LIGHTS OUT
Cordelia felt as if she'd spent every morning counting and calculating. She stood in the bathroom staring at the medicine cabinet, getting ready to count the number of pills she had left, and calculate how many days her medications would last. It was her routine to count her pills first thing every morning, before she calculated her bills.
She stopped just before she opened the cabinet to look at herself. She looked deep into her eyes, as if she were searching for something specific. She looked mean sometimes and other times she looked sweet, just like her mother, Lilly King. Cordelia had the same brown colored complexion, like her mother. Had the same little nose and the same weary look in her eyes. Also, like her mother had been when she was alive, Cordelia was sick all the time. Her sisters called her a hypochondriac. And there was a time when she believed herself to be a hypochondriac. But too many diagnoses and too many medications had convinced her otherwise. Over the years she’d been prescribed medication for everything from heartburn to acute anxiety. She popped so many pills, it was difficult to keep them all filled, but she always made sure she had enough Xanax and Valium to pull her through her days.
It was Thursday morning and the rain poured. Although the day had just started it was shaping up to be another crazy day in their household. She had a job interview in New York and had argued with her boyfriend Jonas over the car. He didn’t want to walk to work in the rain, but she needed the car for the interview. It didn't make sense for her to rush to get dress just to run him two blocks. He’d gotten mad that morning and started an argument, that ended up with her going into the bathroom so she didn't have to hear his voice.
Her nerves were on edge. Through the bathroom wall she could hear her grandkids. They were whining about having to go to school, and Brandi, her daughter was reassuring them that it was going to be a good day.
Yes it's going to be a good day, Cordelia whispered as she clasped the bottle of Valium and swallowed one of the oval shaped pills. Three pills left, enough she figured to hold her till Jonas got paid.
Cordelia doubted if she’d even get the job in New York. Not that she wasn’t qualified, it just wasn’t in the cards. She'd been unemployed for five years and everyday proved more difficult to obtain a decent paying position. Most of the time when she interviewed, people would simply say, “we’ll call you.” But they never did. There were those rare occasions when they called back for a second-interview, but then nothing. She’d tried her hand at freelancing but came up empty, just not enough companies interested in reading articles about the insurance industry.
“If yah don’t shut up,” Cordelia yelled as she started to wash her face.
“Mom,” Brandi shouted entering the bathroom, “what time will you be back home?”
Cordelia shrugged her shoulders and started to brush her teeth, she glanced in the mirror at her daughter, “why?”
“I was going to Abdul’s house this afternoon.”
“Well you can’t go until I get back,” Cordelia replied.
If Brandi wasn’t her daughter, she’d be out of luck. She had two kids that were into everything, all the time. Cordelia remembers the time when kids got into normal things, like your clothes, your shoes, and your makeup. Now, they did all that, plus steal phones and send random text messages, download moves from Amazon, and photo bomb you if you accidentally dozed off. That was Romeo and Juliet. They were bad, but as cute as buttons. Cordelia didn’t feel like babysitting, but she knew Brandi needed a break.
“Hopefully I won’t be too long, I'll pick up the kids from school. Honestly," Cordelia began, "I don’t even know why I’m wasting my time going to an interview. I ain’t going to get this fucking job anyway.”
“You’ll get it,” Brandi said.
“I hope so.” Cordelia started, she was about to say something about Abdul, but stopped because everything went black. The lights went out.
“Shit,” Cordelia said, “I hope the lights ain’t out.”
“Mom did you call the electric company?”
“Yeah I called them motherfuckers! They told me I had a week to pay $2000.”
“You didn’t pay it?” Brandi asked. She realized she had asked a stupid question and giggled.
Cordelia grabbed a glass of water, taking a sip she started to walk into her bedroom, and before she stepped into her room, she turned and faced Brandi. Astounded, she almost laughed with her daughter, had the situation not been so dire.
When did you give me $2,000."
Brandi tried to answer the question, but couldn't. She went back into the bedroom, telling the twins to clean up their beds.
“Get'em in the shower before all the hot water runs cold. No electric--no hot water.”
Cordelia stepped into her bedroom calculating the amount of money she and Jonas had in the bank, and wondering how much the electric company would want to restore the power.
Jonas's rank frame was leaned out the window and he had one sneaker on his foot, the other was next to the pile of sneaker boxes near his closet door. It was raining hard outside and water splattered the window sill and dripped to the floor.
“Maybe you should close the window, It’s raining you know," Cordelia said.
“I know," Jonas returned. He got out the window and glared at Cordelia, Jonas was a plain guy, short and thin, average is the way Cordelia referred to him, but he was kind to a fault. "I was trying to see what the electric company was going to do.”
"They all ready did it, look around," she said. Her tone was as sarcastic at the look on her face.
The bedroom they shared was overcrowded. Their entire house was overcrowded. The two-bedroom townhouse she owned was just too small to accommodate so many people. She had owned the townhouse since Brandi was a child. Back then it was just enough space for the two of them. Now it was Romeo, Juliet, Jonas and sometimes, her brother, Damon. Too many people, for a two bedroom townhouse, with the only full bathroom connecting two bedrooms.
Cordelia walked around the bed that took up most of the space, to her side of the room. She kept the phone tucked on her side of the room, under the bed. She grabbed it and proceeded to dial the electric company.
“Their truck's leaving now,” Jonas said. “How much in the bank?”
“Not enough," Cordelia said.
"How much?" Jonas asked for a second time.
Cordelia, could feel her medication starting to work, as she waited for a live person to come on the phone line. Her breathing was at a light ease, and she felt as if she didn't have a problem in the world. "Like $200, not enough to pay the electric.”
“What we going to do?” he asked.
“Get it back on.”
“Man lived in caved without lights for centuries, we can get some candles, and live off of natural light for a couple of days," Jonas said, he sounded hopeful.
"The kids won't have no TV."
"They got plenty gadgets, and we can read to them. Won't be so bad without lights. Call me if you need me," he said putting his sneaker on. Before he walked out the door he turned around and gazed at Cordelia with a warm smile, "Good luck on your interview.”
He didn’t mean what he said. Cordelia know this for a fact. He liked her broke, it made him feel superior, like he was her provider, King of the household. She wasn’t always broke. She once wrote business polices for insurance companies, and wrote insurance newsletters. It had been her profession for twenty years. She could recite insurance state laws and guidelines with ease. But that was before she met Jonas, they met when she was forty. At that time she still had money saved, but the years in-and-out of work had depleted her savings. What Jonas made working as a janitor for a nursing home, his social security, combined with what she made working temporary assignments editing policies, gave them just enough money to squeak by.
“Good morning, I’m calling about the electric at 397 Queensbridge Street. My power was just shut off.”
“Good morning,” it was a man on the opposite end of the phone.
After the initial introduction, Cordelia put the call on speaker so she could finish getting ready for the interview. Her suit hung on her closet door. It was a nice blue suit and white shirt. For a passing second, she felt guilty for buying it, she knew when she purchased the suit that the electric bill was way past due. She had to reminded herself, to be considered for a position she needed executive presence. Besides, having the sixty-bucks she’d paid for the suit wasn’t going to get the electric back on, but a new job would certainly help on that front.
“Yes, I know they told me I had to pay $2,000, but I explained to someone that I don’t have that type of money and we have children here and someone on social security.”
“You can get on a plan once the services are restored and that will help with your back bill, but to restore your service today we’re going to need a payment of $2,000.”
“I understand what you’re saying, but I don’t have that amount of money, Sir.”
“Ma’am there’s nothing I can do.”
“Yes, there is something you can do--you can let me speak with your manager,” Cordelia returned.
“Ma’am my manager is going to tell you the same thing.”
“Even though we have two kids here, they won’t turn the power back on?”
“No ma’am, they won’t.”
“We’ll sir let your manager tell me that,” she snapped.
“It’s going to be a while before they can get on the line.”
“I can hold.”
Cordelia was aware, no matter how much she begged and pleaded the electric company wasn’t going to turn the power on. Not without a payment. They'd already given her several chances and they still weren't able to come up with that kind of money.
“Nana,” Romeo called when he walked into the room carrying a pair of jeans in his hands. “Mommy said no lights.”
“No lights,” Cordelia said, and she knelled down, and gazed directly into her grandson's eyes. She had to keep the lights on, can't have kids going to school without television. "Don’t repeat that.” She said, in the soft tone she used when she spoke to her grandkids. He was only four-years old, but she spoke to him as if he was young man. She took the pants away, and after she set them down on the bed, she hoisted him onto her lap and began to lotion his legs.
“Don’t tell your teacher or anybody at your school that the lights are out, do you understand?”
He looked back at Cordelia, with his big eyes, and nodded his head as if he really understood. All the while the phone sang out with hold music from the electric company. By the time the manager came on the line, Romeo was dressed and Cordelia was putting on her shoes.
“Hi my electric was turned off this morning, I want to know how I can get it turned back on quickly.”
“You would need to pay $2,000.”
“I just explained to the other agent that I don’t have that type of money. I work party-time, my boyfriend is disabled and I have two children that live with me. There’s no way we can go without electric. I was hoping since you're a manager you could make an exception."
“I do understand Mrs. King, but unfortunately there’s no way to restore the service without a payment of $2,000.”
Brandi and Juliet walked into the bedroom to get Romeo for school, but sat down on the bed next to Cordelia. Brandi listened to the conversation as she put on the kid’s jackets.
For a second Cordelia wondered what Brandi would do without her, but was glad they didn’t have to worry, not today. Cordelia would always be there to figure things out for her family.
“Get my check book.” She whispered and she ushered for Brandi to look in the top drawer of her side table.
“You're going to write a check?” Brandi returned in a whisper of her own.
With an obvious glance on her face, Cordelia nodded her head, “Okay ma'me I’ll pay the $2,000.”
“I’ll transfer you to the payment center. You’ll need your account number,” the woman added. Cordelia wrote down the information and waited for the transfer.
After the payment was made Cordelia hung up the phone she looked at her daughter and her grandchildren with relief. According to her calculations they would have about three or four days to figure things out, “we have a few days and then we’re going to be shit out of luck.”
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