Winter Layoff Chapter 4
| Winter Layoff | |
|---|---|
| Chapter 4 of 21 | |
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| Read this chapter | |
| Time frame | Somewhere in December 27-30, 2005 |
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Locations
- The home of John’s sister Sharon and her husband Floyd in Helena, Arkansas
Characters
- Aunt Rita and Uncle John Fleming
- John’s sister Sharon and her husband Floyd
Summary
Rita discusses their frustration at the insurance settlement - which may be as much as twenty cents on the dollar, if they ever get it. John ands Rita are very much against taking out any kind of a home loan as they may never be able to repay it.
John discusses that he had a small businesses accounting and tax preparation business, but it got blown away in the hurricane. Rita’s job as a casino cashier was blown away too. John's military disability and social security are enough to live on, but it’s not enough to live on and make house payments.
They point out that even if John and Rita decided to rebuild and did get a government loan that there isn’t going to be a home for a while due to the lack of getting any construction people to rebuild the house anytime soon - not for years. Again, Jim points out that he's not really a construction guy, but an excavating guy, but he works around construction enough to be able to get an idea or two.
Rita relates that she hiked to their old house from the nearest place to park the car and discovered ... debris all over the place, and the storm dumped a lot of it right on top of where the house sat. Everything is mashed flat, and I can’t even tell if there’s any of the house underneath it.
Jim thinks that Rita might have seen things as being worse than they were. Well, I guess I’ll just have to go see, he said. Rita states that she'll have to go along and show him where it is as there are no landmarks. John and Rita have a discussion about her being gone for a few days, then takes a few minutes to pack up a change of clothes and a few other things.
As Jim and Rita drive towards Pass Christian she describes their living conditions, how they rode out the storm in a high school gym with the wind howling and screaming for hours, and right in the middle of everything the power went out. She continued to relate how they had to move to Vicksburg after they closed the Hattiesburg shelter and they haven’t been able to get anywhere despite all the assistance that the TV says is available.
John asks why they don't move somewhre else? He points out that both John and Rita are close to retiring, with some income, even if it’s not a lot. Why bother rebuilding where there’s a good chance another hurricane is going to come along? They could go somewhere else and live with a lot less trouble. Rita answers that they don’t want to - that it’s home. They know people there, they have friends there, they liked the life, and they liked the climate.
Also Mentioned
- Jody (Floyd and Sharon's daughter) and her three kids
