Story about a Family Who Is Attacked by a Ruthless Loan Shark after Defaulting on Their Loan - Essay Example

Short Story A knock on the door and a postman was found standing at the door. He was the postman of the area for last twenty-six years and more than that time span the recipient of the letter and her family was residing at the Kemp Town near the beach. This is a story of Wells family and the misery which suddenly came to their house without knocking unlike the Postman. Jonathon Wells was residing at his beach house for three generations. Jonathon Wells was a manager of a famous inn in the town and his wife, Lisa was working with a lawyer of the town as his secretary. She recently had to take this job for some definite reason. Jonathon and Lisa had two sons and a little daughter. The first son, Jack studies in the seventh standard, the younger one in the fifth and was named after his grandpa Edward. Their only daughter, as white as lily and sweet as a pie was named Alice. She was only three years old. It was always hard for Lisa to carry Alice to the workplace but she had to. As at that point of time it was never possible for her to arrange a baby sitter for young Alice. Brighton is a tourist place in England and Kemp is most famous for its summer beaches. Every year almost eight million tourist visits Brighton and Jonathon was a manager of an inn so his job was secured and the family was happy enough till the time Jonathon didn’t fall prey into the hands of the money-lenders. Lisa always wanted their sons to receive good education but unfortunately this dream fell very short to Jonathon’s exquisite dream of buying a heritage car. Jonathon’s father was a rich businessman and he renovated the large beach house. This house was gifted by the Royal Family to Jonathon’s great grandfather Henry for saving the drowning prince when the Royal Family once visited Kemp Town Beach. Though there was always a separate Monarch’s Way situated at the west along the seafront above the beach, still it remains a mystery that amidst so many attendants and servants what Henry was actually doing there. It is said that Henry actually received this house as an ancestral property by marrying Maria, who was a daughter of a rich fisherman and as a wedding gift, Henry was awarded this house. But some where there was a bit problem in the constitution of thoughts or a habit that was carried forward to the forth coming generation is a point of debate and lets not beat around the bushes. The point of contention from this incident is clearer than the blue water of the sea which was visible from the bedroom of the beach house. The family was a bit pomp, extravagant and most importantly the house was the little fortune they inherited which continued helping the family since generations and also rendered them a considerable amount of respect and status in the society for its beautiful design and location. After the shifting duty at the inn, the only recreation for Jonathon was to meet a group of friends at the Shingle Beach over a can of beer and some canned sea-fish. Jonathon was quite famous in his group. He was treated as the leader as was considered a bit more acclaimed and rich for owning such a beautiful beach house and a good ancestry. One day Patrick, a local fisherman bought a car, a heritage one and suddenly the attention of the group moved from Jonathon to Patrick. Jonathon could not tolerate this. His only recreation was to find himself placed at a higher seat among his group. Back at home as usual Lisa, his wife was the boss and at his work place, he was a manager only by designation. The owner of the hotel where Jonathon used to work was very rude. His name was Darwin and he was a tall, fat man whom children were scared of and Jonathon rightly called him monster. He was a bouncer in Los Angeles in a bar. He married a girl from the locality and came to Brighton where he acquired the ancestral beach house of his wife and converted it into an inn. He was also a money lender and a leader of all the illegal activities at the beach. In one word he was dangerous, rough and a ruffian in its truest sense. Jonathon was frustrated by the recent glory of Patrick. He could no longer bear the stories of the heritage car and soon decided to buy one. He went to the bank but the bank said him to keep his only asset, his beach house, as security for the sum which he intended to take as a loan. Jonathon was not ready to do that. He was upset. Happy Jonathon soon became disdained and grim faced. Soon the news spread in the Kemp that Jonathon is looking for a loan. And no wonder, there were many people in the queue to help Jonathon; the only reason for such benevolence was the beach house with maple wood flooring. Jonathon was desperate as he was repeatedly provoked by his friends to buy the car at the cost of any damn thing and the only objective was to regain the lost glory within the group. Darwin heard that Jonathon was in a bad need for money. A real business man that he was, he suddenly became an angel from demon and invited Jonathon for a drink after his duty. While drinking he asked him whether he wanted money or not? Jonathon was on the seventh heaven. He accepted the offer of Darwin not knowing what was there in the kitty. Darwin managed to put some signature on papers with good English and abundant legal terms which were beyond Jonathon’s comprehension .Actually he was keeping mortgage for the beach house. Jonathon bought the car and with that regained all his lost glory amid his friends. His family completely unknown about the matter started thinking him next to Superman and Jonathon’s children started considering him as their idol. Lisa was so proud of her husband and soon the women of the community started being jealous of her. The story of jealousy and reverence for the Wells family was the everyday topic for Jonathon and Lisa at their dinner table. But the end of the happy days was approaching fast. Darwin suddenly became unnecessarily rude towards Jonathon and one day fired him from his job. Jonathon was supposed to repay the loan with 4% more interest rate from that of the bank to Darwin but Darwin didn’t gave him that much time. Soon it was revealed that Darwin has taken the possession of the priced beach house and with no wonder the ancestral Beach house was soon going to be converted into a luxury hotel was a fact clear to every person in Kemp. Darwin sent the notification of evacuation to the Wells family. Jonathon is trying hard to repay the loan but it is beyond his limit now and Darwin won’t give him that much time, is quite obvious. Lisa is working to support Jonathon but their entire attempt to save their beach house i.e. their shelter is futile now. A friend of Lisa’s dad gave Jonathon a work in another hotel but that amount is not sufficient to repay the principle even. They sold the car but the interest rate added with the capital sum made the amount gigantic than Darwin and Jonathon lost everything. He lost his car, glory, valour, prestige and most importantly his roots and his most prized possession - his beach house. Bibliography Brighton & Hove City Council. “City Focus”. Home. http://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/ (Accessed March 21, 2010). Read More