Second Chance

I try to mark sudden shifts in POV. If you see ******* it is one of the more abrupt ones.

There are references to the film Friday The 13th. This is where the hockey mask reference comes from.

I repeat a lot of names as I have mental images of certain names looking a certain way. Unless noted, this story has nothing to do with others.

There is a reference to a video inspired by the Youtube video 'Banned Dodge Commercial'

Though not used as much as in the past, 'johnson' is an idiom for penis.

Ft. Smith Arkansas is real. Specific places they go like 'The Little Bow', are not nor is the town of Weston.

Nothing all that new. Just a fall and rise story with lots of common tropes.

Second Chance

The day could not possibly get worse... shit.

Thursday, October 6, 2022

"Matt Culver?"

Twenty-six year old Matt looked at the woman standing before him at the exit of security of Terminal C at Newark International Airport and shrugged, "Uh. Yeah?"

She was cool at best in her demeanor, "You have been served. Note that there are two envelopes The second one is a restraining order. You may not approach within five hundred feet of your domicile at 412 Reynolds Lane, in Parsippany nor may you approach your wife's workplace in Denville."

His first thought was that he had misheard, "Uh. What?"

She was impatient, "You have been served with two legal actions. The second one is a restraining order. You may not come within five hundred feet of your home or your wife's workplace."

Before he could argue further, she walked quickly away, leaving Matt in a daze still in disbelief.

He found a bench just outside the security area and sat down, looking at the first paper. It took a bit of reading of the typical legal papers listing his wife as the plaintiff and himself. It claimed irreconcilable differences as the cause then went on to describe his marriage in legal terms.

He was badly shaken when he opened the second envelope which contained a protection order, citing physical abuse and several incidents several months ago of him hitting his wife, Brittany. He mumbled to himself, "But, I never raised a hand to her."

He sat there another fifteen minutes in disbelief until he forced himself to take action and find a hotel for the night. Sleep did not come easy and it all felt like a bad dream.

Friday, October 7, 2022

Matt stopped his car, looked at the six-story glass panel building, and sighed. Today was not a good day to be going to work, but his boss had made it clear before he left that he wanted an update on the meeting he had in San Jose with PRJ Systems. They were considering replacing the software for the email system and he had seen some live demonstrations at one of their customer's facilities.

He forced himself to face the day and got out of his car then walked numbly into the lobby of Callate Capital and found his boss, Tony, waiting for him.

Tony looked unhappy, "I'm sorry, Matt, but we cannot have anyone associated with this firm involved in domestic violence."

Matt was shocked and wondered how his boss could know and protested, "It never happened!"

Tony sighed, looked down then back at Matt, "I know you wouldn't. Damn, I know you couldn't, but..."

Matt looked for mercy and found none in Tony who looked like someone assigned to a task they despised. Tony pointed at a box with an envelope on top. I pointed out that you have not been convicted so we are calling this a reduction in workforce. You have two weeks of vacation accrued which has been deposited into your account."

Tony was still uncomfortable, "Give me any expense receipts you have and I will make sure you get the money.

Matt took the receipts and sighed explosively as Tony paused, then said regretfully, "I'll need the laptop you are carrying."

Matt handed over the laptop and wondered how the day was going to get worse.

Tony shook his head sadly, "And the company phone."

Matt handed it over and realized that his personal phone was in the apartment he was not allowed to enter. He had forgotten it on his way out to the meeting.

The day got worse. Barry Gross, the CEO opened the door abruptly, "Tony, Mary said you were out here. I need..."

Barry glared at Matt, "What is he still doing here?"

Tony half apologized, "I am retrieving company property."

Barry scowled as Matt looked at him. The frown had something behind it; a smirk?

Barry grew impatient, "How long does it take to get a phone and a laptop?"

Tony gave an apologetic sigh, "I got them just now, sir."

Barry looked at Tony, "Go to the server room. Something is up with the networks on the third and fourth floor."

Barry switched his gaze to Matt, "If you are not off this property within a minute, I will call Wayne Police."

Matt looked at Barry who clearly thought of him as no more than a gnat. He turned and walked out the door then to his car and drove away.

A thought came to him, "Fucking Friday the thirteenth. Figures." He half wondered if a guy in a hockey mask and a chainsaw would suddenly appear to continue the descent into hell that his life was headed.

Matt went to the closest place he could think of to figure out what to do with the disaster that was his life. McDonalds was not fancy, but it was a place to think. He ordered a small soft drink and waited as he swiped his debit card.

"I'm sorry sir, it has been declined."

The card had worked at the Parsippany Hampton Inn the night before right after being served with the divorce complaint and the restraining order. He sighed as it was clear that someone was working against him.

He tried the joint credit card and the girl behind the counter shook her head, "Sorry sir, declined."

He pulled out his personal credit card, one that he did not share with his soon-to-be-ex wife and swiped it.

The girl behind the counter only shook her head.

He pulled two dollars out of his wallet and gave them to the girl and she returned his change. She gave a polite smile, "Thank you, sir."

He sat at a table well away from the counter near the window and by the entry staring. He thought forlornly, "Maybe a psycho with a hockey mask and a chainsaw would be a blessing." He had twenty-seven dollars in his wallet. He had nothing and even his personal credit card had been canceled.

*******

Lisa Barnes turned from the counter with her hotcakes and sausage then scanned the room for a table. As she scanned, she saw Matt and a memory surfaced. A letter written twenty years previous came to her mind. A man named Ed had written her a letter and for some reason, suddenly, she remembered it with startling clarity.

'Lisa.

You should have known better than to challenge an old goat like me...'

The letter had contained a prediction and a request. Somehow... some way... she knew this was that moment.

The man she saw had the hopeless thousand-yard stare of someone whose life had just fallen apart completely. Lisa approached the man, "I know this is going to sound crazy, but a man sent me to help you... twenty years ago."

He looked up, not comprehending.

She asked gently, "May I sit?"

His mind moving a thousand miles an hour in a dozen directions at the same time, he half nodded, shutting his eyes, forcing himself to not break down in front of this woman.

She left him alone as she quickly scarfed the food down, letting the man settle his mind as best he could.

Finally, he said in a quiet hopeless voice, "My life... is gone."

That startled Lisa because Ed's letter was eerily prophetic.

She looked at him, "Gone. How?"

He looked at her. She was pretty and in her early forties. It was clear that as a twenty-year old, she had been a stunner.

He sighed then paused trying not to fumble the words, "My wife. She is divorcing me. She says I beat her up."

That alarmed Lisa and she asked, "Did you?"

He sighed, offended, "Of course not. My parents taught me to not hit girls."

She studied him, thought, and believed.

She thought for a second and she realized, "She said that to help her in the divorce."

It was a statement, not a question.

He nodded.

She thought for a second then asked, "No family?"

Matt shook his head, "My wife is... was my family. My parents were hit by a drunk driver. There really wasn't much to their estate. It paid for our honeymoon a year after they died."

Lisa shook her head in stunned disbelief and mumbled, "It really just happened."

Matt asked, "Pardon?"

Lisa sighed, "Nothing." She looked at Matt, "We have a small in-law suite in our basement..."

*******

Matt stopped his car at the turnaround end at the bottom of the driveway of a Wayne, New Jersey Mcmansion and was startled at the size of the house. It was a four or five bedroom, two story home of considerable size with a three-car side loading garage. Lisa put her Grand Cherokee into the garage and came out as a man came from the rear of the property and up some stone stairs at the side of the parking spaces where he was parked.

The man was wary until he saw Matt then relaxed.

*******

Tom Barnes had just finished moving several boxes of old lady clothing out of the mother-in-law suite into the storage room of their large basement when he heard the hum of the garage door opener announcing his wife's arrival.

"What has my wife got us into?", he wondered, then decided to have faith in his beloved wife's judgement. Still, he would judge the man... and get a picture of his driver's license. Due diligence and all, he would forward the license to a friend in the Lincoln Park Police to run a quick check.

He walked out the door and made a left to the stairs that led up to the parking pad at the end of their driveway. As he approached, a man got out of the car and looked around. Tom studied him for two seconds and read him. The guy was completely defeated and something had gone horrifically wrong. He would still run the license, but he relaxed. His mind had a simple thought: Threat level zero.

Tom approached from the stairs as Lisa approached from the now closing garage door and Lisa introduced them, "Tom, this is Matt. Matt this is my husband, Tom"

Matt smiled weakly, his look still of someone whose life had been torn completely apart. He said quietly, "Uh... I'm Matt... uh Matt Culver."

Tom held out his hand and they shook.

Tom looked at the man, "You understand this is temporary, right? New Jersey has pretty awful laws about getting people to leave if they don't want to. You won't do that to us, right?"

Matt nodded, "Of course not. I will be gone as soon as I can get access to enough money. My wife... has apparently taken all of our money and even somehow canceled the credit card that I had only in my name."

Tom nodded, "Sorry. Final, last unpleasant part. I am going to take a picture of your driver's license."

Matt only nodded as Tom studied the reaction closely. Matt was not trying to hide anything as he reached for his wallet. The same thought came to Tom: Threat level zero.

Tom pointed down the stone steps and said, "We have a mother-in-law suite in the basement. The door is in the back because we have a daylight basement. Lisa's grandma lived there for about five years until last year when she passed. It's not big, just a bedroom, a living room-kitchen, and a bathroom."

Matt sadly chuckled and looked at Tom and Lisa, "Compared to my car, it's a palace."

The suite turned out to be exactly as described. Beige carpet and off white walls. The 'kitchen' was just a six foot counter with a sink, a small refrigerator-freezer and a two burner cooktop. There was a couchand a TV on the far wall. The bedroom was perhaps twelve by twelve with a bed with a pile of clean sheets and pillows sitting at the edge, a line of closets at one end, and a reading nook with a rocking chair.

Tom softly apologized, "Sorry a lot of the furniture is gone. Family took things like the kitchen table and chairs. They left the TV, though. Just one of those low end ones you find everywhere like discount stores. You can use it though."

Matt looked at them and simply said, "You're doing me a huge favor so I won't complain. Thanks."

Tom saw Matt's defeat and smiled, "You're welcome." He paused, then said, "Matt. Things will get better, but you cannot let today dictate tomorrow. Whatever and whoever is behind your plight, you need to push forward."

Matt nodded and Tom noted to keep pushing Matt... but not today. He looked at Matt and said, "We will leave you alone for now."

Matt nodded and simply quietly repeated, "Thank you."

Lisa smiled, "Tom is right, you need to start fighting back... but not today."

They left and Matt looked around. The decor of the suite was plain, but it was safe and that was the main thing he needed right now. Safe. He sat on the edge of the bed then laid back trying to figure out what had changed recently with Brittany. Things had changed little though she seemed a bit cold maybe the last couple months... two? Three? More? He drifted off.

Knock Knock. Knock Knock.

Matt roused. Shit! He had fallen asleep from the exhaustion of the lousy night's sleep the previous night. He got up and headed to the door, looked out the door and saw nothing.

Knock Knock.

He realized there was another door leading to elsewhere in the basement. He opened it to find Lisa standing with a pleasant, almost motherly smile, "Matt. Dinner is soon. Come on up and eat."

Matt started to protest when Lisa cut him off, "Don't make me put you in time out!"

Matt chuckled, "Yes, mom."

Lisa scratched her nose with her middle finger and Matt laughed. Lisa had a seriously snarky side. He followed her up the stairs to what smelled like heaven.

Tom greeted him, "Matt! Lisa makes an uh-may-zing lasagna!"

Forty minutes later, the lasagna had been amazing. Tom got serious and said, "Matt. I want to ask you some serious questions. I'm not mad, it's just that the way your wife got you kicked out and all seems... odd."

They went to the living room and for the next twenty minutes, Matt told them all he knew from being met at the airport to being fired and that his boss knew of the restraining order.

Tom sat back and looked at his wife, "Doesn't the whole thing seem like some kind of setup?"

Lisa nodded, "I've known more than a few divorces. Yeah, the part about being served happens... but in the airport complete with a restraining order with no history of violence? Weird."

Matt looked up and Tom shrugged, "Sorry, Matt. Can't be too careful. I have a friend in the Lincoln Park Police and I had him run your background from your driver's license. I know you have nothing worse than a speeding ticket in Rockaway three years ago. By the way, don't speed where you got caught. Rockaway police live in that little hidey spot on the corner and write a ton of tickets."

Tom continued, "Also. The restraining order is real. It was signed by Judge McDole in the Morris County Courthouse on the Saturday before you went on your trip. THAT is weird that it happened on a Saturday. Please don't get all Rambo on us and repay us by doing stuff so we get visits from the sheriff."

Matt nodded, "You have been too nice to me and I won't do that. Thank you."

Lisa smiled, "You are most welcome, Matt."

Matt was about to get up when he paused, then looked at Lisa and asked, "Why me?"

Lisa asked, "Pardon?"

Matt shrugged and asked, "Why did you help me?"

Lisa gestured for him to sit back and said, "Twenty-two years ago, I was a senior at Rutgers. Life was great and all that, until the summer before my senior year. My father's steel business had won a contract to supply steel for an apartment tower going up in Jersey City. Well, turns out the construction contractor had been taken over by some bad people and did what they call a 'bust out'."

"That is, they use a company's previous good credit and reputation to get supplies with no intention of paying. They run the company into the ground and run with the payments they have received from their end. The shorter version is that my father never got paid, it killed my father's business and I was faced with taking loans for that last year's tuition."

"I was a waitress at a place called Gray's Diner and I had a regular customer named Ed. He came in several times a week and had lunch. Some days he would come in just as we opened and things were still slow so we would sometimes talk. He was just a sweet but lonely widower who had lost his wife a few years before I met him."

"He was the former owner of a small electrical contractor he had sold off. He wasn't filthy stinking rich, but had enough he could buy a fifteen dollar lunch and tip me a fiver every time and that was probably four days a week or so."

"Well my dad had told me I would need to take out loans and I had mentioned it to Ed. it was one of the many things we talked about. Well, about a week later, Ed came in and said he was moving to Florida in a week and that day was his last day coming into Gray's. We talked a bit and he thanked me for being nice to him."

Lisa laughed, "Imagine how grim the world is that he thanked me for being a decent human. Anyway, he tried to give me a two hundred dollar cash tip the last day and I told him I was being nice because I thought he was a great guy. He pushed and I pushed back and finally after going back four or five times, he smiled then took out the usual twenty and said to keep the change, a fiver, just like every other time."

Lisa got a distant look, "I can still remember that final conversation. I told him that the two hundred dollar tip was ridiculous. He countered he could afford it and I told him to take a nice widow out to dinner in Florida with the money. He looked at me and the look in his eyes changed and he said... I still remember those exact words, 'Us old people always get our way in the end."

"I chuckled, kissed him on the cheek and said, "Not today, old man!""

Three weeks later, I went in to check the status of the loans and there was a woman behind the desk in the bursar's office. When I said my name she did a double take and had this funny look. She went back to her desk and brought back an envelope. The envelope had the words, 'Lisa The Waitress' written in a man's handwriting and below it, written in a different handwriting, was my maiden name, "Lisa Ann Reeves."

Lisa teared up a bit, "Turns out Ed had come to the Bursar's office and paid my tuition in cash. Inside the envelope was a receipt for the entire tuition paid in cash and five hundred dollars in cash with a paper band around it with the word, 'Books'."

Lisa went to her room and brought out the letter from Ed and handed it to Matt.

'Lisa.

You should have known better than to challenge an old goat like me. Thank you for being the pretty young waitress that is willing to talk to a lonely old man while he has his lunch. Being treated like I mattered meant a lot to me.

Problem solved and your tuition has been paid. I am sorry your father lost his business. I cannot fix that, but I can solve your tuition problem.

Do not try to return the money. Good luck finding Ed Smith in Florida. There are a thousand of us with the same name living in the state also known as God's waiting room.

You will pay me back. Some day, far into the future when the problem I just fixed is but a distant memory, you will see someone and remember this letter. That person will desperately need your help. Just as I have reset you on the right path, you will be the beginning of this person's new path.

Pay it forward!

Ed'

Lisa smiled. I saw you and it hit me like a tornado and I remembered Ed's letter though I had not thought about it in years. This was the day I was going to repay Ed though it is likely he has long since passed on.

Lisa smiled, "So you see. You owe me nothing. I am repaying my debt to Ed."