Chapter 10

Henry pulled into the bowling alley parking lot. He had been here a few times. Went bowling with friends, but bowled so bad he never went back. When he walked inside it was pretty quiet.

He could smell coffee coming from the little cafe on the side. He head a few pins being knocked down. As he looked out over the lanes, he saw one family sharing some time together. He thought, that could be me and my kid some day.

Other than the family of bowlers he didn’t see anyone else. He walked over to the cafe and grabbed a cup of coffee and put his dime in the money cup. He took it over to the red table and sat down. Wonder who runs this place. They on vacation?

A bald man came out of the back office. He had a big gut and the bottom button was left undone. Probably too fat to get it buttoned. The guy noticed Henry sitting there and walked up to him.

“Can I help you kid”? Henry stood up and extended his left arm out. Shaking hands Henry said, ” I  heard you are looking for a set-up man. I came right over when I heard about it. Are you still looking for someone”?

Carl, the owner said, “Ya, I am still looking, who’s interested”?

“I am. I need some more money. Got a kid coming on the way and I need more hours. I work over part-time at the grocery store bagging groceries. It is an ok job, but won’t do enough for me”, Henry said.

“You got your girl knocked up huh kid. Pretty stupid thing to do if you ask me, but who’s asking? This job pays every week. It is a late-nite job. You come in around 7 and you work until we close at midnite. It pays sixty cents an hour. You interested”?

“I sure am sir. When can I start”?

“How about tonight? My name is Carl but you can call me boss”. Henry reached out his hand and shook on  the deal with Carl and putting his hat back on he turned and left, yelling back at the guy, “See ya tonight and thanks”.

Henry was smiling and whistling his way to his car. He had done it. He had landed himself another part-time job. With these two jobs he now had a full-time job. Wait til I tell Jane and the guys.

He got in his car and took off a little faster than he should. Dirt scattered in the parking lot. He saw a cop sitting on the next corner but he must have been eating his donut as he didn’t do a thing.

He went over to Jane’s house and jumped out of the car and raced to the house. Banging on the door, it wasn’t long before it opened, with Jane standing there. Henry grabbed her by the waist and picked her up and swung her around. She started giggling and telling him,” put me down Henry. Right now”. Henry ignored her as he continued to swing her.

“I got another job doll. I am going to be working over at the bowling alley. Going to be a night job. I am going to bag groceries through the day and then go set-up pins at night”. Jane’s face went from giggles to frowns.

“When we going to have time to see each other Henry? If you work day and night when you going to fit me in”? Henry let her down and tried to think of the perfect answer. He didn’t want any fighting to start. He knew what he was doing was the right thing.

“Oh doll, you know I will be with you every minute I can. You know how much I love you. We are going to have to help mom and dad out when we start staying there. We can’t expect them to feed us every meal can we? This way we can have time together alone. We can go to the restaurant and get a burger, then we can go to our special spot and be together”. He winked at her and she recognized that wink. Sex, is that all men ever think about? Isn’t that how I got myself in this position, by having sex?

Jane smiled at him. She knew in her heart that he was right, but she was going to miss him. “So, when you going to start this new job”?

“Tonight at 7. Maybe you can come over and see me on my break. I got to get going doll. I have to be at work in in a few hours and I’m starving”. With this, he reached down and squeezed her real hard placing a hard kiss on her lips. She gasped for air, but when he turned around to wave as he was leaving he saw that smile. Her smile melted his heart every time he saw it. “Remember, next Saturday, you and me, getting hitched”. Jane had no time to respond as he climbed in his car and spinning his tires took off.

He drove home with his radio cranked. Patsy Cline was singing Crazy, and Henry thought to himself, ya crazy, crazy for you doll. He pulled in the drive and went inside. His mom was washing dishes and she smiled at him as he entered the room. As he was getting some ham out of the refrigerator, he said,”I got a job mom. I mean I got another job to go along with my baggers job. You won’t have to worry about me and Jane living here as much now mom. We won’t be any problem. We will try to find our own food to eat so you and dad won’t have to worry about your budget”.

He got the bread out and the ketchup and made himself two sandwiches. He poured himself a tall glass of milk and sat down at the table to eat. Carol remarked,” Honey you aren’t going to be any problem. It’s that girl you are going to have living here. I worry how she and I are going to get along. Does she talk much? You know I have my own routine and I don’t want someone yakking in my ear all day”.

“Ah mom, don’t worry. Jane’s quiet. She will stay out of your way. She will probably sleep a lot being pregnant. You won’t even know she is here”. With that his mom came over and tugged on his ear and smiled down at him. Then she turned and left the kitchen, the dishes being done.

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