Calamity in America (35 page)

A couple of different reporters had tried to interview both of us but neither of us would talk to them.  The same with the customers who came and asked us about the incident.  We just said we didn’t want to talk about it and wanted to put the event in the past. 

But word apparently got around.  I could see that some of our regular customers seemed to have a little more respect for me now.  It was nothing blatant because they had always been nice to me, but now they seemed to be slightly different.  I was maybe not just a nice girl they knew but more of an equal, or maybe more like someone who proved to be deserving of their respect.  A couple of our regulars shook my hand and expressed how happy they were that neither of us was hurt.

Things between Jack and I were both the same and different somehow.  The incident did not drive a wedge between us and neither of us talked about it.  But there was something that was different in our friendship.

We were the same people and we did the same things as before.  We lived our lives both separately and together just like before the incident happened.  Many times I caught him just looking at me without saying anything.  And I have to honestly say he found me doing the exact same thing on many occasions also.  I often thought about what it would be like if the shootout had turned out differently.  I tried to imagine a life without Jack a couple of times but just the thought put me into a very bad mood, and I tried never to think that way again.

But then deer season was upon us and the shop was incredibly busy.  This year I just did not have the time to go deer hunting like I had last year.  I wanted to go deer hunting but the shop was open every day during the season, instead of being closed two days every week like was normally the case.  I couldn’t leave Jack there to operate the shop by himself so I just did not go deer hunting.  It wasn’t like it was a very big deal or anything.

When season closed and things got back to normal I was not surprised that Jack asked me to go out to a fancy restaurant to celebrate.  He came to my place and picked me up and I was rather surprised at how dressed up he was.  I admit, I had on a rather fancy dress that I had bought (but had never worn because it was just out of place in the places I normally went).

So we were a fashionably-dressed couple when we showed up at the restaurant he had picked out and made reservations at, something we never did before.

This was certainly no café or hamburger joint and, dressed up like we were, we fit right in with the other patrons in the restaurant.  When we got the menus I was shocked at the prices. When Jack saw me start to say something he stopped me.

“The sky is the limit tonight.  Order the most expensive thing if it is something you want to try.”

I admit I did not even know what many of the items on the menu even were, but I had never eaten lobster and that is what I ordered.   Jack had some kind of a steak.  He also ordered wine for both of us.  That was really something new.

It was a wonderful meal in every way.  I found I liked the lobster and even the wine (which was new to me) tasted good and fit in with this extravagant evening.  Here I was, a poor girl with no education who lived in an ancient trailer house who was dressed to the nines for the first time in my life and at a very fancy restaurant amongst all these rich people.  I had a well-dressed and handsome escort.  It was like a dream come true that just about every girl dreams about.  

Then at the end of this dream something totally unexpected happened.

Chapter 11

The meal was long-done but we were lingering, sipping the wine.  Jack got up and came around the small table and kneeled down on one knee.

“Since that first time I saw you when you came into the shop, I have been in love with you.  I have been careful not to show you how much I do love you because you made it plain that you did not want a boyfriend.  But then those robbers came into the store and I thought I might possibly lose you like I lost my Dad.  I can not wait any longer.

“April, will you marry me?”

Then he opened the small box that he had concealed in one of his big hands and there was a ring with a big stone that picked up all the lights from the restaurant and sparkled like a thousand bright stars. 

He looked at me and I could now plainly see the love he had for me.  Love like I had never experienced before in my life.  And at the same time I realized that when the robbers had come into the shop my only concern had been to protect Jack from harm.  Not myself but Jack.  Now I knew that was because I loved Jack and it was something totally new to me.  But I did love Jack and, looking back, I could picture all the times he had looked at me and now I knew what I had seen in his eyes each of those times that I had not recognized at the time.  It was with love that he looked at me.  And I think I must have loved him for quite some time but I had just never admitted it to myself.

“You should say something, you know.”

“Yes.  Yes, I will marry you.  A thousand times, yes.”

I leapt up from my chair and almost knocked him over when I threw myself into his waiting arms.

The room erupted in clapping and cheering.  Apparently everyone must have heard or seen what was happening at our little table.  And I guess I might have answered a little loudly, but I certainly do not regret it for a second.  I wanted the whole world to know.    

Somehow Jack managed to get the ring on my finger and when he did I raised my hand in the air and spun completely around so everyone could catch a glimpse of the sparkle now on my finger and see the happiness I felt.  Then our lips met for the first time and I knew that no matter what life might bring our way we would always have each other, and together we would face anything the world threw at us.

Our dinner date was done.  I was way too excited to sit down again.  And I certainly did not want to let go of Jack even for a second.  Somehow Jack paid the bill and we exited the building and we found ourselves outside. 

I don’t think I was the only one who was excited because once we got outside Jack lifted me up and spun me around and then showed me what a real kiss really was, and not just once.  When he finally pulled back I showed him that I was a quick study and kissed him back.

The next couple of weeks were a whirlwind of activity for both of us.  We decided not to have a real wedding.  So the following Monday (Jack’s shop was closed every Sunday and Monday) we went to the county courthouse and walked out legally married.  It worked out well because the courthouse was only open on Mondays and Thursdays now due to budget cuts. 

While there, we added each other’s name to the deeds of our respective properties.  We did the same at the banks where the other’s name was added to each account.  While this was going on we had posted signs at the shop and placed a small add in the local paper announcing that the shop would be closed for a week.

Jack had bought us plane tickets and reserved a room in Hawaii for our honeymoon.  I told him that we shouldn’t spend money so extravagantly.  That led to quite a discussion.

“I have a bunch of money from my father’s life insurance policy and the shop still makes a good enough profit.  I think we should spend some of it before it is worthless.”

“Why would the money ever be worthless?”

“Once again our government (working through the Federal Reserve Bank) has started a very aggressive money printing plan that they call QE5.  They have done some of this before but this time they are going all out.  Anyone knows that if you suddenly have a massive supply of something the value will go down.  In this case we are talking about the value of the Dollar going down.  Way, way down many people think.  So we should spend the money now while we can still get some value out of it.”

“If that is true we should spend the money on real things so we have something to show for the money, not just waste it on a vacation.”

“It’s not a vacation, it’s our honeymoon.  And we have more than enough money saved up.  And we do have all the merchandise that is in the gun shop.  We own that free and clear.  I don’t know what else to buy with the money.”

“We should buy a bunch of food.  Like a whole bunch maybe.  And maybe we could think of more things we could use.  If what you say is true and money becomes almost worthless some things will still be valuable.  Like food, because everyone needs that.”

We talked about it some more and eventually drove into the city and went to Walmart where I used to work.  I remembered that there was a section in the grocery area for big quantities of food in gallon sized cans and some in buckets. 

I showed Jack the area and we read some of the cans.  The food was freeze-dried and, on the cans, it said it would store for ten to twenty years.  We bought most of what was available on the shelves, which wasn’t all that much because the shelves here were mostly bare.

When we got back home Jack went on the computer (he was into the computer thing) and ordered a very large amount of what we learned was called Long Term Storage food from Walmart.  Delivery would be after we returned from our honeymoon trip so that would not be a problem.

Our honeymoon in Hawaii was fantastic.  There were many firsts for me.  First time on an airplane, first time ever seeing the ocean, first time on a real vacation, and first time being married.  With the crappy economy some things were better and some were not. 

The hotel room was way cheaper than they once were I guess, but the airfare was higher, and the number of available flights to pick from was very limited.  The beaches were certainly not crowded but at the large hotel where we stayed we were warned about the dramatic increase in crime.  I felt very vulnerable without my pistol but I did bring two knives in my checked bag.  Since working at the gun shop I had upgraded from the cheap knives I had originally bought at yard sales to high quality, tactical knives that were specifically designed for defense/offense.

I carried at least one of the knives the entire time we were there, except when all I had on was my bikini (then one was wrapped in my towel).  Jack is a big guy and I think that might have deterred some would-be crooks from bothering us.

Though I thought the honeymoon was extravagant I loved every minute of it and I am very glad Jack insisted we go.  When our time was up I was reluctant to get on the plane to fly home.  It was such a wonderful time.

Once home, the shipment of all the food Jack had ordered came in and we packed it away at our home.  We finished moving all my stuff from my place that we had left before the honeymoon.  Jack was surprised at all the cash money I had stashed here and there around my place.  I did not put it in our bank account but stashed it around his (now our) place instead.  And I made sure Jack knew where I put it all.

We got a bunch of used guns in for the shop also.  One of the pawn shops in the city (the one I found out Jack had bought my ring from (smart shopper that he was)) had made a deal with Jack to unload half their stock of guns to him.  They now had way too many guns on hand to even display half of them. 

Jack had worked out a very reasonable deal with the other pawn shop and now our shop was plumb full of guns, most of which were used at good prices.  Jack said that, except for special orders, he would not be ordering any new guns.

With all the guns now in stock we decided to place a large order for ammunition during the slow time of winter.  Again it was mainly to transfer some of our cash reserves into tangible items.  The ammo order was a very large one with Jack ordering double what he had sold the previous year.

We did the same with a big order of reloading supplies also.  The gun shop was now bursting at the seams with merchandise.  And very few customers.  

Winter was the slow time for the shop and with the very crappy economy the store was even slower.  But we knew and expected that to be the case.  We even added a new line of merchandise at the shop.  Now we were selling (or trying to sell) survival food and long term storage food.  We cared little if it sold or not because we considered it our backup supply for our own future use.

The winter was a long one and we received quite a lot of snow.  The snow really put a strain on the city and county budgets.  Snow removal was done, but with the budget cuts by both the city and the county, reduced manpower resulted in very slow snow removal. 

It was not uncommon for it to snow again before the previous snowfall had been removed from the streets and roads.  That caused a lot of problems.  Years back, Jack and his dad had bought an old pickup that they kept parked in back of the shop with a plow on the front.  They never licensed it and just used it during the winter to plow out the store parking lot, so at least our lot was always plowed out.

Chapter 12

The winter was a tough one in many ways.  The weather was tough and the economy was tough.  People were selling their stuff just so they could pay their heating bills.  It was not an uncommon day at the gun shop that we paid out more money buying guns from people than we made selling stuff.  Actually, this was the new normal situation.

Our food display that we had put in on a whim was actually selling, which surprised both me and Jack.  This made us want to stock more of the food, both the buckets and the big gallon cans.  But with buying all the used guns, and with the big overstock order of ammunition that we had received, space was an issue at the small shop. 

We had plenty of storage room at Jack’s place (now our place) but, legally speaking, all shop-owned firearms had to be stored at the gun shop.  Any of the other retail items could be stored anywhere, but all the guns had to be left on-site.  We did have some items stored at home but this was not always a handy situation.  One of our regular customers heard Jack and I talking about our space problem and suggested a possible answer.