” I asked.

The boys ran through a gamut of possibilities and decided that they’d prefer the Statue of Liberty or Jennifer Lopez.