Chapter 8

I had known this day was coming ever since Delilah had talked me into letting her and Bridget move in with me. Knowing that day was coming was one thing, but being told that they were moving into their own apartment on the first of the following month was quite another.

They'd lived with me for eight months by the time Delilah gave me the news that they'd rented an apartment over in Victorville. I knew it had mostly been Bridget's idea that they leave. Bridget had been insecure with our little arrangement, fearing that Delilah and I were getting to be too close to each other. Delilah had played into those fears by sneaking into my bedroom on some nights when she and Bridget were supposed to be sleeping alone in Bridget's guest bedroom. I think it was a game she liked playing, feeding into Bridget's insecurity.

I had no complaints about their decision to leave. Just having them both living with me had been an eye opening experience. Always before, I had assumed that I wanted to be a loner. Living with Danny and Kaitlyn when I'd been younger had pretty much soured me on traditional romantic relationships or marriages.

After having the girls there living with me, I had gotten a look at a whole different side of relationships. I saw how the girls were with each other, the love and the deep emotional attachment they felt for each other, and I knew what it was like to have the two of them being there with me. We'd had fun, and the three of us had provided each other with strong friendship and support. I'd gotten very fond of the two of them, and I knew that their leaving would mark an end to the longest sustained period of happiness I'd ever known as an adult.

Delilah had assured me that she'd still be coming over for occasional sex visits with me. Each time she brought the subject up I saw Bridget looking unhappy with what she was telling me. Bridget didn't come right out and tell me so, but I had little doubt that she and I wouldn't be having a sexual relationship after they'd moved out. If Bridget had her way, Delilah and I wouldn't be having one either.

When the day finally came, Danny and I helped them move all their things over to the little one bedroom apartment they'd rented. In eight months with me, they'd accumulated quite a bit of stuff. They had come with almost nothing, but by the time they left, both mustangs were stuffed with their clothing, and my pick up bed was crammed full with boxes of books, kitchen things, two computers, and miscellaneous lamps, tables, and other small household appliances.

After we'd helped them unload everything, Danny and I went over to Izzy's to have a few beers. I didn't usually drink, but having the girls leave was an important occasion. I didn't want to get drunk or anything, but I did want to mark the moment in some way. I didn't really want to go back home right away to my now empty house.

"I'm surprised those girls moved out, Jim, especially Dee. I thought for sure she'd want to stay close to her sugar daddy."

"No, this was all planned by the three of us, right from the beginning. They were only going to stay until they had enough saved up to get their own place. I think they had enough saved to get the apartment three or four months back, but it was better for them to stay until they'd gotten enough reserve in case something unexpected happens."

"Katie thinks those girls were just using you."

"She's free to think whatever she wants. As far as I'm concerned though, I got way the best of it by having them living with me like they did. They can move back in anytime they feel like it. I'm going to miss having them around."

"Did you love either of them, or both? Did you want to marry one of them?"

"Shit, Danny, how do I know? I liked the arrangement we had. It worked for me. It doesn't have to be about anything else, you know? It was just a good deal all around, and we helped each other. They decided that they wanted to leave, and I'm okay with that. That was what we said was going to happen from the beginning."

"How much did you end up spending on those two? Katie thinks it was like thirty grand for the two of them."

"I didn't try to keep track, and I don't care how much it was. It was worth whatever I spent. We had some great times together. It would have been worth it if I'd ended up spending all my money. It made me happy being with them like we were."

"Is it all over between you guys now? I mean is there still going to be a lot of the three of you hanging out with each other?"

"I'm sure we'll get together some. Delilah said she'd still be stopping by from time to time. I'm not sure how interested Bridget will be in her and me getting together. It could be that the three of us might still be doing things together if something comes up that we'd all like to do."

"In bed?"

"Probably not the three of us together any more. We might drive over to Vegas together again. We had fun doing that before. Bridget likes the shows, and Delilah likes the nite clubs there. I got these offers for free room and shows from Caesar's Palace. The sent me an offer for two Jerry Seinfeld show tickets and a free room for next month. The show is on a Saturday, and the room is for Friday and Saturday, or Saturday and Sunday. I'll give them a couple weeks to get settled into their new place and then I'll ask them if they're interested in going with me."

"How come they're giving you all this free stuff? Have you been gambling much when you go there?"

"I've been playing some "21" and some Pai Gow Poker. Nothing big, but I hit a hot streak playing Pai Gow Poker the last time we went, and they had me using their player's club card. I guess they had me rated higher than normal because I played for about eight hours, and I was betting five hundred a hand for about half that time. I only ended up winning about six hundred at the last, but I was up quite a bit for a pretty long while."

"Five hundred a hand? That's big money Jim."

"It was the house's money I was betting. I'd never bet that much if it wasn't winnings. I started out betting twenty five a hand. I only started betting more after I was playing with their money. The only reason I still ended up with any money at the end was because I put a few of the black chips in my pocket when I first got some money ahead, and then I forgot I had them until we got back up to the room, after I had quit playing. I'm not really into gambling that much, but the girls thought it might be fun to do some gambling while we were there."

"Did you ever think that Katie and I might enjoy a free trip out to Las Vegas to see a show and go out to those clubs? Did you see any big stars when you went to those clubs with the girls?"

"Nah. We just went to this one, called Pure, and it was pretty early when we went there. It was mostly just tourists like us trying to see if any famous people were there or not. We saw some of those Chippendale dancers over at Harrah's, but they were just hanging around, showing off their muscles. They didn't do anything."

"Maybe you should watch the kids for us, and let Katie and me use your free room and show tickets."

"I think I'd have to be there in order to get the room and the tickets. I don't much feel like driving up and back just so you two can live it up in Vegas. With the girls, there's something in it for me."

"Katie and I, we didn't take months of free hand outs and then desert you. Doesn't that count for something with you?"

"Hell no! I wish you two would desert me. I wish you wouldn't keep trying to get more than you're getting from me. You aren't in some kind of competition with the girls, you know. I don't have to make sure I give everybody equal amounts of anything. It isn't a contest to see who gets the most from me. If it was, you and Kaitlyn would be way ahead of anyone else."

"I was just saying that it would be nice, for a change, if you thought of us when you're passing out free stuff. That's all."

I went home shortly after that. I didn't feel like sitting there, paying for the beers and listening to my brother complaining that I wasn't doing enough for him and his wife. It was funny that he didn't ever think of doing anything for me for free. He'd gotten me to pay him fifty dollars for the time he'd helped me get the girls moved into their new place. He hadn't done that much to help either. I could have gotten it all done without his help. His whining didn't do anything to cheer me up about the girls moving out either.

The house sure seemed a lot bigger now that the girls had moved out. I hadn't been lonely at all back before they moved in with me, but now I was for some strange reason. I'd just gotten used to having people around me, I guess.

For the next couple of weeks I tried to keep real busy with business. I spent a lot longer each day on the phones and on the internet, tracking down deals and finding buyers for the things I acquired. Business was good too, but it didn't seem to give me the same satisfaction as it used to when I made a particularly good deal. There was no one to share the news with.

I kept waiting to hear from Bridget or Delilah, but I hadn't heard a thing during that first two week period they'd been gone. I'd been waiting for one of them to either call or come over, and then I was going to ask them if they wanted to go on the Vegas trip with me to use those Seinfeld tickets. I could have called them, I guess, but I didn't want to seem like I was chasing after them.

I made a great deal sometime during the third week after the girls had moved out. I bought up a whole storage shed full of original oil paintings. Not the good kind by famous artists or anything, but the whole inventory of one of those starving artist auction places. There were over five hundred framed paintings and almost a thousand empty frames to go along with them. I got everything for nine hundred dollars, and then I sold off three hundred of the worst looking of those empty frames, to a guy I knew in San Bernardino, and got my nine hundred back. He sold things at swap meets, and said he'd take all I had at three dollars apiece. I had hopes of getting more for them as soon as I found someone who was in the original oil painting auction business.

I found this company down in Los Angeles, and they agreed to buy everything for $7,000.00 if I was willing to drive it down to their warehouse and unload all of it for them. I got Hector and Danny to load everything on my two delivery trucks and we drove down to make the delivery. When we got there, the lady in their warehouse tried to give me a company check for the amount we'd agreed on. I told her that the agreement had been for cash, and told her I wouldn't deliver without getting the cash up front. We finally drove over to the bank that the check was drawn on and they cashed it for me. They charged me ten dollars for cashing the check, because I didn't have an account with their bank.

When we got back up to Hesperia, I paid Hector the money he had coming, and then I had to deal with Danny's pouting because I wasn't willing to pay him a bonus, and his regular pay day was still three days away. He asked me again about the Vegas show tickets and room.

"Look Danny, I already told you that I have to be there in order to get the free room and the tickets to the show. If I go, it won't be with you and Kaitlyn. I probably won't end up going at all. It was just an offer they sent me to lure me back there to lose my money. I thought it might be fun to go back there with the girls, but I haven't been talking to them, and I'd need to ask them if they wanted to go before I make any reservation commitments at Caesar's."

"I told Kaitlyn about those show tickets, and now she's bugging me about getting them for us. She already got her mom to agree to come to the trailer and sit for the kids while we're gone."

"Danny, it doesn't matter what Kaitlyn wants. Those tickets are mine. Even if I decide not to use them, and I probably won't use them, they aren't any good to anyone if I'm not there to sign in for the room and for the show tickets. You can't just invite yourself to something that's mine. It doesn't work that way."

"The three of us can go. How long has it been since the three of us went somewhere together, on vacation?"

"First, there's only one room. Second, there are only two free tickets. I checked on their website online, and I have about eighty bucks in free food credits too, but food is expensive in Las Vegas. Eighty bucks is about enough for three buffet's at the Rio. Two at Caesar's Palace."

"You just gave Hector a hundred dollars for something that you and I could have handled alone. You seem to have plenty of money to give away to strangers, why don't you spend some of it on your family?"

"If I'd wanted to help you load and unload all that crap, then, yes, I could have saved myself a hundred dollars. I could have also had you do everything except collect the money. Did you ever think of that? I got Hector so I wouldn't have to help you, and so you wouldn't have to do the whole thing all by yourself. You need to quit worrying about how I spend my money. It makes you sick enough not being able to figure out a way to get more of it from me already."