The Two Widows of Ace Jethro
Chapter 1: Introduction
The Echelon was a retreat in Jasper, Arkansas where old folk that belonged to an obscure but wealthy Christian sect called the Patriarchs spent their last days. Built on fifty acres of land, it had a large hotel like building where the old inmates stayed. There was a nurse quarters for the nurses who take care of the ageing clientele. A large native stone church that held Sunday masses for inmates was the main attraction on the property. A small bakery which sold donuts, sandwiches and fries was open to the public for takeaways.
The bakery was managed and run almost entirely by a woman named Mattie. Mattie was the widow of Ace Jethro, who had established the cafe. The Jethro’s stayed in a little cottage on the property before Ace’s death in a car accident during a hiking trip with his buddies. The accident revealed that Ace had not one but two wives. Apart from Mattie, Ace had legally married a woman named Alma who lived in the neighboring town of Pine Bluff.
The Jethro’s (all three of them) belonged to the Patriarchs. The Patriarchs had some strange laws that some might describe as chauvinistic. Every male member of the sect could have two wives, a law which Ace Jethro took advantage of during his short life. The chauvinism extended to the lives of the widows. The two widows were expected to live a life of celibacy. It did not end there. The widows were expected to share a roof and provide companionship to each other for the rest of their lives and cherish the memory of their dead husband.
It would be an understatement to say that the woman’s rights movement of the sixties had not penetrated the Patriarchs. Brainwashed at an early age, the Patriarch women were unable to fit into normal society and blindly followed the rules of the sect. Mattie and Alma were no different in this regard.
The Echelon had a designated clergy headed by Gal Young Un, a female pastor who held Sunday mass and made decisions regarding the running of the retreat. Even though she was the first female pastor of the sect, she was a strict enforcer of the laws pertaining to women folk. After a meeting with Ace’s widows, Mattie (in person) and Alma (over the phone), it was decided that Alma would move to The Echelon and help Matty run the café that was established by their husband Ace. The two women were expected to share the small cottage where Mattie had lived with Ace. The widows agreed to the arrangement without a murmur of protest.
Chapter 2: The Meeting
When Mattie Jethro walked into Pastor Gal Young Un’s parsonage, Alma Jethro had already arrived and was seated in a little chair, a large suitcase by her side. The widows did not look at or acknowledge each other. They would do so only after being introduced by Gal Young Un.
Gal Young Un, dressed in her traditional red robe waited for Mattie to sit in the chair beside Alma. She regarded the two women. Fine specimens, she thought to herself. Both of them tall, with slim bodies, wearing shirts, with sleeves rolled up and long modest skirts. Their physical resemblance was a bit uncanny. It was a shame neither woman had given birth. Or maybe it was a good thing because their husband Ace was notorious for his hard drinking. She did not waste any more time and addressed the women who sat obediently in front of her.
“Well, ladies. I am so glad both of you agreed to this new arrangement. Mattie here will show you the ropes, Alma. Remember. The two of you are going to spend the rest of your lives together. Cherish the memory of Ace. Let the love for your departed husband bind the two of you together and help you rise above any conflicts and disagreements that might arise. Like you once shared a man, learn to share what he left the two of you. If there is any trouble or disagreements between the two of you, do not hesitate to contact me. Live according to the wishes of the Good Lord like good Christian women.”
Mattie and Alma smiled at Gal Young Un, but not at each other. Gal Young Un looked from one woman to the other. They were both well raised according to the strict traditions of the Patriarchs. She did not expect any trouble from these two. In fact, she expected the café to make larger profits once these two went to work together. Gal Young Un considered herself to be a good judge of people.
“Matty, you may show Alma to your cottage. She might need to freshen up after her journey. Then you can take her to the bakery and teach her everything about the job. Remember. Whatever belonged to Ace belongs equally to you both now. Let not greed or jealousy color your relationship. You are both now excused.”
The women left the parsonage. Mattie walked in front while Alma followed her carrying her large suitcase. It was a hot day and dark sweaty circles had appeared under the armpits of the women’s shirts.
Mattie was thinking – how do I live the rest of my life with this woman? A woman who was wife to my beloved husband. I must share the cottage and the cafe with this stranger. What have I done to deserve this fate?
Alma was thinking – why isn’t Mattie talking to me? Why is she walking in front of me as if she is the leader and I am a mere slave follower? Does she hate me and view me as competition? I think the two of us are off to a bad start.
Chapter 3: The Cottage
The little garden in front of the cottage with bonsais and well-trimmed bushes surrounding a lawn impressed Alma. Mattie let them into the cottage.
"That’s a real nice garden," Alma said meekly as they entered the house. No reply came from Mattie.
Alma saw a kitchen to the left, but Mattie was already climbing the flight of stairs on the right side of the entrance. Alma followed her, taking in Mattie’s large figure climbing the stairs in front of her.
The bedroom to which Mattie led her was spacious. The room had a rather small bed, a writing table with a chair and a big cupboard, none of them occupying much space.
“This is our bedroom”, Mattie said rather desolately.
“Oh! It’s lovely Mattie. Thank you for letting me share your private space,” said Alma.
Mattie did not acknowledge the earnest and genuine expression of gratefulness. Instead, she produced a couple of keys from her skirt pocket.
“This is the key to the house, and this is the key to the cupboard,” said Mattie, pointing to the large cupboard at the head of the bed. Alma slowly took the keys from Mattie.
They exchanged a stare, Mattie looking at Alma with distinct coldness and Alma looking back meekly, but not looking away.
“There is breakfast on the table downstairs. I am off to the café. There is work to be done. You take a bath, eat breakfast and meet me at the café.” Mattie walked out of the room before Alma could ask any questions about the short and terse instructions.
Alma moved her suitcase to a corner of the room. She had seen a door in the corridor which she thought would be the bathroom. It was. A shower inside a glass cabinet. Clean and well-scrubbed white tiles. Alma bathed as fast as she could and went down to the kitchen. She wolfed down the chocolate donut and the chicken sandwich which Mattie had left for her on the table. Her hunger briefly eclipsed the uncertainty she felt after her brief meeting with Mattie. Alma thought the donut offering to her was in direct contrast to Mattie’s sharp and aloof demeanor in the morning.
After locking the door, Alma hurried towards the café where she was intent on helping. She did not want to be a burden. She wanted to help Mattie as much as she could at the café. She planned to earn her keep. By claiming her rightful share. Not more. Not less. Whether Mattie Jethro liked that or not.
Chapter 4: The Bakery
A queue of people waited in front of the bakery counter which was manned by two elderly women in blue uniforms. Alma entered the bakery, looking around for Mattie. She saw her through a small window behind the counter. Mattie saw her at the same time but did not smile or acknowledge her. Alma saw a door beside the counter which led to the kitchen where Mattie stood in a blue apron over her jeans and shirt.
The kitchen did not have any windows and as Alma entered, she felt a wave of heat wash over her. Lord, what sin have I committed to be sent to this infernal furnace, Alma wondered to herself? She noticed that Mattie’s shirt already had wet spots of sweat all over them.
Mattie produced an apron from somewhere and handed it to Alma. The hostile expression that Mattie had worn for much of the morning was intact.
“Could you cut up that chicken into little cubes?”, Mattie asked rather shortly, beckoning to the central table in the kitchen on which there were clumps of meat. Alma walked to the table and obeyed the order.
The women went to work. Alma cutting the chicken slowly into little cubes. Mattie making sandwiches. The first act of collaboration and esprit de corps between the two Jethro women. Laboring together. Sweating together.
Occasionally, the women would steal glances at each other as they worked. Alma with a kind smile that weakened considerably as the day passed. Mattie, on the other hand showed no sign of relenting from her quietly hostile position.
When the day got over, they were both drenched in sweat. They cleaned up together, still not exchanging a word, their large figures keeping a distance, trying not to bump into each other inside the hot kitchen.
But they could smell each other. Like all Patriarch women, neither wore perfume. A very slight smell of their sweating lingered in the kitchen air. A testament to their long day at work. It was pleasant. Both women enjoyed it.
Mattie showed Alma how to shut down the bakery. They still did not speak much. They walked back to the cottage together. It was around 5 pm. The air was hot and humid. A typical Arkansan evening.
Mattie was thinking – what were they supposed to do together, the rest of the evening? Mattie liked a whiskey or two after a day’s work. But how could she share it with a stranger? After Ace’s death, she had liked to drink alone.
Alma was thinking –What an infernal relationship this was turning out to be. The wretched competitiveness between her and Mattie and the long silences. What could she do to arrest this utterly dreadful stalemate between them? They had their whole life ahead of them now.
Chapter 5: The First Night
Mattie went for a bath. Alma waited at the kitchen table for her turn. After a while, she got bored and took a look around the living room. A bookshelf had True Grit by Charles Portis and Shane by Jack Schaefer among other Western paperbacks. At least we have something in common, thought Alma who liked to read. Everything in the room was neat and ordered. Then Mattie came down, sweet smell of soap around her and Alma went up for a bath.
It felt good washing the grease from the kitchen off her body. Alma took time cleaning herself, before changing into a white shirt and short skirt. She contemplated whether to retire to bed or seek out Mattie downstairs. She decided to go downstairs and see what Mattie was up to.
When Alma went downstairs, Mattie was in the kitchen. She had a bottle of whiskey on the table in front of her. Alma stood at the kitchen door waiting for Mattie to see her.
Mattie looked up from her glass. Both women looked at each other uncertainly. Alma felt Mattie’s eyes going up and down her body. A candle placed on the table provided a warm glow to the intense drama between the two women.
Mattie thought - should I invite her for a drink? I might as well. How long can I be hostile to her?
Alma thought - will she invite me for a drink? Or should I invite myself?
"Care to join me for a whiskey?", Mattie asked, keeping her tone neutral.
"Yes. Sure," said Alma, unable to believe she had been invited for a drink, but also tempering her expectations because of Mattie's cold tone.
She sat down in the chair facing Mattie. Mattie poured a drink into a glass and pushed it towards Alma.
Alma picked up the glass and raised it towards Mattie - "To us", she said spiritedly.
The two Jethro women clicked their glasses together and took a sip of their drinks.
A silence descended over them. Alma drank down her whiskey quickly to smoothen her nerves. The whiskey went straight to her head in a few minutes.
"So, do you miss Ace?", asked Alma boldly.
Ace Jethro. The elephant on the couch. The man who had been husband to both women.
Mattie looked at Alma as if she had been hit with a sledgehammer. Alma did not look away. She thought Mattie looked beautiful with her wet hair over her large offended face.
"Sorry, we have to talk about Ace sooner or later. What could be a better time than over a drink?", asked Alma coolly. "I miss him a lot. I lived alone in that rented farm in Pine Bluff by myself since the last two months …..when Ace was around, he would kill all the rattlesnakes around the farm. There were just so many. Then when he was gone there was nobody to kill those snakes. They just kept growing. I would keep the windows and doors closed all day. I couldn’t sleep because those god forsaken creatures would be hissing and fighting all night. It drove me nuts. I could not take it anymore. Just being alone like that with all those snakes trying to get to me. Then there was nobody to tend to the farm when Ace was gone. The rent was mounting and that moonshine smuggling landlord of ours ..... he had an eye for me. He would come sniffing like a horny dog. He never did that when Ace was around. I could not take it anymore, Mattie. That's when I called Gal Young Un ..... and asked her if there was something for me ..... someplace to go ..... someplace to stay. She talked me into this, Mattie. It was not my intention to move in on you, Mattie."
It all came out of her like a waterfall. Mattie placed a hand over Alma's. She looked touched. Alma placed her other hand over Mattie’s, and they clasped their hands together.
"It’s ok, Alma. We will have handle this. I am sorry I was so rude to you all day. I just didn't know what to expect." Mattie paused looked down at their clasped hands and then continued "After Ace's death things have been hard for me here. This place is a bit harsh on widows. It is almost like I lost my social standing. It is just the way people look at me. I can see it in their eyes. As if they know there is no future for me now. It is like I've turned into nothing overnight. Ace used to be the main guy around here. He used to get things done even though he was a drunk."
"I know exactly how you feel."
Their hands were clasped tightly together now. Alma smiled sympathetically at Mattie who returned the smile.
"I'm so glad you opened your heart like that", said Mattie.
"I've wanted to get all of it off my chest for a while. Maybe it was the rye whiskey that did it."
They both laughed at that. They continued to hold hands.
"Did Ace ever talk to you about me?", asked Alma curiously.
"No, never. But I was aware of you. I knew there was another woman. I mean Ace would be away for a month. I guess he was with you."
They looked at each other intensely. The ramifications of the sexual triangle they were both party to was dawning upon them.
Mattie withdrew her hands from Alma's grip. Alma looked surprised. Mattie scorched her with a piercing stare.
"I shouldn't have brought it up. But I just want you to know that I was aware of you too. I think Ace spent a month with me and then he would go back to you. A month with each of us. That’s how Ace rolled." said Alma.
"I guess so. Which one of us met him first?", asked Mattie. Now that Alma had brought up their bone of contention, she was not about to let go.
"I met him at a country fair in Pine Wells ten years ago. We married a month later in June 1969", said Alma.
"I'll be tarred and feathered! I was married to Ace on June 18th, 1969. What is your marriage date?", said Mattie rather haughtily.
"I married Ace on June 9th, 1969. I have a certificate to prove it. I remember he left me exactly a week after our marriage to go to Bull Shoals. Told me it was to work as a stuntman in a Western. I guess he left to get married to you."
The two women looked at each other with an air of competitiveness.
"I remember him arriving a couple of days before the marriage. But he left a week later. Said there was a job in a chain gang out in Pine Wells. Guess he came back to you." Mattie’s tone was accusatory.
They looked intensely at each other. Their bosoms heaved. Thin drops of sweat had appeared on their foreheads, perhaps from the emotional grappling they were both engaged in.
Mattie searched Alma's face. Did she want to continue this dig into the past?
"I think I better go to bed. I like to turn in early. I must wake up early you know. You can sit here and help yourself to another whiskey if you want", said Mattie rather shortly.
Alma did not reply. Mattie got up and went upstairs. She turned off the lights and got into bed, leaving space for Alma. Mattie usually liked to sleep naked in bed. But the arrival of Alma would put an end to such sartorial transgressions.
Had she beat a hasty retreat? Would Alma see her reticence in examining their shared past as a weakness? These thoughts plagued Mattie as she lay in bed.
A few minutes later, she heard Alma enter the room. Mattie lay still but then turned around. Alma’s tall figure stood beside the bed looking down on her. Mattie could see her considerable bosom heave as she towered over her.
“Are you sleepy, Alma?”, asked Mattie.
“Yes. What time do we have to wake up, Mattie?”, asked Alma.
“I wake up at half past five. I start work in the café at six am. The café opens at seven-thirty am,” said Mattie rather solemnly.
“I’ll be ready, Mattie. We’ll open the café together,” said Alma in a tone she hoped would inspire some solidarity.
“Sure, Alma. That would be great,” said Mattie without much emotion.
Mattie watched Alma in the dark, waiting for her to get into bed. She would be sharing the bed with her husband’s co-wife. The other woman. Her sexual rival. She felt a tingle of excitement swim through her body, despite her best effort to repress her feelings.
Alma watched Mattie’s slim tall, slim figure lying in bed as she took off her sandals. A hint of cleavage was visible as Mattie had unbuttoned the top buttons on her shirt. A slender limb had escaped Mattie’s long skirt and Alma stole a long glance at it. She was about to get into bed with a person whom she would regard as an enemy under normal circumstances. She would be sleeping with the enemy.
Alma climbed in and lowered herself onto the bed beside Mattie. The bed just about fit the two of them. They could hear each other breathe. Both knew that sleep would not come easily that night. The tension between them was palpable. Their bodies were stiff like corpses. Not even corpses would be as silent as these two were. They could smell each other’s aromas.
But the lord did not make them suffer in each other’s close presence for too long. He grants sleep to those that he loves. The pleasant smell of female sweat that emanated from the curvature of their underarms tranquilized the women into the throes of a tired sleep.
So ended the day, with the two Jethro women sharing a bed. It had been an emotionally draining start for the two wives of Ace Jethro, in which they shifted between feelings of hostility, companionship, empathy, competitiveness, jealousy and sexual tension.
One can only wait eagerly for the two tall and slim women to stir from their slumber and resume their strange relationship over the next two days.
Chapter 6: Days and Nights Together
Their life together began rather uneventfully and soon plummeted into the rigors of routine. You could say the two women were in a forced arranged marriage. They were thrown together by circumstances beyond them. Like two prison inmates locked together in a jail cell for life. There was no escape for either one.
Alma began to accompany Mattie to the café every morning. Before that she would wake up early and prepare breakfast for the two of them. Mattie acquiesced to Alma preparing breakfast. She expressed her formal appreciation after every meal. After breakfast, they would walk together down the cemented pathway that connected their cottage to the bakery. Prying, old, hungry, and curious eyes from the old age home would watch the two fine and tall women in their shirts and skirts walking side by side in the early morning. It was a sight as sweet as the cry of the morning hen and the chirping of the early birds.
In the bakery, Alma always obeyed Mattie’s orders. To her credit, Mattie was never rude to Alma after that first day. A mutual respect grew between them. Alma respected Mattie’s experience running the bakery. Mattie silently acknowledged Alma’s willingness to work hard and learn. It was a simple business that involved hours of physical labor. Alma discovered during those first few days that running a bakery was easier than working in a farm.
Working in such close proximity, the women became used to each other’s aromas. Mattie decided she liked the way Alma smelled. Alma noticed Mattie would take in a deep breath whenever they were close to each other.
They would eat their lunches together in the bakery. Not much would be said between them. During the first few days, Alma would try to make conversation, hoping that Mattie would open up like she did during their first whiskey laced evening together. But she was met with reticence. Mattie had closed herself off like a tortoise in a shell. Alma tried to coax her out. But she stayed right there.
They would shut shop after work and walk back up the cemented pathway to the cottage. During her first week at the Echelon, Alma hoped Mattie would show her around the Echelon property. But no such offer of a guided tour was made by Mattie. One evening, Alma ventured out by herself. She was not welcomed at the hospital by the nurses, who seemed busy and irritable. The old men eyed her wantonly while the women seemed to look at her as if they cursed her youth.
Having lived on a farm for most of her life, the oakwood and hickory vegetation of the Echelon offered nothing new to Alma. The Echelon property that was hostile and dull in parts forced Alma to retreat into the cottage where Mattie was kind enough to offer her some whiskey. But having bestowed this considerable generosity on her new housemate, Mattie retreated into a book – “Hombre” by Elmore Leonard.
Alma tried to start a conversation about Westerns, hoping to deepen their relationship through a discussion about popular Western paperbacks. But Mattie was not forthcoming, politely signaling through her body language that she was not interested. Exasperated, Alma went up to her room and brought down a book of her own that she had packed into the suitcase – “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre” by B. Traven. She saw Mattie glance at her book, but not another word was exchanged between the women that evening.
This became a ritual. In the evenings, after work at the bakery was done, the women would sit in the living room, adjacent to each other, reading their books and sipping whiskies. The scene was illuminated by a single table lamp. Their chairs were a foot apart from each other. Sometimes their bare feet would accidentally brush against one another. But neither of them shifted their chairs to allow more space between them.
Mattie would usually retire to bed first. Alma would follow her a few minutes (less than five) later. Mattie felt like Alma always waited for her to go to bed first so that she did not have to go to bed alone. This was a correct deduction by Mattie. Alma did not like sleeping by herself after Ace’s departure. She liked having Mattie by her side in bed. She liked Mattie’s smell just liked Mattie liked her smell.
Both women left a small space (as much as the small bed would allow) between them when they slept. But as the days passed Mattie discovered that Alma would violate the line of control in her sleep. Sometimes a bare leg would twine with her own bare leg and wake Mattie up in the night. Once, Alma’s hand fell on Mattie’s bosom, her hands enveloping one of Mattie’s breasts. Mattie gasped and let it stay there for a while, before Alma removed it herself, when she shifted into another sleeping position.
Alma found that Mattie was a light sleeper. Sometimes she would talk in her sleep and wake Alma up. On occasions when Alma would wake up in the night, she would look towards Mattie. There would be no sign of breathing which meant that Mattie was awake. Alma even asked – “Mattie, are you awake?”, but the question was met with a stiff silence.
The weeks spent together had also made both women aware of each other’s physical beauty. They were struck by how equally matched they were. Their modest dressing made it hard for both women to find out what the other was like naked. But after work, they changed into rather short skirts. They noticed their similar slender long legs and large feet. Mattie noticed red patches on Alma’s knees. She figured it was from kneeling on the hard ground while working out in the open for so long. Alma noticed that Mattie’s legs were well taken care of. It was not a peasant’s legs and feet. Alma liked to watch Mattie’s feet in particular. They were like a Hollywood superstar’s with not a mark on them.
Alma would often walk around the house with two of the top buttons on her shirt unbuttoned. Mattie was always buttoned up like a priestess but after a few weeks, Alma noticed that even Mattie had begun to unbutton the top two buttons on her shirt, when she was in the house with Alma. They were subtly showing off their cleavages to each other. A slow and gradual undressing.
Their increasing sexual attraction towards each other was tempered by a fervent shared religiosity. On alternate days, the women prayed together, kneeling side by side to a wooden idol of Christ. The Patriarchs practiced idol worship. The little cottage would be filled with the slightly manic chants of the two women in the evenings, for around twenty minutes. It was to compensate for the fact that Patriarch widows were not allowed attendance during Sunday church.
Living together in a house and sharing its conveniences can make you acquainted with more than the other person’s physical peculiarities. There was a basket outside the bedroom to drop dirty clothes. Alma felt shy to share the basket with Mattie, but Mattie told her she could put her dirty clothes in it. One day when she opened the basket, she saw Mattie’s bloodied underwear. Alma washed the underwear clean and laid it on the bed for Mattie.
Even though she was shocked at this intrusion into her privacy, Mattie thanked Alma for the kind gesture. The favor was returned the very next week when Alma was menstruating. Mattie washed Alma’s bloodied underwear and placed it on the bed for her. Alma was particularly pleased by this tender return of a favor. It made Alma feel like they had shared something very intimate with each other.
This feeling encouraged Alma to suggest that the two of them catch a movie together in town on the fifth Sunday after she had arrived at the Echelon. To her surprise, Mattie agreed. Being widows, they were not permitted to attend Sunday service at the Echelon Patriarchs Church. The bakery was closed on Sundays. They cleaned the cottage and worked in the garden on that day. After their weekly cleaning and washing, they were left with no other social obligations. A taxi picked them both up and dropped them off at the Majestic Cinema. They bought tickets for “The Last Picture Show”, a film by a young director called Peter Bogdanovich, based on a novel which they both loved by Larry McMurtry. The film left both women with a sense of longing and nostalgia. But more importantly, both women sat with their elbows touching throughout the film.
Later that night, when they were both in bed together, they did not feel the need to leave a space. After weeks together, they felt comfortable sleeping with each other. That night, Alma sleepily placed an arm around Mattie’s stomach. Mattie did not remove the hand. She instead placed her arm over Alma’s. With her lower limbs and toes she rubbed up against Alma’s lower limb.
