Will
My neighbor, Terri, is a real knockout. She's about 5'3", shoulder length golden hair, beautiful green eyes, luscious lips and a body to die for. She has a thirteen year old daughter, Bess, and has been widowed for the past eight of her thirty-three years.
At eighteen she was working the perfume counter in a department store when she met her husband Cal. They married six months later. He was forty-seven, ten years divorced with two sons in college. He ran his own internet-based business and was a multi-millionaire. Neither member of the happy couple could believe their good fortune, but his two sons would have nothing to do with Terri. Sadly, Cal died of a stroke at age fifty-four. He left his business and fortune to his sons, but a generous insurance policy provided Terri and Bess with a comfortable lifestyle. Terri wasn't much of a housekeeper; a cleaning service came in once a week, a lawn service took care of the grass, shrubs and trees. Terri enjoyed puttering in her gardens, painting in watercolor, and sometimes lounging by her pool. Terri in a bikini was a sight to behold!
My wife Melinda and I moved in next door two years after Terri bought her house. Four years later Melinda confessed to multiple affairs and moved out; we hired shared a lawyer and achieved an amicable divorce. That left Terri and I as unmarried neighbors, but I was always shy around women and never dared ask her for a date. Melinda, in fact, had been the one to ask me out, and was the only girlfriend I'd ever had. I was short (5'7"), rather near-sighted and never thought I was anything special in the looks department. But I sure enjoyed looking at Terri!
We did chat, however, and one day Terri rushed over as I was getting out of my car. "Will, I'm at my wit's end! Bess is impossible! She curses me, blows up at anything, storms off to her room or out of the house. Her report card was all D's and F's this time and I've just learned she's been skipping classes. And two of the group she hangs out with got caught selling weed!"
"Oh my, Terri! You have my sympathy. I haven't a clue how to deal with a teenager."
"Apparently, neither do I." Terri sniffed and wiped a tear from her eye. "She used to be such a sweet girl." I squeezed Terri's hand; she squeezed back, said "Thanks for listening, Will," and returned to her house.
A couple of evenings later Bess knocked on my door. "Mind if I come in, Mr. Bridges?"
"Not at all, Bess. Can I get you a lemonade?"
"Yes, please."
"Come into the kitchen, then." She took a seat while I poured her glass. She took a few sips and just stared at the floor. I felt like she wanted to talk but she didn't say anything.
"Would you like to play a video game, Bess?"
"OK, I guess."
"Competitive or cooperative?"
Her head lifted. "What's cooperative?"
"You and me take on the bad guys and try to save the world."
"Sounds cool! Let's do it!"
Bess loved the game. We played for more than an hour, then I paused it and said "Bess, I'd better let your mom know where you are."
"That's OK, I probably need to get home anyway. Thanks, Mr. Bridges, can we do this again sometime?"
"Sure thing, Bess."
I phoned Terri from work the next day to fill her in; "Is it OK for her to come over like that?"
"Yes, thanks, Will. She came home in a good mood, told me where she'd been and we didn't fight for the first time in weeks that I can remember."
"Glad I could help, then."
After that Bess was over at my place almost anytime we both were home. I kept Terri posted on what we did, which was mostly video games but sometimes a TV show or movie. A few weeks later I took a day off work; I ran some errands and returned home around noon.
Terri dashed over as I got out of my car; "Will! I can't thank you enough! She's like a different person! She's doing her schoolwork, she's quit being rude and disobedient at home, she's even started to cook! I never did much in the kitchen besides use the microwave but she's been fixing breakfast for more than a week now!"
"That's great, Terri, not sure I deserve the credit but I'm glad to hear it."
Bess opened up to me one day about how she knew her former friends were bad news but she felt lonely without them. I asked about her interests; she was really quite bright and mathematically inclined. I suggested looking for some 'geeky' friends. The next Saturday afternoon she brought a short guy with thick glasses over to join our video game. After that she often had one or two friends over on the weekends. She had friends over to her own house as well, but the guys had trouble concentrating if her mom was around!
Bess's grades went from D's and F's to A's and B's. One afternoon she came by; I invited her in but she said "I need to get back, I'm cooking supper. Would you like to join us? Chicken and rice, fruit salad."
"I'd be delighted! Sounds great."
"I hope so! 6:30?"
"I'll be there!"
It was a simple but tasty meal. Conversation was limited until, remembering that Terri loved to read, I asked "Anything interesting from the library?"
"Oh, yes, I'm reading a book about the great extinction..."
Bess perked up: "The dinosaurs?"
"No, the end-Permian extinction, before the dinosaurs. More than 80% of species in the seas and 70% on land were wiped out. That actually paved the way for the dinosaurs. Before that, it was relatives of our ancestors that ruled the land -- the Therapsids."