"Knock. Knock. Knock."

[The knocking rang throughout Turner Manor. Susan, Sam Jr.'s mom, get's up from the couch where she was having a slight rest break after doing the dishes, three loads of laundry, wiping off the stove and various other chores. She approaches the door and looks out.]

[An educated looking balding middle aged man stood on the front porch holding his hat in his left hand and a black briefcase in his right. His black suit looked worn, from his pants to his tie, and was sweaty from where he may've been walking fir a bit. His black shoes had a thin layer of dust on them, more than likely from the Turner's dirt driveway.]

[A smirk came over Susan's face as she wondered why he was on her front porch. She slowly opened the front door.]

"Hello, can I help ya?" Susan said with a half smile on her face.

[To say he was welcomed at Turner Manor was a huge understatement.]

He smiled with yellowed teeth, much like a smoker would have. "Yes ma'am, is this Samuel and Susan Turner's place of residence?" He asked as he wiped the sweat from his brow with his jacket sleeve.

[Susan stood in between the door and the wall, right in the doorway. Her left hand gripped a loaded locked, cocked and ready to fire .357 Magnum. The .357 was handed down to her from her mother. He right hand tightly gripped the door handle for a quick shut and a fast exit if need be.]

"Yes sir it is, how can I help ya?" She said worriedly.

[The man seemed as if he'd thrown millions of pounds off his shoulders.]

"Finally, I've been looking for y'all all day and I do mean ALL day." He said with a sigh of relief.

[Pause.]

"Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Connor F. Ashby and I work for the Home Federal Bank in Harlan." He said slowly as he breathed heavily.

[Susan turned pale as a ghost. Her tanned arms weren't even tanned anymore.]

"Okay...how can I help you?" Susan asked, still not understanding why he was there.

[Connor opened his briefcase and pulled out a folder full of papers.]

"You see ma'am, it's about the loan you all took out two years ago of $25,000 dollars. We'll I hate to come to you all and do this but..." He said as he shuffled through his papers. "...the bank has sent me to give you this letter..." He pulls it out out the folder. "...and let you know that if the remainder $7,525 dollars aren't paid back to the bank by June 10th, 2013 that we will be auctioning off your farm to the highest bidder."

[Susan's heart sank to her stomach and bobbed up making a lump in her throat.]

"Wha...wha...what do you mean?" She managed to stutter out.

[A sad look came over Connor's face as he knew he'd just broken Susan's heart. It sent her mind into a tail spin only crashing and burning with severe casualties.]

"I'm sorry Mrs. Turner, I realize this has hit you with a surprise. I do apologize." He said trying to console her.

With her eyes wide and her mind racing millions of miles a minute. "Ye...ye...yea, I jus..." She paused. "...uh, thank ya." She managed to stutter through it.

[She began shutting the door and moving in a daze.]

"I'm sorry Mrs. Turner." He managed to get out before the door shut in his face.

"Yea, me too." She mumbled as she pushed the door to.

[Susan was able to stumble from the front door to the kitchen table. She pulled a chair out and sat down. She opened the letter and attempted to read it.]

[The more she read the shakier her hands got and her nerves were getting even worse.]

"How?" She said at a whisper.

[She let go of the letter and let it drop onto the kitchen table as she began to tear up.]

~

[Two hours later.]

[Sam Sr. walks in the house after a shortened day of work due to a rain storm. He walks in the kitchen and sees his wife sitting at the table with the palms of both hands holding up her drooped face. He hears her sobbing and wonders whats going on.]

"Susan?" Sam Sr. said in his deep rugged voice. "Are ya aight?"

[She shook her head no, leaving it in her hands so Sam Sr. couldn't see her crying.]

"Yea, Sam." She said as she raised her head out of her hands and looked at him with reddish puffy eyes.

"What's wrong whit'cha?" He asked softly.

[She let out a loud sigh and slides the letter towards him. Sam Sr. pulls the kitchen chair out and sits down. He opens the letter slowly and begins to read.]

"$7,525 dollars! I swear I thought we's a lot closer 'an 'at. I dunno what we's gunna do." Sam Sr. said with aggravation in his voice.

[Sam Sr. stared at the letter as if it would just miraculously disappear or burst into flames.]

"We gotta tell Junior, somehow." Susan said as she snuffed the oozing snot back up into her nose. "He'll be h'artbroke."

[Susan continued to sob. Sam Sr. finally took his concentration from the letter and looked out the window at his farm that he'd worked so hard for.]

"We cain't tell him now, he's gotta big match comin up 'is weeken. He could win 'at So'th'rn Her'tige title from Chance Von Crank. We cain't ruin his day like 'at." Sam Sr. said with force.

"I know 'at but we gots ta tell him Sam. We cain't jus wait till tha day of or before." Susan replied as her tear began to roll down her face as she thought of Sam Jr.]

[As Susan and Sam Sr. sat at the table talking Sam Jr. is standing in the bathroom doorway eavesdropping on their conversation.]

[A tear rolls down Sam Jr.'s cheek as the thoughts of losing his home pours into his mind.]

[To be continued.]

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