CommunityChapter 49
- 4 years ago
- 23
- 0
Tina's turn:
"Mizz Addison, our records show you as one of the parents for Terri Addison, age nine, and home-schooled?"
"Yes, ma'am," I said into my iPhone.
"I'm with the state Child Protective Services. We're working with local school boards to follow up on home-schooling to insure that children are getting the education mandated by state law."
Okay, cool down, Tina. This might be a bit of government intrusion, but if we play it right, we won't be standing at the Concord Bridge with a musket.
"We've complied with all the requirements given to us by the school board."
"I understand that, Mizz Addison. Still, we would like to investigate a bit further if you don't mind."
Oh, but there's a part of me that DOES mind. I'm not a bomb-throwing anarchist, but I do have some resentment about this. I know that the school board, at least some of them at the office, are very well versed in the Terri-Rachel-Vicki Munchkin Mafia's education, but apparently THOSE people don't get input into whatever cesspit in the bureaucracy from which this woman is dipping.
Still, I know – "You can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar." Alan says that. And one of the other guys adds a codicil – "and shit draws more than either one." And I'm a pregnant mother engineer who doesn't need the stress.
"Okay," I replied. "How do we go about resolving your questions?"
I was hoping...
"We would like to interview and test your child..."
Okay, the 'your child' part always warms the cockles of my heart. 'Cockles' is one of those terms that Terri extracted from some reading. She dumped it on me in discussing her literature lessons. Obviously there are going to be some interesting interactions here. Like when she finds out about ME – now nineteen, pregnant (but not obviously so. You have to LOOK hard to see a baby bump) and a degreed engineer. And a mere decade older than Terri.
"Do you have a date and time in mind? A location?"
"Our normal choice of locations for the interview is your home. The testing we will do at the school board offices."
"That sounds reasonable," I said. "What day?"
"Tuesday of next week. Is that difficult?"
"No." I was already looking at the calendar.
"That would be the interview date. We can discuss a schedule for the testing at that time."
"I assume that my husband should be present as well," I stated.
"Is he the father of the child? In loco parentis?"
Okay, maybe I DO have a little evil streak. This woman seems to be operating under the assumption that I am Terri's mother and my husband is some random dude who's tagging along with ME. And sorry, lady, but a Latin legal term doesn't set me back on my heels.
"I will have him make sure that he is here. We both work. My schedule has some flexibility." And he's the CEO/chief cook/bottle washer of an engineering firm that's happily doing high seven figures worth of business this year. But I didn't tell her that. Nor did I tell her that my office is up the hall from his in our brand new building.
"The address that the school board has on file, is it current?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Tuesday at nine AM, then?"
"I just put it on my calendar."
"Thank you, Mizz Addison. I look forward to our meeting."
"Thank you, Mizz Weeks. Have a nice day." CLICK.
Next call. Mizz Greybill, the nice lady at the school board who told me that Terri wasn't going to be well served in public schools.
Second ring. "School board. Joanne Greybill. How can I help you?"
"Mizz Greybill, this is Tina Addison..."
Happy sound. "Ah, yes, the mother of Terri – what's her business card say? pTerridactyl?"
"That's me, walking in her shadow."
Little laugh. "Tina, don't try that on me. I was at YOUR college graduation. Nineteen and an engineering degree. So what's up?"
I related the conversation with Mizz Weeks. Mizz Greybill – Joanne – sighed. "Oh, yes, I knew it was coming sooner or later. Lawsuit. Kneejerk reaction. You're getting the fallout."
"Figured as much," I said. "All the requirements for homeschooling? We're good, from a legal standpoint, right?"
"You're members of that home-schooling group. They're under the umbrella of a church school that holds accreditation. Your group has two certified teachers. I think you're good. But that's not what this is about, you know..."
"I suspect..."
"That somebody's child has tried to enter a college or a workplace and has been found to be lacking, and attorneys being what attorneys are, one decided to sue the state for failure to fulfill statutory obligations to guarantee home schooling students do actually receive an education."
"And they want to interview my Terri..."
"Appears so."
"They don't KNOW, do they?"
Joanne tittered. "No, they don't. I wish I could be there for this one ... do be sure and let me know what transpires."
"I will do that. And remember, we're always open for a visit."
"Saturday night. Music. I like that one."
"Come on."
The next phone call was to give Alan the news.
"I think they see me as one of those unfortunates living in a trailer park with a brat and a layabout husband..."
"What makes you say that?"
"They called ME. And the lady seemed almost surprised when I asked if you should be present, like you were some kind of an afterthought."
"Baby," Alan said, "I can only imagine some of the situations that woman's seen."
"Yeah, but to just automatically assume..."
"So Tuesday, nine AM, then..."
"Yeah," I said. "Not a problem, right?" I can look at his schedule just as easily as he can.
"No," he replied. "And I guess we need to talk with the rest of 'em. Beck and Sim, Kim 'n' Tim. And tell the girls."
"I guess. Sim's on campus. Kim's on campus. Beck has the girls at the library ... Let's see if we can shunt the girls off at first and have an adult talk."
"D'ya think it's something to worry about?"
"No, baby," I replied. "I talked with Joanne – Mizz Greybill. She says we crossed all the 'Ts' and dotted all the 'Is' as far as state law is concerned."
"Yeah, kinda like Tennessee's 'age of consent' law. Alabama's homeschooling law caught me by surprise."
"Yeah. But we're good. And it's obvious that this lady has absolutely NO idea of Terri's intelligence."
"Then it'll be interesting," he said. "You coming back over here?"
"Yeah," I said. "As soon as I finish puking my guts up."
"I'm sorry, baby..."
"Alan, morning sickness is part of the deal."
"I still hate to see you sick."
I giggled. "You should've told me that while we were partaking of frequent unprotected sex, guy..."
"I thought I WAS protected."
"And I wouldn't've stopped anyway. 'Sides, it's getting better. Just makes me jealous that The Radiant Susan has NONE of this..."
A few more crackers and some ginger ale and I was walking to the office. Once across the parking lot behind the office, I turned and looked at our apartments. Funny. Doesn't LOOK like paradise. Is, though.
I walked in the back door, stopped in on Alan, kissed him. Yes, semi-public displays of affection when clients aren't present are okay here.
And into the office I share with Cindy. Of course, Cindy's not there. She's on campus today frightening some poor teaching assistant with the block outline of her doctoral dissertation. Susan is out with Mister Bill, doing a site visit to a substation project that's in range for a day trip.
Cindy's mom, Donna, sticks her head in the door. "Stomach givin' you fits, darlin'?" she asked.
"Oh, yeah," I say.
"Cindy did that to me for two months before it let up. Missed a period and started pukin' every morning ... How I knew she was coming."
I turn and smile at her. "Thanks for the advice about the ginger ale. Never tried the stuff until you told me."
"Just passing it on, baby," she said.
Cindy's mom. Mister Bill's wife. And Cindy's still amazed about the change.
Mister Bill, on the other hand... "Placid," Cindy says. "He always was one of those guys you'd see and think 'stability', but he's even more so now."
"You know what I think, Sis?" I asked her.
"What's that?"
"Long, tortuous path, but they're made for each other. Right place, right time..."
The lady – Cindy's mom – has turned into a pretty good fit within the community. Her work with 3Sigma goes well. We made her our documents clerk, and she's a quick study. The fact is, we still don't NEED a full-time docs clerk, and now that she's married, Donna doesn't need the money so much, so she's freed up to accompany Bill on some of his jaunts out of town.
My own mom, though –
Dear Mom-I'm pregnant. Alan and Terri and I are very happy with it.
He had a vasectomy when I met him, and we were going to try to get it reversed when I graduated college, but there's this thing called 'recanalization' or 'spontaneous reversal', where things go back together by themselves.
Since I've never so much as touched another man, I knew the baby is his. We had him tested, and sure enough, he's unfixed.
I have a lot to be happy about these days, Mom. I love being an engineer and I love being a stepmom and a wife, and I'd love to visit you and see you again.
Please write and tell me if you want to do this. You can name any day of the week, any time, and we will be there.
Love,
Your daughter Christina
And nothing. Still nothing. It's the dark spot in my life. I don't imagine that she'll ever be like Susan's mom, or Cindy's mom (the 'now' version). Still, she's my mom and even though we had a bad relationship I never wished her ill.
"Baby," Alan said one night when I was feeling down over this, "She chose that path. I didn't see her try to stop that guy when he grabbed you..."
"I know ... but I can wish, can't I. I mean, Donna..."
"Donna's a good case for never giving up," he replied. "But she's like you and Cindy and the bunch. Anomalies. Not the way to bet." He put his hand on my belly. There's a perceptible curve there, if you know to look for it. "That's why YOU will be a good mom. You ARE a good mom. Terri..."
"I love Terri."
"Terri loves you right back. And that makes me far luckier than I deserve. Because I surely adore you and her both."
I sighed, putting my hand atop his where it rested on my belly. "And this one's gonna rock the boat, you know..."
"Only in the best of ways, punkin," he said. "We will deal with this like everything else."
"I just get a little nervous. This whole thing's a whirlwind."
"It has been. I'd rather be in a whirlwind with you than in a field of serenity without you."
"Dammit, Alan!" I said, rolling over halfway on top of him. "You MAKE me love you."
"You better love me. I'm your baby's daddy."
"Hah! 'Love' has little to do with that status these days, but I do indeed love you." I slide my hand, the one that's caressing his face, down. "This still works."
"Does THIS?" he counters. His fingers stroke my pussy. "I mean, like, it's all WET!"
"Alan Dean Addison, I've been wet after crawling in bed with you since that time I went to Susan's party," I said. "And it still means the same thing. I want you." Yeah. THAT way. Because all the OTHER ways are just so right, you know. I learned that before I crawled into his bed. The 'crawling into his bed' part was the logical (and emotional) progression.
And tonight, why not? I'm NOT one of those women who are looking for reasons NOT to have sex. Nope. No way. Making love ... Not sex, making love. I've read the articles about the endorphin release caused by sexual stimulation, so if you want to attribute this to chemistry and biology, go right ahead. I look at it as spiritual ... It's a way that the Almighty allows us mere mortals a glimpse of ecstasy.
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Tina's view: Sometimes I curl up on the sofa in those rare moments when I need some 'me' time and I think about things. Mommyhood. Little girls always think of being mommies. I did until I realized that my own 'mommy' saw me as a problem to be solved. Fortunately the solution was her own mother, Grandma, who did me right. When Grandma died and I ended up with Mom again, I pretty much decided that motherhood wasn't for me, not if I had a chance of ending up like Mom and me. Rethinking...
Alan's Turn: One might imagine that in the aftermath of the restaurant robbery, things might be in a turmoil. To a certain extent, one would be right. I'm fortunate. I have immediate family, my Tina and my Terri. I have my full family, and Tina made sure that she talked with my sister about the incident. And I have the Community. "You gonna be okay, buddy?" Dan 1.0 asked. "Yeah. Am I supposed to be all weepy or something?" He shook his head. "Not like you had any choices." "You...
Dan Granger's turn: I have to laugh. I tried very hard NOT to burn bridges when I left my old job. It paid off. Steve called. "Hey, Steve, what's up?" "You ready to come back?" "Not funny, Steve." "Seriously. One of our clients specifically asked if we'd subcontract you so you can come in and do some stuff for him." "What and when?" Steve gave me the run-down. I wasn't too surprised. Big facility. I'd done a similar scope for part of it prior to moving to Alabama. Now...
The World According to Susan: I am officially ready for a break. It's almost Christmas. I almost hide when I see my math professor. That's okay, though. He almost hides when he sees Cindy. Jason's right there with me, though. He's tested out of some classes and he's gotten transferred credits for a lot of things he took for his technology degree and if he does a summer semester next summer, he just MIGHT squeeze his way onto stage with the rest of us. I hoping. He deserves it. We work...
Cindy's Turn: I finished, well, actually WE finished a Skype session with Kara. This time it was me and Nikki and Kara. I turned to Nikki. "She's a sister, you know. Should be part of the Community," Nikki said. I'm glad Nikki said it first. I don't want everybody to think I'm running this show. I'm certainly not malicious or anything, but everybody contributes in this effort. "How do we make it happen?" I asked. "She's music, not engineering." "We had Mizz Patel handling...
Bill Carmody's turn: Interesting turn of events, I think. Two years ago I had Dan Richards on my power plant project. I knew him and Alan Addison from a previous power plant project where we were engineers, all three of us, on the same project. They're technically beyond reproach. Now I'm on THEIR payroll. 'Their' is, of course, 3Sigma Engineering. We're redoing several rural substations in Georgia. I ride herd on contractors, mainly, and make sure that they adhere to plans, and I...
Bill Hardesty’s turn: I’ve just become Bill 3.0. Cindy officially conferred the status upon me. “Bill 1.0’s my adopted dad. Bill 2.0’s Haley’s husband in Louisiana. Since you’re part of this now, you shall be Bill 3.0.” Which is fine, except to Herself, the Vickster, I’m ‘Billy’. “Cindy said you were ‘Billy’ when she first met you.” “I was. I like to think that I’m mature enough to be ‘Bill’ now.” Sparkly eyes. “Not ‘William’?” “Bill.” Snicker. “Billy.” That snicker is one reason I’m...
Beck’s turn: First thing I did when we got home is call Mom. “Hello, my lost daughter,” Mom said, using her best ‘poor me’ voice. “Did somebody go into the hospital? It is not yet Saturday.” “Mom, your GRAD-daughter...” ““GRAND daughter,” Mom corrected. “My grand-daughter the millionaire...” “Your grand-daughter the research scientist...” “What has become of her now?” “She’s holding a letter in her hands that says she’s graduated college with a degree in engineering.” “My...
Teresa’s turn: Mom’s totally destroyed. I’m standing on a pedestal, a seamstress, a REAL seamstress, is taking measurements for my wedding dress. “Mom, stop crying, for heaven’s sake...” “Every time I think about you getting married,” Mom sobbed. “It’s the expected progression in life. Grow up, leave home, get married...” “Finish college is in there somewhere,” Vicki said. She’s my co-conspirator. We’re getting married the same day. She’s tagged my little brother, a big surprise, since...
Susan's turn: I'm waiting for the aliens to show up. Here's how I figure it will break down. Nikki and Cindy will work with Terri and Rachel on the Star Wars squirrel denial system. They'll actually GET that 95 gigahertz transmitter, and in the process of modulating its output so that it only severely annoys squirrels instead of cooking them on the spot out there in the yard, they'll transmit a signal into space where it will be picked up by an alien spacecraft. The aliens will come...
Bill Carmody’s turn: Yesterday’s wedding was a delight, especially watching my NEW daughter (!) and Cindy, my original daughter, looking and acting very much like twins. Can’t help but grin, just thinking about it. Both of ‘em have a little fire in their eyes, and when they’re together, you can nearly SEE the sparks flying between them. Couldn’t have asked for a more unlikely development, right up to matching green dresses they bought together for the wedding. And my phone buzzes --...
Tina's turn: "What's so funny?" my husband asked. "Stoney and Jo are coming back and they're still flyin' that Pitts." "Did they buy it?" "She says 'no', but two trips, you gotta wonder." I giggled. I know the real reason. A combination of scheduling conflicts and weather had kept us from holding the weekend airport social and landing contest. The social, however, now had a few outside participants. I mean, it was bound to happen. We don't exist in a vacuum. On any given...
Cindy’s turn: 0700 for a wake-up. The alarm caught me when it went off. Sometimes I’m drifting between sleep and awake, but not this morning. I finally got to sleep, found out that Dana’s a kicker, so I kicked back. When the alarm went off, I let it roll for a bit, listening to the whines and other sounds of the gang waking up. I killed it, turned to get out of bed, but was a bit slow. I saw a T-shirted Rachel flash by muttering “bathroom...” Well, at least with two rooms we can split the...
Tina's turn: I keep telling myself that Bot-bot is not a real pet. I only wish I knew what was going on in my little girl's mind. Parse that statement, won't you? I have a stepdaughter who's ten years younger than me, who is probably past me in some ways, academically speaking. I know she does things with technology that all of us in the community wonder about. What went on in her head that caused her to take a mobile squirrel repeller platform and convert it into a pet? Yeah, I know,...
Tim's turn: I'd be a janitor for 3Sigma after seeing how Vicki and Kim fit in here. I'm THAT happy. That whole 'divorced dad' thing is horrible. I mean, you talk with your daughter on the phone once or twice a week, trying to stay up with what's going on in her life, and then you get a week or so for Thanksgiving or Christmas and you get a few weeks in the summer. A week was BAD. I don't know little girls. Until this past year, I didn't have my own place, so we cribbed up at Mom and...
Donna's turn: Do you know how to bring on pure pandemonium in my daughter's little community? Let me tell you. Saturday nights are the big night for music. Everybody's usually there. Well, sometimes we add Stoney and Johanna, sometimes Jason and Susan are off visiting one set of impending grandparents or the other. This particular weekend, though, we're all together. Me and Bill, we have our own swing there. So we laugh and sing and dance and then there's a break and my Bill stands...
Terri's turn: I really DO love my mom. I'm speaking of my natural mom, the person who carried me for nine months, then gave birth to me. I did not and still do not understand why she left Dad for Mister Martin. I know both men and there's no comparison. Tina tells me that there are things that go on in people's hearts and heads that are not easily defined. Defined. If you define 'step-mom', it means the woman who marries your dad. That's Tina. Dictionary definitions are so...
Nikki's Turn: Mommyhood hangs over us all. Don't get me wrong, I am in no way disparaging FOUR new mommies. Let's run down the list. Susan 'n' Jason have little JW – Jason Wallace, named after him and his dad. Alan and Tina have Katherine Genevieve – after nobody in particular, but Terri is forbidden to call her Kathygen. Johanna and Stoney have Randall Stonewall, and Mister Bill and Mizz Donna have Cindy's half-sister Elise Ann, a whole two days old. I'm likely to be the next. My...
Still Nikki’s turn: I squeezed Dan’s fingers. “A bit of bad luck, this,” I said. “Baby, be so kind as to hand me my iPhone. I need to get the news out.” Dana’s turn: We’re a pretty connected group here. I mean, everybody’s always texting and posting updates during the day, so when I got one from Nikki, I knew where she was supposed to be – on campus with the munchkins. I thought I’d see another ‘you won’t believe what Terri (or Rachel or Vicki) just did’ post. It wasn’t. I’m at the...
Derek’s turn: This is trouble. Wonderful, happy, delightful, ecstatically wonderful. But trouble. I knew what was going to happen when Rachel called me to help her feed Dana’s cat. Empty apartment except for me and Rachel and the cat, and the cat gets petted while I’m sitting next to Rachel and the cat leaves and Rachel turns to me. I like kissing her. I like holding her. We talk about everything. Tara says we’re too young to have a past, but I’ve lived through a car wreck and the loss of...
Cindy’s turn: It was just another morning in the office when the phone rang and as Maddie was occupied, I answered it. “3Sigma, this is Cindy. May I help you?” “Cindy? Good, it’s you I wanted to talk to.” “Hello Mizz Patel. What’s going on today?” “Would you mind if I drive out to your office? I’d like to talk about something in private.” I noted that she didn’t have her normal happy lilt. “Of course it’s okay. You’re always welcome here.” This was unusual for her though, so I added,...
Tara’s turn: We did it. Derek and I talked. He agreed, but honestly, I’m the adult in this equation, actually his legal guardian, and he would have had to go along with my plan. However, a certain pre-teen Jewish princess seems to have gained my little brother’s eye. I think that if we HADN’T decided to move, he might’ve hitched a ride back here. The apartment. Cindy and her Dan used to live here. It belongs to the corporation. They told me I could paint it any color I wanted, but honestly,...
Dana’s turn: I’m lying in bed in that wonderful cusp between awake and asleep at the end of a very good day. Cindy’s done her presentation at NASA, and to my knowledge, they haven’t yet recruited her for a space mission. Nikki’s been, well, Nikki, and she’s a superstar in her own right, maybe a little more sane than Cindy, but those two are a binary system, both bright in a way I never witnessed until I found her sitting across the table from me and Ed one night at dinner. And...
Nikki’s turn: I managed the stress of Mom’s interaction in my life quite well, I thought, right until Mizz Donna met me at the plane and hugged me. Then the floodgates opened. “What was I supposed to do, Mizz Donna?” I sobbed. Poor Dan. He’s standing behind me, wanting to do SOMETHING. “Darlin’,” she said comfortingly, “You did the right thing. World’s full of assholes. I used to be one, so I know...” I heaved a wordless sob. Mizz Donna was hugging me, Dan’s hand was touching my...
Kara’s turn: The world NEEDS a pregnant fiddle player. That’s what I told Dear Old Dad when I broke the news to him. “Dad,” I said, “I have a wonderful, successful husband and it is only right that we present you with grandchildren.” I heard a definite sigh over the phone. My dad. I’m trying really hard to conjure (one of Johanna’s words) a vision of business-suited Dad bouncing a grandbaby on his knee. “You make me regret that I didn’t make myself a bigger part of your life, Kara...
Nikki’s turn: We’re still talking about new toys, right? Cindy was PIC for the flight back from Colorado with the new plane. Fair enough. After all, Cindy IS ‘Cindy of the Skies‘. When we landed, though, we had the entire community standing there waiting on the arrival. It’s a big deal. Cindy exited first. Me? I stood in the door, my butt still inside indescribable luxury and newness, and said, “Okay, who wants a ride?” We have seating for eight – one of their ‘executive’ options – plus...
Cindy’s turn: Tina started this volume. I get to finish it. Christmas season. Or Chanukkah, because we have a sizable Jewish contingent now. It’s been quite a good year in a million ways. Okay, SEVERAL million ways, financially speaking. 3Sigma’s original business, engineering, is now engineering and construction, and we regularly berate ourselves because we’re bursting the seams on our SECOND building since the company started. Millions going into various accounts, and some of the happiest...