Money Worries.
Deep in the heartbeat of the city the recession was biting hard.
D.J. of 'no fixed abode' was living in a close knit social whirl of
girlfriends. His dirty neglected brown Volvo Estate car was loaded
full with his state of the art disco gear and treasured record
collection. Like his initials suggest, he was a self-employed Disc
Jockey in the city's countless pubs, clubs and function rooms. He
was always looking for work from the public to finance his
unsettled life style for girls and beer. It was washing him down in
a fast flowing river of debt. He was desperately trying to keep his
head above water.
Meanwhile there was a depressed and grumpy man called Billy. A
television addict who was living in a caravan. He had to because he
owed an enormous amount of money due to an obsession many years
ago with fruit machines. It was a bit of a mystery what really
happened. Basically it was due to criminally obtaining money
through bankers' cards to spend on fruit machines. He admits that
he owes over £10,000. A year ago he even had to sell his Volvo
Estate to pay off some of the money. It was a rare occa**ion that
he ever came out for a drink. Obviously it was a big problem to
him. He was a hopeless case of the disease called money worries.
Known for being a bit of a rogue, D.J. had a working week which
started every Monday. He signed on at 09.30 for his giro cheque.
Because D.J. had no forwarding address it had to be delivered to
his grumpy friend, Billy. There was an agent that gave D.J. weekend
work but D.J. could only get his pay through a cheque at the end of
the month. So one weekend in every month he had money to pay off
some of his debts. One month the cheque never came and the agent
could not be found. D.J. kept trying to telephone the agent but he
could not get through. D.J. was angry - he thought that maybe the
agent had money worries.
A man called Jack (of all trades) did his business in the area with
the help of John. Like two cowboys they rode about in a pickup van
working in the motor trade, buying and selling. One year ago Jack
bought a cheap old Volvo Estate off a grumpy man called Billy who
needed to sell due to financial problems. It only needed slight
welding and a shock absorber fitting on the offside front. As John
was welding up the floor of the car from underneath, it fell on him
and smashed his pelvis, which left him crippled for life. A law
suit soon followed for damages. So the Volvo Estate was sold, to a
man who happened to be called D.J. Meanwhile Jack acquired a
condition that is spreading through the people of the city known as
money worries.
Things were getting 'a bit much' for D.J. He was driving his Volvo
Estate aggressively carrying the weight of an overdraft on his
shoulders and the problems with people owing him money. What
made him worse was that every time he turned left there was a
cracking sound coming from around the front offside wheel of his
car. He was just perishing the thought of having to buy a new
shock absorber for his car when suddenly there was a loud snapping
sound. D.J.'s complicated life flashed in front of him as a 360
degree view through his wind-screen occurred. The car screeched
while spinning around in circles. His car would have skidded for
a long way, if it was not for the lamp post that got in the way.
His brown Volvo Estate was in a state. By the time the ambulance
had got there D.J. was dead. The verdict was nothing new,
misadventure through money worries.
Adrian Cox 1991