Sleeping is the thing Gino mostly did on the train ride to Chicago. That and dream. Dream about what Chicago was going to be like. He dreamed of large mansions and huge homes. He dreamed that there would be no limit as to what his family and he could or couldn’t do and that everything was going to be bright and joyful. Let’s say he was greatly disappointed. Stepping off the train into the crisp and cooled February air he looked up to see the dark gloomy sky. He grabbed a newspaper up from off the ground. He looked at the headlines: “Economists Predict Depression” “Al Capone Suspected of Illegal Alcohol Trafficking”. He was completely oblivious as to what was happening as he read and what would happen later. He realized, while reading, that he and his family had no place to live. Almost walking off without his kids and wife, he immediately whipped around and sprinted to the location of his family.
“Where did you go?” his wife, Lillian, asked him, feeling relieved.
“Just looking at the paper. There’s nothing to worry about,” Gino replied.
“Where do we go from here?”
“We try and find a home. It’s only about 7 o’clock. Let’s look until 10.”
“Gino, what if we can’t find a home?”
“I don’t know. We’ll just have to get by for the night.”
After that Gino, Lillian, and the twins, Ricky and Maria, looked around the city of Chicago attempting to discover a place which they could call home. “No” was the answer they usually received after looking for a place at every hotel, apartment building, and shelter. After looking for a few hours they, being on the brink of giving up, came across an old abandoned office building. It had a nice large office big enough for sleeping places for all four of the Gregorio family.
“Looks good.” Gino spoke as if a large burden was being lifted. He immediately dropped his luggage and further explored the room. After Gino and his wife both agreed to stay there they pulled out their blankets and pillows and went to bed.
At about 7 AM, Gino woke up to the sound of his stomach. Thinking of when he had eaten last, he came to the conclusion that he hadn’t eaten anything in 18 hours. He reached for his bag and sleepily fumbled around for the pocket which held his food. He finally found it when he discovered that it had already been opened and the contents were taken out. Dazedly he rubbed his eyes and turned towards his bag to see little Ricky chewing with his mouth wide open and crumbs all down the front of his shirt. He looked over to Lillian’s bag and saw Maria doing the same as her brother. A fire started to burn inside him at that exact moment. Gino, for the first time in his children’s lives, was angry at them. About to get up and yell at them, he swallowed his anger and blamed it on childhood ignorance and cluelessness. He scavenged about on the floor of the office building for food or anything remotely edible.
After looking in the last room on that floor and since the stairs didn’t look very trustworthy he stopped looking. He sat down on the floor and he cried. He cried about the lack of food. He cried about the fact that his family must resort to living in an abandoned office building. He cried about his anger toward his children. But most of all he cried about his lack of a job or any type of income.
Gino got up off the floor and went back into the sleeping room. He looked in his bag again and found a piece of bread and an apple. Surprised, he looked over at Ricky and Maria’s blankets and saw them bundled up right next to each other. He reached into his bag and found train ticket stubs, some extra clothes, and a few diapers for Ricky and Maria. At the bottom he saw something shine and sparkle.
“What is that?” Gino asked himself, partially expecting an answer. Slowly he extended his hand and grabbed the shiny unknown thing at the bottom of his bag. Picking it up and examining it he discovered it was a policeman’s badge belonging to a “G. Gregorio”.
“I’m a cop?” he asked, not realizing at first how good that was. He ran over to Lillian’s place as giddy as a school girl.
“Lili! Lili!” he yelled as he shook her awake. “Lili! Lili!”
Groggy and still half asleep she mumbled, “What is it?”
“I’m a cop. I’m a cop.”
“Yes, you are. You have been for the past two years.”
“But, honey, we just moved here yesterday.”
“No, we didn’t. How could we have? I’m eight and a half months pregnant.”
“What? Do the kids know?”
“Kids? It’s not twins. It’s just one baby being born.”
“I’m talking about Ricky and Maria.”
“Who?”
“Ricky and Maria, our children.”
“We can’t name one kid two things.”
Gino looked over at where the kids were sleeping and saw that they were not there. Even after looking harder, there were absolutely no remnants of either child.
Confused, he stumbled out of the building into the streets. Still dazed he looked around and everyone knew his name and his standing in society. He turned around in front of the building he just left and on that location stood a mannerly estate with the letters “GG” on the gate. It was bright and sunny and the grass was green, unlike the rest of the city which was dark and foggy. He looked around and saw that a group of people had stopped and had started to stare at him.
“What are you staring at!?!” Gino screamed at them in rage. His shouting and anger had gathered quite a group including policemen and a short man in a very expensive looking suit surrounded by very large men in matching suits. Gino having started to stare at the man looked away for a moment and when he looked back the man was gone.
“Calm down, Gregorio. You sound like you have gone crazy,” the officers said.
“Why? I’m not doing anything wrong. I’m just a law abiding resident,” Gino replied somewhat paranoid.
“Be quiet, turn around and put your hands behind your back,” the officer commanded.
“But why officer? On what grounds are you giving me this order?” Gino questioned of him almost screaming.
“Just do as I say and no one will get hurt.”
“Are you showing fear? Because it’s in your eyes,” as he said that he swung and a shot rang out.
AND there it is. A nice and (hopefully) suspenseful ending to part one of my story. If you are reading this and feel like it should go a certain way leave me a comment. I will see if anything interesting comes out of this. Especially after I finish it.
Good bye everyone,
Tuna
