Chapter 4

Finished, she pressed the button under the table. The connection with the kitchen ‘comm’ was opened and the kitchen speaker beeped.

Cook said, “Yes, Miss?”

Amber asked Charles to bring the towncar around. Charles was at the kitchen table, with the staff. He was having the breakfast she wished she could have. He wasn’t finished ... but summoned is summoned and unemployment is a harsh mistress.

“Yes, Miss,” he said, and left his seat and headed for the backdoor. The staff was careful not to display any remorse over his wasted plate. The dresser was there.

When mom was alive Amber carried a Mickey Mouse lunch box to school. A PBJ on whole wheat, a carton of 2% milk, a couple stalks of celery, a carrot ... and a chocolate chip cookie ... her favorite. Sometimes there were two sandwiches. And ... every once in a while, Cook added a treat, an Energy Bar. Plenty. When mom was alive, Amber dressed as she wished. There were times when mom was appaled.

Now she carried money and ate in the cafeteria ... at the head table. Amber dressed in the school uniform ... hand tailored, of the finest of fabric ... and size three low heels.

The towncar purred its way from the back of the house to the front ... the arrival timed so the automatic rear door opened as she stepped off the last step on to the drive ... the next step was into the rear door and seat. The 1964 Lincoln Continental Towncar was the last of the breed ... the front door was hinged towards the engine ... the rear door was hinged to the rear. Make no mistake ... there was but one front door. That door was to the drivers side of the car. During the rare times the drivers side door and the rear drivers side door were open at the same time the opening was cavernous. She was never allowed to ride in the drivers compartment ... there was no door on the passengers side. Tiffany, Please insisted. A lesser human would refer to the rear doors as ‘suicide doors.’

When mom was alive daddy took her to school on his way to the office ... in his hand built custom 1951 metallic orange two door Mercury. He always floored it just before she was fully seated ... she was slammed back in the seat and Amber chortled all the way to school. Daddy was fun when mom was alive.

Tiffany, Please was always concerned with appearances... ‘What would the neighbors say.’ Daddy was driven now.

At the school, there was a line of parent driven cars waiting to discharge their students. The school ‘resource officer’ (cop) made sure there was no line jumping. Amber was the only student with a chauffeur. No kisses ... no ‘have a good day.’ Just, “We’re here, Miss,” and a tip of his leather cap. Gone. Quietly.

When daddy drove, the car always left with a squall of tires and a cloud of rubber smoke. The teen males cheered and the girls sighed. After mom died, daddy was an eligible hunk.

How Tiffany, Please had caught him, Amber didn’t understand ... but she had and Amber’s life changed. When Amber was 8 ... maybe 9 ... Tiff was the captain of the high school cheerleaders and a real babe. But mom was alive then.

Daddy said, then, “My taxes help support the school ... of course we attend the games, the plays and the PTA.”

Now mom was dead and Tiff, Tiffany, Please was in charge. Daddy never knew the changes Tiffany had made.

The biggest one was coming ... Boarding School. Amber had no idea. A classy Swiss ‘Finishing School.’

Amber was ‘in the way.’