Chapter 399: How Can I Help

What? Do those earrings cost more than her father makes a month? They weren’t even diamonds.

The more I found out about those cunts doing all they could to their friend, with a happy marriage where theirs had failed, I got more pissed off. Then I got angry.

Because I had made their friend’s daughter’s thirteenth birthday something she would never forget, they got furious. When the mother and daughter had gotten back to their home, they found their possessions strewn all over their front lawn. The girl’s father came home moments behind them. Someone called the CEO of his job to give multiple bogus reasons that got him fired.

“Paula,” I said as I tried to focus on calming myself down. “You are going to get a lot of information on a group of cunts that have spent over a decade making the lives of their once best friend hell because the woman had a successful, happy marriage. They became tarnished ex-trophy wives. I need your help to do a lot of things quickly. Urgently we need to deal with the family getting tossed out of the house they had been renting for nine years. I plan to get a truck and grab whoever I can find to go over to help pack up what didn’t get destroyed. Those cunts also got the father of the family fired. It is my fault for doing something to make their daughter have an unbelievable thirteenth birthday. Instead of being happy for the girl getting such lavish gifts from me, they did their best to ruin this family’s lives.”

I could hear the anger in her voice when she told me that she was all over it. She was playing one of the old text-based dungeon crawl games when I called. A gelatinous cube has just eaten her. It wasn’t even anywhere close to her. It triggered old hacker memories that caused a cascade of unlocked knowledge. She felt that she had gaps, but Paula could find something to relearn the missing details. From what I had told her, she went into pissed-off lawyer/hacker mode.

Going hands-free, I told Becky to take Karwin to my house to get them both dressed in overalls. I then called Camden to have her round up the troops. We were going to make someone’s life better. They weren’t getting anything given to them, only getting what someone took from them over the years. After everyone got moving, I reached out to my AI moving company to help provide what we needed for this family’s house as soon as possible. Camden had Bart, Bambi, Chrissy, some of Chrissy’s friends heading toward the birthday girl’s home. I got a nasty look when I pulled my Camry out front, at least until the birthday girl saw who it was.

“Your name is David, right? That is what the girls at my table called you. I don’t know why you are here, but it is good that you are. My dad just got fired for no reason, and the landlord threw us out without any notice. We have rented here for over nine years. Drat. You never let me tell you my name, and I forget that I hadn’t told you yet. Everyone calls me Cici, even if that is not what my parents gave me at birth. I don’t want to do it, but would you be mad if I pawned some of my birthday jewelry so that we can get packed up before the police throw us out of the yard?”

I hugged her before saying, “Yes, I would be mad. I called some friends with a truck and moving supplies to come down here to pack you up. Look for a minivan filled with kids around our age to arrive soon. There will probably be another car or two with more of my friends. I need to talk to your parents. Find yourself something like work clothes to wear. You can change in my friend’s minivan when they arrive.”

“Hi, I’m David,” I said, introducing myself to Cici’s parents. “I’m going to be blunt here. Those women who pretended to be your friends are jealous cunts that you have a happy marriage and can put your kids in a private school where they can’t once they traded for a model with less wear and tear, not to mention maintenance costs to keep them looking new. It doesn’t matter where I got the information, only that they weren’t happy that I did something to give your daughter an unforgettable thirteenth birthday. What happened to you resulted from my actions, and I am here to correct the best that I can. I do know that those friends of yours are responsible for getting you fired. Mean people suck. I have a lot of things in motion, so bear with me while I see what I can do to unscrew the mess caused by a pretty dress, some jewelry, orchids, a cake, and balloons.”

Cici’s dad said, “I can’t let you do that, David. It is a mess of our making. We will work through it how we have done many times in the past.”

“Sorry, but in this case, you can only call the cops to keep me from helping you, and that wouldn’t do you any real good. I see that one of the groups I called just arrived, and the moving truck is not far behind. Cici is going to get changed in my friend’s minivan. I suggest that you do the same lest you want to ruin your clothes,” I told them. “We are packing you up and moving you to my old house until we can get things settled, however long that takes. Someone will ask you for a grocery list. After we moved, someone came that cleaned out the kitchen cabinets along with the pantry. There are enough beds for everyone to have their own room. You can discuss who gets which rooms sometime next week for all I care.”

Right then, a moving truck arrived, and it looked like locusts descending on a field of crops to feed. I saw boxes, packing tape, biodegradable packing peanuts, and all sorts of blankets.

A police car showed up as an angry man came walking over, angrily, yelling, “These people are trespassing. I want them off my property immediately.”

That, of course, caused more police to get called. The moving androids didn’t pay them any mind as they packed up everything tossed outside. Inside the house remained the family’s furniture, electronics, and things of value.

Paula came walking up with a shit-eating grin on her face. She was wearing tiny, tight shorts that looked like boy-shorts, bathing suit bottoms that covered what the law required. She was wearing a tiny bikini top that barely covered her nipples. You could see her scars.

I bet you thought better of what you were about to do when you saw Paula.

Most of the cops that started to arrive recognized Paula and decided to keep on driving.

“What do we have here? It isn’t the first of the month, the officer is not a sheriff or constable, and there are no records of any evictions lawsuits on the docket in the last three weeks,” Paula said as she walked near the angry man. “Your tenants have a receipt for this month’s rent, paid two months in advance as you have required even though they have never been late with their rent, and you have two month’s worth of a security deposit. Most times, what you have done is called an illegal eviction, but you know that because you have been sued for it multiple times and always lost. The fact that the primary wage earner was fired, without cause, around the same time you began removing the renter’s possessions turns this into a malicious eviction. By your rental agreement, you state that you will not enter the property without prior notice to the tenants forty-eight hours beforehand unless they request you to enter the house. I have filed a formal complaint on behalf of your renters regarding criminal charges. What you will do is to surrender the keys to the locks you changed illegally. You cannot deny the tenants the right to access the house or collect their property.”

He spouted off immediately, “Go away, you freak! Anyone can spout off fake legal ramblings. These people are trespassing, and I want them arrested.”

I walked over and told the man, “Let me give you a good piece of advice. Give the family the keys to the house and leave quickly. She passed all their bar exams before starting high school. When she soon turns eighteen, she will legally practice law in all fifty states and outlying territories. Though, you calling her a freak isn’t the insult you wished.”

“Who the hell are you, smart ass?” he asked, getting in my face.

“Do you want to know, or was that a rhetorical question?” I asked in reply.

He wanted to know, so I told him and then said, “I know some people at the courthouse that can hook you up with some prime real estate downtime, recently excavated, and it has a private, underground entrance.”

“What does that have to do with the price of tea in China?” he asked angrily.

I shook my head and said, “Because I am a decent guy that is trying to save a turd before a shit storm.”

He is well-read enough to have a very colorful vocabulary without resorting to cursing.

“Go away before I have you arrested too,” he said dismissively and then told Paula to do the same.

She replied, “Ok. Have an enjoyable time visiting the city’s bed and bars resort.”

“What are you babbling about now, Miss Frankenstein?” spouted the landlord.

“I’m sorry. The car accident does make me forget to tell people things,” Paula replied. “When I was talking to the district attorney about possible criminal charges related to your malicious self-help eviction, I might have suggested that he check you out. It is only an educated guess that those men are police detectives coming to ask you some questions regarding your various aliases and acquaintances.”

Paula explained that this man was trying to lay low here after decades of illegal activities. She had only hinted at the possibility of this man having a very close resemblance to a man wanted in multiple states. It didn’t matter regarding this rental house because he didn’t even own it, only collected the rent. He took his cut off the top before sending the rest to the owner. The owner then paid the man for his services. That wasn’t illegal at all, just sleazy.

Karwin and Becky both showed up looking cute as hell in overalls, sports bras, work boots, and ballcaps. Someone handed them a bucket of cleaning supplies, a mop, and a toilet brush. I doubt that Karwin had ever needed to clean anything in her life, but I was sure that Becky had been doing chores her whole life, like the other kids in my old neighborhood. More kids arrived a few minutes later.

One of Chrissy’s friends went to the same school as Cici. She rushed over to pull Cici into a hug. I noticed that she was assigned to get Cici’s clothes changed and ensure that her birthday gifts were well-secured in my trunk. A few minutes later, Cici stood dressed in shorts, a t-shirt, and sandals.

Molly had to have found out what was going on because Dad called me to say that our old house had been readied for Camden’s family even though they decided later to stay with Chrissy. All the beds were made up. My old room was slightly modified to allow the partition screen to be down for privacy but allow access to the bathroom. They had reconfigured the apartment above the garage to let Camden have a private space with her kids. Dee and Tee were going to take the old guest room. It was move-in ready.

The kitchen is now partially stocked with basic staples like milk, eggs, bread, peanut butter, and similar items. Mom texted me to say that she had the company keep the garage refrigerator filled to have them stock it up with quick grab things. She wanted to make sure that I knew that the bathrooms had toilet paper, female items, and plenty of towels. We had left the washer and dryer there, so no need to worry about that.

By seven o’clock, we had their rental house cleared out and cleaned from top to bottom. People told us to go on to my old house to help get this family settled. They had made sure the clothes for each person got packed where they could be sure to get to the bedroom each one chose. They did have school tomorrow.

I got my old house before them and parked in Chrissy’s driveway. When I opened the door, I got hit with the smell of something great for Cici’s birthday dinner. Everyone else stayed back as I took the family into the house.

“You don’t have to do what I say, but it is still Cici’s birthday. I can only guess that someone found out her favorite meal and made sure to have it here, hot and ready, for when we arrived,” I told them as I guided Cici to her spot at the table. “Sit down and enjoy dinner. My mom said the bedrooms and bathrooms are all ready to go. The kitchen has some staples, and the fridge in the garage has stuff for hungry teenagers. I don’t know if you have any bathing suits, but the pool cage has privacy windows if you want to swim in underwear or nude. My brother and sister swam nude daily since they were babies. The pool system is fully automated. If it runs out of something or needs maintenance, the pool people will come out to take care of it. They have some way of remotely monitoring it.”

My mom had walked in at some point and said, “The changing area next to the pump house is for girls and women only. It remains stocked with bathing suits of all shapes, sizes, styles, and colors. Just step into the scanner. The screens on the wall will tell you which ones will best fit you, how they will look on you, and where you might need to make some adjustments. Guys will find a pretty good assortment in the unisex changing and shower area next to the garage.”

“Tonight is all about Cici. You only become a teenager once. For now, Cici gets the bigger room and bathroom to the right. It was David’s old room. The bathroom has multiple toilets and vanities, plus the biggest closet in the house. Your son will have more than enough room to spread out in our old guestroom, or you can let him have the apartment over the garage. For tonight, the people outside will ensure he has a few days of clothes and school uniforms. Cici’s clothes weren’t strewn all over her room, unlike your son’s clothes,” dad told them. “David will come over in the morning with a few of his friends to help see if they can work through the crap dumped on you out of spite. I’ve volunteered him to sleep on the couch tonight to ensure you have anything you might need. I also want to ensure that none of your malicious associates attempt to harm you here.”

Mom went on to tell Cici’s parents, as Cici and her brother were doing their best to stuff their faces as fast as they could, that we already had gotten the house ready for Camden’s family. She explained that plans changed and so they were free to stay here for now. Most of their things were already in the garage.

How is it that our garage is almost as large as the entire house they lived in before?

Cici’s dad told my parents, “Can you tell the people that came to help us to donate or throw away the old furniture? We haven’t bought anything new for a long time and what we have was at least third hand when we got it. My kids prefer sleeping on the floor to their beds. I’m not trying to defend my son’s messy habits, but he didn’t have many places to put his clothes, so he piled them where he could find. I don’t know what we did to earn such kindness from strangers, so don’t take me looking a gift horse in the mouth.”

“I wouldn’t expect you not to question what the catch is here,” dad told him. “That is a matter for tomorrow. Right now, you have a daughter having a birthday. Sorry about David deciding to invite himself. It is a good sign. He had some issues around birthday parties when he was young.”

Once dad finished talking, he insisted the parents sit down to Cici’s birthday dinner. I needed to do some heavy lifting.

“It is nice that you are helping them out, even if your kindness resulting in others being assholes,” mom said. “Molly sent us some stuff about the family that told us what we needed to know to not worry about them staying in our old home for a while. Both parents are honest, hard-working, and friendly people. Their kids have had straight A’s since the school started giving them letter grades. Other than the usual sibling stuff, both kids do a lot to help their friends out. Be yourself, David. You have great instincts about people and who will appreciate your help. Get Cici’s parents to take the day off tomorrow and not worry about anything if you can. Your mother and I know very well of the bitches that pulled this crap today. They dumped on the wrong family for the last time. As odd as it seems these days, you don’t happen to own the company where Cici’s dad worked. The place is a lot like where I used to work. Your accident led to your mother and I both getting out of the hells where we worked, so it is our turn to pay it forward, or whatever that expression is these days.”