Violet's Kismet

Chapter 4: Uncle Frank's Visit

Chapter 4

Uncle Frank’s Visit

Uncle Frank and I sat at the long oak dining room table laced in a fancy red and white checkered table cloth from Williams Sonoma. Grandmamma Maple was cooking multi-grain spaghetti and meatballs, our favorite. She hummed happily in her newly designed contemporary kitchen, which was remodeled with part of the settlement money after grandpa's passing. Grandmamma donned a fashionable baby blue flannel pajama set with stylish white fuzzy kitty slippers. Salem watched her intensely with his beady yellow eyes as he awaited his share of the meatballs.

The brick fire place was sparking warmly in the family room, which was in clear view of the dining room table. It was an unusually cold day in September and we opened up our pre-dinner discussion with the undeniable fact of how unpredictable the weather had been. In the past week the temperature had gone from the mid 80's down into the low 60's. I shivered and reached for my light gray sweater on the back of my chair, placing it on rather quickly. Grandmamma saw that I was cold and immediately rushed over. Her shoulder length light brown hair was pinned up in a messy bun, she had some grays showing.

“Why don't I close the window dear?” Grandmamma asked and I agreed, by nodding my head.

Grandmamma made her way back into the kitchen and then into the dining room once again carrying a big brown bowel of spaghetti and meatballs in one hand and a plate of buttered potato rolls in the other hand, as she had great balance!

“Ohhhhhhhh, yeah” Uncle Frank said hungrily as he smiled rubbing his hands together and tucking a napkin into his shirt.

Uncle Frank and I looked at each other with wide eyes. This was happiness at its finest, a nice family meal!

“Eat up dears, there's plenty more food where that came from!” Grandmamma encouraged us to eat our heart’s content as she sat down gracefully.

“Maple, Don't tell Mel this, but your spaghetti and meatballs trump Mel's any day!”

“Oh Frank, I promise, I won't tell her ...” Grandmamma winked one eye and placed her hand on Frank’s shoulder briefly. We all chuckled loudly.

Frank was wearing a pair of tan slacks and a light pink button down shirt, sporting a gold Rolex watch on his left wrist. He was a rather good looking man, not that I found him attractive, ewe, no. But he had Jade green eyes that were very large and long thick girly eye lashes. His had an inviting smile with lips that were usually a tint of red as if he had just eaten a cherry ice pop. He was 6'2” tall, lean and slightly muscular. When we took our monthly trips to Cross Gate Mall the teenage girls and middle aged women gave him googly eyes and smiled as he strutted by. Uncle Frank loved the attention. He was a very socially outgoing man who would just stop and talk to random people who stared at his good looks, while promoting his position on the town council.

Grandmamma Maple placed an old photo album onto the dining room table. I liked looking at old pictures; it made me feel like my parents were in the room with me again. As we filled our china plates piling the spaghetti high, Frank reached over to the photo album on the edge of the table.

“What’s this?” He asked as if he didn't know what it was. “Why it's an old photo album of John and Julia’s wedding. They were both so in love.” Grandmamma answered. 

John and Julia were the names of my parents. Just hearing their names makes me feel vulnerable as if I could cry at any second. As Frank reached his hand over to open up the photo album I felt sadness come over me but I held back the tears. Grandmamma sat at the head of the table and Frank and I sat across from one another. Frank opened the large white photo album as he stuffed his face full of spaghetti in large bites chewing with his mouth wide open. He placed the album so that we all could see. Frank and Grandmamma began reminiscing. I looked onward as if I was paying attention but I began drifting off into a daydream.

I was back in my old home in Troy, where I had grown up with my mom and my dad. I could hear Uncle Frank and Grandmamma laughing in the background. As I arrived home from school, the bus dropped me off and I opened the door to our home.

“Surprise!”

There were purple balloons everywhere! My parents, Uncle Frank and Aunt Mel were blowing kazoos. It was my 5th birthday. Mom placed a birthday hat on my head.

Purple has always been my favorite color. Dad said that's why he and my mom named me Violet, because they knew, even before I was born, purple was going to be my favorite color. He told me this story for the hundredth time as he greeted me lovingly at the foyer.

“Do you like it Pumpkin?” He asked.

“Yes, daddy, I love it! It's purple!” I said with a great enthusiasm.

“That's why your mom and I named you Violet” he said while kneeling, holding my hands and smiling.

“Because we knew, EVEN before you were born, that your favorite color was going to be purple” I giggled.

Then he gave me a great big bear hug, lifted me up and spun me in around his arms. We made our way into the sun room where a delicious chocolate birthday cake was awaiting my tummy.

“Make a wish Violet”, Mom said, as the candles were lit when I entered the room and so, I made a wish.

“What did you wish for Violet?” Aunt Mel asked. I giggled and said that I couldn't tell her, because then my wish wouldn't come true. I had wished that my parents would live forever.

As I heard my name, “Violet, Vie, Vie.” Uncle Frank and Grandmamma were trying desperately to gain my attention.

I remembered seeing something that day, on my fifth birthday, through the screen in the sun room, outside by the pool. They looked like black clouds. The sun had been shining and immediately after I made my wish, the sky became stark. My parents, Uncle Frank and Aunt Mel began to have a discussion as I watched wondrously outside. There were low black clouds, moving in circles above our built in pool. I walked to the screen, staring at them. They started to move in closer to me. Uncle Frank, Aunt Mel and my parents were deep in discussion about business and politics, laughing uproariously! I sensed the clouds were coming to take my parents. But why? Why would clouds want to take my parents, I wondered.

“NO!” I yelled and I held out my left hand to stop them bad old clouds from moving in any closer and just when I did, a wine glass that sat on the table shattered. The black clouds disappeared at the very instance that everyone had turned their heads, to see what all the commotion was about. 

“Violet honey, what's wrong” Dad said. My eyes were watery, but I said nothing as I stood there doe eyed.

“Too much sugar!” mom joked as she placed her near empty wine glass down onto the white wicker table.

Everyone had laughed loudly as they smoked their cigarettes and drank their red wine. Mom cleaned up the glass. They thought I had knocked the glass over myself, but I hadn't.

 ”Violet, Violet, Vie!”

Oh, oh, yes?' What, What?

I replied to Grandmamma and Frank who were still both struggling to gain my attention as I was in dream land.

“It's okay” Grandmamma said to Frank, “Violet daydreams sometimes.”

“Just a daydreamer I guess” Frank supposed.

“Yup, just a daydreamer is right!” Grandmamma said as he stood up and patted my head like I was five years old.

I had hoped Frank and I would discuss finding my parents, but somehow the time had escaped us. I guessed it was just a night to reminisce. Frank grabbed his jacket as Grandmamma put the album away. They said goodnight, I got up out of my chair and gave Frank a hug goodbye.

“Behave kiddo; don't give your Grandmamma any trouble:” he joked.

He winked at Grandmamma as he said that.

“Yeah” I said, raising me voice with sarcasm, “Cause I'm just soooooo much trouble!”.

Once Uncle Frank drove away, Grandmamma and I retreated to our rooms after cleaning up from a very, very scrumptious dinner as we discussed my daydream, minus the clouds incident.