The Road Back
External Affairs — Book III Continued

By the Fall of 1933, three years after he lost his wife Millie to cancer, Theodore Weston had become somewhat of a folk hero in his town of New Eden, Connecticut. After sinking into a period of alcohol infused depression and self-destruction, he brought himself back from the edge after Millie visited him one cold night in March 1931 and told him he was both heading toward his own death, and breaking the promise he had made to her before he died.
The promise he had made to Millie was to help people who were suffering during this very difficult time in America. Theodore had the resources to do it, his money being neither in the stock market nor a bank at the time of the stock market crash. It was all tucked away in a safe in his house, where Theodore put it shortly before the crash, partly from the premonition that the party on Wall Street couldn’t last, partly from knowing that Millie was dying and that he would need cash.
Whether it was an alcohol induced hallucination, or Millie’s actual ghost, Theodore would never know, though he always would believe the latter. Whatever actually happened, the result was Theodore giving up drinking and starting on the road back.
That road initially led him to a church in his town where Theodore found a priest haggling with a delivery man who was bringing soup and bread to the church, so the the priest could feed the fifty or more people that waited outside in the cold. The parish did not have the funds to pay for the food, and the delivery man would not budge. When Theodore heard this, he immediately paid for two weeks worth of food for the church, put on an apron and started feeding the poor right along with the priest and other members of the congregation.
When everyone had been fed and the church cleaned up, Theodore sat down with the priest, Father Gallagher, to see what else could be done. The two decided to expand the weekly free soup to twice a week, and then Father Gallagher showed Theodore around the church and grounds, pointing out various repairs that needed to be made. Theodore came up with the idea of Spring cleaning Saturday at the church. Father Gallagher announced this during Sunday mass.
“Anyone who comes this Saturday and puts in a day’s work helping clean and repair the church will be treated to a roast beef dinner that night, and you will be given a box of groceries to take home for the week.”
The turnout was enormous and by the end of the day, the church looked better than it had in years. Theodore enlisted local restaurants and grocery stores to provide the meal and the groceries. Where he could convince them to donate food or service, he did, but mostly he paid for it.
Theodore met with several other priests, ministers and one rabbi that Spring, and while not all needed funds to feed the poor, all could use some form of cleanup and repairs. By the time the summer solstice arrived, there was not a religious institution in town with a leaky roof, peeling paint or overgrown plants. Where land was cleared away of grass, shrubs and brush, a vegetable garden was put in. Theodore was already being referred to by some as the Guardian Angel, but he wanted to do more.
Each morning he would rise by 6:00 AM, walk to Millie’s grave to let her know how things were going, and then continue on through town. When the church project was coming to an end, Theodore turned his attention to another problem he saw each morning during his walks. Front lawns throughout the town were dotted with “Foreclosure” and “Bank Owned” signs. These were a sorry sight and Theodore wanted to do something about it.
He found a particularly decrepit looking house which sat on a prominent corner in the center of town. It had three full floors, a massive wrap-around porch, a gabled roof with several dormers, and a small cylindrical room attached at one side that looked almost like turret. Theodore imagined the house must have looked stunning at one point, but now it looked like up might just collapse when the next strong wind rose up. It was an eyesore, sitting in the middle of town.
Theodore met with the bank that owned the house and found out that the prior owner had moved from the Midwest with his family to work on Wall Street. He was behind on his payments even before the market crashed. When the bottom fell out, he just abandoned the place and fled back to the middle of the country. The bank did not want to be in the business of owning real estate it could neither sell nor repair, Theodore knew, so he was able to negotiate a price far below what was left on the mortgage. The bank was glad to have it off its hands and have some money to show for it, and Theodore had his next project.
He let it be known that he was paying a day’s wage for anyone who was willing to work on repairing the house. There would also be a meal at the end of each day, now with food mostly donated by local restaurants and grocery stores. A sign would be placed in the front yard noting that the food was courtesy of whoever provided the donation. A certain aura attached itself to you if it was known that you were helping Theodore, and an equally damaging stigma if word got around that you weren’t.
As with the church project, people showed up in droves. From the experience of fixing up the churches, Theodore learned who some of the more capable workers were, and he employed them as project foremen, helping him organize and coordinate the other workers. Men and women were welcome, and any woman who wanted to pound nails, carry lumber or take part in any other physical task they felt up to, was given the work accordingly. Many did choose to help with the cooking, serving food or general cleanup, but everybody worked.
One morning as Theodore was checking everyone in for the day, he heard a voice from off to the side.
“Hey big brother.”
Theodore turned to see his younger brother Michael standing there. The two were never that close, but Theodore kept tabs on him over the years, mostly through word of mouth. He knew that Michael worked for a local bootlegger as both enforcer and distributor, though by the looks of him, neither seemed to be going well. You could still see the raw power and muscle inside his thick frame, but his eyes were glassy, his hair wild and he looked beaten down. Michael always had a taste for alcohol, women and living rough, and Theodore surmised this look was a combination of all three.
“Michael!” Theodore exclaimed. “It’s good to see you. Are you okay? What brings you here?”
Michael shrugged and said, “I heard you were paying for a day’s work. I could use the work.”
Now was not the time, Theodore knew, to go into the details of what was going on with his baby brother, so all he said was, “Sure thing,” and he pointed out the foremen. “They’ll be able to show you what needs to be done. Glad to have you on board,” and he shook Michael’s hand.
At the end of the day, Theodore was able to speak alone to his brother, who did actually put in a solid day’s work. His strength was apparently still with him. After everyone had been fed and paid, then departed, Michael came up to Theodore who was gathering up his things.
“You’ve got quite a crew working for you,” said Michael.
“People need the work,” said Theodore.
“Don’t I know it,” said Michael. “Thanks for letting me join in.”
“Thanks for helping. Honest work for honest pay.”
Michael knew this was a comment on his current line of work. He was used to it from his brother, who always looked at him the way his parents did, as someone always on the wrong path. This made what he had to ask all the more difficult, but he had to do it.
“Yeah, about that. Look, I was wondering if you could spare a little more.”
Theodore now stopped what he was doing, and looked at Michael. “What’s going on?”
Michael shrugged. “I’ve got some debts. Would help to get rid of them. I can be back here tomorrow to work.”
Theodore knew there was more to the story, but he was tired, so he just asked Michael what he needed, and when he was told, Theodore just handed over the money without further questions. He could talk to him about it more tomorrow.
“Thanks,” said Michael taking the money. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” and he sped off into the shadows.
Michael did not return the next day, or any day after, to work. The house however moved along at an astonishing pace. By the Fourth of July it was in such good shape, Theodore threw a barbecue for the entire staff on the front lawn. By the end of the month, it was unrecognizable from its former state. T
The question now was what to do with it.
The house had eight bedrooms, a bath on each floor, a large kitchen and dining room, and a big living room that led out onto the newly refurbished wrap-around porch. It was hard to imagine anyone in town being able to afford such a large place anytime soon, so Theodore turned it into a boarding house. He hired a full time staff, cooking, housekeeping, front desk and a live-in manager who was given a room downstairs off the kitchen that was converted to a bedroom. The rents he charged were very reasonable and he had no trouble filling the rooms. The money he took in was enough to keep the place operating and turn a small profit, which he immediately poured back into the next project.
For two years he continued like this, buying a house, fixing it up and then returning it back to the community. Sometimes the house was sold outright. Other times it was rented, occasionally to the very same family that had originally lived in the house, then lost it to unfortunate circumstances. If such a family was still in the community, Theodore immediately made it clear they had the first chance at either buying the house back if they could afford it, or renting it if they could not. Either way, the price was always reasonable, quelling any rumors or accusations that Theodore was some sort of carpetbagger preying on the misfortune of others.
Quite the contrary, his reputation for magnanimity only grew in the years that followed. Not just the money though. It was his work ethic as much as anything that elevated him to such an exalted status by September 1933. Every day he was out there with the workers, hammering nails, sawing wood, carrying buckets, doing whatever needed to be done at any given moment. Two years of physical labor had trimmed and hardened his body. This physical toughness, combined with his generosity, along with the bushy mustache he still wore, and the fact that Franklin Delano Roosevelt had recently become President, all led people to associate Theodore with another famous Roosevelt, and so during the summer of that year, many who worked for him, as well as people in town, started referring to him as, Teddy.
By that Fall, Theodore had fixed up more than one dozen houses and he was looking for something new. This coincided with rumors that the odd little American experiment known as Prohibition was coming to an end. Theodore didn’t drink anymore, had not touched one drop since the night Millie appeared before him, but he knew many people liked to and did. He would see some of his workers swigging out of plain looking bottles at the end of the workday. Others would smuggle in contraband bottles of beer and drink them in back parts of the property, out of plain view. Theodore never said anything, and truthfully never minded so long as it did not interfere with their work. If there was one thing Prohibition had proved, thought Theodore, it was that people would still find a way to have a drink. Now that this silly law was being put to rest, people would be able to drink out in the open once again, and they would also want places where they would be able to do so.
This led to the discovery of Theodore’s next project. One morning while he was out on his usual walk, he came across a building that had been vacant since the crash. Theodore had seen it many times, but never really paid attention to it. It was a large two-story commercial building within easy walking distance from the train station. Back in 1929, it contained, ironically enough Theodore thought, a brokerage house. Now it was a boarded up shell.
The owner was more than happy to part with the real estate for the price Theodore offered, and as Summer rolled into Autumn, Theodore brought a large crew of his workers over and began tearing the place apart. They worked all through that Fall and into the Winter. During this time, Prohibition came to an end and Americans started lifting their glasses in public again.
By the Spring of 1934, any vestige of the brokerage was also erased from history and something new was born. Theodore wanted to create a place where everyone he had come to know these last several years would be comfortable. Young, old, men, women, the rich, the poor, and everyone in between. Whether you were stepping off the commuter train, walking off a construction site, closing up a local shop or just wanted to get out for a while, this place had to welcome you like a beacon guiding a sailor home from sea.
It had to start with the name. It had to beckon you from a distance, draw you in and give you the feeling of a place of rest, a reprieve from the daily rigors of life, somewhere you could withdraw from the world for a little while, whether you were seeking company or anonymity.
Theodore decided to call the bar The Oasis.
To Be Continued…..
External Affairs is a serial story currently consisting of three books. A link to the prior chapter, which has links to each of the other chapters, can be found below. If you enjoyed this story, please consider clicking on the heart. Feedback is always welcome. Thanks for reading.

