Carl looked around the yard and thought that he’d try to get one of his vehicles running. After selling the 67 Ford pick-up he had some room to work on one of them. Maybelle was getting tired of walking into town. Maybelle was getting tired of walking everywhere. Carl didn’t like to drive her around and didn’t like to let her drive one of his vehicles. Maybe he’d get one of the smaller cars running for her...later.

With Carl, a lot of things were later. Carl accepted his lot in life. He was poor; he was always poor; he was always going to be poor. He also didn’t do anything to change that. His attitude was, “Ah, well, what ya gonna do?”

Carl and Maybelle didn’t have a lot. The trailer was almost paid for and the rent on the lot was real reasonable. They could chop all the wood they needed. They grew some vegetables out back. Maybelle did that. Carl didn’t like to work the soil that much. He was a miner at Shaft#23. It didn’t work regular too much and that suited Carl. It gave him time to do other things.

One of the other things was hanging around Snookies. Snookie owned the local garage. It was a gas station-garage. It wasn’t one of the new convenience stores. Snookie sold gas. repairs, car parts, and cigarettes. Maybe a little shine out the back. Snookie didn’t do a lot of repair work in that the poor folks did their own or did without. Most of the area folks were poor.

Here in Wabash County you had three kinds of folks. You had a few well off, like Squire Davis; you had some of the middle class, like the Sheriff; mostly you had the poor, like everyone else. There wasn’t any industry here. You had farmers, miners, and that’s about it.

Most folks here didn’t graduate from high school. The ones that did were considered to be “ejucated”. Unless you went on to college, and few did, it didn’t matter. “Ejucated” or not there was no work except the mine and that was a sometime thing. You did have your farmers but they were all poor as the land. The land here was pretty much played out. The yuppies or whatever you want to call them had no interest in living here so the land wasn’t worth all that much. Darn folks thought they was too good to live here. They were.

“Hey, Carl”, Snookie hollered out from underneath Squire Davis’ car. The Squire was a good customer. He paid upfront and never bitched about the price. He also was one of the few people who wasn’t going to work on his own car. While Snookie called most people by their Christian name, he called Squire Davis Squire Davis. Snookie wasn’t the only one who could work on the Squire’s car.

“Hey, Snookie. What’s new?”

“What’s new? Shoot, there ain’t been nuthin new here in years. Old Charlie Smith lookin for some block layers, you be interested. Pays minimum and figures on three to four days.”

“Hmm, maybe I’ll ask him. I’d like to work on one of the cars for Maybelle but I could use the cash. The mine been down a long time. Shoot, I don’t mind layin block. I don’t care for Charlie Smith much. That ole boy want too much for what he pay”, Carl replied.

“Well, maybe that’s why he got money and we don’t”, Snookie answered.

“Maybe. I reckon I’d rather be poor than cheap and be payin nothin for hard work.”

“Well, you are poor. I don’t personal see where bein poor be so great. I ain’t never had much money, so’s I can’t say for certain, but I think I’d rather have money than not.” That was Snookie’s philosophy.

“I reckon.”

“I reckon, too”.

“Course, money don’t buy happiness as they say. Just having a bunch of cash don’t make you all happy,” Carl added.

“No, no it don’t. That’s true, Carl. But, I got to tell you somethin. I’d still like to try to be happy and have some cash money to spend. I reckon I could be happier eatin steak than rabbit or bear; I reckon I could be happier drinkin Jack Daniels rather than shine. Wouldn’t make me sad to have a new truck neither. I reckon I’d like to try that money thing.”

“Yea, I reckon”.

Clarence Williams came in. He lit his pipe as he listened to Carl and Snookie talking. Clarence worked the mine too, when it worked. When it didn’t, he did what was there. He wasn’t shy about work and he took what he could get. He got the job with Charlie Smith, laying block. Charlie was cheap as all get out but money was money. There wasn’t anyone else paying much for labor. He figured he took what was there or left or starved. Clarence wasn’t going anywhere and he wasn’t going hungry. He’d work for the Charlie Smith’s around here.

Clarence knew Carl did a lot of bitchin. He also knew Carl was just plain lazy. Carl liked the mine being a sometime thing. Carl was always lazy. He was just what people thought that folks around here were. Heck, even a dummy like Joe Bob at least tried to better himself. Not Carl, though. Unless this was the best Carl could do. Well, maybe that is it. Well, nothing to do about that. Carl at least married a good woman and had good kids. Guess a man can say that he says a lot. Maybelle could have done better. Maybelle should have done better. Carl really must have tricked her. Heck, maybe Maybelle’s not too bright. No, she must be. The kids had to get their smarts somewhere and Carl ain’t it. Carl was dumb as dirt.