Making a choice out of necessity, part two

Leta had a decision to make. She had to think about her children and their needs. She had to think of how a recently widowed woman with no source of income and two other mouths to feed, clothe and protect could survive. Time and money were running out.

Her brother Aaron was arriving to take the automobile that afternoon. The vehicle belonged to her late husband, and she had no use for it. Aaron believed he could sell it. The income would tide her and the children over for a few more months.

But when it turned cold—and it would—the heating bills would rise. Both children needed winter coats. And still she had no source of income.

When she was married to Ralph, her children’s father, she had taken in borders for income. This was her personal income—for her and the children. Ralph didn’t want her to know anything about their family finances, giving her only a small allowance to pay for the children’s, hers and household needs. It was barely sufficient, and she hated being kept in the dark, having managed her own income for several years before they married. Taking in borders was her response, and Ralph hated it. He reasoned that this made him less of a man, that he couldn’t support his own family or her lavish lifestyle. He used both arguments, focusing on whichever one had the greater impact when they argued.

She kept the money she made from the borders in a secret place, and then used it to cover the costs of their divorce.

Taking in borders was not an option now. Her house was too small. She also had no interest in continuing the underground alcohol business she and Al co-managed during Prohibition. Even the sight of the still in the basement ravaged her heart like a vicious wild boar. Most of the time she simply ached.

Since her husband Al’s death in June, people had been so kind. Their condolences included food, driving her wherever she needed to go, helping her with household chores and repairs, and surprise gifts like a pair of much-needed shoes for her son Dale. They were too small, but still the sentiment moved her.

One of her neighbors had been especially kind. He lived a couple of blocks from them and had been a regular customer of the illegal alcohol business. Although she knew him, she had not thought much of him initially. He brought food right after Al’s death and dropped off chocolates for the children. He even mowed her small patch of lawn for her, rotating the responsibility with several other neighbors. Once he was driving by on a day when Leta was mowing herself, stopped his car and immediately took over.

“A woman as fine as you, Leta…May I call you ‘Leta?’” he asked.

“Yes, please do,” she answered.

He smiled.

“As I was sayin’, a woman as fine as you ought not to be doing this kind of rough work. Those pretty hands of your’n are better suited for sewing, I expect.”

Leta was astonished. “Yes,” she stammered, “I do sew.”

“And I bet you know how to make a man a nice cool drink, too,” he added, “for him to have after he cuts the grass.”

Leta smiled and nodded before slipping into the house and leaving him with the lawn mower.

To be continued.