Keith, how could you? We were both laughing at that messy country girl, and youyou actually went and I walked out of the kitchen, huffing about my husband’s antics.
Sorry, Ivy, Im a fool. I still cant work out how I ended up in the Nibbles bed, Keith muttered, frowning, swearing and smoking a nervous cigarette.
A new family moved into our block: Nate, Lucy, and their fiveyearold daughter, Vicky.
Keith and I are about thirty, our son is six, the newbies are twentyfive. We got close quick, especially since were on the same floor.
Lucy was a proper country girl, real handy around the house, and she loved baking. Cakes, cupcakes, pies they were her pride. No wonder shed barrel into the kitchen with a flourdusted grin.
Keith and I started jokingly calling Lucy Nibbles because of her round, plump figure. Her kitchen was packed with jars of preserves. I could never match that.
I liked to think I was a pretty, wellkept woman. Lucy, on the other hand, always wore a wornout housecoat and a tiny bun on her head. Her husband Nate, skinny as a reed, and their chubby little Vicky were always well fed. Thats about all Lucys good points were. Still, I was friends with her. Nate was often on the road, a longhaul trucker.
Hed first spotted Lucy in some backwater village when he popped into the local shop for a packet of cigarettes. Shed taken a shine to the lanky stranger straight away, and Nate never stood a chance of slipping away unnoticed.
Nine months later Lucy gave birth to a baby girl for the wandering trucker. Nate hauled Lucy and the baby back to the city. When I introduced the sudden new family to my mum, she flatout refused to accept either the country girl or the newborn granddaughter. Nate had to rent a flat.
Keith always complained about Lucys looks.
How can you not love yourself? A womans supposed to hed mutter at me.
Then Keiths mum fell ill just a mild case at first. We took turns looking after her, but eventually we decided to find a livein carer. Lucy volunteered.
Ill help you out a bit, and I need to get a rubber boat for my husbands fishing trips. Just dont tell Nate, let it be a surprise, she said, thrilled at the chance to earn a little extra.
Lucy, dont force my mother to eat, shes lost her appetite from the sickness, I warned.
Soon after, work sent me away on a long assignment. I gave Keith, our son, and Lucy instructions and flew off to another city.
A month later I came back. Keith kept his eyes down, Lucy tried to avoid meeting me.
Mom, can you make the same tasty potatoes Aunt Lucy makes? I loved her meatball too, my son said as I stepped through the door.
Did Aunt Lucy treat you? I asked, a little wary.
Yes, she brought Vicky over and took dad away, my son reported.
I started piecing it together. Nate was on a haul, I was on a job.
That evening, after a hearty dinner for my husband, I pulled Keith aside.
Keith, I know everything, dont play dumb. The boy told me everything, I said, hoping hed lie.
Nothing happened, he replied, not blushing at all.
Relax, its just a bit of fun. I dont think youre trying to land with Lucy, I sighed with relief.
But Keith began visiting his mum more often, lingering longer each time. I dropped by his mums flat she was calm, tidy, but alone. I looked for Keith and Nibbles
I rang Lucys door.
A tired Lucy opened, and in the background my exhausted husband lay in bed.
I, trying to stay proper, walked back home in silence. My mind raced Keith, whod called Lucy a slob, was getting cosy with her!
Honestly, I couldnt even feel jealous of the kitchen lady. When Keith rushed back, I pointed to the bathroom, Take a shower. Wash up properly! Got a laugh? Ill tell Nate everything. Hell have a word for you! I said, laughing and clenching my fist. I imagined Nate, skinny as ever, shaking his fists at Keiths cheek.
Lucy later confessed the affair to Nate. I have no idea how the trucker reacted, but a week later the whole lot moved out. As he left, Nate, spotting me, said proudly,
Not surprising. Who could resist my Lucy?
Time passed. I bumped into Nibbles one day.
Hey, love! Still holding a grudge? No point. Back in my village things are always the same. I havent lost a penny, and your husbands still happy. Youre always off on trips you cant leave a hungry bloke for too long, Lucy told me, clutching a little girl who looked uncannily like my own husband.
