My friend had the topic of the great depression as did I for a historical fiction story and she wanted someone to edit and review her story. Any takers?
A Disgrace
I stood in the aisle; my eyes were on the cashier who seemed to be in a coma I assumed since he obviously didn’t hear me knock over the baskets on my way on. I opened my bag and swiftly slipped the loaf of bread and water jug into my bag. I heard footsteps behind me and my heart jumped. I turned to face Caleb and heaved a sigh of relief.
“Don’t do that!” I whispered angrily and glanced over at the cashier who seemed unphased by the past events.
As we walked out of the store, Caleb ripped through my bag and seized the jug of water, consuming half of it within seconds.
“Couldn’t you have suffered five more minutes?” I said, overwhelmed with his impatience.
The evil glare I was given that defined his answer. Our town was nothing special, the roads were dusty and the sun was too bright and it made you feel like you were in one of the cowboy movies with the tumbleweed. Of course those cowboys
We made our way through the soaring thicket, to come face to face with a deserted building, an aged, obscene dwelling. You’d call it a disgrace to your town, but we call it our home. The door to our turf was covered by a moss that had grown in front of the door, disguising it from passing wanderers..
Life was never like this for us, we use to live the good life. Our parents were the owners of a stable, which was behind our remarkable house which was now ashes and sediment. Our father, Damon Scott, adopted us when we were three because he had been looking to start a family with his wife, Rebecca. Rebecca later left him six months after for a guy in the mafia. We emigrated here because my father had gone bankrupt in his horse stable. In Canada that was the ultimate disgrace and he was forced out. The arrival of the depression was unknown to all. His plan was to start new and clear his name. Little did he know what was ahead. He and all of us had gone from the frying pan into the fire!
We came into the United Sates with practically no money and no one in the family had any marketable talents. My fathers skills as an entrepreneur, a horse vendor were not good for much in a country that was about to go over the economic cliff!
My father was very unhappy with my mother and tried anything to get her back. He would call and send letters and was told repeatedly to leave her alone by her new husband, Vito Calzone. Vito threatened to kill him many times because Rebecca was so upset. One night, my father snuck into the grounds of their house and broke into the house. He wasn’t planning on doing any harm, he just wanted to speak to her one last time but Vito had other plans when he saw him in the window. My father sneaked in as quietly as possible. Vito didn’t hesitate to shoot the gun, and wasn’t modest about it either putting multiple shots through his heart and to this day he has no remorse
That was five years ago, and we’ve tried our best to stay away from the police man that tried to take us to the orphanage again, but he hasn’t been able find us up in the hideaway. The police man was a retched old man that limped on his left leg and smoked his pipe as a daily ritual. His suit was gray with a red stripe that was hidden under his potbelly from the pot roast meals his wife would cook.
Caleb emptied his pathetically unoccupied, with our change for the week, maybe even the month.
“What are we going to do?” I moaned, I laid my head on the ground and covered myself with the blanket. He grinned and the mischievous expression on his face showed me he was up to no good.
That night it was frigid and the broken window made the room drafty and awfully hard to keep warm with one blanket. I can’t remember falling asleep that night and somehow when I awoke Caleb had gone astray.
“G’morning,” he said with a mouthful of toothpaste, as I stood by the bathroom door.
“Get ready,” he began after his mouth was clean.
“Where are we off to?” I asked as I checked my reflection in the mirror and turned on the water for the tub.
“We’re going to a restaurant!” he exclaimed, he was ecstatic. I didn’t want to wreck his frame of mind but we hadn’t a penny to our name.
“Ava, hurry!” he shouted to me, he was a thousand steps in front of me which didn’t make a difference to me since the closest restaurant was 3 miles away.
When we arrived at the restaurant I felt so out of place, and out of breath. Everyone one seemed happy in their nice clothes that had probably been brought to the cleaners that we use to be able to go to. My brother and I sat at the table and overlooking the revolted gawking.
“So what’s your plan?” I asked as I played with the salt and pepper, switching the covers for my amusement.
He grabbed the ketchup bottle and squirted it into the free water that was placed on the table.
“What are you doing?” I whispered trying not to attract more attention that I already was getting.
“Free tomato juice!” He replied quietly. “Let’s face it, how long do you think we’ll live off of bread and water. If we don’t die of starvation we’ll die of being deprived of nutrients!”
I didn’t really understand what he was saying but somehow he was right, we couldn’t keep leaving like this. The Depression was a disaster among them all. No one really deserved this. My brother didn’t understand why tears were falling down my face as I watched people scramble through trashcans for bottle caps or scarps. Being completely out of money and broke didn’t mean anything to me. Just the lose of my father and the way I lost him was terrible. Vito Calzone had ruined our lives.
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