Family tradition

 

A silent snow began to fall covering the colored autumn leaves. It was an early snow, a reminder of what lay ahead. He wasn’t dressed for it as he thrust his hands in his pants pockets and hurried his step towards home. Tonight, like most others he walked into Harrys bar and grill after his shift at the soon to close container factory. A place his dad once worked for twenty years. Now just shy of his sixty fourth birthday, he would be ending his time there as well. Much like his dad, life just kind of passed him buy as he did a stint in the army then married a girl he went to high school with and then there was him. He doesn’t remember much about growing up, but he remembered the shouting and the nights his dad didn’t come home until late smelling of booze and cheap perfume. And for reasons he never understood, his mom stuck with him until one day she didn’t wake up. His dad went on working his job and only had to look after him until he was old enough to sign up for his stint in the army. When he got out, he got a job at the factory but never married. He lived in an apartment over a hardware store where for many years he made it his safe place. Work, Harrys bar and grill and the apartment. That was his life, and it was winding down faster than he imagined it would.

There was a retirement party for him at Harrys bar and grill, but only the few regulars like himself had a few drinks and wished him well, even though they all knew he’d still be coming in every night until the day he didn’t. He’d still order a hamburger and a bag of chips that he’d wash down with a few beers before heading out the door into the darkness of his life. He knew the route back to his apartment like he knew his own reflection and that came in handy sometimes when he had a few to many and staggered home without looking. Thinking back, he never thought about making a change in his life but why would he? He liked woman and occasionally paid for one, but he didn’t want to chance becoming abusive and causing any pain. He’d thought about leaving the town and starting over someplace but he’d have to find a job and a place to live and a bar to frequent and that just sounded like to much effort. He remembered hearing someone say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree and he supposed that was true enough as he staggered up the stairs to his safe place.

Mike