PAYBACK

PAYBACK

A violent storm had brought great damage to the town of Haverland.  Joel Norcross, whose family had moved from Haverland to the nearby town of Oakdale in the 1980s, returned to Haverland to volunteer in a massive cleanup.

The head of the relief effort thanked Joel for offering his service.  Joel replied that he specifically wanted to help a particular family, the Gandels.  “I’m not from here, Joel,” Jack Shedrick ,the relief head, commented, “but this man right here might be able to help you.”  He then introduced Joel to Mack Drummond, a long-time resident of Haverland.

“Mr. Drummond, do you happen to know a family by the name of Gandels?”

“You mean Scandals, don’t you?  Sure, I know them.  Everybody in Haverland knows them.”

“I’m not sure what you mean by that, Mr. Drummond, but I’ve come over specifically to help out this family, if they can use the help.”

“They can use some help son, but I’m not sure you can give them the help they need.  We’re all Christians here, son, but as far as helping those people, we’ll help them, but they’ll be the last on the list.”

“All I know, Mr. Drummond, is that my family always talked about how, a long, long time ago, Mr. Josiah Gandels helped my family out.  And not only that, he supposedly also helped out many others during the depression years of the 1930s and 40s.”

“That’s certainly true, son, but I’m sorry to say that his descendants haven’t been so generous.  That grandson of his took the town for all he could get, and then this man’s son kills one of our town’s leading citizens while attempting to steal from him.  I don’t know what happened to that family, but they sure slid downhill.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.  I’d always just heard such great things about Mr. Gandels.  Can you tell me where their house is?”

“Sure, it’s up here two blocks and then a left.  It’s the second house on the left.  But son, if they need any supplies or help in fixing up their house, they’ll need to get in the back of the line. I don’t like to talk like that about anyone, but if anyone deserved it, it’s those Gandels.  And another thing, if you really want to help pay back Mr. Josiah Gandels for what he did for your family, you’ll help out all these families who were taken in by his grandson and great-grandson.”

“I certainly want to help where I can, Mr. Drummond.  I think I’ll just drive by the Gandels’ house to see how it looks, and then I’ll come back and start helping.”

Joel Norcross drove to the house. It looked abandoned and neglected.  However, it did not seem to have been terribly damaged by the storm.  He got out of his car and walked around. He looked into the house and noted furniture and other signs that the house was lived in, but saw no signs of life.

As the weeks passed, Joel went to the house every weekend, to and from his relief work.  He never saw any sign that anyone had been there. Slowly, the relief effort for the rest of the town brought the little community back to life. When Joel mentioned the Gandels to anyone, however, he could see the anger build up in all who were within earshot.

“A bunch of crooks and bums!” Alton Brown cried out when asked by Joel about the family. “You know what those Gandels did?  I’m talking about Lennie Gandels and his son Buck.  They came by my house, oh about six years ago. They said they noticed some things that needed work on the house.  Then Lennie mentioned some of the things he had heard that his grandpa Josiah Gandels did for my family way back when. He laid on a real guilt trip. Then he offered to work on my house.  He worked on it all right.  He used the cheapest materials he could get his hands on, most of it used.  And then he charged me ‘bout a quarter more than any other contractor would.  Later, it came out that he padded the bill and even kept the supplies he hadn’t used.  And he didn’t just do this to me, he did it to lots of people.”

“That’s just terrible.”

“You’re damn right it is. That guy even had his own son steal supplies from job sites. Then, one night, Luther Council, a dear friend of my family’s, caught that boy stealing stuff and threatened to call the police.  Least that’s what Luther’s wife said in court.  That boy pull out a pistol and shot Luther for about ten bucks worth of cheap building materials.  Luther was murdered.  At least that boy is in jail and his father is, too.”

“Are there any Gandels left?”

“Lennie Gandels’ wife and daughter. They had to move out of the house into a trailer.  I guess that’s where they are now, if the storm didn’t flatten it.”

One day, Joel passed by the Gandels house and noticed a young woman looking over the property.  He stopped his car, got out, and walked over to the woman. “Are you one of the Gandels?”

“’'Fraid so.  You a debt collector?”

“No ma’am. I’ve just been helping out with the relief effort here in Haverland.  My family knew your great-grandfather.”

“Oh yes, Josiah. We got his pitcher somewhere in the house. He wornt nothin’ like his children, I can say that.”

“I’ve heard talk.”

“I jest bet you have!  But I jest want you to know that we’re not all like that.  My momma is a wonderful person.  She jest don’t have any value in herself.  She let my daddy walk all over her.  And my granddaddy was a good person, just like his daddy, ‘ceptin’ he kipt things for hisself too much and he spoiled my daddy somethin’ awful.  I guess it’s ‘cause the old man Josiah gave everything away to people who needed it and ‘spected his son to do without.  I don’t know that for a fact.  Jest figurin’.”

“So, what’s that status of this house?”

“The what?”

“I mean.  Who owns it?  Would you and your momma be able to move back in?”

“I reckon the bank owns it now.  We got behind on our payments thanks to dear old dad and dear young brother.  The bank foreclosed on it.  ‘Cause of the storm, though, they’re bein’ nice and givin’ us some time. Ain’t worth much to them anyways.  They’ve actually been lots nicer to momma and me than they could be. I thinks it ‘cause of old man Josiah.”

“So, you didn’t own the house outright?”

“Dear old dad talked his papa into signing the house over to him.  My grandpa had built hisself another house and was rentin’ this one out until dear old dad returned from the service.  He did get an honorable discharge.  That’s about the only honorable thing he ever did in his life.  Anyways, ‘cause he was a vet’ran, he got a loan on the house, which he threw away.  Twenty-five thousand dollars!  I’ll never see close to that much money in my life, and he goes and spends it all in ‘bout two years.  And it woulda been quicker ‘cept he started his little construction company.  I  suppose you’ve heard ‘bout that.”

“I have.”

“Figures.  The folks in this town really have it in for us, and I don’t blame them.”

“Where do you and your momma live now?”

“We're in a trailer.  It was actually not so bad, at least before the storm.  That’s why I’m here.  I wanted to see if we might be able to move back in here ‘til we can figure somethin’ out.”

“How much do you owe?”

“Too much.  I guess ‘bout two thousand in taxes and three thousand in loan payments.  And  that’s not includin’ electric and gas.  We got a well and septic, but they don’t work.  Perty pitiful, right?”

“Well miss …

“Lucy Gandels, and my mom’s name’s Maddie, short for Madelyn.  My name’s short for Lucille.  That was old man Josiah’s wife’s name.  And I don’t mean any disrespect when I come him old man Josiah.  It’s jest easier than sayin’ great-grandpa all the time.”

“Lucy, I’m Joel Norcoss.  You seem like a real nice young lady.  And I bet your momma is nice, too.  Anyway, your relative, Josiah Gandels helped out my family during the depression and I’ve heard helped out lots of people in this area.  I’d like to pay him back by helping you and your sister out, at least as much as I can.”

“That’s mighty nice, sir.  But I’m not sure my momma and I want to stay here.  We’re figurin’ jest to stay until we can see our way to somethin’ else.  The folks here don’t really want us as neighbors.  And I don’t blame them.”

“Well, let’s see what we can do, okay?  Why don’t you and your momma go stay at the Owens Court for a while.  I’ll pay for it.”

“You don’t need to do that, sir.  The trailer’s livable.  Jest had to throw a couple of tarps over it to keep the roof from leakin’ and patch up a few windows.  Really, we’re fine.”

“Good gosh!” Joel exclaimed, “I’d better get to work.  They’re apt to fire me if I’m too late!”

“Thank you so much for your concern, sir.  We’ll deal with things. We always do.”

As Joel pulled away from the house, he noticed the beat-up car Lucy Gandels was driving.  He looked back and saw the worry on her face as she stared at the house and pulled at some weeds that practically choked out the front entrance.  Despite her apparent lack of education, Joel could tell that she not only had a good head on her shoulders, but that she was an upbeat and positive person, in spite of all she had lived through.  When he got back to the work site, he noticed Mack Drummond.

“Mr. Drummond, I just came from the Gandels’ place.  I met Lucy Gandels.  She and her mother are thinking about moving back into their house, at least for a while.”

“Their house?  I thought it was the bank’s house now.”

“From what Lucy told me, the bank has given her and her mother a little time to get things together before the foreclosure is finalized.”

“Lucy’s always been a nice girl, and her momma, too. They put up with a hell of a lot.  You know that her father and brother are in prison.  Lennie Gandels, her father, is in for corrupt business practices and grand larceny and the boy is in for murder and grand larceny. It’ll be some time before they see the world outside a prison.”

“Well, isn’t that all the more reason to help out Lucy and her mother?  Lennie and his son won’t benefit.”

“This means a lot to you doesn’t it, son.”

“Yes it does.”

“I guess that because of all the grief Lennie and his son caused us, we kind of pushed all the good that Josiah had done back into the storage shed of our minds.”

“You know that Lucy is named after Josiah’s wife.”

“Lucille, that’s right.”  Mack thought a minute. “Okay, Joel, there are about ten families in town who go back quite a ways.  I’d be willing to bet that Josiah Gandels helped them out.  Let me talk to them.”

“That would be wonderful, Mr. Drummond.  Thank you so much!”

“Nothin’s happened yet, Joel, so don’t get your hopes up to much.”

When he returned home, Joel checked up on Lucy Gandels and her mother.  He was able to determine that Lucy worked two jobs and her mother, though ill, worked part time at a dollar store.  She had kept up with her bills as well as she could, considering the fact that she was still paying attorney’s fees for her father and brother.  He also found out that the attorney who represented them at their trial was a member of the law firm owned by someone he knew, Mr. Matthew Drummond.

The following Saturday, he returned to Haverland (had had only been able to work on weekends).  He saw Mr. Drummond.  “Mr. Drummond, I hope you’ve had a good week.”

“It’s been okay.  I did some checking with the folks I mentioned and it looks as though two or three are willing to look beyond what Lennie and his son did to help out Lucy and her mother.”

“Well, that’s a start.  Just to satisfy my mind, I did some checking up on Lucy and her mother.  Did you know that Lucy works two jobs and her mother as a part-time job?”

“I didn’t know that.”

“Just about all of what they make goes to paying bills and debts. They live on practically nothing but apparently will not qccept any government assistance.”

“That’s nice to know.”

“I also found out another thing, Mr. Drummond.  And please know that I found this out purely by accident and that I have the highest respect for you.”

“What do I have to do with this?”

“The attorney who represented Lennie Gandels and his son is with your firm.  Lucy and her mother have been paying attorney’s bills for two years.  That’s one of the reasons they got behind on the loan payments and were not able to pay the utility bills or get their well and septic repaired.”

Mr. Drummond stepped back.  “Joel, please believe me. I had no idea. Everything goes through our billing office.  Sure, I look over things, as does my partner, but I never noticed the Gandels’ name on any lists. To be honest, I’m not sure I would have done anything if I had.”

“Well, now you know. You can handle it any way you see fit.  I am sure the attorney from your firm did his best for the Gandels at their trial and that they got what they deserved.”

“I’ll look into it. I’ve been doing some checking into things as well.  I examined some records and discovered that Josiah Gandels saved many a family from being foreclosed on and saw to it that their bills were paid up.  He had made lots of money in investments before the depression and got out well before the bottom fell out. I’m sure he felt guilty about having so much money when so many around him had nothing.”

“Mr. Drummond, would you mind giving me the names of the people who refused to help Lucy and her mother?  I’d like to talk to them.”

“Sure.  They all seemed pretty bitter, though.  I think they are firm.”

“I’d just like to speak with them, not about helping Lucy and her mother but about giving them a second chance here.  With Lennie and his son in prison for a long time, the community won’t need to worry about them.”

“I see what you mean.”

That evening and the following Sunday afternoon, Joel visited the ten families.  Apparently, even the ones who had been so adamant in their refusal to help had softened a bit.  Many of them could not only remember their parents and grandparents speak of Josiah Gandels. They also remembered many small acts of kindness Lucy Gandels showed them, even after – especially after – her father and brother were arrested, tried, and convicted. Joel told them that the biggest thing they could do for Lucy and her mother was to accept them into the community with open arms and hearts.

Joel had to return to work on the following Monday and it was the next Saturday before he could return to Haverland.  Early Saturday morning, before Joel had left his house, he received a call from Mack Drummond.

“Joel, this is Mack Drummond.”

“Yes, Mr. Drummond.”

“Please call me Mack.  Anyway, I assumed you were coming over to Haverland to continue helping us out today.”

“Of course.  I was just getting ready to leave,”

“I’d like you to do something.  I’d like you to go to Mrs. Gandels’ and her daughter’s trailer, pick them up, and take them to their house.  I’ve been by the trailer and know that they are home.  I contacted their employers and know that they are not expected for work today.”

“I’ll be happy to do that, Mack.  What’s going on?”

“It’s a surprise.”

Joel drove to the trailer where Mrs. Gandels and her daughter lived.  He had seen many terrible looking trailers in his life but was still shocked, not so much by the condition of the trailer as by the contrast between the trailer and the well-kept yard in front of it.  Of course, he noticed the large blue tarps hanging over the roof and the beat-up car that sat in front.  He got out of his car, went to the front door, and knocked.  Lucy Gandels answered.

“Mr. Norcross, what a surprise.  Won’t you come in?”

Joel was again surprised at how neat and actually beautiful the interior of the trailer looked.  There were even fresh flowers on the dining room table.

“Let me get my mother.”  Lucy disappeared into one of the rooms.  Mrs. Gandels soon appeared, tired looking but neatly dressed.

“I apologize for not calling before coming here.”

“We don’t have a phone,” Lucy replied, “jest use the neighbor’s when we have to, or go down the street to the store.”

“I was told that I need to take you to your house.”

At this, Mrs. Gandels commented, “Oh no! There’s been a fire, hasn’t there – or a break in.”

Lucy then intervened, “ Momma, Mr. Norcross doesn’t look like anything bad has happened.  Nothin’ bad has happened, right, Mr. Norcross?”

“Not to my knowledge.”

“Let me change into something,” Lucy remarked, “I look a sight!  Now momma, she always looks like she’s goin’ to church, back when people dressed up for church.  I’ll jest be a second.”

Lucy soon returned wearing a neat, but obviously well-worn dress and nice shoes. They all got into Joel’s car and headed for the house.  About two blocks from the house, they could see a crowd of people.

“Oh no, there has been a fire. I knew it.  I bet the people are happy to see that house go down in flames.”

“Now momma, don’t talk like that.  Do you see the balloons?  People don’t take balloons to a house that’s jest burnt down.”

There were cars ling the street, so Joel parked his car and the three got out and walked toward the house.  As they got closer, the crowd turned toward them and cheered.  Mack Drummond and his wife ran to meet them.  “Mrs. Gandels, Lucy, have we got a surprise for you!”

The cheering crowd parted as the Gandels, mother and daughter, along with Joel and the Drummonds, made their way to the house.  When they arrived they saw that their house had been redone and the yard beautified.

Lucy exclaimed, “This is jest like one of them shows on TV, where they do over a house!”

Mrs. Gandels could only gasp and look amazed.

Mack Drummond silenced the crowd and turned to the Gandels.  “Mrs. Gandels, Lucy, we have all been very busy this week completing the final project of our cleanup after the storm.  We want you to see what you mean to us in this community.  Before I take you inside, there is someone I’d like you to meet. Mack Drummond introduced the Gandels to Mark Trowel, president of the Merchant’s Bank, the bank that held the note on the Gandels’ house.

“Mrs. Gandels, and Lucy, you don’t know me, but I’ve got a story to tell you.  Many years ago, during the Depression, like so many others in this area, my grandfather didn’t have two pennies to rub together.  Not only that, he was in a bad accident and lost lots of blood.  He had a rare blood type and your grandfather, and great-grandfather, was the only one in the area who had the right match and who could give blood.  Not only did he gladly give the blood that helped save my grandfather’s life, but he also made sure the family was provided for until, and even after, my grandfather had recovered.  He often commented as to what a wonderful man Mr. Josiah Gandel was.  I have been made aware of what you and your daughter have been going through.  The amount that you owe the bank is nothing compared to what your grandfather and great-grandfather did for my family and for this community.  I am happy, and humbled, to announce to you that all the debts you have had on your shoulders regarding this house are now erased.  Not only that, but all your back taxes are being paid.”

Mrs. Gandels stood speechless as she heard this news, but then was moved to respond.  I don’t know what to say, Mr. Trowel,  that is so wonderful and so very generous of you and the bank to do that for me and Lucy.

“It’s our pleasure and privilege, Mrs. Gandel.”   

A little twinkle came into Mrs. Gandels’ eyes as she said, “The name’s Gandels, sir – not Gandel.  It rhymes with “scandals.”  At this comment, the entire crowd roared with laughter.  Mr. Trowel apologized for the slip.  Mack Drummond then came back up to Mrs. Gandels and Lucy. 

“There are a couple of other things I’d like to mention.  It’s no secret that your husband and son were not pillars of the community.”

At this, Mrs. Gandels, who seemed to finally be enjoying the whole show, interjected, “Is there a place under the jail you can bury them?  I love ‘em both, but I just can’t stand them and they done wrong.”

Mack Drummond continued, “Well, I don’t think we need to go that far, Mrs. Gandels.  What I want to say is that we understand that they were in the construction business, but that they never quite got the hang of it.”  At this, the crowd one again laughed and shouted.   “We thought we would show them, thought they’ll hopefully never see it, what good construction is.  Not only have we repaired you house, but we’ve replaced the septic system and completely redone your well. 

Lucy Gandels then stepped forward.  “Mr. Drummond, Mrs. Drummond, Mr. Trowel, Mrs. Trowel – I’m assuming you’re Mrs. Trowel….”

At this Mr. Trowel had to comment, “If she isn’t, please don’t let my wife know!”  Once again, gales of laughter spread through the crowd.

“Anyway,” Lucy continued, “this is all so wonderful.  I look out on this sea of faces.  I know all of you, and I know you know me.  I remember the looks I would get from many of you as I went to school or as I did my chores around the house.”  The crowd got quiet and seemed embarrassed.  “Even though the Gandels name became a bad word around here and many of you were hurt by what my father and brother did to you, the look I would get was always one of love and kindness.  My momma and I worn’t sure how we would be received by you if we were somehow able to move back into this house. We knew it worn’t ‘cause of us.  It wore jest the way things wore.  Momma and me, we aren’t Lennie and Buck.  We hope we’re more like Josiah and Lucille.  That’s what we want to be, anyways.   You know my momma’s name is Josephine and mine is Lucy, Lucille.  Thank you all, from the bottom of our hearts.” The crowd broke into applause and cheers.  She then hushed the crowd, “And special thanks go to Mr. Joel Norcross.  He didn’t have to come back to Haverland.  He didn’t have to do any of this.  Mr. Norcross, please forgive me if I sometimes call you Josiah.  You’ll know what I mean by that.”

Lucy and her mother, Joel Norcross, Mr. and Mrs. Dummond, Mr. and Mrs. Trowell, and Jack Shedrick, entered the house where the Gandels found a completely redone interior with updated kitchen and bathroom.  Hanging over a console in the living room was a photo of Josiah Gandels and his wife Lucille, a photo that had appeared in a paper when the couple celebrated that fiftieth wedding anniversary and that had been enlarged and beautifully framed.  After sufficient oohing and ahing, the group left by the kitchen door to the back yard where the huge spread had been prepared for the entire community to enjoy.  It was all supervised by Alton Brown and his family.  Josephine and Lucy Gandels knew they belonged.