Homelessness by Frederick K Foote

Homelessness by Frederick K Foote

Six pm in the kitchen of the Wheeler family consisting of Talbot, forty-five, his wife, Lexi, forty-two, their daughter Kia, twelve, and their son, Koy, age ten. Talbot’s father, Gunther, age eighty, rents the basement apartment.   

“Lexi, where are our kids? Please don’t tell me they are—”

“Ah, sweet MIA husband and father, your children are downstairs with your father.”

“Damn it! Why? You know he’s a horrible influence on them. We don’t want any more calls from their school about the crap he tells them.”

“We? There is no we here. I answer the calls. I go to meetings with the principal. For the last three months, you have been here maybe two or three days a month at most.”

“Lexi, we discussed this. Remember? This is the biggest deal I have ever worked on. If I bring this merger off, we will be the biggest software company in the world. Bigger than Microsoft. Bigger—”

“Talbot, you’re losing your family and your sanity for a company that is setting you up to fail. Baby, you need to step back and see what’s happening to you. To us.”

“Fuck! Lexi, I’m doing all of this for you. For us. I need your support. I can’t do this without you.”

“You need to stop, then. You lost me months ago, and you didn’t even notice.”

“Look, look. I’m too far in to back out. I put thousands of hours into this. I poured my soul into this.”

“Talbot, you are the acting CEO. If this deal of yours is so important, why aren’t you the CEO?”

“That’s complicated, but as soon as I—”

“Honey, when you were the COO, they were paying your subordinate more than they were paying you. That alone should tell you how much they value you or devalue you.”

“Yeah, but we got that straightened out. They gave me back pay and almost doubled my salary. That—”

“Nigger you are their house nigger. That was time to leave. What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Lexi, I put 12 years into this company. I’m the only Black executive. All eyes are always on me. All they need is an excuse to fire me. I worked like hell to make sure they never had that excuse. I outworked all those Ivy League motherfuckers. I can’t quit now. I won’t quit.”

“Shit! That makes no sense at all. Why stay with people that don’t want or appreciate you?” Lexi shakes her head in frustration. “Okay, okay, honey, go get your kids. They miss you.”

&&&

Kia and Koy are sitting on a leather sectional facing their grandfather. Talbot taps on the open door and enters. “Hey, Deadly Duo, I’m back. Come give me a hug.”

Koy jumps up and hugs his father. “Hey, Dad, are you going to be here all week? I have a match Thursday.”

Kia gives her father an unenthusiastic wave. “Hi, Dad. Grandpa is messing with our minds again. He says homelessness is not due to a housing shortage.”

Koy adds, “But the stuff Kia and I found says we need to build more homes to end homelessness. What do you say, Dad?”

Gunther smiles at his son. “Hey, there, stranger. I hardly recognize you.”

Koy hands Talbot his phone with the articles on homelessness.

Talbot returns his father’s smile. “Good to see you, Dad. I’m just doing what you always said. ‘Strike while the iron is hot.’”

Kia groans, “Are you going to be here for Koy’s tennis match or not?”

Talbot sits next to his daughter.

“I leave on Thursday but, but this non-stop travel will be over soon. I promise.”

Koy sighs, “You said that last time.”

Talbot embraces his son. “I know. I know. But I’m so close.”

The children exchange looks of exasperation.

Talbot glances at Koy’s phone. “Okay, look, I can help you with your homelessness question. You are right. In California, we need to build more homes to address homelessness. That’s a consensus of most experts and politicians.”

All three turn to look at Gunther.

“Well, I thought I taught you to question all experts. You got to think for yourself if you’re going to survive in this topsy-turvy world. Look, check your phones and tell me the size of the average single-family home in Cali.”

A minute later, Koy yells, “Two-thousand-three-hundred-sixty-five square feet. And, and with 2.5 occupants.”

Gunther gives Koy a thumbs up. “Good, man. You on the job. What do you think the home square footage was when I was a boy back in the 1950s?”

Kia laughs. “You meant cave square footage. Okay, okay, I got it. Nine hundred-eighty-three feet with 3.37 people.”

Gunther grunts, “So what does that tell you?”

Kia and Koy consult for a moment, and Kia says, “We could put about eight people in the big homes we have.”

Koy adds, “Yeah, but do we have enough home space for all the homeless?”

Talbot interrupts. “Unsheltered. The correct term is unsheltered.”

Kia bites her lip. “If we have about 150,000 homeless. I bet we have enough space for all the homeless.” She gives her dad a stern look. “Just in LA County alone.”

Koy addresses Gunther, “So, you are saying we have plenty of room for the homeless even if we never build a new house?”

Talbot waves his hand in dismissal. “That is an unworkable idea. Dad, would you share your 1,000 square feet with a dope addict, a schizophrenic, an ex-convict, a thief?”

“Son, I have. My brother Alston was addicted to heroin and alcohol when he was 12. My dad had some serious mental health problems.”

Kia frowns at her father, “All the unsheltered aren’t like that, Dad. Some are just families who couldn’t afford the high rents. You know that.”

Koy adds, “Yeah, even if we just found homes for families, that would be like crazy good.”

Talbot raises his hands in defeat. “Okay, but serious thinkers do not discuss that idea because it is unworkable.” Talbot stands. “Besides, it’s time to go up for dinner.”

Kia snaps, “But Gramps is right. We have plenty of room to house the homeless, but we won’t share.”

Koy folds his arms and adds, “Yeah! We a stingy-ass state.”

Lexi adds from the doorway. “My sister, Julia, has suffered from depression since she was a teenager. She lived down here in this apartment until she got married three years ago. We have five bedrooms and six baths upstairs. I would consider helping someone like my sister.”

Talbot stands and faces his wife. “Are you serious? We have children. These people can be dangerous.”

Lexi motions to the kids and Gunther, “Time to eat. We can talk about it over dinner.”

Kia shakes her head in frustration. “Plenty of rooms but no room for the unsheltered.” She spits out the last word.

Koy adds, “We are like, so wasteful. That’s so wrong.”

Kia responds, “I bet there are some people who would share. We should work on that, Koy.”

Lexi asks Gunther, “Father-in-law, are you homeless if you have a home, but you’re never there?”

Gunther smiles at Lexi as he responds. “Daughter-in-law, that is a heck of a good question. I guess your home is where your heart is.”

Talbot groans. “Come on, guys. Everyone knows where my heart is, right?”

They had a lively dinner discussion.

* * * * THE END * * * *

Copyright Frederick K Foote 2023