It was autumn again. The leaves were dying and so was my will to go on. I had to get a second job because they cut out overtime and Palm had some plans for that money. He couldn’t get a fulltime job because of his position—“Producer, Director, Writer and Star”. If anyone ever found out they would laugh at him. I got a job going from door to door with a directory for firemen, etc. done by The RL Polk Co. I did so well they wanted me to work full time in the office. They never knew I had a second job. I had lots of vacation and sick leave accumulated. Every time he left town for something, I took off on vacation pay for however many days he was gone. I went places on the bus, saw sights and went to a book store.
I was never given any allowance. I always had 1 or 2 dollars in my billfold, except when I had to take a cab home, then, I was given more money. When I began to see that his movie was going nowhere but putting me in debt more and more I decided to study the bank statement. I studied it and found that they were taking $25 more out of my check than the payment on my loan, and it had accrued. It must have gone unnoticed by Palm as he would have had enough to spend on making another scene for his movie. $500 had accrued and I opened a checking account at the Credit Union and got a P.O. Box where I worked. Unfortunately for me it was right next to his. They kept putting my mail in his box. Thank heavens he just thought the company sending the advertising mail put the wrong address on the mail. He knew nothing about the checking account or that I had put the $500 in it. I spent some of it on books and sent for things through the mail to my P. O. Box.
Then, another strange thing happened. He told me about a situation that happened when I was at work the day before. The reason he told me was that he was afraid I would find out from SOMEONE ELSE. He explained that he had been going to a local supermarket and practicing singing his songs in his vehicle every day, parked in the parking lot. (I slept until late morning, after getting off work at 3:30 AM. He could have practiced after I left for work at 2 PM.) Yesterday, someone robbed the supermarket and a witness gave the police his license plate number after seeing someone suspicious, like they were casing the joint every day. How did the police react, with a squad of police, with rifles pointed at the door to our apartment? He looked out and quickly answered the door when they rang the bell. They searched the apartment and him. I guess he was able to talk them out of arresting him. I never heard from them, but he was sure afraid I would.
I don’t know what sparked it but I think he insisted on me telling him my opinion of his movie. I tried to be diplomatic about it and told him it was disjointed and didn’t make sense.
After I criticized his movie, which he treated as his child, he would not speak to me for 6 months. He made me cook my own meals. (He had been doing it previously.) I did nothing but eat, sleep and work for 3 years. And he stayed away when I was awake. We only were together when he picked me up at work at 3:30am, after I had worked 12 hours. He went to bed at 7pm so I could have the bed to myself. Every time we got any money ahead he spent it on something for his movie and no one dare criticize it or he would go into a tirade.
He kept telling me we would make tons of money soon. That worked for 8 years, but when I finally wised up, I was $10,000 in debt, which was one year’s salary, and had a nervous breakdown.