It's Hard
The loaf of bread is stale. It is always on the wooden table in the
kitchen. It is there because sometimes it's the only food the family
have to eat. After traveling across the sea, the Boones never got
themselves up and going again. The father was unable to hold a job. He
had a skill, fishing. Too discouraged to lift a fishing rod or to put
bait on his hook, he sat in front of the t.v. with the sound turned down
and let colorful cartoon characters pass by while he waited for the
commercials. No, his father had never grown up.
The waters in this part of Atlantic City were so polluted fishermen were giving up their jobs quickly and headed further into the city. They hoped to find work in construction or in a factory. Nathan never did find a job lasting over six months. He never left home. Leaving his brood his brood of three children and a memory of a dead wife and mother was not an option.
The oldest child, sixteen year old, James, carried the load for the family. He sold newspapers. Selling papers never brought in enough money. He mowed lawns, ran errands and painted apartments and houses where the walls had turned almost black with dirt. Whenever he caught a girl, he asked her to help buy and cook easy boxed and canned suppers for his brothers and sister. Tuna salad seemed to be the favorite quick pick while the girls were getting as hard to catch as a big fish. They had their agendas: staying popular and looking pretty in the newest fashion and wanting dates who had good part-time jobs. No one could blame them.
Nathan wanted more than a good job. He wanted to go to college. After hearing other kids talk, he knew it was a hopeless idea. Was there any place on this earth where you didn't need that green stuff? He didn't care. He would continue to draw and paint. That made him happier than some of his girlfriends. When painting, he felt as though he were flying on the ocean in a ship he had built and painted. There was no limitation of time. There was only eternity. Chance to discover places where there were no worries about a brother and sister, girls, jobs and a father who looked as sad as an old walrus lost at sea or a mother whom he missed deeply.
The waters in this part of Atlantic City were so polluted fishermen were giving up their jobs quickly and headed further into the city. They hoped to find work in construction or in a factory. Nathan never did find a job lasting over six months. He never left home. Leaving his brood his brood of three children and a memory of a dead wife and mother was not an option.
The oldest child, sixteen year old, James, carried the load for the family. He sold newspapers. Selling papers never brought in enough money. He mowed lawns, ran errands and painted apartments and houses where the walls had turned almost black with dirt. Whenever he caught a girl, he asked her to help buy and cook easy boxed and canned suppers for his brothers and sister. Tuna salad seemed to be the favorite quick pick while the girls were getting as hard to catch as a big fish. They had their agendas: staying popular and looking pretty in the newest fashion and wanting dates who had good part-time jobs. No one could blame them.
Nathan wanted more than a good job. He wanted to go to college. After hearing other kids talk, he knew it was a hopeless idea. Was there any place on this earth where you didn't need that green stuff? He didn't care. He would continue to draw and paint. That made him happier than some of his girlfriends. When painting, he felt as though he were flying on the ocean in a ship he had built and painted. There was no limitation of time. There was only eternity. Chance to discover places where there were no worries about a brother and sister, girls, jobs and a father who looked as sad as an old walrus lost at sea or a mother whom he missed deeply.
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