Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: RESTORATION (12/03/20)
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TITLE: Tin Roof Monday | Previous Challenge Entry
By Jennifer Champion
12/07/20 -
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“Hey Tami!” shouted Emmanual in his thick Guatemalan accent.
Tamela looked to the left to see her friend Manny sitting on his porch drinking coffee. She chuckled as she thought about the orange mug’s other additional contents like cheap whiskey or bourbon. She threw up her non-saluting hand in a wave and smiled.
“Good morning Manny! Tell Linda I’ll be by to see her later today to get my dressed hemmed for the party tomorrow.”
Tomorrow was big day for the community. Tamela and most of the residents of the Mi Casa Mobile Home Village were preparing to celebrate both an end and a new beginning. The past three years had been difficult for not only their town but also for their tight knit neighborhood. Before the first Covid19 case showed up in Mi Casa, it was a brightly colored Hispanic community of 143 families. The common area in the middle of the trailer park was always full of children playing soccer, their already brown skin darkened even more by the sun. Mr. Chavez, who lived at lot 50 owned an ice cream truck and would always go by the common area first to hand out popsicles for free to the kids before making his route through New Laurel.
The mobile home that belonged to Jose’ sat at the edge of the soccer field and Tamela stopped just short of the gravel driveway. After three years, it should be easier coming to this place, but each Monday only brought up emotions of grief. This Monday would be the last because tomorrow a new family would be moving into the trailer.
As Tamela made her way to the end of the structure, another familiar voice rang out, “Tami, are you taking it down today? Give me a minute to get Lucia. We’ll come help you.” It was Tomas.
Tomas and Lucia would be welcomed company Tamela thought as she climbed the aluminum ladder to the top of Jose’ trailer. When she got to the top, she stooped down to pick up the first stone. It was a tiny rock and written on it in black permanent marker was a date, 6/20/19. Tomas and Lucia showed up in a matter of minutes and climbed the ladder. In their hands were baskets, hand woven by Ms. Jarilla of lot 101. Silently, they began to pick up the rocks that were strewn across the roof, each one with a date and each one representing a life lost in Mi Casa to Covid19. Jose’ was the first to die. Losing Jose’ was especially hard on the people of Mi Casa for many reasons. He was the oldest person having lived to be 84. He lived alone and thrived. Each day, he would walk through the neighborhood, praying for each family he passed along the way. The residents of the mobile home village knew if they needed prayers, food, a few dollars to get by, or just someone to talk to then they could go to Jose’. He was friend to all. When he died, alone in the hospital, it was Tamela that the nurse called. She knew they were close and Jose’ did not have family living in the States. The day she found out about Jose’ passing, Tamela went to his trailer and laid a small stone on the roof with the date written on it. He died on 3/6/19.
As the months marched on, many others died and by the time the vaccine had been distributed and the plague was slowing down, over seventy percent of the people in Mi Casa had passed. The government had declared officially last week though that the plague was over so tomorrow, the neighborhood will celebrate. The common area will come alive with colorful handmade decorations and children playing soccer again. Juan who bought the ice cream truck from Mr. Chavez’s daughter will even be there giving out free popsicles in his memory. Tamela smiled as she walked back to her own trailer with the baskets of rocks. Tomorrow the community will build a memorial with them. New families will move in and flowers will be planted. There will be no more Tin Roof Mondays.
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It might be my tired brain, but I was confused about a couple of things. I wondered how the first person who died of COVID-19 a year before the pandemic started. I assumed it was set in the US, but perhaps the loving community was somewhere else, but even if elsewhere, it was November when it hit, not March. You had a lot of great people in this story, but it was a bit difficult to get to know each person because your word count limited you. However, I see great potential for a novel set in this sweet community.
I really enjoyed the idea of building a monument with the dates of the deaths written on each stone. I think it's important to show others how hard the Hispanic communities, along with some others, have been hit so much harder and not necessarily gotten the medical treatment that the privileged received. You brought the story full-circle and did a great job with the conflicts and resolutions. I think you hit the topic while delivering a clear message.