Working (It) Out

After getting married, Joy and Antonio had a plan, he would find work in Chicago, and she would follow him once he was settled. While traveling by train to Chicago, Antonio was fortunate enough to meet Leonard and his wife, Irene. They had been visiting family in the Twin Cities and were anxious to get home to Chicago’s energy. Plus, they both had jobs to return to on Monday. The three hit it off immediately and begin to talk about Antonio and Joy’s plan to move to Chicago. By the time the three departed the train, Antonio had Leonard’s father’s number. He worked within the meatpacking community of Chicago’s famous Back of the Yards. Antonio thought that this should suffice until he found something that would match the literature degree he had received from Minnesota State University.
A couple of months into his work at J&P meatpacking, and no new prospects of other employment, he had saved up enough money to move out of the men’s transient home and into a small studio apartment not too far from his work. Now was the time to bring Joy home to Chicago.

While Antonio worked in Chicago, Joy worked at a local department store and stayed with her parents to save money. The department store manager had a cousin who worked at Murphy’s department store in Chicago and put in a call in favor of Joy joining their team. With ticket and hand, and a job promised, Joy boarded the train to her new life with so much hope for her and Antonio’s future.

Joy loved Leonard and his wife, and the four of them became fast friends. Evenings out to dinner, and late nights dancing, they experienced the energy that Chicago had to offer. Joy only worked four days a week, and during her off days, she and Irene would go to the laundromat and wash clothes. Joy noticed that most of the ladies at the laundromat were washing blood-soaked garments, aprons, and the random amount of various children’s apparel. Looking at Antonio’s blood-soaked clothes, she felt right at home with the community. When time allowed, she and Irene would take walks down Chicago’s recently created Lakefront path and admire how Lake Michigan cooled the air on a hot summer’s day.

They would talk about being married, their different backgrounds, and at other times, have whole conversations about sex. Laughing about their own awkwardness, body image, and the noises that their husbands would make. For the first time in her life, Joy felt like she had a sister.

Antonio continued to look for work, and often times felt discouraged. But Joy, in her own motherly manner, would comfort him and soothe out his worries with her gentle voice and optimistic hope for the future.

When the phone rang that Friday, Joy looked at Irene as she carefully and hesitantly reached for the phone’s receiver. Hello? Yes, can I speak to Mrs. De Leon? Asked the caller. “Yes, this is she,” Joy said timidly. “Hi, Joy, this is Dr. Reinhart, and I wanted to share the great news with you, you’re pregnant. Congratulations!”.

Immediately Joy had a vision of blood-soaked clothes, with diapers twirling in the washer. She stood their wondering how Antonio would take this news. A pregnancy this early in their marriage wasn’t planned, and they weren’t fully established and ready for a family. Irene sensed Joy’s shock, grabbed the phone receiver and hung it up, and hugged Joy, and told her that everything was going to be alright.