Spinner Of Yarns

  STEEMIT My life was in shambles. The Great Recession had taken everything from me. I was laid off from my job. The small business I ran on the side went belly up. My girlfriend of over a year, with whom I had begun to envision a future, dumped me. Mainly because of my grim financial situation. I couldn't pay back my loans, and lost my apartment. I also had to sell my car and was forced to move into a tiny studio apartment in a sketchy part of town. In just a few months my life had been flushed down the toilet. I couldn't believe things could get so bad. I was able to find a job that paid just enough for me to survive. Every day, I woke up, maybe ate breakfast, went to work, finished my shift, went home, had something to eat and went to sleep. For the first few months, I just existed this way like a zombie. Then the anger began to surface. I was passed off almost all the time. I was angry at life. At the economy. At the woman I thought I loved. Soon enough anger turned to...

I awoke from a deep sleep to the ringing of my cell phone. It was my father's best friend. I had a sinking feeling in my heart as I answered. This close friend of our family would not be calling me at two in the morning if everything was fine. Even before he spoke, I had a hunch this had to do with our father. I was right. Our father had taken his own life. I honestly hadn't expected this. Even after the last conversation I had with him. To me, he seemed more like the type who would leave the country, try to disappear forever. Even assume a new identity. But suicide? That just didn't seem like the route he would take. I suppose I never really knew him at all. Unsurprising, if you ask me, as he had managed to deceive me and our family for so long. I went to our family home the very next morning. I put my arms around my seventeen year old brother and held him as he cried. We called all our relatives, performed our father's last rites, and held the family gathering afterwa...