After returning from taking Trupti and Melissa back to the dormitory, Jack headed over to the community house. He entered the house and took a seat at one of the tables. They still had to decide if they would offer Trupti the chance to enter the commune. Thinking nothing about it, Jack asked, "So what did you think of Trupti?"
"She's a nice girl," Liz said getting nods of agreement from Claire and Bev. She was ready to have the young woman move in with her. Of course, half of the reason was that she didn't want to live alone any longer.
"I think so, too," Jack said. Looking around the room he noticed that his words weren't received with much enthusiasm. He frowned.
"She's small," Wanda said as if seeking something positive to say.
Surprised by Wanda's lukewarm reaction, Bev said, "I kind of liked her."
"She seems harmless enough," Laura said with a frown and wrinkled brow.
Knowing what bothered Laura, Dave decided it was up to him to give voice to her concern. He said, "I only see one problem with her joining the commune."
"What is that?" Jack asked surprised to hear anyone object to Trupti joining the commune.
"She's a foreigner," Dave said looking around the room to see how his comment was received. He knew that it wasn't a politically correct thing to say, but the past few years had been filled with stories about American companies outsourcing to India. He didn't like the idea that American companies were helping foreigners when Americans were out of work.
Listening to the conversation, Mary frowned while considering if she should say anything. Knowing that if her words ever got back to the library that she'd probably lose her job, she said, "I kind of wondered about that. Wouldn't we rather help out an American rather than a foreigner?"
"I hadn't thought about that," Jack said. The whole topic of discussion had taken him by surprise. He wondered how Melissa would react to the conversation.
"I don't mean to hurt anyone's feelings," Dave said.
Laura shook her head and said, "You're right, dear. We've got to look out for Americans first."
"I don't think you are hurting anyone's feelings," Jack said. Dave was bringing up an issue that would have to be dealt with at some point in time. He looked around the room to see that nearly everyone was nodding their heads.
After glancing over at her husband, Cheryl said, "Rich is always complaining that his company seems to prefer hiring foreigners over Americans."
"They have a lot more control over the foreigners. They can't complain about having to work overtime since they have to go back to India if they lose their job," Rich said. When he walked through the engineering section it seemed to him that everyone was either Indian or Chinese. Looking a little ill at ease, he added, "It isn't that I'm prejudiced or anything, but they can always go back to where they came from. Americans can't do that."
Jack realized that Trupti was not going to be invited to join the commune. He wondered how he was going to break the news to Melissa. Dave said, "It would be different if she had been born here or was already an American citizen."
"I need a roommate," Liz said.
Jack said, "I'm sure that we'll be able to find one for you at the college."
"There's always Daryl," Mary said after thinking about it for a moment. She was pretty sure that he would jump at the chance to join the commune.
"Who?" Jack asked with a frown.
"The kid who does the computer training at the library," Mary answered.
"I thought he lives with his mother," Jack said frowning.
"They are losing their house. The family is looking to move in with his aunt," Mary said.
"I like Daryl," Dave said.
Jack's cell phone rang. The whole room turned to watch him when he answered it, "Hello."
"Jack, Trupti just got off the telephone with her father. She's going back to India," Melissa said. She assumed that her father couldn't afford to pay so much money every year.
"Okay," Jack said thinking that things were working out nicely. He hadn't been looking forward to telling Melissa that the members of the commune weren't likely to accept Trupti.
"She's crushed," Melissa said despite the fact that Trupti wasn't all that upset.
"I'm sorry to hear that," Jack said. He didn't like to hear about anyone losing an opportunity to improve their circumstance.
"I have to get back to her," Melissa said.
"Alright. I love you," Jack said. He looked around embarrassed at saying something like that in front of everyone in the room. She gave him her love and then hung up. Aware that everyone was looking at him, Jack said, "Trupti is returning to India."
"Now we don't have to vote on it," Claire said. She looked around the room and said, "Let's not mention this to Melissa."
"No problem," Dave said with a relieved expression on his face.
"So about Daryl — what are the odds that he would move in with me?" Liz asked still trying to find a solution to her problem. She hadn't thought about having a young man move in with her, but she was feeling a little desperate.
"I could call him. Maybe he could come over tomorrow," Mary said.
Liz said, "Call him now."
"I'll call him, but I have to go over to the house and get his number," Mary said.
Jack studied Liz for a moment and then said, "I know that you're afraid of staying alone at home, but don't rush into something out of fear."
"Liz is right to be concerned," Mary said. She had been reading some very horrible stories in the newspaper. The evening news was filled with horror stories of elderly people getting killed in their homes. She added, "One of the police officers stopped by the library today. He told me that some squatters moved into one of the empty houses a couple of blocks from here a couple of days ago. One of the officers was shot trying to remove them."
"Society is breaking down," Claire said with a frown.
Liz said, "I heard about people putting up fences around entire neighborhoods to create gated communities on the news this evening. Maybe we ought to think about doing that."
"We'd have to pay for a fence and hire a guard. I don't think this neighborhood has enough money to do that," Laura said.
"I would be willing to pay for that," Liz said flatly.
Jack went over to the kitchen and poured a glass of soda. It was one of the store brands that pretended to taste like a name brand. He returned to his chair and took a sip of his drink while thinking about the nature of the discussion that was taking place. It seemed to him that the country was falling apart. There had been a time when he could leave the house without locking the door. Now, he locked the door and set the security alarm even if he was visiting next door. Violence had increased nationwide and crime was rampant. Burglaries, rapes, assault, and murder had become commonplace. People who were viewed as rich were being kidnapped.
Homelessness was widespread. It wasn't the poor who had lost their homes since they hadn't had homes to lose. Before the economic collapse, those who had been the poor had rented homes or lived in public housing. Their circumstances hadn't changed. The big losers were individuals and families who had always viewed themselves as being middle class. There wasn't enough public housing for those who lost their homes.
One consequence of so many people losing their homes was that they lost respect for the laws protecting right of ownership. They felt that their property rights had been violated so there was nothing to prevent them from violating the property rights of others. Men who had fought eviction had discovered themselves in jail while their families were left to live on the streets without protection.
Jack could understand why the members of the commune had resisted having a foreigner join the commune. It was prejudice and that was ugly, but he couldn't condemn anyone for feeling that way when friends and relatives were losing jobs and homes. It was human nature to put those who you liked above complete strangers. Part of the problem was the general sense of fear that now pervaded life. He knew that it wasn't fair, but they were afraid they would be targeted because they harbored someone who might have displaced an American worker.
It seemed to Jack that half of the news consisted of reports about riots taking place in the large cities. There had been riots over the issue of American versus Foreign workers. One of the larger businesses that had just laid off a number of American workers had announced a need to bring in thousands of foreign workers. The riot had left buildings occupied by that company burning. Jack sided with the rioters on that particular issue.
There was a riot that resulted from a federal raid that rounded up over fifty illegal immigrants that were working in a local manufacturing company. In a very stupid move, a representative of the company complained on the news that they couldn't find Americans to take the jobs. Upon hearing that there were jobs available, nearly three hundred people showed up to apply for work. The crowd was met by a group of illegal immigrants who had come to get jobs. It had gotten very ugly very quickly.
Protests over high taxes had become a daily event. Each tax increase had brought about another round of riots. Each riot was larger and more violent than those before it. Detroit had burned for almost a week. Unemployed people facing a twelve percent sales tax were furious. Images of police in riot gear facing down crowds of middleclass Americans filled the news. Pictures of young men and women throwing Molotov Cocktails filled the space under headlines.
The only exception to riots resulting from announcements of new taxes was the tax associated with the proposed legalization of marihuana. That had provoked riots about legalizing drugs. There were complaints that the tax was too low or was too high depending on whether the person complaining was against or for marihuana use, but that wasn't the crux of the arguments that produced riots. Jack didn't know what he thought of that idea. He wondered if the violence would start to abate if everyone was stoned out of their minds.
He was brought back into the conversation when Cheryl said, "I noticed that the Taco Emporium closed."
"The job didn't pay well, but at least it was a job," Abby said. It hadn't even lasted three weeks after the Fat Tax had been imposed.
Shaking his head, Jack realized that the world had become very dangerous indeed. He interrupted the discussion, "Mary, can you check out what would be required to turn this neighborhood into a gated community? Dave, could you price out fencing? We'll need a heavy duty fence and concertina wire."
"Sure," Mary said wondering why he had returned to that topic.
"I can do that," Dave said frowning. The idea that they would put up a fence to hide behind bothered him.
Jack said, "We won't be able to do that immediately, but we should probably be prepared if it should become necessary."
"I agree," Rich said thinking that it was already necessary.
Claire snorted and said, "This whole evening has depressed me. What is going on in Washington? Why aren't they doing something about this?"
"I don't know what they are doing. For that matter, they don't know what they are doing," Jack answered. Trillions of dollars had been spent, but he couldn't see what it had done to improve things.
Mary rose from her chair and said, "I'm going back to the house to call Daryl. Are you ready to call it a night, Claire?"
"Yes," the elderly woman answered. She rose from her chair slowly and looked over at Jack. She asked, "Would you walk us home?"
"Sure," Jack answered. It was becoming a more frequent occurrence for him to escort the women back to their homes. He drained his glass and carried it over to the kitchen.
Frau Shultz took the glass from him and said, "Kommen Sie zuruck und gehen Sie wir nach Hause."
"Ja," Jack said tiredly. He knew that he was going to be making a couple of trips to and from the community house.
"Danke," Frau Shultz said feeling more secure knowing that Jack would walk her home.
Jack stepped outside of the community house and looked up at the dark sky. The sky was clear of clouds and the stars shined brightly. The air was cold and the wind biting. Frowning he looked around the neighborhood. The city had cut back on services and one cost saving measure had been to turn off the streetlights. The absence of lights in front of houses gave the neighborhood a dark sinister feel. His eyes sought out any signs of threats. There weren't any strange cars parked along the street. None of the doors of the empty houses were open. He looked over his shoulder waiting for Mary and Claire to emerge from the house.
Claire stepped out and took his arm. She smiled at him and said, "Thanks for walking us over."
"No problem," Jack said. The ground was basically clear of snow although there were little patches left in areas that didn't get much sun. He asked, "Do you think that we'll be getting snow again?"
"Yes, but it won't be as bad as that last storm," Claire said walking along beside Jack.
"Winter has just begun," Mary said although it hadn't officially begun. That would be in a few days. The astronomers might consider winter starting on the winter solstice, but she always felt that winter started around Thanksgiving.
"Winter started with that last snow storm," Jack said with a laugh. They reached Claire's house and he waited for Claire to open the door. He stepped into the house and looked around to make sure that everything was okay. Stepping back, he said, "It looks okay to me."
"Thanks, Jack," Claire said entering the house.
"Thanks, Jack," Mary said following Claire. She looked back at Jack and said, "I'll talk to you tomorrow."
"Sure," Jack said turning to head back to the community house. He heard the sound of the door closing behind him before he had taken two steps. The sound of the deadbolt being engaged followed quickly afterwards. He took a deep breath and released it as if he was smoking a cigarette.
Fred, Bev, and Liz stepped out of the community house to head home. Fred called over to Jack, "Have a nice night."
"You too," Jack said while giving a friendly wave. He reached the community house in time to meet Ella and Frau Shultz stepping outside.
Giving him a worried smile, Ella said, "We were waiting for you."
Holding out an arm for Frau Shultz, Jack said, "I'll take the two of you home now."
As they walked, Ella said, "I'm sorry about Melissa's little friend."
"I know," Jack said patting Frau Shultz's hand and getting a smile in return. He could tell that she was worried about something.
"Times are tough. Frau Shultz and I discussed it. We would have voted to have her join, but we knew that it was a lost cause," Ella said sounding apologetic.
"I understand," Jack said. Shrugging his shoulders, he said, "Maybe it is my fault in a way. I've been talking about it being a matter of us and them for a long time. She just happened to be different enough to be viewed as one of them rather than one of us."
"Will the others turn on Frau Shultz and me?" Ella asked.
Shaking his head, Jack said, "No. You're one of us."
"Thanks, Jack," Ella said. She knew that things could change when things got even worse with the economy, but she hoped that Jack was right.
They were silent for a few steps. Jack said, "As much as I don't like the idea of turning this neighborhood into a gated community, I feel that it will soon be necessary."
"It would be nice to walk home without feeling afraid," Ella said. Two old women walking around at night were easy targets for anyone who wanted to rob them.
Jack wanted to shake his fist at the sky and curse the government. Keeping a little control over his anger, he said, "I know. I imagine that we'll end up doing that somehow. We can't rely upon the police to protect us."
"I'm pretty sure that it would increase the property values," Ella said looking over at Jack.
"Maybe," Jack said. He believed that folks given a choice between a gated community with private security and an open community would choose the former. It was just a shame that it had become a necessity.
Ella looked around and said, "The great depression in Germany let Hitler come into power. I hope the same kind of thing doesn't happen here."
"I hope not," Jack said. The idea that a dictator could rise to power in the United States seemed farfetched. Of course, it had been unimaginable a year earlier that they would be having riots in the streets, widespread crime, and high unemployment.
"The election was a year ago. It seems like a lot longer ago than that," Ella said stopping to stare at an empty house. The great hope of saving homes died when the value of commercial properties fell through the floor. Even though the President kept his promises about reducing Federal taxes on the majority of people, the states had never made that promise. Taxes shot up and people started losing homes. That applied to people who didn't even have mortgages.
Jack said, "I remember how hopeful everyone was around the time of the election. The country has changed a lot since then."
Melissa sat on the bed in her dorm room watching Trupti pace around the room. After a circuit, Trupti said, "I don't think I would have moved into the commune."
"Why?" Melissa asked.
"Did you see the way that people looked at me on the drive over there?" Trupti asked.
"No."
Trupti was silent for a moment and then said, "We stopped at a traffic light and there was this guy in the car next to ours. I looked down at him and he scared me. He was glaring at me with unadulterated hate."
"Why?"
"I don't know," Trupti answered. "I remember when I first got here four months ago that it was different. The people here were a lot friendlier. Folks actually greeted me and talked to me when I went to classes that first week. As time went by though, I noticed that things were getting less friendly. People stopped talking to me. After a while people started giving me dirty looks. Over the past few days, people have been saying nasty things to me."
"I didn't notice anything like that happening," Melissa said with a frown. She had been involved in preparing for her final exams.
"You're a liberal arts major and don't have many foreign students in your classes. I doubt you would see anything like that happening around you," Trupti said. It was worse in the technical areas.
"I know the economy is bad, but they can't blame you for that," Melissa said.
Someone had spread a rumor on the internet that Indians working in American companies were paying kickbacks to their bosses to remain employed. She didn't know if the rumor was true or not. She did know that it wasn't an uncommon practice in India. She said, "There is a rumor that some of the people from my country are paying their bosses not to lay them off."
"Is it true?" Melissa asked stunned by that little revelation.
"I don't know," Trupti answered.
Thinking about the quote by Hitler, Melissa said, "The big lie. People believe the big lie because it is so hard to believe that anyone would tell such a big lie that it has to be true."
"It could be true," Trupti said. She didn't know what people were doing to keep their jobs.
"I guess that would make your classmates a little angry if they actually believed it," Melissa said. In the current atmosphere, a rumor like that could get people killed.
"Yes."
Melissa said, "They must look at you and think you are going to be taking a job away from them."
"My father gave me a list of people who promised him that they could find me a position in the companies that employ them," Trupti said looking down at the floor. It was hard to accept that the dream of having a high paying job in the United States was dying like that.
"Why would they promise that?" Melissa asked. She wondered how anyone could actually make that kind of promise.
"My father works in the government back in India. He can help people in exchange for a little help from them," Trupti answered. She didn't see anything wrong with that practice. That was just how things were done there. A person couldn't get the simplest thing done without having the appropriate connections.
Melissa frowned thinking that it didn't sound like a moral thing to do. She knew that government officials often helped friends and family get jobs, but she didn't like it. She said, "You're kidding."
"No."
"That's wrong," Melissa said. She knew that one day she would be looking for work and wouldn't have personal contacts that were in a position to get a job for her. She looked at Trupti thinking it was not right that someone from India had contacts in this country that could promise to find her a job.
"That's just the way things are done there," Trupti said sitting down on her bed so that she was facing Melissa. She could see that her roommate was upset and didn't understand why.
"So your dad wants you to go home," Melissa said wanting to change the subject.
"Yes. The papers in India have stories about people from my country getting killed here. He's afraid that I'll get hurt if I stay here," Trupti said.
"It isn't that bad," Melissa said leaving off the 'yet.'
Trupti shook her head. In a soft voice that barely carried across the room, she said, "I'm kind of glad he told me to come home. I don't feel safe here. I think I would really feel unsafe living with your friends."
"My friends wouldn't hurt you," Melissa said feeling offended.
Trupti replied, "It isn't your friends that I worry about. It is the trip from there to school."
"I guess things have worked out for the best," Melissa said.
Jack stood outside waiting to walk Abby and Wanda home from the community house. He had already walked Sally and Emily home. Abby and Wanda were the last ones in the house. It was getting late and he wanted to get home for the night. He had to get up early and go to work. Abby stepped out of the house and said, "You don't have to walk us home."
"That's okay," Jack said. He would feel horrible if anything happened to the two women if he didn't walk them to their house.
Wanda stepped out of the house and went through the process of setting the burglar alarm. Hearing the beep that let her know that the alarm was set, she said, "I'm ready to go."
"Good," Abby said shivering from the cold.
"Yeah," Jack said. The cold was starting to penetrate to his bones. It seemed to him that the wind had picked up a little.
"I'm sorry about the little Indian girl," Abby said.
"I'm not," Wanda said flatly. The more she had thought about bringing in a member to the commune who wasn't an American citizen the angrier she got. Folks who were born and raised here were living on the street because they couldn't afford a reasonable place to live.
"I don't know what I think about it," Jack said. A gust of wind cut through his clothes chilling him to the bone.
They walked a little bit without speaking. Abby said, "You know, I would feel a lot safer if you carried a gun when you are walking us home."
"You can't be serious," Jack said. He was afraid that he would accidently shoot whoever he was escorting if they were attacked.
"I'm very serious," Abby said. She patted her purse and said, "I carry a gun with me when I go check out the houses."
"You've got a gun?" Jack asked. This was the first that he had heard that Abby was carrying a gun.
"Yes."
"It was my late husband's pistol. He said that it had a lot of stopping power," Wanda said. Her husband had kept it in the nightstand just in case someone broke into the house in the middle of the night.
"Do you even know how to use it?" Jack asked. He wondered why Wanda hadn't bothered to mention it when they had done an inventory of the weapons owned by members of the commune. Much to his surprise, the inventory had shown that they had enough weapons for every member to keep one in his or her bedroom.
Abby snorted and said, "You point it at the bad guy and pull the trigger until he is dead."
"Or you shoot your foot off," Jack said rolling his eyes.
"I'm a woman. In a physical fight with a man, I would lose. The gun gives me a chance," Abby said. She knew that there were people breaking into empty houses and taking them over as if they owned them. Although she was starting to make some money checking out the houses, she feared that it could get her killed. She didn't want to take any chances on that.
Accepting that this was just another sign of the times, Jack said, "I'll call my dad and see if he knows anyone that can teach us to shoot."
"That is a very good idea," Wanda said.