“But Pete! You’d make less working there than you’d get on unemployment!” Lonnie protested.
Pete stared at her. “True, but I have my dignity, too. Hmph. Too old, indeed!”
Plans were laid for Grandma to move in with them. Danny cleaned out his bedroom and moved in with Zach. He was excited about the whole thing, but Zach was less than thrilled. The brothers were about as opposite as two boys could be. Zach was quiet and studious, a scientific-minded young man. Danny was all about play and motion and exuberance.
Carrie withdrew to her room and didn’t have much to say. She wasn’t troubled about her Great-grandma moving in with them, she was worried about money, but didn’t know how to ask her parents for reassurance. So she worried alone.
The big day came, and the kids were allowed to skip school to help move Grandma. They drove both cars to the Care Center and carried an armload of empty grocery bags in to help pack up her things. Of the furniture in her room, only the rocking chair was going. Grandma insisted she wasn’t sentimental about the other furniture. Her clothes and bedding and other personal items were packed into the bags, and loaded into the cars. Then Grandma went around saying her good-bye’s.
“I envy you, Jean,” said one woman, hugging her. “I wish my family would come get me. I hope it works out for you.”
“Hmph. I hope you don’t all end up living in a cardboard box under a bridge!” grumped another woman. “That’s what happened to Kathy and her family when she went to stay with them!”
“Oh, they didn’t either. It wasn’t a box. It was a camper. And they’ve got an apartment now and her son is working!” said the first woman.
“Hah! You call Taco Bell a job?” said the second woman.
“I sure do. It’s a perfectly respectable way to earn a living, and he’s doing something instead of sitting around whining and waiting for the government to take care of him and his family. I’m proud of him, and he isn’t even my son!” the first woman said.
“My Dad was going to work at McDonald’s” said Danny proudly, then he added “but he’s too old.”
Pete swatted at him. They headed out to the waiting cars.
Danny led his great-grandma to his old room and helped her settle in. Pete carried the rocking chair into the room, and grandma spread an afghan over it.
“Want me to help you unpack?” Danny asked eagerly! His Great-grandma smiled at him and lowered herself into her rocking chair.
“How about if I rest awhile and we can get to know each other?” she smiled at him but she was a bit distressed at how tired she felt after such a seemingly simple trip. So the boy and the old woman talked for a while, then her eyes looked sleepy for a minute and she looked at Danny as though she was a little confused.
“When did they paint my room blue?” she asked in a faltering voice.
“But Grandma! It’s always been blue! This is my old room, and you can stay in it now!” Danny said, somewhat puzzled. The old woman looked around, then nodded her head.
“I wonder if there’s someplace we can get a bite to eat?” she asked, her voice still trembly.
“Mom’s cooking dinner right now!” Danny said.
“Oh! I didn’t know your Mom worked here!” she said in a surprised voice.
“This is our house! She always makes dinner!” Danny said, suddenly remembering the talk his parents had had with the kids about Grandma’s wandering mind. “Come on, let’s go see what she’s making!”
He helped her up and they walked to the kitchen.
“Dinner is almost ready,” Lonnie said with a smile when they came in. “Carrie, set the table in the dining room tonight. Let’s make it feel like a celebration!”
“Some celebration,” Carrie mumbled as she moved to get plates.
The next day Lonnie took her Gandma with her to the grocery store. The older woman seemed to enjoy seeing the activity around her. She pushed the cart so she would have something to hold onto. For a while she just watched everything going on, then she leaned closer to the shelf and peered at the prices.
“Oh my heaven! Do you buy this over-priced stuff? Isn’t there a cheaper brand?” she exclaimed as Lonnie pulled two loaves of bread off the shelf.
“But Grandma, this IS the cheap stuff. It’s the store brand. The expensive stuff is a lot more! Prices have been going up!” Lonnie explained.
The older woman just shook her head as they walked on down the aisle. She stopped from time to time and looked at prices, still shaking her head. When they reached the milk coolers even Lonnie stopped and stared at the price. She had been a little distressed to see bread and cereal had gone up since the week before, but milk had gone up almost half again the price!
“What’s wrong?” her grandma asked. She leaned forward and looked at the price, then stood up in shock. “$6.29 for a gallon of milk? Wouldn’t it be cheaper to just get your own cow?”
Lonnie put one gallon in the cart with a sinking feeling in her stomach. She headed toward the check-out counters. She couldn’t deal with any more shopping. But the real surprise came when her grandma spotted the price of gas at the station across the street.
This time it was Lonnie who said “OH MY!” They stared at each other until the car behind them honked it’s horn, and Lonnie pulled onto the street. Gas had gone up 35 cents over night.
That evening at the dinner table the discussion centered around the rising prices and how to cut corners.
“Well, first thing is we should drop the insurance on one of the cars and stop driving it. Second, we’ll try to save all our errands for one trip,” Pete said.
“We’ll have to cut out luxuries like pop and snacks,” Lonnie said.
“What? Those aren’t luxuries! They’re necessities!” Danny protested.
“Necessities! No, they’re not, even though we’re all used to having them,” Lonnie said. “I’ve started baking cookies again, so I’ll start making other things from scratch. It’ll save money.”
“I’ll take a break from my violin lessons and practice on my own,” offered Carrie.
“And I can drop out of basketball,” Zack said. He wasn’t enthused about it anyway, he joined to try to shed some of the science-nerd image that was growing around him.
“I already canceled our gym membership this morning,” said Pete. “I figured we can walk places to stay in shape. That means to friends’ houses and even to the grocery store.” This was met with groans.
“What else can we do to save money?” mused Lonnie.
“We could plant a GARDEN!” shouted Grandma triumphantly. Everyone stared at her as though she just dropped through the ceiling into the room.
“But Grandma…It’s January! There’s a foot of snow on the ground!” Danny said, jumping up and running to the window to point. Grandma looked out at the snow with a vague look on her face, then seemed to brace herself.
“Well, there are other ways to plant a garden. Haven’t you ever heard of growing things inside? Heavens, you can grow onions, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, all kinds of stuff. We just need some dirt and some seeds, and something to plant in.” She turned to Lonnie. “What do you do with those cottage cheese containers and other plastic things?”
“I save some for storing leftovers, and I throw the rest out,” Lonnie said.
“Well, save them. Milk jugs too. We can cut the tops off,” she said. “Now, where’s the nearest Hardware store?”
Pete was putting his boots on the next morning to go for a walk when Lonnie’s grandma walked up to him, boots and coat on.
“Let’s go get that garden stuff and get started!” she said. Pete stared at her.
“Um…okay. Are you up to the walk? It’s a few blocks,” he asked in concern.
“Well, if I’m not, I ought to be. Time I got going and did things again!” she said resolutely.
“What are you doing?” Lonnie asked as she walked into the room. “It’s too cold out there for you, Grandma!”
“Bother! It isn’t e
ither. I saw the temperature on your thermometer out on the tree. 28 degrees isn‘t that cold. I‘ll be warm enough!” She pulled on the lapels of her coat and bounced up and down a little in her boots.
Pete smiled at Lonnie and assured her he’d look after her, and that he’d call if she got too tired, and Lonnie could come get them in the car.
They made it there and back, Grandma saying “oh, my” over the price of everything, but she seemed to enjoy the walk and confided to Pete that she hadn’t walked in the snow for a few years.
When the kids got home from school they came into the kitchen for cookies and found their great-grandma up to her elbows in potting soil and seeds. Danny was excited and glued himself to her and asked if he could help plant. Gradually the other kids’ curiosity overcame them and they were in the midst of it too, poking seeds in the dirt and watering them. They planted leaf lettuce, bunch onions, and radishes, with promises of other things to be planted later.
Lonnie and Pete smiled over their heads, then slipped away to the living room. Their smiles faded as their discussion turned to finances again.
“We’re going to have to cut back on more. It’s time to eliminate either the cable TV or the internet. We probably should cancel both, but we’ll try to keep one or the other. I vote to keep the internet, I think it’s more useful to everyone,” Pete said.
“I agree. The kids won’t be happy about the TV but they can watch most things on the internet, even if they have to wait longer to do so. We can cancel the newspaper and read the news online, too.” Lonnie looked around the corner at her children and Grandma playing in the dirt at the table. She smiled briefly, then turned back to Pete. “We’re only one payment away from losing the house. If Grandma’s check comes in time, we’ll be able to buy another month.”
“And I haven’t had any luck on the job interviews. Every place I go there are dozens of others applying and most places have signs saying “not hiring”. Pete ran his hand over his head. “And the kids might have been right about McDonalds. I’ve never been treated with so much deference, as though I was an old person to be respected! “Sir”, indeed! It’s nice to know such values still exist, but STILL!”
Jeannie let out a laugh, despite trying to look sympathetic for him. He smiled, and then they were both laughing. Danny bounced into the room, wanting to know what was so funny!
“Nothing, squirt! Just telling your Mom about applying for a job at McDonalds!” Jeff said as they joined the family in the kitchen.
Zack looked at his Dad in shock. “You really did it? You applied at McDonalds?”
“I did! But you’re right, they thought I was too old!” Pete grinned.
Zach sputtered and apologized, and Pete waved it away.
“So, did anyone else hire you?” Carrie asked. She felt a cold churning in her stomach. She kept her eyes averted, busily patting down dirt in a milk jug.
“Not yet. But I did apply for unemployment, and the first check should be in our account next week. We do have to make more changes though.” Jeff went on to explain about the Cable TV service, and the kids accepted it silently.
They awoke to several inches of new snow, and school was canceled. Over breakfast Pete told the kids they could come out and help him shovel the driveway and sidewalk.
“But, Dad! We don’t even get to use the car, so why shovel the driveway?” asked Zach.
“True, we probably won’t go anywhere. But in case of emergency, it’s good to have the snow cleared and be ready to drive,” Pete said.
The TV on the counter was on and the morning news program chattered away in the background. This would be the last day of cable TV. The service would be disconnected the next day. The room became quiet and all eyes turned to the TV at the crisp voice chopped out the words:
“Fuel prices will rise as OPEC and others have cut back yet again on production and threaten to keep driving up the price until sanctions against all countries are dropped.”
“Rise again? Good grief, how are people even affording to buy gas and still feed their families?” Lonnie said. The announcer went on.
“…as truck drivers threaten to strike in protest of the rising cost of fueling their rigs. Wholesale prices across the board for all commodities will climb along with the rising fuel prices.”
Pete walked over and turned off the TV. “Come on kids, let’s go play in the snow!” They groaned, but followed him anyway.
“Alana, it’ll be all right,” grandma said as she patted Lonnie’s hand. “There’s still money. Pete has the unemployment money, and we’ll have my check, too. It’s not like the depression. Now, THAT was hard. My parents had no money and they lost our farm, and we lived in our car while we traveled so my Father could look for work. Sometimes people would hire him for the day and all he’d get is a little bit of food for the family. Of course, I was only a little girl at the time and barely remember.”
“Grandma, that’s not helping!” Lonnie said gently. “It’s winter. I don’t want to live in a car with my husband, my kids, and my grandmother! I don’t see things getting better soon. We’re going to lose the house. And I’m scared.” A tear slid down her cheek. She brushed it away and went on. “We appreciate that you’re willing to use your check to help with expenses, but it’s not even enough to cover the monthly mortgage payment. And Pete’s unemployment won’t stretch to cover the rest. I guess we need to stop this piecemeal cutting-back and just eliminate everything we don’t need.”
“Well, my dear,” said grandma. “We can start by hanging that laundry you put in the wash machine this morning, instead of using the dryer. You do use cold water instead of hot, to save money, don’t you?”
“Um…well, no, I’ve been running it with hot water. You’re right though. I can change it to cold. I don’t have a clothesline or clothes pins for hanging laundry,” Lonnie said sheepishly.
Grandma’s face turned to a look of horror and she said in a ghastly voice “NO CLOTHESPINS???”, with icicles hanging off each word. Then she laughed and said, “don’t worry, Alana. There are other ways to hang laundry!”
She went to her room and returned with an armload of hangers. “I dumped my clothes on the bed. Now, let’s hang laundry!”
They put everything on hangers. The shirts were easy. Once on hangers they went around and hung the hangers over the curtain rods in the living room. Then the waist band of pants were draped around the hangers and hung wherever they could hang a hanger. Socks were laid over the crossbar of the bottom of the hanger, and then hung from the shower curtain rod. And so it went, until all the laundry was spread throughout the house.
“There! Not only does it save money, but it smells nice and it puts some humidity into this dry air.”
“It does smell nice!” said Lonnie. “But I hope no one comes to visit!”
“Why? We hung the underwear in the bedrooms. No one will see them!” said grandma. Lonnie didn’t point out that in this day and age in the suburbs, you didn’t find shirts and pants hung around the living room to dry!
When Pete and the kids came in they brought the mail with them. Lonnie pulled the electric bill out of the pile and opened it. She looked at it with a grimace.
“I know it’s winter and the bill is always higher, but it’s higher than ever. The watt rate’s gone up and I don’t remember seeing anything about it in the newspaper. I guess we need to cut back on that, too,” she said.
“Well, you could start by not using lights during the daytime!” Grandma said matter-of-factly as she walked over and turned off the hallway light. “It’s dim but you can see, and you know your hallway. You don’t need a light.”
Danny ran to the kitchen and turned off the light, then to his room to do the same.
“Well, that will help, but we can do more. We can take fewer showers, and wear our clothes longer between washes. They’re not really dirty most of the time,” Lonnie said.
Pete and the boys went “yah-hoooo!” and Carrie frowned. The boys noticed and
began teasing her.
“Yeah, well, YOU guys wear your clothes for a month and then I can wash mine more often!” she retorted and went to her room.
The boys made ape noises and stomped around the living room. Pete caught Lonnie’s eye and got a twinkle in his own as he made a quick, quiet monkey noise and pretended to smell his armpit.
Two weeks later, without warning, the government announced they didn’t have the funds to continue paying unemployment compensation and that the program would halt immediately. It also announced that Social Security and welfare programs could be suspended if the economic outlook didn’t improve.
Prepper Fiction Collection: Four Books in One Page 11
