The Curse of 1977 (Book 2)

Saint Joseph's Women's Shelter

It wasn't a particularly big building, but it was sizeable enough to temporarily house 76 women and children. But it just had to be on such an evening, an evening where the temperatures were into the eighties past 9 p.m. , that the beloved air-conditioner would end up going on the fritz.

All around inside the large room where everyone was gathered were twin sized beds where mothers, black, white and Hispanic, were all fanning themselves while either trying to keep control of their wandering children or watching one of the two televisions that was playing. The smell of the room consisted of underarm odor and soiled diapers. It was stuffy and humid, and the shrill noises of little ones crying and whining only made the already miserable situation all the more excruciating.

Clear in the back of the room, next to the kitchen, was one older, black lady, Audra, one younger, white woman, Meredith and an old, black man, Clyde. All three were huddled at the fuse box. Both Audra and Meredith were gawking at the various switches, while Clyde, with his flashlight, kept flicking switches from left to right in an attempt to revive the ill-fated cooling system.

"Maybe there's something downstairs that blew out." Audra suggested while taking glances back and forth from the fuse box to the increasingly impatient crowd in the other room.

"I don't think messing with those fuses is gonna help much of anything." Meredith moaned.

Without giving her so much as an eyeball, Clyde continued doing what he was doing while irritably saying, "Woman, I served in Iwo Jima for two years! I can handle this!"

Audra and Meredith just gave each other the most nonchalant stares as if to say the old man were more off his rocker than first believed.

"You were a cook in Iwo Jima, Clyde." Audra twisted her lips.

"I still served!" Clyde fired back before pulling away from the fuse box. "I'm going downstairs to see something!"

Audra and Meredith just sniggered as Clyde turned and stormed away down into the cellar. "Is it me or does he get more cantankerous with every passing day?" Meredith laughed out loud.

"Child, that man was born that way." Audra laughed back as she began for the living area with Meredith following in behind.

Both women stood at the threshold and observed with concerned eyes the gathered humanity that seemed to be on the brink of melting down at a moment's notice. All Audra could do was shake her head in dismay while fanning her face.

"And all that mayor of ours wants to do is build a subway." She griped.

"Today it's a subway system, tomorrow it'll be football stadium." Meredith glumly stated.

the masses before she patted Meredith on the shoulder and said, "Why don't we try our best to

should get

knows we need to ration what we still have left." Audra then reached over to the wall where a tablet was hanging by a single nail. She took the tablet and began reading off names that were listed from top to bottom on the page.

"Who are

out about eight this morning, and

remember her saying that her mother may have an extra room

then there's Lynnette Glover. She signed out yesterday

to get out of here that she didn't even bother to tell me

"Hmm, that poor little thing, she doesn't need

like she did." Meredith added before going out into

at the weary multitude, from women fanning themselves and their children, to little ones running in reckless abandon like

inside an overcrowded shelter was to be their final resort

black girl being knocked to the floor by

"There, there now." Audra soothed the girl. "Let me see

was those heathen brothers of hers that knocked her down!" A plump, black lady

Carefully scooting the girl back over to the bed where

"Did you hurt

"I banged my knee." The girl

"I told those fools to stop all that

the bandage on the girl's knee. She then happened to glance at one of the two televisions that were playing in the area. The one set that was nearest to them was

mother replied, "Shoot, I thought he really was dead until I saw him

the same show without him." Audra protested. "It's too bad we

when they replace characters like

The two ladies continued on and on before Audra extended her hand and stated, "My name is Audra Watson. When

"My name is Jo-Ann, and this my youngest,