Chapter 11

Walter had been taking care of the Charles' pool for as long as Faith could remember. Although Mercedes frowned on it, Faith had always enjoyed chatting with him while he worked. Walter was a story-teller, and he was able to hold her spellbound, even now that she was in college. For his part, he welcomed her attention, always amazed that a bitch like Mercedes could give birth to such a genuinely sweet person as Faith.

Mercedes literally did not notice the presence of Walter or the numerous other maintenance people who serviced the estate regularly. She only noticed Walter when Faith was chatting with him.

By late July, Faith's condition had deteriorated to the point where she stayed in her bed many days. Mercedes was having brunch on the patio not far from the pool with her closest friend and confidante.

"I don't know what I'm going to do with her, Milly. I always thought it was just in her head and I could talk her out of it. She can't be doing this just to get back at me, can she?"

"Get back at you for what?" Milly asked.

"Oh, I thought I told you. I arranged for his scholarship to be canceled. He's dirt poor, so he would have to leave."

"No, you never told me that. So, Faith knows that you arranged for it to be canceled?" Walter could just barely hear the conversation, but he immediately began doing the least he could to still look busy while straining to hear what the women were saying.

"The cancellation was never even announced. The kid just decided to leave. The cancellation letter should go out this week."

"But that would leave him without a school in September," Milly pointed out.

"Mmm, Hmm."

"And you were going to do that to him just to keep him away from Faith?"

"Well, that, and he turned me down," Mercedes admitted.

"He's that gorgeous artist's model and he turned you down? No wonder you were pissed!"

"I was irritated when he just up and left, but at least he's away from Faith."

"But now Faith is seriously ill, isn't she?"

"Max and I have been fighting about it for a week now. I want to have her committed, but he's fighting me. I'm afraid she's headed for a complete breakdown."

Walter purposely did some very noisy tasks at that point, hoping the women would assume that he had been shielded from them by the noise all along. He was very troubled by what he had heard. He had not met Dale, but there was no question that Faith was head over heels in love with him.

When he had opened the pool in the spring, Faith had come out and chatted with him in a swimsuit, looking almost like a normal, attractive girl. Now, she was back to literally skin and bones, and it saddened him just to see her. Beyond sadness, though, he felt burning anger at a mother who could do such things to her daughter. He had to do something about it.

The Charles' contract was important to Walter's business, but he was ready to walk away from it because of Mercedes' treatment of Faith. He knew, though, that he would soon be totally out of business because Mercedes would blacklist him. Somehow, though, he had to do something. Seeing that sweet girl sent to a funny farm was more than he could tolerate. When it was all because of her bitch of a mother's manipulations, it became even more unthinkable.

One of Walter's pool clients was Caroline. When he heard talk of Faith being committed, it made him think of the psychiatrist. Hurrying to finish the Charles' pool, he drove to a supermarket a half mile away and parked in the lot. There, he used whatever scraps of paper he could find in his truck to write down what he had heard. He had been replaying it in his mind over and over to make sure he got it right.

When he finished writing, he called 411 from his truck and got the number for Caroline's office. He managed to wangle the address from the admin assistant and he drove straight there.

Caroline's admin was very good, and as usual for such a position, protecting the boss's time was one of her main tasks. When Walter arrived, Caroline was still with a patient and the admin told him he would have to wait, but that there was another patient scheduled immediately.

"Maybe this is better," Walter said. "You don't know me, do you?" At the negative head shake, he went on "This concerns Faith Charles and her boyfriend Dale. It's serious. I heard this myself and I wrote it all down as soon as I could. I'm sure it's very accurate. Would you please retype this and give it to the doctor? Give it to her right away. I'm sure she will want to know. Don't tell her who gave it to you. I think that's better for all of us." With that, he was out the door.

That had to be the strangest encounter the admin could remember, but she had to believe the man. He looked genuinely troubled. As quickly as she could, the admin transcribed the man's scribblings into her word processor and printed them out. She also transcribed the complete conversation with the man to the best of her recollection.

Caroline always stepped into the admin's area for a moment between patients. Keeping in the spirit of Walter's concern for secrecy, she told Caroline "This was given to me on scraps of paper by a stranger who wanted to be anonymous. The stranger claims to have heard this just before coming here. They thought you would want to see it right away."

"Man or woman?" Caroline asked. The admin just shook her head and grinned. After spending barely a minute scanning the printout, Caroline said "Go in there and tell my next patient I was just summoned to an emergency. Call the rest of this afternoon's list and reschedule them."

With that, Caroline went immediately to her phone and began dialing Transformations before she even sat down. It was Paul who answered. "Hello, Paul. Do you remember me, Caroline? I'm the psychiatrist who visited a few months ago."

When Paul said he remembered and greeted her, she launched right into the tale of Faith and her problems. "This may sound silly, considering how rich her parents are, but is there any scholarship money of any kind available. Faith will have to totally cut off relations with her mother to have any hope of recovery. That means that she herself is penniless."

"Caroline, did you know about our employee scholarship program? Each employee is entitled to have one other person admitted for free. From talking to Dale, I am certain he would give that to Faith without a second thought."

"Oh, that's wonderful! I need to talk to Julia Waxman to make sure there is room for Faith."

"I know Julia very well, Caroline. There is no way she would turn down someone like Faith. There is space, and I can take care of it. When can she be here?"

"Well, I haven't gotten that far, yet. I don't think she knows anything about Transformations. Unfortunately, there is no time to convince her, either. Her mother could send her away at any moment."

"So, she doesn't know about the nudity or anything?" Paul asked.

"No. Nothing."

"Tell you what," Paul said, thinking on his feet. I will arrange for Gerald's plane to pick her up. You just tell me which airport and when she can be there. I will have Dale and a couple of women on the plane to greet her and explain everything."

"You can do that? That quickly?"

"Absolutely."

"Well, I have to arrange some steps to protect myself and other people at this end. There is only one airport here. How long do you think it will take to get the plane here?"

"Best case, three hours," Paul answered. "Call me every hour on my cell, and we will make whatever changes we have to as we go along."

Next came the difficult call. Caroline had given both Dale and Faith Trac phones with several thousand minutes on them. Both had them at hand constantly, and Faith was as secretive about hers as she could be.

"Faith, this is Caroline. Don't say anything. If you can't talk right now, just say how many minutes until you can, then hang up." There was silence, so Caroline asked "Are you alone and can you listen for a while?"

"Yes."

"Good. There's no easy way to say this, Faith. I think you are going to have to just run away from home. Right now." When Faith gasped, Caroline hurried on. "Someone heard a conversation this morning between your mother and a friend. Your mother wants to have you committed. Your father is against it, but she thinks she can go around him. I have arranged for you to go the place where Dale is working. Will you go? Right now?"

"Where Dale is? But I have to pack? I have to make some arrangements."

"No, Faith. If you trust me, I want you to call a cab and have him drop you in front of the Student Union."

"Can't I take my car?"

"No. You will not be coming back for a long time. Have this phone with you, but leave your other one behind. Someone will pick you up at the Union and take you to the airport. Dale will be on the plane that picks you up."

"Oh, I don't know. I don't feel very good, and..."

"Faith, I believe that if you don't go now, you will have no control over what happens to you. Dale loves you. He will not let anything bad happen to you."

When Faith was still silent, Caroline played the big card. "The person overheard something else from your mother. She had made them cancel Dale's scholarship."

"And he didn't tell me?"

"He was not supposed to know. If your mother found out that he knew, Catherine would probably lose her job. Now, you have to leave before you even talk to your mother. If you give away what you know, other people will be hurt."

"Shouldn't I bring anything?"

"Just your purse, cab fare, and that phone. Don't forget that phone. Oh, if you have your laptop, it would look right going to campus. Um, I guess if you have cards for accounts where you are the only signer, you should bring them."

Faith was frightened, very frightened. She did not feel good, and the increased stress made things even worse. Could she really just leave everything she knew behind and walk away. She looked around her lovely bedroom suite, noticing in a new way the decor and the appointments. As she looked, though, she thought of Dale. Did any of this stuff really matter if she couldn't have Dale?

Maybe she was not in any condition to make such a decision, but she let her heart decide for her. Somehow, if she was with Dale, everything would be all right. She would feel good again. She could gain weight again and look like a normal girl. It did not take long before leaving was the only way that she could see a future for herself.

Fortunately, Mercedes was gone for the afternoon. Faith called a cab and waited on pins and needles until it arrived. She had to restrain herself from running out the door.

Paul came hurrying out of his office, looking for Dale. "Get ready for a plane ride," Paul said. "You're going to pick up Faith. I'm going to get Michelle to go along and Norma, too. I think Lindsey is here today, and I'll bet she'll go."

"Is she coming here? To the Tee?"

"That's the plan. I'm putting her on your employee comp scholarship. She doesn't know about the nudity, though."

Paul had made no effort to be secretive, and it probably would have done no good, anyway. In that closed environment, news traveled instantaneously, and because everyone knew about Faith, this was big, big news.

Missy heard very quickly and went looking for Mark. "Get your video camera," she told him. Few people could resist Missy's newfound enthusiasm, so he complied. Missy led him to a spot where the whole of the section was in the background, then told him to start shooting. She reeled off a plea to Faith, urging her to come.

Almost everyone else had gathered round, and one other woman insisted on sending a message, while a few others wanted to conduct a video tour of the place.

"What are we going to do with this?" Mark asked. "This can't go out of the building."

"Get it on VCR, Mark," Paul said. "I'm sending it with your mom on the plane. I'll take responsibility. We have a very ill, frightened girl who doesn't know what she's getting into. Missy, your idea is brilliant!"

Mark did just that, editing and rearranging things a little in the process. The tape was ready to go when the group headed for the airport.

Everything went off with military precision. At Caroline's instructions, Faith went into the Union where she would have to kill some time. She did not feel like eating - she never did any more. Caroline was adamant, though, and Faith reluctantly bought a hamburger and some orange juice. Caroline had to talk her through eating what she had bought, but she did feel a little stronger and more alert afterwards.

Again at Caroline's instruction, Faith found one of the isolated areas of the Union and set up her laptop as if she was studying. There was no way for Faith to know that Caroline had arrived at the Union, but stayed out of sight.

It had been a risk having Faith wait that long in a public place, but Caroline was concerned that Mercedes could have the girl sent away at any moment. It turned out that Faith only had to wait twenty minutes more after finishing her food before Caroline told her to go to the street and what car to look for.

Caroline had arranged for a female operative from a reputable security firm to pick up Faith. The woman was disguised and drove a nondescript sedan. After a discussion with Paul, Caroline had agreed to have Faith driven to a small airport in a different city. They had timed it out and Faith had to wait in the car only about fifteen minutes before Magnuson's jet arrived.

The reunion with Dale on the plane was emotional. Faith was so weak and so disoriented that Dale broke up as they hugged. "I'm so sorry, Honey. I should never have left. I didn't think this would happen to you, I..."

"You couldn't stay. I know what Mother did," she said weakly. The strain was catching up with her and she sagged into a seat as the plane began to taxi. Lindsey and Norma were on the plane, but Faith had not noticed them, such was her mental state. They decided to just wait until she was more alert.

Michelle had come along, as well, and she wore her nurse's uniform. When she gave Faith some pills, the girl did not object. She had more trouble with a special shake that Yvonne had hurriedly put together for her, but she managed to drink it down.

Faith was in a near-sleep condition all through the takeoff. It was a good twenty minutes before she became alert enough to notice Norma and Lindsey. When Dale did the introductions, Faith said "Oh, your name is the same as the country singer, isn't it."

"Honey, Lindsey IS the country singer," Dale explained.

"Really!" That seemed to energize Faith quite a bit. "But why..."

"I volunteer at Transformations, the place you're going to be staying. Norma and I will be right with you for the first few days until you get comfortable."

"Comfortable? Why? Is it like an asylum or something?" That was Dale's signal. They had arranged beforehand for him to visit the cockpit while the women told Faith about the nudity.

"N ... n ... naked? But you said Dale worked there. Is there a men's place, too?" Faith asked when told that she would be naked for her entire stay.

"There is no men's side. Dale, my fiance Mark, and several other guys work on the women's side," Lindsey said gently.

Faith's eyes and her mouth were all opened wide and her gaze darted from one woman to another as she looked for some indication that they were joking.

"Faith, I will tell you that the people at Transformations are the nicest, most caring that you will find anywhere. Only super-nice guys like Dale are hired. Dale has been working with about twenty naked women for almost two months, now. You know what? It's a good thing he loves you so much. Every one of those women would marry him in a heartbeat if they could. You have yourself a real prize there, girl."

Faith must have heard, but her mind was on the big problem. "But he'll ... he'll see me. I can't let him see me like this! I don't want anyone to see me naked like this!"

Now it was Norma's turn. "This is what we have worked out, Faith. You need to get completely away from your mother. It would be best if she doesn't even know where you are. At Transformations, your presence can be completely secret. We're even arranging for Dale and his mother to stay right there. We're sure that your mother will send out detectives to try to find you, and they will look for Dale, first.

"Dale will stay at Transformations and not even leave until your twenty-first birthday in November. That will give you time to gain your weight back and build up your strength. When you are twenty-one, you can tell your mother to leave you alone and even get a court order if you need to.

"Actually, you could do that right now. You're pretty weak, though, and battling your mother would be hard on you. When you are no longer a minor, there will be nothing that your mother can do.

"Did you know that they are talking about hiring Caroline to work at Transformations as the second psychiatrist? Do you like her?"

"Oh, yes. She's really nice."

"That should tell you what kind of people you will be working with. I want to show you something very special. This is a video tape that we shot just before we left for the airport. Transformations, or 'the Tee' as we call it, is extremely careful about the privacy of the residents. The women you will see on the tape told us they wanted you to see this to convince you that it will be a great place for you. Our Director does not know that this tape exists, and we will erase it once you see it."

Norma put the tape in the on-board VCR. As soon as she hit 'play', Faith gasped "That's you two! But you're ... you're!"

"We're naked, yes. We will be that way with you for the first day or two. By that time, you will be much more comfortable."

"Two days? I could never get comfortable like that in two years!" Faith exclaimed.

"Shhh! Listen," Lindsey urged her.

A naked, overweight fortyish woman came on the screen. "Hello Faith. I really hope you come to live here. This place is awesome. If you're half as wonderful as Dale says you are, I'm sure we'll all be great friends. Oh, and if you don't show up, I'm taking Dale home with me when I leave here." That was punctuated with a giggle. "Don't you miss his great massages? I don't know how I'll ever live without them.

"Seriously, all the guys are great. Is it hard having them see my bare ass and my boobs and my belly and my pussy? Well, the first day, I thought I would die, but you know what? It feels good having someone look at this fat body and not make a face or say something nasty. They all care about me as a person and it shows. Of course you know that if Dale is your boyfriend. They're all a lot like him."

A tall girl younger than Faith came on next, and Faith gasped. "She doesn't have any hair on her ... down there. Everything shows. Norma had quickly stopped the tape. "There's a good reason for that, but we'll let her tell you about it," Lindsey said. "No one else has done that. Watch what she says."

"I got sent here as punishment for shoplifting. I think you and I have a lot to talk about, Faith. I stole as a way to get back at my rich, demanding, controlling parents. Guess what? It's no punishment at all, here. It's more like paradise. I've always been an ugly duckling, but the guys here, they sit down and talk to me like a real, intelligent person. I haven't felt good about myself for years until I got here. The best thing is my parents can't even get at me. Faith, please, please come. I won't tell you it's easy being naked at first. It's tough. But I'll stay close to you and I'll bet Lindsey will, too. Just think about that, a real live star helping you get through the first days!"

Three other women took turns giving a quick guided tour of the facility, and all of them begged her to come and live there. When the tape ended, Norma said "Dale will take some time off if it will be easier at first if he doesn't see you."

"But the other guys?"

"Sorry. They will stay away for the first few hours, but that's part of the way things work at the Tee. They did a lot of research before they opened, and every woman who has been through there loved all the guys before she left. Let's not talk about it for a while. Let's get Dale back so he can hold you."

Neither Faith nor Dale knew what to say when they were together again, so they just cuddled quietly. It was actually the most affectionate contact they had ever had, given how little time they were allowed together.

"What ... what if I can't do it, Dale? What if I can't be naked like that?"

"Then Mom and I will get a bigger apartment and you can stay with us. It won't be anything like you're used to, but there'll be plenty of love. Your mother will probably find you, and there will be quite a fight. I won't let her take you back, though, no matter what.

"The problem is that your mother will probably try to get a court order to have you committed. If you are at Transformations, you will already be under psychiatric care. Even if she finds you, it would be almost impossible to get an order to send you somewhere else.

"Beside that, it won't take you long to start gaining weight and strength and there won't be any medical reason to have you committed."

"You really believe in that place, don't you?" she asked.

"I haven't been there quite two months, but I have already seen changes that don't seem possible. Missy, the girl you saw on the tape: just wait until you see her before pictures. She does not look like the same girl at all. She came about the time I did."

"I look so awful!" she moaned. "You will be disgusted if you see my body."

"I could never be disgusted with you, Honey," he declared. "I fell in love with more than just your body. Besides, you looked damned sexy before ... before I had to leave. You'll look like that again before long."

"Would you really just stay there so Mother couldn't find us? Your mom, too?"

"Don't take this the wrong way, Faith, but that's the kind of thing mothers who really love their children do. I would do it for her, too."

Her only response to that was some quiet sniffling and a hug that showed surprising strength for her emaciated condition.

"Will you do it, Faith? Will you move in to Transformations. Will you let them help you? Will you let ME help you? I can't give you a mother like mine, but I'll bet you will have ten new mothers as soon as you arrive."

"And Mother really wouldn't know where I am?"

"Even if she found out, Transformations uses Gerald Magnuson's lawyers. They're the best anywhere. They wouldn't let her even contact you."

"You really won't care how I look, will you." Faith said after another long quiet spell. It was a statement rather than a question.

"I care how your eyes look when they look into mine," he said. Their chances to kiss had been few, but the one she laid on him then made up for a lot of missed opportunities.

"When I leave there, can I really live with you?"

"I'd like it to be as man and wife, but I don't have much to offer you," Dale said. He was not trying score points with her, he was just telling her his honest feelings. To her, though, there was nothing he could have said that had more impact.

She knew that Dale and his mother were poor, and she had to admit to herself that she really had no idea what it was like to be poor. On the other hand, she knew what it was like to have everything she wanted. Every THING she wanted, and that was the problem. All of her things had not brought her any happiness.

The only times that she could honestly say that she felt happy had been with Dale. Was that worth more than her things? Could she still be happy with Dale without all of her things?

But Dale was brilliant. He would not always be poor, would he? He would be a success, she just knew it. And she would help him. Nothing would make her more proud. That would be better than all of the things her mother had given her.

"Is ... is that a proposal?" she whispered, afraid that he didn't really mean it.

"I don't have a ring or anything, but yes, it is. I knew a long time ago that I wanted to be with you forever."

"Even when I'm just a bag of bones," she asked, still afraid to believe what he had told her.

"Even whatever," he said and kissed her.

"The answer is yes, and don't you go doing anything silly like trying to buy a ring. We'll know, and that's what counts," she told him, trying to act stern.

For several minutes, they just cuddled, enjoying the closeness that had been denied them for so long. "What's through that door?" she asked after a while.

"There's a bathroom and a small sleeping room," he told her.

"I'm going back there. Come on back and talk to me in five minutes or so," she said.

"But why... ?" Her finger over his lips silenced him.

"I'll go and see if anything's wrong," Lindsey told Norma and Michelle when she saw Faith walking back to the bathroom area.

"Are you alright?" Lindsey asked when she found Faith sitting on the small bed taking her shoes off.

"If I have to be naked, I want Dale to be the first one to see me. I'm scared to death that he will scream and run away, but I have to do it."

"Are you testing him?" Lindsey asked.

"Oh, no. I know he wouldn't reject me. It's just..."

"Sometime, I'll tell you how hard it was for me to get naked," Lindsey said.

"Oh, I've read all about you - everything I could find."

"So you like country music?"

"Uh, huh. It's hard for me to listen to it at home, but I do whenever I can," Faith said

"Well, there are a lot of things only my best friends know. I'll tell you when we have some time," Lindsey said.

"We're going to get married. We just talked about it," Faith bubbled. "He can't afford a ring yet, but that's OK."

"Good for you. I know how it feels. There's nothing like knowing who you want to be with for ever. If Dale's coming in here, I'd better leave."

"Tell him to wait a few more minutes."

Despite her confidence in Dale, Faith could not help shaking as she heard the door open. When he stopped and stared in astonishment, she stammered "I c ... couldn't let anyone s ... see me before y ... you did, especially th ... the other g ... guys. S ... sorry I d ... don't look good for you. I will. I p ... promise."

He couldn't think of anything to say, so he just walked up and hugged her. "You don't have to do anything for me, Faith. Do it for you. That's the best way. You will love the Tee, I promise, and everyone there will love you, too. They can't help it."

He sat on the bed and pulled her onto his lap. They talked for quite a while before she pulled back from him a little and spread her arms. "This is as honest as I can be. Now you tell me what you did to make my mother so angry?"

"Well, I think she wanted me away from you, but that's not all. She wanted me to have sex with her, and I refused."

"I ... I thought that must be it. Maybe it would have been easier if you had just gone along."

He could not believe she had said that, and he was a little angry. "Faith, how can you say that?"

"Well, it could have saved your scholarship. You earned that, and she stole it from you."

"I guess we've never talked about it, but I'm still a virgin. I want my first time to be with someone I love. I really want it to be with the woman I will be with the rest of my life."

"Oh, God! I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I just thought that, you know, you're such a hunk. I thought you could have any girl you wanted, and..."

"And you wanted me anyway?"

"I just thought that they were really lucky girls and I could hardly believe you were interested in me. I feel so foolish," she said with downcast eyes.

"Honey, I can't be angry with you. You've been through so much. I still feel like I made you get sick again by abandoning you."

"Can ... can we just forget all of that stuff and start over?" she pled with him. "I may never see my mother again. I know I will never get any of her money. I'll just watch while you get rich and famous, and we'll just love each other and be happy while you're doing it."

The emotional level was such that they both might have lost their virginity right there. Probably fortunately, Lindsey rapped on the door to tell them they were preparing to land. Faith quickly pulled on her clothes and they walked out to their seats together. Faith stopped to give Lindsey, Norma, and Michelle quick hugs.

Faith spent most of her first evening at the Tee in tears. They were not tears of fear or embarrassment, but her reaction to the wonderful reception she received from everyone. Contrary to the normal practice, she insisted that Dale be with her when she first entered the women's section.

As with every woman who moved in, it was tough meeting the other men. She insisted on doing it right away, though. Dale was amazed at her. She was already like a different person, and she had just arrived.