Jack sat down in his comfort chair and announced, "I know about the rape."
"Damn that Cheryl," Abby said angrily. She had not wanted anyone to know, but keeping it to herself had been eating at her.
"You did the right thing," Jack said looking over at her.
"You don't believe that," Abby accused. She was pretty sure that he would have reported the matter to the police.
"My first reaction was that you should have gone to the police, but it would have been extremely stupid to do that. We'd have lost the commune and you would have ended up in jail. It is wrong, but you did the right thing," Jack said.
"You say that I did the right thing at the same time that you say it is wrong," Abby said bitterly.
"It is wrong that going to the police is the worst thing you could have done. You did what had to be done to protect everyone else," Jack said thinking that he was walking on thin ice.
"You don't believe that," Abby said finding that her anger was deflating a bit.
"We live in a screwed up world where doing the right thing turns you into a victim," Jack said shaking his head. The more thought he had given to the situation; the more convinced he was that Abby had done the smart thing. It might not have been the right thing, but it wasn't up to him to judge that.
"Why are you telling me this?" Abby asked.
Jack answered, "We're ready to give the proposal on adding new members to the commune. I'm planning on mentioning the rape when we present our proposal."
"Don't you dare," Abby said. She couldn't look any of the little old ladies in the eye despite the amount of time that had passed.
"I have to," Jack replied. He didn't want to make up something to convey the main point of her experience.
"Why?"
"Rich and I have become convinced that it is us against the rest of the world. Your experience at the nursing home is part of the story. What do you think of one of those little old ladies ending up in a facility like where you used to work?" Jack asked.
"The whole idea makes me sick to my stomach. They would be absolutely defenseless," Abby answered. The first time one of them showed any resistance to control they would get drugged into submission.
"I agree. We have to position ourselves to take care of them in the future. Part of that is convincing them that they'll be better off with us than with some nameless crew in a warehouse operation like where you worked," Jack said.
"I didn't think of it that way," Abby said.
Jack said, "You need to tell your story."
"I can't," Abby said. She was ashamed that she hadn't done more to help Mrs. Donnelly. The idea of airing her shame in front of everyone made her sick to her stomach.
"You must," Jack said looking at her. He could tell that she was very uncomfortable with the idea of admitting what had happened. It didn't matter that it had been enough to convince her to quit the nursing home.
With tears threatening to flow, Abby said, "I feel so guilty."
"I know," Jack said. He knew that he couldn't address her guilt directly. It was going to require a community to heal that wound. He had a feeling that the older members of the commune would deal with it much better than she expected.
Abby said, "You tell them what happened."
Knowing that was as much as he was going to get from her, he said, "You'll have to tell me what happened."
An hour and a half later, Jack was standing in front of everyone repeating the story while Abby sat there in tears. Much as he expected, the little old ladies had swarmed over her trying to convince her that she had no choice in what she had done. She had reported the rape to the head nurse and quit when nothing was done about the matter. He finished presenting the proposal for adding new members and asked, "Are there any questions?"
"How is this going to help us economically?" Liz asked. She could see where getting someone to move in with her would help with the taxes and insurance on the house, but it wasn't all that much of a help.
"To tell the truth, I don't think it will help us all that much financially unless you get a roommate. I do think it will help us in terms of quality of life and security. Doing a simple background check on applicants will help assure that you don't end up with a criminal living in your house," Jack said.
"That's true," Liz said. The story about the rape at the nursing home had disturbed her more than she was willing to admit. One of her greatest fears was to end up helpless in a nursing home surrounded by uncaring strangers.
Ella said, "I don't have any questions. Doing a background check on potential members makes sense to me. Requiring them to believe in God isn't a bad idea either."
"Why did you include that as a condition for joining?" Sally asked.
Knowing that it was an unpopular stance in a lot of places, Jack said, "I felt that someone who believed in God would be more likely to be honest."
"I agree," Ella said. Frau Shultz had been very pleased to learn that it was a condition of joining the commune.
"Are you requiring them to be a Christian?" Wanda asked.
"No," Jack answered.
Wanda said, "My late husband was a Mason. They require people to believe in a higher power, but they don't care what particular religion you believe in. For such a large organization, you don't hear any stories about corruption and I think that is part of the reason why."
"I didn't think about that," Jack said. He didn't know much about the Masons. He wasn't a member and he didn't know anyone who was a member. It seemed to him that people his age didn't join organizations like that anymore.
Dave said, "It is true."
Bev said, "I move that we accept the proposal as is."
Claire looked around the garage and saw others nodding their heads. She asked, "Don't you want to think about it a bit?"
"What's there to think about? You require that they pass a background check, believe in God, and demonstrate that they are willing and able to contribute in some substantial manner to the commune as a whole before joining. Even the contribution isn't that bad. They can contribute money, a service, or a skill that is necessary," Bev said.
"It seems fair enough to me," Gail said.
The proposal passed unanimously and without further discussion. Claire asked, "How are we doing with the garage sale?"
"Great," Bev said. She pulled out a stack of papers and said, "I've got all of the permits to hold a garage sale. We've got everything together in three garages and each item is priced. I've set up an inventory of what we have for sale and who it belongs to. I'm ready to place an advertisement in the newspaper. Dave made some signs. Everyone has agreed to work a shift or two during the three days of the sale."
"That's great," Claire said surprised at how dedicated Bev had been about organizing the garage sale.
Bev said, "I expect that we'll bring in over a thousand dollars. We can donate the rest of the stuff to a charity and get a tax write-off."
"You're kidding?" Jack asked not sure if he believed the amount of money she expected to make or the fact that donating junk that no one would buy would be a tax write-off.
Understanding Jack's disbelief, Bev said, "We've got a lot of clothes that have gone out of fashion. We can each donate a closet full of clothes and get five hundred dollars as a tax write- off. It might not get us much money, but we're counting pennies right now."
"That's true," Claire said looking around at the people gathered there.
Jack looked around the garage for a second and then said, "We need to move to where a lot of our expenses are paid in cash. We need to demand on accepting cash from others. We can get some things done a whole lot cheaper by using cash."
"Isn't that illegal?" Liz asked with a frown. She thought of herself as a law abiding citizen.
Shrugging his shoulders, Jack asked, "Do you want to pay taxes on the money that you get for renting a room in your house?"
"No," Liz answered surprised by the suggestion that she would have to pay taxes if she had to rent out a room. She hadn't thought about it as income, but as just a way to be able to pay the bills.
The subject of taxes was an irritant for everyone there. Changes in federal tax and spend policies had affected state tax and spend policies which trickled on down to the local level. Tax cuts at one level led to raises in others. Giving voice to a sentiment shared by everyone there, Claire said, "I'm tired of paying property taxes."
"Do you like paying fees to the bank for paying your bills by using a check?" Jack asked. The newest banking regulation was charging him a dime for each check he wrote because of the cost of processing paper checks. The bank was pushing the use of debit cards, electronic bill pay, and direct deposit.
"No," Liz answered. For elderly people, the electronic banking movement was threatening. Having grown up with horror stories of computer billing errors, they didn't trust computers.
Jack paid about twenty percent of his earnings in taxes including income and payroll taxes. His income taxes had gone up that year. That tax burden didn't include the thousands he paid in property taxes and sales taxes. Each time he filled his car, he thought about how much in gasoline taxes he was paying. He said, "I'm tired of paying fees for everything I do and taxes on every dollar I make. I write three checks a month and it costs me twenty five dollars to do that. It is ridiculous that I pay money because I'm too poor to have an account large enough to get the fees waived."
"That's true," Bev said.
"I cut up my ATM card because of all of the fees," Abby said.
Jack said, "We have to start thinking in terms of us versus them. Businesses, banks, and the government are out to get every dime they can out of us. We have to protect ourselves as much as possible. If they try to raise our property taxes, we have to find some means to prevent it. We have to double check every bill we get for accuracy."
"Don't remind me of that," Laura said. She had gotten double charged for a couple of items on her last trip to the grocery store. She had discovered it before leaving the store and getting it straightened out had taken almost an hour.
"Sorry about bringing up that sore subject," Jack said with a smile.
"At least you caught it," Abby said. She was using the self-service checkouts now so that she could make sure that each item was charged once.
"I'm sure it wasn't intentional," Claire said.
Having heard the story, Jack said, "It doesn't matter. They shouldn't have argued with her once the mistake was discovered."
"That's true," Laura said. She was still infuriated by the incident at the store. The manager had treated her like a senile old woman who didn't understand what he was telling her.
"We have to watch out for each other," Jack said wanting to stress the point.
Worried by Jack's attitude, Ella asked, "Are you becoming paranoid?"
"No. I've just taken a very simple look at what is happening around me. I don't like what I'm seeing," Jack answered. He sighed and said, "Maybe I'm just a fool, but I grew up believing that I could be anything that I wanted to be if I was willing to work for it. I don't believe that anymore. It seems to me that the more I work, the less I get. My wages have gone down and my costs have gone up. I see that the more successful I become the more I have to pay for that success. I'm convinced that you have to be a crook to get ahead. I'm never going to be rich and because of that I'm a victim of a very hostile system."
"It isn't the country I grew up in," Laura said. Times might be bad now, but Dave had been able to provide a very good life for her and the kids as a plumber. There was no way that Jack would be able to do the same.
Rich said, "Jack is right. We have to look out for each other."
Jack looked over at Penny's house. It had been standing there empty for more than two months and there had been three attempts to break into it. By some weird set of coincidences, Jack had not been around for any of those attempts. He said, "We're going to install security systems in everyone's homes."
"We used to be able to leave our houses unlocked," Bev said. She had been the one to spot the van in front of Penny's house in the middle of the day. A call to the police had led to the arrest of two men who had broken into it.
Jack sighed and said, "That reminds me that I have to repair the back door of Penny's house."
"You've been taking better care of that house than her family," Bev said making reference to the fact that Jack was mowing the lawn every week and making sure that mail was sent back marked that the occupant was deceased. So far he had repaired the front door and the back door.
"Where is her son?" Claire asked.
"I don't know," Bev said shaking her head. She hadn't seen him since the funeral. He had explained that he was busy at work and couldn't come back to take care of the house until he was able to get some vacation time off from work.
"He should clean up that house. It is a crime to let it sit there like that," Claire said.
Bev said, "I'll try to contact him."
"I'd appreciate it," Jack said. He was tired of taking care of the house next door. He was afraid that a pipe would burst when the weather turned colder.
Claire said, "I hate to say this, but we've drifted from the subject of the meeting. Can we end the meeting and begin the gossip?"
Cheryl laughed and said, "That's a good idea."
"Fine with me," Jack said. He looked over at Abby and saw that she was looking a lot more relaxed.
Claire declared, "The meeting is over."
Closing his notebook, Rich said, "Great. I'll type up the minutes and distribute them to everyone."
"Boys, pick up the plates and put them in the plastic bin," Cheryl shouted to the two boys. It was their weekly errand to clean up after the Sunday breakfast and meeting. They went right to work without complaint.
Jack went back to the sofa to take a seat. Ella asked, "Frau Shultz wanted to know if you enjoyed the magazines she left you."
Abby snickered while Jack blushed. He said, "Thank her for me."
"Men like those kinds of things," Ella said as if she was discussing a magazine about hunting or fishing rather than one with explicit sexual pictures.
"We normally don't get them from old ladies," Jack said shifting nervously in his seat. He glanced over at Abby and saw that she was giggling. He pointed a finger at her as if threatening her that he'd get her back.
Ella waved a hand at him and said, "They were just sitting around the house collecting dust."
"Okay," Jack said watching Abby leave the garage. He figured that she was going to start laughing any minute now.
Sally said, "My late husband had a stack of those kinds of magazines around somewhere. Maybe you would like to have them."
"That is not necessary," Jack said wondering how he had gotten into this situation. He looked over at Rich wondering why they weren't loading him down with magazines.
"It is no problem," Sally said brightly.
Liz said, "Some of those magazines are quite valuable. You might want to see how much they are worth."
"That's not a bad idea," Sally said.
"I've got some of my husband's old magazines around the house," Liz said.
Grinning, Dave asked, "What's the matter, Jack?"
"I'm not exactly comfortable with this subject," Jack answered wishing he had a good excuse to get out there.
Bev laughed and said, "Every generation thinks it discovered sex. Let me tell you something, your generation didn't discover it."
Jack gestured to the two boys and said, "There are children present."
"That should tell you something," Bev said with a grin.
"Oh please," Jack said.
Dave said, "Don't let Jack worry you. He's a prude."
Waving a dismissive hand, Ella said, "He's an American. Americans are much more embarrassed by this subject than Germans."
Frau Shultz asked, "Was?"
Ella explained the conversation to the older woman. Frau Shultz burst out laughing and hit her thigh. After another exchange, Ella said, "She would have liked to have seen your face when you saw the magazines."
"Oh great," Jack said sinking further into the couch.
Seeing that Jack was mortified by the discussion, Dave said, "Enough levity. Jack, are you ready to get to work on Emily's house?"
"Yes, I am," Jack said thankful to escape without further comments.
The two men went over to the house after stopping to get some tools from the garage. They walked through the rooms checking out what was left. Most of the furniture and kitchen utensils remained in place. The washing machine and dryer were still there. Dave said, "What do you want to do first?"
"I'd like to get the sheetrock down. We won't know how much damage there's been until we can look at it," Jack answered. Dave lifted his hammer and was about to take out a wall when Jack added, "We should probably move all of the furniture out of the way first and cover it with a cloth."
Jack and Dave moved the furniture to the far end of each room in which a wall was going to be taken down. It didn't take long to get the area clear of furniture. To protect it from any dust, Jack covered the furniture with some sheets from the closet.
"Can I start busting down the wall now?" Dave asked holding up a hammer. He actually felt like a kid about to tear down a building.
"Put your glasses on first," Jack answered stepping back.
Dave put on a pair of protective eyewear and hit the wall with the hammer. It made a nice round hole in the sheetrock. He hit it couple of times more and then yanked a chuck of the wall down. A cloud of black dust boiled out. He stepped back horrified by what he'd seen and said, "That's horrible."
"What?" Jack asked. He hadn't been paying attention to what Dave was doing.
"Look at all of that mold," Dave said pointing inside the wall. The entire inside of the wall was covered with black mold.
Jack peered into the hole and then stepped back. Worried, he said, "We better get some face masks and a disinfectant spray."
"That might not be good enough," Dave said. He didn't know if this particular mold was toxic, but that much mold couldn't be good for a person. He knew that some black molds were very dangerous.
Jack frowned and asked, "Do you think it is that bad?"
"There is a variety of black mold that is very dangerous," Dave said worried that he might have exposed himself to something pretty bad.
"Damn," Jack said. He decided that Emily was lucky that the mold had been inside the walls rather than outside of them.
"We better take precautions," Dave said with a worried frown. He was going to insist that they treat it like it was toxic.
"What kind of precautions do you think will be necessary?" Jack asked.
"We might have to get those space suits," Dave answered. In the past he would just tell the homeowner to call an expert to deal with a mold problem. He hoped that they wouldn't have to call in an expert. That would cost a fortune. For all he knew, the EPA or some other government organization might step in and condemn the house.
"I don't know if we can afford that. I don't think we should work on it until we investigate the matter at the library," Jack said.
"It is closed today," Dave said.
Nodding his head, Jack said, "I know. Let's cover this hole with some plastic. We'll put the sheetrock you pulled off in a plastic bag and take it outside."
"That's a good idea," Dave said.
"We better let everyone know that the house is off limits until we get it cleaned up," Jack said worried about getting all of the old ladies exposed to potentially dangerous mold.
Dave said, "You better make sure that Ella understands that Frau Shultz isn't supposed to come over to clean. She'll kill herself."
"I didn't think about that," Jack said. Frau Shultz would learn about it and insist on cleaning it up.
It took the two of them an hour to seal up the hole and get the sheetrock into a plastic bag. They didn't have face masks so they wore hand towels over their nose and mouth. Once they were done, the two men stood outside the house looking at the front door as if they expected a monster to come charging out of it. Dave said, "This is a disaster."
"You can say that again," Jack said thinking the job was getting larger and larger the more they got into it. He wondered what the next surprise would be.
Dave said, "Let's move everything out of the house before it gets contaminated with mold spores."
"Where will we put it?" Jack asked. The garage for this house was already full and his garage was packed with stuff for the garage sale.
"Rich parks his car in his garage. Maybe we can store the stuff in his garage if he parks his car in the driveway for a few days," Dave answered.
"I'll go talk to Rich," Jack said heading down the street to his house.
Dave sat down on the front step and said, "I hope I didn't poison myself."
Jack explained the mold problem with everyone at the house and got Rich's agreement to store Emily's furniture in his garage. Emily was embarrassed by the problem feeling like it was a reflection of bad housekeeping on her part. He tried to explain that it was a result of the roof leak, but that didn't seem to help any. He finally got her to accept that she couldn't clean inside the wall.
Rich joined Jack and Dave in getting the furniture out of the house. It took a dozen trips to carry everything over to his garage. Dave stayed at the house to move the furniture out and load it on the truck. Jack drove the truck between the house and the garage while helping to load and unload it. Rich stayed at the garage to unload the truck.
It was late in the afternoon before Jack returned home. He was tired and disheartened. The discovery of the mold seemed to be another blow to his hopes for a better future. Fixing up the house would be a lot more work than he had anticipated. He sat down in his chair with a sigh.
Seeing Jack slump in his chair, Abby said, "You look discouraged."
"I am," Jack said. He didn't have the energy to look over at Abby.
"How bad is the mold?" Abby asked.
"It is pretty bad," Jack answered with a sigh. He had a headache and asked, "Do we have any aspirin?"
"Let me get it for you," Abby said. She headed off to the kitchen to get a couple of pills for him. She returned with two pills and a glass of soda. She handed them to him saying, "Here you go."
"Thanks," Jack said. He popped the pills into his mouth and chased them down with a sip of the soda.
Abby sat down and said, "I talked with Claire and Ella about the rape after you left this afternoon. I feel a lot better."
"That's good," Jack said.
"I wanted to thank you for all you did," Abby said.
Shrugging his shoulders, Jack said, "Well, you were put in a no win situation. You did the best you could with it."