Paul H. Williams, Gleaner Writer

When Mrs Spence saw the 'House for Sale' sign attached to Ralph St. Claver's metal gate, she quickly called her husband. They stood on their veranda in wonderment for they had no idea that Ralph wanted to sell his two-storey house. It was a nice residence, and as far as they knew, Ralph had no plans to migrate in his retirement.

Mr St. Claver has been living alone in that house for years, long before his wife, Edith, died. As a matter of fact, the wife had moved out since Ralph refused to speak with her. She was not going to abide with someone who treated her as if she didn't exist.

The St. Clavers' relationship was always topsy-turvy, yet they held on to the marriage, which produced four children. As time went by, Mrs St. Claver got shaky, and as she aged, her memory deteriorated. Ralph was very impatient with her, but the children had to step in from to time to time to lessen the tension. Life went on with Edith living in some amount of regret.

One day, she went to the supermarket and bought, inter alia, a packet of grunt fish. The fish was already gutted, so upon returning home she simply washed and seasoned it before putting it to steam. While it was being cooked, the aroma wafted in the air. Ralph could not wait to partake of his favourite meal.

Explanation

Dinner time came, and the St. Clavers sat down to enjoy the fish. Ralph used his fork to poke the fish. The teeth bounced off it. Strange. He tried again, and got the same reaction. He ran the fork through his fish and scales were now flying all over the table.

He shouted, "Edith, the fish nuh scale!"

A shocked Edith retorted, "Of course, they scaled it at the supermarket!"

"Woman, the fish not scale, look pon it," an angry Ralph blared, as he pushed his dish towards Edith.

She took it up, and held it close to her eyes. The scales simply shimmered at her, and seemed to say, "Good evening ma'am!" The fish's mouth had a little smirk, and there was mischief in its exposed dead eye.

Ralph shot up from his chair and stormed off. And despite Edith's explanation that she thought the fish was scaled before it was packaged, Ralph refused to speak with her. He swore she was trying to kill him for not taking her down the aisle. She eventually went to live with one of their daughters.

They got married at a local registrar, in the presence of witnesses from their families, because Ralph could not afford a big wedding. He was in love with her, and wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, and the lack of money was not going to take away his joy. But it actually did, because the basis of the many arguments they had was mostly financial. It was a struggle, as they worked hard to build their house.

In one of the arguments, after 25 years of marriage, Ralph got the shock of his life when Edith blurted, "You say you are a man, and you could not give me a proper wedding, you did not make me walk down the aisle! How embarrassing!"

Infidelity

After a moment of silence, Ralph slowly said, "After all these years, you finally said it, so much for love, so much for everything we have been through."

One of the things they had been through was Ralph's infidelity. He fathered a child with a woman he met along the way, one Friday evening on his way to cool his head at a rural seaside resort. He kept the secret from Edith until the woman found his house one Monday morning, while Edith was in her garden watering her plants. The drama that unfolded is another story in itself, but The St. Clavers weathered the storm.

The children are now grown, with their own families; his wife is dead, and Ralph is alone in the two-storey house. That was not how he intended to spend the rest of his life. The house was a labour for love. Laughter and shouts echoed from its wall, the sounds of children playing, crying, people going up and down the stairs, Christmas carols, Festival songs, Sunday morning gospel music. Also, the scent of cake baking, sorrel, chicken soup, perfume and cologne. Memories of the sounds and scents were killing him, and he was not ready to die. He had to move on, move out, move away. House for sale. Apply within.