Edison Law

Light Of Trouble

I woke up to the smell of smoke, wait…. smoke? “Mama! Wake up, there's a fire!” I exclaimed. “Don’t be silly girl,” Mama chided, “It’s April, there ain’t no way a fire’s blazin.” I thought silently for a moment, I was sure I smelled smoke. I was still thinking when I heard Mama say something which confirmed my suspicions. “No! The cornbread, it's ruined.” Mama cried. I got up and dressed while listening to Mama complain about the waste of food. “That was a week's worth of cornbread!” Mama grumbled, “that was also the last of the flour! I hope we’ll have enough money for more, I doubt it.” “What's wrong?” I stammered, “Papa will bring us money to buy us more flour, won't he?” “Child, c’mere” Mama said, “I gotta tell you something, these past months, Papa hasn’t been able to find a steady job.” “But Mama,” I said, “Papa has lots of skills, I would hire him if I could myself!” “I know baby, but that's not how it is now, there's something going on, something about the stock market crashing, it’s causing people to lose their jobs” Mama said calmly, “and in this world, what's hard for a White is even harder for a Black” “Aw shoot,” I said angrily, “White and black don’t mean anything, I’ll bet Papa has more skill than 10 people combined!” “I agree child, but in other people's eyes, it does” Mama said, “but that's a lesson for another day, are you ready to surprise Papa when he gets home?” “Surprise Papa with what?” I spat, “we don't even have bread to eat!” “Aw c'mon baby don’t be so negative, we have love, right?” Mama said. “Yeah I guess,” I mumbled.