Chapter 7

Thursday

Zero four thirty hours in the morning came around way too early, just like it always does. I managed to get up and get dressed without disturbing Julie, then went downstairs to relieve Ralph.

"I was wondering how I was going to wake you. I didn't want to go in there, and interrupt anything. No one ever mentioned how we were to do that," Ralph said.

"It's alright, Ralph, I set the alarm. Go ahead to bed. I've got plenty to catch up on here," I told him.

Nothing happened over the next two hours. Just like nothing had happened all night. Maybe this watch wasn't necessary? Time would tell. Zero six thirty rolled around, and I went down to the gym to work out for a while, then upstairs for a shower and shave. Julie got up as I was shaving, came in, kissed me, and said she was going to her room, and get ready to go to the new school. It was 0750 when I got back down stairs. Martha already had breakfast started.

"Morning, Martha."

"Morning, Top."

I sat down to breakfast. Chief came in shortly after me and sat down to eat also.

"Martha, did you bring the information on your mortgage?" I asked.

"Yes, it's right here, Are you sure you want to do this?" Martha inquired. I took both of her hands in mime, looked into her eyes and whispered, "Nobody left behind – ever. Remember that."

"I heard Michael say the same thing, but never understood it, till now." She replied just as quietly.

Julie came down about 0825 hrs with more milk for the fridge. She also sat down to eat. At 0845 hrs, I went into the den, and called Charlie.

"Charlie, I need you to do something else for me. I hired a housekeeper / cook. She's having trouble with her mortgage. Do you have someone who could handle the negotiations with the bank?"

"Sure, Top. What do you want done?" Charlie asked.

"I want them to find out how much she's behind, and what I need to do to straighten things out. Also I want to get it paid up for the next year at least."

"Are we talking about YOU paying the mortgage up?" Charlie asked, incredulously.

"You got it right, Charlie. She's one hell of a cook. You need to come to dinner out here one day." I gave him the information, and told him I'd talk to him later.

By now it was 0900 and we got ready to go to the new school. It wasn't that far, but we had never been there before, so we left early. Arriving at the address, we found a couple of nondescript buildings near a soccer field with a parking lot for about 40 cars – mostly full. There were several spots marked visitor, and signs directing us to the office.

When we entered the office just before 1000 hrs, the receptionist greeted us, and asked what she could do for us.

"I'm Jim Thompson. I made an appointment, yesterday, to see the admissions people today at ten o'clock."

"Just a moment, I'll buzz Miss MacFarlan that you're here." A few minutes later a handsome woman appeared. She was about 32 years of age, 5'-8" tall, around 135 pounds – 34C-23-34 with chestnut brown hair down past her shoulders and a smile worth a million dollars.

"Good morning. I'm Alicen MacFarlan. I do the admissions, and I'm also the principal. Which of you is Mr Thompson?"

"I am, Ma'am," I said identifying myself. "This is Chief O'Sullivan, my head of security, and this is my ward, Julie."

"I take it you're the Mr. Thompson, who recently won the lottery?" she said.

"Yes, that's me. Everyone seems to know me now."

"You say that like you don't like it," Miss MacFarlan said, puzzled.

"I don't. My business was always to remain anonymous to those who didn't like me, and being out in the open makes me nervous. I was in the Army for 25 years, Rangers and Delta Force. We don't like to draw attention to ourselves."

"Yes, I can see that. Won't you come this way?" she asked. We entered her office and were seated.

"Will you be transferring from a local school?" she inquired.

"Yes, Julie currently attends the local high school. Since she has been pregnant, and especially since I won the lottery, the people there haven't been very friendly to her. A Ms. Cranfield, one of the counselors there, suggested that she might be happier here."

"Yes, I know of Ms. Cranfield," she told us. She then launched into her prepared speech.

"Our school is rather unique. We're a small school, having only around 250 students. Because of that we are rather expensive. That shouldn't be a problem for you, but for a number of the parents it is. Each student receives a laptop computer with a wireless modem, when they come here. We have grades 6 through 12, plus we have a continuing education program for those who wish to expand their education without attending college.

"Each student's lessons are downloaded daily to their laptops, and they gather in different class rooms for each lesson. The classes are small, around twelve to fifteen students, so the teacher can give individual attention to each student. It's not unusual to have students in different grades in the same classroom, and each is receiving different information on their laptops. Our curriculum covers all the state prescribed subjects, plus we include subjects that young ladies in more well to do families will require, etiquette and financial management are just two of them. We also have art and physical education. Extra curricular activities include soccer, chess, dancing, and gymnastics.

"Unlike most schools, we also have a child care facility. The students can bring their babies with them, and leave them in child care while in classes, and then return to feed or tend to them between classes. Our classes are spread out to allow this care. We do get a considerable number of students who are either pregnant or have young babies.

"We have only been open here for four years, but our organization has schools in seven other states. Each student has a double wall locker to hold their outer ware, and child care supplies. It also has a built in charger for the laptop. They are also supplied with a home charger for when they take their laptop home.

"In case of illness of the mother, child, or both, they are encouraged to stay at home. This avoids spreading colds to others. They can receive their lessons at home on their laptop. If there are questions, they can e-mail the teacher, and get them answered. Do you have any questions?"

"You didn't mention the actual tuition," I said.

"It's $25,000 per year of 4 semesters. We also have a fifth semester, for makeup during the summer. It's for those who missed time due to child birth or other unforeseen reasons," Miss MacFarlan told us.

"When is the tuition due?" I asked.

"Normally, it's due on admission, and is paid by the semester. However, we realize that you may not have received your money from the lottery yet. We will allow Julie to start, and you may pay her tuition when you receive your money," she told us.

"That's very generous of you, and I do appreciate it. What else do we need to do?" I asked.

"I have some paperwork for you to fill out, and I need to interview Julie – alone. You're welcome to use the office across the hall," Miss MacFarlan said. Chief and I headed across the hall with a fist full of papers.

Interview

"Julie, I need to ask you a number of questions. Some you may find embarrassing. Please answer the best you can, and if you need to cry some go ahead. I can wait. I've done this interview many times and a lot of the girls get very upset. So please, do your best to answer the questions. OK?"

"Yes Ma'am."

"First: How far along are you?"

"Just over eight months."

"Second: Have you been to an OB/GYN?"

"Yes, Mr Thompson took me last Friday.

"Third: Did the doctor give you an approximate delivery date?"

"Yes, About the first week of April. They did an Ultrasound and think my baby is a girl."

"Fourth: This next question may be difficult, but I must ask it. Is Mr Thompson the father of your baby?"

"NO, J ... Mr Thompson has been very good to me. He took me in last week when my mother threw me out in the middle of the night in the rain."

"Fifth: Was this last week when it was so cold?"

"Yes, I only had my nightie on, and I only managed to get to his house. I was so cold, it was hard to ring the bell. He opened the door, and I fell inside. He caught me, and took me in by the fire to warm up. He dried me off, and gave me some clothes to wear. I was a mess, I cried the whole time, and was hysterical. I know that now, but at the time, I wasn't too aware. He got me warmed up, and then took me up to bed, and held me all night. He was so nice."

"Sixth: Did he take advantage of you?"

"NOO," Julie moaned, as she started crying. "He has treated me very well. Better than my family. He bought me clothes. Took me to the pharmacy to buy stuff, and to the doctor. He got me back in school and everything. Why does everyone want to make him out as a bad man?" Julie wailed, now nearly hysteria.

"All right, dear. Please try to calm down. There are only a few more questions."

"Seventh: Do you know who the father of your baby is?"

"Yes, My brother Roy. He raped me, and continued to make me have sex with him until he found out I was three months pregnant. Then he wouldn't even talk to me, pretending it never happened."

"Eighth: Why did your mother throw you out."

"When she found out I was pregnant, she wanted to know who the father was. I was afraid to tell her, but she kept badgering me about it. Finally last week, I told her because I was so tired of her hitting me and calling me a whore. She didn't want to believe it was Roy. She has been having sex with him for over a year now, ever since he turned 18. When Jim ... Mr. Thompson went to try to get my things the next day, she had destroyed everything I had." Julie was crying more now. "She told him that was all I would ever get from her," she wailed in misery.

"You poor child," Miss MacFarlan whispered.

"No, I'm not poor," Julie said defensively. "Jim loves me, and Chief too, and the other security men, and Martha. They're better than my real family ever was. I'm a lot happier there than I was before."

"Ninth and last question: Has Mr. Thompson applied to be your legal guardian."

"Yes, we did all legal paper work yesterday, and the lawyer is filing them today."

"One last question, and this is off the record. You don't have to answer it, and I will never disclose the answer if you do. Are you sleeping with Mr. Thompson?"

"Yes, he's so gentle and kind. He treats me so well and never asks for anything. I'm the one that takes him to bed. He's a wonderful lover, and has never made me do anything, that I didn't want to."

"Are you in love with him?"

"Yes, I think so. I know I want to be near him all the time. We don't even have to do anything. Just sitting in the living room or walking around. Anything."

"All right dear. Lets go and see if he is finished with the paperwork," Miss MacFarlan said.

End Interview

Julie and Miss MacFarlan came into the office just after I finished the paperwork.

"We'll be glad to accept Julie in our school, Mr. Thompson. We need to have her old school send us her records. To do that, you must go over there and withdraw her, and have them send us the records," Miss MacFarlan told us.

"All right, we'll go over there from here and get that done. Is there anything else?" I asked.

"I need to go to supply, and get Julie a laptop and charger. She can take it home with her and familiarize herself with it over the weekend. We start at 9:00 in the morning, but she should be here before that on Monday. We'll issue her a locker for her personal things then, and give her a guided tour of the school then so she can find her way around. At midnight Saturday, the computer will download her schedule and she can study it on Sunday. If you'll give me just a moment, I'll get the computer and program it." Miss MacFarlan told us. After she finished, she left to get the computer.

"Daddy, she asked some embarrassing questions. I answered them the best I could. She even asked me if I loved you. I told her yes cause I do, but I don't know if she liked that answer," Julie told me in a whisper after Miss MacFarlan left.

"That's OK, Sweetie. I love you too, and I want to be the father of your next baby, after you turn eighteen."

"Oh Daddy, thank you. I love you." and Julie fell into my arms. A little later Chief cleared his throat.

"We have company," he said just as Miss MacFarlan was returning with the computer.

"My, what have we here?" she asked in surprise on seeing us.

I blushed and said, "I think I just proposed."

"And I accept Daddy, any time, any where!" Julie said, very excitedly.

"Well, I guess this is a first for the school!" Miss MacFarlan said. "We'll see you on Monday." We said our good-byes and left.

We got to the old school shortly after 1200 hrs. The cop at the door was more belligerent than usual. Chief had come in with us, and he just looked at him, and said in his best Navy Chief's voice, "Boy, don't even think about it." We continued to the office where the receptionist recognized us immediately.

"Yes." she said in a very cold voice.

"I'm here to withdraw Miss Adams from your school. We have found a more friendly environment for her," I told her.

"Most of the staff is at lunch," she whined. "You can't do anything till they get back."

"We'll wait – right here - until they return," I told her. Fifteen minutes or so later, some of them drifted back in. By then the receptionist was really belligerent. She whispered to some of them and cast dark looks at us. Finally, this wimpy looking male approached me.

"I'm the Assistant Principal. I need to know why you want to transfer from this school?"

"Because Miss Adams, my ward, has been threatened and mistreated by people in this school. I have chosen to send her to a more friendly environment," I told him.

"We're the only high school in this district. Are you moving?" he demanded, very snotty.

"No, we're not moving. She'll be attending New Age Academy. She has already been accepted there."

"That's not an accredited school," he tried to tell me.

"Sorry, chum," I told him. "I checked yesterday, and it is accredited by the State School Board."

"It will take some time to get her grades together, and the Principal will need to interview her," he said.

"No interview. Miss Adams is in a very fragile medical state and will not be badgered by the likes of you," I assured him. What a dip I thought.

"WELL, then YOU will have to speak to the principal," he said in frustration. That worthy walked in just as he was saying this.

"What's going on here?" she demanded. She was a short, fat woman.

"I'm withdrawing Miss Adams from this school," I told her with a smile.

"Why?" she demanded.

"Because it's a very unfriendly place and she isn't comfortable here," I informed her.

"Come into my office," she demanded. We adjourned to her office.

"Just who are you?" the principal demanded, once the door was closed.

"My name is Jim Thompson." I answered, still with a smile.

"Oh! Are you that Jim Thompson?" she inquired, not so sure of herself now.

"Yes, I am."

"Where will Miss Adams be going to school, when she leaves here?"

"She will be attending New Age Academy. She has already been accepted there."

"The slut school," the Principal spat out, venomously.

"You know lady, I would watch how I slander people, if I were you. There are some people who might take physical exception to statements like that," I told her. I wasn't smiling now, just very serious.

"No man would dare to attack me," she proclaimed, snottily.

"I wasn't thinking of any men. Some of the mothers of those girls might take it as a grave insult to their daughters calling them sluts," I said, still serious.

"You're one of those fancy mouth rich types, aren't you?" she sneered.

"You know, I'm developing a real dislike for you. During 25 years in the Army, I was credited with well over 100 kills, and some of them I didn't dislike as much as I am beginning to dislike you. So knock off the crap, before I really get upset," I told her in a rising voice and deadly fucking serious.

"Well, I never ... Jarvis ... get these 'People' transferred, and out of here – immediately," she screeched.