Chapter 1 #2
“Mark my words, she’ll be good for you. Get you out of the house, too.
” He would admit that he’d been spending too much time in the house of late.
It seemed to be too cold out to do much more than run to the mailbox for the mail and back in the house.
He’d even been working from home a lot more because he didn’t want to deal with people.
Not that he hated people, but he would rather be alone than anything else.
His cell was ringing when he got back to his office after having a sandwich of bologna and cheese.
“He’s here.” He knew the whispered voice, and he was suddenly terrified for Carrie. “He’s at the desk in the lobby of the hotel I’m staying at, giving them a hard time about not allowing him to know if I’m here or not.”
“I’m on my way. Where are you?” She told him how one of the clerks had met her at the front door to tell her not to go in. “Good for them. Stay put, and I’ll be there in about twenty minutes.”
He was never so grateful to catch all the green lights as he’d been today.
He called the police as soon as he got into his car.
As soon as he pulled up in front of the hotel, she got into his car and told him to drive.
He was more than happy to do that for her and made his way down to the next block just as she noticed that Syble was walking down the street too.
“We’ll get them both now, and then we can start the process of a hearing.
I have everything that I need to get them put in jail for the rest of their lives.
” She asked about her mother. “She’ll be fine where she is.
I just hope that once these two are off the streets, things will go better for you now. ”
“I’d like that.” She watched as her sister stopped people on the streets, no doubt asking if they’d seen her.
“It would be easier on them if they had a job for all the work they put into not having to work, I’d think.
What exactly are we having them arrested for?
I meant to ask you that before, but I was just so happy that someone was getting them out of my hair that I forgot. ”
“Forgery is the biggest one. They signed the back of your mother’s government check when it came in before you could get to it.
” She asked him if there was anything else.
“Yes. Mostly, it’s petty stuff that will have them serving jail time, but the biggest one is, like I said, forgery.
Not to mention stealing from their own mother and you so that you couldn’t take care that she had what she needed. ”
“I’m so grateful to have them off the streets that—look, there’s the police.
” They watched as Syble was arrested. She would get resisting arrest, too, if he didn’t miss his bet.
The way that she was fighting with the officers who had her was enough to make him feel sorry for them.
He was glad when she was handcuffed and put into the back of the cruiser.
“She went a lot harder than I thought that she would. I wonder what she said to them. I can imagine that it wasn’t all that nice. ”
Driving to park across the street from the hotel, they pulled up in time to see Allen being arrested as well.
He looked a little bloodied and worse for wear, but he was in cuffs too and on his way to sitting in the back of the cruiser that had come for him.
He’d never been so glad to see someone arrested as he was the two of them.
He knew that he’d sleep better tonight just knowing that they were off the streets and in custody.
Now all he had to worry about was if Zander would be able to use what he’d found about them to put them away for a while.
“I don’t know how to thank you for this.” He said it had been his pleasure, and it had been. “I can go back to my place and sleep better tonight. Just knowing that they’re going to be going to jail for a little while makes me feel so much better.”
“I understand that. It’s been a long time in coming.
” It had only been about three weeks, but it felt like forever to him as well.
“I can help you pack up if you want, and I’ll take you home.
You will still need to be careful until the trial.
I don’t see them getting out to cause more damage, but you never know about the judge that is coming through to hear the pretrial things that are set up about them. ”
“I’ll be careful. I don’t know that I know how to be anything but careful.
Now I can go and visit my mom without worrying about them finding out where she was.
” He told her that he’d take her now if she wanted to go.
“No, you’ve done enough for me today. Just knowing that you were coming to get me made me feel so much better. ”
When she got out of the car and crossed the street, he thought about what Shirley had said to him just before he left.
That Carrie would be good for him. He thought that he was doing all right for himself; he couldn’t imagine what she was talking about.
Going back to his home, he was sitting at his desk an hour later with no idea what he’d been thinking about or if he’d gotten anything done today.
He needed a nap and a good run. Both of which he was going to do right now.
~*~
Demi was having fun with his brothers. They met up at least once a week to have a good meal together, and tonight was the night.
As soon as Knox showed up, he told them that the other Jameson family had been arrested and were in jail.
He said that Carrie was moving back to her old place even as he spoke.
“You didn’t help her?” He said that he’d lent her his car to drive her things home, but she wouldn’t hear of him trying to help her pack. “She’d be like that, too. I’m betting that if you hadn’t given her your car, she would have toted things to her place on her own. She’s stubborn like that.”
“I know.” He looked at his brother and wondered why he hadn’t started dating Carrie.
As far as he could see, they’d be a perfect match.
They both liked their solitude and were smart.
There were other things that they had in common, but right now, all he could see was that they were missing out on the best time of their lives, not being together. “What are you mumbling about?”
“I was just thinking that you and Carrie would make a good couple.” He said he was the second person today to have said that to him. “Really? Who else can see you two together other than half the state?”
“My cook.” He nodded, thinking that his brother wasn’t seeing what they could all see.
That they really would make a perfect couple.
“I’m not going to date Carrie. She’s like my little sister or something.
I’m just glad that we have a good relationship like we have right now and not have to worry about dating and stuff like that. ”
“Maybe she needs to be with Zander. Did you think of that?” He said that she’d eat Zander alive; he was just too kind for someone as ballsy as Carrie was to date. “Ballsy? I don’t see that. Now, Alex and even my wife included are ballsy, but not Carrie. She’s too delicate.”
“Really? That’s what you see when you look at her?
Christ man, have you met her family? And the very fact that she’d come out on top of them makes me think that she’s stronger than even your wife and Alex.
Shipley might be a little more so than Carrie, but I see a strong woman who has put up with a lot with her family and still has a good outlook on things in her life.
She’s also very smart and good to have in your corner. ”
“Sounds like you do like her.” Knox said that he did, but she wasn’t his type. He didn’t know what his type was, but he knew that Carrie wasn’t it. “You’re good friends too. That’s always a plus. I think you should take her out and see what sort of stars line up for you.”
“I don’t want to date her. She isn’t my type.
” When he sounded a little angry, Demi apologized to him.
“It’s all right. I’m sorry. It’s just that I know that I don’t want to date her, and having her pushed on me isn’t something that I want either.
She’s a good friend, and I’d like for her to continue to be, so I don’t want to mess it up by asking her to date me. Understand?”
“Yes, I do. And I’m sorry.” Knox waved him off, but he still felt bad about making him angry. Deciding to change the subject, he told him how the breakfast thing was going at the school. And about the teachers returning on Monday.
A month ago, seventeen teachers were given a month off without pay.
When asked for a list of things they might need for their classrooms for the end of the year, they’d gotten padded lists of things like pallets of water and microwaves.
What a second-grade class would need with a microwave is what got them to look at the lists a little better.
There were things like gift cards that they wanted to paint their rooms when they had just been painted.
Also, one of them wanted a case of paper plates and plasticware to use in their room.
The kids didn’t eat in the room, so no one could figure that out.
When it was established that they were ordering things for their own homes, the board of the school laid them off without pay for a month.
He wondered if any of them would be returning starting Monday.
David Sheen, the school principal, wanted to fire them all, but since teachers were in short supply anyway, they decided the best course of action was to give them time to reflect on what they’d done.
Demi didn’t think it would do any of them any good, but he’d not been in charge. He just did the breakfast thing.