by Pete Thorsen
More and more cities across the nation were declaring bankruptcy. The state of Illinois and California were in dire straits and states could legally not file for bankruptcy they said on the news. The states with the worst problems, their only real option was a bailout from the federal government, but I don’t know if that was going to happen. The bickering in Washington DC was worse than ever before. Everyone was blaming everyone else for our nation’s problems but no one was offering any solutions. The national debt had now well exceeded twenty-three trillion dollars, and it was still rising.
Crime was skyrocketing both here in my city and all across the whole nation. After years of declining crime it was now really taking off, higher and higher. Both violent crime and lesser crimes were on a very sharp and steady increase.
Despite the rapid increase in crime, states and the federal government were doing early releases of supposedly non-violent criminals. To my thinking that could only lead to more and more crime. But it was said that prisons were over crowded and the cost of keeping someone in prison was increasing dramatically. I don’t have an answer but releasing convicted criminals does not seem like the correct choice to me.
I could understand the cost of keeping someone in prison going up because everything was going up. Food was really going way up. I’m not much on all the worldwide financial stuff but I do know when peanut butter is one price one week and substantially higher the next week. Gas prices had been relatively low for a couple years or so but now it was well on its way up higher again.
It stands to reason that if fuel goes up so does everything else. I was kinda surprised just how much electricity has gone up in the last year. I saw in the newspaper that the electric companies had to ask some group before they could raise rates. And this year they had to have a special meeting because the electric company had to get two increases in the same calendar year. Something that had never been allowed before or even considered before this year.
When I saw that gas started to go up I called and had my propane tank filled. I figured if one kind of fuel went up then they would all go up in price.
With the big increase in crime, our state (along with a couple of others) now allowed concealed carry without a permit. It made no difference to me because I carried concealed all the time anyway. Legal or not. While at first I never carried my pistol at work (only a knife) I now carry both all the time. When I saw another well-made leather fanny pack at a yard sale I bought it so I would have a spare. I always have that fanny pack on with my pistol inside and my first one is now getting a little ratty from all the use.
Jack and his dad are doing OK at their gun shop I guess. Sales are good with more and more people getting guns and carrying them for their own protection. Their gun shop is the only business I know of that says they are doing a good business, though on the news they interviewed a pawn shop owner and he said his business was booming.
I missed a day at work because the county was so slow to plow the snow off my road. I was not very happy about it. It caused me no problem at work but I did lose that day’s wages. Everyone at work is always more than willing to work an extra day for someone else. Everyone always needs more money than they have.
I know why they need more money. Everything is going up, that’s why. Both my car insurance and health insurance have gone up. My health insurance went way up. If my hours get cut any more I will have to drop my health insurance. What a rip-off that is. If you do not have health insurance you get a fine from the government, but at the same time your wages go down and the insurance goes up so no one can afford to keep the insurance. You lose no matter what.
I read an article the other day about how many people are getting suspicious of the banks closing and are drawing their money out and just keeping it at home. At least the few people who still have any money in the banks. Can you believe that banks now charge you just to have your money in there?
First they kept lowering the interest they paid you and now they charge you. I took out all my money except for just enough to pay my monthly bills. I have the money scattered in different spots in the house and outside. I have still never used any of that ten thousand dollars that I had received from the insurance company. Plus I had some money stashed here at home that I had been adding to through the years. I have enough to buy something but I just don’t know what to buy.
People are hurting so much for money that some are trying to have yard sales even now, in the middle of winter. When I see them I always stop on my way to and from work. I have bought a few things that I could use or thought I could use in the future just because they were so cheap.
On the news one night they had an interview with some professor or something and he said that with the banks now charging just to have your money there, and with prices going up so much, you were really losing money on any cash you had. He suggested that anyone with cash should invest in material things. When the interviewer asked ‘what things’, the professor said most anything. Gold, silver, food, land, most anything. And especially anything you thought you would need or use in the future. He said food a couple of times because you would always need that.
Well, I don’t really eat all that much food. But there are some things that I do buy fairly often and, thinking about what the guy said, it just made sense. So I bought quite a bunch of the regular food that I always eat. I have plenty of room here in the trailer with just me living here now, so storing the food is not a problem at all. My freezer is now full of food with the wild meat I harvested and the extra food I bought.
I did close off the very back bedroom and I don’t heat that anymore. I just use it for storage now. I am careful to never put anything in that room that would get spoiled if it froze, but I don’t think it would ever get that cold in there anyway. I do keep it fairly cool in the house in the winter. And the winter’s are long here. I have a small electric heater in the bathroom where I need some extra heat, but I only use that when I need it.
With all the added insulation and added siding and the roof, the trailer takes very little fuel to heat it. Years ago we had a really big 1,000 gallon propane tank put in here. I don’t know why we got that big tank because most places I think just have a 500 gallon tank, but the bigger tank doesn’t hurt anything, and it allows me to buy the propane when it is cheaper in the middle of summer, so that is always when I have it filled.
With winter’s arrival, the hunting stopped and I did not see Jack anymore. He did call me a couple of times just to say hello. Then one evening he called about something else.
“Hi April.”
“Hi. What’s up?”
“I have some free time now and I wondered if you would go to see a movie or something with me?”
“You mean like a date?”
“Um, yeah like a date. You know, where a guy likes a girl so he takes that girl out for the evening.”
“I’m not looking for a boyfriend.”
“We are friends though aren’t we?”
“Yes, I certainly consider you my friend.”
“Then couldn’t we do stuff as just friends that just happen to be different sexes?”
“No funny business and just friends?”
“Yeah I could live with that. You know you can trust me, don’t you?”
“I trust you and I do enjoy when we are together. But I just don’t want to lead you on to think it’s something that it’s not.”
“OK, we’re cool then. I’ll just be your friend. So how about a movie this weekend if you have a night off?”
“I don’t work Saturday evening so we could do something then if you want.”
“OK. Saturday evening. I’ll swing by and pick you up about six if that will work for you.”
“Sure, that is fine. But we can be friends without you taking me out.”
“I know, but I want to, so you can just humor me. I’ll see you Saturday about six.”
“Fine, six it is. But I pay my own way.”
“OK with me. You can pa
y for me too if you want. I’m easy. See you Saturday. Bye.”
“Bye.”
So that is how Jack and I started… I guess you could say ‘going out’ together. About once a week though sometimes we would skip a week due to my work schedule, and sometimes we would go out more than once a week.
I admit we did have fun together and I enjoyed every time we were out. We did not always go out either. Sometimes I would just make us a meal here at my place and we would eat and then just talk or play cards or something.
And Jack invited me to supper at his place. The first time it was kinda funny because his dad excused himself right away after the meal (Jack’s mom had passed away ten years ago from cancer). But I told him he could stay as all we did was talk anyway, and I jokingly said, “Just think how boring it is just talking to Jack.”
He laughed at that and we all had a good time together that night, and every time since then.
Now I consider Jack’s dad to be my friend also.
Chapter 8
“Hello?”
“My Dad’s… dead.”
“Jack? Where are you? What happened?”
“We were… two guys tried to rob the shop. They shot Dad. The police should be here soon. I gotta go.”
“I’m coming to the shop.”
I heard the click as he hung up the phone. I grabbed a few things and ran out the door. It did not bother me when my dad died but I know Jack loved his dad and I really liked him too. He was starting to be the caring dad to me that I had never really had.
By the time I got to the gun shop there were police cars all around it. Not as many as they used to show on TV when there was a shooting though because there were far fewer police now. But there were maybe half a dozen police cars with flashing lights going.
I stopped my car and walked toward the gun shop entrance but a policeman stopped me.
“You can’t go in there, ma’am. There is a police investigation in progress.”
“The Connors own this shop and Jack is my fiancé. And I need to see that he is OK, along with my soon-to-be father-in-law, and I need to see that right away.”
I thought if I said that Jack was my fiancé they would maybe let me see Jack.
“You can’t see them. They are involved in the ongoing investigation.”
“I know for an absolute fact that they would do nothing illegal. Now let me see my family.”
I was speaking louder and louder as I was talking.
“Wait right here. I’ll check and see when or if you might be able to see them.”
He stepped away from me and spoke quietly into his radio. I heard a response but I could not understand the words. There was a little back and forth on the radio. Then the officer walked back over to me.
“Jack is still being questioned but you might be able to see him in a little while. Maybe! I saw you drive up. Go back to your car and wait. They will let me know if he can talk to you. No promises. It will be awhile. Wait in your car and I will come over and let you know if it is possible to talk to him.”
“Thank you.”
I walked back to my car and got in. It was cold outside but the sun was shining and the car stayed bearable without running the car and the heater. I waited and waited. I had the day off (I was getting too many days off) and had nothing to do anyway so I would just wait.
It must have been about two hours before the same cop came over and tapped on my window.
“They said you can talk to him for maybe a few minutes. Follow me.”
I got out and followed him towards the shop entrance. We stopped and he did not open the door.
“Wait right here. You are not going inside. Do you understand that?”
“I’ll wait right here.”
“I will be back in a minute. I’ll bring Jack if I get permission to let you see him. OK?”
“I’ll wait right here.”
The cop looked at me, I guess to gauge if I would stay where I was or not. I must have passed muster because he turned and went through the door. A few minutes passed and the same cop came back out with Jack. Jack was in handcuffs. I ran and wrapped my arms around him. Both because I was very happy that he was OK and for the benefit of the officer watching us.
“Jack, I was so worried about you. Why have they put handcuffs on you?”
“I am fine. I don’t think I am going to be arrested. They said the handcuffs are just standard procedure. I shot and killed one of the holdup men. But it was self-defense, and I think they know that to be a fact. Thank you for coming.”
“Of course I would be here.”
I turned to the officer.
“Can’t you take those cuffs off him? It is obvious what happened. This is his shop. If anyone really thought he was guilty of anything they never would have let me see him and you know that. Please take the cuffs off.”
“I’m not supposed to do that.”
“You know what I said was true. Please take them off him. He is certainly not going to run away.”
The cop looked at me and Jack but then he did take the cuffs off.
“Thank you.”
I hugged Jack again and this time, after a pause, he hugged me back. I just held him for a long time. I got to thinking that it could have easily been Jack who was dead. It was a very troubling thought. I had no one and now Jack had no one. But we did have each other. I held him pretty tight and we did not need to speak. Then the cop spoke.
“OK. I have to take him back inside now. You wait right here, just like last time.”
He nodded at Jack and Jack went back inside with him. It was better now that the handcuffs were off him anyway.
A few minutes later the cop came back out side.
“You are right and they said they will be releasing Jack unless something new comes up. But he will have to be here for quite a long time yet while they investigate. You might just as well go on back to your home. I told Jack I was sending you home. He said he will call as soon as he can. OK, lady?”
“OK. Thank you for being nice to us.”
He just stayed by the door as I walked back to my car and drove away. Jack was maybe physically fine but the life seemed to be gone out of him.
It was several hours later that Jack called me. He told me the police told him that unless there was a big change that no charges of any kind would be filed against him. He sounded anything but upbeat about the matter though. He spoke in a monotone voice that I hardly recognized. I asked if he wanted me to come over but he said no. I asked if he would rather come to my place and he said no, that he just wanted to be alone for awhile.
“The police told me that my fiancé was outside demanding to talk to me.”
“I told them that in the hope that they would let me talk to you.”
“Oh.”
“I care about you Jack. You know that.”
“I know. Thank you for coming and helping me with the police.”
“You know I will do whatever I can. You know that right?”
“I know. You are a good friend. And you were a good friend to my dad.”
“You sure you don’t want me to come over?”
“No, but thank you. I just need to think.”
“You can call me anytime, day or night.”
“Thank you. But for now I just want to be alone for awhile. I’ll call you maybe tomorrow.”
“Please do, Jack.”
“Good bye.”
“Bye.”
Chapter 9
Jack did call the next day but said he still wanted to be alone. He apparently made funeral arrangements for his dad. The funeral was done as soon as the police released the body. I went to the funeral of course and held Jack’s hand through the whole thing. Jack’s father was well known and well liked and many people came to the funeral.
The gun shop was closed. All the licenses were in Jack’s dad’s name. Jack didn’t know whether he would try to reopen or not. I urged him to at least get the licenses changed over to his name so when
he made the decision things would be set up. He told me that his dad had a will and left everything to him so that part was not a problem. He also said that there was a fair sized life insurance policy and he would be receiving the proceeds from that.
During this time Jack did not avoid me but he did not seem to not want to see me. I was not hurt by this because I knew we were still friends, but I was determined to help my friend get through this very bad time in his life.
Spring was now starting and, like last spring, there was a little spurt in everyone’s spirits and a little spurt in the poor economy too. Jack had taken my advice and applied to change the business licenses into his name. The one that took the longest was the gun license but even that was not so bad. It was an existing business and he was already in their files as someone authorized to sell guns there under his dad’s license.
Normally, winter and early spring were slow times for the shop, Jack told me. I believe he was actively thinking of re-opening. One late afternoon I drove to his house and almost forced him to come with me.
I drove us back to my place where I had worked on a very nice and much more elaborate supper than I had ever made before. Right away Jack noticed all the work I had put into the meal preparation. I even had candles on the table.
After the meal (which he complemented me on) I drove us to a movie that I was sure he would like. Everywhere we walked I held his hand and, after the movie, I stopped in a city park and we walked around some in the twilight.
When I brought him back home to drop him off we were both out of the car and I gave him a hug. I told him that we now only had each other and we should stick together.
We then said our goodbyes and I left for home.
With that date like we used to have, whatever black spell that had a hold on Jack was finally broken. We again started to see each other—not romantically but as very close friends. When he decided to re-open the shop he asked me to come and work there with him. I was hesitant at first. We were good friends but I knew working everyday with someone was totally different. I did not want to jeopardize our friendship. I told him my thoughts about us working together. He said the only way we would know if it would work out was to try it.