Accidents Happen - 5. Chapter 5 - Working Out the Day's Events

Chapter 5 – Working Out the Day’s Events

Charlie walked into his apartment and began to pace the floor. He felt as if he needed to do something before he crawled out of his skin. He hated when he felt like this, like his mind was a rollercoaster of thoughts and emotions.

“I’ll finish the projects,” he announced to an empty room. He quickly picked his satchel up off the floor and in moments the table looked like it had before he had left for work that morning. There were piles of projects placed all over the table. Without a worry about keeping things neat he began to look them over, grade them, and record the grades in his grade book. Unfortunately, the grading of the projects which had seemed so huge this morning soon lay neatly completed ten minutes later.

Well that didn’t take as long as I expected. Charlie sighed glumly to himself. He was still running through all the events that had happened to him that day. The top of the list was Tina, then the accident, and also his visit with Scott Reeds. It was one of those moments where he wished the world would just go away and he could hide from what he was feeling and dealing with.

“I refuse to feel sorry for myself,” Charlie nearly shouted as he stood up from the table. He neatly slid everything back into his satchel and stood up to stretch. It might have been early in the afternoon for him but he was feeling at loose ends.

I need to unwind, to do something to help myself relax. Charlie headed off into his bathroom and started the shower. Quickly he stripped out of his clothing and stepped under the warm water. He emptied his mind and just let the water relax his tense muscles. If the water had stayed warm he probably would have stayed there longer but he had just begun to feel a bit better when the water turned icy. Hurriedly, he jumped out of the shower and grabbed a towel.

After a quick toweling off he wandered into his bedroom. He didn’t plan to do anything that afternoon or evening so he pulled on a pair of lounge pants and a tee shirt. The lounge pants had been a gift from his mother. They had pictures of Snoopy all over them and she joked he might be getting older but he never had to grow up. They made him smile and he felt he needed that at the moment.

Feeling a bit better he walked into his kitchen. Almost absentmindedly he checked the cabinets and shelves for what was there. Finally he wandered over to the fridge where he opened the freezer door and spotted the bag of blueberries. A smile came to his face as he realized that keeping busy was just what he needed to do. He strolled over to his recipe box and began to flip through to find the one he wanted. It didn’t take long till he was holding the recipe for Blueberry Buckle in his hand.

He pulled the various bowls, measuring cups and spoons from the cupboards and drawers. Then, while his was busy measuring and mixing his mind began to work through the problems that had been his day. No matter how he looked at it, the accident was absolutely his fault. I really can’t afford myself the luxury of tuning out the outside world when I am out in it. Charlie walked over and checked to make sure the oven was preheating to the right temperature. Well, if nothing else that shows me the importance of getting a good night’s rest before trying to face the world. I really should have called out instead of trying to go in on no sleep. At least my students weren’t hurt because I was so overtired. Charlie moved quickly to grab the bag of blueberries out of the freezer. While he let cold water rinse them off his mind continued to work its way through other parts of his problems.

Charlie reached for a second bowl to start making the crumb topping in. Scott Reeds is in the hospital because of me. As soon as he thought of Scott the memory of those intense blue eyes filled his mind and he nearly dropped the bowl he had been working with.Oh Lord, why does even the thought of that man make me nervous? Got to stop reacting that way or the poor man is going to think there is something seriously wrong with me. Charlie took a deep breath, looked back at the recipe and put all thoughts of Mr. Scott Reeds out of his head for the moment.

Charlie greased the bottom of his glass square pan and walked over to grab the batter. Tina, what am I going to do about you? Charlie paused for a moment then grabbed the scraper so he could get the rest of the batter out as he finished pouring the mixture into his pan. Two years she has been at my side now. I mean she encouraged me to go after my first job, was there with me at the holidays, and has been such an integral part of my life. How do I show her how important she is to me? Tina is my personal cheerleader when I succeed, my support when life seems to crush me. Charlie grabbed the smaller bowl and began to sprinkle the topping onto the buckle. Once the bowl was empty he placed the buckle into the oven and set the timer.

While the buckle began to cook, Charlie gathered up all the dirty utensils and put everything into the sink. He filled the sink with hot soapy water and began to wash up everything. Maybe she wants me to announce how much I love her? No, that just doesn’t seem right. Is there something I can do that she wants? Maybe I could pick a romantic place for a change? She might like it if I surprised her. The dishes were soon all washed and put into his small drain board.

The delicious scent of the blueberry buckle filled the air and was making Charlie hungry. He dug out a loaf of bread and some cold cuts from the fridge. A few moments later he had made himself a ham and Swiss on pumpernickel and poured himself a glass of ice tea. He walked over to the couch where he planned to make himself comfortable to wait for the buckle to finish cooking. He carefully set the drink on the floor beside him, and then sat Indian style on the couch.

Charlie munched happily on his sandwich. While he didn’t have any definite plans at least he was no longer so anxious about everything. He leaned back on the couch, relaxing and enjoying everything he had managed to accomplish tonight. He was getting so comfortable that he nearly fell off the couch when the oven began beeping.

Leaping up from the couch, Charlie rushed to the oven and pulled the buckle out of the oven and put the baking pan on the cooling rack. The warm buckle made the whole apartment smell so good. Charlie couldn’t help but smile as he remembered the first time he had made this recipe with his mother as child. Mom couldn’t believe I ate as many of the berries as I had. We had to go to the store to buy a new carton because I had eaten almost all of the first one before we ever got ready to follow the recipe. Charlie turned off the oven and then returned to the couch to clean up his plate and cup. At the sink he just rinsed them both off, leaving them to be washed when he did his breakfast dishes.

Charlie’s Blueberry Buckle

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup shortening
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup milk
• ½ teaspoon of vanilla
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 ½ cups fresh blueberries
• 1/2 cup white sugar

• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

• 1/4 cup butter, softened

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease one 8x8 inch pan.
   
2. Cream together 3/4 cup sugar, shortening, vanilla, and egg.
   
3. In a separate bowl mix together 2 cups flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir into sugar mixture, alternating with milk. Stir in blueberries. Pour into greased 8x8 inch pan.
   
4. To make topping: Combine 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and butter. Sprinkle over cake batter.
   
5. Bake at 375 degree F (190 degrees C) for 25-30 minutes.