A man stood about 3 feet away from the desk in the middle of a small room. The man took off his cap to wipe the sweat off his forehead revealing his short brown hair. He had dark brown eyes, a prominent southern drawl and a thin frame. An older man sat hunched over at the desk looking at papers, he was balding and was starting to get gray hair. However, his mustache was unaffected and was black as coal. 

You wanted me sir

Yeah I got somepin for you. You know the Smiths farm down yonder.

Yes sir I do

They haven’t paid their loan yet, I'm gonna need you to go and tell ‘em that if they can’t pay they gotta get off.

Sir are ya telling me to go up to the Smiths who I’ve known my whole life and tell ‘em all nice like to get up and get gone. Their family has lived there for three generations. My wife has been friends with Jane Smith since they were youngins.

I don’t know what to say, you knew what you were gettin’ into when you came in here asking me for a job. Here’s the paperwork, go look over it. Make sure I did everything right

Sir but if I

Boy you know arguing with me gets nowhere. If you won’t, I’ll fire you and hire someone else to do it. Lord knows folks would be lining up for your job.

Sir, please just please give me a day to think on it. I’ll go home and talk to the wife and, I’ll sleep on it please sir. Just give me a day to think on it.

Fine but remember even if you don’t someone else will.

Thank you sir. 

As the man was handed the papers, he was already thinking about how his wife would react. He sat down at his desk and did paperwork. He didn’t dare touch the paperwork for the Smiths hoping, procrastinating and hoping it would go away. As the clock was slowly ticking on the wall behind him, he could not help but think about the look in John Smith's eyes when he would see him at their house holding those dreaded papers. The same papers that lay mere inches away from him. As the man looked up at the clock, he realized his shift was over. As he walked to his house with the slow walk of a man deep in thought, the sun was setting behind him turning the clouds a pink shade, sharply contrasting the slowly darkening blue sky. His thoughts swirling and moving like the vast universe he started upon. Philosophy and ethics has always been a challenge to the man. He always thought that philosophy was only for rich people with enough time to sit and dream about a better world. However, he is lost without guidance and realizes the irony of his situation. He opened the screen door and found his wife in the kitchen cooking chicken with collard greens. His two sons set the table by putting forks and knives on the table. Letting out a short sigh, he sat down at the head of the table. They sat down and said grace, then began to eat. The youngest son opened his mouth to speak, closed it, then opened it again.

Pa why ain’t you eatin. 

I’m not hungry right now but you better eat all of ’em greens on your plate you hear.

Yes sir.

The kids talked about their day and how they found a snake down by the creek. When the man and his wife tucked the kids into bed, the man finally got the nerve to bring up the Smiths with his wife.

Honey, the Smiths didn’t pay their loan and the boss is makin’ me boot them out, and if I don’t, he’ll fire me. And I was thinkin’ of not doing it and we could move to California with all the others.

She thought for a second and said

Now that’s plain silly, you got a job and they didn’t pay their loans on time. No one will think less of you if ya did.

But it’s wrong, we've known them our whole life. I can’t just tell ‘em to get gone. They have lived there for generations. Their grandpa built that house well before the Spanish-American war.

I’m not sayin that it’s a good thing but yIt’s not wrong. They knew what they were getting into when they signed their name on that paper. ou can’t put your whole family at risk to stop somepin that will happen no matter what. 

Darling, you ain’t helping me out here I thought you were gonna be on my side.

I am on your side,. It’s just that doing this is the best for you and the whole family.

Well, I’ll think about what you said while I’ll fill out some paperwork.

Remember everything doesn’t revolve around your beliefs especially in these hard times.

The man lit a lamp and sat down at the dining room table. The only sounds that could be heard were the creaking of the old house and the clock got closer and closer to midnight. As the day came to an end the man felt more and more convicted. Right as the clock struck 12, he saw it. The old man messed up his math and increased the loan by 20% to accommodate for inflation, but inflation only went up by 12%. He was charging 8% more than what was actually owed, this revaluation could help the SSmiths keep their land. Knowing this, he was able to get a good nights sleep for the first time in a long time.  When he woke up, his mind immediately went to the Smiths and how he cold help them. He was focused and could only think about how he is going to present this to the old man. As he walked into the back room he noticed the dark rings under the old man’s eyes. He hadn’t gotten much sleep either.

Sir you messed up your math and are overcharging the Smiths. 

The old man sighed and slowly brought his head up to look in the man’s eyes

I don’t mean to hide this from you but we are near bankrupt and need that land to survive.

But that’s not right and if you go ahead with it. I’m gonna get the sheriff.

He won’t arrest me, I was the main contributor to his campaign. And even if they did arrest me you're out of a job, then you're putting your family at risk. That ain’t like you to do that.

Then the old man closed his eyes and breathed in deeply 

These are tough times for everyone 

The man climbed into a worn down model T and turned the key as slow as possible, he thought about what he was going to do as he drove down that old red dirt road. He stopped, turned off the car and got out. Mrs. Smith saw his car coming and stood on the front porch. 

It’s nice to see you Mr. Johnson