Chapter 3

When we were finished eating, I suggested to Sandy, "Let's stop by a U-haul and rent one of those $19.95 a day pickups. We should be able to clean out both of our places with just a few loads. I have a bunch of boxes that I have saved to pack up what we have. We can get a few more from U-haul if we want."

Sandy said, "Good idea, I'll use your car to haul all of our hanging clothes. We should be able to move most of what we have today."

We rented the truck and went to Sandy's first. She said her bed had been used when she bought it, so she didn't mind if we had to pitch it. She did want to keep her couch since she had bought it new and was proud of it. She suggested, "How about putting this and the tables and lamps in the office bedroom. If you have something you want to keep, it might fit in there too."

I did have a reading chair that I was fond of. The floor lamp next to it with the built in table was also a favorite. They might fit in the living room and their neutral color would not clash with Caroline's furniture.

It took me about two hours to get all of Sandy's furniture out of the apartment into the truck. Sandy had loaded all of her clothes and kitchen items into my car, so all we had to do was clean her place up and she could try to get her deposit back. Fat chance of that.

We took the furniture that we didn't want to Goodwill and let them have it. Next, we drove to the trailer park and unloaded everything into our new home. We didn't try to unpack, just place things where they were to go.

We drove back to my place and repeated the process. I only had the two items I wanted to save. Everything else was going to Goodwill. My place was ready to rent as I had just cleaned the place from top to bottom. The last thing I packed was the bathroom, knowing that by tonight I would really need a shave.

We drove back to Sandy's apartment and cleaned as if we were preparing for a mother-in-law. As soon as we were finished, Sandy said, "I'm going to get the manager. They are always here on Saturday. When they see the place is perfect to rent, they'll want to rent it right away to collect some extra money."

She left, and within ten minutes, she had two people looking through the apartment with Sandy showing them the damage list from when she first moved in. She had fixed most of the damaged areas so the apartment complex didn't really have to do anything to rent the place.

Sandy and the apartment people left and she returned, clutching her deposit check. She said, "When they said they didn't think I should receive my deposit back, I told them they could have the apartment when the Sheriff's Deputy came to evict me. That would take almost six months, and I wouldn't pay them a dime's rent during that time. They wrote the check."

I told Sandy, "I want to use the same scam on the crazy lady who is my apartment manager. Let's go back there and see."

We drove back to my place where I went right to the office. The nasty manager didn't even want to inspect my place, but I described to her how long it was going to be before she would have access to the apartment. I told her that I would live there rent free for probably six months unless she agreed to return my deposit. That really pissed her off.

She sent one of minions to check out the apartment and when she was told the apartment was ready to rent, the manager said, "Then I'll rent it and fuck you. What are you going to do, move back in?"

"My stuff is in that pickup. If you don't give me my deposit check, I'll begin moving my stuff back in and see you around for the next five or six months."

The bitch laughed, "Right, I've already started eviction proceedings on you. How long before I get you out of there, tell me that?"

I told her, "All I have to do is squat. The cops won't haul my stuff to the curb until it all goes to court, and I'm sure that will take longer than five months."

The crazy lady was cussing and ranting until she finally pulled out a big checkbook and wrote a check. When I pointed out that she had not dated or signed the check, she cussed some more before completing the check and throwing it at me.

I smiled and thanked her for the check. Sandy was standing with me and watched as I walked out of the office showroom area. Just as I got to the door, Sandy yelled as a large glass ashtray hit me on the back of the head, glancing off me and shattering the glass door. I went down like a rock falling into the broken shards of glass.

The hit on the head didn't knock me out, but the cut on the back of my head was enough to cause me to bleed pretty good. I was woozy and was trying to get on my hands and knees, cutting myself on the broken glass as I did. It took Sandy and one of the apartment people to help me get from the doorway to one of the couches. The crazy lady was cussing at me to get away from her furniture so I wouldn't bleed on it.

Sandy used her cell phone and dialed 911 to report an attack and an injury that needed assistance. The operator told her paramedics had already been dispatched, but she would send a Deputy right away.

I later learned that one of the apartment workers had called 911 as they felt I was hurt sufficiently that I probably needed professional attention.

The paramedics arrived with a fire truck. The firemen began sweeping up the glass, but left the heavy glass ashtray where it had fallen. When the apartment manager went to retrieve the ashtray, a fireman warned her that if she moved it, she could be arrested for tampering and concealing evidence. The lady just wouldn't learn and continuously cussed the firemen.

While I was being patched up, the Sheriff's Deputy arrived. He took statements from Sandy, some apartment workers, and the apartment complex manager. He bagged and tagged the ashtray, then waited to interview me. When he asked me if I saw the person throw the ashtray at me I had to admit that I didn't. He said, "That's okay, we have four good witnesses that saw the lady throw it at you. I'm going to arrest her for assault. Can you think of anything else?"

While getting a bandage on the back of my head, and my knees and hands wrapped in gauze from the broken glass, I answered "If you're really going to make it stick, that should do it. That woman is a threat to a lot of people, not just me."

I enjoyed watching as another deputy arrived, cuffed her, and hauled her away. As she was led from the building to the Deputy's car a large group of apartment dwellers began cheering. This infuriated the cuffed manager. She was hollering profanities at everyone and spit at the crowd as well as the Deputy trying to get her into his car.

Sandy told me, "Sit here for a minute while I get some information from these other apartment people." Sandy moved through the gathering throng of people in the showroom area to find the apartment people. Within a few minutes, she was back to me with one of the workers and clutching several pieces of paper.

Sandy said, "This is Emily, she's going to drive you and your car to the trailer park. You shouldn't drive right now. I'll drive the pickup so we can go to Good Will and then can get your stuff put in the trailer." A guy came along with Emily to help, so I rode with Sandy in the pickup.

That was a hell of a commotion over a lousy five hundred and seventy dollars.

Within an hour and a half, my stuff was unloaded into the trailer, the pickup returned to U-haul, and the couple who had helped us was back at the apartment complex. Sandy had told the apartment worker about how the huge company next door to the trailer park had hired us. Sandy suggested there might be multiple opportunities with this big company. The couple both seemed to be interested in checking it out.

We did find out the girl was just a part-time employee of the apartment complex and that the assistant manager had asked her to help us. The guy was her boyfriend and was currently unemployed, picking up odd jobs wherever he could. That sounded familiar.

When we were dropping off the couple that had helped us, the assistant manager came out to talk to Sandy and me. She said, "I've already called corporate and I've given them all of the information. If you will, please give me a new address that would be good for them to get in touch with you at. Is your cell phone number still the same?"

I nodded and she continued, "They asked me to ask you to put off calling an attorney until they could talk to you first. I'm sure they will offer you a nice settlement for being hurt by one of their employees. I'll tell you what I think, though. If you want some quick money, take what they offer or bargain them up until they squeak. If you want a hell of lot of money, get a lawyer. You have witnesses, police reports, and the firemen's response. You've got a good case."

I thanked her for the advice and said we would think about it.

Sandy suggested we make a grocery store run to get a few things for supper and the house. Neither one of us had brought much in the way of food from our depleted cupboards. The Publix next to the trailer park was the fastest and we spent about twenty dollars on some food for later, tomorrow, and some beverages for us to use to celebrate.

Back at home; we began to unpack our things. I had started to pick up a box of my clothes, but had to put it down when I became dizzy. When I staggered, Sandy told me to sit for a little while to see if the dizziness went away. It mostly did, but I was feeling a little nauseous. As soon as she heard me say this, she said, "Come on, we're going to the hospital. You may have a concussion and should be looked at."

We drove to University Community Hospital back in northeast Tampa, where we waited in the emergency room waiting area for two hours before someone could look at me. They inspected the cut on my head and sent me to x-ray.

A half-hour later, a doc said there wasn't any swelling of the brain, but there was a small crack in my skull. He said I should be okay, but should remain awake until at least ten this evening. He suggested aspirin if I needed pain relief. I had to sign a long list of documents as I didn't have any health insurance and didn't have enough to pay the bill right then. A couple hours at the hospital had a three grand price tag. We should have just waited to see if I got worse.

Now I was not only hurt, I was depressed over the magnitude of the new debt, as well as wondering if this was going to interfere with my new job.

Back at the trailer park, Sandy suggested we go over to the patio to see if Henry was there. We could tell him what had happened and see what he thought. Sandy said, "Look on the bright side, we have our apartment deposits back so we have enough cash until I get paid, even if you can't work right away. It'll work out."

I looked at Sandy and asked, "We just met, are your really willing to carry me until I can work?"

Sandy was quick to answer, "I sure am. You didn't hesitate to help me, we've rented this place together, and we did seal the deal this morning, didn't we?"

I smiled as I gathered her into my arms for a hug. She snuggled into me and said, "You may not be able to do much intimate cuddling for a day or so. You better not get yourself worked up. Come on; let's go see if Henry is on the patio."

We walked to the patio at a slow pace to make sure I was not having any problems. When we entered the screened area, it seemed as if there was a full blown party going on.

Some people were finishing eating at the big tables and some were playing board games at another part of the tables. Groups were playing cards at smaller tables, and a large group was around the stools and tables near the bar. As soon as we came in, Henry hollered, "Hey, you two. Where have you been? You better grab one of those calzones before they are all gone. You get one and I'll fix you something to drink."

I held up my hand and told Henry, "I think I'll stick with Coke tonight. I reached my booze limit last night."

Sandy said, "Tell him the truth. Tell him about our day. I'll get us something to eat."

As I described our day, the big guy, Tiny, was listening and as the story progressed, he moved closer. When I finished, Henry said, "You know, your insurance with the company may already be in force. If you get something from a settlement with the apartment complex, you'll have to reimburse the insurance company, but I think you're covered."

Tiny asked, "Did you complete all of the security forms yesterday?"

Henry answered for me, "Yep, he was even propositioned by Dorothy."

Tiny laughed, "Well then, Dorothy's screwed someone for sure now. That would be the insurance company. You're covered and you can take your insurance card to the hospital to cover the bill. You can probably do it all over the phone. You might have some co-pay, but it won't hurt nearly as bad."

Sandy had heard this and was smiling. She said, "See, it's working out. Landing here has been our lucky day."

Shirley and Stormy were sitting near us, and Shirley asked, "Did you guys enjoy your first night here at the park?"

I must have blushed enough to be noticed, and Sandy must have glowed enough to be detected, as Ruth, who was sitting with Tiny, said, "I think this couple enjoyed their first night here a lot."

Sandy and I grinned.

Tiny said, "On Monday, I want you to ask our in-house legal staff for a referral to an injury attorney. Your apartment complex has some legal liability for your injury. Considering that their manager intentionally injured you, you could probably own the whole complex if you wanted. You might want to pursue this even if it's just for the co-pay you'll owe to the hospital. Get Henry to introduce you to Charles Monday morning."

Henry was listening and added, "I want you to see Nurse Nancy to have you checked out before you go to work Monday morning. We need to make sure you're doing okay. That's what she's for."

Sandy and I ate the calzones with some Coke to wash them down. I told Sandy, "It was a good idea to come over tonight. I sure hope we don't wear out our welcome."

A lady named Susan was sitting next to us with her husband, a guy named Kevin. Susan said, "Never think that. If there is anything you need to learn about us, it is that we are a family out here. You'll soon know everyone here and we all want you to come every day. Come for breakfast and morning coffee. Come for lunch if you're close by. Come for after work drinks or social time, and stay for supper. The more you're here with us, the more you'll want to be a part of us. We all love to have new people, people who embrace the idea of good friends and family."

Henry leaned over and said, "She didn't mention that I'm her brother and that Steve is our brother, as well. That guy over there is Tiny's dad and is the trailer park manager. Not to worry though, as the park is owned by the same couple who own all the businesses out here."

Tiny said, "I beg your pardon. I'm one of the owners of all of the S&S companies, as well. You are too, Henry, as you're still under S&S." Tiny turned to us and said, "You see, Steve gave half of the company to the employees through their 401K plan, so every person nationwide employed by S&S is an owner of the company."

Sandy asked, "You mean this guy just gave away half the company?"

Tiny answered, "He sold some and gave some away. He's done even more, but I can't comment about some of it, as Steve wishes to keep it private. Don't worry about Steve though; the man still has holdings that are worth a ton. And then there's Sue. She is the real owner of Quality Wear. She has distributed part of her holdings to the employee 401K plan, but nowhere near what Steve has. The clothing industry is more hazardous than what Steve does."

Henry added, "Everyone here has prospered because of Steve and Sue. Several of us have gained great financial wealth from them, but most of all we've gained the personal wealth of a big family that takes care of each other."

Susan added, "So you see, you two are supposed to be here. You're supposed to be part of our family. I hope it brings you closer to each other, as well as closer to us."

Sandy was hugging me as we sat together with all of these new friends.