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.

on the shoulder and said, "Why don't we try our best to calm these folks down before

"You think we should get more milk from

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 curious about a couple of people that

"Who are

signed out about eight this morning, and she knows good and

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

"Okay, but then there's Lynnette Glover. She

a rush to get out of here that

in a dismal fashion. "Hmm, that poor little thing, she doesn't need a shelter, she needs

"She sure looked like she did." Meredith added before

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

their lives were so disheveled that being inside an overcrowded shelter was

other 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 her up from off the

now." Audra soothed the girl. "Let me see if you're

was those heathen brothers of hers that knocked her down!" A

over to the bed where her mother was seated, Audra examined the child's body from top to

hurt yourself, honey?"

my knee." The

those fools to stop all that runnin' around!" The mother continued

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 happened to glance at one of the two televisions that were playing in the area.

he

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

when they replace characters like that. They did the same with 'Sanford and Son'

ladies continued on and on before Audra extended her hand and stated, "My name is Audra

name is Jo-Ann, and this my youngest, Andinika.