This is mostly a true story. The names and places have been changes to protect the innocent. There was no illegal activity involved in this story. If you have any comments please forward them to me.
Chapter 1
I was too young and stupid to be a married man. I had my heart broken in my first year of college and got married to the very next girl I dated. It didn't take long to find out what a mistake that was. I flunked out of school, my parents wouldn't let me move back home, and I was living with someone I really didn't know or love.
I tried to make it work out. We separated three different times, only to get back together. I really wanted to make this work out. By the time we separated for the third time I had run out of relatives to live with. That's where this story really begins.
I worked at a grocery store in my home town. It sucked, but the money was good for a small town in North Carolina. The people were nice and they all enjoyed watching my circus ride of a life. One of the guys on the night shift was always trying to help. James meant well but he wasn't the smartest knife in the draw.
James overheard that I was looking for a room to rent. My marriage wasn't working out. I was 19 years old, no money, and no place to live. James told me to come home with him after work. He said he may be able to help me out. At the very least I could get something good to eat.
James wasn't much older than I was. There were two things that bugged me about James. The first was that he wasn't that smart, but thought that he was. The second was that he was very religious. He was the deacon at his church and he was always trying to "save" me. Deacons were normally a lot older, but James did everything at the church anyway. They gave him the title because nobody else wanted to do the things that James was doing already. But I liked James anyway.
James took me home with him after work. He told his wife to move the baby and her things into their bedroom. He told her that he was renting me that room. He was acting all macho and was really pissing off his wife. I ate while they went to the back of the small mobile home, to talk more privately. I overheard him tell Sharon that they needed the money almost as bad as I needed a place to stay. She stopped complaining and started moving the baby things to their room. James came back and told me to go home and get my things. I didn't want to, but I was out of luck and time.
My life actually got better after moving in. Sunday mornings sucked because James and Sharon got up very early for church. They put on gospel music and weren't quite about it. They always asked me to go with them but I declined. But things were getting better for me, until my asshole of a boss found out where I was living.
Chapter 2
My boss loved to mess with people. He was a sick sob. He decided to split the stock crew in half. I was promoted over James and put in charge of the day crew. James was put in charge of the night crew. I could tell it bugged James but he didn't take it out on me. There would be problems at home though and I knew my boss had planned it that way.
I got to work normal hours, eat breakfast and supper at home with Sharon and the baby, and sleep normal night time hours. James didn't. He ate at weird hours, ate leftovers, slept days, and missed out on a lot of family things. It really pissed James off, but he never took it out on me.