Opened Boxes
Ralph woke up the next morning to find the other side of the bed empty and the smell of fresh pancakes coming from the kitchen. He threw on a t-shirt and some sweatpants and swiftly made his way downstairs.
There was Agnes dressed in some of Ralph's clothes, an old, baggy t-shirt and a brown leather belt synching it at her waist. She was plating two tall stacks of blueberry pancakes.
"Good morning, darling!" She said, wiping some stray flour off her cheek. "Made breakfast."
"Oh, thanks." He shuffled awkwardly over to her and took one of the plates. She kissed him on the cheek.
"No problem, darling."
He was surprised to see that there was a tablecloth on the table as well as silverware already set out at two chairs.
"When you'd do this?" Ralph asked before shoving a bite of pancake into his mouth.
Agnes smiled as she walked over to her seat with her plate and some extra syrup, "oh, just a little bit ago. This place is so drab, Ralph, it needed some- something new."
"Where'd you get it from?" He asked referring to the tablecloth.
"From the closet down the hall. There's just a whole bunch of boxes in there that need to be opened."
"Huh."
He hadn't even looked at some of those boxes since he had moved in years ago. It was mostly just homeware items his family wanted him to have while he lived on his own, but Ralph had deemed them unimportant. He figured that if Agnes wanted to look through them she should be allowed to. She needed something to do to occupy her time while he was out.
"I've got to leave in about an hour, so I'm gonna take a shower if that's fine with you. I hate to make you do all the cleanup with you making breakfast and all." He said.
"Oh, don't worry, Ralph darling; it's not like I don't do all the work around here anyways." She laughed. "Why are you leaving exactly?"
"Work."
"Oh." She pouted, seeming sad all of the sudden, "I'll miss you, how long will you be out?"
"I'll be back by six, hopefully."
"Don't worry, I'll make sure the house is spotless for you by the you get back. I'll have dinner made too." She winked.
"Nah, you don't have to worry about that," he said through a mouthful of pancake.
"Don't be silly and would you like me to make you something for lunch you can take with you?"
"Oh, no, I work at a sandwhich shop, I can just have what's there, that's what I usually do."
"Alright."
-
They had finished their breakfast and Ralph had showered and dressed properly. He was just about to walk out the front door when he remembered something.
"Oh and Agnes?"
"Yes, dear?"
"Don't go into the basement, okay?" He hoped telling her not to would actually prevent her from doing it. He hadn't checked the basement like he had meant to do the night before; he didn't know what was still down there. He hoped nothing besides his old chair and pool table.
Agnes waved her hand, "alright dear, there's not even anything I want or could use down there."
She laughed loudly and her eyes suddenly became full of pain.
Ralph nodded, "okay then. Goodbye Agnes."
"Goodbye Ralph!" She blew him a kiss but he just smiled awkwardly and shut the door.
-
Unsurprisingly his shift ended early. It was only a day before that everyone had been released from the Hex and most people wanted to stay home. Therefore, Ralph found himself heading home at around four.
When he walked through the front door he was immediately hit with the smell of lemon scented cleaner. He looked around the room and saw that all of the clothes had been picked up, the pillows on the couch had been straightened, the coffee table had been cleared of trash, and the scripts he usually left scattered had been collected and straitened into piles. There were two coasters on the side table instead of the half drunk energy drinks and it appeared that any kind of dirty dish had been cleared away or cleaned. The carpet had been vacuumed and the kitchen and dining room floors were so clean they sparkled. Agnes had been busy.
"Dinner's in the oven, darling!" Ralph heard her shout from the bathroom down the hall.
He went over to where he had heard her and saw her on her hands and knees scrubbing the floor. She was still wearing what she had had on that morning except now with a frilly red and white apron tied around her waist.
She turned and saw him, "oh, hi Ralph, enjoying the view?" She asked wiggling her hips suggestively.
He looked the other direction, "not really."
Agnes pouted and got up, leaving the scrubbing brush on the floor. She tugged on his collar and kissed his cheek then behind his ear.
He coughed, "so uhm, what's for dinner?"
"Pork roast. Then for dessert I made pineapple upside down cake. Is that alright with you?"
"Yeah, that sounds fine."
"Alright then, let me just get cleaned up." She winked and walked away.
He was setting the table by the time she got back. She now had her hair pulled back into a bun and held back with a handkerchief.
"Oh, Ralph, don't worry about that, I got it." She said trying to take the silverware away from him.
"No, I got it, don't worry."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah." Ralph was beginning to worry that Agnes could be too high strung for him to handle.
She hung up the red and white apron, that he had never seen before, on the pantry door then pulled the roast out of the oven, using potholders that he had never seen before.
"Smells delicious, honey." He told her honestly.
She smiled, seeming genuinely proud. "Thank you. Got the recipe from here," she said and tapped the cover of a cookbook that was on the counter.
"Huh?"
Ralph didn't think he owned any cookbooks, he had never bought any before.
"Where you'd find that?" He asked.
"From a box in the closet." She replied then remembered-
"Oh!" She cried before toddling off to the laundry room, and she returned carrying a large crocheted yellow blanket. "This was in there too, had to wash out the smell of box."
She laughed.
"Oh," he said, staring at the blanket she had handed to him.
As he walked away to put it on the couch that looked like it needed a splash of colour, he heard Agnes say something from the kitchen. He went back to see her holding out a card.
"What'd you say? Sorry, I couldn't hear you."
"That's alright, dear. This was with the lovely apron." She held out the card with more force towards him.
He began to read it while she took down two plates for them. In soft handwritten script it read:
"Ralph,
I know right now you're living in that big house all alone and for right now that might be okay for you, but trust me it won't be for long. I know you and I know that you won't like living by yourself for a long time. It might be far into the future, or it might be very soon but one day you won't be all alone in that house, and by that day you'll need all of this.
The aprons are for you and your future wife. It's a matching set so you two don't clash, and I hope that the red will brighten up your kitchen. I also hope that one day I'll get a picture of my future daughter-in-law wearing hers. There's also cookbooks for you to use together. I know how much you hate cooking but I hope that if you have someone with you, you'll find it enjoyable.
Love, Mom"
"The other one's still in the box." Agnes said as she scooped them portions of roasted vegetables from the pan.
Ralph's voice was soft. "The other one?" He asked.
"The other apron, matching set, dear."
"Huh."
Ralph had had those boxes since he had moved in before the blip, everything had been sitting there for years. His mother had gotten a matching set of aprons for him and his future wife. She had gotten him a bunch of cookbooks for him to use. She had gotten him bakeware, pot holders, and judging by what Agnes was using a good quality set of colourful knives. He had no idea and it all just sat in boxes.
"What else was in there?" He asked Agnes.
"Hmm?"
"In the boxes?"
"Oh just a few other things. We can take a look later if you'd like."
His voice started to become a little raspy. "Yeah, I think I would."
"Are you alright, darling?"
"I'm fine, Agnes. I just didn't know all of this stuff was in there. That's all."
She smiled. "Well, it was very sweet of your mother to give us all this."
"Yes." He paused. "You knew my mother gave me this stuff?"
"I read the card."
"Oh."
"Come on, let's eat." She grabbed his arm and pulled him over.
"Okay."
-
Once they had finished Agnes immediately set herself to the dishes.
"You know Agnes,"
"Yes, Ralph?" She replied while pulling on her rubber gloves. She had insisted on doing the dishes by hand.
"You know what, never mind."
"Okay." She started the water, "oh and Ralph?"
"Yeah?"
"You have work tomorrow, right?"
"Yep, same shift."
She smiled. "Alright then, I'm probably going to do some laundry while you're there and a bit more cleaning up. I have to reorganize our room then the cabinets. Oh, and the pantry is a complete mess; I don't know how you've been able to deal with this Ralph. Then, since tomorrow's Friday we'll have the weekend to ourselves, what do you want to do then?"
"Oh, I was just gonna stay home."
"So nothing then!" She smiled, "then, I'll just have to plan something for us to do. Oh, we could-"
Ralph coughed, "You know Agnes, not everything has to get done immediately right? You'll overwork themselves."
"Don't be silly."
"I'm not, I mean really, there's too much that you're doing, I mean look at you." He gestured to her gloved hands in the sink. "It's nice to just take a pause once in awhile. Why don't we just stay home for the weekend and chill? Does that sound good?"
"I don't know what you mean by take a break, you know I can't relax when there's work to be done, Ralph."
Ralph sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Suddenly he got an idea.
"Agnes, darling?"
"Yes, Ralphie?" She brightened up.
He moved to stand behind her and held her by her elbows, Agnes liked that position too much.
"Why don't you go sit down?" He suggested and pulled her hands out of the sink.
She giggled.
Ralph continued, "I'll make you something to help you relax, okay."
"But the dishe-"
He placed a finger over her lips, she kissed it, "shh, the dishes can wait for after this."
"Okay!" She kissed his cheek.
While she tossed the rubber gloves into the dishwater he pulled something down from the cabinet.
"No peaking," he told her.
"Oh, alright." She blew him a kiss as she walked away. He pretended to catch it and place it over his heart. She swooned.
Agnes sat herself down on the couch and fiddled with her nails until Ralph returned. And when he returned he was holding something akin to a cigarette.
"Took you long enough," she said playfully.
"Wanted to make it perfect for you." He smiled and sat down next to her.
She gestured to the thing in his hand, "what is it?" she asked.
"Well, um," he shifted closer to her and pulled a lighter out of his pocket. "Have you ever smoked or drank anything, done anything like intoxicative before? Gotten high, I mean?"
"Not since my younger days, darling." She winked.
Agatha remembered the cold, unfiltered waters of Salem, Massachusetts. She hoped Ralph was not about to force something like that on her.
Ralph laughed, more like blowing air out his nose aggressively. "Well it's something like that, but not really, it's just calmer, it'll make you relax, it's good for you, I mean."
He seemed hesitant as he stumbled over his words. He was trying not to scare her she realized.
"Okay!" Agnes said cheerfully.
"Okay?" He held up the lighter.
"Yep!"
He flicked open the lighter and it became a small flame that flickered at the touch of his fingertips.
"Alright, here we go." He lit the tip of the cigarette-thing and Agnes watched the flame touch it, expecting to flame and burn, but it didn't. It didn't catch fire and burn but smoked slightly, the tip becoming like charcoal. Ralph switched around the placement of it in his fingers and held it closer to her face, allowing her to examine it.
To Agatha it appeared to be a rolled up piece of paper with something inside. It smelled exactly like the rest of the house did before she had scrubbed it all clean. It was some type of plant.
Agatha knew plants, and she knew that a lot of plants could be very dangerous and she feared that Ralph might be attempting to hurt her.
Somehow she said something out of character, something off script, "will it hurt me?" She asked.
Ralph shook his head furiously, "no, no ,no," he insisted, "it'll just relax you, it can't hurt you. I don't think."
"Okay."
Agnes took it from his hand and into her own.
She asked hesitantly, "what do you with it?"
"Uh." He mimicked putting it to his lips. "You breath it in like-"
"Like a cigarette?"
"Yeah, like a cigarette, that's basically-"
She placed the non lit tip in between her lips and breathed.
"-what it is."
She coughed loudly and placed a fist to her chest while her other hand held out the cigarette to Ralph.
He took it, "it's called a joint, or a blunt that's what I call it," he explained.
"It's great." She wheezed out in between coughs. When she stopped her eyes were slightly red from holding back tears.
"You'll get used to it," he said before breathing it in himself. He breathed in and out the smoke easily and handed the blunt back to her.
This time she braced herself to prepare for the burning in her lungs and when she breathed she blew out the smoke just fine.
They did this back and forth a few more times until Ralph took it back to the kitchen. It took around ten minuets for the results to set in.
Agatha felt her mind and body relax. She felt an almost overwhelming sense of calm bloom inside of her; this was not like the waters of Salem at all, this felt nice to her. It seemed as if everything to her became clearer. Problems that seemed big started to seem not so big. She did not feel as if she had to distract her mind from her troubles with busywork. Her troubles seemed so much smaller. Everything in the basement didn't seem so necessary. Being trapped in an unfamiliar town didn't seem so terrifying. Being forced to play a character didn't seem so dreadful. Having to be physically attracted to a man named Ralph didn't seem so disgusting. She felt nice, like a weight had been removed from atop her chest. Ralph appeared to be having a different reaction.
His face appeared to be filled with dread. His brow furrowed, he bit his quivering lip, and his eye glazed over with stagnent tears. Agatha didn't really want to ask but Ralph beat her to it by giving her an answer to her unspoken question.
"I haven't seen her in about three months," he said softly.
"What?" She asked.
"My mom, I haven't seen her in about three months." He paused. "I didn't know she had given me all that stuff."
"It was nice of her."
"Yeah, and I had no idea."
Agatha leaned into him. They touched shoulders.
Ralph breathed in, trying not to cry, "do you know your mother, Agnes? Do you talk with her?"
Agnes' eyes, which had been calm and settled suddenly became full of pain.
Agatha barely remembered her mother. She remembered what she had done, when it happened, but she could not recall why she had done it. She remembered a desire for power was involved, something about dark magic, but Agatha could not imagine that the desire could have been so strong that it would have lead her to do that.
She remembered her mother, her smile, her tears, her voice, and her last words.
"She's dead," Agnes whispered.
"Oh." Ralph turned his head towards her and looked into her eyes. "I'm sorry."
A steady silence covered them for awhile as they both looked around. Ralph's paintings seemed much more beautiful, the tapestries told stories that Agatha did not originally notice, and the 70s lamp that she thought lacked taste seemed to sparkle. It wasn't hideous to her, it was still painful but it did not fill her with dread.
Agnes broke the silence, "why haven't you seen her in three months?"
Ralph was silent.
"Is she okay?"
"She is."
"Oh." She looked down at her hands, sounding and looking upset.
Ralph placed his hand on her knee and said, "don't be upset, I just haven't felt like seeing or calling her."
He looked around the room. "You know they bought me this place?"
"Really?" She joined him in looking around the room again.
"Yeah, they always encouraged me and I guess part of that included buying me a whole house. When I told them I wanted to be an actor they were cool with it. My parents bought me a whole house so I could be on my own and maybe get some gigs around here. Technically the mortgage is still in there name. I still have to have a stable job, that's their rule, but it's amazing, having this house while I'm able to pursue what I want. They allow me to do what I want without any worry.
I had no idea what was even in those boxes. She told me to open them when I got home for a surprise, but when I saw the word 'kitchenware' I swore off opening it all together. I didn't know that's what it was.
She always wanted a daughter-in-law. She wanted me to be happy."
"Good thing you got one!" Agnes said smiling.
"More or less." He shrugged.
Agnes laughed softly.
"I haven't called them yet, I probably should."
"Why haven't you?"
Ralph didn't reply for a second, thinking about what he should answer with, "I don't know. My dad was in the blip and him and mom are working things out. The three of us aren't exactly close and Mom just started to move on, so her and Dad need some time to themselves."
Her painfilled eyes looked into his, "call them, tell them that you love them," she politely demanded.
"I will."
She smiled. "Good."
A steady silence covered them again, cloaking them in peace. The day had definitely ended and while the dishes sat in the kitchen sink Agatha did not feel like getting up and doing them.
"The dishes can wait for the morning," she told him.
"You're right." He kissed the top of her head softly as she leaned further into him.
She leaned into him so much the he fell back onto the couch with her laying on top him, curled into side. They both had been overcome with tiredness. Ralph positioned himself so that one of his arms rested on Agnes' back and the other hung off the edge of the couch.
He selected something on the tv for background noise and pulled the crocheted, yellow blanket off the couch and placed it over them.