Chapter 17

Anna and Nicole watched the workers finish up the main prayer room. Leslie had managed to get quite a bit of work done in just the one day. She had gotten some other homeless men and they had worked all day turning the warehouse into a more suitable place of worship. The front half of the building was now an open area with pews, a raised dais, and a wall separating it from the rear half of the building. Mounted on the wall, right above the dais, was a strange symbol. It had two circles, side by side, with a smaller oval mounted between and below the circles, inter- linking them. In each symbol were intricate little etchings and sigils. When people asked what it was, Anna had just said that it was the new sign of her faith. When Anna asked Nicole what it was, Nicole said it was an ancient symbol representing the force of Love. Nicole also explained that the classic heart was a bastardized version of this symbol.

The rear half of the building had been separated into various smaller rooms that would be used as living quarters, counseling room, or whatever else was necessary. One room in back had been set aside for Nicole and Anna, and another for Leslie, Sydney, and their child. There were many other rooms, of course, but so far were unclaimed.

While Anna was helping with the cleaning, she saw a man walk in from outside. He was staring up at the symbol, which was not unusual. Nicole had explained that the symbol was part of "racial memory", and everyone would recognize it, if only on a subconscious level. What was unusual was the man's appearance. In a sector of the city where the most expensive clothes to be seen were those that had only been worn once before, this man was dressed in a tailored suit of very expensive design. He also had a perfectly cut hairstyle and manicure. He was clearly a wealthy businessman. The only question was what was he doing here.

"Excuse me," Anna called out to him. "Can I help you?"

"Yes, I'm looking for an Anna Leighton."

"That'd be me."

"Miss Leighton, I am Carl Witherspoon, the third. According to my sources, you have recently purchased this building?"

"I have."

"May we go somewhere to talk?"

"Certainly. We can use one of the rooms in back. Follow me." Anna led him in back to one of the unclaimed rooms. Inside was a folding table and a couple of simple, metal chairs. Anna waved at one while sitting in the other. After Carl took the other, Anna asked him, "Now what can I do for you?"

"Miss Leighton, it's what I can do for you. I am prepared to purchase this building from you for what you paid plus a hefty profit."

"I'm sorry, mister Witherspoon, but the building isn't for sale. I'm afraid its location, size, and general construction make it perfect for my plans."

"But its location makes it necessary for me. I intend to renovate this entire section of town. Now you don't want to stand in the way of the general well-being of your neighbors, do you?"

Anna's telepathic abilities kicked in and images of what Carl Witherspoon, III, had planned flashed into her mind. "Mister Witherspoon, it is in the best interests of my neighbors that I absolutely do not sell to you. You don't intend to renovate the neighborhood; you intend to buy up all the local property, level it, then put up a rather large mall in its place."

"Now why would I want to put up a mall in this section of town?"

"Because an informant of yours in the city planning committee has let you in on the fact that the city intends to build a super-highway through this neighborhood in a few years. A highway that will run right out front of this building. Without this property, which you intend to turn into a parking lot, you might as well forget everything. Your plans will result in almost a hundred people being made homeless and almost three times that many being moved into slums worse than the rat traps their already in. As for doing what's best for my fellow landowners, most are slumlords who haven't even seen their properties, letting managerial firms instead collect the rent. Many don't even live in this city. So, no, mister Witherspoon, I think I'll stay right where I am."

Carl got an evil glint to his eyes. "I don't know how you learned so much about my plans, miss Leighton, but I will do you the favor of being blunt. The last owner of this building was a hated business rival who wouldn't sell just to spite me. He managed to block all my attempts to gain control of this building through other means, because his resources were almost as great as my own. But you have no such resources. You may be very rich, but you don't even have a single lawyer on retainer. I can make your life very miserable, and will until I get this property."

Anna sighed and got up. "Mister Witherspoon, I am a woman of faith. I suggest you leave me and my church alone or my goddess will punish you. Good day, mister Witherspoon."

Carl got up. "Miss Leighton, I am a man of business. I am not impressed by threats of gods or goddesses that I do not believe in to begin with. Good day, miss Leighton. This is not over with."

Carl stormed out of the "office", then out of the church. Anna went out and asked Nicole, "Is he really going to try something?"

"Undoubtedly."

"So what are you going to do?"

"If he does nothing, nothing. But if he tries something, I'm going to engage in a little ironic justice."

Nicole used her powers to scan the minds of the people in the slums that Carl owned, and then she found the perfect person. Perfect in more ways than one. Her name was Mildred Pierce, a 17 year old who recently gave birth to a baby girl she had named Donna. The father had refused to take responsibility, saying the baby wasn't his. Then Mildred's family had thrown her out on the street. Mildred, fortunately, had known enough to get on the public housing lists, and, once she had a permanent address, onto Welfare/Medicaid. She hated to be on the public dole, but with a baby on the way, and now here, she hadn't had a choice. Unlike many Welfare mothers, she wasn't just living off the government. She had used her library card to check out the books to study for her G.E.D. so she could hopefully get a decent job. Right now, she couldn't afford day care and was resultantly unemployed, but was hoping to find a local neighbor who could sit for her while she was at work. She was perfect for Nicole's needs.

Nicole shifted her senses back to Carl, who was just now getting back to his office. He went past his secretary, telling her to hold all calls, and sat at his desk. He picked up the phone receiver and pressed the first number of the phone number to the city inspector's office. He intended to call in a few favors and get them to inspect all those renovations that Anna and her crew were making at that building. But he never got that chance. Suddenly his whole world turned inside out and upside down.

Mildred recoiled in shock. She had been studying her history book when everything went loopy. She looked around and nothing was right. Before she had been sitting in a beat-up old recliner that no longer reclined that she and a friend had fished out of the garbage. Now she was sitting in a plush, leather-covered chair that probably cost more than everything she owned put together. She was sitting in front of a rather large, ornate, antique desk that probably cost more than the chair, and was holding the receiver of a phone in her hand. She was now in an office that was larger than her entire apartment. And the worst part was, her baby was nowhere to be seen!

She was about to go frantically looking around, when her mind was filled with the knowledge of where she was. She was in the office of Carl Witherspoon, III, local business tycoon, and owner of the building (if you could call it that) that she had recently moved into. And somehow she knew that she had switched places with Carl. Not entirely, just their minds had been switched. She found it hard to believe, but looking down and seeing her flat chest, it was undeniable.

She briefly worried. Without breasts, how was she going to feed Donna? Then Mildred realized that Carl was now in her body, which was still with Donna. Mildred clenched her... his fist. That self-centered business jerk better take good care of her baby as long as they were in each other's bodies, or she'd use all of his fortune to ruin the twit. But thinking of her baby, she had to get back to her little angel, no matter whose body she was in.

Somehow she knew the name of Carl's secretary. She pressed the intercom button and said, "Miss Macon, I want you to cancel all my appointments for the afternoon. I've got something I need to handle."

"Sir, need I remind you that you have that 3 PM appointment with mister Parker, and since he's going to leave town tonight, you can't reschedule."

Images of the details of the business deal between Carl and Mr. Parker flashed into her head. She knew that if Carl didn't make this meeting, more than a few people would be out of their jobs. She had more than enough to get her through that meeting. But with her worrying about Donna, what kind of business could she do? But she had to try.

Carl recoiled. Suddenly he was struck by how damnably hot it was. He was about to reach over and adjust the thermostat on his computer, when he realized his computer,... hell, his entire desk, was missing. And, damn it, his chair felt all wrong. Gone was the slick feel of leather, replaced with the rough feeling of worn cotton. And there was this damn spring poking him in his ass! And the chair was brand new! He reached down to see what it was and his hand brushed his thigh. He looked down to see what had happened to his pants and was shocked to see two globes hanging from his chest!

He jumped up, causing a book that had been on his lap to fall to the ground. He looked around. He was in a tiny little room. There was a chair that looked like someone had saved it from the trashmen. There was a small stack of books beside the chair and a crib right in the middle of the room. He could see a small little kitchenette of to one side, and a door, that he somehow knew led to a small bedroom. Carl wondered where the bathroom was, and an image of a community bathroom down the hall flashed into his mind. All in all, he could've fit the entire residence in his office and still had room left over.

He looked at himself. The biggest thing that had changed was, of course, the... breasts he now had. They were large, and Carl knew that they were larger than normal. Looking over to the crib, he knew that these breasts were swollen with milk for the baby inside. Thankfully, the baby was sleeping soundly. Carl didn't know what he'd do if he actually had to breast feed a child. Another change was that he was smaller. Carl was a rather big man at 6'2", but he now guessed that he was, at most, about 5'4". His hair lay against his shoulder blades, and his nails were also longer. His clothes were also radically different. He was used to tailor-made suits and expensive fabrics. These clothes were clearly off the rack, and were probably cheap cotton or cotton blends. He wished he had a mirror so he could take a look at himself, but he knew the closest one was a cracked mirror above the sink in the community bathroom.

He took a look at the books on the floor. There were some books on history, a couple math texts and some english books, all high school level. Carl found a practice test of some kind and looked it over. As a college graduate, he should've been able to breeze through the test without blinking, but when he looked at the questions, the answers wouldn't come to mind. It wasn't that he was stupider (at least he didn't feel stupid), it was just that he couldn't remember the answers.

He picked up a book and started studying (he felt that this was too important not to do), but then he heard little Donna (where had the baby's name come from) start fussing. He set the book aside and went over to the crib. Carl could hear the baby making some sounds, and knew that she was hungry. With an almost instinctive action, Carl picked the baby up while lifting his shirt. He pulled the panel down on the nursing bra and gave his nipple to the baby. After the baby had started to feed, he returned to the chair, held his book with one hand while holding the baby so she could feed with the other. After a while, Carl was forced to switch arms so Donna could feed from his other breast.

Carl looked down, wondering what he had been so worried about. This body had an instinctive knowledge of what he needed to do to care for little Donna. But that made Carl wonder why he cared. This little rugrat wasn't his, not really. But looking deep into the sweet, blue eyes of little Donna, he knew there was nothing he wouldn't do for her.

Before Donna had finished, he heard a knock on his door. He set the book aside, pulled his shirt down so it covered everything that had to be covered for modesty's sake, and carried Donna to the door. Upon opening it, he saw his next door neighbor, mister Jackson, a kindly old man who helped out when he could, but whose medical problems really prevented him from doing much. When he saw what "Mildred" was doing, he gave her his best dirty old man smile, and said, "Miss Pierce, better be careful or you'll give this old man nasty ideas."

Carl gave him Mildred's best smile and said, "What can I do for you, mister Jackson?"

Mister Jackson handed her a small batch of letters. "I got your mail. Since your mailbox door is busted, I didn't think it was wise to leave it down in the box."

"Probably a wise call. Thanks."

Carl took the letters, blew mister Jackson a flirtatious kiss, and went back inside. Donna had finished feeding, so Carl made sure to give her her stuffed bunny so she could fall asleep. Carl sighed. Little Donna seemed so peaceful and beautiful in her crib. Carl found himself hoping he could be a good mother. Then he quickly amended his thoughts, adding, "As long as I'm stuck in this body."

He then took the mail and sat down and started reading it. Most of it was junk mail (why any company would think that anyone living in this neighborhood would have an extra 300 dollars to shell out for a stereo system was beyond him), his... Mildred's first electric bill, and a letter from the Welfare office. Opening the last, he found that it was a demand for more information. The letter also said that it was the third call for this information, and if they didn't get the information in the next two days, they would be forced to deny him the aid he needed.

Carl knew this was the first time Mildred had seen any such letter, and briefly cursed the owner of the building for not fixing the mailbox as soon as she had reported it. Carl stopped. "Okay, I get the point. I swear that if I get my body back I will do everything I'm supposed to to get this building in proper shape." A small part of him hoped that would be enough and that he'd be instantly transported back to his body, but nothing happened.

He sighed, and picked up Donna, getting a little gurgle, that Carl was sure was curiosity. Carl told her, "Momma's got some stuff to do so we've got to get you ready." And strangely enough, that seemed to placate her. "Yes, you're just momma's little genius, aren't you?" Carl cooed a few more words of encouragement as he nuzzled her chin. This was so weird. Carl had never wanted children, but now that he had one, no matter how he came by her, he found the very concept of giving her up anathema.

He walked back to the bedroom, but as soon as he opened the door, he was forced back by a wave of hot air that made him woozy. He wondered why the room was so damnably hot and the answer came to him. The one window in the bedroom was warped and wouldn't open, and because of the position of the apartment, the sun beat down on that window for twelve hours out of every day. The only way to keep the rest of the apartment bearable was to keep the door shut, which, unfortunately, meant the bedroom turned into an oven during the morning and early afternoon.

He returned Donna to the crib and walked up to the door. Already the main room of her apartment had gotten noticeably warmer, so he had to do this fast. He took a deep breath, dashed into the room, grabbed one of Donna's dresses out of the beat up old dresser, and ran back into the main room, slamming the door behind him. He then ran to the door to the hall, opened it, then swung it back and forth to try to cool the place down. After a few minutes, he returned to Donna, changed her clothes, stuffed a few extra diapers and a tube of baby wipes in his purse (his? purse) and headed out of the house.

He had to take the bus. Thankfully, Mildred had spent some of her money on a bus pass. Once more, images of Mildred's life flashed in his head. The bus was the only way Mildred had of getting around. She didn't have many friends, and the few she did were busy most of the time, and couldn't drop everything to cart her around everywhere she needed to go. So it was just more economical to purchase a pass to get where she needed to go.

When he got to the Welfare office (he was still mystified as to how he knew all this stuff from Mildred's life; Carl had never been to the Welfare office in his entire life), he got off the bus and went inside. There was a rather long line (was it ever any other way in a government building) and he got right into line. For the next hour, he trudged forward, shifting Donna from arm to arm as his arms got tired. He was fifth from the front of the line when Donna started fussing in his arms. "What's wrong, baby?" He put his hand on her bottom and immediately knew what was wrong. "Oh, not now, baby. We're so close."