Chapter 5: Earth Mother

Joni:

I thought I might finally get some action that night but once more I was dismissed and went back to my room resigned to my cheap toys.

And just like that, it was over. I mean the fun and games. Sarah got a call the next morning that her house in Boulder had been broken into and left on the next flight out. I could tell Mr V was shaken, and he offered to go with her to help but Sarah insisted there was nothing he could do ... it would all be about police reports and insurance claims, and she could handle that easily.

Before kissing Pete goodbye -we were in the family room, so I could call him that - Sarah took me aside.

"Well, you are standing in for me, now. Be good to him, listen to his counsel, and trust him. He'll be good to you and Jack."

I gave her a big hug and told her I'd miss her.

"Well, you'll have to email me and tell me all about what's going on, and I mean everything. " She said with a wink. "I'll set up private email and tell Pete how to do it."

Pete was gone all day and I bustled around the kitchen and laundry making a list of needs for the coming week, then went to the store to pick them up. Jack pretty much amused himself as he'd increasingly done since we'd moved here. But on the way to the store, he brought something up that amused me.

"Momma, I found a ball in the yard shed. I think it's a soccer ball. But it's all soft and wont roll. Can we get another one?"

A few months ago, that wold have thrown me. A good ball is not cheap. And a cheap ball gets a kid 'bullied' even if it's not intentional. This was a job for my boss.

"Why don't you show the ball to Mr V? He will know what to do. It might just need to have air put into it."

It worked out just as I hoped. Pete looked at the ball and told Jack it was a very good ball, I guess it was hand-stitched leather, and was probably sad it wasn't being played with. He went right out to the hardware store and brought back a hand pump. It held air and after we cleaned it up, looked only a few games old. I asked Pete if Jack shouldn't have a kid-size ball like I'd seen other kids with, at the park.

"Joni, those smaller sizes are adult ideas. No kid wants a baby's ball. He'll be envied, not teased about it."

I showed Pete my shopping list and receipts, he glanced at them and waved them off.

"I'm not using that card anymore Joni, it's yours. I'll check the statement now and then, but you run the house."

There was something else running through my head all day of course. And that was evening time after Jack went to bed. I felt there was something, well, a few things askew in how I would like things to be.

So I went on-line and searched Images until I found what I wanted. It was a soft pink, faux suede 'choker' or dog collar neckband for me to wear when we were alone in his room.

I wanted it because I'd seen a picture of an early 20th dance hall girl with a ladder-chain choker, and loved the concept, just not the materials.

I'm getting ahead of myself, but when Pete saw these pics, he knew almost exactly what I was getting at.

"I like it, except for the D Ring in front. Do you really want that bit? I know you know what it means,"

"Well, Mr V, Sir ... that's the whole point of it. It is mostly symbolic, you know."

"Okay. If you want it, buy it. But don't expect me to lead you around on a leash."

"That's not what I had in mind. But we can talk about that later ... Sir."

"By the way, Joni ... that girl looks like she could be your sister."

I smiled.

"Yes, Sir. Maybe my 'thinner sister'. That is why it caught my eye."

He just shook his head.

"Oh ... and I want to make the collar, Sir. I'm pretty good at sewing. And I found a perfectly good Brother machine in the closet of my room."

"Fine. Will it sew leather?."

"No, I don't think so, Sir ... I want to make the collar of fabric covered with strips cut from my pink panties."

Mr V just looked at me. Then smiled.

"Dang, girl. You are so naughty."

Then we talked about more fun stuff but I'll get to that later...

Mr V had also asked for a general assessment of the house, marketwise. It was 20 years old and hadn't been updated. He explained that what he wanted was an ongoing cost analysis to bring up to 'For Sale-Open House' standard. I sure hoped he didn't really want to sell it but he said it was smart to bring a house up to current when the time was right. Meaning, I supposed, when a style was in the process of changing. I built a spreadsheet with estimated costs and images of both current pics of his rooms and example trends.

He was impressed and asked me to call in contractors for estimates. He said he wanted me to do it so he would have plausible deniability if and when the builders tried to put on the hard sell.

I couldn't see anything that was really too much out of date except counter tops and back splashes. There was already an island with a prep sink and a radiant cooktop, in addition to the gas range. He asked me to get bids on Granite for the counters, and new builder sinks, plus induction cooktop to replace the old Corning style insert. And, of course, a repainting.