Desperate Times (14 page)

Patty tapped his knee and stood up and held
her finger to her lips. Jimmy nodded that he understood. Patty
turned and walked away toward the kitchen. Just as she disappeared,
Julie walked into the room followed by Brenda. She gave Jimmy a
wide smile and pointed to the kitchen. Jimmy smiled back and
watched as she and Brenda walked past him. The others began leaving
the room and Jimmy soon found himself alone with his jumbled
thoughts.

They congregated in the back yard under the
cool shade of the elm tree. The temperature had already topped
eighty and was steadily rising. A slight breeze ruffled the leaves.
Jimmy waited in the house until Ken had everyone assembled; then he
walked out the back door and took a seat next to Cindy and Bill.
Julie sat with Brenda and some of the other women at a picnic
table. She said something to Brenda and they both laughed. Cindy
gave them a cool stare. Ken stood with his back to the house, the
group waited patiently as if he were about to give a performance.
All of the adults were there except for a few of the women who were
tending the children down by the lake.

“I just want to start this meeting by telling
all of you how happy Patty and I are to have you here,” Ken said in
a booming voice. “It wasn’t easy getting here and I wish I could
say that we all made it. What happened last night was a terrible
thing and while I’m not going to dwell on it here. We need to learn
from that experience and prepare, just in case we encounter a
similar situation.”

Ken paused. “I’m not sure what’s going on
outside of these woods. None of us are. All we can do is assume
that things aren’t any better and will deteriorate as time goes on.
I’ve spoken to quite a few of you about this and it seems that
everyone is in agreement. We need to build a wall around the
property and I propose we begin right after lunch. I know it’s
going to be a big job and even with all of us working together, it
might take as long as a week to complete. The wall will offer us
protection and will deter others from the outside who might attempt
to take what we have. Does anyone object?”

Everyone was quiet and most were shaking
their heads. And then to Jimmy’s horror, Bill stood up.

“Uh, excuse me?” he asked. “Some of us might
have medical conditions and can’t be expected to do any wall
building. I’m under doctor’s orders; I’m not supposed to lift
anything over twenty pounds.”

Jimmy groaned. “Sit down, Bill,” he
whispered.

Ken didn’t miss a beat. “Of course,” he said.
“I should have said that everyone
physically capable
to help
will be asked to work on the wall. Does anyone object to that?”

This time no one did. Ken quickly scanned the
crowd and moved on.

“We have plenty to eat. But being as there
are so many of us here, we want to ask everyone to bring all food
items to the shed. I think share and share alike is the phrase I’m
looking for. Patty asked that we do this because it’ll make things
simpler. She’s putting a team together to help with the meals and
we’ll all eat at the same time. Breakfast will be served at seven,
lunch at noon. And dinner will be served around five, give or take.
Does anyone object to that?”

“Seven?” asked Bill with incredulity. “That’s
pretty early, don’t you think?”

Ken ignored him. “Good. That will keep us all
on equal ground. The next thing I want to cover is the bathroom
situation. As you all know, the house only has one bathroom. The
septic system can’t handle everyone using it. I’m not going to call
it off limits; I just want to ask all of you to use the outhouse as
much as possible. I’m sure you understand. The same goes for the
tub. If we can use the lake for cleaning up, it’ll also save on the
septic system. Sorry, but that’s just the way it is.”

Jimmy waited for Bill to grumble about that;
thankfully, he didn’t. He thought that everything was going well
and that everyone was in agreement with what Ken had proposed. Ken
looked calm standing in the sun. Although he was just past sixty,
he was trim and fit. With his full head of hair, Ken could’ve
easily passed for a man in his forties.

“Okay,” Ken said, narrowing his eyes at the
group. “The last thing I want to bring up is something I’m going to
want some feedback on. You’re all here on good faith. We all need
to be able to trust one another as we work together in our little
community. What I’d like to suggest is that we adopt some sort of
charter. We need to lay out some ground rules. God forbid we run
into a situation where we have to ask someone to leave, but we need
to plan for that eventuality. The same goes for others who might
yet arrive here. I don’t want to turn good people away. I’m sure
none of you would want that. Still, we should select a committee to
draw up some guidelines.”

Ken paused and held his hands out, obviously
waiting for someone to comment. Jimmy was surprised to see Cindy
jump to her feet.

“You mean elect
,
” she said, pointing a
finger at Ken.

“Right,” said Ken.

“Good,” said Cindy, black hair hanging in her
eyes; she swept it back and continued. “Mr. Dahlgren is right. We
need to have rules and we need to enforce them. We also need to
remember that we live in a democracy. This is still the United
States.”

“Sit down,” called a man’s voice from the
back.

“I thought this was an adult’s only meeting,”
said another.

A few people laughed at this and Cindy turned
and glared at them with blazing eyes.

Jimmy felt his blood begin to boil. He was
ready to jump to his feet, but Ken caught his eye and stopped
him.

“That’s enough of that!” Ken said, sternly.
“Cindy is one hundred percent correct. This is America. An election
is exactly what we need and we should have one as soon as possible,
within the next few days. What do you think, Cindy? Will three
committee members be sufficient?”

“Five,” answered Cindy, as if she were
challenging everyone at the meeting.

“Five it is,” said Ken. “I think we can wrap
this up in three days. Does that sound fair?”

“Absolutely,” Cindy replied as she returned
to her seat. Jimmy put his arm around her.

“Thank you, my dear. Does anyone else have
anything to add to that?” Ken asked, pausing for nearly ten
seconds. “Good. That’s all I have. Until we
elect
our
committee, I want to remind everyone that I’m in charge. If I hear
of anyone getting out of line, I won’t hesitate to show you to the
door. I don’t want to do that, but I certainly will. We’re all in
this together and the most important thing is for all of us to get
along.” Ken paused again. “Okay, we’re going to break for lunch
now. At one o’clock I want everyone to bring their foodstuffs to
the shed. Patty will take care of them. After that we’ll begin on
the wall. Everyone willing and able will be asked to help build it.
There will be plenty of other things that need to be done and Patty
will take charge of anyone physically incapable of the wall detail.
My point is: everyone will have something to do. That’s all I have.
Thanks again. I think we’ll do this again tomorrow, same time, same
place. Now, let’s get some lunch.”

Ken turned and walked into the house,
followed close behind by Bill. Jimmy could only shake his head.

“You were great,” Jimmy said to Cindy. The
two of them had remained seated as the others filed up to the
house.

“Thanks. Apparently you and Ken were the only
ones who thought so,” grumbled Cindy, who was still scarlet-faced.
She hung her head and folded her hands together.

“What you said carried a lot of weight,”
Jimmy said. “This is America.”

Cindy shook her head and Jimmy could see that
she was crying. He was suddenly angry again and wished he could
find out who had interrupted her and give them a piece of his
mind.

“Excuse me,” said a woman in a flowered
blouse who was kneeling down next to Cindy. Jimmy recognized her as
one of Patty’s friends but he couldn’t remember her name. “I just
had to tell you this, young lady. You said exactly what I was
thinking. I was just too afraid to speak up.”

Cindy’s head popped up, her cheeks wet with
tears. “Really?” she asked.

“Really,” said the dark-skinned,
fifty-something looking woman. “That took a lot of guts. I think
you should run for the council. You’d have my vote.”

Cindy’s eyes grew wide and she wiped the
tears from her cheeks. “Thank you.”

The woman smiled, stood up and began to walk
away. She suddenly stopped and turned. “I’m sorry,” she said,
offering her hand to Cindy. “I’m Rita Lopez. Would you mind joining
me for lunch?”

Cindy managed a nod and a warm smile
stretched across her face.

“Well, let’s get in line,” Rita said, rising
to her feet. “I’m hungry.”

Cindy stood, her chains clattering as they
rattled against the patio chair. “I’m Cindy,” she said. “Cindy
Huggins.”

“Nice to meet you, Cindy Huggins,” said Rita.
“I love your t-shirt. Who is that on the front?”

“Marilyn Manson,” Cindy said as the two
walked away.

“How nice,” replied Rita, “does she play any
songs I’d know?”

Jimmy laughed to himself and watched as the
two of them joined the line at the back of the house. He lit up a
cigarette and sat back in his chair, feeling good about what had
just happened.

“Hey cutie,” said Julie from behind him.

“Hi,” Jimmy answered. “What did you think of
the meeting?”

Julie took Cindy’s chair and shrugged. “I
thought Cindy was great. Brenda and I were just talking about her.
You know, I had to hold her back last night? She wanted to take on
all of those bikers. I’m serious. She really thinks the world of
you.”

Jimmy shook his head and grinned. He watched
Cindy and Rita at the end of the line and was happy to see that
Cindy had made a friend.

“So,” said Julie. “Would you mind taking a
lady to lunch? Brenda’s in the kitchen helping Patty and I hate to
eat alone.”

Jimmy looked around and snubbed out his
smoke. “I could eat,” he said. “What’s on the menu this
afternoon?”

“Fresh baked ham and potato salad,” said
Julie. She stood up and took Jimmy by the hands and pulled him up
from his chair. She then looked directly into his eyes as if she
were looking straight into his soul. Jimmy’s heart felt as if it
skipped a beat. He stood and Julie put her arms around him and gave
him a hug. “Thank you,” she whispered.

Jimmy stepped back. “Thanks for what?”

“Just for being here, that’s all.”

Jimmy didn’t know how to respond to that. He
smiled and held his hand out and nodded toward the end of the line
at the back of the house. Julie beamed at him and quickly grabbed
his hand. She gave it a tug and kept a firm grip on it as they got
into line.

The Three Little Pigs
was produced by
Walt Disney and released on May 27, 1933. Many people believed that
the cartoon was a euphemism for the Great Depression.

Jimmy worked in the woods, felling one pine
after another. Two other men were doing the same thing a safe
distance away. Chainsaws screamed at the trees. Others attacked the
trees as they dropped, hacking off the limbs and stripping the
pines into long poles. The largest crew then wrapped nylon straps
around the poles and pulled them out to the road. From there they
were dragged by Pete Donnelly’s four wheel drive Ford to where Ken
was supervising construction of the wall. The first log arrived at
just before two, and after a little trial and error they began to
pile up faster than the men could set them into place. Mosquitoes
and gnats buzzed the workers as they toiled. There was no hiding
from the voracious bugs as the insect repellent never lasted long
on sweating skin.

No one complained. Many of the people were
meeting formally for the first time and friendships blossomed like
flowers. Before the work had started there had been three distinct
groups. There were those who worked at the plant, the families that
Patty had invited from their church and the others who had tagged
along as friends or relatives. The hard work brought them together
as a team and by the time Ken stopped work for the day, there was a
distinct air of camaraderie.

Patty grilled chicken and brats over charcoal
and Ken filled a cooler with cold beer and soda. Jimmy emerged from
the woods, his shirt soaked with sweat and his arms aching from
working the saw. He gratefully took one of the beers and popped the
top, relishing the cool liquid as it washed down his parched
throat. He sat down in the shade under the big elm and held the
aluminum can to his forehead. He was exhausted.

From where he sat he could see the Birkland
place. There were rows of cars parked out back, numbering somewhere
close to a hundred. A tent village had sprung up next door and
there were people everywhere. To Jimmy, it looked as if Sally
Birkland was throwing a huge party. From past experience, Jimmy
knew that this was an unfortunate turn of events.

“She’s not happy about the wall,” Ken said
from over his shoulder.