Wealth Pt. 02

"Well, yeah, he's one of the managers," Barry agreed. "Let me get you an application, okay?"

"Hey, let me drive, huh?" Marco demanded as Anita unlocked her car.

"Got a valid driver's license?" Anita asked, knowing the answer.

"Marco, just get in, huh?" Louisa snapped.

"See you at home," Toni said and gave Anita a quick kiss.

"So how much that check for, huh?" Marco again asked when Anita backed out of the parking lot of the restaurant. "Why you don't want to tell me, huh?"

"Twenty thousand, Marco, not that it's any of your business," Anita snapped.

"Twenty... You gave some dumb ass school twenty thousand?" Marco screamed. "Fuck! You can't slip me that?"

"Hey Marco, I give you twenty thousand, what happens?" Anita asked, stepping on the accelerator, wanting to get to the trailer park fast so she could get rid of her brother quickly.

"Aw, shit, get me some wheels, some fine ass clothes, seen this fine ass shirt hundred and ten bucks it is so bad," Marco enthused.

"In other words, you'd throw it away, Anita said.

"What you saying?" Marco angrily demanded.

"That twenty thousand we gave to the school?" Anita said "That'll pay for two people to go to that school for a whole year where they'd get an education. Give it to you? Would be gone in no time and you'd have nothing to show for it."

"Have me some wheels," Marco argued.

"Uh huh, and in no time it'd look like that," Anita said, pointing at Dillard's car, now up on blocks.

"And I'd have me the women," Marco went on.

"And as soon as the money's gone, so are they," Anita said, hitting the door lock.

"Marco, if you'd said you'd take that money, join a gym, go to Baylor Lake Vo-Tech, get some lawn equipment open your own business, then I'd be all like yeah, I'd invest in that; you are my brother after all," Anita said. "But all you're telling me is you'd blow it all on frivolous crap and a year from now, you'd still be living here. In a rented trailer. With Momma. And I'd have absolutely no return on my investment."

"You ain't getting no re... You ain't getting shit on that check you slipped that old guy!" Marco shrilled, outraged.

"I'm getting a tax write-off and taking two people out of trailer parks like this and showing them there is another way to live," Anita quietly said.

Years from now, they won't be bleeding this country dry, my tax dollars won't be going to support their wasteful lifestyle, won't be going to raise their children," Anita went on, then made a point of hitting the door locks again. "Marco, you are a prime example of why the Have Nots are the Have Nots. Don't forget your dessert, hear?"

Louisa hefted her bulk out of the car, even more embarrassed with her shabby appearance, her small gift.

"Where the fuck you been, huh?" Luther screamed, flinging the door of the trailer open.

"My daughter's graduation, huh? Told you that!" Louisa screamed back.

"It takes five fucking hours? Five fucking hours graduate them?" Luther screamed.

"No, then we went out to eat," Louisa screamed back, shoving him aside so she could enter the trailer.

"I been sitting here, waiting on your ass get some Taco Bell and you telling me y'all went out?" Luther screamed, enraged.

Marco thought very briefly of dumping his desserts out on the expensive leather car seat, but knew two things. One, Anita would not hesitate to beat his face in and probably still had her blade. And two, the desserts were too delicious to waste like that.

"Where'd y'all eat, huh? Where'd y'all eat?" Luther demanded after Marco slammed the door shut.

"Side By Side," Louisa said smugly.

"Side By, where is that?" Luther asked. "I ain't never heard of..."

"It's this new stake place opened in Bender," Louisa crowed.

"I had a rib eye big as your face," Marco bragged.

"Y'all had steak? Y'all bring me any?" Luther asked.

"Why we bring you any, huh? You too big go to her graduation, why would we bring you anything back, huh?" Louisa asked.

"What you got there?" Luther asked as Marco shoved aside some of the cartons in the refrigerator to put his bag of desserts into the refrigerator.

"My desserts; they was too big finish them," Marco smirked.

"Man, y'all can kiss my ass, hear?" Luther snarled and left to get Taco Bell for supper.

(Marco would not get to eat the icebox pie; Louisa would eat that just after Marco went to bed. Luther would eat the banana pudding for breakfast before Marco would even wake up the following morning.)

Anita drove home, feeling a depression begin to descend on her.

A year ago, that trailer had been her home and she had seen nothing wrong with it. A year ago, twenty thousand dollars would have been a monumental windfall and she too would have squandered it on flash and bling and would have had very little to show for it afterward.

At a red light, Anita looked at the card in her purse. The ruby and diamond ring on her right hand cost twelve hundred dollars; it had been a graduation present from Toni. But the twenty five dollars her mother had given her had been a hard fought twenty five dollars. Her mother probably skipped buying a few gallons of ice cream and a few six packs of beer to be able to save that money.

A car horn brought her out of her reverie and Anita drove toward her home.

In Toni's car, Barry regretted his decision to drive Darlene and Ed home. Ed was prattling on and on about the evils of burning fossil fuel, carbon monoxide emissions.

Finally, just outside of Elgee, Ed made a comment about Anita's attributes and Barry slammed on the breaks, wrenching the wheel to the right and onto the shoulder of the road.

"Get out," he snarled to the finally silent Ed Byrd.

"Wait, what? Why?" Darlene chimed in.

"Ed, I do not, I just do not give one tiny fuck about fossil fuel, carbon monoxide emissions, global warming, animal extinction, any of that giant ball of bull shit," Barry spat, jerking the rear door open and yanking Ed out by his scrawny arm and dumping him onto the wet grass.

"But I hear you say one more word about my daughter's ass or my other daughter's tits, I will fucking kill you, you hear me?" Barry hissed.

"Darlene you can either get out and walk with your idiot boyfriend, or I can drive you home; your choice," Barry barked at her.

"See you at home, Ed," Darlene finally said, just as Barry was getting ready to reach in and pull her out of the car.

"Barry, he's sorry; he just doesn't know..." Darlene said as Barry pulled back onto the road.

"Darlene, I've been making Toni come see you at least once a month," Barry said tiredly as he turned onto the gravel road. "When she comes home, I kiss her and tell her how proud I am of her. And I am proud of her. She's such a beautiful, sweet, loving girl."

"She is..." Darlene agreed as Barry slowed to a stop in front of her shack.

"But from now on? I'm telling her she does not have to come see you any more. She's eighteen, about to be nineteen, she's graduated from high school and just has no obligation come see you anymore and I plan to tell her that too, you hear?" Barry said, hitting the door lock.

"You can't..." Darlene spluttered.

"No, I can't forbid her and God damn it, Darlene, you know me, I would never forbid her, but I damned sure won't ever encourage it ever again either," Barry yelled, frustrated.

Barry almost pulled over as he passed Ed; Ed was at least a twenty minute walk from his shack and there were no lights on this stretch of road. Instead, Barry steeled his grip on the steering wheel shrugged his shoulders and drove on.

At the Delacroix house, Anita got out of her car, looked at the second floor window and saw their bedroom light on. Toni was waiting for her, waiting to kiss her and hug her and tell her she loved her.

The brass doorknob glinted in the moonlight, the white door gleamed, and the small step up was swept clean.

The steps in front of the trailer had looked as if they were ready to collapse. The door was splintering and looked quite weathered.

She sat down on the stoop of the Delacroix house and hugged her knees to her chest.

Barry pulled up and saw the small figure sitting in front of the door and frowned.

Even if Anita couldn't find her key, Miss Alvarez would let her in, or Toni would let her in.

"Hi," he said quietly, seeing the tears trickling down the beautiful girl's face.

"Mr. Barry? I don't belong here," Anita whispered.

He smiled, bent and kissed her on the top of her head.

"Yes you do; I almost got into a fist fight over you," he said. "You belong here just as much as I do or Toni does, you hear?"

The End of Wealth 02, Chapters11 through 20. There will be more when I write more.

*****

Author's Note: I write these stories for my pleasure; I post them here for your enjoyment. Thank you for reading my stories.

Yes, I need an editor.

Yes, it's too long.

Yes, it jumps around too much.

Yes, there's too many people to keep track of.

Yes, this is stupid shit.

And Yes, I suck.

And you have yourself a beautiful day.