Chapter Two
First month goes by.
She is very happy, loving the set up, it has been a long time since life gave her a break.
Her job is decent, she is a receptionist at a contracting company in town. Due to extensive work done by the contractor in government institutions, all staff had to be bonded and to sign non-disclosure agreements, vis a vis, anything involving the institutions. She is known as a friendly, willing to help, coworker but never stayed late or attended any after hour functions.
Everyone knew about her child but no one knew about her past. She was accepted, paid every Friday and actually happy with her position in life.
She met with Mr. Black each Sunday on the porch at four. They chatted, she shared more and more about her past, her life, her son. She began to see Mr. Black as a kindly, confident, older man, who seemed to care for her and Brian, she was actually happy. Black was easy to talk with and wasn't exactly hard to look at either. Maybe a little old for her tastes but not at all bad. 'A small bonus', she thought.
On the Thursday, of her fifth week under Mr. Black's roof, a package was delivered by a certain PI, to the owner of the contracting company.
He informed the owner that he was hired by the government to look into recent bond applicants. He showed the owner some photos and suggested the young lady involved in the photos may not be an appropriate employee. The owner agreed, called her into his office, showed her the pictures and explained the situation.
She tried to justify it but he wouldn't hear it. He was sorry but he wasn't about to lose the D&D work because of her. She should have made better choices in her life. She was terminated on the spot.
She cried all the way home the injustice of the world! Where had the photo come from? Was it even her? She couldn't remember any photos being taken when she was high. Then it hit her, Ronnie! That nerdy asshole was always hovering in the background. He took the photo she remembered. Terry, her baby's father, has just said something very funny, as she lifted her head having sputtered in laughter, sending the lines of coke flying and escalating everyone's laughter until their sides hurt and some were gasping for air. She had forgotten about Ronnie and the photo. 'Fuck! How stupid!'
Turning up the driveway and stopping in front of the big house, she was afraid she would not make next week's rent. She didn't want to have to move out. He had said come and see him if there was going to be any problems.
Answering his screen door, he said hello and looked at her inquisitively. She burst into tears as he reached forward to support her slowly crumbling body, into a two-arm embrace and holding her to his chest as he let her cry it all out.
He felt for her. Her anguish over the unfairness of the world. The bastard who shared the photo. She asked what she was going to do. His first thought was, 'pay your rent', but as he slowly rubbed his hands up and down her back, from shoulders to just the middle of her back, he assured her she would get another job quickly. She snuggled in closer. She needed someone to care.
"But what about next week's rent?" she asked as they separated and she stood in front of him, her mascara a mess, her makeup in streaks, her nose running and she was sniffing to hold back the drips, she needed a tissue and looked in the moment like a drowning little kitten.
"Do you have any ideas in mind?" he asked. She had no ideas. He suggested she start getting her resume out to prospective employers as soon as possible. She indicated she didn't know where to start.
She said she would see what she could find from local want ads. He suggested it could take a little time to find a new job and earn her pay check but she should get right onto the job search.
He added, "Ms. Radner, you have this week's pay check to cover next week's rent. This gives you the week to find a new job. Were I you, I would get started on the job search today."
Jen agreed appreciating his support. She got up and went back to her place to update her resume and begin the search.
Jen tried very hard all the next week, knocking on doors around town, hoping, praying, someone would give her a job but no luck at all. There just weren't a lot of jobs in a town of twenty thousand, for a young girl that hadn't even graduated high school and now had a reputation for drug use. The picture had been seen by everyone at her old place of work. Word spread.
Sunday arrived and Jen had to meet with her landlord. She had to beg forgiveness and ask for more time. She was sure she could find something next week. He was a kind man so he would understand.
Mr. Black was actually not very receptive to her request for time. He asked if she had any other thoughts. He gently prodded her until she arrived at the idea of doing some yard work for him in lieu of rent.
The landscapers had done an excellent job around the property but it was time for some up keep. Hedges could be trimmed, gardens weeded, grass mowed, there was a good week's work there. Black had employed a service to attend to those needs but on renting to Jen he had dismissed the yard contractor for just this opportunity.
They worked out an hourly agreement to allow her to earn enough to buy groceries and make minimal payments on her other bills and pay next week's rent over a forty-hour week. She went home almost happy until she realized that she would have to let Elsa go. The government wouldn't continue the subsidy if Jen couldn't show a pay stub.
They both agreed that when she found a new job, she would immediately ask for Elsa back. It was a tearful separation.
On her way out to her car, Mr. Black asked Elsa if she would be interested in babysitting once in a while. Elsa responded saying she certainly had a soft spot now for little Brian and if needed, yes, she would love to come by now and again to look after the little fella. Both Jen and Mr. Black were pleased.
The next morning, at the agreed to start time, Jen was out pruning the shrubs. In bare hands, an old man's shirt and jeans. He called her up to the house, "Nope, I just can't do it", he informed her.
He was sitting on his deck and she was standing at the foot of the three steps up looking straight up at him. She was wondering what he was talking about. "I have to get some fun out of this, too, otherwise, I am just an old fool," he offered.
"You see, Jen, while you are out there doing a wonderful job earning the money to pay the rent, I still have to come up with the money you're earning, money out of my own pocket, in order to actually pay the bills resulting from your living here.
Mortgage, utilities, taxes all have to be paid weekly, you know this because we set it up together. So, although you are helping by straightening out the yard, which I sure appreciate, at the end of this week, I will be out the four-hundred-dollars in rent money plus your other expenses, rather than up your standard rent payment. Understand?"
She understood his reasoning so was nodding her head with his statement while constructing counter arguments and wondering where this was going. Her anxiety level was climbing.
"So, I will not be receiving your four-hundred dollars but actually paying out four-hundred dollars and not having much fun in return, that's a thousand-dollar swing," he finished off.
"But the yard is going to look a lot better," she countered.
"Yes," he allowed, "but if that was important to me it would already be done," he added.
She was nodding again, searching her mind for a new argument when he continued on, "So, I should like to have fun spending my four-hundred-dollars, wouldn't you agree, Jen"?
'Ok', she wondered again where this was headed. He was just looking into her eyes as she blinked.
