I was about thirteen.
Certain food items could only be bought with coupons.
Every family received their own.
One set for sugar.
One set for alcohol.
The coupons decided everything.
You could have money, but there was nothing you could buy.
And even if the shop had something, you couldn't buy it without the right coupon.
Because people used different things at different rates, some coupons were left over.
Our neighbor valued alcohol more.
He traded his own coupons for alcohol coupons.
He had his own regular customers.
When he collected the month's coupons, several families would already be waiting outside his door, ready to trade.
I came home from school.
My mother casually said, "Go next door and get the sugar coupons." I already knew how it worked.
I crossed the road with the alcohol coupons in my hand, ready to trade.
Several women were standing outside the door.
They were speaking loudly.
After listening for a moment, I realized something was changing.
This was no longer a friendly exchange.
Now they were fighting.
Fighting over who had the right to the food coupons the neighbor had been given.
The coupons that let you buy sugar from the shop.