Chapter 4

Monday was okay. I think I did okay on the tests, despite being distracted by thoughts of Johnny. Going to the free clinic was completely embarrassing, and I'd never felt so vulnerable and uncomfortable in my life. It didn't help any that the doctor I saw had helped Mom deliver me and had known me my entire life. I wanted to die, I was so embarrassed! Mom so owes me for that! I did get a prescription for birth control but still UGH!!!!

Monday night, Johnny called me to say that he had to go out of town with his Dad for a couple days, but he was looking forward to seeing me on the weekend. I was bummed, but looking forward to seeing him too. He promised to call me though.

Tuesday morning passed in a funk. Then I nearly got into trouble before lunch when my cell phone went off. It'd been a surprise present from Johnny and he'd hidden it in my backpack. I hadn't realized it was there, so when it went off during history I looked around like everyone else.

Finally Mr. Jespers came over to me and demanded, "Is that your phone, Lisa?"

"Huh?" That's when I realized the ringing was coming from one of the front pockets of my backpack. I pulled it out staring at it in surprise. Then I looked up at him and asked, "Uh, how do you turn it off?"

He snatched it from me and hit the accept button and demanded, "Who is this?"

I thought his eyes were going to pop out of his head when he found out who it was.

"Mr. Andrews? This is Mr. Jespers, you're former history instructor."

I couldn't help smiling, knowing Johnny had called me - even though I was very surprised by the phone and scared I was going to be in trouble for it. I was also embarrassed by all the commotion and whispers going on around me.

"My apologies for being so rude but we are still in class ... Texas? ... Yes, I see. There is a time difference however be that as it may ... a gift? ... Uh huh. Uh huh ... I see ... Very well, Mr. Andrews. I'll let her off with a warning this time ... Yes, and a good afternoon to you as well" Mr. Jespers said, hanging up the phone and turning it off.

Then he turned to me. "Like I told Mr. Andrews, I'll let you off with a warning this time. I trust that this will not happen again?"

"Yes, Sir! No, Sir! Thank you, Sir!" I said quickly, as he handed me back the phone. I clutched it to my breasts as I slumped in the seat with a sigh.

After class, I got a lot of catty comments from the other girls. One bitch said I was spreading my legs for his money. Her friend said, "Yeah, like you wouldn't do the same." That got them arguing with each other and I took advantage of the commotion to slip out of the room.

Other than a nice chat with Johnny at lunch time, the rest of the day was pretty terrible. It didn't take long for the rumors to get flying. People I had been friendly with avoided me like the plague. I got all kinds of looks, and heard lots of not so nice comments muttered about me.

Wednesday wasn't any better. Girls were openly hostile, my lab partner dumped me. Guys kept hitting on me and not all of them were nice about it either. Even those that were, called me names when I turned them down. How can I be invisible to just about the entire male population of my school since kindergarten, and suddenly be a "fucking tease" or a "whore"?

I didn't get a call from Johnny either, so my day passed in a total funk. I got more and more depressed as the day dragged on. That night I got a surprise though. I was preparing dinner for me and my Mom, when she came in all bright and happy. She usually comes in tired. I hadn't seen her that happy since she got that 1% raise two years ago, so I was totally surprised by her behavior. All I could do was stare at her as she hugged me and spun me around laughing.

When I could speak I said, "Gee, you're happy today, Mom. What happened? Did you get a raise?"

"Better than that, Dear!" Mom said, throwing her purse onto the couch. "I got a new job!"

My mouth dropped open. "A-a new job? What new job? What about the diner?"

"Screw the diner! You're looking at the new maid for the Andrews family."

My jaw hit the floor.

"The Andrews family? As in Johnny Andrews' family? The same Johnny who's the son of the very rich and powerful attorney of the Andrews and Lunn Law Firm, and my newfound boyfriend? That Andrews Family?"

"The very one!" Mom said happily.

I felt my knees give out and I sat down heavily on the couch, totally stunned.

"Mom, that's ... that's ... that's fantastic," I said when I found my voice, "But how?"

"Mrs. Andrews stopped by to see me this morning shortly after you left for school. Susan is the nicest person. We spent the entire day together. Did you know her son is home schooled and that she hired your tutor to be his private teacher?"

I nodded my head weakly. I seem to recall I mentioned that to her but I didn't say anything. I couldn't anyway. I was too stunned for speech.

"Well, Miss Marks apparently spoke to her about you, voicing her concerns, about your education since she wouldn't be there to help you any more. Susan immediately said that wouldn't do and that you could go to school at the house with her son. That's why she came by to see me this morning, to ask that I allow you to go to school with Johnny. Such a nice young man," she added softly.

"But how? We can't afford it! I don't even have a way to get there."

I admit I was a little hysterical. My Mom, at that time, worked two jobs, both of which were just shy of full time so she couldn't get any benefits, just so she could pay the rent. I also worked part time so we could eat. Most of my clothes were from the thrift shop and we never went out. The last time her car had a tune-up, was when I did it while reading the manual. Fortunately, Mr. Gregson, one of our neighbors, was kind enough to let me borrow his tools and give me some advice. As it was, I still used up a day's pay getting new parts.

Mom nodded her head. "That's what I said. I told her I'd love for you to have the best education possible but we couldn't possibly afford to have her tutor you like that."

The school had been covering the cost of tutoring for us.

"That's when she offered me the job as maid and wouldn't take no for an answer," then she giggled.

I have never heard my Mom giggle. Occasionally laugh tiredly at a joke or something funny on the tube maybe, but never giggle.

By that time the room was spinning.

Mom continued sounding positively giddy, "Five thousand a month, plus benefits! Full medical, dental, vision, your education! The works! Not only that but we also get room and board! It's all covered!"

It was a good thing I was already sitting on the couch, because I fainted. It was all just too much for me to process and my poor brain overloaded. When I woke up, Mom had stretched me out on the couch and put a wet washcloth on my forehead. I sat up to find her talking excitedly on the phone with Susan.

"Oh, Susan, I can't thank you enough! Lisa was so excited when I told her that she passed out. Mm, hmm, out like a light. Hmm? Hold on, I think she's coming around."

Mom came over to me and asked, "You okay, Honey?"

I nodded, "Is it really true?"

"Yes it is, Love. Our prayers have been answered. Our days of worry are all over. Here Susan wants to talk to you," she said, thrusting the phone into my hands.

I said, "Hello?" and Susan answered.

"Hello, Dear. Are you okay? I guess we gave you quite a shock."

"You could say that."

She laughed. "I'm sure there'll be more to come, but for right now, I need to you start packing up your things, because you'll be moving in with us tomorrow. Just things you'll need right away. Don't worry about the rest. I'll have movers take care of everything else."

"Tomorrow? We can't move tomorrow! We have to give notice! The Super will never let us have our money back if we leave now!" I don't think he would have anyway.

"Lisa, Lisa! Calm down. Don't worry. I'll have it all taken care of. I'll even have a crew go over the apartment so you'll be sure to get all of your security deposit back. Heck, if worse comes to worst, I'll just have Michael buy the building and we'll fire the ass!"

My jaw dropped again.

"So don't worry about a thing, Lisa. Just start packing your things and we'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Yes, Mrs. Andrews."

"Hmm?"

"I mean, Susan! Thank you so much!"

"You're quite welcome, Dear, now put your Mom back on. We need to finish going over what we need to do tomorrow."

"Okay, here you go," I said still shocked by the sudden turn in my life. It was like winning the lottery.

Mom talked to Susan a few minutes more and then hung up. We stood there staring at each other for a few moments and then we both started screaming and jumping up and down as we hugged each other.

After dinner, we went out and got some boxes and started packing. Mostly, we just packed up things we'd need for a few days and personal things. We also splurged on some cake and ice cream and invited Mr. Gregson over to celebrate. He was really happy for us, but I think a little sad too. That was the only bad thing about leaving. He's been like the only Dad I've ever known. I knew I was going to miss him, and I think he was going to miss us too. He made us promise to keep in touch. Mom told him she'd call as soon we knew what our new phone number would be, and said we'd visit too. I showed him my new cell, he figured out how to get the number off of it, and told me how to call out so we could talk that way too. I'd have to search my backpack, to see if Johnny left me the manual, but it would be just like a guy to leave that detail out.

I wished there was something we could do for Mr. Gregson, but I didn't think the Andrews would need an aircraft mechanic. Of course he could work on their limo. I think Mr. Gregson can fix about anything, but I figured they're probably having it serviced somewhere. Heck, they could just buy a new one without denting the petty cash fund.

Thursday morning, we went to school and Mom filled out all the paperwork to have me home schooled, while I said goodbye to a few teachers I liked. I tried to say goodbye to some friends, but they ignored me. It hurt. I was trying not to cry as I cleaned out my locker. After turning in everything, and picking up all my stuff, we headed back home in time to meet the movers.

I know we didn't really need to, as Susan said everything would be okay, but when you don't have very much, you can't help feel protective about it. It was a good thing we were there too. The super tried to keep us from taking the fridge and our washer/dryer. He said they were part of the unit. He wouldn't budge, even after Mom showed him the receipts from the Salvation Navy Store. We'd had to buy them after the ones that had been in the unit broke and the super wouldn't fix them. Mr. Gregson tried, but he couldn't get parts for them on our budget. Mom kept the receipts, just in case something like this happened. She even had receipts for the repairs to the old stuff. We also had the old ones in storage, so he couldn't say we stole them. He tried anyway, though. The bastard even called the cops on us.

The cops seemed to want to side with us, but the Super said we were trying to swap our broken stuff for the working ones. He even said the receipts were fake and was pushing for us to be arrested.

Mom was getting really upset about it and the movers were getting pissed. One of them called Susan, and I don't think it was a half hour later, that this big black car drove up and a man in a suit got out. He walked over to the Super and after confirming who he was he gave him some papers and said, "I'm Willis Forcythe from Andrews and Lunn Law Firm."

When he said that, every single officer smiled, and one of them said, "Buddy, you are in deep shit now!"

Mr. Forcythe, who turned out to be a legal aide at Mr. Andrew's law firm, nodded to the officers and then said to the Super, "You Sir are hereby served."

The Super looking pale said, "Served? What for?"

Mr. Forcythe listed off a bunch of things that I can't repeat, because I didn't understand it all. What it boiled down to, was that the Super had violated the lease agreement by not repairing the appliances, and everything else that broke, in our apartment. Because of that, we were entitled to compensation for not only what we had spent, but also a refund for each month we'd lived in the apartment because we were not receiving what we had paid for ... a fully equipped apartment.

When Mr. Forcythe said that, it was like blood in the water. Mr. Gregson said, "So, if I showed you the receipts for all the things I've had to repair in my unit, you could help me sue him too?"

"Absolutely, Sir."

Someone else yelled, "What about my stove?"

And another, "And my fridge!" "My oven!" It went on and on, as more people shouted about things that had broken and not been repaired.

Mr. Forcythe nodded and said, "Absolutely, in fact I believe we have grounds for a class action suit."