Callahan’s

Callahan’s

Rick prepared his lunch for school as he always did. His father was long gone and his mother lay passed out at her usual place on the couch in front of the TV, clutching an empty bottle of vodka that she consumed the night before. He was used to it. He accepted his lot in life for as long as he could remember.

He prepared his usual sandwich, bologna on white bread with mayonnaise. The crust was removed exactly as his mother used to do, when she was sober. He carefully wrapped this “delicacy” in Saran wrap, placing it on top of an apple and a small carton of milk. He folded the bag, brought into the garage and placed in the basket of his dead sister Sara’s bicycle (she was hit by a car, walking home from school, when her drunken mother forgot to pick her up).

Rick never got to school this day. He just kept riding until he got to Mrs. Callahan’s Dry Goods Emporium. He went in and asked for a job. He was hired on the spot as Mrs. Callahan thought him to be one of the brightest young lads she had ever met. As part of the job he was given a space in the stock room to sleep. Mrs. Callahan prepared the best food Rick had ever tasted.

Over the ensuing months Rick quickly learned the business. He was rewarded a promotion to run the entire operation. For the first time he was given a salary.

Months later he read in the local paper of the death of his mother. She passed out on her usual spot on the couch with a lit cigarette in her hand. In the ensuing fire, that also burned down the house, she burned to death. Rick shed no tears and quickly returned to work.

Rick soon became restless. He thanked Mrs. Callahan for all she did, hugged her closely, bought a bus ticket to New York and got work at Macy’s as a stock boy. As usual he quickly rose within the Macy’s hierarchy from stock boy to sales to management. When he had saved more than enough cash, he resigned and opened a small store in Soho, stocking it with very trendy male clothing.

The new store was an instant success, appealing to chichi men. He named it, “Sara’s Circus”, after his deceased sister. With this phenomenal success, he opened other very trendy stores, “Rick’s NY”, “Sara’s General”, “The Threads of Callahan” and others. The growth of these places soon caught the eye of many big clothing conglomerates. Rick eventually sold to Nordstrom for an exurbanite sum.

Rick returned to his hometown, opening an earthier men’s store, “Callahan’s Brown Paper Bag”. Here, as always, he was a major success. There was always a baloney sandwich (sans crust), an apple and a carton of milk for any customer who shopped at the store!

Mrs. Callahan and Sara would have been so proud.