poverty mistress of the misfortunate, part 1 and 2 with edits

poverty, mistress of the misfortunate, parts 1 and 2 with edits

fiction
edward w Pritchard

edit, repost 1

part 1

Poverty is a fat girl in a dirty torn stained tee shirt with a tattoo on her ass. She sleeps till 1 pm and then eats off a paper plate and drinks from a leaky Styrofoam cup. She never cooks or cleans and next week she is hoping to hear about getting a telemarketing job 56 miles west of here, up north in the snow belt. The first two weeks of training for her telemarketing job will be without pay and then is minimum or commission whichever is worse. Her first three paychecks are subject to garnishee for back court costs.

Poverty doesn't build character and it doesn't make you appreciate what you have. She comes to you because you have character shortcomings and she stays and stays. She never picks up her clothes and she doesn't understand how a washing machine works. Poverty masks one's humanity and condemns one to silence and solitude. Poverty has no immense pity as she slowly reveals the face of anguish of her victims. Poverty has no spirituality about herself and spends afternoons watching reruns of the wheel of fortune on the neighbors black and white television.

The best way to avoid the clutches of poverty is to have money. Living without money is absurd and awfully inconvenient. Sometimes if you are lucky Poverty will pack up and leave your flat there in the project and move in with a guy with a motorcycle or two and three children under five that his ex won't take care of.
end part 1

part 2

Poverty my mistress

Poverty is a fat girl in a dirty stained tee shirt with a tattoo on her ass who use to be a porn star. Every time poverty smiles at you she winks, two of poverty's teeth are missing in front and the other two blackened teeth are chipped. Poverty sits around the broken wobbly picnic table in the filthy kitchen there in the project at 8:30 AM drinking strawberry Boone's farm wine from a broken glass with shards of glass floating on top of the congealed liquid, left over spirits from the last six years of binge drinking. Looking at her expression  as she coyly smiles at you you see apparitions of Poverty's past life as a 17 year old porn star.  Sirens scream through  the cluttered parking lots of the project where you and poverty stay temporarily the last six years. Your car out in the parking lot is safe for now from youthful thieves, the head gasket is blown and oil leaks underneath. It's another day in the project.

Poverty winking means she needs attention and is the mood for some extended sex. It's nine AM, the sun is bright, and your stomach turns as you remember years ago all the unspeakable things you used to enjoy doing with Poverty that caused poverty to stay and stay with you now. Before things start you have to high tail it over to Assad's convenience store and buy Poverty two packs of Marlboro's long, an extra large bag of fire style cheetos, and three slim Jims for breakfast. 

About 11:30 you trot down to burger king and buy Poverty two double whoppers, an extra large pumkin shake, and two double orders of holiday french fries. Poverty wants you to sit with her while she leafs through the 8 used people magazine she got at the jail last week when she served 24 hours for slapping the Watkins girl. .Poverty likes you to see which Celebrity is dropping jaws this week by wearing a tight fitting fish net leotard. Three thirty poverty takes a four hour nap. At six you buy poverty the Swansons hamburger steak TV dinner, seven instant lottery tickets and two bottles of mint Boone's farm for tonight. Two policemen knock at the door around nine looking for the Williams boy. Poverty winks twice at the Hispanic officer.

About ten you sleep on the floor in the corner with you face against the wall. In the background you hear Poverty listening to right wing radio about a big five per cent cut in food stamps threatened for next month. About midnight you hear poverty sneaking out for a few hours probably trying to find that Hispanic police officer.