Chapter 6

Wednesday

When I woke up on Wednesday morning, Julie was still next to me. I looked over at the clock.

"What the fuck?" It was 0645 hrs. Chief was supposed to wake me for last watch at 0430. What the hell was going on here? I quickly dressed, and went to find out what was up, leaving Julie covered up in bed.

I found Chief in the kitchen with a cup of coffee.

"There's more in the pot," he said.

"Thanks. I thought you were going to wake me for last watch, like we agreed last night."

"Well, with all the commotion we heard coming from that room all night, we figured you needed your rest more than the rest of us," Chief told me.

"Good God, did we make that much noise?"

"Not we — Julie. I take it she's really responsive to your touch."

"She's a very responsive girl, and I guess loud," I told him.

"No louder than some I've known."

"So what are we doing today? Beside me screwing off, that is," I asked.

"We need to find a cook/housekeeper. I have someone out looking. He said he would call when he found someone. I hope it's soon, I don't cook worth a damn," Chief said.

"Me either, but I can make breakfast, and I believe that's what I'll do now. Oh Jesus, I need to get Julie up, if she's going to school today, be back in a shake."

When I got to the bedroom to wake Julie, she was still zoomed out.

"Come on, Sweetie. It's 0700 hrs, time you were up. It's a school day."

"Do I have to? I'm still tired," she moaned.

"You should be. You kept the guys awake last night. Chief didn't even get me up for last watch, cause he figured you had worn me out."

"Oh God, did they hear us last night?" Julie asked, plaintively.

"They heard YOU last night," I told her. Julie turned all red and tried to hide under the blanket.

"Come on now. You need to get ready for school," She got up and headed for the door — naked.

"Wow, Sweetie. There are strange men in the house. You better put this on." I handed her a robe to wear back to her bedroom, so she could get ready for school.

"I'll be making breakfast when you're ready."

Julie came into the kitchen just as I was finishing the eggs and bacon. I had showered and shaved before coming back down to make breakfast. She brought Chief a container of her milk. He thanked her. As we were finishing up breakfast, Ralph came in, having just gotten up.

"Pull up a chair. There's plenty here," I said.

"Thanks, the smell woke me," he replied.

"Ralph, Chief and I are going to take Julie to school. She missed yesterday, again, and I don't want them down here complaining. Watch the place while we're gone, OK."

"Can do, Top. AIRBORNE. Whoops that kind of slipped out," Ralph said, and chuckled.

"It's OK, been there; done that; got the T-shirt," I told him.

We got to the school shortly after 08:30. The kids were in class already. Chief double parked, and we went in. I didn't have any trouble this time, as the school cop recognized us. We headed straight for the office. As we entered, the receptionist/ secretary recognized us also. I guess I'm going to have to get used to that, I thought.

"Ms. Cranfield will see you in just a minute, Mr. Thompson. We all saw you on the TV last night," the secretary said.

"Thank you," was all I could say. A minute later, Ms. Cranfield came out and ushered us into her office.

"I'm sorry Julie missed... ," I started, but she interrupted me.

"That's all right. I think the whole school saw you and Julie on TV last night. So, we're well aware of why she was out yesterday. There's no need for you to explain. May I congratulate you on your good fortune."

"Thanks. You know I've never won much on the lottery before!"

"Julie, here are your admittance slips and some hall passes. I don't want you to miss your first class. Anytime you have a problem, come in and see me. OK?"

"Yes, Ms. Cranfield. Thank you," Julie said and left for class.

"I need to talk with you, Mr. Thompson, if you don't mind," Ms Cranfield said then.

"Sure, what about?"

"It's about Julie. I'm not sure that this is going to be the best place for her now. I heard a number of the girls before school this morning, and they were making very disparaging remarks about Julie. Not all the girls, but a number of the rougher ones. You might want to consider transferring her to a private school."

"Thank you, Ms. Cranfield. I have had similar thoughts myself. Do you know of a good private school that she could attend?"

"Yes, I do. There is a new school. It just started here in the last few years, but has been active in other cities for many years. I think you should consider it. It's a special school, because it caters to girls that are pregnant or have small children. It is expensive, which is why I hesitated to mention it before, but after yesterday, you can afford it. Please don't let the principal know that I recommended this, as she isn't the most liberal minded person in the world." She wrote down the name, address, and phone number for me on a slip of paper and handed it to me.

"Thanks. Maybe Julie isn't the only one that should change schools. I can see that you may not be thrilled with this place."

"I feel responsible for a lot of these girls and try to steer them in the right direction when I can. It doesn't always work, but like you told me, 'Nobody left behind'. I think I know what you meant," Ms Cranfield said.

"If you ever want to change and need a reference, or if you have a problem — call me. Here's my new cell number," I told her as I gave her a card with my cell number written on it. "Guess I'll be carrying this thing forever," I also told her.

We said our good-byes, and I went back to the car. Chief had gotten a call about a cook / housekeeper. She would be out to see us shortly. We arrived home in good time, and shortly a car pulled into the driveway and a woman got out. Chief answered the door when she came up to the house and rang the bell.

"Is this Mr. Jim Thompson's residence?" she asked.

"Yes, it is. What can I do for you?" Chief answered.

"Mr Thompson, I'm Martha O'Hara. A friend called me earlier this morning and told me that you were looking for a full time cook / housekeeper, and that I should come out here and talk to you."

"I'm Chief O'Sullivan, Ma'am. Mr. Thompson is in the living room. Won't you step inside?" Chief showed her into the living room.

Martha O'Hara was a woman about 35 years old - 5'-6"tall - 140 lbs — 36C-26 -36 with brown hair and hazel eyes, a little chunky, but motherly looking.

"Top, this is Mrs. O'Hara. She's here about the cook / housekeeper position. She's the lady my source recommended. Her husband was a platoon sergeant in one of the Airborne units, and he was killed in a fire fight a few years ago. They tell me, she's having a hard time lately," Chief said. Martha's jaw dropped in surprise.

"How can you know all of that?" she asked, startled.

"I have friends who keep track of those sorts of things, and help out when they can," Chief answered.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Mrs. O'Hara. Can you tell me about it?" I asked.

"When my husband was killed, we got his insurance, and I thought we would be OK. But Micheal had a lot of debts that he hadn't told me about. Most of the money went for that and to catch up the mortgage. Now even with my present job, I'm still behind on the mortgage, and don't know how I'll ever catch up. My boys, I have two, need a father again, as they keep getting in with the wrong crowd in school. I don't mean to bother you with my personal problems," she said, starting to cry.

"What's your first name, Mrs. O'Hara?" I asked, gently.

"It's Martha," she replied with a small sob.

"May I call you Martha?" I asked.

"Certainly, Mr. Thompson."

"Top please or Jim," I told her

"You don't know who I am! Do you Martha?" I then asked.

"No, apparently you were in the military. Probably a First Sergeant, which is why they call you Top."

"You haven't been watching TV or listening to the radio lately. Have you?"

"No, I've been rather busy, and haven't had time. Why?" Martha asked, in confusion.

"Martha, I came into some money recently. That's why I have Chief O'Sullivan and these other men here — as a security force. There is also a young lady that lives here with me. Her name is Julie. She's in school now. When it was just Julie and me, I could handle things, but now I need — badly need — someone who can cook for this bunch, do laundry, and generally keep this place in some kind of reasonable shape. I'm willing to pay a good wage to someone who can do that for me."

"What kind of a wage, and what time frame? I have two boys to look after, and a house of my own to keep clean," Martha said.

"07:30 hrs in the morning till 18:00 at night. Do the boys go to school near here?"

"They go to the school that's about four miles from here, it's about the same distance to my house, but on different roads."

"Could they get the bus that comes by here? I believe some of the kids around here go to that school."

"I think they could, but I would have to check. Why do you ask?" Martha wanted to know.

"Your boys could come here after school, and go home with you. Hanging around with these guys might have a calming influence on them, also."

"You would let them do that?" Martha asked, surprised.

"Sure. They could do their homework in the dining room and then one of the guys could lead them through a little PT to wear them out. They could eat supper here with us, and go home with you.

"Saturday bring them with you, and we'll figure out something to keep them busy. It will also be a year round job. Whether we are here or not, you would still get paid to keep the house. Or if school is out, we could all go on vacation together. How would $45,000 a year strike you? And I'll straighten out your mortgage problem," I told her.

"Oh, my God," Martha said, her hand going to her mouth, "that's twice what I'm making now. And the boys could be here too!!"

"Believe me if you can cook, it would definitely be worth it. Cause the rest of us don't cook worth a damn! When can you start?"

"I need to tell my boss that I'm leaving, but right after that," Martha said.

"If you could make us some lunch, then I'll have one of the guys take you over there, and then you can pick up your children on the way back. Is that all right? Oh, yes, and Chief will show you around the house too."

"Top, it will have to be after that news conference. It's almost 1100 hrs and every yard bird in the world is outside milling around," Chief reminded me.

"News conference?" Martha asked, confused again.

"Yes, Martha. The reason I asked about the TV and radio, is because I'm the guy who won the lottery over the weekend. It was all over the news yesterday."

"Oh my God, I never knew!"

"It's OK. It was a shock to me on Saturday too," I told her.

"OK Chief, I guess it's time to face the music. Who has the bullhorn?"

The news conference was a real fiasco. Too many reporters were wanting to ask too many personal questions from too far away. I made a simple statement through the bullhorn. I told them that I was a very private person, and didn't have anything to say. Also that I didn't want them hanging around. They weren't happy about that. It wasn't my job to make them happy. Finally we turned up the volume on the bullhorn, over modulated it and the noise drove most of them off. We went back into the house.

Martha had been busy. While we were out at the news conference, she had whipped up a great lunch from the odds and ends that were on hand. When we came back in, she announced "Lunch is ready." The guys dug in. It was great, and we all smiled.

"Martha, you are definitely hired. This is great," I told her.

"Thank you," she said. "You do know that you are almost out of food and beer, don't you? Who does the shopping here?"

"You do, darling. Whatever you think you'll need. I'll give you the money and you buy what ever it is you think we would like. Do you think you could go after you pick up the boys. Gordon will drive you in his van."

Before I go any further, let me describe Gordon Bates for you. He is 29 years old — 6'-2" tall - 215 pounds, black hair, and hazel eyes; a former Navy SEAL E-6. He is Airborne and Ranger qualified.

"Yes, that would be fine. It will keep the boys busy for the first day, so they'll get accustomed to the changes."