Desperate Times

by Nicholas Antinozzi

  The cheering lasted a full minute before Jimmy could speak again. Jon looked utterly flabbergasted.

  “United we stand people! And we need to unite right now! I can’t stress this enough. We’re going to need to work together, and we don’t have much time. I need you all to split into groups now. I don’t care how you do it, but I want you in groups of ten or so. Please, spread out and do it now!”

  The crowd began to churn. Those on the outside moved further away from the others. Soon, they were clumped together in five groups of eight to ten people. Close enough, thought Jimmy. “Good job!” he shouted. “Now, I want every group to choose a leader. That person will be responsible for your group. I’ll give you three minutes!”

  The air was suddenly buzzing with conversation. A few leaders were chosen in a matter of seconds; other groups needed time to vote.

  “I can’t do this?” asked Jon, sarcastically. “Well, you sure fooled me!”

  Jimmy smiled. He hadn’t known that he had this in him. Something Dr. Benson said had stuck with him. Why not us? he’d asked. Jimmy now knew that he’d been right on the money. Win, lose, or draw, they had little choice in what to do. They had to fight.

  “Everyone can sit down except for the group leaders,” Jimmy shouted. When the last leader stood, he pointed to the farthest group and said: “Number off. You’re team one!”

  The leaders numbered off. They counted to five. Jimmy smiled. “Remember those numbers, people. Okay, now we need the group leaders to step up front. The rest of you, get to know each other. You’ll be spending a lot of time together!”

  “You’re so full of shit,” whispered Jon. “You pulled that off like a pro.”

  “Thanks,” said Jimmy. “Your turn.”

  “Like hell it is,” said Jon.

  “Just think of yourself as a general. These are your captains. You need to take charge. You’ve got to get them organized. You can do it… here they come. Go to it.”

  Jon nodded. He pointed over to a long bench behind the rusted steel mesh backstop. “Why don’t you sit down over there?” he asked. Line up, left to right, one through five.”

  They watched as the group leaders milled around, finding their places on the wooden bench. Jimmy and Jon followed, standing on the other side of the backstop. They were all men, and they all carried themselves with pride along with a uniform expression of determination. Jimmy liked what he saw in those faces. The groups had chosen their leaders well.

  Jon began to speak. “This is Jimmy Logan. I’m Jon Lent. We’re in charge here; does anyone have a problem with that?”

  Nobody said a word.

  “Good,” continued Jon. “Jimmy and I answer to Ken and Dr. Logan. That’s our chain of command. If you have a problem with anything we ask of you, by all means feel free to speak to them. If you still have a problem, you’ll be asked to leave and won’t be welcome back.” Jon paused, letting that soak in.

  “We need to get started on another wall. Believe it or not, we built the one next door in less than a week’s time. We did that with less than thirty people, many of them were women and young people. If we all work on it together, we can get it done in two or three days. We need to get you connected to the one next door. Does everyone follow me on this? Good. The next order of business is going to be guard duty. We need to be ready for trouble. In case any of you don’t know what happened in Ely, I’ll tell you. The National Guard came to town in trucks and went house to house rounding everyone up. When the trucks were full, they hauled them away. Those who resisted were shot. We can’t let them get close with those trucks. We’ve got to block the road. Does anyone disagree with that? Good.”

  Jimmy stepped in. “We’re going to have to take our truck to Ely. I’m going to need volunteers to accompany me. We’ve got to load up on some supplies. Whatever we can get our hands on. I want at least one good man from each of your groups. We’re probably going to run into trouble, maybe even the Guard. This is going to be dangerous. Make sure your people understand that. We’ll go this afternoon, and with any luck we’ll be back before sundown.”

  “Right,” said Jon. “We’ll travel in a convoy. Once we get to town, we’ll know a lot more. All right. Go back to your teams and ask for some volunteers. Team One has got the first shift out on the road. Take your people down to the corner and spread them out in the woods. If you see any sign of trouble, fire three quick shots. That’ll be our signal. Team Two will relieve you in two hours. We’ll continue to rotate that way for now. The rest of you can set up camp over here. The lodge is empty, and the owner isn’t coming back. Feel free to use whatever is here. That’s it. Any questions?”

  They looked at each other, up and down the bench. A few shook their heads, others just stood up.

  “Okay,” said Jimmy. “That’s the plan for now. Jon and I are going to catch some sleep. We’ll be back later and get the truck rolling into to Ely. Thank you, all.”

  They watched them return to their groups. “My hat’s off to you,” said Jon. “That was one helluva speech. You’ve got a talent there.”

  “Do you really think so?” asked Jimmy as they began to walk back toward the gate.

  “I do,” replied Jon. “You had them eating out of the palm of your hand.”

  “Thanks.”

  “You’d better come up with another one and quick,” said Jon.

  “How’s that?”

  “Because Paula is going to be waiting on the other side of the gate, and you’d better know what you’re going to say to her. I’m sure she’s going to want to hear something. Do you want some advice?”

  “No.”

  “Good,” said Jon, with a sly smile. “I’ll give it to you anyhow. Break it off with her. Do it right away. You and Julie were made for each other. It’s as plain as that big pimple on your nose.”

  “What?” asked Jimmy, stopping dead in his tracks, He ran his hand over his nose, finding nothing that felt out of place.

  Jon laughed. “Just kidding, man; will you lighten up?”

  “You son of a bitch,” said Jimmy.

  Jon yawned and stretched. “I’m going to catch some sleep. Good luck with everything; you’re going to need it.”

  Jimmy waved him away and was now trying to think of what to say to Paula. He was also wondering what Dr. Benson had been able to do for Julie. Was she going to be okay? Jimmy hoped so. Was Paula going to give him a piece of her mind? Jimmy was sure of that. Tired as he was, he was already looking forward to the diversion of their trip back into Ely. He wasn’t going to break up with Paula. Not yet, anyhow. He needed some time to think. He didn’t care what Jon or Ken thought. He didn’t care what anyone thought. This was his life, and he just wished everyone would stop making it their business. He didn’t tell anyone else how to live their life. Why did they feel free to do that to him? He rubbed at his tired eyes and began to walk back to the gate

  Twenty -Three

  Ohio was especially hard-hit during the Great Depression. Fully half of Cleveland’s workforce was unemployed during 1932, while unemployment in Toledo approached 80%.

  He caught up to Jon as they walked down the hill and around the wall heading toward the gate. He was desperately trying to find a way to explain everything to Paula. He’d felt the same way about explaining things to Ken not all that long ago, and look how that had turned out. Maybe it’d be the same with Paula? He’d just have to be honest with her. Sure, Julie was here. Yes, long ago they’d been very close and had become that way once again. Should he have to apologize for that? Paula should understand, right?

  Jon hailed the gate, and from inside he could hear men grunting, struggling with the timber. There’s got to be a better way, thought Jimmy. Somebody was going to get hurt lifting that.

  “You know what you have to say, right?” asked Jon, as the gate began to slowly open.

  “Right,” said Jimmy, who had absolutely no idea of what he was going to say.

  “Good,” said Jon. “The sooner you get it
over with the better.”

  Jimmy frowned. Why couldn’t everyone just leave him alone? He followed Jon inside the gate and looked around. There was no one waiting there. He’d expected to see Paula standing there, or Ken; at the very least he was certain that Bill would be there to meet them. The front yard and patio were totally deserted except for the men behind him struggling to replace the timber. Jimmy began to run. He had a bad feeling about this, and he raced up the driveway to the stairs. He took those two at a time, bounding up onto the deck where he flung open the screen door and burst inside.

  There was Dr. Benson sitting on a chair next to Julie, who was still lying on the couch. Jimmy felt his heart leap. Her eyes were open, and she was looking right at him. They were alone in the porch; the French doors were tightly closed.

  “Come in, Jimmy,” said Dr. Benson. “I think someone would like to say hello to you.”

  Dr. Benson bent over and picked up his two medical bags. He stood up, slinging them over his shoulders. He then stroked his beard, studying Julie. He’d put a fresh bandage on her head, and her face seemed to have regained some color. Jimmy rushed over and sat in the chair.

  “She’s going to be all right,” said Dr. Benson. “The bullet just grazed her skull. She’s going to have a scar, but her hair will cover that soon enough. You’re one very lucky young lady. I’ll leave the two of you alone now; I’m going to have a busy morning.”

  “Thanks, Doc,” said Jimmy.

  “Thank you,” whispered Julie.

  Jimmy took Julie’s hand and held it tightly. He smiled, a tear rolling down his cheek. “How do you feel?” he asked.

  “I’m okay,” Julie said, softly. “My head hurts. Dr. Benson gave me some pills. He said they’ll help me sleep. I don’t want to sleep. I feel like I’ve been sleeping for a week. What day is it?”

  Jimmy didn’t know. He’d lost all track of time, and the days all seemed to be jumbled together. “Sunday,” he lied. “A day of rest. You need to stay still and heal up. Can you do that for me?”

  Julie nodded. “I missed you, Jimmy. Thank you for bringing back the doctor. That was very brave of you and Jon.”

  Jimmy felt his face begin to blush. “Ah, shucks, it weren’t nuthin’.”

  Julie laughed at that, and Jimmy joined in with her. She held his hand tightly, her eyes bright and locked onto his.

  “She’s here, isn’t she?”

  Jimmy nodded, the smile vanishing instantly.

  “I love you, Jimmy. I just want you to know that. I understand that things are different now. Don’t worry, I’ll be okay.”

  Tears spilled down Jimmy’s cheeks, and he tried to talk. Nothing would come out. Julie squeezed his hand again, her face set in a sad smile. “Those pills must be starting to work. I’m tired, Jimmy. You must be, too. Get some sleep. Come see me when you wake up, okay?”

  Jimmy nodded, wiping the tears from his eyes. He leaned over and kissed Julie on the tip of her nose and stood up. “I’ll see you in a little while,” he barely managed to say.

  “I look forward to it,” said Julie softly.

  He turned and walked out in the direction he’d come. He sat down on a patio chair and lit up a cigarette, smoking it as he looked out over the calm water of the lake. He was now more confused than ever. Sitting there made him realize just how tired he really was. He finished his cigarette, regained his composure and began to walk around the side of the house toward his tent in the back yard. He could talk to Paula after he’d gotten some sleep. Jimmy could hear voices from inside the house, and he could smell pancakes cooking on Patty’s griddle. He hoped that he could slip into his tent without being seen. He just wanted to crawl onto his air mattress and collapse. He deserved that.

  He stopped at the corner of the house and peered around it. The back yard was as empty as the front had been. His tent still stood on the far side of the lawn, away from the others, just where he’d left it. He walked quickly in that direction, hoping not to be seen getting into it. He half expected to hear Bill’s voice behind him. He always seemed to suddenly pop up in moments such as these.

  Jimmy pulled up on the zipper and crawled inside his tent. He stood and stretched, thankful that he hadn’t been spotted. He then noticed that the tent wasn’t how he’d left it. Everything seemed to be clean. His clothes had been washed and were neatly folded in the corner of the tent. The floor had been swept, and everything looked tidy and organized. He looked down at his bed, and it seemed to be piled high with something.

  Then that something moved.

  “Hi, Jimmy,” whispered Paula, pulling the sleeping bag down, revealing her head and a pair of bare shoulders. “I’ll bet you’re tired.”

  “Paula?” whispered Jimmy. “What are you doing in here?”

  “What do you think I’m doing in here?” she asked, coyly. “This is our tent, right?”

  “Sure it is,” whispered Jimmy. “But, I’m exhausted, and Patty’s cooking breakfast. You should go inside and get something to eat.”

  “Who said I was hungry?”

  Jimmy swallowed hard. He hadn’t expected this. Paula rolled over onto her side, revealing her bare back, and whispered. “Snuggle with me, Jimmy. I’ll let you sleep. I promise.”

  For a moment, Jimmy seriously considered doing just that. He was so tired, and crawling in next to Paula was so tempting. They had lived together, hadn’t they? He’d gotten into bed with her hundreds of times. Still, he paused.

  “Hurry up, Jimmy. My back’s getting cold.”

  He looked down at her blonde hair tumbling down her familiar back. It all looked so inviting. He could simply undress and slide under the sleeping bag next to her. He even started to unbutton his shirt, giving in to the temptation. Then he paused. This was exactly what Paula wanted him to do. She’d take him into her arms and reclaim him like a piece of lost luggage. There would be no turning back from there. He suddenly realized that he couldn’t do that. Not yet. Not now. He knew that he still loved Paula, and yet everything had changed between them.

  “I’ve got to use the bathroom,” Jimmy lied. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

  “Hurry up,” whispered Paula, seductively. “I’ll be waiting.”

  Jimmy quickly unzipped the door and emerged from the tent. He looked up to the house and wasn’t surprised to see faces pressed against the many windows that overlooked the back yard. They quickly turned away in unison. Jimmy groaned. He felt trapped inside the walls of the compound. His life seemed to be an open book that everyone wanted to pick up and read. He felt the anger rise in his chest. Where could he go? He just wanted to get some sleep. He needed to be rested before they returned to Ely. Then, just as he began to wander away, Jon’s arm waved at him from inside his own tent across the yard. Jimmy jogged over to him.

  “Need a place to crash?” asked Jon in a quiet voice.

  “You know it,” whispered Jimmy.

  “I saw her go into your tent,” Jon said quietly as Jimmy crawled inside and zipped up the door. “I half expected you to stay with her. She’s beautiful… it must’ve been tough walking out on that. Did you tell her?”

  “I told her that I had to use the bathroom.”

  “She’s going to be pissed!” whispered Jon, unable to hide a smile. “You can sleep on the floor. There’s another sleeping bag next to my gear. Sorry, I’ve only got one pillow.”

  “Thanks,” said Jimmy. “I couldn’t do it, man. I don’t know what to do. I still love her, but it’s different now. I can’t explain it.”

  “I can,” said Jon as he crawled back into his sleeping bag. “It’s Julie. You might as well quit fighting it.”

  Jimmy unrolled the sleeping bag and crawled inside. He thought about what Jon had said and was soon fast asleep.

  He was so tired that he slept through Paula’s tirade as she searched for him.

  Twenty -Four

  Congress formed the Reconstruction Finance Corporation in 1932. The main objective of the corporation was to funnel two
billion dollars into the banking and insurance sectors. The railroads and agriculture industries also benefited from the RFC.

  They slept until one in the afternoon, and even with the screens open the inside of Jon’s tent was broiling. Jimmy’s eyes felt puffy and bloodshot. He fought the heat, trying to somehow catch another hour of rest; it was no use. He looked over at Jon; his eyes were open, staring up at the glowing orb through the vinyl ceiling.

  “Damn, it’s hot,” said Jimmy.

  “I’m dying in here,” said Jon. “Did you get some sleep?”

  “I did. I could’ve slept all day. You need an air conditioner in here, man.”

  “Tell me about it.”

  Jimmy sat up, having long since crawled out of the sleeping bag, the heat forcing him to sleep on top of it. He rubbed his eyes. “I don’t want to go out there,” he said, gloomily.

  “Me either,” said Jon. “Imagine what everyone’s going to think when we crawl out of here, together?”

  Jimmy began to chuckle, and soon they were both laughing hysterically. They giggled like school children, stopping and starting again.

  “Stop,” said Jimmy. “I’m going to wet my pants.”

  Jon laughed harder at this. He lay on his back, holding his stomach, rolling back and forth in a fit of hilarity. “Okay,” he said, finally. “Okay. Oh, God, that was funny.”

  Jimmy really did need to make a trip to the outhouse. He dreaded what he’d find once he emerged from the tent. Paula was going to be furious. He knew that and really couldn’t blame her. He combed his hair with his fingers and crawled over to the door.

  “Good luck,” said Jon. “You’re going to need it. I’ll be in the kitchen. I’m starved.”

  “Thanks. I’ll meet you there. I think I could eat a horse,” replied Jimmy.

  He unzipped the door and slipped outside, closing it behind him. He was happy to see that the back yard was deserted. He sprinted for the outhouse and pulled on the door. It was locked.