Monday afternoon found Abby standing behind the cash register at the Taco Emporium. It was the quiet time of the day when there were few customers and the store had been cleaned. There wasn't much to do except drink a soda and stare out the large glass windows that fronted the store. She was bored, but had to admit that the job was still better than the one at the nursing home.
The peace was broken when her manager came into the store looking upset. He walked behind the counter and said, "This country is so fucked up."
"What happened?" Abby asked shocked at his language.
He answered, "I was listening to the radio on the way here. Congress just passed a national fat tax."
"What is that?" Abby asked.
He said, "All prepared foods that have more than ten calories per ounce will be subject to a ten percent tax. They can't tax fat people so they are going to tax the stuff that makes people fat."
"What?" Abby asked thinking that had to include just about every kind of food in existence. It would cost more to buy candies, pies, soft drinks, fast foods, and every snack in existence.
Her manager frowned and said, "It is all part of the president's health care initiative. The health freaks think that Americans are too fat and they want to tax us into being thin."
"Americans are overweight," Abby said. There were lots of stories about how being overweight added to the problems of chronic health problems like diabetes. She had to agree with the President on the problem, but that didn't mean she had to like the solution.
"Our economy is tanking and they are passing laws that will kill the fast food industry," her manager said. He was afraid that the increased prices would kill this store and he'd be out looking for a job. Without the fast food industry to fall back upon, jobs were going to get very scarce.
"Fuck," Abby said feeling sick to her stomach. She hadn't even thought about how the law would affect her personally beyond the fact that it would cost more to shop.
"You can say that again," her manager said. He said, "Business is already down by five percent. I don't think we can survive the shock of another downturn in business."
All of the fast food places had to raise their prices over the past six months because of the bio- fuel initiatives legislated since the president took office. The price of corn had risen dramatically and farmers across the country had turned to corn as the main cash crop. Rather than sending the corn into the food supply line, the majority of the corn was being sent to make ethanol. Since corn was used to feed meat animals, the price of meat was going through the roof. With a reduction in the production of wheat, the price of bread had risen. The price of a taco had gone up by twenty-five cents in just a year's time. She said, "I think a lot of people are going to be looking for work soon."
He looked around the store and asked, "Are we ready for the after school crowd?"
"Yeah," Abby answered. She was stuck in a part-time job at a fast food place because she couldn't find another job. Now they were passing laws that would likely to make her unemployed. As much as she complained about the low pay and lack of benefits, at least it was a job.
"I'm going into my office," her manager said feeling depressed. He figured that he had another six months in business before the chain would start closing stores unless they were able to come up with a strategy to avoid the fat tax. The idea of selling Tofu tacos just didn't seem like the kind of thing that would attract customers.
Abby stood at the cash register feeling depressed. Even though she hadn't lost her job, she knew the writing was on the wall. She sighed and said, "Life just hauled off and kicked me again."
She didn't have long to think about it. The after-school crowd started and she was busy until the high school kid came in to replace her at the register. She stepped out of the Taco Emporium and looked over at the stores in the strip mall. Another store had put up a sign announcing that it was going out of business. She shook her head. The little store hadn't had many people working for it, but that didn't matter. Three more people were about to become unemployed and she would soon have to compete with them for a job.
Getting in her car, she headed home. She drove slowly and looked at the stores that lined the street. There were too many empty storefronts. The little boutiques that had once been so popular were disappearing one by one. People were heading to the large discount chains to buy clothing. Fashion was losing out to economics. She didn't even know what the current fashion trend was dictating. Her clothes were all more than a year old and getting older. She knew that it was going to be time for her to start shopping for clothes at the Salvation Army.
Abby turned on the radio and listened to a news channel. Congress and the president were busy passing all kinds of little laws to correct the problems of society. It seemed to her that each law passed took away more of her freedoms. They didn't come out and say it that way, but that was the effect. She wasn't prevented by law from having a cigarette or a drink; she just couldn't afford to do that because of the laws. She knew that in the future that would extend to soft drinks, candies, and fast foods. The things she ate as a child would become prohibitively expensive and a distant memory. She knew that meals in the future would be limited to vegetables and chicken. Grains, cheeses, and ice cream would become luxury foods.
The sad thing was that all of these new laws were constitutional. She couldn't complain that her freedoms were being stripped away because if she was wealthy she would have been able to afford them. She muttered, "The pursuit of happiness is going to be all pursuit and no happiness."
Abby drove past a lingerie store and noticed a number of scantily dressed women standing around outside it. She looked in the mirror at the group of women wondering what they were doing there. It hit her like a ton of bricks when she realized what they were doing. The idea that she was seeing her future nearly caused her to wreck the car. Arriving at home, Abby went to her bedroom and curled up on her bed. She was depressed and didn't want to talk to anyone. She started crying uncontrollably.
Jack got off of work having had a good day. The anti-slip flooring on one of the stairs had been torn as a result of normal wear and tear and he had spent the day repairing it. The work hadn't been too demanding, but had filled the time. Before leaving, he had been informed that there was going to be a special event Saturday that would require him to come in and help set up chairs out on the lawn. He would get paid time and a half to be there.
Deciding that he would celebrate by buying a soft drink, he stopped at a convenience store on the way home. He grabbed a bottle and went to the counter with it. The clerk at the cash register said, "You might want to stock up on that. The prices on sodas will be going up ten percent as a result of the new fat tax."
"What fat tax?" Jack asked looking at the bottle of soda.
"The one that Congress passed today," the clerk answered. He shook his head and said, "It passed without much debate. You would think someone would have fought it considering the kinds of lobbyists that there are in Washington."
"What is a fat tax?" Jack asked still confused by the concept.
"Any prepared food that has more than ten calories per ounce is subject to a ten percent national sales tax," the clerk answered.
"You're kidding?" Jack said. He looked at all of the items in the store thinking that there wasn't a single item that was less than ten calories per ounce.
"If the President signs the bill, then the tax goes into effect on the first of the month," the clerk answered.
"What is this world coming to?" Jack asked feeling sick to his stomach. He knew that people would pay the tax. Movie theaters charged a fortune for popcorn and sodas without affecting their sales.
"I don't know," the clerk answered. He examined Jack and asked, "What do you think of prostitution?"
"I don't know. I never really thought about it. People will do whatever they have to do to get by, I guess," Jack answered.
The clerk leaned over and whispered, "There's a blond woman out front handing out a flyer. A couple of local women are opening a brothel. If you're interested, ask her for one."
"What?" Jack asked finding it incredible that someone was handing out brochures for a brothel at a convenience store.
The clerk said, "I wouldn't normally do this, but I know the woman. She's been a regular customer here for years. She's a nice lady. She's got two kids and has been out of work for three months. She's desperate."
Jack held up the bottle of soda and said, "I'll think about it. Let me pay for this."
"Sure thing," the clerk said ringing up the sale.
Jack left the store and looked around. There was a fairly attractive blond woman standing by the ice machine with a large purse in her hands. He took a moment to study her. She looked like a person who had been beaten down by life. Her eyes were dull and her posture was bad. He figured that she had to be really desperate to be standing there. He wasn't sure if the clerk was doing her a favor or not by telling people about her.
He got into his truck and headed for home thinking about the woman back at the store. He noticed that a couple of women wearing revealing outfits were standing around in front of rundown lingerie store. He stared at them realizing that they were soliciting. He drove past them thinking that the world had gone to hell. Driving past the hardware store, he noticed a dozen men standing around. It didn't take a rocket scientist to understand that they were looking for work. He said, "It is nearly five o'clock. What are they doing there still?"
The radio announced that the military was no longer accepting recruits. The annual quota for enlistments had already been exceeded. The situation was made even worse by plans to reduce the size of the military. Jack said, "It is really bad when you can't get into the Army."
It seemed to Jack that the whole world was spiraling out of control - women advertising brothels at convenience stores, women standing out on the street soliciting, men lined up in front of a hardware store looking for even a few hours of work, and the military was refusing new recruits. Jack wasn't sure what he made of the situation. He wondered if the commune would be enough to get them through the coming times.
Jack parked his truck in front of the house. He debated about going into the house or heading down to the community house. He decided that he could use a little company and headed over to the community house. The house was empty except for Wanda who was busy cooking dinner at the stove. Seeing him come in, she said, "Hello, Jack. How was work?"
"It was a good day. I'm going to get some overtime this weekend," Jack said.
"That's great," Wanda said turning back to the stove.
"How are things around here?" Jack asked. He noticed that Dave had put down the edging around the room.
"It was busy earlier, but it is quiet now," Wanda said.
Jack smelled the air and asked, "What are you making?"
"Lemon chicken and green bean casserole," Wanda answered. She said, "I guess I'll serve a side salad with it."
"Sounds great," Jack said.
"It will be ready in about an hour," Wanda said. She smiled at him and suggested, "Why don't you watch a little television?"
"That sounds like a good idea," Jack said.
Turning on the television, Jack caught a news commentator saying, "This new tax will save billions a year in healthcare costs."
Another commentator said, "It will cost millions of jobs."
The first commentator said, "Nonsense. Businesses will come out with healthier menus without affecting sales at all."
Jack turned off the television in disgust. He said, "I can't watch that anymore."
Dave came into the room and said, "Hello Jack."
"Hi, Dave. I notice that you did some work on the house today," Jack said.
"I had some spare time," Dave said shrugging his shoulders. He gestured to the television and asked, "Why aren't you watching television?"
"I couldn't take the news anymore," Jack said.
"I avoid the news whenever possible. It is just too damned depressing," Dave said.
Jack said, "The world is going to hell and the reporters are cheering it on. You'd think that everyone in Washington is on drugs or something."
"You can say that again," Dave said. He said, "Unemployment hit sixteen percent last month."
"I don't want to hear that," Jack said. He hoped that his job at the university was secure because he definitely didn't want to join the crowd of men in front of the hardware store.
Dave looked over at Jack understanding how the young man felt. Times were tough and getting tougher. He said, "Why don't you change your clothes? After dinner we'll put on a movie or something."
"Sounds like a plan," Jack said getting up from the chair.
Entering the house, the first thing Jack heard was the sound of Abby crying. Concerned, he went to her bedroom. Her door was open. Looking in, he saw that she was curled in a ball and crying uncontrollably. He asked, "Abby? Are you okay?"
When she didn't respond, he stepped into her room and shook her shoulder. He said, "Abby, what's the matter?"
He didn't know what to do when she still didn't respond. He looked down at her feeling a slight sense of panic starting to overwhelm him. There was nothing worse than dealing with a crying woman; particularly when he didn't know why she was crying. He said, "Abby, talk to me."
Backing out of the room, he headed over to Claire's thinking that the elderly woman would know what to do for her. He knocked on the front door and waited impatiently for her to answer. Claire came to the door. She took one look at him and asked, "What's the matter, Jack?"
"Abby is crying in her bedroom. I don't know what to do," Jack said gesturing towards his house with his thumb.
"Just talk to her," Claire said thinking that a young man like Jack should know how to deal with a crying woman.
"Claire, she's in real bad shape. I think you should go over there," Jack said.
Exhaling loudly, Claire said, "Okay."
Jack led her over to the house and then to Abby's room. One look at Abby and Claire knew that this was a serious situation. She said, "Leave me alone with her."
"Okay," Jack said going out into living room. He was too nervous to sit down and paced around the room like a caged tiger.
After five minutes, Claire came out of the room and said, "Jack. Go around and see if anyone has any tranquilizers. I would call the ambulance, but I know that she can't afford it."
"Ambulance?" Jack asked wide-eyed.
"Find some tranquilizers, Jack," Claire said not wanting to discuss the matter. She was worried about leaving Abby alone for too long.
It took Jack almost an hour to find someone who had tranquilizers. Standing outside Abby's room, he handed them to Claire and said, "These are kind of old."
"They'll have to do," Claire said. "I need a glass of water."
"Sure," Jack said. He went to the kitchen and filled a glass with water. He returned to Abby's room and handed the glass to Claire. The elderly woman's hand shook when she accepted the glass from him.
"You might as well go get something to eat," Claire said knowing that Jack wouldn't be of much help in dealing with Abby. It was a shame that the young woman didn't have a young man to whom she could turn. Of course, that was the way of the modern world.
"I'll bring something over for you and Abby," Jack said trying to be helpful. He didn't think that Abby would be ready to eat anything soon.
"Would you send Mary over here when she gets home?" Claire asked thinking that she was going to need a little help with Abby.
"Sure," Jack answered. He looked in the room at Abby and asked, "Is she going to be alright?"
"I don't know," Claire said.
Walking slowly, Jack went down to the community house. He didn't know what to make of Abby. He wondered if she had lost her job. Rich noticed him enter the house. Cheryl had informed him that Abby was upset about something. Concerned, he asked, "How is Abby?"
"She is still crying," Jack answered.
"What's the matter?"
"I don't know," Jack said. He looked around and said, "She's never fully gotten over the rape of that old woman."
"Do you think she heard something about the old woman?" Rich asked thinking that would be a logical explanation.
"I don't know," Jack said. He didn't really like to speculate about what was bothering Abby. He sighed and said, "I don't know."
Two hours later, Jack, Dave, Rich, and Johnny were seated in Rich's living room. Jack said, "Things are really getting bad. I was at the store today. There was a woman there handing out flyers about a brothel she was opening with some other women."
"You're kidding?" Dave said.
Johnny shook his head and said, "I was at a Comfort Inn last week. Mind you, that isn't a high end hotel. There were three women sitting around the lobby all day. When I asked the desk clerk about it he told me that they were hookers hoping for a little business."
"They were just sitting there in the lobby of a Comfort Inn?" Rich asked. He knew that women sometimes hung out in the bars of high-end hotels hoping to get a rich guest, but a Comfort Inn? It was incredible to him.
"Yeah," Johnny said.
"Jesus," Dave said.
Jack shook his head and asked, "I noticed some women hanging out on Main Street."
"I saw them on my way home from work," Rich said.
"When times are tough, women turn to the oldest profession to get by. Men join the military and women become prostitutes," Johnny said. It wasn't a nice thing to say, but it was the truth.
"The army isn't taking new recruits," Jack said.
"Things are really bad when you can't join the Army," Dave said.
Rich said, "Next week is Thanksgiving. I've got a feeling that there aren't going to be too many people who feel like celebrating."
"Christmas is going to be a disaster," Jack said.
It was going to be worse than a disaster. Johnny said, "The state is laying off two thousand people."
"You're kidding," Jack said feeling sick to his stomach. He had just gotten a job with the state and was hoping that it would be around for a while.
"No. They are eliminating a bunch of jobs. The department of transportation is going to be the hardest hit. It will mean longer lines when you go to renew your license or get your car inspected. The State Police is losing two hundred officers. The parks department is losing a couple hundred people," Johnny said. The reason that he was at home this week was that his company was going to be doing an audit of a number of companies that did business with the state. There were charges of corruption being mentioned and he wasn't looking forward to the next few months.
"I hope that my job is safe," Jack said.
"It should be," Johnny said.
Rich said, "So far I've been lucky. I was the top salesman this quarter. They fired the guy with the lowest sales for the last quarter this morning. They didn't lay him off. They fired him so that they wouldn't have to pay unemployment benefits."
"That's cold," Jack said.
Rich said, "I should be safe for another three months. I lucked out and got a pretty good sale last week."
Dave said, "I'm glad I'm retired. I don't think I could live with that kind of stress."
"I figure that the new fat tax is going to drive unemployment to over twenty-five percent. The fast food chains are going to start closing stores left and right. It is going to be a disaster," Johnny said.
"Will the country survive that kind of unemployment?" Jack asked.
"I don't know. I've been closing out the books for companies for the past month and a half. I figure that when the burger places start closing down that the end has come," Johnny said.
Rich said, "I'm glad that we don't live in New York City. Can you imagine what it would be like to live there with twenty-five percent unemployment?"
"New York City will go bankrupt," Johnny said. He could see that city spiraling out of control. They would cut back the basic services and then life would really get tough.
"It is already dangerous," Jack said. The crime rate in all of the large cities was going through the roof. Those who didn't have anything felt they were forced to turn to crime.
"It is going to get dangerous around here," Rich said.
Dave said, "It is dangerous around here. Don't forget that a woman was killed less than ten blocks from here by a burglar."
Jack wondered how he had missed hearing about that. He said, "We really do need to put in alarms."
"I agree," Dave said.
"Let's stop work on the community house for now and concentrate on installing some security systems," Jack said. When everyone nodded their heads, he said, "Okay. Dave, do you want to see what kind of alarm systems we can afford?"
Dave nodded his head and said, "I'll do that tomorrow."
Jack looked around at the men in the room and asked, "Does anyone own a gun?"
"Wanda's husband used to hunt. She might have a few around the house," Dave answered.
Although he was generally against guns, Rich had a feeling that the time was coming when he would definitely need one. Resigned to the possibility, he said, "I guess we should find out."
Back at Jack's house, Mary and Claire finally got Abby to stop crying. The young woman had fallen asleep. Stepping out the bedroom, Mary said, "We're going to have to watch her."
"Why?" Claire asked believing she knew the answer to her question.
"She may turn suicidal," Mary answered.
"I wish I knew what happened," Claire said.