When A Plan Comes Together Read online

  The following is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual names, persons, businesses, and incidents is strictly coincidental. Locations are used only in the general sense and do not represent the real place in actuality.

  WHEN A PLAN COMES TOGETHER

  By

  JERRY D. YOUNG

  Creative Texts Edition

  Copyright 2015

  By JERRY D. YOUNG

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  Published by

  CREATIVE TEXTS PUBLISHERS

  BARTO, PA

  www.creativetexts.com

  COVER PHOTO USED BY LICENSE

  CREDIT: BARNEY MOSS

  PROLOGUE

  Kathy looked at Jay a bit forlornly. “Do you have to go on this trip?” she asked.

  “You know I do, Kath,” replied her husband. “I don’t like it either, but it is part of the job I was hired to do. And it means a nice bonus.”

  With a sigh, Kathy nodded. They’d talked it over before Jay took the job and she had agreed with him that it could lead to more opportunities.

  “Look, I’ve got a couple of hours… You sure you won’t go over the emergency plan with me?”

  “Oh, Jay! You know how I feel about your survivalism activities.”

  “Preps, Honey. Preps. Please don’t refer to them as survivalists’ activities.”

  “Whatever.” It was a conversation stopper. “Call me every night. I love you.”

  It was Jay’s turn to sigh. “I love you, too. Give the kids a hug and a kiss for me when they get home.”

  “You know I will. There’s the cab.” Kathy gave Jay a hard hug and then stepped back and watched Jay walk to the street to get into the cab.

  She watched until the cab was out of sight before she turned around and went back inside the modest home she and Jay had lived in since they had married. There had been some improvements made as the children, Rex, now fourteen, and Roxie, sixteen, came along.

  It hadn’t been an easy life, but they had done all right for themselves, Kathy thought. When she went to make up the bed in the master bedroom she saw one of the five binders that Jay kept his ‘prep’ information in sitting on his bedside table. She frowned. He’d been reading it the night before, trying to get her interested in some of the plans, since he was leaving for a month.

  She had never begrudged Jay his hobby, as she thought of it, since he was more than supportive of hers. Where the ‘preps’ were pretty much his only hobby, Kathy had several things she did. For one, she had a membership at the gym where she worked out three times a week. Second, she had an impressive collection of Elvis memorabilia. Third, she made baby and doll clothes by hand that she mostly just gave away and probably most importantly he never said a word when she bought a new pair of shoes.

  They had a good life together with the children. Why did Jay keep bringing up things that could go wrong? “We’ve managed quite nicely the things that have come up,” she said. It simply didn’t occur to her that the reason they’d come through the things that had happened so smoothly was because of Jay’s preps.

  Kathy put the binder back in the bookshelf along one wall of the bedroom and finished her housework. Just in time to greet Rex and Roxie when they came home from separate sleepovers.

  After hugs all around, both children asked about lunch. Kathy smiled and started the water boiling to make hot dogs with mac and cheese on the side.

  “I guess Dad got off okay this morning,” Rex said.

  “He did,” Kathy replied.

  “He’s never been gone this long before,” Roxie said. “What if something happens while he’s gone? Like when Rex broke the toilet.”

  Kathy managed not to frown. “Oh, I think we’ll manage just fine. I can call the plumber just as easily as your father.”

  “Don’t worry, Roxie,” Rex said. “I don’t climb up on things like that anymore. Besides, Dad showed me how to turn off the water.”

  Kathy was tempted to pursue the matter. Tell the pair that she could manage just as well as their father could. But she let it go, hiding her annoyance as they ate.

  The first stirrings of doubt hit her about her capabilities that evening when the news showed the bank the family used. It was in trouble. She wondered, but only for a moment, about making the car payment that was due in three days.

  But suddenly she breathed a sigh of relief, as she remembered Jay’s insistence on keeping accounts open in two different banks, owned by different parent corporations. She’d have to find the other checkbook, but she knew it was in the house.

  Kathy couldn’t wait. She looked the first place she thought of. The fire box they kept in the bottom drawer of the file cabinet in Jay’s study. Sure enough, there it was. With a packet of cash, hers and the children’s passports, the insurance and ownership papers for the house.

  Taking the checkbook out, she took it with her back to the living room and put it in her purse in the entry closet.

  “Mom!” called Roxie. “Mom! You need to see this!”

  Kathy strode back to the sofa and sat down. There was a commercial on. “What’s going on?” she asked.

  “They were talking about North and South Korea maybe starting a war,” Roxie said softly. “How we… the US… might get involved in another war. Maybe nuclear.”

  Kathy reassured both children, and then watched the news with them when it came back on. It wasn’t long and Kathy was just as worried as Roxie. Kathy’s brother had missed the Middle East wars. But if something happened in Korea, he’d be right in the middle of it.

  All three were more than a little uneasy when they went to bed that night. Kathy’s last memory was of looking at Jay’s Prep Binders in the bookcase, just before she fell asleep.

  Jay called the next night, but he and Kathy were only able to exchange quick hellos and statements that everything was fine before the line went dead. Jay had said that there might be problems with the telephones.

  Kathy quickly turned on the computer in the study. She sent a short e-mail message to Jay’s account and hoped he could and would check it soon.

  She felt uneasy the entire week, doing her best to hide it from the children. Even a trip to the gym, dusting her Elvis collection off, and making a full set of Barbie® clothes didn’t calm her.

  Fortunately, both children were staying occupied with school and after school activities, and weren’t showing any stress over the growing situation in Korea.

  Dealing with the bank and the FDIC weren’t helping Kathy’s stress level. It was going to be some time before they could get the money out of the bank that had failed. And it would come in installments, rather than all at once, when it did come.

  To top it off that week, she was laid off on Friday. It was sudden. There had been no warning signs. And though she had been with the company the longest of any of the employees, she was one of the ones that got the axe. The company was ‘downsizing’ and keeping only the lowest paid employees in each section of the company.

  She managed to tell the children about it without breaking down and crying, but it was a near thing. Kathy put her last paycheck, and the small severance pay she received, in their second bank, which was now the primary one. The 401(k) payout would come soon, minus the penalty, if she didn’t find another job and roll it over into that company’s plan.

  It had been a long time since Kathy had needed to look for a job. She thought about it for a week, and then signed up with a temp service to try to get at least some work while she looked for a permanent job.

  After eight days without hearing from Jay, she finally got word from him. A total stranger called and said she had a message for Kathy from a Jay Jones, via amateur radio.

  “Is he all right?” K
athy suddenly asked, imagining all sorts of dire happenings, in light of the world situation, especially the North Korea, South Korea one.

  “He is okay, he said,” replied the woman, who said her name was Ruth. “He asked me to tell you his stay has been extended indefinitely, and that he would keep trying to get into touch with you through regular channels. I can give you my number if you want me to contact him.”

  Kathy wrote the telephone number down with a shaky hand. “Thank you, Ruth. You’ve been very kind.”

  “Part of being a ham,” said Ruth. “We help whenever we can.”

  Hanging up the telephone slowly, it came to Kathy that not only was her brother at risk because of the Koreas, Jay probably was, too. His job with the oil company had him in Japan. If something happened over there, Japan would undoubtedly be involved.

  It was still on her mind when she went to bed that evening. She’d told Rex and Roxie about their father’s lengthened stay and both mentioned the dangers he might face if the Koreas went to war. Kathy tried to make light of the dangers, but was hard pressed to do so. The children had thought up even more possibilities than she had herself.

  Still without work, Kathy spent the next week busying herself with house work, time at the gym, and making doll clothes. She was going to get some additional supplies, but realized that there wasn’t enough money in the second account to get much. She thought of the emergency cash in the fire box, but immediately wiped the thought of using it for her hobby out of her brain. Her needing something to keep her hands busy wasn’t an emergency of any sort.

  Kathy still didn’t get the doll clothes making supplies when Jay’s pay was deposited two days later. Though they had only the regular car payment, utilities, and food bills each month, and Jay’s salary covered them with some left over, there wasn’t much left over. Kathy’s earnings had been their main discretionary funds. Jay’s regular bonuses had financed his preps.

  They certainly weren’t going to starve, but the little luxuries were now out of the question. Reluctantly, Kathy cancelled her membership in the gym. When Jay got back, and had that promised bonus, she’d join again. But for the moment that money was a cushion she didn’t want to do without.

  Jay finally got through on the telephone, but it was another very short call. “How you holding up, Kath?” he asked after they exchanged hellos.

  “I’m okay.” She started to tell Jay about everything that had happened, but decided to not worry him with the information. They talked mostly about how the kids were doing in school and sports. By the time Kathy decided Jay deserved to know the true situation they lost the connection.

  Kathy found out why that evening when it was reported on the news that several satellites had been damaged by a burst of solar radiation. It startled her when Rex, sounding much like his father sometimes did, said, “I think they’re covering up something. A burst of radiation would have done more than just what they said. I think the Chinese destroyed specific satellites to cut communications within that specific area.”

  To her amazement, Roxie added, “Dr. Thompson, at school, says the Korea thing is just cover for a move by the Chinese to start a campaign to take over Indonesia and Australia.”

  “Surely not,” Kathy said. “Why would he say that?”

  “He’s like Dad,” Roxie replied. “He keeps track of a lot of details from sources other than the regular news networks.”

  Kathy frowned. “You two seemed so sure of this.”

  “You just have to read between the lines, like Dad said,” Rex replied. Seeing his mother’s distress at his words, he hurriedly added, “But I don’t think we have to worry for a while. Dad will know what to do when he gets back. I don’t think anything will happen before he does. It’s only a second month, you said.”

  “Yes. That’s right. I don’t want you children worrying about war. I may contact the PTA and say something about instructors scaring the students.”

  “Don’t, Mom,” Roxie said. “Some of the other parents don’t like him, either, but he’s a good teacher. I really like him. Always makes us think about things in history. Including what he calls ‘Future History’.”

  “Yeah, Mom,” Rex added. “He’s a good basketball coach, too. If nothing happens, we might even go to State this year.”

  Kathy shook her head. “I don’t know. I don’t like this war talk.”

  Rex and Roxie both knew their mother well. The discussion was over. It was best to bring up something more pleasant. Rex asked Roxie how her project in science was going, and that did the trick. Everyone was smiling at the end of dinner.

  They weren’t when they watched the news afterward. Kathy looked at her children with new respect. Even the regular news was speculating about the role China might have had in the disruption of communications in the western Pacific area of the world.

  During the next few days, for want of something better to do, Kathy threw herself into house cleaning. She kept a beautiful house, anyway. Jay, Rex, and Roxie all did their part, mainly by keeping their specific areas of responsibility tidied up and helping with the heavy cleaning. But there was always something that needed a little extra touch.

  Kathy did a spring cleaning version of cleaning, carefully moving furniture herself. It took her a week of hard work. Rex and Roxie both offered to help her if she waited until they got home from school, but Kathy was determined to do it on her own. Working alone, she did almost everything the family did in spring cleaning in a week. With all of them working over a long weekend, it usually took just three days. But that included the basement, attic, and garage, things that Jay and Rex took care of, along with moving the furniture, while she and Roxie did the other cleaning.

  Still at a loss of what to do with herself, without a job and doing her exercises at home rather than at the gym, she decided to go ahead and do the attic, basement, and garage.

  She started in the attic. She hadn’t been up there in a long time. Jay and Rex usually handled anything like taking out and putting away the various holiday decorations stored in the attic. The first thing she saw was a neat stack of toilet paper. Kathy didn’t count them, but there were many of the sixteen-count packages. She looked around. There was a smaller stack of paper towels, also in large packages.

  Frowning slightly, she dusted what little dust had accumulated; taking note of several other boxes and packages that weren’t part of what she knew was stored up here. She took a break when she went down to the living space and closed the access hatch to the attic. Sipping a cup of hot tea, she wondered when Jay had picked up all the things in the attic. With no way of knowing until he got back, Kathy went back to work, leaving half her cup of tea behind.

  She went out to the garage, carrying her bucket of cleaning materials. She half expected to see what she did when she started checking the deeper shelves as she cleaned them, more of Jay’s preps. Where the things in the attic could take heat or cold, the things in the garage, Kathy realized, could take the spread of temperatures the garage went through during the year. It was fully insulated. They never let it freeze, and it was well ventilated to keep the temperature no higher than eighty in the summer.

  She couldn’t understand why discovering the things Jay had been buying with his hobby money bothered her so much. The garage, neat and tidy when she started, was just as neat and tidy when she finished up, minus what little dust had blown in taking the cars in and out.

  Kathy started to go downstairs to the basement, but was pretty sure she would be more upset when she did, so she decided to check the green house and yard shed. Though she and Jay had done a small garden when the children were small, they’d both drifted away from it when their work became more demanding. They began using the greenhouse for storage.

  Actually, Jay had, insisting that Kathy’s things took precedence for indoor storage. The door was locked and she had to go into the kitchen and get the key for it and the shed, suspecting that it was probably locked, too.

  Sure enough, after s
he looked at the boxes, bins, and totes, she went to the yard shed. It was indeed locked. The first thing she noticed was that, though everything was neatly put away, almost every square inch of space was taken up, just like in the greenhouse, with the yard tools only accounting for a fourth of it, if that.

  The shed and greenhouse both had power to them for convenience. Though, really, the power in the shed was more than just convenience. Though they didn’t use it any more, the pump on the well for irrigating the garden and greenhouse was electric. Jay hadn’t wanted it to freeze in the winter. He didn’t want the things like touch-up paint and other things freeze, either, so the shed had a small HVAC unit to keep it temperature controlled, to about the same degree as the garage. It was just above freezing to just under eighty degrees in the summer.

  She didn’t bother cleaning in the shed. Jay was in it often and it was spic and span. She headed back for the house after locking the doors to the shed and then the greenhouse. She’d start on the basement after a bite of lunch. As she passed one of Jay’s projects, she didn’t even pay attention. The old truck he worked on from time to time was up on blocks and covered with a canvas cover he’d had an awning maker sew up for him. Even the tires were covered with protective covers.