but he knew that when it was a good time to hire a new chief, the town would do a great job of that as well.
Chapter 7
Patrick had had enough of going around without any money. It wasn’t like his mom didn’t have any to hand to him. Even his own daughter was living it up in a nice fancy house and acting like there wasn’t a thing in the world for her to worry about. What about him? He should have been on top of her list of shit to worry about. Not that man she had married. He was a dork anyways, if you asked him. Who the hell did he think he was acting like his wife’s dad didn’t matter squat?
Then there was Austin. It really got in his craw that Austin was being welcomed into Pem’s house. By rights, it should have been Patrick’s house too. Living with them in the fancy house should have been something he was doing. Even his own mom wouldn’t allow him to stay a couple of nights by sneaking him into the house. No one should be treated this way when there was money to be had.
He saw Austin as he walked to the pizza place. It would be just like him to go in there and have himself a good meal. Patrick hadn’t had himself a good meal since—well, he couldn’t remember. About the time that his missus took sick. She sure could make a pork chop be glad that it was in her skillet, that’s for sure.
There hadn’t been any insurance on his wife. When he’d gone to the insurance company he’d had his car insurance with, he asked them when he was going to get his wife’s pay off. The man stared at him for several long seconds as if he didn’t understand.
“You know. A death benefit. Where is my wife’s? I would have thought that since she’d been gone for a few months, you’d have hunted me down for it.” He told him that it had only been two weeks. “Whatever the time, where is my money? Everybody knows that when someone dies, there is insurance to be had. I would like to get hers.”
“She didn’t have any insurance.” Patrick had pointed out that everyone had insurance. “You think they just automatically give an insurance payout when someone dies? Well, it doesn’t work that way. You have to take a policy out, then make the payments on it every month. If your way were the way to go, then there wouldn’t be any insurance companies around. No. Neither you nor your wife had any life insurance policy. I can help you set up one for you. The policy won’t cost you that much per month. I can even—”
“Are you telling me that there isn’t any money coming from her up and dying? I was sort of counting on that money. To, you know, have me some new things. I mean, what are you even in business for if you don’t provide people with a means to get some nice payout when someone dies?” He told him that he was in the business of selling insurance, not paying out for anyone that dies. “Well, that just sucks. Here I was thinking you all were going to give me a hefty payout when she died, and you’re sticking it to me. I should call the police on you is what I should do.”
“You go right ahead and do that, Mr. Black. And when they stop laughing, I’m sure they’re going to tell you the same thing. That unless you paid for it, there won’t be any payout.” He explained to him the way it worked had Patrick paying for the insurance every month. It wasn’t a payout so much as it was him getting all his money back at one time. That made no sense at all. “I think it’s time you left. You might want to think about getting a policy for yourself too. I’m sure that lovely daughter of yours could use some help in paying for your funeral.”
That had been when his wife had passed on. Patrick hadn’t paid for his car insurance anymore, either. If they didn’t payout on a big thing like death, then they’d surely find some reason not to pay him if he was to wreck his car. Some people didn’t deserve to be in business, Patrick had thought then and now.
Standing on the spot where he thought his parents’