The next morning, Will rose and headed toward the store, the same as every other day. Uncle Benjamin and Aunt Elisia had been running the store alone, but Elisia was only able to help on weekends. Their children could only help after school and on weekends, and soon they would be in college full time. That meant the majority of the store sat upon Benjamin’s shoulders. His limited schedule – and security itself – forced him to follow a haphazard schedule, closing early on some nights and failing to open on others. The irregular hours made it even more difficult to maintain his customers and compete with the other markets in town.
After Will arrived, he started to help with the store and relieve Benjamin of some of his duties. Even with just one working arm, Will proved to be quite handy and helpful in the shop, and the family was extremely grateful for the extra hands. Will quickly learned the accounting and receipt books of the store, and started to catch up on the paperwork and records maintenance that had fallen behind when Hannah became sick.
He found out that the store hadn’t been profitable for some time. Hannah and Frank had been using their savings to keep it afloat. Which meant that they had a long way to go. Frank had very little savings left, and they had to take the store from losing money to being profitable again. It was going to be a long road.
“I tried talking to them about selling the store,” explained Benjamin, “but neither person would listen. They said that selling the store wasn’t an option. It had been in the family for a long time, and they wanted it to stay that way. Hannah always believed in tradition, and this was one of her favorite sticking points.” He shook his head, remembering what must have been some serious arguments.
“We thought we could cut the hours down, or even close the store for one day a week, like on a Sunday, but they wouldn’t hear of it. Actually, I believe it was Hannah who did all the talking and Frank who just nodded his head,” Elisia added, smiling fondly.
“That sounds just like Aunt Hannah,” Will laughed.
“Willie, I don’t want to sell the store either. I love it here. This place has been my whole life, but we all know that we can’t do it all on our own. You’ll return to Mexico or Texas, and we’ll have to do it without you. I just don’t think we can do it,” Benjamin said quietly. “I don’t see that we have any option.”
“Have you heard from the professor?” Elisia asked, changing the subject abruptly. “Will you be getting treatment for your arm soon?”
Will smacked himself on the forehead. “Oh, I completely forgot! I did hear from him. He stopped by the store late last night, just as I was closing up.”
“Well?” Benjamin and Elisia said together. They leaned forward in anticipation.
“Well, he did give me the name of a doctor who’s at the teaching hospital, a colleague of his friend, that was willing to see me,” Will said slowly.
“Willie, you don’t sound too excited,” Benjamin said, confused.
“I don’t? Well, I think I’m kind of nervous. What if he says there’s nothing he can do? What if he says my arm will always stay the same? What if he says –”
“Stop! You’re driving yourself crazy!” Benjamin interrupted, holding up his hand. “Just go see the doctor and find out what he has to say. Maybe he’ll also say he can help you out. Think positive, my son. Think positive!”
“Well, I’m going by tomorrow morning, so I suppose we’ll see.”
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