MARRIED... and facing the real world (Part 47f)

When we pulled into the gas station there were two buildings. Between the two I saw a road which was more like a path that, when following it by eye, ran up a small hill. I could see about five trailers from where I’d stopped. Elle, with an incredulous sound to her voice asked if this was what I was looking for. It certainly wasn’t what I expected but it was the trailer park that I was searching for. After a few seconds I drove between the buildings and there I could see about a dozen more trailers. There were a couple of open spots. No matter what, there was no way to make this place seem attractive. I stopped the car a few feet beyond the buildings and as I did this young woman walked past the car carrying a wash basket. Elle recognized her as a classmate from the previous year. She put the window down and called to her. The girl’s name was Tricia and she stopped and walked slowly back to the car. Long story short... She’d gotten married but was still going to school and living in a trailer with her husband. Elle even knew who he was. As it turned out, Tricia told us there were two other married couples living there that were going to school as well.

Even as disappointing as the site was, and Elle’s initial negative reaction to it, it was more than negated by the fact that there were young college people living there and she even knew (slightly) two of them. It was obvious that Tricia was excited with the possibility of us moving there. It took longer for Elle to embrace the idea. But, as disappointing as the site was and Elle’s initial reaction to it I knew it would take some persuasion on my part to ”sell’ the idea completely to her. We immediately headed for Harry’s to make our payment and to take title to the unit. I used the time to point out the benefits of living there to Elle. With other students living there, and some that she actually knew, I told her she would have a ride to school and back. Plus, there would be others our own age that we/she could befriend. When we pulled in at Harry’s she still wasn’t totally convinced.

I managed to get Harry alone for a few seconds and let him know that Elle hadn’t been a part of the decision for the location and was a bit reluctant. That’s all I said. When we were all together he told us that in spite of his “connections” there weren’t a lot of choices as far as locating the unit near the college. He said that it was his thought that the place we’d visited, in spite of it’s relative unattractiveness, was the best for our situation. He told us that he knew the owners and that they were very responsive to any problems... and that they lived in one of the trailers. It was Harry who sold Elle. (7)..

By the time we got all the papers signed it was dark. Harry asked us if we wanted to move the trailer the next day which was Sunday. He said that his help was off but he was willing to do it himself if I could be there at the site to help him “block it”. (Even though mobile homes have wheels, when they sit on on a permanent or semi permanent site cement blocks are used to stabilize them) I really appreciated the offer and told him “yes”. When Elle and I left he told me to meet him around noon. To say we were excited is to put it mildly.

That night we ended up eating at a diner on the outskirts of Harry’s town. We didn’t eat much but what we did do was to make lists of things we had to do and things that we were going to need to live in the trailer. Fortunately there wasn’t much business so I didn’t feel guilty occupying the booth for an extended period of time. It was probably close to three hours. As we wrote our lists on paper napkins the reality of what we needed and the money we had was sobering. But we still left feeling good about the future.

Even though it was pretty cold out I decided to sleep in the car. I hadn’t stayed with my classmate’s family in a long, long time and didn’t feel comfortable just showing up. I kept a wool blanket in the trunk and Elle had an extra pillow so I had all I needed. I parked in a relatively unused parking lot over by the football stadium. However, I was so excited about finally getting the trailer I couldn’t sleep. I wasn’t the cold or the fact that the car seat was uncomfortable but I just couldn’t calm down enough to settle in. I actually watched the sunrise.

It seemed like time crawled by until noon. I went to pick Elle up around 11:30am and we drove out to the site. I’d never seen a trailer as big as this being towed down a highway and when it was approaching my heart was pounding. Harry pulled it into the road/path to the trailer park and when he saw us called us over. Then we went to the owners trailer and he introduced us to them. We had a choice of two open sites and Elle asked if either one was next to another couple that was going to the college. He pointed out the one was at the bottom of the hill. Harry backed it in and I helped get it blocked. Then came another shock... make that two. No, make that three. We had to have electricity and we had to have fuel for heat plus I had to pay the rent for the space a month in advance. I think that if I could lay my hands on all the money that was mine at that moment it was probably less than $50. All I had with me was about $10. I don’t know if it was embarrassment or panic but I didn’t know what to do. Harry saved the day and paid the rent which solved, temporarily, one of the problems. I didn’t know what to do about the others.

To be continued...