The Bend in the Road

Chapter 1

The last thing he wanted to do at 5am was leave his warm, comfy bed knowing the coldest thing next to an ice cream brain-freeze was waiting for him as his bare feet slapped the ice cold, hard-wood bedroom floor. But crawl out of bed he does, creaking joints n’all, shivering as he races to close the window Margaret insists stay open through even the coldest winter night … you know, because In Style Magazine told her how healthy it is.
The hot shower barely woke him as he promised himself to start that exercise program 1st thing tomorrow. For now though, he had to get to work. The rest of his house and from the look of things, his neighborhood is still sleeping as he pulls down the driveway after that delicious bowl of Cheerios Margaret insist he eat (again with the healthy stuff…”I swear I’ll end up a healthy corpse…she’ll have the funeral parlor window open if it’s winter just to make sure the corpse stays cold.”
The small company parking lot was empty as he pulled in, wishing he had made a pit stop at Starbucks. He looked up at the loading dock as he trudged toward the warehouse. God, he hated the loading dock. How did he end up here? Here, was him, a 48 year old, prime of his working life, honest guy starting all over again. Laid off his last 3 positions (last one in, first one out on the last 2, right after he got let go, along with 45 others from the first job he got out of college, when the bosses kid took over and drove their company and his life into bankruptcy hell. What a punk. So, after a couple of false starts as a Customer Service Manager, he sat unemployed for 9 months with his wife and 3 kids holding their breath, hoping daddy got a job today. After 9 months and a pyramid of mailed resumes, hours on Career Builder, Monster…even Hot Jobs…and zero interviews…he'd had enough. This networking group of angry adults sat around telling each other how ridiculous companies were for not hiring them. At least they made him feel like he wasn’t alone. Not alone in failure. Not alone in broke.
Chris, the group leader mentioned "Temping". Maybe he’d give it a try. At least, maybe somebody’ll talk to him…give him an idea. But if he has to hear one more smug kid give him advice…he’s gonna lose it...By now he had no pride left, he'd already swallowed it all. But after 9 mos. without a paycheck he needed to try something to get his rhythm back. At least I can tell Margaret I had something new to try, he thought. Just then his phone rings. It's John Markle from the networking group...he thinks to let it go to voice mail but Markle’s one of those guys who doesn't give up. "Hi John, what's up?" Markle was all amped up…"They knifed Chris man, Chris, you know... our group leader. They got him in the heart man...he's dead....deader’n Michael Jackson." and Margaret's husband Bill turned his car around and headed back to the group. Another day without a job...