Lemons: An Original, Never Before Published Story

 

Lemons

by

Gary Cohen

Dave was tired after a long day at work, and living in a five story walk up didn’t help.  There was some leftover Chinese food in the fridge. Possibly even an egg roll.  It was the only thing keeping him going.  When he unlocked the door to his apartment and stepped inside, he was shocked to see such a large group of his friends waiting for him. Paul and Becca were on the love seat. Julie was in the recliner and Bruce was next to her in the good chair from the kitchen. Zach sat on the floor in front of them playing with some Batman Lego. Maggie stood against the wall trying to blend into the faded wallpaper. Jorge was pacing the hall but he had stopped when Dave walked in. 

Dave was puzzled. If he didn’t know better he would have thought it was a surprise party. But his birthday had been just last month. And everyone wore such serious expressions. And no one had yelled, “surpise!”

“Hey... everybody,” said Dave.

“Hello, Dave,” said Becca. 

Becca was Paul’s wife. Paul was Dave’s best friend from high school. But to be honest they didn’t see each other as often now that Paul had 2 kids and a new job with Target that required a lot of travel. And he had bought a house that was a good 45 minutes away; more with traffic. Dave didn’t know Becca that well at all. She had been a social worker but now stayed home with the kids. She made some kind of jewelry she sold in an Etsy store. Paul had sent him the link a couple times but he had never clicked on it. 

“Is everything okay?” said Dave. He looked at Jorge. “Is it my mom?” He could barely get the words out. 

“Your mom’s fine,” said Jorge. “Look, we just want to talk to you,”

“Okay. I’m just going to get a drink. Does anybody else want a drink? Say, I’ve got a pitcher of fresh-”

“No, Dave,” snapped Becca. “Nobody wants a drink,” She composed herself. “Please,” she demurred. “Just sit down, alright?”

Dave was starting to get a little annoyed. He was tired. He was hungry. And he had seen Julie’s eyes light up when he mentioned drinks. She definitely looked thirsty. Dave had gone to camp with Julie. He didn’t see her that often but they kept up online. She was always posting pictures of her kids. And if she saw he was online they would always chat. Bruce was her husband and Dave liked him. He had helped Dave move. Wouldn’t accept anything for it other than a couple slices and a few beers. Becca had gotten up and was holding the back of the other kitchen chair which had also been brought into the living room. This was not the good chair. This was the wobbly one. Dave sat down carefully. He shifted his weight and the chair shifted with him. He braced his foot on the side of the love seat and the chair steadied.

“Dave, the reason we’re all here is that we’re worried about you,” said Becca. 

“What? I’m fine,” said Dave. “Julie? How about that drink?”

“Dave, I told them about the lemons,” said Maggie. 

It was barely more than a whisper. Maggie stood half in shadow; in one of her summer dresses. One of the ones with all the flowers on it. She had her head tilted down and her thick brown hair fell over her face. Dave wanted to kiss her. Still. Even though they had broke up almost a month ago. Just after his birthday. The day after to be exact. The break up had been a long time coming. Afterwards Dave realized that she had waited until after his birthday so as not to ruin it. Maggie was good like that. Now she was biting her thumb and couldn’t meet his gaze. Dave wanted to go to her, comfort her. 

“Dave, why don’t you tell us about them?” said Becca. “About the lemons, that is,”

Now, it was all starting to make sense. Becca was bored. And she was only too happy to be in charge of this “thing” whatever it was. Dave turned and gave her his full attention. He figured his best bet was to just power through it. Rip it all off at once: fast like a band aid. 

“The lemons? Okay, sure,” Dave licked his lips. “So, about 2 months ago I come home and there’s a lemon on the kitchen table. It’s just sitting there. So, I don’t think anything of it. The next morning I go to the kitchen to make coffee and I see that lemon again. So, I think maybe I should put it in the fridge? I know that when you see a fancy house on TV they always have a bowl of lemons on the table. But this lemon’s not in a bowl, it’s just sitting there: on the table,” 

“You should definitely keep them in the fridge,” said Julie. She leaned forward. “In a plastic bag; a ziplock,” Becca glared at her. “What?” said Julie. “I saw it on Martha Stewart and it’s true. They’ll keep for a month,” Julie let herself fall back into the cushion. She turned to Bruce. “If you leave them on the counter they last maybe a week,” 

“So, I come home from work a couple days later and there’s that lemon on the table again,” Dave continued. “So, first I’m thinking that it must be the same lemon. I must have taken it out and just forgot about it. Maybe when I was putting away the groceries or maybe I was going to make a garnish,”

“A garnish?” said Bruce.

“A garnish. For like a drink? I don’t mean a fancy garnish I just mean like those beers that you drink with a piece of lemon. The Mexican ones,” Bruce shrugged. 

“So, I pick up the lemon and I open the little crisper drawer to put it away. But what do you think I see?”

“A lemon?” asked Zach. Dave hadn’t even realized Zach was listening. Zach was seven. 

“No,” said Dave. “Two lemons,” He let that sink in. “There were two lemons in the crisper drawer. But I had only put in one lemon. There they were side by side in the crisper drawer: in the ziplock,” Julie smacked Bruce on the arm and smiled.  He just nodded. 

“Why were you buying all these lemons, Dave?” said Becca.

“He didn’t buy them,” said Paul. “They were just-” Becca shot him a look and Paul stopped mid sentence. He looked about as annoyed as Dave felt. Paul looked at Dave and threw up his hands. He didn’t throw them up high. In fact, they barely moved off his lap. They barely tilted. But Dave knew what he meant: “What can I do?” Dave smiled. 

“I didn’t buy them, Becca,” said Dave patiently. “They were just... there,” 

“So, where do you think they came from?” said Bruce. Bruce was a tough guy. A self made man who ran his own landscaping business. But Dave could hear the concern in his voice and see it in his eyes. And he could also see what wasn’t there. There was no guile, no judgement. 

“I think they were a gift,” said Dave. 

“From life!” Maggie blurted out. Everyone turned to look at her. Her eyes were rimmed red. “He thinks ‘Life’ is giving him lemons!” She threw her hands up. Really threw them up. Jorge went over to her and she sobbed into his chest. 

There was a crash when Dave’s chair fell over. He hadn’t meant to be dramatic but when he stood up it just fell. Such is the case with a wobbly chair and an old apartment with uneven floors. 

“Life did give me lemons!” said Dave. He stormed out. There was a lot of commotion from the other room. Not exactly breaking things but certainly moving them quickly and violently. Cupboards were being slammed. Everyone looked at each other. Becca got up and smoothed her dress. She motioned for everyone to remain calm and seated. Slowly and deliberately she started to move towards the door to the kitchen. But Dave came bursting back in. He held a tray with a beautiful glass pitcher, 6 glasses and 2 mugs. He put it down on the steamer trunk that served as a coffee table. 

“Life gave me lemons and God damn it I made lemonade!” Dave shouted. He turned to Julie. “Sorry about the language. Also, I was looking for a plastic cup for Zach but I couldn’t find one. Can he just use a mug?”

“Of course he can,” said Julie. She looked at Zach. “But he just needs to be really careful, right?”

“I don’t need a plastic mug,” Zack sulked. 

“The mug is not plastic, honey” said Julie. She picked up the pitcher and began to pour. “The mug is ceramic. Look it’s from Utah! That’s where Uncle Max lives! Is everyone having some?” She looked around and people nodded. Maggie was still sobbing, her face buried in Jorge’s shoulder. But Jorge nodded and held up two fingers. 

Becca was shaking her head. She scowled at Paul.

“Now what?” He said. 

“Don’t drink it. You’re just feeding his delusions,”

“The lemonade is real. It’s not a delusion,” Paul replied. 

“Feeding! I made cookies,” said Julie. “Bruce, they’re in my bag,”

Bruce went to find Julie’s bag and Becca shook her head some more. 

“What?” said Julie. “I asked you if everyone was supposed to bring something and you never replied,”

“Sorry. I’m not online as much as you are,” said Becca. “I have two kids,”

“I have three kids,” said Julie. “Three boys: and I have a job,”

“This lemonade is aces, kid,” said Bruce. He had returned with a bag of chocolate chip cookies. “I would buy this for my crew,”

“Thank-you!” shouted Dave. “Somebody gets it! Don’t you see?” He looked around the room. 

“I hate my job,” He continued.  “I buy and sell used cars for a living. And I have to be honest: some of the ones I buy are in a lot worse shape than I thought when I bought them. So I end up paying more than they’re really worth.  And I really shouldn’t resell them to people, but what choice do I have? I’ve been so depressed.

And then one day life started giving me lemons. All of these lemons. So I thought, maybe I should make lemonade? And I did. And you know what? It’s good lemonade,”

“No. It’s great,” said Paul. “It’s great lemonade,”

“It is great lemonade,” said Dave. “And I love making it. And I have been selling it. First, at a little stand on the street. I was competing against children and it felt wrong. They would sneer and point at me.”

“Stranger danger!” shouted Zach. Julie shushed him. 

“It’s alright, said Dave. “It’s true. That’s what they’d say. But then I started selling it at the Farmer’s Market. And people loved it. In fact I met a man from Coopersville and he says he wants to bottle it!”

“That’s great!” said Julie. “Isn’t that great, Becca?” She caught Becca in mid sip. Her eyes were closed and her face was the picture of bliss. Becca tried to swallow quick and reply. She coughed and choked and lemonade came out her nose. Paul got up quickly and slapped her on the back until she shot him a look, again. He may have slapped her one more time for nothing. 

“I know it seems weird to you,” Dave said. “I know Maggie didn’t understand and that’s why she left me.”

“No,” said Maggie. “I left you because I was sleeping with your roommate, Jorge.” Jorge shrugged and nodded. He wiggled his empty glass.  “This is so good. It’s delicious,” he said. 

“Oh. Well anyways, I’m fine,” said Dave. “I appreciate all of your concern. Really I do. But if you’ll excuse me I have some paperwork to look over. I have a very busy day tomorrow. I have to meet with a lawyer and visit the bottling plant.”

So they gathered their things. Julie stood by the door and hugged everyone as they left. 

“Everyone needs to take some cookies,” she said. “I’m not taking home 2 dozen cookies.”

Even Maggie left after kissing Jorge discreetly on the cheek. She put her hand on Dave’s shoulder. 

“I’m really happy for you,” she said to Dave.

“No cookies for you, slut.” said Julie. 

“What’s a slut, mommy?” said Zach. 

“Right there,” said Julie pointing at Maggie as she left. Maggie waved, but not with all her fingers. 

Dave went to the kitchen leaving Jorge in the recliner alone with his thoughts. He heard a key in the lock and Tommi their new roommate from Finland walked in. He looked at all the glasses on the steamer trunk. 

“What’s this?” he said. “Did you have a party?”

“No, it was more of a little meeting, I guess,” said Jorge.

“Speaking of that,” said Tommi. “Can we have a house meeting? I want to talk about some missing fruit.”