"On my way there, a very strange thing happened..." His mother wandered into the kitchen. “Jerry, have you seen my hairbrush. Jerry, where is my hairbrush?” She looked vaguely around and then turned back to return to the living room. “What were you saying, dear?” His wife looked at him over her cup of coffee. “I was going there..” “Where, dear” “I was going to the library, and this very strange thing…” Marge’s cell began ringing. “Just a second, dear.” She flipped open the phone and placed it against her ear. “Delia, sweetie, what is it? No, you don’t want the soap with the softener. Cold water. That’s it.” “Jerry, do you have my hairbrush?” His mother re-entered the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. She took out a container of milk. He got up from the table and took the milk from her before she could pour it on the floor. “Your hairbrush isn’t in here,” he said, gently moving her from the refrigerator. He closed the door and guided her back to the living room where an old Lewis and Martin movie was playing. “See, there’s Jerry.” His mother sat in her chair facing the television. “Jerry, do you have my hairbrush?” He went back into the kitchen. “I tell you, you can go with the cheap stuff on this. It’s all the same. Why would you pay more for a blue bottle? Well, do what you think is best, sweetie. We’ll see you in an hour? Great. Bye-ee.” Marge flipped her phone closed. “I swear, your daughter can’t decide what time of day it is on her own.” “I really want to tell you about—“ “Just a second. I see the mail carrier coming down the walk. I want to catch him … just take a second.” She left the kitchen and the phone rang. He lifted the receiver and heard static on the line. “Hello, is anyone there?” A babble of sound, then "Is Joey there?" "You have the wrong number." "I want to talk to Joey." "Thre's no one here by that name. Sorry." He hung up. Marge returned to the kitchen “I tell you, what happened to common courtesy?” He turned to watch her as she refilled her coffee cup. “You’d think I asked him for a special favor by wanting our packages set on the back porch. Good grief, he parks his truck by our driveway. It’s closer to the back porch than the front porch. I just hate having packages sit out for all to see. Now what were you saying? “I was saying that on my way there, a very strange thing happened..." “Jerry, you bad boy. I’m going to get my hairbrush and give you one good for being such a bad boy. Where’s my hairbrush? Jerry, do you have my hairbrush?” “I better go and see what she’s up to this time. She tried to spank the cat yesterday.” “I’ll go.” He went into the bathroom, located his mother’s tranquilizers, and returned to the living room where she was pulling books off the shelves. “I know that hairbrush was here yesterday,” she said in a low, desperate voice. “Why don’t you take your vitamins now?” She turned. “Flintstones? “Barney and Wilma.” He offered her the pills which she swallowed without water. He was always amazed that she could do that. He never could. “Why don’t you sit down and rest a little.” He maneuvered her back into her chair, and sat in the one next to her. “Jerry is such a bad boy.” “I know. You want to hear something?” He saw she was drifting off to sleep but he continued anyway. “On my way there, a very strange thing happened..." “Walter,” his wife yelled. “The cat is up the tree again. You need to get your ladder.” “Never mind,” he told his mother. “I’ll tell you later.”