Transformation 4

It was not a good day as it started out. My fishing partner had canceled out before I left to pick him up. He had an upset stomach. Well, the boat was hooked up behind my truck on it's trailer all loaded and ready to go, even down to bait and two lunches in the cooler. The Hell with it, I would go alone. I drove to the ramp and launched the boat.

I noticed a young boy sitting on one of the benches watching me. He came over and helped me with the boat when the bow line was caught on a piling. I parked the truck and saw he was still standing watching. I started the engines and let them warm up. I looked up and he was still standing, with his hands in his jacket pockets, watching my every move. I made sure I was all ready. He was still there.

"Would you like to go fishing with me. I won't be back until about three or four?" He nodded rapidly and hurried down the ladder into the boat. I cast off and backed out and turned the boat around. I told him to sit in the seat across from the helm. We moved slowly out of the channel toward the bay.

"Do you need to call someone and let them know where you are?"

"No, Sir, I have no one."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes sir." I thought I heard a little catch at the end. I smiled at him and said "My buddy canceled out and I don't like fishing by myself. Did you have any breakfast this morning?" He shook his head. I pointed to the cooler under his seat and told him there were Sweet Rolls in it. He got out of the seat and pulled the cooler out. He opened it and saw the rolls on top and picked one up and held it out to me. I took it and he grabbed another one. He was very slight in build and had large brown eyes and a dirty face.

I pointed to the hatch in the console and said. "There is a small toilet and a wash basin in there if you want to clean up some." He nodded again and opened the hatch and disappeared down into the tiny compartment. In a few moments he was back. His hands and face looked cleaner. I got a better look at him now as he gulped down the roll. "There should be another one in there if you want it." He shook his head but I noticed him watch every bite I took. "Hand me another one, please." He did as he was told. "Take that last one or I will have to throw it out." He did and it was quickly gone.

I glanced at him and noticed he was holding on to the arms of his seat with a death grip. "Have you ever been out in a boat before?"

He looked at me and shook his head. I made a quick decision and turned out of the channel that led towards the Gulf and headed instead down the bay. I pulled into a little cove I had been in before and stopped the boat. I flipped the anchor switch and shut the engines down.

I turned to him and said. "Son, please tell me what is going on. I can tell you haven't eaten in a while. You keep looking behind us like you are afraid we are being followed.

Maybe I can help you."

He started crying. I handed him a handkerchief. He dried his eyes and looked up at me. "I am sorry. I should never have come with you. I just had to get away. My father told me I had to sell myself to some of his friends or he would sell me to some black pimps. I said I would do his friends today. When he fell asleep I ran away. I don't know what to do. I have no money. I just can't go back."

He started weeping again. He sobbed and looked at me. "Please don't make me go back."

"How old are you?" I asked.

"Twenty. He has held me prisoner since my mother died three years ago. He wouldn't let me finish school or get a job or anything. He tore up most of my clothes and made me wear my brother's old things."

"Are you a girl?"

"Yes, I am."

"Do you have any relatives at all in this area?"

"No, my father is the only kin I have. He is not my real father, he is dead too. Let me stay with you, I can help your wife around the house, do all the housework and cleaning and cooking. I don't eat much and I can sleep in the garage or someplace."

"I don't have a wife, she died a couple of years ago. When we get home we can find out what your options are. Do you think he will be looking for you?"

"I don't think he will look long. Too much like work. He is way behind in all the bills and the house payment too. He already got an eviction notice. I am afraid of him though."

"What is your name, young lady?"

"Susanna, everybody calls me Susie though."

"OK, Susie, Do you want to go fishing or would you rather go to my place and see what we can figure out."

"I like your boat but I am a little nervous about it because I can't swim." I quickly opened a locker and got out a life preserver and helped her into it. It was a bad fit with the jacket and I suggested she take it off. She giggled and said, "I can't, I have nothing on under it. I just wanted to get away while I had a chance, Mister."

"Oh! I think we need to go to my house and get rid of the boat and find you something to wear. OK?"

"Yes, Sir."

It was just noon when we finished unhooking, washing off, and straightening up the boat. I took her in the house and led her to my spare bedroom. I dragged out a box of old clothes that had belonged to my late wife and old her to dig through them and see if anything would fit. I showed her the bathroom and the soap and shampoo. I told her to look for me in the family room when she was through.

About an hour later I heard her and looked up. Wow! She looked much better. She was not really pretty because of her face. It looked as if her nose had been broken and not set and a lip badly cut and not sewn up. Her hair was in a long, long braid down to her knees. She had on shorts and a T-shirt. Her little nipples poked out the shirt, but not very far. She looked clean and much happier.

"I got sandwiches out of the cooler and we can eat them in the kitchen. OK?"

She smiled and she looked very nice. "I would like that, Mister."

"Hey! Let's get off that 'Mister' thing right now. Call me Jim, or James, if you angry with me. OK?"

"Yes, Jim. You have been so nice to me I don't think I could ever be angry with you."

"You never know, I can be pretty mean sometimes."

For the first time I was getting good look at this girl. She was very, very thin. It didn't appear that she had been eating regularly. I took her hand and pulled her into the kitchen. I said, "It is time you started earning your keep. My sink has some dishes in it that need to be taken care of, do you know how to use a dishwasher?"

"I have never used one, could you show me what I need to do?"

I checked her out on all the kitchen equipment. I told her to sit at the little kitchen table where I ate all the time and placed one of the sandwiches in front of her with a glass of milk. She looked up at me and a tear ran from her eyes, "Thank you Jim, no man ever served me before."

I grinned at her, "Don't get to liking it too much, it may never happen again. Please eat very slowly so you do not get sick. Don't feel you have to eat it all, there will always be plenty of food for you here." She cried some more. I sat and ate my sandwich with her. I got her to eat slowly and savor the flavors of the different things in the sandwich as she chewed each bite. I asked her to see if she could tell me what all the ingredients were. She did pretty well. She said she hadn't had a glass of milk in years. She had forgotten how good it was.

"Sue, you told me you could cook. What do you know how to cook?"

"To be honest, not very much, but I learn very fast. I used to love to watch the cooking shows on TV until Dad sold it for beer money. I can make omelets, hamburgers, and any thing from a box or, for that matter, I am very good at following directions. If I have the recipes and the ingredients, I can make it."

"That sounds great. If you feel up to it you can make dinner for us tonight. Look in the refrigerator, and the freezer, and in the pantry, over there, and see if there is anything that you can come up with. Also if you have favorite things you like to fix and we don't have the things you need to make them, start a list. There is paper and a pencil over there on that board. Now, I see you have eaten over half of your sandwich, are you still hungry?"

"Not really, It was very good wasn't it?"

"I can see your eyes drooping a bit young lady. I want you to go take a nap for a while. OK?"

"Yes, Jim, I didn't sleep at all last night."

"I'll call you in a few hours."

While Sue slept I called my fishing buddy Jonas Lambert and he said he was feeling better. I told him about my day and asked if he could come over in a couple of hours and give me some professional advise. Jonas is a renowned Plastic Surgeon specializing in facial reconstruction.

I woke Susie about four and asked her if she would please come out. I had someone I wanted her to meet. She was out in a minute or two. I introduced her to Jonas and told her he was a doctor. He asked her to please step in the kitchen where the light was better. He looked at her face very carefully for about ten minutes from every angle. Then he grinned at her, "Who would you like to look like? Brittany Spears?"

"Me, look like that?"

"If that is what you want. If I fix your nose and your lips, and if you get a little meat on your bones, perhaps a breast augmentation, you are going to be beautiful anyway."

"I have no money."

"Each year I do ten free operations on girls, because my wife suffered for ten years with a face so bad she had to wear a mask at all times. Yours is not that bad but I know you suffer every time you look in a mirror."

"I just don't look at myself any more." She turned and looked at me, "Why, why are you doing this for me?"

"I really don't know, except that I can see a lovely, sweet girl who has had a life of hell and I guess I just had to try and rescue you."

"I will never be able to thank you enough."

"If you are happy, and have a good life, that will be thanks enough. OK?"

Susie started crying.

Jonas said, "Hey! Sweetheart don't do that or you will have old Jim here weeping too! He can't stand girls crying."

"He is not old, don't say that!"

"Yes he is. He is almost as old as dirt. But I don't know of a finer man anywhere. I never try to keep up with him, he runs five miles every day."

"Why thank you Jonas, that was nice of you to say that."

"Where is my money, you said you would give me ten bucks if I said that."

Susie was giggling by then. I loved to see the girl laugh or smile.

After Jonas left she said she was going to fix dinner, what time did I like to eat. I told her I usually ate about six or seven, but that I was pretty flexible about it. I heard her rambling around in the drawers and cupboards. I walked in and asked if I could tell her where something was.

She smiled at me and said, "No! If I have to look for it I'll remember better where it is and where to put it when I am through with it. You have everything! This is fun for me, I love it. This house is just like a TV show or a movie. Everything is perfect."

"Call me if you need me."

I watched the news and was pleased when she came in the family room and sat on the couch with me. She asked if she could get me a beer or something. I said I was going to fix myself a highball and asked if she would like one. She looked at me and said she didn't know what that was. I got up and walked to the little wet bar. I filled two glasses with ice and measured a double shot of Captain Morgan in one and a very short shot in the other. I got a half a lemon out of the little refrigerator and squeezed some in each glass. I added water and handed her the weak one. I watched as she took a tentative sip from her glass. She looked up and smiled, "Mmmm, that is good, very tasty."

I grinned, "Have you ever had liquor before?"

"No, my dad wouldn't waste it on me. It won't make me drunk and mean like it did him will it?"

"I don't think so, I made yours pretty weak. If you start to feel it make you dizzy or anything don't drink any more. I never drink more than one a night. I hate getting drunk. And I do not like being around drunks." She looked at me and put the drink down.

"I don't want to like it. Do you have something non-alcoholic I could have. Something not too sweet. I don't like Cokes."

"There is a gallon jug of lemonade in the refrigerator in the kitchen. It is sugar free, made with real lemons and artificial sweetener. See if you like that." She jumped up and I heard her pour the drink down the sink and she was back shortly with a full glass.

"I love this, you will have to teach me how to make this. Do you drink a lot of it?"

"Yeah, I guess I do. The next jug I make will be orangeade. Then there is a peach flavored powdered drink I like too!"

We watched the weather, looked good for tomorrow. Sue got up and went and checked on dinner. She was gone a while then she called and said dinner was ready.

She had the plates on the table and told me to sit down and she would bring the food. She brought a plate with hamburger patties, a plate of French fries and two small salads of lettuce and tomato slices. There was a gob of garlic mayo for a dressing. I served my plate and passed things to her as I was through with them.

I tried the meat patty and was surprised at how tasty it was, it was delicious. The fries were nice and crispy and the salad was excellent. I told her she was now the chief cook and dish washer in my house. She smiled at me and said, "I am really glad you liked it. I saw it on a cooking show a couple years ago."

"And you remember it now?"

"Sure, I can write down any recipes I have seen on any show. I remember them all."

"Do you remember a recipe for Grouper?"

"Oh! My, yes I do. Several of them. One was on Emeril Live for Grilled Grouper. Do you want to hear it?"

"Yes, I wonder how close it is to mine."

"OK. It is an old Louisiana recipe.

It has 4 Tablespoons of melted butter

3 Cloves of garlic, minced

1 Tablespoon finely grated Parmesan

1 Tablespoon Essence

4 Tablespoons olive oil

1 3 ½ to 4 pound Grouper, fillets removed, scales

Intact

¼ Cup finely chopped fresh herbs such as tarragon,

Thyme, basil or chives.

Do you want the ingredients for the Essence too? Or the cooking directions?"

"No, Sweetheart, that is fine."

"I know about five more Grouper recipes if you want them."

"Do you remember everything you see?"

"Oh! No. Only things I want to remember, unless it is written down, then I remember it."

"Very interesting. I wish I could do that."

"I like to remember special nice things, like how nice you were to me today in your boat. I ruined your whole day of fishing and you were still sweet and as nice as can be. I will never forget that."

"Let me help you clean up and we can sit down and talk some more."

"No way. You go sit down and let the chief cook and dishwasher handle it."

When she came and sat down I could see she was tired again. I told her we would buy her a few more things in the morning. I told her to go to bed and get some rest. She left and I heard the shower running. A few minutes later she came in the room and said, "Jim, may I kiss you good night?"

I stood and said "Sure Sweetie, come on over." She pulled my face to hers and gave me a sweet, sweet kiss on the lips.

"Thank you, I haven't had a goodnight kiss since my mother died."

"You can have one every night, Dear girl, sleep well!"

The next morning after a very nice breakfast and my run we went to town to Wal-Mart and bought her every thing I could think of she needed, jeans, shorts, undies, tops, swim suit. sneakers, a nice dress or two, heels, flats, and lots of other stuff. Then I gave her fifty dollars to spend on personal things and told her to meet me in the grocery section. She was there in short order and helped me pick up things for a bunch of dishes she wanted to fix for me.

The next several months were very educational for both of us. I learned she was a very talented person, often in unexpected fields. She was an accomplished automotive mechanic. She had ten years of experience working for her stepfather in his repair shop, the last three years she had done most of the work herself. She had a beautiful voice and loved to sing while she worked. She could sing any Country song you could think of. I showed her how to use my computer and in two months she was teaching me better ways to do things.

We never fussed or had any friction between us. She put on weight and her face and body filled out in all the right places. She would run with me in the mornings for about half my distance. She was a complete delight to be around. She was receptive to anything I told her and if she didn't agree she would think about it for a bit then tell me her opinion. She was correct in her ideas most of the time. Her most, to me, amazing talent was her ability to diagnose engine problems by just listening to them. I never saw her miss in her solution to the problem with a engine.

The first time I ran across this ability of hers was one morning I was trying to get my lawn tractor to run. It would start OK, but it would stall when I added power. I started it for the tenth time when she came into the garage and listened to it run for a second. She said, "Your plug wires need to be replaced, and probably the plugs too! You are getting cross firing when you add power." I stared at her for a moment. She turned and went back in the house. I remembered I had several plug wires left from a six cylinder kit I had to buy to fix my old four cylinder jeep. I changed the wires and the damned tractor purred like a kitten. She opened the kitchen door and grinned at me for a second and went back in. Later I came to almost believe she could lay her hands on an engine and it would be healed.

She went to work on my old wreck of a Jeep. It hadn't run right in years. She removed the engine and I helped her rebuild it. I was good for lifting things and going for parts I guess. She rebuilt the transmission and transfer case. She did things to the running gear too. When it was done we went for a ride. I couldn't believe how well it ran. She said she would do the body work next. She did.

I fell in love with her. I didn't want to. I hated the way I lusted after her. I knew it would never be. I was twenty five years older the she was. I knew she didn't know how I felt. It was a problem I struggled with mightily.

Finally Jason called one morning and asked me to bring Susie to his office for an examination in preparation for her operation. We went two days later and I sat in the waiting room most of the day. Jonas called me in his office.

Sue was sitting in a chair and smiled at me when I entered.

Jonas said, "I wanted to go over our plans with you. We have come up with this picture of what we can do for her face. He hit a key on his computer keyboard an a large screen monitor came on with a picture of Susie, she was beautiful, her lips were smooth and her nose was straight and very cute. She had some scars around her eyes that were gone too! Then Jonas discussed it with us. I had met his wife, Savanna, many times. She was a really gorgeous woman.

He hit another key and her picture came on the screen. She was nude from the waist up. What a beautiful face and body. He hit a key again and another picture came on. It was the same pose but in this one she only had half a face an only part of one breast. She looked really hideous. "This is what my wife looked like when I met her." I couldn't believe him. Wow!

I looked at Susie she was crying. I placed my hand over hers. She looked at me. "How can he do that?"

"Susie, this is what he does. He makes girls beautiful again."

Jonas just grinned and showed us a picture of Susie nude. Her body was not very feminine. Her breasts were very small being mostly just nipples. Her waist and hips and her legs were very nice. She had little or no ass.