Eisenhower Fillings

Eisenhower Fillings
Young Eisenhower (read ‘Howie’) grew up mildly in a vigorous but well-to-do family. His family was strict; the father a military veteran, and the mother, in the age-old culture of middle class families, was a gritty mistress. His early years were spent as the youngest of seven, then four, then two, as his family slowly slipped into the groping arms of poverty. Howie soon lost his good manners and refined ways, and developed the vulgar ways that the poor must have to survive. Beneath it all was a seething anger; an Id, so to speak, that all in his class retained. Eisenhower was soon orphaned, just like the other six of his brothers and sisters, and was brought up in another family. This family, the Neilsons, were very cruel, and Howie ran away on his fifteenth birthday. He went into hiding for six years. For six years he waited for his opportunity. Six years of utter misery.
After those years, on the 21st of October, 2006, he applied for a job as a factory worker, earning a meager fifty dollars a day, a wage which he viewed as a thievery, but he told no one of this. Soon a new boss took over the factory. He fired many people. Howie was one of them. He was forced to live on the streets until a kindly stranger brought him to stay at his home. The encounter went as follows.
Eisenhower sits on the curb, awaiting the nighttime. As he sits, he soon becomes aware of a man watching him. The man walks up to Howie and says these words:
“I’m sorry.”
Howie says, “For what?”
“For your misery.”
The man introduced himself as John. When asked his name, Eisenhower hesitated, then, slowly, forced from his parched lips a meek
“My name is Eisenhower Fillings.”
It felt very strange in his mouth. He paused for a moment, as if tasting the word.
“Eisenhower Fillings.” He repeated.
He went home with John, and they became friends. Both were poor, but John had a house, and his wife had recently died, and, having no children, there was more than enough space in the house for the both of them. They went on living this way for several years. Howie soon found a meager job as a waiter, and John was a workman. They lived in near tolerance, until John became a drug addict, and Howie was forced out of the house. He joined several rebellion groups, and became one of the leading members of The Revolution.