Shorties: Number 21

Another excerpt from a story not yet revealed. 

He remembered how hard things had been after he and Marsha married.  Money had been good at the factory but after the layoffs, money got tight.  He realized now how foolish he was.  They did not prepare for any financial setbacks.  Being young, he simply believed the money would continue coming.  It didn’t.

They had only been in the apartment a year when Marsha got pregnant.  James was two years old when he and Alex lost their jobs.  Money got very tight.  Pete believed you paid your bills first and lived off the rest.  After paying rent and utilities, there was nothing left for food.  How would he provide food for his family?  What would he do next month?  The unemployment check didn’t go very far.

Pete relived the anxiety that filled him in those days.  It seemed they never had enough of anything.  In his mind’s eye, he relived looking at what other’s had and wishing he had half of it.  When they went to the store, Jimmy always asked for something but Marsha and Pete had to deny him that little toy or snack.  It was never in the budget.  It killed him to always say no.  Marsha took it in stride that she never got her nails done.  She simply said she didn’t want to be “one of them hussies.”  Jimmy eventually asked less and less for things.

One day, Pete told himself, one day he would provide for his family like a real husband and father.  He yearned for the day when his son needed something and he would get it.  How he wished for a time when he could buy flowers for Marsha and surprise her with trinkets.  He wanted them to know they were special. 

Even when he finally found employment, money was tight.  He’d go six months without changing his oil in his car simply because they couldn’t afford it.  He hoped and prayed the car or refrigerator or washer or dryer or floor or plumbing would make it until they got their tax refund.  He also hoped and prayed for miracles.  He hoped and prayed just to make an extra $200.00 per month.  If only they could make that much more each month, life would be so much easier.

He marveled at the desperation of his life back then.  An extra $20.00 for one thing or another seemed impossible then.  Now he worried little about an extra $1,000.00 for one thing or another.  He felt sad.  He saw images of his life in this house before him and compared it to now.  The contrasts were stark and dramatic.  While not quite a millionaire, he could see the possibility of it happening with hard work, strategic investments and a little luck. 

He never lost sight of the value of a dollar but he did lose sight of other important things.  That thought caused Pete to begin a process of evaluation.  Wheels began turning in his mind but so much had come at him so fast nothing processed.  His heart still grieved over the loss of his friend.  Pete determined he would sort things out once A-H’s funeral was over and he returned home.  He would make changes for Marsha and James.  Hopefully, he was not too late.