Free Railroad Man by Alle Wells

protect the new grass seed. A pink dogwood sapling sprouted four blooms in the front yard. Three wide windows stretched across the front of the house. A concrete walk circled from the driveway to a front porch outlined by attractive arched columns. A car garage sat at the end of the driveway. The deep backyard ran 300 feet back.

    I opened the car door for Flo and said, “Let’s take a look around.”

    Flo and I stood on the front porch and cupped our hands against the sun’s glare to peek in the window from the porch. I could smell the freshly varnished wood of the polished oak floors through the windowpane. A wide oval opening led from the living room to a dining room.

    As the car pulled away from the curb, Flo turned around in her seat to take another look. “Wouldn’t it be just the best to live in a house like that?”

    Flo’s excitement touched that spot in my heart reserved especially for her. “Yeah, it’s pretty nice, all right.”

    On the way home, Flo looked through her new movie magazine. I thought about the house that she liked so much. Lately, Flo and Mother had been at odds with each other. Mother never warmed up to Flo after the baby died. She complained that Flo spent her days in our bedroom primping and listening to the radio. Mother had a strict housekeeping schedule and expected Flo to do her share. After a long week away from home, I looked forward to holding my wife. Week after week, I found myself standing up to Mother to keep the peace between Flo and me.

    Mother would say, “That girl is as lazy as the day is long.”

    Sadie wrote Flo off as a ninny and ignored her. Sophia enjoyed visiting Flo in our bedroom. She liked the scent of Flo’s lilac perfume that filled the air. Flo coiled Sophia’s hair into the latest style and shared her collection of fashionable hats. They listened to big band music on the radio, and Sophia helped Flo read her first novel, Gone With The Wind . I was grateful to Sophia for being Flo’s friend. Flo would have a miserable life while I was away if left with only Mother and Sadie. I was put out with both of them for the way they treated my wife.

    One Sunday evening, I retired to the parlor with a copy of Railroad Magazine. Mother was there, opening mail at her secretary. The tension between us had risen steadily over the past year. As much as Mother meant to me, my loyalty remained with Flo. I felt that Mother should have been kinder to Flo. She should have risen above the pettiness that gnawed at her and tried to help Flo, the way Sophia had. Mother also weaved her feelings toward my wife into our conversations, sometimes asking me to take her side. Expecting a battle every time I saw Mother kept me on guard, and I spoke to her less and less.

    Mother turned around in the swivel desk chair, holding a letter in her hand. “Mickey, I have a letter here from the RFC in Atlanta.”

    I set my magazine aside. “What’s RFC?”

    Mother tilted her head back to read through the small lens of her spectacles. “It’s the Reconstruction Finance Corporation on the behalf of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration. It says here that these state programs support FDR’s WPA program.”

    Looking at Mother while she read the letter, I noticed that she had gained weight, and her hips filled the spaces between the rungs of the chair.

    “ What do they want with us?” I asked.

    Mother interpreted the letter. “They’re looking for timber for new government construction projects in Atlanta. They plan to build housing for poor people. The letter says they’ll pay top dollar. Well, what do you think of that?”

    “ Does the letter say how much they’ll pay?”

    Mother shook her head. “No. There’s just an address on Peachtree Street and telephone number.”

    “ If you’d like, I’ll make an appointment and go with you to see what it’s all about.”

    Mother sighed. “That sounds fine. I think this Depression is finally winding down. It’s about