Chicago

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

     Chicago's summer was wrapping up as the calendar sped up to the last two weeks of August. The block was hot and ready for the grand opening of Crispin's Car Repair shop. The entire neighborhood came through to show support to a long term friend and his long term business.

People came to either fill up their tanks, upgrade their car or to just buy food to offer some sort of support. Crispin, Zaine and some retired mechanics were working on the car upgrades, Jamal and other volunteers were helping guest fill up their tanks, Saint worked in the store to keep track of what was coming in and out while Chai worked alongside Crispin's wife to serve some food that was selling for $5 a plate. All of the proceeds from the party were going towards any left over bills that Crispin needed to pay to keep the shop up and running.

Saint invited a few special people including members from his support group, Mr. Sullivan, Officer Lane and even his own mother.

As soon as Saint returned home, he and his mother finally had a conversation. Christina was a very young mother who got kicked out as soon as she gave birth to Saint. They needed to survive and the only way to do that was get money and get it fast. Christina dropped Saint off to stay with Zaine for days at a time, selling herself in the street, befriending drug dealers and street scammers, selling dime bags—you name it. It was only fate that she'd find herself in deeper trouble. She spent eighteen years making up for her mistakes and it was all because she wanted a better life for them.

As disappointed as Saint was with her, he couldn't hold hate in his heart for her anymore. He wanted to live a better life and wanted nothing but positivity going forward. He appreciated the fact that she was willing to do whatever it took to take care of him. Even though it didn't work out the way they both imagined it, there was nothing more to do but to move on. Only time was able to heal and mend the broken relationship.

Saint couldn't keep track of how much money was filling the register. Leave it up to hungry kids with $5 in their pockets to spend it all on junk food and sugary drinks. All the neighborhood kids came through even if they didn't know what was going on—they saw a gathering and food which was enough to capture their attention. Now that Crispin's was up and running, they knew where to get their snacks since the shop was so close to the neighborhood park.

Chai was also having a hard time keeping track of money the way they were selling food. Crispin's wife made the best baked macaroni pie and barbecue chicken and people were paying for seconds and take-home plates. The other food selections were hot dogs, burgers, steamed corn and veggies, potato salad along with some deserts that Nicole made specifically for the occasion. The food table made at least $1000 by itself and was bound to make way more the way things were selling.

"I think I only have two more pans at home!" Tanya, Crispin's wife, exclaimed as she collected $15 from a guest who just bought three plates of food and sweets.

"You gon' have to cut up the macaroni into smaller squares to feed all these people." Nicole suggested as she wrapped her homemade rice crispy's in a holographic bag to sell to a little girl who was dying to try.

"She's right, we have to get stingy with the macaroni." Chai agreed.

"I can't close this box anymore!" Nicole said as she tried to close the box that held all the money.

"Let me give it to Saint." Chai said as she took the box. Saint was the treasurer and was keeping track of all the proceeds from the party.

Chai took the box from Nicole and asked her to help Tanya while she was away. They both gave her the little bit of money they had in their hands as she took it and made her way inside the store to make sure the money was safely put away.