ERNIE AND ERNESTINA: Searching

Book Two, Chapter 114: Staying On Task

It’s rainy and chilly, so Joshua turns on the Charles Street heat. It feels so good.

Because he can’t work outdoors until the rain stops, he finishes his last few interior tasks. Just now he’s gluing down a corner of kitchen vinyl he turned up a few months ago when he checked to see what was underneath.

“One of these days maybe I’ll take up both the kitchen and bathroom vinyl,” he says. “There’s wood flooring under both. It’d be nice to have wood floors in every room. And maybe I’ll strip the paint from the baseboards and window frames.”

“Stripping all that wood would be a lot of work, Joshua.”

“But then the trim would match the doors. I’d like that.”

He goes to the attic to plug spaces where ants may be coming in. “I don’t even like to kill ants. Better to keep them out rather than spraying them once they’re in.”

Downstairs again, he positions hardware for the roll-up shades so their cords don’t dangle. “I need three blinds, for the doors.”

“You don’t have to buy them right now, do you?” I ask.

“If I don’t stay on task, whatever it is, I can’t cross it off my list.”

Earlier he made a list of eight tasks to accomplish today, and already he’s crossed off two. Almost every day he makes a list.

The rain stops, and while he makes the run to Lowe’s, I head outside to prime the basement sills, crossing this off the list I keep in my head. Then I prime the new glazing around the garage windows — one of my last tasks.

Joshua’s back. We take a tea break.

“Maybe we’ll find a house for me next,” I say, “with a room for you so you can visit and be comfortable.”

“I’ve never liked the building you’re in. No privacy.”

“So, what happened last night?”

Last night he met with a woman he’d first met on the speed-dating night.

“I’ll read you the text message I sent my friend Rick.”

He reads it to me. I can’t follow his jokes, but it’s clear he won’t meet this woman again. Yet I wonder: Is finding a girlfriend another task Joshua has given himself? That he wants to cross off his list?