What Saved Grace?

What Saved Grace?

By John Franklin Hay

Published by John Franklin Hay at Smashwords

What Saved Grace?

Copyright © 2013 John Franklin Hay

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Dedication

To all my urban neighbors

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Moving to 322

Chapter 2 The Food Pantry

Chapter 3 First Wesleyan Church

Chapter 4 Sister Mary

Chapter 5 The Neighbor

Chapter 6 A Double-dipping Dilemma

Chapter 7 Reflections on a Double Dipper

Chapter 8 Ad Hoc at Molly's Café

Chapter 9 Weight of the Cross

Chapter 10 The Block Garden

Chapter 11 An Unexpected Illness

Chapter 12 Rethinking Rescue

Chapter 13 Advice from Mr. Marcus

Chapter 14 He Has Lifted Up the Humble

Chapter 15 At the End of the Tunnel

Chapter 16 A Sacrifice Accepted

Chapter 17 Lincoln Avenue Community Development Corporation

Chapter 18 Who Is My Neighbor?

Chapter 19 City Walk

About the Author

~ ~ ~ ~

Chapter 1

Moving to 322

Even before the car pulled to a stop in front of the two-story house they’d just rented, Grace knew she and Theo would have to count on the compassion of neighbors if they were to stay here long. They would just be scraping by even if he got the job at Angelo’s Garage. She was weary of relying on the kindness of strangers, but maybe this would be the last time.

Though in their early twenties, Grace felt like she and Theo were old. Since marrying after she became pregnant in high school, they’d lived in dozens of houses and neighborhoods in four heartland cities. Patching things together in one place as long as they could, they moved whenever Theo’s work gave out or creditors caught up with them. The repeated ordeal was taking its toll. Exuberance yielded to tedium. She was tired of running, tired of having her hand out, tired of feeling desperate all the time. Still, she held on to a faint hope that the next move would be the last.

Theo was a lanky-tall, rough-hewn athlete Grace had become attracted to as a high school sophomore. He liked her a lot, too. Besides good looking, she was a sharp student and never afraid to speak her mind.

They dated steadily for a year and felt like they were meant for each other. When Grace became pregnant, Theo left school to begin work. He wanted to do the responsible thing, marry Grace and become a provider for her and the baby. Initially, he found employment at auto repair garages easy to come by. He later realized his lack of training and certification kept his wages at a minimum and his positions on the bubble.

They married without her family’s blessing, so Grace was all the more determined to make a good life with Theo. She tried to stay in school, but the pregnancy became overwhelming. She decided to suspend her education and return after the baby was born. That was six years ago.

Stopping at the curb, Theo leaned and nodded toward the gray house on her side of the car. That must be it; the one with the blue porch railing.

Grace gazed at the house. The house number 322 was scrawled with a black marker on one of the porch posts. This was the place they had heard about from Theo's mother and had agreed to rent for $150 a week. It was more than they wanted to pay, over half of what Theo hoped to make at the garage. At least it included electricity and heating. Heating a drafty old house could cost a lot. Their unpaid electric bills from local utility companies meant the power couldn’t be turned on in their names.

This house looked much the same as the other houses they’d lived in over the past six years. Seventy-year old houses with some boarded-up windows and peeling paint were typical. The structures looked tired, like the broken old men shuffling down the sidewalk. Sometimes Grace pondered whether the houses were being pressed from above or pulled from below. Either way, they looked depressed.

They’re not bad houses, she thought. They're just not cared for. Expensive repairs meant owners patched things temporarily. Ignored maintenance translated into bigger problems over time; leaky roofs, rotted floors, disintegrating siding, burst pipes, broken windows, uninvited birds, and old wiring that triggered fires. It seemed about every fifth house in the neighborhood was boarded up, fire-damaged, or needed to be torn down.

Grace studied 322 through the car window while Theo searched his pockets for the key. The house seemed sturdy enough and not too weary-looking. She tried imagining how many people had lived in it since the last person to own it moved out. It was hard to tell. Judging from the many places she and Theo had lived in, she bet a hundred. The condition of rental houses worsened the more different people did time in them.

Grace sighed. We'll see how long we can hang on to this one.

Maybe it’ll be worth buying on contract, Theo said, glancing up at the house.

That would be nice, she replied. But let’s not get the cart before the horse, Theo. We don’t even know if we can make it past the first week’s rent.

Grace often dreamed of buying and fixing up one of these old houses. She’d heard that landlords were sometimes willing to apply monthly rent toward payment on purchase. Eavesdropping at a Laundromat, she learned that buying on contract was good for landlords. It kept tenants in the same place longer and, since they intended to own it, they took better care of it. But landlords rarely sold houses to tenants. They didn't seem able to stay employed long enough. Or they got too far behind in payments. Sometimes they moved on. Still, buying on contract crossed Grace's mind as she sized up 322.

The landlord said it was fully furnished, Theo said with a wry smile. You know what that means: whatever furniture wasn't nailed down when the people before us moved on.

Grace flashed a hopeful glance at him and mused, Y’never know. Maybe we’ll get lucky. Maybe all the appliances will work and there’ll even be beds for kids. Maybe we’ll be pleasantly surprised. Let’s hope.

She snatched the key from Theo and reached back over the seat to unbuckle the safety seats of five-year old Damon and eighteen-month old Amber. Let's go see your new home!

Grace helped the two children out of the car. They scampered up the sidewalk and broken steps leading to the front porch. Theo opened the car trunk and began to gather garbage bags full of the family’s belongings.

Inside, Grace followed Damon and Amber as they explored the rooms of the old house. It was deeper than it was wide. A narrow hallway connected the front room and dining area to a back kitchen. There was a stairwell and bathroom in between. The stairs led to two bedrooms and a small bathroom upstairs and a half basement below. The rooms were large and sparse. Multiple layers of paint covered the woodwork and trim. Some of the windows were painted shut. The ceiling and walls were peeling in several places. Scarred hardwood floored most rooms. Faded linoleum covered the kitchen and bathrooms. A well-worn sofa, stuffed chair and coffee table slouched abandoned in the front room. In the kitchen stood a metal-frame table and vinyl-seated metal chairs. One upstairs bedroom had a full-size bed and the other a twin.

Grace chuckled at the assemblage. That’s certainly fully furnished!

It didn’t take long to tour the house. Soon Grace was helping Theo haul in the remaining items. The bags and boxes contained clothing, bathroom supplies, an assortment of toys, some picture frames, Theo’s tools, and a few household items. The largest piece was a combination 36-inch TV and DVD player. Theo was purchasing it from a rent-to-own shop. He’d rented living room furniture and a washer and dryer set. Grace insisted that he return it all when they started getting behind in payments.

This is all nice, but we can’t afford this stuff right now, she had pleaded. If we try to hang on to it, we’ll end up paying more than it’s worth. It’s just not the right time for it.

Theo finally returned everything except the TV and DVD player.

He stood the TV on the coffee table in the front room.

It took less than an hour to unpack and set up the house. Theo fiddled with setting up the TV and DVD player for most of this time. Grace separated bags and boxes and set out the items in each room. She dreamed about filling the rooms with furniture and touches that would make the old house feel like a good home.

But she’d learned not to set her hopes too high. They had lost places better than this. They’d sold or pawned almost everything they owned when Theo went without work for four months the last place they lived. Their financial desperation led them back to this, their hometown. They stayed with Theo’s mother for a month while he scoured the city for work.

At last Theo was promised a job at an auto repair garage named Angelo’s near downtown. It was three miles from 322, just out of walking range.

He had a knack for figuring out mechanical things and knew his way around cars. But other than high school shop, Theo had no formal training. His lack of licensing kept him perpetually low on the totem pole in the shops where he worked. He was one of the first to be let go when business was slow. He performed the work of technically skilled mechanics, but not being certified kept his wages at a minimum.

You might as well go down to Angelo’s and see if you can start tomorrow, Grace suggested. While you’re there, I’d like to take the kids for a stroll and look around the neighborhood. We can grab some lunch when you get back.

Pulling himself away from the TV, Theo concurred. Sounds like a plan.

By now he had the screen adjusted for a clear reception from area stations. Damon and Amber were already being entertained by Sponge Bob Square Pants. They stared into the blue tube while Theo disappeared out the front door, announcing, I’ll be back in an hour.

Through the haze of the front picture window Grace watched him climb in the car and drive down the street and out of sight. She lingered there a while, taking in what she could of the small yard, car-lined sidewalk and street, and homes across the street north and south of 322. She noted, in particular, the well-kept house across the street with a yard that looked more like a garden. She wondered who lived there and what kind of neighbors they would be.

Within a few minutes, Damon and Amber were running ahead and falling behind Grace as she pushed the empty stroller along the sidewalk. As in other places they’d lived, Grace figured walking gave her a better sense of a neighborhood than driving. A car’s speed and the windows insulated her from what a place was really like. Walking along uneven sidewalks, it was easier to note the smells and noises and atmosphere of the place. It was also easier to meet and check out some of the neighbors.

Traffic on the street was light, but the cars that passed were going too fast, she thought. The buffer of parked cars on both sides of the street provided a safe barrier. Still, Grace imagined how terrible it would be if a child ran out into the street from between the parked cars. With everything else that had gone wrong for the family, Grace didn’t know what she’d do if something tragic happened to one of the kids.

She stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and stooped down to face Damon and Amber. Damon, Amber. We’re going to be walking along this street a lot. You see how busy it is and how fast those cars are going?

Yes, mommy, Damon replied.

Cars, Amber exclaimed, pointing.

Yes, cars. We don’t want to be hit by one of those cars. That would be very bad. So, we always stay on the sidewalk, right? Never run between the parked cars. Never run into the street. Never run as we cross the street together. Do you understand?

I understand, said Damon.

Amber looked up smiling.

Let’s try this with Amber, Damon. Repeat after me: ‘stay on the sidewalk, stay on the sidewalk, stay on the sidewalk.’

Damon began to repeat the sing-song phrase with his mommy as they started walking again.

In a minute Amber chimed in. ‘Tay on sy-wauk.

At the first intersection they came to, Grace pointed to the street sign. Damon, look up at the street sign. This is the name of our street. ‘Walnut.’ Try to remember it.

Damon looked up at the sign and spelled out the letters. W-a-l-n-u-t A-v-e. Walnut Ave.

That’s right. That’s good. We should never get separated, but if we ever do, you will know that you live on Walnut Avenue.

Grace grabbed the children’s hands before they crossed the intersection. We always look both ways before we cross a street, right?

Right! said Damon, craning his head up and down the street.

Grace greeted a few people they passed on the sidewalk and a few on their porches and in their yards. Amber waved and said hi to everyone.

Grace felt the stares of men as she walked along. She was young and pleasant looking and this was enough to invite lustful glances and occasional catcalls from men on the street. Though not surprised, it always made her feel uncomfortable. Instinctively, she drew her children closer and tried to ignore the stares and hoots.

"People who do that are worse than rude," she said to the kids and to the world.

Woo-d! Amber exclaimed to Grace and Damon’s laughter. Woo-d, she repeated.

Grace played a game with Damon. Tell me which houses you like and which ones you don’t like. I’ll point to a house and you tell me, okay?

Okay.

Grace pointed to a house that was peeling paint, had rotting siding and was overgrown with weeds and untrimmed shrubs.

Don’t like it.

They passed a house with a gutter hanging off the side and the yard barren, apparently overrun by dogs or child’s play. She pointed to it.

Don’t like it. It needs fixed. It needs grass.

Grace wondered if folks who lived on the street noticed the deterioration. She noticed it because she’d just come from her mother-in-law’s neighborhood. There, houses were small but tidy; yards were trimmed and things weren’t falling apart. But it was as if the people who lived in these surroundings were so accustomed to the decaying landscape—day in, day out—they no longer noticed. That, or they’d resigned themselves to their depressed condition.

Grace steeled herself against that conclusion. She didn’t want to give in to it, to give up on her hopes of something better for herself and her family. Instead of resignation, she thought of ways each home could be improved.

The trio passed by an abandoned house with a boarded-up door and windows. She pointed to it.

Don’t like it.

Nobody lives there, she told him. It’s abandoned.

It’s kinda scary, he said.

Yeah, but even scary ol’ abandoned houses can be fixed up.

Whenever she passed by an abandoned house, she would try to imagine it restored, like those fix-it-up picture stories she’d seen in magazines and on public TV. Though her own attempts at fix-it-up had been frustrated by lack of money and short stays, she determined she would do what she could. Certainly, she would not let herself become blind to depressed surroundings.

They walked past a freshly painted house and she pointed to it.

Like it, said Damon.

Why? asked Grace.

It looks fresh.

Yes, it does. It looks like somebody cares for it.

Though in a minority and next to decaying dwellings, there were enough of these houses to make Grace think hopefully about the neighborhood. Like the home across from 322, some neighbors were caring for the community even if it didn’t seem to turn the tide. She wondered who lived in these houses, and how much they cost.

Grace and Damon played the house game all the way to the end of Walnut Avenue where it intersected a main thoroughfare lined with storefronts, apartments, and run-down commercial buildings. There the traffic was more swift and heavy. She saw several traffic lights up and down the strip.

Pointing to the street sign, she prodded Damon. Can you spell the street name and try to pronounce it?

Damon looked up and spelled it out. L-i-n-c-o-l-n A-v-e. Lin-coln Ave? Lin-coln Avenue?

That’s good. Almost. It's pronounced Leen-cun. The ‘l’ is silent.

Lincoln, Damon rehearsed.

Lee-cun! Amber exclaimed.

They turned onto Lincoln Avenue and Grace began her search in earnest. She wanted to locate a convenience or grocery store, a laundry, churches, and a hardware store. If this were typical of other inner-city thoroughfares she’d traveled, these would all be found within a few blocks. So would new and used furniture shops, used appliance stores, storefront churches, repair shops, taverns, pool halls, check-cashing centers, neighborhood grills, used car lots, and liquor stores. Knowing where these resources were located and what they offered was essential for getting along.

Two blocks up Lincoln Avenue, on the corner just beyond the first traffic light, Grace located a church building. They’d passed several storefront chapels with