Chapter 6

The two of us woke at six and were ready to get going for the day. I told Juliet that I didn’t do one bit of studying yesterday and would need to catch up to stay with my plan. She said that she had classes she needed to attend and was ready to get back to it.

We both dressed in what we had and agreed to talk about her grandmother’s invitation to live there. It might be necessary if her father no longer had the income he was used to. He would instantly be in trouble with alimony for Juliet’s mother if he lost the dealership, even though she had family money that she could live on for an eternity.

We went downstairs after straightening the room and found Carol having a cup of coffee with Josh. We joined them and she gave us each a fresh piece of sticky pastry that she had just pulled from the oven. I asked for a glass of milk that Juliet also wanted, and we were being treated like guests again.

It was time for us to go to school, so we had to stop by the dorms so that Juliet could get her books and notes for her classes, and I could get back to working on one of my subjects. The house phone rang and Josh answered it. He motioned for Juliet to come to the phone. Juliet spoke quietly to whoever it was, and wrote something on the notepad next to the kitchen wall phone.

She gave me the note when she hung up, and said, “Jill had a call from Sharon. You don’t have a phone, so she had to track you down and found out that I wasn’t in the dorm, so she figured I was here. She said that you were to call Sharon at this number.”

“Hi, Sharon, this is Barney Beck. Jill found me through Juliet.”

Sharon said, “The attorneys for Scott McKendry Jr. want this resolved very fast. They will meet us at my office at nine o’clock. Can you be there?”

“Sure, Sharon, do I need to bring anything?”

“No, Barney, just bring yourself. This won’t be that fast, because we’ll both have to read the settlement papers. Don’t be angry, but I changed the settlement amount as per Juliet’s grandmother’s recommendation after I re-read all the information you gave me. It’s quite a bit more than you asked for. Come downtown and be here by nine.”

I didn’t know what could have been asked for that would make me mad, but my original request was for a hundred thousand dollars. That would or should be enough money for me to get through law school and help out at home if it was needed. Grandpa made enough from his personal best deliveries that the family always had enough to live on, and I knew that his bank account was very full. I had taken care of a lot of the farm business for a long while.

We drove back to campus and I let Juliet out at her dorm. I parked in the thirty minute loading zone, ran in, showered, shaved, and put fresh pressed clothes on. I was back to the truck in twenty minutes and heading downtown.

Sharon was smiling as I walked into her office. She had two legal pads with pencils out, and told me, “You’re here at exactly the right time. I have a fresh pot of coffee just finishing so that I can offer some to these people. I added a zero on to the amount you gave me, Barney. I know the McKendrys, and they have money coming out of their mattress. That Juliet was taken advantage of, and the senior Mrs. McKendry was attempted to be harmed made me very angry. These people are bringing the money, so let’s read the settlement and make sure that we understand all the wording.”

Four men in identical dark suits, white shirts, and black ties entered the office all carrying briefcases. It was like each of them came out of a copy machine. Sharon hadn’t expected four, but she was prepared as she brought up two more chairs that had been against the wall.

One of the men was acting like he was in charge, and brought out a stack of papers and a cashier’s check. He said, “Our business will be complete if you’ll just sign these, Mr. Beck.”

Before Sharon could say anything, I said, “My attorney and I would like to read the settlement agreement. You men may want to go have coffee or maybe you haven’t had breakfast yet. I may not be as fast a reader as Ms. Marconi.”

The man was almost flustered, “Well, you can just sign these so that we can conclude this.”

“No Sir; I can’t just sign them without reading them. You can have some coffee and use the time to read over your notes if you want to stay.”

Sharon looked at me funny, and said, “Let’s get at it.”

I took one of the group of papers and began reading on page one. I asked Sharon for a highlighter while reading page five. The paragraph said that I was releasing Scott of any and all present and future liability he could incur. The same wording appeared on page seven, and then on page eleven it states I would give testimony favorable to him. There was a summary on page fifteen that gave a list of all the demands he was making in order to give me the amount requested. From this day forward, I would now and forever not give testimony about what transpired in the dormitory on the specified dates.

Sharon finished and showed me what she objected to, and our copies were marked about the same. She wanted some other language changed.

I told the man who was acting as if in charge that I would sign if we agreed to line out all what I considered to be offending language; otherwise, I was going to ask Ms. Marconi to proceed with obtaining a court date.

All four men had red faces and were becoming agitated. I said, “It’s not just that Scott trashed all my possessions that night and threatened to kill me, he then displayed a knife he was going to use in front of the Sheriff and several other witnesses the next day, and then he declared that he was going to kill me again to his sister yesterday. We have that recorded. Change the language and I’ll sign; otherwise be prepared for how much a jury might consider.”

Sharon advised, “Well said. I don’t want them to have these redone. I want two copies of this with the changes lined out and inserted. We’re going to have other attorneys help us tear it apart again if they take it back and rewrite it. What is it going to be, Gentlemen?”

Sharon said that we should leave them for a few minutes to use the rest room, and come back for their decision.

Out in the hallway, Sharon said, “You have a good eye and can understand all that garbage they wrote. They don’t need all that bullshit for a settlement agreement. They were trying to make you liable for other acts that could occur in the future. You settling will not free Scott Jr. There will be additional federal banking charges according to Juliet’s grandmother.”

We used the restrooms and went back to Sharon’s office. The men were all sitting with stone faces. The leader said, “Mark out what you want to delete and insert any wording you want to add. Do it to a third copy the same way as we will need three copies.”

Sharon and I went through the settlement page by page again, and lined out paragraphs and inserted the correct language where needed. My attorney told me to sign each page and to initial each change. The attorney sitting across from us initialed all the changes, and then signed the agreement. Sharon told the man to hang on for a minute and she came back with a man in a pinstriped suit. I had to show my ID as did Scott’s lawyers and Sharon. He watched as we signed the last copy, and then the new arrival notarized our signatures. Sharon looked at the check to make sure there were no mistakes or additional language printed on them before she handed the papers to them.

The four men all stood, and none of them offered me their hand to shake. They left the room and we heard the elevator door close. Sharon had a sneaky grin and said in front of the man who notarized our signatures, “They didn’t even read the addendums I inserted. I inserted that any future physical attack would result in Scott paying you even more money.” I know you don’t want any more out of this, Barney, but I’ll take my piece of the pie if they want to keep forking over a million at a time.”

I said to Sharon, “Come and let me deposit this check into my bank account and write you a check for your fee. I might owe this gentleman for his services as well.”

The man began laughing and said, “I’m Sharon’s uncle and the one responsible for her becoming a lawyer. My firm is next door, and you’ll become familiar with us. We are Mrs. Juliet McKendry’s representatives. She called me and told me that you would be with Sharon this morning. I made sure Sharon knew that I would be in the office this morning and would happily assist if she needed assistance.”

“Thank you for helping, Mr. Marconi. This process has been so overwhelming that I can hardly believe it’s happening the way it is. Thank you for working with me and helping me get this finished, Sharon. I may have to go to court for the attempted murder charge, but the police officers’ testimony should just about take care of it. Mrs. McKendry wants to establish a case of fraudulent misrepresentation to a Federal Bank against both Scott Jr. and Sr.

We went downstairs to the main bank floor where I made out a deposit slip for the amount, less two hundred thousand for Sharon. I had Sharon write me a receipt for the money. I made out a transfer to shift this new money into my private money market account. I would look up how to invest it later.

Sharon and I had only one copy of the settlement. I let her keep it and asked her to copy it at my expense so I had a detailed record. She said she would make sure the resolution to the suit was recorded in the County Clerk’s record. Sharon added she would be contacting Juliet at her grandmother’s.

I went out to my truck and drove back to the campus. My head was swimming with everything that had happened so fast. There was a note on my door to speak to the resident, so I knocked on his door although I figured that he wouldn’t be there.

The door cracked, and then fully opened, revealing the resident holding a baseball bat. He told me to come in.

The guy was nervous about something, and said, “I don’t know what you’ve gotten yourself into but it’s not healthy to be around you, Barney. Some bruisers came with a gun and a baseball bat of their own wanting to know what room was yours. I was able to knock the receiver off the cradle and dial 911 so whoever answered could come help me. The campus police must have been very close because they came running up the stairs to my room. There was almost a gun battle, but the bad guys gave up. The city police came and took them away. I’ve been too nervous to even go to class. What’s going on?”

I told the resident, “It’s got to be Scott McKendry related, because everything that’s happened lately is about Scott. I know he’s in jail and isn’t going to be granted bail. His dad is about to lose his Chevrolet dealership because the real owner is going to kick him out. That may not have happened yet. Someone must think that Scott could beat the charges against him if the statements I wrote were destroyed. It’s not me that’ll do it to him, but the Chief of Police who witnessed him wanting and trying to kill me, while attacking me with a knife. Scott did it right in front of him. The Chief isn’t going to forget that.”

“I’m worried, Barney. Everyone on the floor could be in danger if thugs like that come back. You need to go somewhere else to stay for a while. Think about it and think about all the people here in the dorm. I’ll hold your room for you so that you can have it if you come back. Like I said, think about it for me and the guys.”

What a mess. This is bullshit with a man now destined to be in jail for a long time who could still cause me grief. I was hungry and it was the usual time to meet Juliet for lunch, so I put my papers in the room and took off for the cafeteria.

I walked in the door bumping into Juliet on her way in. She asked, “How did it go this morning? Did Sharon help you get this taken care of? Do you feel it was fair?”

We went through the serving line and found our usual two chair table by the windows. I told Juliet, “Sharon had a surprise for me when I read the settlement papers the first time. She pointed out the hundred thousand dollar figure had a zero added to it. She said that she felt a jury would probably add more than a million to the settlement after looking at all the evidence. We both found language that neither of us liked, and were finally able to get them to agree to the changes. They gave me a cashier’s check for a million bucks and I took it downstairs to deposit into my account and give Sharon her twenty percent. She made about forty-thousand an hour considering she probably spent a total of five hours on the lawsuit. Not bad.”

Juliet was excited, “That’s great, Barney. Now you’re assured of having enough money to get you through law school and maybe be able to open a practice. Now I need to convince you to move into Gamma’s home. Think about how nice it would be to always be together without worrying about the other guys in the dorm seeing me wander in and out of there. Someone is going to put up a fuss, although cohabitation in the dorms is just about totally accepted.”

“That’s something else, Juliet. Some men came to the dorm looking for me today and threatened the resident, but he was able to dial 911 without being seen and the police came and arrested the men. He just asked me to move out of the dorm for a while and promised to keep my room for me in case I want or need to come back.”

Juliet said, “Why would you need to come back? Don’t you think we were made for each other? My goodness, fate brought us together and will keep us together. Gamma asked you to come; I’m asking you to come. My aunts will love to have you as part of the family. We don’t have to get married right away, but we have to be able to live close or even together. The house is big enough that you’ll have a place to study, and I’ll bet that grandmother even has internet. She loves all the new technology.”

“The two of us moving in together is a big step, Juliet. You’re a year older and two years ahead of me in school. You know that I have at least four more years, and that includes going to summer school and taking heavy loads. You’re going to get tired of me spending all of my time studying. What will you do when you graduate?”

“I’ll have a lot of choices, Barney; I can stay in school and get my Masters. I can apply for a grad staff position. I can join my sisters and their husbands running an automobile store if Grandmother takes the dealership over. Or we can get married and I can get started raising our family. That’s all in the future, Barney. Agree to move into Grandmother’s home and we’ll go from there.”

I was just staring at Juliet when I said, “Let’s go talk to your grandmother before I move my stuff in. She’s pretty savvy about people, and she’ll have an opinion of whether or not we’re pushing for us to live together too quickly.”

Juliet said, “Probably not. You heard her tell the story of how she and Grandpa got together, but let’s go see her and then we can come back and get all our stuff.”

We went for the truck and drove the few blocks to her grandmother’s home. It was as if Josh had radar as he opened the door when we walked up the porch steps. He showed us into the sitting room and said that Juliet would be with us in a minute.

Grandmother made her entrance wearing a full apron and carrying a platter full of cookies and cupcakes, with Carol following with a tray of coffee cups and a beautiful silver coffee pot.

“Now what have you come to talk about, Children?”

I felt like I was in front of Happy when she smiled at us and eagerly directed us to the goodies on the platter. Carol poured three cups of coffee into dainty cups and I watched as Mrs. McKendry put a half spoon of sugar and a healthy splash of cream in hers.

I said to the stately woman wearing the kitchen apron, “You made a comment about the two of us moving in with you the other night. Juliet thinks that it would be perfect for us, but I want to know if you think it would be good for us. We haven’t known each other all that long, but have progressed in our relationship faster than I’m used to. I’ve never even dated a girl before, so everything with Juliet is new to me. I’m going to be frank with you, Mrs. McKendry, and tell you that we’ve slept together, which means we have been physical with each other. It was a first for both of us.” I was blushing when I continued, “And we liked it.”

“It’s probable that we would continue our physical relationship if we were to move in here. Would that bother or offend you? Would that be against your moral principles? Please be honest with me or I would never feel comfortable here.”

I took a sip of the coffee and sat back next to Juliet.

The grand old lady smiled at the two of us, and said, “That you two have found each other physically is wonderful. That you were each other’s first was a wonderful event. Society is different and a lot of activities are more acceptable during this day and time. I would be uncomfortable if you two were just sampling multiple people, but you two are being exclusive, and although you may be planning a long term relationship, you’re committed to be honest with each other and to assist each other in your goals. No, Barney, I wouldn’t be offended if you were to continue to be physical with Juliet. I’m very happy that the two of you have discovered each other and the thrills of loving each other. You may not be able to say those magic words yet, but you were saying them with your bodies when you two made love. Please come live with me, Barney. Come live with Juliet in an illicit, romantic, physical life that will help join the two of you. I do have a stipulation; you must promise me that you will marry Juliet should she become pregnant, and be your child’s father.”

I looked at Juliet and wanted to go hide for a second. That’s a hell of a lot to think about. How would I feel if Juliet became pregnant? Would I still desire her the same way if she had a big round belly? Would I lovingly look upon a child knowing that it came as a result of a union between Juliet and me? All these thoughts were running through my head when I looked at a blushing Juliet. I smiled and said, “I will celebrate the day Juliet tells me that we’re going to be parents. Yes, I will be a good father and husband.”

The smiling white-haired lady said, “Good, now go get your clothing and school materials. I’ll be a tough taskmaster and keep both of you studying. I think Barney can use the small study for working on his schoolwork, and Juliet can use the main study as she probably won’t spend as much time devoted to intense studying.”

I finished the small cup of coffee and stood. Juliet did the same and hugged her grandmother. “You’ve given my man a reason to be with me for what is probably the rest of our lives, Gamma. Thank you, Great Grandmother. I don’t use the ‘Great’ all the time because I say it all with ‘Gamma’.”

We drove back to campus without saying much and agreed that Juliet would have all her stuff ready to carry down in a half hour. I found the resident in a better mood and took him into the room. I pointed to the bed and said, “Fresh sheets there and more on the shelf in the closet. Keep the blankets, the two pillows, and all the towels. I’ll either get these back or go get some more if I come back. It’s not a problem either way.”

“Thanks for moving out, Barney. I’m not asking where you’re going because I don’t want to know. My ignorance makes it safer for you. I hope that you reach your goals in school. You’ve really worked hard so far.”

I took all my stuff, computer, printer, clothes, radio, and books down to the truck. I gave my key to the resident, and he was smiling when I left.

Juliet was in the lobby of her dorm with a stack of personal items that included clothes, school supplies, and personal toiletries. Everything easily fit into the truck, and we drove off campus. I checked the odometer when we left and when we pulled into Grandmother’s home. It wasn’t even a half mile. The distance was easy walking if I didn’t want to use the truck.

Carol was the one who gave us our suites. She had us directly across the hall from each other. She even made a joke that we would probably wear out the carpet between the rooms. She said the idea was for each of us to have our own space if we needed it. I already knew how that might happen.

I moved my laptop, printer, school supplies, and books into the small study, because that was where I would spend the bulk of my time. I realized that I needed to do some serious clothes shopping when I hung all my clothes in my closet and put the balance into my drawers. My suit was of a very high quality, and was still a current style. My white shirts could be newer, but I wasn’t embarrassed while wearing them. I should probably have some dress slacks with a sport coat, as well as some nice shirts to go with them. I had a good pair of dress shoes, a pair of dressy loafers, a pair of tennis shoes, and my original heavy duty shoes. I could use some more underwear, more socks, a couple of new ties, and some shirts that weren’t faded. I’d talk to Juliet about going shopping.

We slept together that night, but Juliet was still wearing panties. I didn’t mind as we went to sleep giving each other kisses.

I took Juliet to the cafeteria the next day, and she went on to class from there. I went back to the house and really dove into my classes that I hadn’t worked on for a few days. I drove back to campus and went to the cafeteria to meet Juliet at noon. She said that she had a special lab from one till four today, so she would appreciate a ride around four. She would meet me at the library parking lot.

I went back home and really dug in. I made up most of the work I hadn’t done over the past week. I could be caught up and moving ahead by tomorrow if I worked on it tonight.

We went to bed that night after a nice supper, some chat with Grandmother, and Juliet using my computer and printer for a paper. Juliet directed me toward the bathroom for our tooth brushing, and suggesting a shower and shave.

We had fun showering together in the giant shower. My special lady leaned her nude body into me, and said, “All done. I’m wide open to be ravaged. Shave for me so that we can really do some smooching. You know that this is the beginning, Love.”’

I didn’t really understand what she was saying, but I knew the couple of days we had been in the house had gone well.

We made love that night and serenaded the neighborhood with Juliet’s cries of passion. I tried some of the oral techniques she pointed out, and found them extremely enjoyable. We finally fell asleep on the wet spots still kissing each other.

We both studied most of the day Saturday, and were encouraged to give it a rest that evening. Grandmother told the two of us, “You two are the most studious young people I’ve ever run into. You don’t hardly come up for air by the way you bury yourself in your school work. How about going out to Columbia’s finest restaurant tonight? I’m in the mood for some of their special prime rib they only have on Saturday’s. Josh and Carol have consented to come with us. Wear your fancy suit and you’ll fit in with the big shots in the area, Barney. I have some news, so the aunts and uncles will be joining us.”