the double wide

my sister called me
the other day and
wanted to borrow ten
large to put down on
a double wide so that her
and her husband when
he gets out of jail
could have a place
to stay. and cosign
the note. without
hesitation, i said no.
she asked me why, and
i told her that i
was mean, and cheap
and that i didn't have
that kind of money to
put down on jail birds.
i actually used the
words jail birds. which
may not have been used
this century. she told
me that jimmy would
catch wind of me saying
no and that it wouldn't
go down easy. my memory
of the sentencing was
that he was convicted
of murder, drug charges,
kidnapping, and crossing
state lines with a trunk
load of weapons. he got
four years, but was out
on good behavior, having
joined a bible study
immediately upon
incarceration. so i
told my sister, how about
five large, but i can't
cosign. she said okay.
that'll be fine, jimmy
will be very happy with
that. thanks. love you.
see you at thanksgiving,
we'll save you a drumstick.