Malik Had a House

Malik Had a House

All of the guys slapped his palms - Bryan, Deonne, even Sean, Malik's younger brother.

Malik liked how everyone shot hoops in his yard after school-something that couldn't happen back when his family lived in a cramped apartment.There was no place to shoot hoops there except in the street, where drivers yelled, "Move, before you get run over!"

Two years ago, Malik, Sean, and their mom moved to a house just a few blocks away from his friends.Ever since, the guys came by to ball in his yard.On rainy days, they played video games in Malik's very own bedroom,twice the size of the room he and Sean had shared in their apartment.

"My hungry stomach and my homework are calling my name," said Malik, "so let's pick it up again tomorrow."

Once Bryan and Deonne had headed home, Malik joined Sean in the kitchen.Sean stood at the counter making a sandwich with tuna, mayonnaise,whole wheat bread, leafy green lettuce, and tomato slices.It surprised Malik to see Mom in the kitchen, too.He grabbed an apple from a bowl of fruit on the table and took a big bite.

"Hey, Mom, you're early," he said.

Malik could tell from her face that something was wrong.Sean looked up at his mother, noticed it, too, and stopped spreading mayonnaise on his bread.

"Sit down, boys," she said, and in silence, the three of them took seats around the kitchen table.

"I've lost my job," she announced.

Malik heard his mother's words, but they didn't seem real.For as long as he could remember, she had worked at a department store called Deal Mart.They liked her so much, they'd even promoted her.

"They said business has been too slow to keep all of us," she said.

"But you're a manager," Malik said, wondering how his mother's job-something that had always seemed like a part of normal life - could be gone just like that.

"Other managers have worked there longer than I have," said Mom, "and some of them have been let go, too.The bad economy is catching up with everybody."

"What's an economy?" asked Sean.

Malik's mom gave a heavy sigh and gazed around the kitchen as though she might find an answer there."It's all about money and jobs," she explained."When lots of people have jobs and lots of people are spending money, that's a good economy.Right now, in many countries, including ours, the economy is bad.People don't have money to spend, which means businesses that make and sell things make less money.Then workers at those businesses make less money or lose their jobs, like I just lost mine."

Malik's mom looked gloomier than he'd ever seen her.

"You'll find another job," he said. "I will," she agreed, "but when?"

Three months had passed since their mom lost her job at Deal Mart,and she'd been looking for work ever since.When she could, she worked at what she called "odds and ends" jobs that only lasted a day or two.Malik and Sean still shot hoops in their yard with the guys, but the snacks they ate afterward had changed.

Now when Malik peered into the kitchen cabinet, it was almost bare."I guess it's peanut butter and jelly again," he said.

"Yeah," said Sean, "we've been eating so much peanut butter, sometimes I think I'm turning into a peanut."

"Well," said Malik, "at least we don't have to pack PB and J for lunch anymore."

Last week, their mom had signed them up for free meals at school.Until last week, Malik hadn't even known the school offered free meals ... if you were poor enough to need them.

The brothers were still at the table chewing their PB and J sandwiches when their mom walked through the door.

"Hey, you two." She sounded dead tired.

"Hi, Mom," Malik said. "Where did you work today?"

She dropped into a kitchen chair as if a thousand-pound weight pressed down on her."Well, boys, I got my exercise today, that's for sure.I delivered grocery store flyers to houses for seven hours straight.If I got paid a dollar for every house I visited, we'd be rich."

Malik knew his mother made less money at odds-and-ends jobs than she used to make at Deal Mart.

"At least it wasn't raining," she said wearily, sorting through the day's mail and tossing letters aside until the last one.She opened this one and ran her eyes across it, then made a noise in her throat.

"What is it, Mom?" Malik asked.

"It's our mortgage bill," she said, then noticed their blank faces."That's the money we owe the bank for our home."

"I thought we owned our home," Malik said.

"Actually, Malik, the bank owns our home.Each month, I pay the bank a certain amount until I've paid off the mortgage."

"So the bank is like the landlord we paid when we lived in the apartment?" asked Sean.

"No, the bank gave me a loan so I could buy our house from the woman who used to own it.The mortgage is what I borrowed from the bank, plus interest - lots of interest.If I can pay off the mortgage, then we really will own this house."

"If?" asked Malik. Mom didn't respond.

''How long will it take to pay off the mortgage?" asked Sean.

"Thirty years," she said. "It's supposed to take thirty years."

"But you'll be old by then," Sean said.

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