March of the Oppressors

"They cut me loose today and said that was it. I am not too happy about it but I have to figure something out and just go on, I guess"

"Yes that is about all you can do," Mrs. Johnson agreed.

Elizabeth stood motionless for a few moments then decided to get the show going. "Well, everyone, shall we begin with what we came here to do?"

Tom had not noticed the room that he had entered. There were plenty of people standing around sipping drinks, smiling and talking. He noticed that the dark oak paneling was unusual for these days and it must have set the owners back quite a bit. The adjoining room was apparently the library and a big one it was at that. There were a few books on large shelves, that he could see from the front room. Books these days were mostly supposed to invoke memories of better days as almost everything was read from either the computer or the hand held electronic books. There just weren't too many real books around anymore and Tom missed holding and smelling them. It was a sad state of affairs, he thought. He supposed the other two doors that he could see led to the kitchen and the sleeping quarters. Most houses had a food preparation area that joined the living room. He also supposed that they were in the living room considering the furnishings.

"Okay everyone let's all go to the library and start the meeting," Mrs. Johnson spoke in a commanding but subtle voice.

In the center of the Library Tom was surprised at the size of the huge Oak table. The straight back chairs that surrounded the table were also made of the same Oak and Tom was astounded at the cost of all of the Oak in the home. He did not realize that Charlie had those kinds of resources.

Mrs. Johnson took a seat at the head of the table with Elizabeth and Tom on the left side of her. Tom imagined that she was some kind of officer of the club or whatever it was that the women had put together.

"Okay everyone," Mrs. Johnson began, "this is our fifteenth meeting and we are very happy to announce that we have our first male member. I want you to meet Tom Bagby who is the husband of Elizabeth. Please join me in welcoming Tom."

Everyone stood up and applauded Tom.

Tom was very embarrassed. He was the shy type but managed to stand up and thank everyone for their approval.

"Do you mind if I ask just what I am being inducted into," Tom asked.

"Well, we thought that you had discussed this with your wife," Mrs. Johnson said somewhat surprised.

"Well, not quite," Tom admitted, "I thought that we were coming to a party."

Everyone laughed and Elizabeth patted Tom on the shoulder hoping to console him in an apologetic way. "Why honey, I guess that I just didn't have the time to do all of that explaining. I thought that we could fill you in when we got to the meeting."

"Don't worry your pretty face about that," Mrs. Johnson said, "we will take care of that. We need to refresh our notes anyway.