Campfire Part 4

Chapter 4

Ashley watched Sheri every step of the way until she walked out of the Flying Star. Sheri had looked so sexy dancing around in her black lacy bra and panties. Ashley flushed at the thought.

She was instantly transported back to reality when the waiter brought the bill to the table. Ashley needed to go home, but she dreaded it, so she sat looking out the window watching students rush back and forth. Finally, she opened her wallet and stared at the few remaining bills from her last paycheck. Her dad was going to kill her when he found out she lost her job. He should be proud though, she was following in his footsteps. Ashley had worked in the childcare center at Design Fitness since she was sixteen, almost three years now, but when she went in drunk on Sunday morning, they fired her on the spot. The funniest part about it was she had worked more days drunk in the last three months than she had sober. She was just a little over the top on Sunday, and she finally got caught. Ashley thought it was ridiculous though. She was responsible for the three and four year olds, and she could play blocks just as well drunk as she could sober.

Her skinny little waiter came over to the table. “Was there anything else I could get for you?”

“No.” Ashley wasn’t rude this time just focused on something else. The kid nodded and walked away. It wasn’t crowded anymore, so it wasn’t like he needed her table, but she had to go. She threw two twenties on the table and spoke out loud to herself, “Fuck.”

It was almost time for her Introduction to Literature course, but instead of walking to campus, she walked a half a block down Central Avenue and sat at the bus stop. She hadn’t been to Lit class since the second week of school. In fact, she hadn’t been to any class except chemistry for weeks. She kept going to chemistry because that’s where she met Jacob. Ashley was only keeping up the pretense of school now, and she knew she couldn’t pull it off much longer. If she was going to get that key and get the money she’d have to do it soon. Besides in another few weeks it would be too cold to camp in the Jemez Mountains. It would be pretty cold at night already, but if she didn’t get her hands on some money soon it might be too late.

Ashley jumped on the sixty-six bus and head west across town and then walked the eight blocks to the house her parents now rented in the South Valley. She didn’t call it home; it was the place they found on short notice after her dad pissed away nearly fifteen years of government service when he showed up to work drunk one too many times. He would probably yell at her for losing her job, but she would throw it right back in his face when he did. Besides what was her nine-dollar-an-hour job really going to do to help them out anyway?

“Mom, I’m home,” Ashley called as she walked through the house to her mom’s bedroom. It smelled of old plaster and the floor in the front room was so warped that Ashley nearly tripped every time she walked across it. “Fuck,” she mumbled under her breathe. She hated this disgusting little house. Even months of remodeling wouldn’t help it. Ashley visualized a wrecking ball going through the front door. That was the only real solution for the rat hole.

“Hi honey,” Catherine pulled her dark wavy hair back in an attempt to get herself together.

“How are you feeling, mom?”

“Oh, I’m fine, honey.” Catherine patted the side of her bed so Ashley would sit next to her. She looked pretty good today. Some days were definitely better than others. Just a few months after her dad lost his job, Catherine had been diagnosed with Lyme disease. For years she had struggled with memory loss, muscle coordination and a variety of other symptoms that caused her to first be misdiagnosed with multiple sclerosis. After the doctors confirmed that it wasn’t MS no one would believe anything she said. They told her it was all psychosomatic—all in her head—even though it was obvious she had lost twenty pounds and often didn’t have the strength to stand without assistance. Even Ashley’s dad, Nathan, had accused her of making it up. Ashley met a girl while she was working at Defined Fitness who told her about her symptoms and the effect of Lyme. Ashley took her mom to a specialist the next week, and they finally got an accurate diagnosis. That was the good news, but the bad news was the cost of the treatment. With no insurance now, they could barely afford an aspirin let alone two hundred dollars a week to pay for the antibiotics she needed.

“Ashley, it’s about time you got here. I thought you were coming last night.” Ralph stood in their mother’s doorway.

“Get out of here, Ralph. I’ll talk to you in a minute,” Ashley yelled at her brother.

“Oh don’t you two start fighting. That’s all you do anymore,” her mother patted Ashley’s leg.

“Dad wants to talk to you,” Ralph walked away.

“Are you hungry? I’ll fix you something to eat,” Ashley looked back to her mother.

“No honey, I’m fine. Your dad got home early and fixed me a sandwich.”

“Why was he home early?” Ashley snapped. Immediately she was pissed sure he had lost another job.

“I guess they didn’t have a full truck load today. I’m not sure.”

“Is he out back?”

Catherine nodded, “don’t go giving him a hard time? He’s doing the best he can.”

Ashley shrugged and squeezed her mom’s hand before she walked to the back of the house. In the living room, Ralph sat in front of the TV. “I thought you had a lead on some big money. I need to pay some guys off or they’re going to beat the shit out of me.”

“You asshole! The money isn’t for you. You need to figure out your own shit. If we don’t get mom the right meds and soon, she could die. Don’t you even care?” Ashley knew Sheri was right about Ralph. He wouldn’t be able to make more money with the cash. He would just blow it. But Ashley knew if she could get a hold of even a small amount of money, she could certainly make it go a long way toward helping her mother. Then maybe she could get some steady work with some kind of health benefits or something. Her dad really was doing the best he could now. He had actually been clean and sober for nearly a year, and he had held the same job at Lowes for almost six months. It just barely paid the bills though.

Even so, she could never forgive him. They went from comfortable upper middle class living in the Northeast Heights to dirt poor in the South Valley in an instant, and no one knew it was happening until they reposed the family car. Nathan had managed to convince his family he was going to work for five months after he was fired. Even though he was trying to get work to fix the mess, his secret only made things worse.

“What do you want dad?” Ashley walked out on the back porch and shook a cigarette out of the pack sitting on the arm of her dad’s chair. The dirt back yard was filled with leaves from the two elm trees in their yard and the neighbor’s tree that hung into their yard.

“Ash, I don’t have enough for the rent tomorrow. My hours got cut. I won’t get back to forty until the holiday season starts.”

Ashley pulled her wallet out of jacket pocket and threw her remaining twelve dollars at her dad, and then she lit the cigarette.

“What is this?” Nathan looked up at her.

“That’s my paycheck,” she shouted at him. “I lost my job.”

“Ashley!” he yelled back and then lowered his head and spoke softly. “What are we going to do?”

“I don’t know? What are we going to do?” She almost wished he had yelled at her.

“How long are you going to punish me? I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. I’m doing the best I can. I need your help.” Nathan stood up and six foot four frame towered over his daughter.

“What’s wrong with your son? Why can’t he work?” Ashley turned away from him and walked to the edge of the porch. The old boards creaked with every step.

“He can’t keep a job. He…” Nathan stopped short of criticizing Ralph. He had done enough of that, and Nathan knew he was truly the only one to blame.

“Kick him out then. That would save some money, and turn off his internet and TV.”  Ashley sniffed and wiped her face before she turned back to her dad. “I’ll figure something out. You better go talk to the landlord, and do some of your smooth talking. I’ll try to get something together after next weekend. If he can carry us until next month’s rent. I’ll be able to pay it all then.”

“How?” Nathan sat back in the chair.

Without a word, Ashley flicked the cigarette butt into the yard and walked away. She had kept Sheri’s secret without a peep to anyone for a very long time; Sheri owed her. She better come around. Ashley didn’t know if she could do it on her own.