Chapter 12: Naomi’s Story and a Reunion

Tory’s mother couldn’t wait to tell Sharon and me about the settlement of Reggie Marlowe’s attack on her son.

“Well, there was no way the lawyer wanted any kind of letter like we suggested in my hands. He said Mr. Marlowe would be advised to reject that option. But he did raise the amount of settlement again. It makes it very difficult to decide between what the right thing to do is and the easiest.

“I asked him what was to stop Reggie from attacking my son again, and Mr. Stiller said that since I had reported his attack to the police, that would constitute prior behavior. I guess that means that if Reggie did something again, the sheriff would have a record of the attack being reported.”

“Darn, sounds like my idea wasn’t so hot after all,” I said.

“Not really, Joel. He did increase their settlement offer. It’s quite a lot of money and we could certainly use it. Based on how much Mr. Marlowe is willing to pay, I would think he would want to make certain Reggie doesn’t do something like this to anyone again,” she said.

“Well, I wish you good luck, whatever you decide to do. We just want Tory to get well and get back to class. We miss having him around. If I hear anything more about Reggie, I’ll let you know. He hasn’t been at class since the incident, so maybe he’s dropped out ... I hope.”

“Thanks again, Joel. I’m sure we’ll be seeing you soon. Bye,” she said.

I found Sharon a few minutes later and let her know the gist of my conversation with Mrs. Payne. We both agreed that it sounded like she was going to settle with Mr. Marlowe. I couldn’t blame her under the circumstances. A court case would take forever and be very expensive, even if she’d won. Then, she’d have to sue for damages in civil court. Not a very enticing prospect.

Tory returned to school four weeks after the attack and while able to get around, he was walking very gingerly. There would be no taekwondo classes for the foreseeable future, but otherwise he was his usual bright, upbeat self. Reggie Marlowe had not returned to class and some discrete inquiries by Mr. Conradi confirmed our suspicion that he’d dropped out. Based on his class performance, it was unlikely he had any chance of making the minimum standards required at the end of first term. We silently hoped that it was the last we would hear of him.

Thanksgiving was quiet once more at the Timmins household. My sister Lana and her family were unable to get away for the short holiday period since there was talk that her husband was in line for a promotion early in the New Year and they may be moving. Her husband, Tom, was in the oil business, doing something involving pipelines. I wasn’t sure just what he did but apparently he did it well, since Lana was quite quick to tell us how much money he was making. If they moved away from Denver, they would likely be even further away from Oregon than they are now. Either West Texas or the gulf coast was the most likely destinations.

All three of us talked to Naomi via Skype that afternoon. She seemed fine, although anxious for Christmas break to head back to Clarksville. She was confident she was doing well in her course work and had no worries about the forthcoming exams. I wish I felt that confident, although I hadn’t been through the gauntlet before, so the type of exam and the difficulty of them were unknowns. The only solution, Naomi advised me, was to study. Gee, thanks.

There was a rumor going around that Reggie Marlowe and a couple of his pals had been arrested by the sheriff’s department for possession of controlled substances, i.e: drugs. Apparently they had been rounded up in a sting operation in conjunction with the Oregon State Police. I can’t say I was surprised. He seemed like the type to look for trouble and usually find it. At least Tory could breathe a sigh of relief that Reggie would have something other than him to worry about.

Tory and his mother invited Sharon and me over for dinner one weekend after Thanksgiving. It was kind of a thank you for being Tory’s friend and stepping up for him. I don’t know how much money Mrs. Payne was paid to make the charges against Reggie go away but it must have been quite a bit. She was very relaxed and chatty that evening, talking about having some work done on the house and maybe buying a new vehicle. Tory had healed pretty much as expected and planned to go back to taekwondo early in January. We also noticed that he had seemed to add a couple of inches in height when we saw how much distance there was between the bottom of his pants and his feet. Maybe his growth spurt was beginning to happen.

As Christmas approached, my attention was equally divided with anticipation of Naomi’s arrival and my exams. The exams would come first and that was where I was spending my spare time. I had the feeling that Mom and Naomi had something cooking between the two of them. I don’t know what it was but their once-a-week Skype sessions had doubled and I assumed it was a discussion about Christmas presents or the like. I had already done my shopping with a quick trip to Bend to take advantage of the bigger stores and their greater variety.

Finally, the day of Naomi’s arrival came and I planned to head down to Bend and meet her at the airport. My mother had other ideas. She wanted to be there as well. There wasn’t enough room in my little pickup for three of us, so I was assigned to drive the Escape. Dad wisely stayed at work to avoid getting involved in the great trek. The plane, a turbo-prop similar to the one Naomi and I had flown in on from San Francisco, arrived on time and we waited patiently in the terminal for Naomi to collect her luggage and come through to meet us.

I had a big smile on my face as Naomi came through the doorway from the arrivals section. I was about to greet her with a big hug and a kiss when my mother waltzed by me and took my place. You’d have thought my girlfriend was a long-lost relative. I got my turn after that little episode and I made the most of it.

“I’ve missed you so much,” I whispered as we embraced.

“I’ve missed you just as much,” she said quietly before kissing me quite soundly.

While I collected her luggage and we headed out to the parking area, Mom was monopolizing the conversation. While I wasn’t upset, I was wondering just what Mom was thinking. Naomi was a friend of mine, yet Mom seemed to be reading more into it than that. And Naomi was going along with her. I wondered how to handle this situation. Then again, what was there to handle? It wasn’t a problem that I could identify just because my mother and my girlfriend were extraordinarily close. So, for now, I would accept it as a good omen.

Naomi living in the same house as my family was a mixed blessing. We could forget about privacy, at least during the day and evening. There was always someone around. I’m sure my parents didn’t mean to interrupt our love life but that’s how it worked out. She’d made it very obvious that my girlfriend was a welcome addition to the household.

However, two days later, my mother wasn’t monopolizing Naomi’s time quite as much. After we’d gone to bed, Naomi would slip across the hallway to my room and join me. We kept as quiet as we could but now and then a grunt or a groan would escape from me and that would cause her to giggle. However, there were no negative or otherwise comments from either Mom or Dad, so we soon quit worrying about it.

I knew there was more to Naomi’s story than what she’d shared with me, but I was reluctant to try and dig it out of her. As it turned out, I didn’t have to. She sat down one evening when we were by ourselves for a couple of hours and told me her whole story, not just the parts I already knew.

When her mother surrendered her to the couple she grew up with ... the religious pair ... her grandmother, her mother’s mother, had her will altered. As she later learned, Grandma Schaefer was very upset that my mother had given Naomi to this couple without ever consulting her. It wasn’t a legal adoption, but the church they belonged to shielded the couple from any legal concerns. Her grandmother, then a new widow, was in no way able to raise a newborn child and she had had to swallow her anger and try and stay in touch with Naomi as best she could. The couple who took her wasn’t very cooperative in that regard, so Naomi saw little of her. What neither her guardians nor Naomi knew was that her grandmother had rewritten her will and as Naomi was the only living relative in her family, she left everything to her. She had an advisor create a trust fund for Naomi that gave her guardians a generous living allowance each month until she was twenty-one, or until she was emancipated, whichever came first.

Naomi had vague memories of “Gramma Schaefer,” as she called her. She remembered her being a warm, loving woman who came now and then to visit. Naomi always asked her to stay, but she said she couldn’t. She was everything her guardians were not. The allowance that she gave the two guardians must have been more than adequate for her needs over the years. But by the time Naomi entered her teenage years, she was an unhappy and somewhat rebellious girl, although she could do nothing about it short of running away. She admitted she did consider that, but realized she had nowhere to go and no real funds to live on beyond her meager allowance.

Almost by accident when reading a fiction novel, she learned that she could apply for emancipation. After an on-line investigation of the act, she learned she could apply when she reached sixteen years of age. She could make application to separate herself from her guardians and live on her own. Taking what meager allowance she had saved, she visited a law firm to get some advice. Their family services department was willing to talk to her and advised her to wait until she was eighteen. Sixteen year-old females were seldom granted emancipation except under extraordinary circumstances. Naomi’s situation didn’t qualify. She was discouraged, but resolute that she would wait out the two years and re-file then. The law firm, a well established and reputable company, charged only a small fee to establish her as a client. If she decided to pursue emancipation when she reached eighteen, she would come to them for their assistance.

Almost two years later on her eighteenth birthday, she made application for emancipation from her guardians. When the papers were served on the Martinsons, they were shocked and angry. How could she be so heartless when they had raised her and given her all the comforts of a true family? When Naomi went before the judge to state her case, her lawyer presented the financial details from Grandmother Schaefer’s will and her payments over almost eighteen years to the Martinsons, her guardians. He also detailed the rigidly controlled lifestyle that was forced on Naomi.

The lawyer and the court reviewed the generous amount that the grandmother had left for her maintenance with the guardians. Their actual expenses turned out to be only a portion of the amount they received. The rest they had pocketed. Naomi had very little freedom and strict rules about when she could be out of the house. Basically, it amounted to when she was either in school, or at church. The Martinsons argued that they were responsible for her moral upbringing and decried the current teenage culture they saw in their town. They couldn’t deny their austere control over her life and simply stated that it was for her own good.

The judge, a woman of middle age, took little time to decide Naomi’s fate. She was to be granted emancipation and free to go on her own. The generous allowance that was given to the Martinsons would now be forthcoming to Naomi. However, the balance of the will’s provisions, namely the trust fund, would not come into force until she reached twenty one. Nevertheless, it was enough money for Naomi to rent a small apartment and provide the necessities of life until she could access the balance of her inheritance. She was somewhat in a daze about how her life should go at that point. All the rules and restrictions of her guardians had been cast off and she was now free to live the life she imagined a normal teenager would live. She was in for a rude awakening.

She had limited skills other than household ones. She could cook and clean simply because it was demanded of her by her guardians. However, she did not know how to drive, or how to budget expenses, or develop new friendships. She was a beautiful young woman but vulnerable, and there were those who would take advantage of her vulnerability. She needed help and the only person she could think of to provide some guidance was the school counselor. Fortunately, the woman counselor provided her with both good advice and assistance in adapting to her new life.