The Secret of Life
There was a moist, dark smudge where Jack's hand had been pressing into his faded blue coveralls. He had been waiting, patiently watching the clock tick down the seconds until his friend, Darius, would also be on break. They worked at different ends of the factory so Jack was usually the first to arrive in the break room.
As Darius was walking down the dimly lit hallway to meet him in the lunch room; he looked as grim as Jack felt. With a furrowed brow and shrunken eyes, Darius' frown couldn't have cut deeper into his once jovial face. He sat down silently at the table furthest from the hall leading to the big wigs, even though the light above it flickered every once and a while. It was safest nowadays to steer clear of that part of the factory. Stay under the radar, so to speak. Jack stayed where he was, leaning against the empty vending machine.
“You got that note too.” It was a statement.
“Yup.” Jack gave a wry smile but received no further response. “They use yellow paper, right, like it's supposed to be a cheerful thing to be called in there.” He jabbed an angry finger toward the other end of the hall. “Maybe one day it was, but hell--”
“Those days are long gone Jack, you know it s'well as I do. We're not being called in there for some fancy employee of the month business anymore.” Darius' dark face barely moved as he spoke. The weight of recent events hung heavily on everyone.
“Jeez D, it would be better if they did call us, you know? For the decency of it. A phone call. Talking person to person; man to man!” Jack could feel himself reddening and he wiped his palms once more against his many-years soiled outfit. “But no, a little note tucked into the edge of our locker. That's the respect we get for putting in our time.”
Darius nodded subtly, sighed, and took out his sandwich. It looked even more sparse today but Jack wouldn't say it. His lunch wasn't any better: a can of ravioli from the food bank. His wife had been adamant that he took something, anything to get him through the work day but he felt awful when he saw how little she herself would get to eat.
When they first moved to the little town of Haythorne it was the place of their dreams. Their little house was the perfect size, with its big green garden out front and the wrap around veranda. Lizzie tended those flowers and vegetables perfectly. The plants seemed to take on her beauty and vitality as if they were an extension of her spirit. They got married right there, in between the lilacs and the black caps. Her dress was so lovely, light and airy. Jack couldn't believe how she laughed when it caught and tore from one of the berries' thorns; as though it were any other pair of ratty slacks. He loved her more in that moment than he could remember loving anything in the world. This was her dream home and he had promised to give her all she had ever wanted.
“Maybe we'll be surprised by what they say, right. Maybe it'll be different this time since we're supervisors now, right D?” Jack knew he was reaching, but fear hung too close to his heart to forgo all hope.
After living in Haythorne for many years, the main factory in town made the extreme decision to move out of country in order to cut costs. The town was small, cozy and out of the way. Just what they thought they had wanted. Everyone either worked for the factory or supplied the necessities for those who did. The first to go was Lizzie's favourite cafe, the one with the faded yellow curtains. That was Mrs. Williams' pride and joy so they were surprised and saddened to see her leave. She didn't even look up to wave good-bye to her loyal customers as their light grey Subaru pulled away. Her husband, Perry, decided they would leave before they even told him he was gone. He said he could feel the winds turning. Everyone missed his wife more than his nattering; her blueberry pie was to die for. They all thought he was nuts to leave.
“It'll only mean a harder fall. Tim was going to get promoted before they decided to shift head office, remember?” Darius took a small steady bite out of his bread. That's all it looked like it was, a couple slices of bread. “He needed it too. They knew it. His kid's sick and everyone, even those head honchos, were supposed to be helping him to support his wife. She had to leave her job to take care of the wee one. He was so close; worked so hard; cared so much. I would have traded him positions if I thought it would help, but then we'd both be gone.”
“It looks like that'll happen any way. There's no one else for them to tell us to let go.” Jack pulled the tab off his can and looked at the dismal innards. There was a moment of silence as they remembered their friend who had to move across the country to live with his already downtrodden brother. Everyone seemed to be falling on hard times. He had stood by and watched as family after family, good friend after good friend, drove out of town at his command. They always got the middle man to do it. He began to dread the yellow notes left in the nook of his locker. There had been many departments in the factory and so he wasn't the only one to have the awful responsibility heaped on him. It didn't make it any easier when he told Jannet, a single mother of two, that it was her turn to go. She didn't cry though; he thought she would. She just watched him walk toward her, giving him a long stare with those empty brown eyes. Then she patted his shoulder, as though to give him comfort, and turned toward the exit. He didn't even get the words out of his mouth. Her house was empty even as he drove home that evening. There were only a small handful of would-be supervisors left now to run the almost forgotten machinery.
Jack was finished his lunch in five quick bites. Get it down while the nerves hadn't tightened his stomach too unbearably. “I didn't tell the wife.”
There was a short pause as the frank words were processed. “Save her emotions for a little while. Kindness is what that is, and bravery.” Darius rose from his chair and walked over to drink his fill of water from the community sink. Jack wasn't sure if his actions were due to chivalry or fear but he appreciated his friend's support.
When Darius sat back down Jack asked him about his family. “The little ones are giving Tiff a run for her money. Rough little vagabonds, those ones. But they're okay, we all are.” He chuckled without conviction.
“What about food, D. You got enough? We don't have kids and you've got – what - four?” Jack earnestly wanted to help. He and his wife had not been able to start a family under the recent conditions. They only just got married two summers ago and knew it would be unfair to bring a child into this wreck of situation.
“Naw, we're okay. The food bank takes care of us. They account for how many mouths you've got.” Darius leaned back and closed his eyes. “Do you think you'll move?”
The weather this summer seemed to be mirroring the dissipating town spirit. Not a drop of rain had fallen since early spring and the town was a quilt of beige postage-stamp front yards. The heat kept Liz indoors, not that there were any living plants left in the garden for her to tend. Jack had bought a small summer plant for her from the hardware store before the Petersons left but it didn't take long for the hot, dry air to crisp its leaves and wither the flowers. Keeping its soil wet was hard since they had to monitor their water use from the well out back. Already the water was starting to have a funny taste about it. Luckily, the grocery store went last; another departure that Jack instigated. Bryan was a good worker whose wife and daughters ran the MaryMart down town. The only food around now was whatever the small Quick Stop could get in and whatever was shipped in from the surrounding cities for the food bank. Even the local farmers had nothing to give with this weather.
“Not sure if we have a choice. We'll get nothing for our property and we've got nothing to put down on a new home, let alone to rent... but if we stay here, well, there is no here anymore.” Jack felt trapped. No where to go; no point in staying. The only people who had decided to stay were the people who had either lived in Haythorne forever or who had hopeless wishes that these hard times would pass. Darius and Jack were exactly those people, respectively. “It's become a pretty sad living around here D.”
“Did I ever tell you my great grandad was one of the first to lay his roots in this peaceful little town.” Darius sighed and smiled knowingly as he remembered. He still hadn't opened his eyes and it seemed as though he was in another place. “He built the house you live in, and many more besides. We coaxed people here with a dream of the simple life and we lived it. Oh boy, did we live it. Only my sister went into the big city in stead of staying here. Bigger things, she said! There's nothing better than having a place you can truly call home as far as I'm concerned. You had a taste, Jack, just a taste of the oasis that this desert once was. The family worked damn hard to make this little map-dot worthy of housing a great company like this.” He gestured around the dank and dismal room while opening his jet-black eyes. Jack looked around too and they both couldn't help but laugh, long and ironically, at the prospect of that dingy, little break room being part of a world renowned business. It was a chilling sound in such a hollow shell of a factory. They could see a few of their colleagues look up disconcertingly through the large jaded windows above the main floor but their laughter didn't die out for a good while longer.
“You know,” Darius declared as their laughter died down, “I think I'll go see what the big hula-baloo is about with that big city my sister's always raving on.” Jack looked at him incredulously but Darius seemed serious and began to have that twinkle in his eye again that had all but vanished in the recent months. “The kids haven't seen anything but this little town. Christ, I barely have! The only way my pop could have founded this place was if he tried a bunch of other places out first so why don't I give it a try too.”
Jack was dumbfounded. How could his friend, who only knew of the pleasures this town could provide, who's forefathers had built this town from nothing, who had to cart four kids around with him wherever he went, be looking at leaving his forever home with such passion and lack of inhibition. “What about a job, D? The wife? The kids!?”
“Well, I'll have to see. It looks like I'm going to walk in my pop's shoes for a little while and try to break some new ground.”
The clock signaled the end of their break and they made their way slowly to the ominous other end of the room. The hallway here smelled unlike their greasy, metallic hall at the other end. This one smelled of mildewy papers and wasted ink. The first door to the left was Darius' stop while Jack had a long walk to the last office at the end of the hall. None of the lights flickered here.
Darius clapped Jack quickly on the back, gave him a quick but subtle wink, and disappeared into the room he had been beckoned to with that horrid yellow paper sticking out of his back pocket. Jack's steps came less freely, each one seeming to echo off of the thin pasty walls surrounding him. The hall lengthened as he walked, tipping and turning so that he misstepped repeatedly and had to hold onto the walls. They seemed to give when he touched them so he recoiled and righted himself only to find that the door he sought was surprisingly right in front of him. Looking back, the hall was really only about seven metres long. He gave a gentle knock and went through the threshold.
The room within was forgivable. There were pictures of family on the yellowing walls, intermingled with degrees and certificates. His boss, Mr. Hoffstead, was just putting some loose papers into one of the many boxes surrounding his desk.
“Ah, Mr. LeTrelle, good to see you again. Come and sit down.” There was an air of sadness in the way he greeted Jack which told him the news before they even needed to discuss it. Jack sat in the only seat available, a musty brown-orange computer chair which was so rusted at the wheels that it didn't roll anymore.
“Are you going somewhere, sir? You've a lot of boxes in this small office of yours. Moving to a bigger one maybe?” Jack was being facetious and didn't care if the boss knew it because the boss also knew what the company's decision was doing to this small charming town that was supposed to be Jack's dream-come-true, happily-ever-after, no worries for the rest of his life, home. It wasn't the boss' fault, of course. He only did what the CEO instructed, yet Jack still couldn't help but feel a little spiteful toward him.
Mr. Hoffstead shook his head and sat on the worn leather chair behind his desk. He leaned back and linked his fingers in front of him. “Let's not beat around the bush Jack. You're a smart and hard-working young man. You know the decisions that have been made and the repercussions that have ensued. We've tried to hold on till the last possible minute for our strongest employees but the time has come to cut ties and move forward... for all of our sake.” He leaned forward and took out a pen from his breast pocket. “By the end of the week this plant will be shut down and the town will no longer exist to the outside world. All that will be left is the United Way to feed all the straggling townsfolk who can't look to the future and find a better way.”
He was filling out another yellow form. Jack hated that stupid pad of paper almost as much as his boss' nonchalant demeanor about the whole situation. Didn't he see, when he drove into work, in his fancy Beamer from who knows where, all the destruction that has happened to the lives of people who once lived and worked here.
“I understand.” Was all Jack could muster.
“It's time, Jack. We all need to move forward and start on a new path to prosperity. I'll be in a new country and you'll be on the path to a brighter horizon!” It sounded as though he had said that before. Probably to the last few people he's thrust out the door. With that Mr. Hoffstead stood and showed Jack to the door. “Best wishes for the future--”
He had barely finished his sentence before the door closed with a soft thud. The hall seemed darker when Jack came out of the office, as though they had already begun to turn off all the machines and shut down the power. He had no choice but to tell Liz now. They had to go. The factory was a blur on his way out; the sun blinding in the parking lot outside. He didn't see Darius, but his car wasn't in the lot anymore so he must have went home to start packing. It saddened Jack to think of the heritage his friend would loose in leaving this place. To uproot those children is a crying shame but you gotta do what you gotta do, I guess. Maybe he would go live with his sister in the city, Jack knew Darius wouldn't have any more equity in his home here than anyone else who took off.
It was hard for Jack to take the disappointment with as much grace as Darius seemed to have. In coming home early, Jack saw Lizzie at the window as though she had been expecting him. It took all of his strength to get out of the car to face her quenched dreams of this perfect paradise of a home. He didn't say a word as he entered through the front door but her arms were immediately around him.
“I'm so glad you've finally come home.” Her eyes were reddened with tears but they weren't sad. Jack's confusion must have shown because she smiled in her special way. “It's time Jack. We should have left ages ago but I could see how badly you wanted to make this work and I did too but... It's just time.” She let go of him and brought out a few boxes from the back storage room. They packed them together; only the things they needed. A few hours later they had their life's work packed up into a small Chevy and they were ready to go.
On their way up Main St. they passed MaryMart, the old Williams' cafe and the hardware store. Everything seemed to have lost its glow. There were no colours, everything was grey and boarded up. They pulled into Darius' driveway just as the little, rambunctious twins were scrambling into the backseat of their mini-van. Tiff was yelling something at the eldest from the front seat and Darius, seeing Jack coming from up the road, set down the box in his hands and leaned against his mailbox. Jack was surprised to see that he was smiling still, a real smile, like in the old days.
“Hey buddy, guess where we're going.” Darius exclaimed as they looked out at him with their windows down.
“With that smile on your face, I'd have to guess Donald Trump's house.” Darius' good humour was contagious so Liz and Jack couldn't help but smile back.
“The world is our oyster Jack, we're off to follow in the footsteps of my great grandad. My sister said we could stay with her for a while and I figure that should give me enough time to find another paradise to call my own. She even lined up a part-time job for me. Says it could be full-time within three months, can you believe that! Here's her number, give me a call when you settle down.” Darius ripped a piece off of the corner of the yellow paper that was still tucked in in back pocket and scribbled down a few numbers and an address. Tiff called out from the van, even louder this time, clearly meant for Darius in stead of the kids. “It's time Jack, don't forget, home is where the heart is.” He shoved the box into the overstuffed trunk and slammed it shut. With a quick glance back he shouted, “call me!” and proceeded to hop in the driver's seat.
Jack took off down the road at a good clip, not eager to leave behind his good memories, but rather, making sure that they all stayed with them in their little car roaming down Highway 17. That way none of them would be able to jump ship and stay locked in the little ghost town they were now willing and able to escape. He never thought he would ever have to escape from there but here is was, driving as fast as possible in the other direction. He looked at Lizzie and realized that Darius was right. The reason he loved that town so much was because she had. With her there beside him, they would make the next town just as wonderful; and the next, and the next. Jack began to think that maybe they could build a new paradise somewhere else, much like Darius' ancestors had done with this old town. He smiled to himself with hope in his heart and the horizon seemed a lot more welcoming than it ever had in the past. It was in that moment, when everything seemed to be lost and the future was all in the abyss of the potentially petrifying unknown, that he realized one of the secrets to life: it goes on.
