Branching out

Eighth in an occasional series of short short fiction ...

When Martin Branch retired as Senior Chemist at DuPont Company headquarters in Delaware, his co-workers feted him at a gold watch luncheon. When they asked him to say a few words, Branch spoke of how he felt his whole life had been predestined. His Ph.D. in chemistry at the University of Delaware fed him into the DuPont pipeline. There he had remained for 35 years, working on making better bullet-resistant fabrics. And now he had ample cash for …

Wyatt McCoy, finishing his customary third drink at celebratory lunches, interrupted Branch’s flow of thought with a toast: “To Martin, not only bullet-resistant but bulletproof.” That brought smiles all around, because everyone at the table knew the corporate disclaimer: Don’t say bulletproof because that depends on a bullet’s ballistics. Nothing is irresistible.

Branch carried on: “I’ve been good to the Company, and the Company has been good to me.” More cheers burst forth from the long-timers surrounding the table. They knew themselves to be among the last generation of employees to have gold-plated DuPont pensions rather than 401(k)s: lifetime security, if they stayed on task and minded their manners.

Branch thought he heard three blasts of the ship’s horn. Then he realized the sound was in his own head.

Branch planned to make good use of that bounty and his ample savings. True, his one child, Malcolm, had died years ago from a sudden aneurysm, but he still had Betty, and he had almost always been faithful to her. Now they would have ample resources to take the cruises that would be his retirement hobby and reward: East to Barcelona and Venice. South to Argentina and Brazil. West through the Panama Canal and on to Australia. North to Alaska. Destinations predestined.

He worried a bit that he and Betty had grown apart during the last few months. Branch’s favorite place remained the lab, while Betty had become a church lady always trying to connect him to odd things in the Bible, like how often the word branch appeared. Their cruise preparations showed the difference. Branch loaded up his Kindle with books about innovations and sprinkled in some science fiction. Betty packed only her Bible. Go figure.

Boarding the cruise ship in Fort Lauderdale meant having passports checked three times, given eternal demands for security. Branch whispered to Betty, “This is taking forever, but that’s what happens with long lines of old people.” Betty smiled: “We’re old too.” Then came instructions about operating the safe in their cabin: “Make sure your possessions are secure.” Branch snorted, “They treat us like we’re children.”

Still, when it was time to leave their cabin that afternoon for the required lifeboat drill, Branch put his wallet and Kindle in the cabin safe. At the drill the captain said emergencies were rare, but if one occurred the ship’s horn would let out a blast. Branch and Betty then walked the decks hand in hand and felt their closeness rekindled. But when they returned to the cabin and he went to the safe to get out his reading for the hour before dinner, tragedy struck: The safe wouldn’t open.

Branch tried and tried, but nothing worked. He called the passenger service desk and learned that staffers were busy with two old people who had suffered heart attacks, so it would be an hour before someone could come to fix the safe. He fumed to Betty: “I have nothing to read. First day of the rest of my life, and I’m bored.”

She smiled: “You could look at my Bible.” Not what I planned, Branch thought, but it will pass the time. He opened it at one of her bookmarked spots and read, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.”

Betty had written in the margin: “What kind of branch is Martin?” He read on in John and saw other Betty notations: “Irresistible grace” and “Nothing, even the smallest thing, happens apart from God’s will.” He decided to keep reading.

Branch thought he heard three blasts of the ship’s horn. Then he realized the sound was in his own head. He read on, and on, and on.