It was like my normal Saturday I was out cutting the two-acre lot with a push lawn mower for my dad's boss. It was an eight to ten-hour job back then which paid me a whole ten dollars. At ten years old I thought it was good money. This year was my third and last summer. I was now getting fifth teen dollars. The boss's wife said I was getting too old. My dad had even paid for the gas. It would take me years before I found out why.
The boss's daughter who was about my age would often come out and sit on a chair on the patio and watch me work. I kind of found that odd. If I needed a drink of water, I would get it from an outside water hose. I never knew her name I never asked. I was a working stiff just like my dad and she was considered part of the upper class. Her fathers' home was built on snob hill where all the rich families lived. When I was done, I would knock on their back door and one of the kitchen staff would call my dad to get me a ride home. The following Monday when my dad got home, he always had the money for the job I had done.
This Saturday it changed. I saw her head into their swimming pool and not come up. I ran into the area, divided into the pool fully clothed and pulled her out. A few pushes on her chest brought her around, and she started to cough. Water bubbled from her mouth. Her mother came running out in a panic accusing me of molesting her young daughter. I, in her eyes, was an evil animal. Although the girl tried to explain to her mother she wouldn't listen. She was lying. As a result, I got fired on the spot. I would finish the job that day and not come back. The sun-dried my clothes off as I finished the yard. Keith McKibbon's daughter watched me from the upper balcony.
For the rest of the day, I dreaded having to face my father. On the way home I told my father what happened. He said he believed me. Keith Mckibbon's wife he said was just looking for an excuse to get rid of me. She's a woman who has mental problems and she never leaves the house my dad said. As a result, her husband Keith had to do everything. On Monday when he came home from work my dad brought me a huge fifty dollar bill. It was the first one I had seen in my life. At the age of thirteen, I thought I was rich. When I asked him why my dad said it was a bonus from his boss for saving his daughter's life. Remember son that what you say and do can be verified by someone else. It was the truth that won out in this situation.
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Keith Mckibbon noticed the bruises on his daughter's body that she was trying to hide. They had started appearing about six months after her marriage to Evan McBride. Evan was a brute of a man born with a silver spoon because his family was old money. Evan was smart he never hit her where it could not be hidden by clothing. He himself had discovered what was going on by accident. Evan could never appreciate the value of an honest day's work.
His daughter Irene was as stubborn and mule-headed as he was, and she would not admit even to him what was really going on. The simplest of things could be the trigger that set Evan off. Everything he did went to the extreme. He thought he was above and better than anyone else. It was noticeable in everything he did. Keith has sworn a vow to himself he would get his daughter out of the nightmare she called a marriage. He saw it for what it was enslavement. The question bothering him for weeks was how could he accomplish it?
What she had seen in him he did not know but no matter what she was trying to stay in the relationship that she didn't deserve. She was old school; she had made her bed and would stay in it. Sadly, she had learned that value from him because of his walk in life. What she needed was a white knight to push her thinking and change her point of view. He knew of one but that had been years ago. Since then they had drifted apart not by choice but by the circumstances of life.
His former wife had seen him as nothing but someone with no class and had treated him as nothing more than a servant. He had wondered how a boy so young could take it stride while doing the job he was hired to do for so long. He was the only boy he had ever hired to cut his lawn that he did not have to follow up with the Weed Wacker to trim the edges.
It came to him during the darkness of night. He woke up with the knowledge staring right in front of him. The white Knight from his daughter's childhood was single and working in the capital according to his father. His father was a group leader in one of the plants he owned and was one of the shop stewards for the Union. He had worked his way up from a floor sweeper over the years and was a valuable employee. Everyone in the plant respected him.
He would promote Bill Davis to management and throw in a five year paid membership to the Meadows Golf Club which was needing an influx of fresh blood drastically if it was to survive. Once a month the club held a free dinner to welcome the new members and their guests. It would be easy to suggest that Bill should invite his son. It was a gamble but one worth trying.
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I never saw Keith Mckibbon at his home I had only met him a couple of times in my life. We both had gone on with our lives. I was working in the capital of the state in a junior accounting position with a national firm having graduated from university three years ago as an accountant majoring in corporate mergers. Like all newbie's I was stuck doing the grunt work behind the scenes.
It was the last day of the week when I received the unexpected phone call from my father. He wanted to know if I could come home to attend a function at the Meadows Golf Club. The exclusive club was for members only and their guests. To get a membership you had to be approved by the board. For years it had been my father's dream just to see the inside of the building. Membership fees were about two thousand a year back then. For him, it was a lot of money. He could never see himself justifying the expense as raising his children came first. I knew for him this was big.
I asked him how he got into that place. My dad said Keith Mckibbon has just promoted me to management and it comes with a fully paid membership. Dad and Mom were expected for a welcome dinner for new members and their guests at seven tomorrow night in the club's restaurant. Afterward, it was assumed they would attend the ballroom dance. Formal attire is required so please can you come. I was tickled to be asked but I had other plans. It would be my first date in months.
My dad said your Mother and I would like you to be our first guest. I gave in. I said I would leave as soon as I got my formal suit and dress shoes from my apartment letting him know I would be home around midnight. I felt proud of my father's success. His years of hard work and dedication was finally being rewarded.
I would learn later that the years had not been kind to Keith Mckibbon as he was now wheelchair-bound and divorced. His date for the night was a longtime friend. The sister of his brother's wife. When I first got there with my parents before I had even sat down, I had seen him. Keith was a proud man and deserved to be treated accordingly. Out of respect for the man I had walked right up to Keith to shake his hand. His lady friend asked me how I knew him. I replied you never forget the man who gave you your first job. That seemed to bring a big smile into his face. Keith and I got into a great chat about things. I guess I helped make the dinner successful for him. His date said in a private moment while we were dancing, I have not seen him in this good of mood in months. I think it might be because of you.
We were in the ballroom that was only used about once a month. I like my father I was in awe of everything. It was an honor to be allowed into such a regal place. I had danced numerous times with both Keith's date and my mother. I was escorting my Mom back to our table when the unknown lady walked in fashionably late.
