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.

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

get more milk from downstairs?" Meredith

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. "I think we'll skip roll call for tonight." She studied the page. "But I am

"Who are

and her three kids. She signed out about eight this morning, and she knows

extra room for her and the kids. I'm not

there's Lynnette Glover. She signed out

get out of here that she

a dismal fashion. "Hmm, that poor

like she did."

bit longer before placing it back onto the wall and taking a long gander at the weary multitude, from women fanning themselves and their

Audra that felt sympathy for the ones gathered inside the crumbling building. The fact that their lives were so disheveled that being inside an overcrowded shelter

her eyes scanned before she caught sight of a little black girl being knocked to the floor by two little black boys. Immediately, Audra skated over to the crying child and helped

now." Audra soothed the girl. "Let me see if

of hers that knocked her down!" A plump, black

Carefully scooting the girl back over to the bed where her mother was seated, Audra examined

hurt yourself, honey?"

banged my

stop all that runnin' around!" The mother continued

else to do." She then reached into her apron's pouch and pulled out a Band-Aid. "I carry these around everywhere I go." Audra commented. "They come in real handy in these situations." Gently, Audra placed the bandage on the girl's knee. She then

mother replied, "Shoot, I thought he really

"It's just not the same show without him." Audra protested. "It's too bad we only have four, six and ten on these

when they replace characters like that. They did

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

and this my youngest, Andinika. Her brothers are runnin' around here somewhere, the little