The way it used to be

I own nothing...

Sunday morning...August 1997

"Jordan, did we remember to pay the phone bill this month?" Angela, now 18 and freshly graduated from summer school, asks as she's sitting at the kitchen table in their tiny apartment above the garage.

Sticking his head out of the bathroom door, tooth brush in his mouth, mumbles, "I don't know. Don't you usually write it down?"

"Well, it's not written down, so I guess it didn't get paid." Sighing, she pushes the notebook that she had been looking at away from her. The notebook that she keeps all the bills in.

Angela VO: Why is being an adult so hard? What is it when you're little that makes you want to grow up so bad? You just can't wait to get here. But when you finally do, you realize that there's a lot more to it. Why can't anything ever be easy.

Jordan, now 20, comes out of the bathroom, pulling his shirt over his head. Pouring himself a cup of coffee, he adds his three sugars and joins Angela at the table. Seeing the forlorn expression on her face he leans over to kiss her forehead. "Don't sweat it. We'll make it up somewhere."

"How will we make it up? We already don't have enough to pay the car insurance. You've been working from open to close every day and I've been pulling extra shifts at the restaurant." Sitting back in her chair, she crosses her arms over her chest and frowns.

"We'll figure it out, stop worrying about it. We have until next week to pay the insurance and if they cut the phone off, it won't be such a big deal. That's not something we need anyway." Taking her hand in his, he says, "Babe, cheer up. It's Sunday and neither of us has to be anywhere. We've got the whole day together."

Taking the notebook in her other hand, she lays it out in front of them. "Jordan, look at this. I don't see how we're going to do this. I mean, I know you want to keep saving money so that I can start school in the Spring, but I don't see how it's going to happen. I don't have to start school right away."

"Ang, college is important to you. We agreed that we'd save so that you didn't have to put it off. I almost caused you to not graduate high school. I'm not going to be the reason you don't go to college." Sipping his coffee, he gives her hand a squeeze. "If we have to, we can eat dinner with your mom and Dani, she said we could. That will save on the grocery bill. That should make up the difference on the insurance."

Glancing back down at the notebook, Angela says, "Jordan, I've decided I don't want to go to college right away. I've thought about it a lot. I don't want to move to another city. We're already struggling. We'd both have to find new jobs and a new apartment. I don't want that."

"But, Angela, if you put it off, you'll keep putting it off. There will always be a reason why you can't. I think you should do it." Putting his coffee cup down, he slides his chair back and pulls her into his lap. "I can't let you give up on this. We'll be fine."

"Jordan, I'm not giving up anything. I just want to put it off for a little while. At least until we get ahead. We can just take some of the money we have put back and catch up on all the bills. And I would really like to find a house somewhere. This apartment is cramped, we need more space." She lays her head on his shoulder.

"Red, if we spend the money, it won't be easy to put it back. It's taken us a year to save up what we have." Tightening his arms around her, he says, "I promise you, one day you won't have to worry about any of this. You won't have to worry about the bills and how we'll pay them. I'm not always going to work in a garage."

"Oh, I know that. It's just hard right now. We're barely getting by as it is. I don't want to think about what it will be like if I start back to school. I won't be able to work as much and you'll have to worry about paying everything." Sitting up, she looks him in the eye. "Jordan, I know you think I shouldn't wait, but I want to. When things are better for us, then we'll worry about it."

Looking back at her, Jordan tucks her hair behind her ear. "I'm sorry that things are so tight right now. I wish you didn't have to work, at all. I'm supposed to be taking care of you." Taking her face in his hands, he says, "You know I would give you the world if I could, right?"

"Jordan, you don't have to give me the world. All I want is you." They share a gentle kiss.

When Jordan pulls back, he hugs her to him. "Are you sure you want to wait?"

Angela nods, saying, "I think it would be best. For now, anyway."

"Ok, get up." He nudges her off his lap. When she stands looking down at him, he says, "Go get dressed. We're gonna take a drive. There's something I want to show you."

Angela heads to their tiny bedroom to change from Jordan's t shirt, her normal sleep attire, to one of her own. Slipping on some cut offs, she slides her feet into her sandals. Pulling her hair into a ponytail, she heads back into the living room/kitchen to find Jordan standing by the door with his keys in his hand.

"Where are we going?" Angela takes his hand and follows him out the door and down the steps.

"You'll see. You just have to be patient." Jordan pulls the passenger door of Red open and waits for her to get in before shutting it behind her.

Walking around the front of the car, he opens his door and gets in. Starting the car, he pulls out of the lot and heads in the direction of her mom's house.

"Are we going to Mom's? Is she expecting us?" She looks at him in confusion.

"No, we're going a few streets over." Passing the street she grew up on, Jordan turns down one three blocks away.

Stopping in front of a small white house, the yard overgrown with knee high grass, he cuts the engine. Getting out, he walks around to Angela's door and opens it for her. Taking her hand, he pulls her up to stand beside him looking at the house.

"So, what do you think?" He looks at her curiously, trying to gauge her reaction.

"What do I think about what? This house?" She takes in the peeling paint and the rusted fence. One of the shutters is hanging crookedly and the front porch is sagging.

"Well, yeah. You said you wanted to get a house. I know it's not much to look at, but could you live here?" Now unsure of himself, he starts biting at his thumb. "We could fix it up a little and it's really close to your mom."

"It does need a lot of work. How did you find out about this house? Is it for rent or something?" Stilling holding his hand, she pulls him along with her, walking toward the front path.

"Shane's grandma used to live here. A few months ago, she went to live with his aunt in Philadelphia. It's been empty since she left. His mom is gonna rent it out after they fix it up a little." He scratches his head with his free hand. "She kinda asked me and Shane to do the work. Since you want to move, I thought maybe me and Shane could still fix it up, but instead of getting paid or whatever, it could go toward our deposit."

Angela opens the gate and walks toward the porch, Jordan following behind. "So what kind of work does it need? Besides some paint and yard work? Anything major?"

"Not really. We'll probably have to replace some of the porch. The whole inside will need to be painted and we're gonna have to rip all the carpet out, maybe refinish the wood floors. We'll have to buy a new refrigerator and there's no dishwasher. It does have a washer and dryer, though. We won't have to keep going to the laundromat." Taking a set of keys from his shorts pocket, he opens the door.

The front door opens into a hallway that goes all the way to the kitchen in the back of the house. As they step inside, Angela goes from room to room, taking it all in. The small living room, the first door on the right, has a fireplace on one wall and a bookshelf built in on either side. The front wall has floor to ceiling windows. There is a hideous floral wallpaper on the other two walls.

The front bedroom, across from the living room is tiny. There's just enough room for twin bed and a dresser. The second bedroom, the master, is the next room on the right. It's a little larger. A full size bed and dresser would fit nicely. There's a walk in closet in the corner.

The bathroom is small, too. It has a pedestal sink and small shower, no tub. The laundry room is all the way to the back of the house, just past the bathroom and across from the kitchen.

The kitchen and dining room are separated by a breakfast bar. It's a nice size, bigger than any of the other rooms. The wallpaper, yellowed and peeling, has small green and blue pinstripes. Some of the cabinet doors are sagging and the counter tops are stained.

Jordan, watching Angela, starts to think it may not have been such a good idea after all. Just as he's about to tell her to forget about it, she turns to him and smiles. Slipping her arms around his neck, she stands on her toes to kiss him.

"So, when can you talk to Shane's mom? Think we could start cleaning it up today?" She watches him stare at her in confusion. That adorable blank expression on his face.

"What, you want to live here?" Seeing her smile, he returns it. "When you didn't say anything, I thought it meant you didn't like it."

"Well, it does need a lot of work, but we can fix it up together. She's not gonna ask a fortune for it, is she? I mean, we can afford it?" She brushes his hair from his face and cups his cheek.

"If you're sure about putting off school for a little while we can. But only if you're sure." When she nods to him, he says, "It is more than what we're paying Uncle Johnny and we'd have to pay for water and sewage, too. We'll have to put up deposits for the lights and everything. And I think we have to pay for trash pick up."

"So let's go by and ask her if it's ok. We've got the rest of the day to clean it up. The sooner we get it done, the sooner we can move in, right?" She runs her finger over the shell of his ear, making him shudder.

"Hey, that tickles." Batting her hand away, he laughs. "You're sure? You don't want to think about it some? We don't have to decide today."

"I'm sure. We can make this place really nice. It just needs some love." Stepping back from Jordan, she walks back through the house, heading out the front door.

When they're both standing on the porch, looking around at the yard, Jordan says, "Hey, I know this isn't that nice. One day, you'll be able to pick out any house you want. Hell, one day, I'll build you a house just the way you want it."

Slipping her arm around his waist, she leans into him with her head resting against his shoulder. "Jordan, it doesn't matter where we live, as long as we live together. I keep telling you, being with you is what I want. If we had to live in Red, I would be fine as long as I could curl up with you in that backseat every night."

When his arms come around her, she hugs him tight. "Baby, one day, when you're famous, we'll look back and remember this. We'll remember what made us who we are. I wouldn't change any of this."

"Angela, what did I ever do to deserve you?" Bending to kiss the top of her head, he sighs. "You are, without a doubt, the best thing that ever happened to me. You believe in me. You make me feel like I can do anything."

Pulling her head back, she looks up at him. "Jordan, you can do anything. You didn't have to do anything to deserve me. I love you." She pulls away from him and nudges him toward the porch steps. "Now let's go. Times wasting. I want to go talk to Mrs. Jones so we can get back over here."

Taking her hand once again, he pulls her through the gate and they get into Red. As they drive to the Jones house, Angela holds his hand in hers. Smiling at him, she lays her head on his shoulder.

Angela VO: One day, he'll realize what a good man he is. When he is a household name, when he and Residue are famous, we will remember this. We'll remember what it was like to work for what you want. It's the simple things in life that make you happy, right?

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