Thom's Side of the Story

by Ellen Pepper

        

        None of it was my fault. I know what people say. Some tell me to my face. They don't get it. Nobody does. Nobody ever tried to understand me, especially my father Charles. We were expected to call him by his name rather than Dad, Papa, Father - any of the titles that would link him to us paternally. He thought it made him seem younger to not be a parent.

        Since I was the first-born son, I was groomed to join my father in the family business after finishing college - not that Charles respected education, because he didn't. He just thought it would look good to have a degree noted on the company letterhead. If he could have gotten away with pretending that I'd graduated, he would have saved all the money he spent on sending me to school.

        I married Rita right out of high school. She was always my favorite girlfriend - her family had money and property. We lived off-campus and started making babies.

        By the time I started working with Charles as his assistant, I was already a father of three very noisy kids. I never managed to get enough sleep at night - someone was always acting up. Sure, when they were a bit older, we'd go on family adventures to parks and what have you but that ended up getting too complicated after a while what with the kids coming down with allergies and arguing all the damn time.

        My job was okay, at first. It was great being the Boss' son, people would defer to me even though I had no interest in what I was doing and no clue as to how to do it anyway. I found it amusing to punk people just for fun. I fired the people who wouldn't play along. Especially the women who didn't know how to have fun, if you know what I mean.

        After a few years, the clients started being too demanding. Always wanting deadlines met and saying the accounting was wrong and blaming me. When Charles told me to start paying more attention to the job and to stop causing clients to  break contracts because of my so-called incompetence, I told him a few home truths about how it was his own fault for not paying enough attention to me when he was building up his ego all those years ago.

        That's when he demoted me to the loading dock. Sure, I'd be the boss there, but his new plan was to bring in one of my brothers to take my job as his assistant.

        I was so fed up by that point that after work on Friday I went down to the riverfront casino just for a change of scenery. A former client had taken me there once and I'd won a tidy bit of cash. I deserved some fun in my life, I decided.

        And that was the beginning of the end of my happy life. Such as it was. I lost everything because the games were rigged. I kept trying to get the luck to come back to me and I know it would have, if I hadn't run out of money. I'm sure of that.

        My marriage was ruined, my kids grew up without me, I spent time in prison for something stupid and now I live at the back end of the old Mercantile Bank that will soon be demolished. I saw one of my sons at the shelter one Christmas. We lost touch after that.

        I know people would say it's my own damn fault that I lost everything but what did I have, really? What did I have of my very own? Everyone else had something. I had nothing, not even myself.

©Ellen Pepper 2024

 Thom Romen

      by Ellen Pepper

        Thom was first seen standing beside a traffic light pole on a humid, cloudy summer day. He wore shabby clothes, a torn t-shirt and grubby shorts.
In one hand, he held a neon green high-vis vest,  and a plastic baseball bat was in the other. On his scrambled sun-bleached hair was a red cap with white lettering. His sandals were held together with duct tape. Thom's face was dirty and haggard, his cold blue eyes unforgiving and antagonistic.

        Thom had turned his life into a clichéd riches to rags story. When young, he'd had it all: a well-to-do family, the finest schooling, an attractive appearance, and great personal charm. He married Rita straight out of high school and, after college, went to work as his father's assistant in the family business. He took his wife and 3 children to Episcopal church every Sunday. He hosted dinner parties at his home. Thom was set for life.

And then...

        One day a client pressured Thom to accompany him to the local casino. Initially, Thom was reluctant to lay down a bet because he was unfamiliar with gambling. The client was very helpful - giving instructions that were easily understood. Lucky Thom spent $60 and won $2000. Was he immediately hooked? Not really. He thought it was fun but he could take it or leave it. 

His wife, when told of the win, felt nauseated and fearful. She was aware of gambling addictions. She knew that Thom had become bored with his life. He'd become lethargic in the evenings, not speaking much and losing patience easily with the children. He'd given up on his hobbies and slept through what had once been his favorite tv shows. He lacked enthusiasm for weekend family adventures. He was emotionally detached. Ripe for the plucking if any temptation presented itself.

A few weeks later...

        Thom's ennui and carelessness caused him to lose a client's business. And then another. Soon, he was no longer allowed to deal directly with clients because his attitude  had become toxic.  His father's angry threats about losing his job soured his stomach. Because his bitterness was causing pain, and he wanted desperately to feel better, he recalled how pleasant it had been when he won money so easily at the casino.

He visited the casino on a Friday night around 4:30PM.
He did not go home until Sunday morning. His wife and kids were bereft. The police manhunt had found him in the casino and escorted him home. He was drunk, disheveled and broke. He'd maxed out his credit cards and won only $200, which he had then lost.
He and his family did not attend church that Sunday.

        On Monday morning, instead of heading in to the office, he returned to the casino.

Soon...

        Tears, job loss,  separation - wife and children moved away, then divorce. Then loss of custody with only occasional visitation because Thom had become violent with his family.

On the day that Thom was seen with his red cap, high-vis vest and plastic bat, he was on his way to attend his eldest son's Little League game. He'd promised to wear the vest so his son could spot him in the crowd. He planned to wave the bat to get his attention.

By the time he arrived, the game had been over for 2 hours and his son was nowhere to be seen. They didn't see each for 10 years. Thom's son found him while volunteering at a homeless shelter. 

That's where Thom had lived since leaving prison.

©Ellen Pepper 2024