Just Beyond the Curve
Page 30
*****
Pam Jenkins was a young woman in her early thirties whose son Josh was dying in the Children’s Hospital cancer ward not far away. She was also a waitress in the cafe. She worked for her brother-in-law, who blamed her for his brother’s death on a construction site in Kansas City. Still, he felt obligated to look out for her and her son. But even his generosity had its bounds. And right now he was seriously considering firing her. She was on the phone again with her weakling son. He actually doubted that Josh was really his brother’s son. There had never been a case of cancer in his family before.
“Pam!” he said angrily. “He’ll be there when you get off work!”
She held her finger up, mumbled something, laughed, then carefully replaced the receiver on the hook. She looked sadly at Brian, her brother-in-law, whom she knew hated her and resented her dependence on him. But, she earned everything she got from the heartless animal, who’s cousin had tried to kill a famous country singer, had killed a cop and his own parents and was now sitting, in the county jail waiting to get the death penalty! So who was Brian to claim purity? Too bad it wasn’t him and not the teenager!
Pam looked out the window just in time to see a long silver limousine streak down the interstate. She wondered what it would be like to have that kind of money; never worrying about a bill or food and choosing who, and if, you worked for someone else. She figured she’d never get the chance to learn about that. However, the wheels of fate were slowly turning and constantly dragging the present just beyond the curve to what awaited us all.