Chapter 5

"Look, Dan, lemme tell you somethin', Helen said. "You never met my husband, Mr. Hardison. He died six years ago. Eighty-six."

"But you're not that old, Helen, I said.

"Nope. Herb Hardison was twenty-nine years older'n me. I was fifteen. He was forty-four. He took care of me all my life. Took me out of a share-cropper house. I went with him an' we worked hard, but we never went hungry or did without the necessities. And we did pretty good. I wouldn't own this business if he wasn't who he was an' made me who I am."

"And you're telling me..."

She smiled. "Dan, it's written all over your face how you feel about that little girl. You think that you're getting into something that is so wrong that society condemns it, but I'm tellin' you that sometimes society makes rules for the worst case, an' they completely bury the best case." She took a deep breath. "I'm serious. In four weeks you've turned a ragamuffin who was scared of her own shadow into a nice lookin' young lady. And her manners are better. An' YOU take care of her." Helen looked at me, silent for a second. "An' I think you know what I'm sayin'. Just take care of her, okay?"

"But, Helen, what am I gonna do in four months? I can't stay here after the job's over. Well, I can, for a while. I have savings. But I need to move on, you know."

Helen released an almost cryptic smile. "Don't you worry, Dan. Things change."

I smiled at Helen. "Maybe so, lady. Thanks!" I left and went to my little haven. My cellphone's ring assaulted my ear. I flipped it open and saw "Cindy".

"Hey, cutie," I said.

"Hi, Dan," she chirped. "I got homework."

"Real homework, or..."

"Maybe some of both ... I'm halfway there..."

I looked across the park and she was indeed walking toward me, bookbag slung artfully over her shoulder. So I waited for her to join me at my trailer. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Helen watching at the office door. I unlocked my trailer and let Cindy and me inside. As I landed my computer bag in the miniscule space beside the sofa, I heard the door lock click.

I turned and Cindy smiled, her eyes happy, laughing. Then she squealed and jumped at me, throwing her arms around my neck, pressing her neatly clad body full against me. And she kissed me. We kissed. Long. This was the drink I thirsted for.

"Hello, little love," I said.

"I missed you, Dan," she sighed. "Hi."

She was still in my arms, smiling, her eyes bright. Her head was tilted back because of almost a foot difference in our heights. Her lips were naturally red, soft, still wet from the kiss. I sat back onto the sofa and pulled her toward me. With me now sitting, she was looking down at me and she put her hands on the sides of my face and kissed me again, then a shower of kisses.

"One more," I said between kisses, "and then homework..." I got, oh, two, or three, or half a dozen more. We spread books and notebooks and papers on the little dinette table and went over the lessons. English? Not a problem. Cindy was a reader on her own, and language was easy for her. Math? We worked on math. I explained what the books and the teachers wanted, and we talked her way through problems, and that was done. Science? For a kid who thought "Discovery" was the top-rated channel on TV? Hah!

I heard a knock at the door. Cindy answered it. I looked across the trailer. Donna. "Hey, Donna," I said.

"Hey, Dan," she answered. "I'm goin' in to help at the bar tonight. I was just checkin' on Cindy."

"She's okay," I countered. "She finished all her work. I was gonna take her out for pizza, if that's okay."

"Sure," said Donna. "Saves her from makin' a mess in our place."

"Are you gonna be in early? Or should I watch her?"

"I dunno what time I'm comin' in, but if you watch her, then I won't worry about it. But she can stay there by herself, you know."

"Yeah, I know, but after that storm the other night..."

"Yeah, but the trailer's tied down. Ol' Helen paid somebody to do that after the wind blew it sideways."

I continued, "And that red pickup truck keeps driving by..."

"Oh," laughed Donna. "That's just Larry. He was gonna move in with us, but he's whacked out, an' we broke up, an' he keeps hopin' for another chance."

I snorted. "Yeah. Creeps me out, especially when I see him drive by there and stop on the road and stare at your trailer and I know YOU'RE at work and Cindy's there by herself."

"He ain't gonna do nothin'. It'll violate his probation!"

"Well," I said, "Cindy's good on the sofa here if it's okay with you."

Donna gazed at me. "Yeah, I s'pose so. Anyways, I gotta go..." And she left.

Cindy turned back towards me and smiled impishly and purposefully locked the door. And turned toward the bed, kicking her shoes off. I joined her. Got one trophy-class hug, and she pulled me on top of her. I couldn't resist that, at least for a little while. I propped up on my elbows and surveyed that angelic face at close distance. Her eyes darted back and forth between mine, then she wrapped her arms around my neck and drew me down to kiss her.

"This keeps getting better and better," she said, "an' that's just the kissin'."

Yes, it was. Soft, eager lips. A tongue that was positively athletic. A face that angels envy. That bronze hair, and those green eyes ... And the giggle. And the smile. And the supple, now eager, body that carried all that around.

"Uh, yeah, baby," I said, "about that other stuff..." I rolled off her onto my side, facing her. She bounced once and lay on her side facing me.

"Mmm-hmmm," she smiled, and put a finger on the tip of my nose, then planted a kiss there. "Dan, we made love. My very first time makin' love. It was US!"

"I know, sweetie, and it was wonderful. You're very desirable and beautiful and it WAS wonderful, but I can't help but think that maybe I took advantage of you."

"Why, Dan? Why would you think that? Did you get me drunk? Give me drugs? Tie me up and tape my mouth shut? Huh?"

"No."

There's only one person in this whole wide world that comes even close to being as nice to me as you've been. An' that's Mizz Helen. An' she told me you were a nice guy an' I should be friends with you."

"Yeah," I said, filing that little tidbit for another conversation with Helen later. "But I was being nice without taking you to bed."

"Uh, Dan, I took YOU to bed..." She paused. "You've been so good to me. My friend. My very best friend. The one I can talk to. An' I wanted to give you something. All I had was ME!"