Grimville

In a small myopic town of Grimville, the road looked empty with dried up trees and leaves swirling away by the forceful wind; neighbors were indoors with locked houses; as if to mind their business; but not Me, I was outside at 8:45 am mowing my lawn.

‘'good morning jay'' said my next-door neighbor who had a very pretentious attitude.

‘'morning Nellie taking out your trash?'' I asked.

‘'um, good to see you'' she replied as she relocated back in.

I knew she wasn't taking out her trash, I was trying to be funny or maybe stupid; I always didn't know what to say. but I didn't want to think about that at all so I went back in for a cup of coffee. As I sat on my couch, I remembered the first time I stepped into this nosy town; with all its gossip and badmouthing, I stayed with no reason as to why I remained here for the past 5 years. 

It was a really small town where everyone acted like brother and sister or maybe wolf in sheep clothing, with their holier than thou attitude, I'm not judging, but just revealing truth. I know you might be thinking and asking why I hate this town, and why I've never said anything good about it. Well, if you'd like to listen; i'll love to tell you a story a friend of mine told me about what happened in Grimville back in 64'. 

It was April 10th, 1964, at that time young Joe miller was an errand boy at the Humphrey house. Mr and Mrs Humphrey had five children, 3 girls and 2 boys, they were comfortable, middle class and could provide everything for themselves and their children; but they needed help as the house was a bit big and difficult to fend for. They made calls and calls and calls, until one faithful day Mrs Humphrey received a call from a friend who directed her to the home of the millers. You see, young Joe was 12 years old and lived with his mother after his father died from a tragic accident, leaving Joe and his mother behind. Food, money was unavailable, with in-depth suffering they faced. So that faithful day when Mrs Humphrey had received that call about a family in need, she didn't hesitate to tell her husband as they both left immediately to the next town miles away from grimville.

At the miller house, Mr and Mrs Humphrey sat on an old worn-out sofa as they were being served a glass of water.

  ‘'so you said, you want my son to help with chores in your home''? asked Mrs miller.

‘'yes, you know, a house that's really big needs to be taken care of'' replied Mrs Humphrey who had a very proud attitude.

‘'Okay, so he's gonna work for 2 years, you pay him and he's gonna come back to me right?"

‘'yea, of course that's the plan'' replied Mrs Humphrey as she shoved her husband with her shoulders.

That day, young Joe miller left in agreement with his mum and the Humphreys to a town he'd never been before. Joe was given a small comfortable room that suits him, he wasn't treated poorly, as anything they'd eat he ate too, anything that was being shared at home also got to Joe as long as he carried out his chores properly and behaved well. But it was almost the end of the two-year agreement when Joe had asked to see Mr and Mrs Humphrey but to no avail as they both gave flimsy excuses about how busy they were and unreachable. Anytime Joe brought up the topic of him going back to his mother, they rebuked him mercilessly.

It became worse day by day as 3 years had passed. Joe remained in grimville with much work to do regarding the house. Mr Humphreys last daughter Dona was concerned about Joe that he had the habit of always talking about his mother with little dona who was 9 years old. so one-day dona out of pity revealed to Joe that his mother had sent several letters and most times the telephone had wrung when she found her mother telling Mrs Humphrey that Joe would have to stay some more and in that case his pay will be increased. Joe couldn't believe this because neither Mr or Mrs Humphrey gave letters to him or informed him about the calls and new agreement. So he decided to let it go and remained in grimville for 6 years. He was 18 years old now.

On July 5th, 1970, 18-year-old Joe, woke up in frustration at 4:45 am, walked to the kitchen cabinet; took out a nicely sharped knife and slit his wrist. He laid there and bled to death till the sun was out. He was later found by dona who screamed at the sight of Joe in a pool of blood. 

As you know, grimville; a town where news travels faster than the speed of light. In less than an hour, schools, streets, workplace, marketplace, were filled with so much talk about the Humphreys and the incident that occurred in their household. Left, right and center; people talked and talked about different versions of the story; whether true or not.

The people of grimville were ready to talk about the incident day after day without sympathy, or closure. They'd talk even if the Humphreys walked past them. 

Today, 9:45 am, I am still sited on my couch remembering not just the day I stepped into this town, but this story that was told to me by an old friend and how grimville never seemed to change.