THE KARMA KIDS

THE KARMA KIDS
By
Rick Haley
Word Count: 1168

         It was still a little before eight in the morning and Harry was already drunk and in a foul mood. Jesse awoke to his stepdad yelling at his mom yet once again. Jesse thought to himself that if only there was work for him and his mom, things would be better. But the stock market crashed and most businesses and industries were closed or about to. Nobody had work. Most men spent the day in line at the soup kitchens that were set up across the city for the countless poor of the city.
         So, begins another day of physical and verbal abuse in Jesse’s life. He wasn’t a bad kid; he was just a kid with dreams of a better life. At only nine years of age, life had both hardened and sculpted him to get creative to find any way to make a dime. It was usually a day of walking the railroad tracks looking for coal that had fallen from the passing steam trains or looking for scrap metal in the alleys and lots of the city. Just so his family would at least be partially warm at home, which was a fourth-floor, three-room apartment with only cold running water. It was just like the rest of the brick apartment buildings in the neighborhood. Except his was currently undergoing some repairs because a large portion of the brick had fallen off the facade and the city had forced the landlord to do something about it. It probably would have gone unnoticed by the city if the bricks hadn’t fallen on and ruined the cop car that was parked there because Harry had gotten out of hand at Kelly’s Bar downstairs yet once again.
         So, after relieving himself, Jesse attempted to flee the apartment but was confronted yet once again by his nemesis, Harry. At least this time he hadn’t hurt his mom again. So, Jesse took the slaps and roughed up without much resistance. Just a fat lip this time and orders to go stand in line at the soup kitchen so Harry didn't have to.
         Some life, Jesse thought as he ran down the stairs to meet up with George, or as Harry called him, “Meathead”. George was a bit thickheaded so in a way it was deserved. George had way of coming up with an idea, that more often than, not was doomed to fail from the beginning. Planning things through was not George’s strong suit.
         And so it began, that fateful day as Jesse and George headed to the Saint Mary’s soup kitchen. The problem arose as they got to 78th St. and found the city, in an effort to employ the unemployed, had decided to fix some pipes in the middle of it and had dug up the street making it impassable. That of course meant Goerge and Jesse had to walk for eight more blocks to get around the street construction. When Jesse said they should get going, George told him to go on alone. Goerge had an idea. When Jesse raised an eyebrow George just smiled mischievously and said to just come back his usual way and he’d be able to cross the street right here by the time he was returning home.
         Skeptical at best, Jesse just shrugged and went on his way. When Jesse arrived ant the spot where he had left George was dirt-covered and smiling, pointing to the two planks he had placed across the trench. “Go ahead Jesse, try it out! I been crossing it all day. Trust me”,he said full of confidence, which did not inspire Jesse one little bit. But being a loyal friend, what choice did Jesse have but to try it out. Hesitantly, Jesse put a foot on the planks. Surprisingly, they held firm. Jesse was both shocked and relieved. The last thing he needed was a broken leg. So, George has finally done something that didn’t end in disaster, Jesse thought to himself. And having successfully crossed the trench they headed back to their neighborhood.
As they rounded the corner of their block, they stopped short. The street was a mess, the scaffolding that the masons were using to fix Jesse’s building was all collapsed and lying in the street. “What the heck?”, Jesse exclaimed. George went white and silent. “Umm, George? Where did you get all that stuff you used for your bridge?” Jesse asked. “Umm, you know, just around ya know.”. George sheepishly replied. “Great George. Just great.”’ Jesse snorted and started toward the local catastrophe.
         They arrived at his building after convincing the cops, inspectors, and various other adults he lived there. He learned that a man had been injured and sent to the hospital with multiple injuries but was expected to survive.
It seemed that Harry had drunkenly made his way out of the building and headed toward the door of the bar when the whole thing collapsed on him. Several witnesses said Harry had bumped into the support of the scaffolding on his way in the bar and got mad and started violently shaking it because he lost his temper when it collapsed on him. One of the local cops said, “Harry only has himself to blame for this. Idiot drunk.” “He’s lucky no one else was hurt or worse.”, he added.
         With that Jesse ran up to his apartment in search of his mother with George following. Jesse’s mom was calmly sitting at the kitchen table having a cup of tea when they entered. She smiled and hugged both boys and sat again. “How you doing Mom?”, Jesse asked. “I’m actually doing pretty well, just enjoying the peace and quiet for a change.”, she replied. “So, how’s Harry?”, George asked quietly. “Oh, I imagine he’s pretty pissed off right now!”, she snickered. “Two broken legs and arm and some ribs. Serves the idiot right if you ask me.” She chortled.
         “The added bonus is we don’t have to feed him for quite a while now.”, she added. “How long do they expect him to be in the hospital?”, Jesse asked. “Oh, not long in the hospital, now jail? That’s another matter! There a lot of damage from his stupidity. Plus, because it damaged several cars and a city vehicle, and it was intentional…” she trailed off. The cops downstairs said not to plan on him being here for a few Christmases anyway.”, She chuckled.
         “Aww Ma, I’m sorry.”, Jesse comforted and hugged his mom. “Don’t be Jesse! I’m not!” she smilingly said. “Serves him right!” “Well then let’s have some of this soup and bread you got today.” “George? Would you like to join us?”, Mrs. McMillan asked. “No thank you, Mrs. McMillan, I don’t seem to have much of an appetite right now for some reason.”, George responded. George turned to leave and gave Jesse a quick wink and left for his own home. Jesse just smiled to himself and felt like all was right in the world for him and Mom now.