After pouring a cup of coffee, Jack held up the coffee pot and asked, "Would you like a refill?"
"No," Abby snapped back at him.
Putting the coffee pot back in the machine, Jack said, "Sorry. I was just trying to be considerate."
"Don't bother," Abby said staring morosely at her nearly empty cup.
"What's the matter?" Jack asked. Ever since she had returned home from work the previous day she had been as pleasant to be around as a badger. She hadn't gone out to the garage and eaten dinner last night.
"I quit my job yesterday," Abby said angrily.
"Okay," Jack said.
"I'm now a proud employee of Taco Emporium making a whopping seven dollars an hour. It isn't even a full-time job," Abby said. The fact that it was a part-time job meant that she didn't receive health insurance or retirement benefits. Even a minor illness or accident would destroy her financially.
"Oh," Jack said. It seemed to him that their situation was getting worse and worse. His most recent job had come to an end and now she was making less than before.
"Yeah, oh," Abby said sarcastically. She figured that he could have come up with something better than 'oh.'
"Why did you quit?" Jack asked. He knew that she wasn't happy with her job, but to quit like that meant that something bad had happened.
"I don't want to talk about it," Abby said.
"Okay," Jack said. The pancake breakfast would be starting in an hour and he was half tempted to go out there to help get it ready, but he wasn't going to abandon Abby. He looked across the table waiting for her to say something.
"I'm going to my room," Abby said getting up from the table.
"Alright," Jack said watching her head off to her bedroom. She was wearing a man's shirt for a nightgown. The thought that she looked sexy wearing it flashed through his mind, but he stopped that line of thought immediately. They didn't have that kind of relationship.
Jack knew enough to know when he wasn't wanted and didn't try to press her into talking about her problem. He figured that she would turn to one of the little old ladies and get her issues off her chest. One of the things that he liked about the commune was the increasing sense of community. People were helping people and it wasn't always in the form of labor. Sometimes it was just a kind word that brought a little cheer when someone was overwhelmed with burdens.
He took his cup to the living room. He turned on the stereo before sitting down in his comfort chair. Abby liked that 'new age' music and he was slowly beginning to appreciate it. He sipped his coffee wondering what the future held for him.
The previous evening, he had gone to the library and had submitted an application for a maintenance job at the local college. The college was a state school and that meant the job benefits were pretty good. It had been pretty strange applying for a job on the internet. Most of the jobs he had were run out of a home office or the back of a pickup truck. He figured a hundred other guys had applied for the job and the chances of him getting it were slim to none.
He sighed at the thought that he would spend most of the day going through his bills despite the fact that there weren't many bills. He had his mortgage, his food, his gasoline, the utilities, and car insurance. He still didn't have a phone, health insurance, or cable. Considering Abby's little bombshell about quitting her job, he had a feeling that they wouldn't have electricity for much longer. He looked down at his clothes thinking that they were starting to look worn.
Jack took a sip of his coffee thinking about the past few weeks. Abby had been a pretty reasonable roommate despite the fact that she was kind of moody. They weren't together much despite not having an active social life outside of the commune. The houses occupied by the members of the commune were spread out over a three block area and it was pretty easy to avoid seeing one another. She spent a lot of time with Claire while he was usually working at other houses.
The commune was working, but it wasn't working as well as anyone had hoped. Everyone was still strapped for cash and even a minor problem would be a disaster. The situation with Abby quitting her job was a good example of that. He predicted that she would soon have problems making the rent and paying her share of the food.
They were eating better and they had fixed up a lot of things that had fallen into disrepair, but no one felt comfortable with their finances. He didn't expect that to change. They were still nine separate households despite the fact that they pooled their money for food and their time to ease the burdens of maintaining a home.
He wondered what they would do when it got colder. They couldn't continue to meet out in his garage. Besides being uncomfortable, it wasn't exactly healthy for the elderly to spend much time out in the cold. The problem was that none of the houses were large enough to entertain fifteen people at a time.
Finishing his coffee, he wandered out to the backyard to see what was happening out there. Almost everyone had gathered to put together breakfast. Even the two kids, Chuck and Mike, were hard at work setting out plates and silverware. Rather than the expected pancakes, there were three waffle irons on the table.
Claire looked up at him and asked, "Where's Abby?"
"She's in her bedroom," Jack answered.
"Why don't you get her and we can start breakfast?" Claire said.
Jack bit his lower lip and then answered, "She's not in a very good mood. I don't think that she wants to be around anyone at the moment."
Irritated at Jack's inability to deal with Abby, Claire said, "Let me talk to her."
"She's in a pretty foul mood," Jack said scratching the back of his neck. He was afraid to say much more than that.
"Then she needs a friendly shoulder to cry on," Claire said thinking that it should be his shoulder that was offered.
"She's just as likely to bite that shoulder as to cry on it," Jack said. If he got snapped at for doing nothing more than offering some coffee to Abby, then he had no idea what would happen if he walked into her bedroom.
Claire looked at him thinking that he must have said something to Abby to upset her if he wasn't willing to help her. She asked, "What did you do?"
"Me? I didn't do anything."
"The only time a woman acts like that is when there's a man involved," Claire said.
Wondering if the whole world was crazy, Jack said, "Go on in and talk to her."
"I will," Claire said heading over to the house.
Jack waited around watching the activity. The lack of seats around the tables meant that only half of the people could eat at one time. The boys and the oldest members of the commune ate first. Claire returned from the house without saying a word to Jack although she did gesture to him that she was clueless about what was bothering the younger woman. Claire looked a little upset and it made him wonder again what was wrong with Abby. It had to be pretty bad if she had upset Claire.
Thinking that Abby had to be hungry, Jack prepared a nice waffle for Abby. He didn't put any syrup on it since it was likely to turn into a soggy mess before Abby got around to eating it. He poured a little syrup into a coffee cup and carried it into the house. He put the plate on the kitchen table. He knocked on Abby's door and said, "I brought in a waffle for you."
"I'm not hungry," Abby said through the closed door.
"I put it on the kitchen table," Jack said. He waited a few seconds and then headed outdoors. He wondered what the matter with her was, but knew that she didn't want to talk about it. He wasn't about to force her. He hoped that the waffle might help a little.
Jack took a few minutes to fix a waffle for himself. After cooking it, he carried his plate and a cup of coffee over to the table. He sat down in time to hear Claire announce, "Let's get the Sunday morning meeting started."
While everyone else was settling down, Jack poured syrup on his waffle. It wasn't real maple syrup. He didn't think they would ever be able to afford that kind of luxury. He took a bite and listened as the meeting began.
Claire said, "The food budget is good. We are about eighty dollars ahead and we have some food to carry over to the next month. We owe Abby a round of applause. Since she isn't feeling well, let her know later."
"What's the matter with her?" Ella asked leaning over to Jack.
"I don't know," Jack answered after swallowing a bite of his waffle.
"We still have a problem with our individual finances. Does anyone have any ideas concerning what we can do?" Claire asked.
Cheryl said, "Let's have a garage sale. I've got a house full of wedding presents that we've never used."
"That's not a bad idea. I've collected a ton of junk over the years," Laura said.
"Same here," Wanda said.
Liz said, "Same here. I think having a garage sale is a good idea."
Jack listened to the discussion without much interest. The problem was that he didn't have anything he could sell at a garage sale. He had taken everything of any value to the pawn shop to pay the bills months ago. The only thing that would help his finances would be a job.
Not wanting all of the work that would be associated with holding a garage sale, Claire said, "I will require some help to find out what we need to do to hold a garage sale."
"I've done that before. Let me take care of it," Bev said. There were a lot of little details to take care of but none of them were all that complicated.
"Okay," Claire said relieved at having someone undertake what would likely be a major effort. She looked around at the gathered group and asked, "Does anyone else have any ideas?"
Sally said, "It isn't really an idea that helps anyone else, but Emily is moving in with me. We realized that it would allow us to save on our utilities."
Emily nodded her head and said, "We'd like to rent out my house, but I need to fix some things."
Thinking that he had nothing else to do over the next few days, Jack said, "I could do that."
"That would be great," Emily said with a smile. "We are planning on splitting the rent money. I don't know how much we'll get, but even a couple hundred each a month would be a great help."
"I'll be able to afford my medicines," Sally said. The medicine for her blood pressure, cholesterol, arthritis, and osteoporosis cost a fortune. The cold weather aggravated her arthritis. The previous winter had been pure torture for her. The doctor told her that it was all in her head, but she was the one who felt bad.
Gail said, "I talked to my grandson last night. He's wants to move in with me, but I'm not sure that it would be a good idea."
"I think it is a very good idea," Claire said thinking that it would mean another member to the commune in addition to helping Gail out with money.
"I don't know. A young man like him doesn't need to live with his grandmother," Gail said. There was no way he would want to bring young women home for the night while his grandmother sat knitting in the living room.
Thinking about what Johnny had told him the day before, Jack said, "It isn't that he needs to live with you; it is that he wants to live with you."
"What?" Gail asked surprised by Jack's comment.
"He wants to make sure that you're okay," Jack said.
"I'll think about it," Gail said looking down at the empty plate in front of her. She didn't feel that it was right for a person to become a burden on his or her grandchildren.
Claire said, "I think it would be nice to have him in the commune. He's already contributed to us."
"That's true. He dropped off two hundred dollars that first night," Bev said.
The suggestion that Johnny would join the commune surprised Gail. She hadn't considered that he might be interested in it. He was making a good living and didn't need the financial support that the commune provided. She said, "I'll talk with him about it. He travels a lot and wouldn't be able to do much work for the commune."
"I'm sure that we can find something for him to do," Claire said.
Jack looked up from his waffle thinking about it. He wondered if Abby would be interested in Johnny. That could be rather inconvenient, but he would like to have another young man in the group. He took a sip of his coffee and said, "He could pay his way out of work."
"That's true," Rich said.
"I'll talk to him this afternoon," Gail said.
The discussion about Johnny was basically over. Claire said, "Taking Jack's advice, I talked to Mary at the library last night. She's interested in joining our commune."
"Talk about a coincidence; she could rent Emily's house," Jack said trying to be helpful.
"We discussed having her move in with me," Claire said. The latest statement for her retirement account had been even worse than she had expected. She was very concerned for the future.
"I didn't realize you were looking to have a roommate," Jack said. He had finished his waffle and was still a little hungry. Getting up, he went over to the waffle maker and poured a little more batter into it.
"I lost a lot of money in the stock market," Claire said.
Bev said, "We all did. I was thinking of renting out a room, too."
All of the discussion about having people join the commune bothered Rich. It wasn't that he was against others joining into the commune, but that he was concerned that it would lose some of its stability. He was worried that some fanatic would join and try to change it into some kind of political or religious organization. He said, "That reminds me of something. We haven't written any bylaws governing the commune. I think we might want to establish how people can enter the commune."
Surprising everyone, Jack said, "I suggest that you, Johnny, and Claire work out the details. That is, if Johnny decides to join."
"Why include Johnny?" Rich asked wondering why Jack would include someone who wasn't yet a member of the commune in establishing the rules.
"You and he are the only ones with college degrees. Both of you have real jobs with offices. I'm an unemployed carpet layer. Abby is working in a fast food restaurant. Everyone else is retired," Jack said accepting that he was blue collar and they weren't. He felt that he had to trust people who were a little more educated than himself to take care of details.
"I'm not sure that makes us the best qualified," Rich said.
Checking out the waffle maker, Jack smiled and said, "That's why I included Claire. I trust her judgment."
Frau Shultz and Ella were having a whispered conversation. With Frau Shultz gesturing for her to talk, Ella said, "Frau Shultz wants Jack to be involved."
"Me?" Jack asked pointing a finger at his chest in surprise. There was no way that he wanted to be involved with something like that.
Nodding her head, Ella said, "She thinks you're a good man and will watch out for us."
"It should be Abby," Jack said. He opened the waffle maker and removed his waffle. All of this talk about him being involved in making decisions was causing him to lose his appetite.
Frau Shultz pointed a finger at Jack and said, "Ich wunsche Jack."
"Danke, aber Abby wurde besser sein," Jack said exhausting his knowledge of German telling Frau Shultz that Abby would be a better choice.
Shrugging her shoulders, Frau Shultz said, "Ich wunsche Sie."
"She wants you, Jack," Ella translated for everyone else.
"Why?" Jack asked not noticing how many of the little old ladies exchanged looks.
Smiling at the young man, Ella said, "You're the only one here that has bothered to learn enough German to talk with Frau Shultz. I think you're the best choice."
"The commune was Abby's idea," Jack said taking the waffle back to his seat.
Supporting Jack's suggestion that it should be Abby, Bev said, "Abby has really done a good job with the food. You've got to admit that we are eating well."
Gail said, "That's true."
Envisioning a committee of five people who bickered and fought over every little word, Rich said, "We can't make much progress with too many people on the committee."
"I agree," Jack said. He started eating his waffle hoping that the discussion would turn away from him.
Claire decided that the debate could go on all day without coming to a conclusion. She said, "Let's have three people come up with a proposed set of bylaws and then we'll all vote on it."
Thinking that this was an activity that could tear the commune apart, Wanda asked, "How will we pick the three people?"
Wanting to avoid the kind of politics that would come from individuals trying to turn it into a power play, Claire answered, "I suppose that each of us could submit the name of three people we'd like to see on the committee. We'll pick the three most nominated people."
"I can live with that," Jack said hoping that he wouldn't be on the committee.
Wanda said, "That sounds fair."
"Is there anyone opposed to that?" Claire asked. She waited for anyone to say something. After a minute, she said, "I guess that is what we'll do."
"Okay," Rich said writing down the decision in the official notes. He wondered if they should start having real votes on issues like this. That was something to discuss when creating the bylaws for the commune.
Claire turned to Rich and asked, "What next on the agenda?"
"That was it," Rich said.
Claire asked, "Does anyone have anything to say?"
The meeting came to a disorganized end when everyone started talking to everyone else. Jack and Frau Shultz chatted a little while he finished his waffle. After his discussion with her came to an end, he carried their dirty dishes over to the tub that was there for that purpose. Abby usually washed the dishes and he carried them out to the garage once they were clean. It was one of the little problems of hosting the group in his garage.
He wandered over to Claire and asked, "What's up with Abby?"
"She didn't want to talk to me," Claire said. She had seen Abby in a lot of moods, but never so depressed. Considering her situation, the depth of her depression was rather scary. She said, "She's very depressed."
"She seemed angry to me," Jack said with a frown.
"Something really upset her," Claire said.
Feeling hungry, Abby ventured into the kitchen in search of the waffle that Jack had left for her. She found it on the table where he had said he left it for her. She picked up the waffle and found that it was cold. She broke it into four sections and popped two sections in the toaster. Watching the heating elements inside the toaster turn red, she said, "That was nice of you Jack. Even when I'm nasty to you, you are still considerate."
She looked out the back window and could tell that the Sunday morning meeting had already come to an end. Jack was eating a waffle and talking with Frau Shultz. That was something that puzzled Abby more than anything. Jack didn't strike her as the type of person who picked up languages easily, but he had learned a lot more of the language than simple politeness required. Although she was sure that it wasn't his intention, he had Frau Shultz wrapped around his little finger.
The toaster ejected the two waffle quarters interrupting her musings. She removed them and put in the other two quarters. She went over to the refrigerator and found that there wasn't any syrup. She found a jar of strawberry jam and slathered some on the waffles. She picked up a quarter and ate it like a piece of toast.
Her mind returned to Jack. The fact was that Jack had a lot more friends in the commune than her. All of the little old ladies liked him. Rich respected him. Even the Benjamin boys tended to come to Jack when they had need of male advice and weren't willing to go to their father. The only one who didn't have much to do with Jack was Rich's wife and she suspected that Jack kept his distance from her to prevent problems.
The toaster ejected the two waffle quarters. She spread some strawberry jam on them. It didn't take her long to finish eating the waffle. It was only after she had finished eating that she spotted the cup of syrup that Jack had left for her. She knew that she should have known that he would have thought of it. She said, "Damn that man. He's too considerate."
Thinking about how he would have reacted to discovering the rape, she made her way to the living room. Once there, she noticed the music playing in the background and said, "I'm surprised he didn't have rock music playing."
She sat down in her comfort chair. Her mind returned to the events of the previous day. Allowing the nursing home to cover up the rape made her a party to the crime despite the fact that she didn't see what she could do about the matter. She couldn't afford to fight them. She didn't have money for a lawyer. The fact that she was doing nothing made her feel weak and dirty.
The real problem was that she believed Jack would have charged out to correct the wrong regardless of the personal cost to him. He would have sat in jail feeling good about having brought down a rapist that preyed upon the weakest members of society. She remembered how upset he had been upon finding out that someone had run an extension cord to the house next door. He had viewed it as stealing from the dead. That was part of the reason she was angry at him; it was hard to accept that he was a better person than she was.
A knock on the backdoor broke her out of her thoughts. Thinking that it was someone who needed to use the bathroom, she got up and went to answer the door. Much to her surprise, Cheryl was at the door. Cheryl stepped through the door and said, "You need to talk to someone."
"I don't want to talk about it," Abby said. She glanced out the backyard and spotted Jack and Rich tossing a baseball with the two boys.
"What you want has little to do with it. You need to talk about it," Cheryl said closing the door. She grabbed Abby by the arm and steered her to the kitchen table.
"You don't understand," Abby said protesting.
"Then explain it to me."
Abby asked, "Who sent you here?"
"Jack," Cheryl answered. She had been surprised when Jack had approached her with Rich in tow to request that she talk to Abby. He felt that talking to a woman her own age would allow Abby to vent.
"I should have known," Abby said shaking her head.
Cheryl said, "I don't know Jack well, but I owe him a debt of gratitude."
"Why?" Abby asked.
Cheryl said, "He had a little talk with Rich the night we became serious about the commune. Rich was very opposed to the idea, but Jack convinced him that it was in his best interest to join in and pull his weight. I've got to tell you that I was a very happy woman after their conversation."
"I didn't know anything about that," Abby said feeling like a knife had been twisted in her stomach. It seemed to her that every time she turned around everyone was singing songs of praise about Jack. She swore, "That son of a bitch is just too damned good."
Puzzled by the outburst, Cheryl asked, "Did he do something?"
"He's too perfect," Abby said getting angry.
"What's the matter?" Cheryl asked.
Abby said, "I saw a horrible crime yesterday and I didn't report it because I'm afraid."
"Why are you mad at Jack?" Cheryl asked wondering if Jack had broken the law.
"Because Jack would have done something about it," Abby said breaking down in tears.
"I thinking I'm beginning to understand," Cheryl said realizing that Abby felt guilty. She had no idea what Abby had seen, but it must have been pretty bad.