Samuel Carter had never been invited to a party before. Not even as a child. All his life, his biggest dream was to become known well enough to be invited to a party. The one problem was that he was not well known. He was hardly known at all.
Carter had spent his entire life in Dallas, Texas. Dallas was a large city, but he hardly knew anybody. As a child, he had very few friends. Why he wasn’t popular was simple. Typically, in a school, when someone decides who they don’t want to be friends with, they always start with the poor people.
All his life, Carter had been poor. His father worked at a farm that paid him very little, and his mother did not work at all. As a child, he would often wish that when he grew up, he wanted to live in a much better lifestyle. He wasn’t asking to be rich, but he wanted to at least not be poor.
Carter did not receive his wish. He remained poor as he grew up, and he remained poor as an adult. He could not find a job, as it was hard to do so without ever going to college. Carter’s family could not afford to pay for him to go to college, so he tried to find a job in town that would pay for it. He did not find one.
When Carter was nineteen, he met his future wife, Kathleen, at a café where he attempted to apply for a job. They had fallen in love as soon as they made eye contact. Kathleen grew up in a poor family as well. Like him, she could not afford to go to college, although she was working at a furniture store, where she still worked today.
Carter and Kathleen married when they were in their late twenties (Carter could not afford an engagement ring, which Kathleen understood), and a few years later they had there son, Dennis. The family lived in a very small home that they did not own. It was hard to keep up with their rent, as they had to also throw money in for food and child support. It was hard to make money when Carter did not have a job and Kathleen had only a small job at a furniture store.
Carter had two friends as a child: Luis Elliott and Alan Freeman. They were the only two people in his school who did not shun him because of how poor he was. After school, he would spend time at there houses, walk through the city, or eat at the small café where he would later met Kathleen. This café, known as Mark’s Café, was the center of his life. It was not only the place where he met his future wife, but where he met his future best friend.
During his first few years of school, Carter was not shunned but verbally tortured for being one of the poorest kids on school. Any time he walked down a hallway, the kids would point at him and shout: “Look! It’s a poor kid!” They would start taunting him and calling him names. Carter didn’t think that telling an adult would help, so he had no choice but to deal with it.
Carter had first met Luis Elliot in fourth grade. They met at a playground. Somehow (most likely by his appearance) Elliott knew that Carter’s family was poor. However, he didn’t care. He told Carter he didn’t understand why so many people messed with poor people. It didn’t make sense to him. Carter remembered feeling surprised and delighted at the same time. They instantly became friends.845Please respect copyright.PENANAJvSM4FdduU
Elliott tried to stand up for Carter, but it never worked. Whenever people taunted Carter as he walked down the hall, he would say things such as “Leave him alone” or “Stop.” The kids would tell him to shut up and call him names such as “Goody-Goody” or “Poor Boy Lover.” Some would make horrible suggestions such as: “If you want to be a Goody-Goody, why don’t you kill that poor boy? It would be one less to have deal with on this planet.”
Not long after Carter and Elliott met, they started making daily visits to Mark’s Café, which was not far from their school. One day, Carter walked to the café by himself, as he could not find Elliott. After being alone for a few minutes, Elliott walked in with a boy who looked larger than any kid in his school. Elliott claimed to have met him as he was leaving his class. The two had talked to each other for a few minutes and Elliott decided to invite him to Mark’s Café.
The boy introduced himself: “Hi, I’m Freeman. Alan Freeman.” Carter introduced himself back: “Name’s Samuel Carter.” At first, Carter felt nervous because he wasn’t sure how Freeman would respond to him finding out that he was poor. However, the instant he thought this, Freeman said: “Any time someone decides to mess with you, just let me know.”
As it turned out, Freeman actually walked up to Elliott in the hallway asking him where Carter was, as he knew the two of him were friends. Elliot asked: “Why?” and Freeman gave his reason. He said he was tired of seeing Carter being made fun of and wanted to end it.845Please respect copyright.PENANAFGVfIARjxz
Carter was so thrilled, he felt like he would pass out. There were now two people who actually cared about him. And one of them could possibly protect him. Freeman’s size would convince people to leave him alone. Carter could not wait for school the next day, as he knew things were going to change.
As Carter arrived at school the next day, Freeman waited for him by the front door. Elliott arrived after a few minutes, and the three walked down the hall together.
The students turned around to start bullying him, but stopped as soon as they saw Freeman, the largest kid in school, walking with him. Freeman then looked at all of them and said: “This is not a ‘poor boy,’ this is my friend. And from this point on, nobody is going to mess with him, or else you’re answering to me. And…” He spun to the people standing behind him. “…if you decide to mess with him behind my back, I will find out.” After he said this, everybody in the hall quickly walked away.
After that day, Carter was not picked on again. People continued to shun him, but nobody actually picked on him. Carter was perfectly fine with this. He had two best friends, and that was all he needed.
Carter, Elliott, and Freeman remained friends as they grew up. They even stayed in contact after graduating from high school. However, things changed a little once they reached adulthood. Elliott grew up and became mayor of Dallas (although he originally worked as an attorney). This made him so busy that he hardly had any time to spend with his old friends. But they did see each other from time to time.
Carter and Freeman saw each other much more often. They felt their friendship would last for the longest of times.
Unfortunately, Freeman had a problem. Or, at least, he used to. He was a recovered drug addict. While in college, he started to smoke marijuana, which led to a fast addiction. He was kicked out of college after being caught doing marijuana in an empty classroom. The addiction led to a large crime streak, as well as an addiction to other drugs. While on drugs, he would act wildly, doing things he would not normally do. He lost many jobs and spent many years in jail.
Eventually, he attended rehabilitation, which cured his problem. Unfortunately, the memories lived on. Many people in the city hated him for all of the trouble he had caused. They believed he was a terrible man. But, in the eyes of Carter’s family, he was a good man.
In rehabilitation, Freeman met a woman named Selma, who was a former addict as well. The couple began dating after they both finished. Three years later, they married. Carter felt that Freeman and Selma were great for each other.
With only two friends, and one not well in contact, Carter had never been invited to a party. All the parties that went on in town were not his business, as hardly anybody knew him. Carter lived a quiet life with hardly any activity.
But things started to change the day he was given an unexpected surprise in the mail. It was an invitation. An invitation to a party.
It was from his old friend, Luis Elliott.845Please respect copyright.PENANATwOpCtLiCq