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Sindy Hunter
Super-Earth
- Joined
- Jul 13, 2023
- Location
- UK
Eighteen months ago, Jeff Carter thought he had been one of the fortunate few chosen by the company he worked for to relocate rather than be made redundant. The move required Jeff to commit fully, including paying to have his family’s belongings shipped to the other side of the country and taking on higher property repayments. Jeff had concerns, but the company assured him that salary and benefits would improve significantly once their new operation was active.
Twelve months after the move, the company’s promises proved to be lies. The owners relocated solely to take advantage of tax allowances. Once they had made their profits, the company shut down, abandoning the entire workforce. Jeff tried his best to find another job, and his wife Susan looked for employment, too, but nothing came close to providing their previous income.
Jeff attempted to ride out the bad situation, using their meagre savings for the house repayments, but it was a futile act. Eventually, the family lost their home and ended up living in their VW van. Jeff felt wretched for placing his family in such an awful predicament, seemingly having no escape. The only fragment of comfort he had was that he had been able to keep his daughter Kim in school. She was close to finishing her eleventh grade and Jeff was desperate for her to get good exam results in preparation for her final year.
The Carter family lived hand-to-mouth. Jeff and Susan took whatever menial job they could get: washing dishes, waitressing, and cleaning. They became dependent on food banks for their meals, regularly visiting various churches where those facilities had been set up. On one particular visit, a news crew from a local television station reported about people using the food bank. Jeff was asked for an interview, and he recounted his sorry tale.
The evening after the interview, the Carters were in their van, preparing to settle down for the night. There was a knock on the side of their van. Jeff thought it might be kids messing around and angrily pulled open the van’s door. Instead, he found a man standing there. The man smiled and held out his hand, saying, “Hello… My name is Jackson… I saw your interview on TV and would like to help you and your family”.
Jeff looked around, thinking it was some kind of sick joke, but there didn’t appear to be anyone else around. Jeff looked at the man suspiciously. He was a little older than Jeff, well-groomed and smartly dressed. Jeff’s initial wariness faded and he asked, “What kind of help are you offering?”. Just then Susan and Kim appeared behind Jeff, overhearing the conversation and keen to hear what the man had to say.
Susan and Kim regretted moving from their hometown. Susan had lost the house she was so proud of and her job as a florist. She had become a faceless person. She would go to a job, and no one cared who she was; she was just a tool to perform a task. Despite her remorse, Susan never complained to her husband. She knew it wouldn’t help and Jeff had only done what he thought best for the family.
Kim felt very isolated. She was desperately missing her former friends. She hadn’t formed any close friendships since arriving at their new home and things had become worse when people found out she was living out of a van. There were mean cruel taunts about her being trailer-trash and she had to eat out of trash cans.
The one thing that kept the Carters going was their closeness. Susan and Kim were more like friends than mother and daughter. Jeff was easygoing and seldom got angry. Jeff and Susan were proud of Kim. She had never gone through a brattish phase. She had misbehaved occasionally, but never anything serious. There had been no drink or drugs, and the people she mixed with were generally a good crowd.
However, being cooped up together for so long was starting to strain their relationships. Most other families that relocated with the company had long left, gone back home or moved to stay with other family members. The Carters didn’t have those options. Neither Jeff nor Susan had any other family and they had no money to move elsewhere. Their situation was desperate, but now there was a glimmer of hope from the man outside their van.
Twelve months after the move, the company’s promises proved to be lies. The owners relocated solely to take advantage of tax allowances. Once they had made their profits, the company shut down, abandoning the entire workforce. Jeff tried his best to find another job, and his wife Susan looked for employment, too, but nothing came close to providing their previous income.
Jeff attempted to ride out the bad situation, using their meagre savings for the house repayments, but it was a futile act. Eventually, the family lost their home and ended up living in their VW van. Jeff felt wretched for placing his family in such an awful predicament, seemingly having no escape. The only fragment of comfort he had was that he had been able to keep his daughter Kim in school. She was close to finishing her eleventh grade and Jeff was desperate for her to get good exam results in preparation for her final year.
The Carter family lived hand-to-mouth. Jeff and Susan took whatever menial job they could get: washing dishes, waitressing, and cleaning. They became dependent on food banks for their meals, regularly visiting various churches where those facilities had been set up. On one particular visit, a news crew from a local television station reported about people using the food bank. Jeff was asked for an interview, and he recounted his sorry tale.
The evening after the interview, the Carters were in their van, preparing to settle down for the night. There was a knock on the side of their van. Jeff thought it might be kids messing around and angrily pulled open the van’s door. Instead, he found a man standing there. The man smiled and held out his hand, saying, “Hello… My name is Jackson… I saw your interview on TV and would like to help you and your family”.
Jeff looked around, thinking it was some kind of sick joke, but there didn’t appear to be anyone else around. Jeff looked at the man suspiciously. He was a little older than Jeff, well-groomed and smartly dressed. Jeff’s initial wariness faded and he asked, “What kind of help are you offering?”. Just then Susan and Kim appeared behind Jeff, overhearing the conversation and keen to hear what the man had to say.
Susan and Kim regretted moving from their hometown. Susan had lost the house she was so proud of and her job as a florist. She had become a faceless person. She would go to a job, and no one cared who she was; she was just a tool to perform a task. Despite her remorse, Susan never complained to her husband. She knew it wouldn’t help and Jeff had only done what he thought best for the family.
Kim felt very isolated. She was desperately missing her former friends. She hadn’t formed any close friendships since arriving at their new home and things had become worse when people found out she was living out of a van. There were mean cruel taunts about her being trailer-trash and she had to eat out of trash cans.
The one thing that kept the Carters going was their closeness. Susan and Kim were more like friends than mother and daughter. Jeff was easygoing and seldom got angry. Jeff and Susan were proud of Kim. She had never gone through a brattish phase. She had misbehaved occasionally, but never anything serious. There had been no drink or drugs, and the people she mixed with were generally a good crowd.
However, being cooped up together for so long was starting to strain their relationships. Most other families that relocated with the company had long left, gone back home or moved to stay with other family members. The Carters didn’t have those options. Neither Jeff nor Susan had any other family and they had no money to move elsewhere. Their situation was desperate, but now there was a glimmer of hope from the man outside their van.