She posted notices on the bulletin boards at the university. She did not place a notice in any of the newspapers because she was short on cash. Unfortunately for her, only two people responded to her notices. One respondent was a girl with a personality that was as abrasive as steel wool. The other person was Ron. In the brief letter Ron sent to her he said he was just starting his junior year at the college. This meant that he was at least one year younger than she was. She hoped he was not a man-child. She was not too keen on the idea of having a male roommate as it was. For one thing it meant that she could not run around the house in nothing but her underwear. Not that she was in the habit of running around in nothing but her underwear, but it was nice to be able to go to and from the bathroom without bothering to dress first. She was also in the habit of getting a cup of coffee she drank while dressing. A robe should solve that problem, but a male roommate could pose other problems as well. She looked at the calendar and sighed. Time was running out. She decided to call Ron and set up a meeting. She arranged to meet with him for coffee. It was always better to meet a strange man in a public place.
She saw him enter the coffee shop. She knew it was Ron because of the way he surveyed the room to find her. She could almost see him trying to remember her description of what she would be wearing. He stood about five feet ten inches tall, but he looked taller because he was so thin. He approached the table.
“Gina?”
“Yes, and you must be Ron.”
“I am.” He reached for the chair sitting across the table from her. “May I?”
Although asking her permission to sit down at the table might seem silly under the circumstances, it showed that he had manners. She was impressed.
“Please,” she answered.
He sat down. She began the interview by asking him why he was moving out of the place where he was presently living.
“The dorm’s okay as a transition from your parents, but you reach the point where you really want to be out on your own.”
“Not to mention getting away from the cafeteria food.”
“Fortunately, I get frequent breaks from that because I work at a Pizza place.”
So he was not a spoiled brat. He had a job. That was always a good sign.
“You realize there can’t be any parties, don’t you. In fact, I’m going to say no more than one or two guests at a time.”
He smiled. “If I wanted to party, I would’ve pledged a fraternity.”
This made her laugh, and that seemed to please him. But was he attracted to her? That could be a problem.
“I’m older than you, and there’s no possibility of any romance,” she said. “I’m not about to get involved with a roommate.”
“No problem. I can understand where you’re coming from about getting involved with a roommate.”
This could work. She liked him. “When do you want to see the place?”
“Whenever it’s convenient for you.”
“Is now a good time?”
“Now would be terrific.”
“Follow me.”
She parked in the driveway. He parked in the street. She said hello to her neighbor, Mrs. Sanders.
“Prospective roommate?”
“It’s a two bedroom place.”
“I’m not making any judgments or jumping to any conclusions,” Mrs. Sanders said. “He is cute, though.”
“I haven’t noticed, but it’s all right if you do.”
The old lady laughed. “I’m glad I have your permission because noticing’s about all I’m capable of doing.”
“We wouldn’t want to spoil that.”
“You couldn’t if you tried.”
Ron walked over to the driveway to join them.
“Mrs. Sanders, this is Ron. Ron, this is Mrs. Sanders.”
“Pleased to meet you. I hope she rents the room to you.”
“Pleased to meet you. That was a very kind thing for you to say.”
Gina turned and started walking to the house. Ron followed her.
“And he has manners,” Mrs. Sanders said.
Gina giggled as she opened the door. Ron followed her inside. The décor in the living room was as simple as one would expect, but it was tasteful.
“I like what you’ve done with the place.”
“Thank you. I want to keep it the way it is. None of the crap you find in the dorms.”
Ron smiled. “That crap is one of things I’m trying to get away from.”
She showed him the bedroom. “I insist on keeping the living room uncluttered, so I’m afraid you’re going to have to study in here.”
“This room gives me more space than the dorm did.”
“How much furniture do you have?”
“A double bed, a desk with a chair, and a small television with a stand.”
The TV’s okay, but if you’re up later than I am, watch mine in the living room. These walls are pretty thin.”
She then showed him the bathroom. “I hate to play landlord on you, but what happened with my last roommate taught me to cover my behind. I need you to pay rent for the first and the last month up front, before you move in.”
She had stated the rent in her bulletin. He quickly did the calculation in his mind. “I can cover that,” he told her.
They walked back into the living room. She did not need to show him the small kitchen because the only thing that separated it from the living room was a low counter.
“May I use the refrigerator?”
“Yes, but make sure you remove your food before any of it rots in there. Which brings up another subject. We each cook our own meals.”
“Oh, thank God! I was afraid you might want me to cook for you, and I’m not very good at it.”
This was the first time he had attempted to joke with her. She rewarded him with a polite smile. “Give it four days for your check to clear, then you can move in.”
“I guess I’d better write that check now.”
“Please.”
He wrote out the check and handed it to her. She smiled. His check should clear the day before she had to pay her rent. She shook hands with him.
Having a male roommate presented some problems she had not considered. Among the things she had to chide him about are: not cleaning his hair out of the combination tub/shower, not doing his dishes when he finished eating, and leaving an empty beer can in the living room. He also tended to let glasses and cups build up in his room. Then there was the night he brought a girl home from the pizza place, and Gina had to put up with the sound of them banging away all night. She had to put up with similar sounds when her previous roommate, Jan, had her boyfriend over. Gina knew that it would not have done any good to complain to Jan, and complaining about it to a man would be even more futile. She might as well ask the sun not to rise!
A few days later Gina discovered that the refrigerator was not keeping things quite as cold as it should. She already had the refrigerator at its coldest setting. She called up a refrigerator repairman recommended by Mrs. Sanders. Ron walked into the room in time to hear her say, “Mrs. Sanders, next door, will let you in.”
“What was that about?”
“The refrigerator is being fixed today.”
“I’ll pay part of the bill if you want.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
That evening she came home to find Ron on the phone. “I must say that it certainly keeps things cold now! Why don’t you come over and chew some milk with us?”
“Were you talking to the refrigerator repairman?”
“His answering machine. There are frozen chunks floating in my carton of milk.”
Gina walked over to the refrigerator and opened the door. She reached inside and turned a knob. “All fixed,” she said.
“What did you do?”
“That knob inside isn’t just for decoration. It controls the temperature.”
“He still shouldn’t have set it so high.”
“I’ll leave a message telling him I adjusted it.”
The next morning Ron saw a notice from the water company. The notice was sitting on the kitchen counter. It was urging everyone to cut back on water usage. Leaving the notice on the counter was probably Gina’s way of telling him to shorten his showers. Then another thought struck him. The timer had the sprinklers running for a long time in the evening. He could probably cut back on the water usage by resetting the timer so that the sprinklers ran for a short time in the morning and a short time in the evening. Two short sprinkles should be as good as a long soaking.
That night Gina got out of bed and walked into the bathroom to pee. She did not bother to turn on the light. She simply backed up to the toilet, dropped drawers, and sat in the bowl. Ron had left the seat up again. She was going to yell at him about that, but he had already left for school by the time she got up. She leaned over the tub and turned on the water. The water hit her on the back of her head. Ron had left the switch turned so that the water came out of the shower head rather than the spigot for the tub. Now she was fuming. She was walking across the lawn toward the driveway when the sprinklers came on. He had forgotten to tell her that he had reset the timer on them.
When Ron came home that evening he was carrying a small pizza and a six-pack of beer. Gina had just started eating her dinner. Ron took a can out of the six-pack, opened it, and put the rest of the beer in the refrigerator. Gina waited until he sat across from her at the counter.
“Oh good! I see you’re well enough to eat,” she said.
“Did you think I was sick?”
“Well, it would explain why you did such a half assed job.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Today you made me soak my head, my feet, and my ass. You missed everything in between!”
Ron still did not know what she was talking about, but he laughed.
“It’s not funny, damn it!” She then launched into a tirade about what happened.
The next day was Friday. Ron was working. She had a date with a football player she had met at a party. Everyone said the football player would be drafted into the NFL, and that he was quite a catch. The date went well, except for the fact that he drank too much. She offered to drive. He refused to let her do it. The drive home was frightening. When they got there she unlocked the door and opened it. She was about to turn around and tell him good night. He prevented that by picking her up and carrying her across the threshold.
“Put me down!”
He slammed the door shut with his foot.
“Put me down!”
He ignored her protests. He carried her to the couch, threw her down on it, and dove on top of her. She tried to fight him off, but he was too heavy and strong. His hands were all over her. She dug her nails into the back of his thick neck and screamed. He ripped the top of her dress. The front door opened as he clamped his hand over her mouth. He cocked his right hand. He was going to punch her in the face, but Ron grabbed his arm.
“Get the hell out of here!” Ron shouted.
The big ox climbed off of Gina and gave Ron a powerful shove. “Maybe you’d like to make me, little man.”
“Let’s take this outside,” Ron said.
The giant smirked. “Come on!” he said. He turned and walked out the door.
Ron closed the door and locked the deadbolt rather than following the huge man outside. He then picked up the phone and called the police. The dumb ox pounded on the door and bellowed. “Come out here and fight like a man, you little, chicken shit, bastard!”
He could have broken down the door, but he was not that bright. He moved to a window and was trying to pry it open.
“I called the police!” Ron shouted.
The giant picked up a rock. “They won’t get here before I kick your ass!”
A siren went off nearby. He threw the rock through the window and ran to his car.
Ron looked at Gina. She was terrified. She sat up and leaned forward. She was weeping. The torn material of her dress fell down. She was not wearing a bra and one of her breasts was exposed. Ron tried not to stare at it. She watched him walk toward her. She was afraid he would try to console her by hugging her. The last thing she wanted at this point was to have anyone touch her. Ron seemed to know that. He sat on the other end of the couch from her. She noticed that her breast was exposed. She grabbed the torn material and covered it. The material fall down again when she reached for a facial tissue.
“What’s the use,” she sobbed. “He reduced me to a piece of meat anyhow!”
“The hell he did! Don’t give him that power. You’re still the bight, dignified lady you’ve always been.”
She blew her nose. She then reached down and pulled the material up to cover her breast. There was a loud banging at the door.
“Police, open up!”
Ron opened the door. Two police officers entered. One stood nose to nose with Ron, while the other walked over to Gina.
The officer asked Ron who he was. “I’m her roommate. I’m the one who called you.”
“Is that right? Miss, is he your roommate?”
“Yes, and he saved me!”
“A male roommate, eh?” The officer in front of Gina said.
Since the other officer was now questioning Ron about what happened Ron could only hear bits and pieces of Gina’s conversation with the officer questioning her. What he heard was not pretty. The officer said Gina was dressed provocatively and seemed to infer that she had brought it all on herself. At long last the son of a bitch asked her the perpetrators name. He wrote down what she told him.
“Hey, Jack. Are you through questioning him?”
“Yeah.”
“Here’s the perp’s name. Run it for wants and warrants while I finish up.”
Jack left the room.
“You know, Miss. This could get awfully rough in court.”
“What are you saying?”
“You might not want to put yourself through the ordeal of a trial. Particularly since he didn’t succeed.”
Jack entered the room smiling. “You’re not going to believe this. The perp’s being booked on a DUI right now.”
“Sounds like justice to me. Are you sure you want us to press charges for attempted rape or sexual assault?”
Ron nodded yes, but Gina said no.
“Then I’ll just write this up as a disturbance call.” He closed his notebook. Both officers left. Giving the officer the benefit of the doubt, Ron thought he might have been trying to prepare Gina for what she would face in court, but there had to be a better way to do it.
“What an asshole!” Gina said. “I sure as hell didn’t deserve this.” She let the torn material fall again.
Ron could see the fury in her eyes. He thought it was an improvement over her feelings of helplessness. “You damn sure didn’t!”
“I’ve got to go wash the slime off of me.”
He heard her turn on the shower a few minutes later. The pile of shit that tried to rape Gina was drunk enough to be uncoordinated. Ron probably could have defeated him in a boxing match, but this would have been a street fight. If that huge man had grabbed him… Ron was suddenly shaking. He tried to tell himself it was just the adrenaline wearing off. He pulled a beer out of the refrigerator and opened it, hoping the alcohol would calm him down. Gina entered the room. She sat down on the couch. She was wearing sweat clothes, and he could tell she was not wearing a bra. He sat on the other end of the couch. She got up and walked to a chair on the other side of the room.
“Sorry,” she said. “That bastard reeked of beer. It’s not a very pleasant smell right now.”
“I’ll pour it out.”
“No, you earned it. I wish you had kicked his ass.”
“If you stomp in shit, you get your shoes dirty.”
Gina smiled, but a frightening thought came to her mind. “He was big, huh.”
“He was huge.”
“Yet you raced right over to us and grabbed his arm. Thank God he didn’t hurt you too. I can’t thank you enough.”
“Roomies have to look out for each other. Do you want me to escort you around campus Monday?”
“No. I don’t want you missing any classes, and I have to find a way to work through this.”
Ron smiled. “Do you have any idea of how proud I am of you right now?”
“Do you have any idea of how grateful I am? I’ll try to be more patient with you form now on.”
“And I’ll try not to be such a pain in the ass.”
They both laughed. They found a comedy on the late, late show. She watched it form her chair. She was afraid she would have nightmares if she went to bed. Ron was sitting on the couch. She noticed that he was struggling to stay awake. She knew he would not go to bed and leave her sitting there alone.
“I’m going to bed,” she announced.
When he went to bed he tried to erase the image of her standing there with one of her breasts exposed. She was a beautiful woman even when she was hurt and angry, but there was no possibility of a romance. She was his roommate and now his friend. He would settle for that. A guy can never have too many friends.
First published in macsbackporch.blogspot.com on Jul 8, 2009
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