For those of you that are not familiar with my work, I will advise you up front that I write a varied mix of stories, including long novellas, which is what this is. The first part of the story is for introduction of the characters and to set the tone and theme. I hope you take the time to get to know Adam and Tanya before speed reading through it. It makes the story much more entertaining. This is loosely based on an actual experience, just not mine. Enjoy.
Part 1
What are the odds of both husband and wife getting laid off from high paying jobs at the same time? Then to make matters worse, still be out of work a year later?
Adam and I had put money back toward any emergency and there were two CD's as well. We thought we were doing well but then we got careless.
We bought our dream home on the beach with a fantastic view, oversized pool, the whole works. Even with a large down payment, the monthly payments were outrageous but we were making money hand over fist. Of course, we were spending it even faster what with the two new cars and the cruiser and the trips to everywhere.
Like many young couples, we got cocky and totally materialistic, and then all hell broke loose. Within six months the cruiser was gone and two months later, we were selling everything we could just to make that damned house payment.
We talked to the bank several times but they were no help at all and in no time at all we were facing foreclosure.
We'd be broke, homeless, just trying to stay alive. We were on the verge of panic because we didn't even have enough money left to pay the first and last to rent a small house or apartment, let alone the deposit for utilities.
Of course, the luxury cars were the first to go. They got traded down to some five year old four doors just so we could get around.
Our families offered to help but none of them were flush and our debt load was so high that we would just put them at jeopardy.
They'd tried to warn us but we had all the answers or so we thought. I think the thing that hurt us the most though, was how quickly our so-called friends turned on us. It was as though we had the plague or something.
I managed to keep two of the friends I'd hung with over the past two years but when I just needed someone to talk to, they were no shows.
We were just weeks away from being evicted when I decided that I had to take a chance on Adam accepting what I thought to be our last chance to have a home. I'd heard about it from two women sitting behind me at the unemployment office. I heard them whispering and when they stepped outside for a smoke, I discretely followed them.
They weren't about to let anyone hear them talking because they didn't want anyone to know they were even considering it but when they learned of our situation, they gave me a phone number and a name.
My first instinct was to shout "Hell no," but desperate times call for desperate actions.
I went home and sat at the breakfast bar, staring out the window at nothing, the phone just inches away. I just didn't have the courage to take that next step and twice, I got up to splash cold water on my face to calm my nerves and wash away the tears. Never in my wildest imagination did I think I'd even seriously think about this.
After agonizing over it for about an hour, I called my very best friend who had gone through a similar experience years prior and the only one I could talk to about it.
She helped calm me down and asked a lot of questions that I had trouble answering, but in the end, she wasn't able to talk me out of it. I knew that she would always be there if I fell and that meant a lot. Later that afternoon, I finally gathered the courage to call the number. I was just getting information, I told myself. Deep in my gut, I knew it was much more than that.
When I hung up the phone, I just sat there, beating myself up one minute, trying to justify everything the next, and still fighting the tears of desperation. We had tried filing for bankruptcy, but didn't have the up-front money they required and they said we'd waited too long to start. Even the counselor provided by the state basically threw up his hands and spent over an hour telling us how immature and foolish we were. Hell, we knew that, and now it had come to this.
I took my notes and hid them from Adam. I wasn't ready to face him and he'd been hurting so much, I didn't know if he could handle it. When he finally said we had no choice but to move in with our parents I decided I had to bite the bullet and make my case.
"Look Adam," I began, "I know what you're going to say, but I heard of a way to get the money to get into an apartment."
"So why haven't you said anything about it before?"
.
"Because I just found out about it and I was afraid that I'd make you angrier or hurt you more than you've been hurt already."
"It can't get much worse than this, Tanya," he replied.
"Yeah, it can." I said. "So let me say this and get it over with but promise you won't get mad and believe me when I say I hope you'll say no."
"Then why even mention it?" he asked.
"Because if I don't, and you find out that I refused it without even asking you, I'm going to be in deep shit, that's why."
He slumped back on the couch and went silent for a few minutes. "What the hell, you might as well tell me now."
"I was in line, waiting for my interview at the unemployment office the other day and I heard the two women that were sitting behind me talking. They were in a jam too and they learned about a place that was hiring. They didn't want to share their information and I figured it was just a few bucks but when they went out for a smoke, I followed them. I finally got them to give me the details and who I had to talk to. It's not illegal or unethical but it's just plain wrong. I finally talked myself into calling the number they gave me just to get more information. At least enough to let me know that I didn't want to do it, but god, we're running out of options."
"So who do I have to beat up?" he asked.
Knowing that he's about as wimpy as they come when it comes to physical violence, I knew that even that was not an option.
"It's nothing that you have to do," I said. "It's me that has to do it and I don't want to."
"For God's sake, Tanya, spit it out," he yelled in frustration.
"Not unless you promise not to lose your temper or hate me for even thinking about it."
"Fine," he said, "I promise but I reserve the right to walk away."
"Fair enough," I said. I went to lean on the breakfast bar and took a deep breath.
"There's a place out on Blanding Rd. where they make movies."