Most people outside of the immediate area think that New Jersey is all commuter homes, refineries and insurance companies. They forget that there is a lot of rural area too once you move away from the metropolitan areas. Many areas are covered with farming and dairy production. The state motto is 'the garden state'.
Anyway, I live in the northwest part of the state near where NJ meets New York and Pennsylvania. There is very little industry up here and any jobs are rare. Good jobs are unheard of. But the homes are much more reasonable and taxes are significantly cheaper. Also houses come with enough property that you can't reach out of your window and tap on your next door neighbor's glass. When there are leaves on the trees I can only see my neighbor across the street. When the leaves are down I then have a 360 degree view of the area. It's nice and quiet. I was here 18 months before I heard my first police siren.
One of the bad things about rural life is that nothing is close by for me. I have a 15 minute drive into town to go to the grocery store (unless I want to spend $7 for a gallon of milk at the local deli). Going anywhere in the county takes time since it is a mountainous area and no road is allowed to be straight for more than 50 feet at a time. Hence, there are a lot of long, barren roads with no street lights and only the occasional mail box every quarter mile or so. It was on one of these roads that I found Karen.
Coming back from an electrical supply store I saw a pickup truck stopped on the side of the road with a woman leaning against the truck and three kids running around on the street. The hood was up and the flashers were on. The woman interrupted her cigarette long enough to turn towards me as a slowed down. Not one word was said to the kids to get out of the road that I could see.
After stopping in front of the woman I asked, "Is everything OK?"
"Does it look like everything's OK?" She snapped back at me.
"Can I help you in some way?" I said.
"Only if you have an extra tranny with you." She spat out.
All right. She's a bitch and a half but I am not comfortable with three kids running wild on a road that most locals fly at 60 mph not expecting to see anything but the occasional deer. They might not notice these people until it was too late. I pulled forward and off the road putting on my flashers too.
I walked back to the woman and said, "So your transmission is toast. Can I call a tow truck or taxi for you?" trying to maintain my cool.
"I ain't got the money for a transmission or a tow. Hell, I can't even afford a taxi." She said.
"So what are your plans? Setting up home here? Can your husband come and get you?"
"No, divorced. I'm trying to figure the rest out. I got a girlfriend that can come pick me up when she gets off of work after five. My brother can come and tow the piece of shit to his house later on."
"It's just after eleven now. You are going to stay out here in the sun for six more hours with the kids?" I asked.
"Ain't got much else of a choice now do I?" as the venom in her voice returned.
"Where do you live?" I asked.
She seemed honestly shocked when I asked and responded quickly, "I AIN'T TELL'IN YOU THAT!"
"Look, I am just offering to give you and the kids a ride. I'll drop you off at the corner and leave so I will not know where your house is. I just don't like the thought of the kids being out here in the hot sun for six hours. If not, I can call the police to come by and help you."
"ARE YOU THREATENING ME!!!" she screamed.
"No, I am offering to help. I can't stand by and do nothing with children being stuck in the middle of nowhere. I can give you all a lift or I will leave and call the cops to come and check up on you."
This seemed to really rattle her. She had a wild look in her eye. After stomping out one cigarette she pulled out another and lit it up. She gave me a long look and seemed to calm down.
"Look, I'm sorry if I am being rude just that I don't want no more trouble with the cops. I ain't comfortable gett'in in a car with a stranger." She said softening a bit.
"How about if I call you a cab and pay for it?" I said.
This seemed to catch her completely off guard. "Really? You'd do that?"
"Yes, with certain stipulations. I'm going to wait here and make sure you get in the cab and I'll pay the fare directly. Remember, you're a stranger to me too. How do I know that you are not parked out here playing damsel in distress a few times a week taking in a few bucks from every sucker that stops?" I explained.
That made her think a bit.
"You are right. I could be out here playing a game ripping people off. I never thought of it. So if you want to trust me, I need to trust you too. I get it. Keep your money. You can give me a ride to my place." She said cautiously.
"The kids too?" I asked since she seemed to forget that they existed.
"No, you can keep them."
I was stunned.
"I'm kidding. Yes the little rug rats too. They are pains in the asses but they are my pains in the asses."
I had to laugh. "OK, I suggest locking up the truck and putting a sign in the window saying that you are gone to get a tow and be back soon."
"That's a good idea." She said.
She closed up the truck and wrote the note. Then I was informed she had a shit ton of shopping from Walmart in the back that needed to come home with us. There were over 20 bags mostly filled with all types of junk food, cereal, full sugar soda (including Mountain Dew -- YECH!) and a few household items. The healthiest things I saw was a dozen eggs and two gallons of milk.
The food was loaded in my trunk (with no help from the kids), the terrors were placed in my back seat and buckled in (despite their objections that they never wear seatbelts) and Karen and I got into the front seats. Almost immediately Karen bolted from the car and ran to the passenger side door, opened it, seemed to retrieve something from the glove box, shoved it into the back pocket and locked up the truck again. Once back in the car we took a moment to introduce ourselves and were off.
Following Karen's instructions I took several back roads into areas of the county I never knew existed. We arrived at the entrance to the Shady Days Trailer Park (Inc.). There was a long abandoned gate house and the mechanics of what once was a power gate that looks like it was torn out by a vehicle leaving the park with the gate still closed and no one bothered to replace it.
More twists and turns and we arrived at a lot containing a double wide trailer up on blocks. It wasn't well maintained (to be fair I only saw two or three units I would consider to be in decent or better shape). Siding was loose or missing in a few places. Two cracked or broken windows. The side closest to the street had a screened in porch accessed from glass doors and the screens had several holes and tears.
On the side was a few steps leading to the front door which accessed the kitchen near the middle of the trailer. As soon as we stopped the kids were out of the car and running amuck happy to be on their own turf. Karen and I unloaded the car and I brought the bags up the steps onto a small porch and leaving them by the door. Karen was unlocking the door and I went back for another load. After four trips I had all the bags up on the porch and I was set to leave thinking that I'd have to use the GPS to get back home.
Karen came outside and before I had a chance to say goodbye she said, "Help me with these bags and come on in."
Taking a few bags I stepped into the kitchen disaster area. It was full of clutter. Garbage can was over flowing. Empty soda bottles everywhere. I noticed a lot of flies buzzing around inside. There was a waist high wall dividing the kitchen area with the living in the forward part of the trailer and that was just as messy but with a different style of junk. Toys, dvd cases and video games were thrown everywhere. Looking for a table or counter top to put the bags on I came up empty. Karen asked me to put them on the floor near the sink which I did. I finished bringing in the rest of the bags as Karen opened windows and turned on box fans everywhere.
I was about to take my leave (again) when Karen cleaned off part of the table and a chair for me to sit. She opened the fridge and took out two cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer (they still make this swill?) and put one on the table in front of me after opening it basically forcing me to have one.
She went about putting things away and chatting about nothing. She said she was making the kids lunch and asked if I wanted anything to which I said no. As she put away her shopping items Karen put on a pot of water and made two boxes of Mac and Cheese while slapping together three cream cheese and jelly sandwiches. She seemed to be in a rush to get everything done quickly.
The only thing that was done in the kitchen was the plates were washed and dried in the drain board. She spooned good sized helpings of Mac and Cheese on to each plate followed by a sandwich and garnished with a fork. She then filled three glasses half full with Coke, added two ice cubes each and then filled the glass with cold water.
"They never know that I water it down to make it last longer. If I didn't they'd each drink a two liter a day." Karen explained.
Karen carried the three plates and drinks in one trip (the sure sign of a waitressing background) to the porch leaving them outside and calling to the kids that lunch was ready. She came back in and closed the door. In a few seconds I heard three sets of feet climb the stairs, argue over who was who's and leave the porch quickly.
