Chapter 5

Sarah and I got to my parent's house about one o'clock. Bess was already there. I walked into the living room and introduced Sarah to my parents, sat down and explained what had happened to her over the past few days. My mother ran over to Sarah and began to hug her and smother her with her brand of love. My mother was always the dramatic type which drove my father up the wall.

I finally told them the reason for the meeting, "Sarah doesn't have a relative left in the world. I know that I should call social services and have her put in a foster home..."

At this point my father blew up. He saw what was coming and he wanted no part of it for him or me. Bess put her two cents in. I let them rant for a while and then stopped them so that I could continue.

"Look, you all know me and know that I'm not the type to take advantage of Sarah. She's had a rough life so far and both her father and brother have taken advantage of her. I think that one more person taking advantage of her would push her over the edge. Sarah hasn't even had the benefit of much schooling. She only went to the fourth grade. Her father felt that a woman was only meant to cook and have babies. For that you didn't need much or an education. I can provide her a good home with a stable environment and I could home school her and get her to the point that she could begin to attend school with her peers. Do you think that the state will invest in Sarah and provide all of the help that she'll need?"

At that point there was silence from my parents and Bess until my father spoke, "This is going to cost a lot of money just to fight social services and then raising Sarah is going to cost a lot of money. How are you going to afford this; you don't even have a job?"

At this point I had to tell my parents about my financial situation. Even after paying for the house I had earned enough money trading stocks that I was back to my original ten million dollars. I could see that my father was impressed but my mother was only worried about smothering Sarah with hugs and oooing and aahing over her. My father muttered something about taking over his portfolio.

I guess money talks because the discussion went in a new direction. My father stopped talking about the negative aspects of the situation and began talking about how we could make my plan happen. He asked if I was willing to spend the money necessary for the legal fees and when I nodded he told me that he had a young lawyer in his firm that needed a case like this to cut his teeth on. My father saw the look on my face and he promised to coach the young lawyer every step of the way. Bess was still not convinced until I asked her to list everything she could think of that would make this deal wrong for Sarah. She couldn't list a thing but finally muttered that it wasn't right for a single man to raise a teenager. I asked her what about all of the fathers raising their teenaged daughters after the mother had died or left the home. Bess didn't say anything else.

My father finally insisted that Sarah would have to move in with them until the legal stuff was over and done with. If Sarah stayed with me the state would remove her from my house by force if necessary. I agreed and told them that I would bring Sarah back to them tomorrow and that I would pay them two hundred dollars a week for her upkeep. My mother protested that they didn't want any money but my father saw the wisdom in it. It would show the state that I was willing to provide for Sarah's welfare. It was decided that Sarah would stay with my parents for a while and that I would meet with the lawyer and my father on Monday morning.

Sarah and I left for my house and we stopped at a restaurant for dinner on the way home. Sarah loved eating out. When she lived with her father, eating out meant eating a sandwich while you were driving in the truck. Sarah had never eaten a steak and I suggested that she order one. She found out that she loved it. It was dark when we started for home. I stopped at a Wendy's for a Frosty for Sarah and she found another of her favorite foods. I don't think she ever had ice cream.

After we got home Sarah and I talked for hours about how she had to conduct herself while she was at my parent's house and what was considered proper behavior when she was questioned by social services. I impressed on her that she was never to lie or even evade the truth when she gave her answers. I let her know that if the social services caught her in a lie that it could mean that she would be put in a foster home and I would never be able to see her again.

It was midnight before we turned in and I think that I had Sarah convinced that she had to be on her best behavior Although she didn't go farther than the fourth grade the girl was very smart. She seemed a little depressed that she wouldn't be able to stay here while the legal things were being taken car of but she had resigned herself to what had to be...

In the morning we had breakfast and then gathered up all of Sarah's clothes and began the trip to my parents. We walked into the house and my mother began her smothering and I had to ask my father to put the brakes on her. He told me that he'd sit on my mother so that Sarah wouldn't run off. We sat in his office for a long while going over the things that we might encounter and what we might have to do to overcome what the state would throw at us. I ate dinner at my parent's house and then made the trip back home.

When I got home I went to my computer and I ran a copy of my financial net worth. I made up a program of my own that was tied to each of the banks and the brokerage houses that I deal with. Whenever there is a transaction at the banks or the brokerage houses the data is automatically entered in the program. I knew that my financials would be a big factor in whether I succeeded in getting Sarah released to me.

I started researching the home schooling programs that were available for purchase on line and I was amazed at all of the programs that were available. There were even aptitude tests available that would guide you in selecting the course of study for your students. The websites didn't tell you about all of the bullshit that the education departments would put you through but I knew that they would try to make your life miserable. The educators liked to protect their turf.