Chapter 4

Breakfast Sunday morning was slightly later than Saturday and she was tense throughout, although that didn't affect her appetite. When we had finished it was half past ten.

"OK," I said. "Time to get it done and over with. Can you give me your home number?"

I handed her a pen and a pad of paper and she wrote it down.

"What are your parents' names?" I asked.

"Nora and James," she replied. "But I'm sure Mom will do all the talking."

"That's fine," I said and headed to my office.

I gathered my thoughts, activated a digital recording device and called the number.

It was answered after the third ring. "Yes?" a female voice said.

I cleared my throat. "Mrs. Jones? My name is George Smith. I am ringing about your daughter Laura, and I am recording this conversation. I need your consent for that."

"What about my daughter?" she asked in a voice more hostile than concerned.

"I cannot enter into that discussion without your consent to the recording," I insisted.

"Why do you want to record it?" she asked.

"For two reasons," I replied. "The first is I may need legal proof this conversation took place. The second is we may both need evidence later as to what was actually said."

"And if I do not consent?" she challenged.

This was going to be a 'difficult conversation' all right. "In that case I will end the conversation and erase the recording."

"OK, go ahead," she said after a brief pause. "What is it about my daughter?"

"I made your daughter's acquaintance on Friday night and offered her shelter. She accepted and is now staying in my apartment," I started. "I understand that she is in violent disagreement with you and your husband over her future and that of her unborn child and has decided to leave home." There was a grunt on the phone. I ignored it and continued. "She is however a minor and you as her parents are her natural guardians. The first legal objective of this call is thus to inform you where she is and assure you that she is free to leave whenever she so wishes and that you can have access to her whenever you so wish. I'll give you my details - perhaps you could find pen and paper."

After a little while she was back on the line and I mentioned my address and telephone numbers. She still offered nothing, so I decided to up the ante a bit. "I understand from talking to Laura that your disagreement even extends to your view of her rapist."

That got her going. "Don't you dare! She wasn't raped. She is a slut and seduced Michael. He is the nicest young man you could imagine. He is the nephew of our Pastor, we have known him for years, and..."

"Mrs. Jones," I interjected. "Neither you nor I were present at your grandchild's conception, so we cannot know what happened although we can guess. And you and I have obviously decided to believe opposite versions. But that is not my point at all. Your daughter is sixteen Michael is twenty three. Under the laws of this state, Michael is guilty of rape. Since he knows your family so well, he cannot plead ignorance as to Laura's age. He has committed a felony. A DNA sample from Laura's baby will prove his guilt at any time. He cannot run away."

That sank in, but she was still combative. "What is the purpose of your call Mr. Smith?"

I softened my voice. "My hope was that I could make you remember that you are Laura's mother. Laura is young, frightened and pregnant against her will. She so obviously is in need of parenting, and while I will happily and willingly support and comfort her, I cannot 'mother' her. Even if my dear wife was alive, she couldn't quite give Laura that - only you can."

There was silence on the line. I continued. "Obviously you are not able to do that just now. Listen, you and your husband seem unwilling to have her around. Laura cannot agree to the alternative you have suggested. I was hoping then that we could compromise and you would give your consent to the present arrangement."

"What exactly is the 'present arrangement'?" she asked icily.

The innuendo was barely veiled, but I decided not to take the bait. "Oh, that's simple enough. The arrangement is that I provide shelter, food, clothing, you name it - take care of all her needs in fact, for as long as Laura and her baby need it."

"What's in it for you?" she challenged.

"A difficult question Mrs. Jones," I replied. "Try Matthew 25:40, Mrs. Jones. Or perhaps verse 45 in your case."

I could hear the tell-tale sound of pen scratching on paper. She would have to look up the Gospel of Matthew when the conversation ended. I always found it amusing that supposedly deeply religious people know their Bible so poorly.

She chose a different line of attack. "I find it highly inappropriate that a sixteen year old girl should be staying with an adult man - a complete stranger!"

That was so pathetic it was almost amusing. I wisely suppressed a chuckle and steeled my voice. "Mrs. Jones, I don't think a discussion of what is appropriate is in your interest. Not at all. You seem to want discretion at all cost, even the cost of the welfare of your child and grandchild. I am offering you that discretion - no matter how misguided your wish is - in return for allowing Laura to make her own decisions. I was hoping you could also agree to let Laura return to her own school. She will obviously have to take most if not all of next school year off, but there is no reason in the world why she should not complete her junior year."

The thought seemed to horrify her. "I will not have her waddle around here for all to see!" she exclaimed.

"I though as much," I replied. "No matter, she can be transferred to a school near me. There is a perfectly good high school two blocks away. It is run by Roman Catholic nuns who take the sanctity of life and the absolute innocence of Laura's baby every bit as seriously as she was brought up to do herself."

That calmed her, but only partly as she would now worry that I knew about her initial reaction to Laura's pregnancy and fear I might expose her. Fine, let her stew. "I will have to talk to my husband," she said.

"Obviously," I replied. "Listen, when we finish this conversation I will send you the recording. And a consent form for Laura staying with me and one for the school so her papers can be transferred. They are both very specific. I am not asking for a general power of attorney at this point, but we may discuss that when we get close to Laura's due date - provided she is still with me. And that reminds me: I have to ask you if Laura is covered by your medical insurance, specifically for pregnancy and child birth."

"She is not," her mother replied. "We checked that when making the arrangements Laura rejected."

"Not to worry. I may be able to work something out through my company," I replied.

There was a hesitant breath on the line, but she didn't say anything.

I continued with practical stuff. "I have made sure Laura is adequately clothed, but obviously it would be handy if she had more of her own stuff - at least while it fits her, and I am sure she would like to have her books and other personal belongings in her rooms in my apartment."

I made sure to emphasize the plural 'rooms'. This time there was a confirmative noise.

I carried on. "If you could pack her things in a couple of boxes or what not, I could pick them up. I am in the area on Tuesday afternoon. If you don't want any personal contact then just leave them in your garage or porch or some such place where I might find them, as long as they are out of the rain and clearly marked."

"OK," was all she said.

"Is there anything else we need to discuss?" I asked

She was silent for very long, then drew breath. "How is..." she started, but trailed off again.

"Yes?" I encouraged.

"Oh, nothing," she said. "Thank you for calling Mr. Smith. Goodbye."

"Goodbye Mrs. Jones," I replied gently and the line went dead.

The first crack in the defense. Small, but hopefully significant.

While burning a CD with the recording, I typed two simple consent forms and a covering letter. It was friendly and concise, if somewhat devoid of emotion - just telling them what to do with the forms. After some thought I decided to close the letter with something personal and wrote 'Laura is happy and healthy and has come to no harm. Given proper help, she will manage fine.' Before printing it out, I deleted 'happy and'. That would be for later.

Laura was trying to be calm when I went to find her in her room, but her agitation was evident. She was forcing herself not to ask the burning questions.

"Sweetheart," I said gently. "No need to hold anything back when you're with me. What do you want to know?"

"Perhaps a summary first," she said. "To get an overall idea before I get the details."

I was impressed. Even under extreme emotional pressure, her intelligence shone through.

"OK," I said. "The best overall summary is perhaps that your mother agreed to talk to me, but I did not get to use her Christian name." She winced at that, so I hastened to carry on. "The good news is she seemed willing to let you stay here with me - I will send her a form for her and your father to sign. The bad news is she could not agree to let you return to your own school, so we'll have a shot at getting you into an excellent Catholic high school two blocks away." The good news was obviously much better then bad news was bad. She cried with relief.

When she had recovered, I told her the rest of what I had discussed with her mother. The prospect of getting her books and other stuff made her visibly brighten. "Are you really going to be up there on Tuesday anyway?" she asked.

"Sure," I said. I was too - I was just not telling her why.

"Tell me about this school," she said.

"OK," I said "It is a Roman Catholic high school run by nuns, although there are many other teachers too. It's called 'Sacred Heart' after the order. I know the Mother Superior quite well. The academic standard is excellent, but many of the students are not very well off. I belong to a group of IT businessmen that has helped getting them computers and a network and stuff. My company provides all the security for free."

"Are you a Catholic?" she asked.