When I answered, a soft female voice asked: ”Is Ernie there?”
”I`m sorry,” I replied, ”but you must have the wrong number.”
Thanking me, the caller hung up, but called back within minutes, asking,
”Has Ernie come in yet?”
I assured her that she had once again dialed the wrong number, but this time she was more persistent.
”He has to be there. He told me not to put the spaghetti on at the regular time because he was stopping at your house to pick up his tool box.” ”Well, I`m sorry,” I said, ”but I don`t even know anyone named Ernie.”
By the time the third call came, I was trying to mash potatoes.
”Why are you hiding Ernie?” the woman hissed. ”Don`t you know that he has a wife and three beautiful children at home?”
”Congratulations,” I now shouted, ”but I still don`t know who he is. Please try to get it into your head that you have the wrong number, and your calls are interrupting my dinner preparations.”
”You`re a regular smart aleck, aren`t you?” was the opening line of the next call. ”All you`re concerned about is your dinner. You don`t care if I`m nervous. You don`t care that Ernie can`t do his job without his tool box. Do you even care how expensive tools are? My kids are sitting here, waiting for me to put their spaghetti on and you haven`t got the common decency to let me know where their father is.”
While my potatoes grew cold, I tried to tell this woman once more that her husband`s tool box wasn`t at my house. ”You have the wrong number,” I shouted. ”The wrong number-w-r-o-n-g-n-u-m-b-e-r.”
”Don`t you think I know how to spell? I`ll have you know I went to college for two years. I worked in the cafeteria and paid my own tuition. Oh, it wasn`t easy, trying to work and do homework assignments at night. I did it for those two years, and then I met Ernie. He was really handsome when he was younger-thick black hair and a little mustache. He`s letting himself go too much now, filling out around the middle and losing a little too much hair on top. Do you ever notice the way he combs his hair now? His mother hates it as much as I do, but what can you tell a man? They don`t like to listen to women, that`s for sure.”
Suddenly, she gasped and shouted, ”Oh my gosh, I wasn`t even paying attention to the time. Supper isn`t even ready yet and Ernie`s pulling up the driveway. You know how I am when I start gabbing. Well, bye now. I`ll be talking to you.”
As I reheated the cold mashed potatoes, I couldn`t help but hope that Ernie had his tool box with him.
