Up until junior year of high school my life was relatively privileged. I was raised in an upper middle class home, went to private schools, vacations were spent in Barcelona and France. The only real hardship I had was when my mother died of cancer when I was eight. My father and I were devastated so when Linda came into our lives it was a blessing for both of us.
Linda was a college student who had interviewed to be my nanny. We got along well and soon it felt like she was part of our family. After a year my father began courting her and four months after she graduated college they were married. The wedding took place in France, I was the best man. We were a happy family that lived a normal life. All that changed my junior year of highschool.
The day my life fell apart started like any other day. I had tennis practice after school but it was cancelled due to a thunderstorm. So I went over to my friend's house to hang out until the rain cleared up a little. I texted my parents and told them I would probably have dinner there and come home before curfew. We sat around playing video games and listening to music.
Mike and I were an unlikely pair of friends. He was the star quarterback of our high school, half white, half hawaiian and a total heartthrob. Girls practically threw themselves at him. He held a lot of sway among our peers. Many would use that power to bully and humiliate others but Mike was respectful and nice to everyone. I would not be considered a stud but I had no problem getting or keeping a girl, my girlfriend Michelle was evidence of that. Only 5'8 I was slim but toned from tennis. I inherited my black hair and fair complexion from my mother who was Italian mixed with Japanese. Outside of tennis I was really bookish and only hung out with a few people. Many girls thought I looked exotic and found my quiet demeanour alluring.
After dinner Mike and I decided to study for an upcoming french test on Monday. During a study break our conversation turned sexual.
"Damn John! How do you not have a constant boner with Linda walking around?"
Linda was very attractive. A dark skinned black woman with a voluptuous body. She had a bit of a belly but was very beautiful and had a big butt with d-cup breast. It was becoming harder to deny my attraction to her but she was still my mom and I hated when Mike talked about her like that.
"Come on, I said, 'you know I hate it when you talk about my mom like that."
"Yeah but she's not your real mom." he replied still hounding the subject.
A look from me let him know how I felt about the conversation. He changed the subject and began talking about plans for the summer. At some point we both drifted off to sleep. I woke up to Mike shaking me and saying I was going to be late for my curfew. My curfew was set at 11:30 and it was already 11:45. I got home as fast as I could without getting ticketed or running someone over.
Before I even made it all the way up to my cul- de-sac I could see flashing red and white lights. I got out of my car and ran towards my house concerned that something had happened to my parents. A man in an FBI jacket stopped me and asked what I was doing. I told him who I was and asked him what happened. His expression changed and he told me that I could talk to mom inside.
Mom was sitting on the couch holding our pitbull, Roxy. Her head buried in her black fur. FBI agents were everywhere. I saw them walking in and out of my father's office carrying boxes of paperwork.
"Mom, what happened?''
She looked up at me with a tear stained face and stood up.
"Johnny, they're saying your dad frauded a bunch of people and stole money from his company. He won't pick up his phone and no one has heard from him."
She hugged me then. I didn't reciprocate, I felt like my body was frozen. My father a thief?! That just wasn't possible. He gave to charities, volunteered, went to church on Sundays. They either had the wrong guy or he had been set up.
"Do you think you can stay at Mike's tonight?"
Her questioned broke me out of my daze. "No, I want to wait for dad to come back." He never did.
Over the weekend the agents seized our cars and most of our assets, the bank gave us a few weeks to move out. I called my dad forty times but only got his voicemail. I also called Mike and my girlfriend Michelle several times but neither picked up. Mom wanted me to stay home from school on Monday fearing that I might be in danger. I insisted that she had nothing to fear since my father was innocent.
She didn't say anything but her expression said that she was having doubts about my father's innocence. Feeling my anger rising I turned and walked to the garage to wait for her in her car. Mom had bought her Ford with the money she earned as a social worker so that was not seized. After a few minutes she got into the car and we drove towards school. Before I got out the car she took my hand and told me to call her if I needed to come home I got out without replying.
I underestimated how bad things would be. Many of my peer's parents had trusted my dad to invest their money not steal it. While I was convinced of his innocence they weren't. As I walked across the lawn towards the building all conversation ceased as everyone turned towards me. The only word I could use to describe it was eerie.
I was met with more stares inside. Michelle was waiting for me at my locker. I was relieved to see her. When she spotted me she charged towards me. Her blond hair streaming behind her, green eyes ablaze. I went to hug her. Instead of a hug I got a slap.
"Did you know?!"
Everyone in the hallway turned to look as she started screaming.
"My dad lost all his money, all of my college fund!" Another slap, that one stung.
"He didn't do it Michelle." I tried taking her hands but she pulled away and stormed off.
The day kept getting worse. Two people stormed out of first period when the teacher refused to kick me out. I saw Mike shortly before second period and he wouldn't even look at me. His father was planning on retiring soon and had invested some money with my dad. During class one of my teammates shoved me as he was walking down the aisle. I called him out on it. A fight ensued and I walked away with a black eye and bruised knuckles.
Security guards separated us and hauled me to the office. As I was exiting my classmates were cheering and I heard someone shout "Yea, get that piece of shit out of here!" That was followed by even louder cheers. When I got to the office Linda was waiting. Apparently the school had foreseen something like this.
As we were driving back home Linda told me that she had worked out a deal with the school that would allow me to finish off the next few weeks of classes from home. She also told me she had been fired from her job due to some local newscasters showing up and making accusations of her being involved. When we arrived home they were waiting outside for us.
"Linda, is it true that you were involved in helping your husband escape the country?"
