by Shaun Kelly
It wasn't a great arrangement, and they all knew it.
Gloria Kelly and Michael Ross started dating during their sophomore year at the University of Illinois, and by the time they were seniors they had decided to get married immediately after graduation. Gloria had grown up in Chicago, and planned to become a teacher in the public school system. Michael hailed from a small farm town in the southern part of the state and had always wanted to live in Chicago - he had been a Finance major in college and he had lined up a starting job with one of the banks in the Windy City.
The problem was that each of the newlyweds had massive college loans outstanding that would become payable starting six months after graduation. With those debts plus the cost of the wedding, they just wouldn't make enough money from their combined starting salaries to rent and furnish an apartment.
Reluctantly, they came up with a thought that was fairly common in previous generations, but much more rare lately. Gloria's mother Barbara owned a small house in Chicago and she agreed to let the newlyweds move in with her.
In a city known for a rough, tough working class, Barbara Kelly fit in perfectly with the stereotype of a typical Chicago resident. Shortly after graduating from high school, she had enlisted in the U.S. Army, and after a battery of aptitude tests pointed her in that direction, she took additional training to become a member of the Military Police. She finished her stint as an M.P., then returned and joined the Chicago Police Department. In those days most policewomen ended up on desk duty in a station house, but Barbara fought for and won an assignment to ride on daily patrol. She did so for eight years, until an accident suffered during a pursuit made it impossible for her to continue.
After leaving the police force, Barbara took a job in the security department at a major department store inside The Loop. She was now the manager of the security force, mostly responsible for recruiting, training, and scheduling the other guards, but when the store's security cameras showed a group of teenagers entering the store, she would often go out on the floor to pose as a shopper while watching the teens closely. Most months she caught 2 or 3 shoplifters that way, and when the culprits were teenagers, she only wished that their parents would treat them the same way she would have treated Gloria or her brother Shaun if they had been arrested.
She had met husband Ken Kelly while she had been on the police force. He also worked for the city, but in a much less stressful position as a senior clerk in the accounting department. Ken had passed away during Gloria's freshman year at the university.
Although Barbara was not naïve about sexuality, she insisted that Michael sleep in Shaun's room until the wedding.
Not to be reposted, reproduced or distributed, in part or whole.