It had been just another dull day at high school for 18 year old Zara. She would be graduating next month but in the meantime she was forced to listen to boring lectures all day in school. She couldn't wait to get home and change out of her school uniform's tight white blouse and green and blue plaid skirt and into a comfortable t shirt and shorts. However, when she walked into her home's front door, she was surprised to hear voices of several men, speaking in low, concerned murmurs. She peered into the dining room where she saw two men in expensive business suits sitting at the table and talking to her dad. Zara could tell right away the conversation was tense. Suddenly, all three men noticed her there and their conversation stopped. "Oh, hi, sweetheart! Home from school so soon?" Daddy asked in a cheerful tone.
Zara smiled politely and said hello to her father and his guests.
"Darling, we're just about finished up here, so why don't you go to your room and start on your homework, okay?" Zara's daddy asked keeping his cheerful voice.
Zara told her daddy, of course and politely said good bye to his associates.
She went upstairs to her bedroom like daddy told her. She loved her daddy and was very obedient. Her mother ran off years ago with the next door neighbor and was currently shacked up with him in New Mexico. It was just her daddy and Zara now.
She felt concerned about the strange men downstairs. A few minutes later Daddy knocked on her bedroom door. Zara told him to come in. He entered and sat on her bed and padded his hand next to him for her to sit down next to him.
"Who were those men, Daddy?" Zara asked.
Her Daddy sighed and then explained, his concrete business hadn't been doing so well lately. There was some new competition undercutting his estimates and some of his equipment was getting old and worn out. He was foolish and took out a private loan from some independent business men and promised to pay them back in full in six months. The time was up but he still didn't have enough to pay them back in full. He was just meeting with them to ask for some extra time.
"Are they willing to give you more time, Daddy?" Zara asked, very concerned.
"Well, at first they said no and I pretty much knew I'd have to sell our house to pay them back. But then they changed their minds when they saw you and they proposed a new deal," Daddy told her.
Zara's stomach did a flip upon hearing those men wanted to involve her into their deal. They seemed menacing from just the few minutes she was in their presence.