Chapter 8

The next day Paul and I drove over to talk to Alize’s mom. When the door opened and she saw me standing there I could tell she was worried. “Oh, hello there Mike I can help you?” When she said this I noticed she kept looking over her shoulder. “Betty I’m here because I’m worried about you and Alize. I’ve heard some disturbing things and I thought I’d come over and see if everything was all right.” I could tell by the look on the woman’s face she was getting scared just then there was a shout from inside the house. “Woman, who is that at my door?” Betty’s eyes grew large with fear. “Oh no, you have to go now.”

I looked the woman in the eyes and told her “I am here to help, and you know I can and will, if you want me to.” I could tell she was torn. Just then a medium built man with a gut came marching up. “Who are you?” he demanded. “Hi I’m a friend of the families. My daughter and Alize are friends and I thought I would come over and see how Betty was doing. We haven’t seen them in a few weeks and thought it was about time to come over and touch base with them.” I guess he could tell something was up. “Well mister rich boy, why don’t you just go back where you came from. This here is my woman now and we don’t need you or your attitudes around here. I’ll bet it was that godless lesbian who sicked you over here wasn’t it.” Man this guy was quite the charmer.

“I’m afraid you are mistaken. I don’t know any godless lesbians off the top of my head. I came over because this lady and her daughter are friends of the family and I hadn’t seen them in a while. As to my income I don’t think that is any reason to leave my friends alone.” I could tell this was the right thing to say because the man’s face grew redder with every correctly pronounced syllable. “That’s it. Get the hell away from here and don’t come back or I’ll kick your spoiled ass.” With that he reached out to shove me. I only had to turn my body to the side and watch as he fell flat on his face. Ok, I admit I may have slid out a foot so he couldn’t catch himself but hey we’re all human.

I reached down to help him up and he tried to catch me with a punch as I bent over. I knew he would try it and simply dodged it. I stepped back as he got to his feet. Betty came over and tried to stop him but he shoved her away and said he would deal with her after he was done with me. I have to say from then on the gloves were off. Tai Chee was one of the ways I had dealt with the stress of graduate school and it came in handy now. “So, I take it after you have beaten me you are going to go after Betty and her daughter?” The man snarled at this. “They are mine, and if I feel they need a beating it’s my business and no one else’s.” He lunged at me and once again I simply waited and then slid aside.

I did this on purpose. I drew him further into the open and away from the house. The more I dodged the madder he became. He threw a few clumsy punches that I simply slapped away. While his attention was on me Paul came up to Betty and began talking to her. The fear left her eyes and she began to watch what was going on. Paul raised his hand to tell me that he had talked to her and told her what we knew. He then gave me another sign that let me take the gloves off. The man was getting tired and I let him land a good punch to the side of my face.

“Ha, guess all that fancy dodging don’t work too long against a real man does it fancy man.” He gloated. I shook my head to get my bearings. “No it does quite well. I just needed a visible reason for when the police arrive.” The next punch was a sloppy roundhouse. I let it breeze past me and placed my knee in his gut. When he was doubled over I then placed the same knee into his face. I made sure to be polite and held his head in place so I wouldn’t miss and have it look sloppy.

As he lay there bleeding I stood over him. “Now the police should be here in a second. I think I can even hear the sirens now. I give you this one warning. Your clothes will be packed and left at the station. Do not ever come back here again. Do not ever talk to, threaten, or see Betty or her child again. If you do I will have you killed and your body will never be found.” Playing on his hatred for the rich I acted it up. “I have the money and power to make it that way. I did this this way because I feel Betty has some care for you and I didn’t want your brains decorating her apartment floor.” I placed a finger to his broken nose. “Leave while you still can.”

Just then the police arrived and saw a man trying to aid another man who was on the ground. As they came rushing over I waved to them and said they may want to call for a paramedic. They saw the mess I had made of the dunce and then the bruise that was growing on my cheek. “Would you like to explain what is going on?” asked one officer. I told them I had come over to talk to the mother of my daughter’s friend and when I did this man came at me yelling. When I tried to explain why I was there he assaulted me and I had defended myself. The dunce was sitting up and trying to yell through his broken nose that I was the one who started it all. He then tried to create off the cuff accusations and I could tell the police had made up their minds on who to believe.

A paramedic arrived and once he was checked out the dunce was cuffed and hauled off. I was asked to come down to the station and make a statement to which I was only too glad to do. Another officer was with Paul and Betty getting their statements of what had happened. Paul and I had talked about this had planned everything out and it had all played out perfectly. Once the police were gone Paul and I went inside to talk to Betty alone because the woman was a nervous wreck. We told her what we knew and what her options were before today. “Betty I want you to know that I had two options. I could call social services and let them deal with it or take it upon myself to help you and your daughter out of whatever it was that had happened. I didn’t want to interfere in your family but I care a lot for Alize and didn’t want to see either of you hurt.”

“Mike things just got so out of hand so very fast. He seemed like such a good man but then things got worse and I became afraid. I thought I was doing the right thing and when I caught him hitting Alize I tried to stop him but then he started hitting me. He said if we said anything or did anything we would regret it bad. I was so afraid of what he might do to me or Alize.” Then the woman sat there with her face in her hands crying. Paul reached out to the woman as she collapsed against him sobbing desperately.

I asked Paul if he could stay with Betty while I went to deal with the police. I called Bill and he said to wait till he arrived at the station before I sign anything. When he got there we went in and talked to the officers. It seemed that this wasn’t the first time that the dunce had ended up in one of their cells. They were however surprised to see him beaten up. His usual targets were his girlfriends. The mug shot of him covered with his own blood had already made the rounds. I told the police my story of what had happened and Bill made sure before I signed it that it wouldn’t come back to haunt me. As Bill and I left the station he lightly smacked me over my now bruising face. “I know that was a line of bull shit Mike. Legally I have no reason to doubt every word we said in there. But just between us it was a stupid, dangerous thing and I’m so glad you did it.”

I got back just before school let out. I was surprised to find Paul and Betty talking like old friends as they filled garbage bags with what I gathered were the dunces belongings. When I came in Betty ran over to me apologizing profusely for the whole mess. She saw the bruise on my face and ran into the kitchen. While she was gone I looked over at Paul who simply smiled at me and blushed. Before I could say anything Betty was pressing a bag of frozen peas to the side of my face. I decided anything I needed to say could be said later. I knew for a fact that the dunce would be behind bars for at least another forty eight hours. I had already asked Bill to file for an emergency restraining order on behalf of Betty.

I decided to hedge my bet and asked Betty if she would mind Paul staying with her for a while just in case. Paul looked at me curiously and I simply smiled at him. I then made the excuse that I needed to go get the girls and take them home. I threw three garbage bags in the back of the van and took them to the police station explaining that these were all the possessions the dunce had at Betty’s house. By doing so the police knew he had no legal reason to return.

When I picked up the girls there were squeals of worry but I told him that I was just fine and not to worry. It got them to quiet down a little but they were still fussing over me the whole way home. I also told them that their grandfather was currently staying with Alize and her mom for a while. A little later I got a call from Paul asking if it would be okay for Alize to stay with us for a few days. It seemed her mother was worried about reprisals from the dunce. I told him that would be no problem but wasn’t she worried about being alone? Paul said that he would go ahead and stay with Betty till things calm down. Something told me there was more to this than met the eye but I wasn’t about to mess with it.

It wasn’t long after the call that Paul, Betty, and Alize showed up. The girls hustled Alize back to their room leaving us adults in the kitchen. Betty was once again trying to apologize for all the trouble she and her daughter had caused. I decided to let down my guard a little and tell a woman how we felt.

“Betty, do you know the story of how we came to have Bethany living with us?” Mary told me to she had heard that her parents had abandoned her and we had adopted Bethany. “Mary you have to realize that your daughter means a lot to our family. In fact we all feel that she is family to us. We want you to know that we are here for both of you if you need us. If you need help to make ends meet, if you need help changing a light bulb, or anything else major or minor, we want you to call us okay?” This caused Betty to begin crying again. Paul took her in his arms and she wrapped her arms around him. I could tell right away that a bond was already forming between the two.

We were all sitting at the kitchen table when Leah got home. She took one look at my face and smiled. “Well if that’s the most you got out of it he must have been one piss poor fighter.” Then she began fawning over me just like the girls. I introduced her to Betty who let go of Paul to shake her hand and then returned it to holding his. I could see my wife’s hackles rise up at the sight of another woman holding her father’s hand. I decided to defuse the situation by asking Leah to help me in the bedroom. When we got behind closed doors I could see the smoldering anger inside of her. “Before you start getting too feisty girl, I think you should know that she isn’t the only one moving in that direction.” She looked at me questioningly

“The poor woman has been through a lot of abuse lately and Paul is the first one to show her any kindness. In fact I’ll bet he’s the first man to show her any genuine kindness in a long time, so of course she’s going to become somewhat attached to him. You know the White Knight reaction Leah, it’s not something she can help, and I don’t think he’s working too hard to discourage her if you get my meaning.” Leah’s eyes practically bugged out of her head at that. “There’s my dear, your father has been very comforting to that poor woman and has enjoyed every second of it.” The little green eyed monster hopped off her shoulder. Leah then smiled and shook her head. “Well, what do you think of this woman Mike?”

“Well she is a real bad judge of men and if she’s left to her own devices she will probably screw up again. We already know that she loves her daughter and tries to be a good mother, and while I was at her house I noticed it was unusually clean for public housing. Don’t forget to think about what she has to do so Alize can go to dance. I think she really wants more for her daughter then to live the kind of life she’s had to.” Leah simply nodded her head and thought.

Leah and I sat and talked about everything that had happened that day when we could smell dinner cooking. We decided to join Paul and Betty and see where things went. When we got into the kitchen we were both shocked. Paul was sitting at the table talking away while Betty was bustling around the kitchen making dinner. When she saw us walk in she smiled at us and said “After everything you’ve done I figured the least I could do is to make dinner for all of you.” I had to admit that there was more to Betty than met the eyes. It seemed that while she was cooking she practically glowed and when I looked at Paul and his eyes sparkled while watching her. I looked over at my wife and she gave me an eyebrow wiggle telling me she saw it as well. During dinner it felt more like a large family, then a family with guests. There was laughter, stories, and smiles throughout the entire time.

After dinner we all split up. The girls left for their room to talk and listen to music and the adults adjourned to the living room for television talk. Paul took his usual seat and Betty sat beside him. Leah and I curled up on the couch together and as our conversation wore on I noticed that Betty initiated closer and closer contact. It started with her holding Paul’s hand, then after a bit she sat closer to him holding his arm as well as his hand. Then Paul took a great leap and put his arm around Betty’s shoulders. When he did this her face relaxed and she rested her head against his chest. When she did this Paul immediately looked to his daughter and askance. I guess he got his daughter’s blessing because a smile spread across his face and he kissed the top of Betty’s head. The girls came in to see what we were up to, and when Alize saw her mother sitting like that with Paul I could tell it affected her.

The girls went back into their room and I decided I needed to find out how Alize was doing. I made excuses and headed back to the girls room. They were all talking and chatting and I asked Alize if I could talk to her privately. I took the young girl into my bedroom and we sat on the bed like many times before. “So you want to tell me what’s going on? I noticed your reaction when you saw your mom with Paul. Is everything okay?” The little girl reached out for my hands. “Mike I know it’s wrong, I know he’s married, and then there is everything with your wife, but I have never seen my mom looks so peaceful. I’ve seen her happy, I’ve seen her sad, but I have never seen her look so peaceful you know. It’s like I feel when you wrap your arms around me. I feel like I don’t have to worry about anything and I can just be me.” I squeezed her little hands and told her that I was glad that I could make her feel that way. I also explained that both Paul and her mother were adults and if there were feelings growing they could and would deal with them.

I pulled her into my lap, wrapped my arms around her, and just held her for a few minutes. Alize looked up at me with a smile. “This is just what I meant. No worries, no fears, just warm. It’s the kind of feeling I hope will never end. It’s kind of the feeling I have whenever I’m over here, like a part of something.” I gave her a little squeeze and told her “that’s because you are a part of something Alize, you are a part of this family and we are here for you.” The girl looked up at me and pulled me into a wonderful kiss. I knew that this moment would live forever in both of our hearts, it was the moment she truly felt a part of something. We reluctantly released each other and went our separate ways. When I got to the front room it was very quiet. I looked and saw that my wife was smiling on the couch while looking at Paul. Then I saw that Betty had fallen asleep while curled up with him.

“Dad, I think it may be best if you carry that lady downstairs and kept her company. I think she’s been far too alone for far too long.” She smiled at me and I nodded in agreement. He lifted the young woman into his arms and carried her downstairs. My wife and I shut down the house and told the girls that it was time for bed. When Alize asked where her mom was we told her she was spending the night downstairs. It took her a moment to realize exactly what we had said that when she did she only smiled.

The next day was so much better than the previous one. When I got up and looked in the mirror the bruise looked worse but didn’t hurt as much. When I joined the family in the kitchen everyone else was just sitting down to eat. Betty was floating around the room cooking and serving a ton of food. As I sat down a plate filled with goodness was placed in front of me and a light kiss landed on my cheek.

I looked over at Paul and he smiled at me and blushed a little. I knew one or the other wouldn’t be able to keep their hands to themselves after yesterday. I looked at my wife and she cleaned her plate up and she smiled that little knowing smile she had. I could hear the girls giggling away in the other room so I knew things were fine for everyone.

I thought it was rather cute to watch the way that Betty took every chance she could to have any kind of physical contact with Paul. He seemed to enjoy it as well. After breakfast we all sat down to talk. I asked her if moving from her current place to somewhere, anywhere else was possible. She looked uncomfortable as she thought it out. “Well I could I guess but I don’t have the money to right now. I mean we are at the cheapest place I could find in our area as it is. I can’t get a good job these days with the way things are so almost everything I make goes to bills as it is. If I had to pay higher rent we couldn’t make ends meet.”

I asked what kind of education she had and it wasn’t much. She had a few community college hours but that was it. Her family had turned their back on her after Alize was born. They were very strict Catholics and having a child out of wedlock was not acceptable. Trying to raise a daughter, work, and get an education was just too much for her. I got the sense that she wasn’t stupid or dumb. She was just out of luck and lived in a place where chances out were few and far between.

I hated to make decisions for others but there were times I felt a need. I asked what she did for a living and she told me she worked as a cleaning lady a small motel. I asked her if she was bi-lingual (just because she was a Latina didn’t mean she was fluent in Spanish). She said she was as her grandmother was from South America so she knew how to speak Spanish, English and a little bit of Portuguese. I was surprised to say the least.

I asked her if she would be willing to take some classes online if it meant she could have a better job, and she was very agreeable to the idea. I asked her a few more things and Paul was wondering where I was headed with all this. I told him I was thinking of a few contacts I had that may be able to give her a better chance and she was doubtful. “Mike you are a good man and you have done enough for me and Alize as it is. I am a hard worker but I am not like you and your wife. I don’t have the brains to make that kind of money and I don’t want you to loose friends or something because of me.”

“Betty I don’t think you are lacking in any way. Talking to you has made me understand that. I am willing to help you do better by your daughter if you will let me.” The woman smiled at me and then looked at Paul, who gave her a smile and a nod. “Well if you think I can do it then I will do my best to not let you down.” The rest of the day was spent talking and laughing. As the day wore on I could tell Betty was getting a little nervous. I guessed that it was because she was dreading going back to her apartment. I defused that by talking to Paul and then to her. I told her that until we were sure that it was safe to go home she and Alize would stay with us. She tried to demure her way out of it but both Paul and I were adamant about it so she accepted quickly.

That night she and Paul cooked together and the meal was even better than before. Alize asked if it was alright to stay upstairs with the girls and I watched as Betty blushed while looking at Paul. I told her that it was fine with us and the group of them ran off giggling. Betty asked me where she would sleep while she and Alize stayed with us and I told her she could continue with her current arrangements if she wanted to. She bit on her bottom lip and looked to Paul who smiled at her and gave a tiny nod.

That night, as Leah I got into bed, I talked to her about some things that I had noticed. Betty could be a very strong woman when she needed to be but she seemed to defer to Paul when it was something important or that would affect only her. Of course I had heard of passive submissive women but it was strange to actually interact with one. Leah explained to me that it was that type of mentality that usually found dominant abusive men. I thought about it. When I looked back in my life I really hadn’t been around that type of guy. The few that I had met I avoided as I never really wanted to associate with bullies. Leah went on to explain that most men were uncomfortable with women like Betty. It was hard for most nice guys to be comfortable telling their girlfriends or wives how to live their lives.

I looked back at the way the day had gone, and how Paul had dealt with Betty. Slowly the picture formed in my mind of how every time Betty was feeling lost Paul had been there to guide her. Whenever there was a choice to make she would look at him and he would nod at her, shake his head, or point. He didn’t push her rather he simply guided her to make her decision. I could also see how a woman like that could easily get into an abusive relationship. I also realized Paul was doing what any good father does. He was guiding her, showing the way, but allowing her to be herself. Talk about daddy issues turning out right for once.

The next day I made a few calls and was amazed at how quickly I was able to get Betty a new job. In fact I was able to sit down that afternoon with Betty and laid out three jobs that would take her right away. I laid them out for her and Paul and they talked them over. When they had made up her mind she told me that the money alone was twice what she made now, but when you added the health and such it was almost three times her current income.

The woman came over to me and gave me a kiss that warmed me inside. I now knew where Alize got her talent from. When she let me go Paul almost laughed at the expression on my face. I told her that if she wanted to we could get her started tomorrow and she almost attacked me again but Paul saved me. Instead she offered to make me a special dinner and I told her that would be thanks enough.