Balance

A young man was videotaping them. When they asked what he was doing, he informed them he had been hired by the law firm representing Mr. Dupree's interests. Anyone caught trespassing would be the subject of a lawsuit. For the first and only time, the Society left in defeat. At no time, did anyone see John Dupree that day.

For the next nine years, John Dupree, stymied the wishes of the Society and refused to celebrate the Fourth. He observed all the traffic laws while being bird dogged by the police chief. Whenever a merchant informed him that his trade wasn't welcomed, he would shrug and shop out of town. He even had people stopping him on the streets and cuss him out for being unpatriotic. He really didn't care what the Society, or anyone else was saying about him.

Eventually, even though he did not know it, he became the rallying figure to all the people chaffing under the oppression of the Society. When Barbara first moved back, she had contemplated joining John Dupree's boycott for the holiday, but, Richard had sabotaged that by a announcing he was going to run for alderman. Once again, karma had interfered with Barbara's plan to fight the Society. But she secretly cheered on John Dupree's resistance.

Shaking her head out of her reverie, Barbara told John Dupree, "No thank you, Mr. Dupree, a pain pill will not be necessary."

A wry grin showed on John Dupree's face, "So much for my reputation as a drug dealer."

Barbara laughed at John Dupree's self effacing remark as he returned to the foot of the bed to supervise Linda cleansing of her feet.

"Miss Linda, you are doing an excellent job! Now, it is time to re-bandage, do you remember how I taught you to do that?"

"Yes, Mr. Dupree, snug, but, not so tight as to cut off circulation." With that answer, Linda began weaving the bandage to cover her mother's feet back up. Working cautiously, but, efficiently, she soon finished her task and looked expectantly toward John Dupree.

"Miss Linda, you will make an excellent doctor."

Linda blushed from the compliment, but was pleased by the words. "Now, if you ladies will excuse me, I must go back downstairs to fix lunch." With that, John Dupree left the Lovetts' and went downstairs. It was funny how Barbara had never really noticed his limp before today's visit. Linda continued to fuss over her mother and then went to bring lunch up to her.

"Mr. Dupree said he had to go tend to some business, but, he would be back this evening to prepare supper." Linda said, as she settled the food tray with a prime rib au jus sandwich with large home cut french fries and a pickle spear. "He said, tonight, he was going to teach me a lemon pepper chicken recipe."

"Linda, how come you never wanted to learn to cook from me? God knows, I asked you long enough!" Barbara said with a half exasperating tone.

"I don't know, Momma, I guess with everything that has been happening, I'm just glad to do something to occupy my time. Mr. Dupree said that if I wanted, he would start teaching me carpentry, but, I think I'll hold off on that! Which reminds me, Momma, you won't believe, how the house is looking now!" Linda said excitedly.

"I have some concerns about that, Linda. I don't appreciate a stranger coming in here and making changes to my house without my permission!" Barbara said angrily as she remembered that she had intended to address that issue with Mr. Dupree. Now, she was kicking herself for forgetting to speak to him about that.

Linda blushed and said, "Momma, that's kinda been my fault. When, Mr. Dupree brought you home, he asked me what he could do to help out and I guess, I went overboard and told him about everything that you wanted to fix in the house, but, couldn't do yourself. I told him you would be grateful if he could fix those things. So, if you are going to get mad, get mad at me, not him."

Barbara felt frustrated that she had lost her reason to vent to John Dupree and knew that Linda's actions brought her further in debt to her neighbor. She sat back, glumly in her pillow as Linda took the food tray away. That evening, she could tell when he came over, as she heard her daughter's laughter. Then the aroma from the kitchen was driving her crazy as the meal was being prepared.

Finally, she heard the noise of them coming upstairs and they appeared with three food trays and Linda set the lemon pepper chicken dish on a bed of Louisiana dirty rice and steamed asparagus for Barbara.

"Momma, I hope you like it. Be sure, to leave room for dessert. I made us a raspberry sorbet." Linda announced with a smile. Barbara was enjoying the transformation from Linda being an atypical teenage junk food addict to this person enjoying cooking fine meals.

Linda was pleased to hear the moans of pleasure deriving from her mother and Mr. Dupree as they enjoyed the meal Linda had prepared. Linda bounced downstairs and soon appeared with three bowls of raspberry sorbet and Barbara relished the way the dessert cleaned her palate. After she finished, Barbara, reluctantly put down her spoon. Linda collected all the dishes and said she was going to wash the dishes and clean up the kitchen.

When Linda left, Barbara turned to John Dupree and said, "Alright, who is that, and, what have you've done with my daughter?" That brought a laugh from John Dupree and Barbara liked the way his face lit up from her comment.

"Mr. Dupree, I need to talk to you."

With that comment, an anxious look appeared on John Dupree's face. "Mrs. Lovett, I owe you a big apology. I'm afraid, I've overstepped my bounds when I took it upon myself to start making repairs without your permission. Linda told me there were certain things that needed to be done to the house and that I had your permission to do them. When she confessed to me tonight, I became very upset at the thought of antagonizing you. Please understand, that from now on, I will refrain from doing anything to your house without your express permission. That being said, I am in the middle of finishing some projects that needs to being completed, so, if it is alright with you to do those, I'll get them finished."

"Actually, Mr. Dupree, it is I that owes you an apology. I have lived beside you for the past five years and I haven't been a very good neighbor to you. I haven't invited you over to my home; I haven't tried to talk to you; I haven't done any of the things that good neighbors should do for one another. I could try to excuse myself due to the circumstances of my situation, but, I won't.

Now, I find myself so far in your debt. You rescued me; brought me home; took care of me and my daughter. You did all this after I treated you so horribly!" Barbara's tears were running down her cheek. "Somehow, someway I will repay you for everything!"

From somewhere, John Dupree produced a Kleenex for Barbara to wipe her face. "Mrs. Lovett, I never told you this, but, I was with your mother, when she passed away. She made me promise to look after you, so don't think you owe me anything. I'm only repaying your mother for all the kindness she showed me when I moved here. Your mother was a kind and generous woman and I still miss not getting to have a morning coffee with her."

"Can I ask you a question? Every year, on the anniversary of her death, Linda and I visit her gravesite, there's always a bouquet of flowers there. That is you, isn't it?

John Dupree hung his head and nodded.

Barbara leaned back and brought up the memory of her mother's conversation on the long distance call when she told Barbara about her new neighbor. She kept going on and on about what a nice man he was. Barbara thought that was a subtle dig at Richard. That was when she was living away from home. Richard had insisted on living cross country from Warrenton, even though both of them had job offers in Warrenton. Richard had called it getting a fresh start, so Barbara was limited to phone calls and Christmas visits to seeing her mother.

It was so different back then. Barbara moved off to go to college, but, was home every other weekend to visit her mother. She would get up and do a training run every time she came home since she was going to school on a track scholarship. God, how she loved to run. The zen of having the earth speeding beneath her feet was what she lived for.

That is, until she met Richard on campus in his snazzy ROTC uniform. One thing led to another and soon they were living together. Richard and her mother never got along. She was always warning Barbara to be careful. Then Barbara came up pregnant and she and Richard eloped, went to Vegas and got married. When Barbara called her mother to tell her the news, she cried and told Barbara what a mistake she made.

It took a long time for Barbara to forgive her mother. But living away from home meant minimal interference from her mother on her relationship with Richard; or even, on how to raise Linda. After her pregnancy, Richard would enjoy her milk engorged tits. So much so, he talked her into having breast augmentation surgery to enlarge her breast.

On the next Christmas visit home, her mother stared at her, but, wisely didn't say anything. Nor, did she say anything, when Barbara became a bleached blonde at Richard's suggestion. Even though, she didn't notice, Richard was slowly chipping away at Barbara's self esteem. But, it was quite clear to Barbara's mother.

Then when her mother passed away, Richard suddenly had no qualms about moving to Warrenton. All on the cross country trip to move to Warrenton, he would ask and speculate how big an estate Barbara's mother had left. It hurt Barbara that he wasn't more supportive of her during this time.

When they went to the attorney's office for the reading of the will of her mother, it simply stated that her mother left her entire estate to Barbara. Richard was overjoyed to hear that news. But now they had to search to find out exactly what she left. Her bank account was minimal, except for a college account set aside for Linda of $50,000. She had a life insurance policy of $100,000 payable to Barbara. And there were funds in an escrow account to pay for the taxes on the house each year.

Richard was upset to find out that was the extent of her mother's estate. He insisted there was more money hidden somewhere. But despite all the searching Richard did, he never came across any hidden treasure.

So for five years, they lived in the house and the house sunk in disrepair as Richard refused to put any time, money, or effort into the old house. He insisted on taking out a mortgage on the house, but Barbara was adamant not to be in debt over the house.

Now in the course of a few days, someone was tending to the needs of the stately manor. It was a good thing, since Barbara didn't possess the skills and Richard was such a klutz around tools. If John Dupree could help save something her mother held so dear, then so be it.

"Mr. Dupree, there is one favor I would ask of you. Would you mind if we skipped the formality and you just call me Barbara?"

Her neighbor beamed his approval as he extended his hand for a shake. "Hello, Barbara, my name is John."

She took his hand and said, "Hello John, it is finally nice to meet you, neighbor."

After that, Barbara quickly began to mend and she was mobile enough to walk to the bathroom unassisted. When she went in for the first time, she stood at the mirror looking at herself. She was appalled, when she realized that she had been seeing John without makeup or any type of cosmetic care.

She had Linda bring her a chair which she placed by the sink and told Linda to give her a shampoo. Then she forced Linda to spend the afternoon brushing the tangles out of her hair. When she finally applied her makeup, her morale went up 100% as she looked at the results.

People had always told her she was beautiful, as she studied her lips and cheekbones. Then she focused on her green eyes peering at her in the mirror. She looked at her hair, which was overdue for another blonde bleaching and decided that she wanted to go back to her natural auburn color. Perhaps, what she wanted was just a different way to style her hair.

Then she looked at her figure; her disgusting overweight figure accented by her monstrous breasts. She decided that she would go back under the knife and have the saline taken out. She no longer needed to impress Richard. She thought humorously that she had already lost some pounds.

Next, she would change her diet. No more junk food until she reached her ideal weight. When her feet healed, she would begin running again. But this time, she would pace herself. She would set weekly goals which would give her the benefit of an aerobic workout. She would alternate days when she lifted weights to help firm up her muscle tone.

But, she thought that was only half the battle. She felt stagnant now that Richard had left her. She resolved to get involved in some projects that would enrich her and allow her to enjoy. Perhaps, she would start by trying to grow orchids.

Her mother grew the most beautiful orchids. She thought she would like to continue that tradition. But then, she thought about the dilapidated condition of the greenhouse. She groaned as she got out of the chair to shuffle back to the bed. Baby steps, she reminded herself, baby steps.

That evening, she was treated to shrimp etouffee and Linda eagerly watched her reaction as she ate. "Oh Linda, you and John are feeding me way too good!" Linda's eyebrow arched as she picked up on the subtle familiarity her mother used with his name and grinned. Once again she collected the plates and went downstairs.

"Are you feeling okay, Barbara?" John asked solicitously.

Barbara mentally grinned as she recalled his reaction to seeing her with her makeup on. Time after time, she caught him staring at her during the meal. It was gratifying that she had at least got his interest.

"Yes, John, I'm fine. I heard the power tools going on today, so I'm assuming that you are finishing up on your projects."

"I'm almost through with the interior projects and then you should have peace and quiet, Barbara."

'I can't wait to see the downstairs, Linda won't give me any clues on what you are doing!" Barbara, complained.

John laughed and said, "Another couple of days and you should be well enough to go downstairs and see for yourself."

"John, you haven't told me how you know so much about treating my injuries."

"Barbara, lets leave that for another night's discussion. There is something important that we need to talk about. When I brought you home in my truck, Linda, as you know, brought me up to speed on what was going on. I noticed the divorce papers scattered on the floor and I picked them up and read them. You need to know that Richard is going after everything you have, including sole custody of Linda."

The news unsettled Barbara, "John, I can't lose Linda! She is my entire life! I know I'm going to lose the house. I know this is a community property state and Richard is entitled to half of our jointly owned property. I can't even begin to try to buy out his interest in the house, it was last appraised at four millions dollars; I can't come up with two million dollars on a teacher salary! This house has been in my family for six generations; I wanted Linda to be the seventh!"

John reached over and held Barbara's hand, "The first thing that needs to happen is you need to file an answer to the divorce complaint. In this state, you have twenty days from the date of service to file a response. The clock is ticking away on you Barbara.

With your permission, I would suggest you retain the law firm I use. I've already talked to the head of their Domestic Relation division and explained your situation. She is waiting for your call tomorrow.

If you don't feel comfortable with her or the firm, then start calling until you find someone you trust and get them to file an answer for you. But this, I promise you, you will never lose this house. I will do everything in my power to make sure that you get custody of Linda."

Sensing the firm resolve in his voice, Barbara clenched him into a hug as she began to cry. John held her as she wept; he looked up into the worried face of Linda and held his gaze on her until she slipped away, unnoticed by her mother.

By next evening, Barbara was in a better frame of mind. She had called Veronica Starr, the attorney that John had recommended and had been patched immediately through to her. "Ms Lovett, I've been waiting for your call, let me introduce myself and tell you how I practice law and what I intend to do for you if you retain my services and that of my firm.

The attorney spent the next thirty minutes telling her of her qualifications. She explained that she was a partner in the largest, most powerful and politically connected firm in the state.

She gave her a realistic analysis of what she thought would happen in her divorce. She explained that she knew that presently Barbara was physically incapable of coming to her office, but, she would be willing to meet Barbara at her house, at her convenience. She would also have a paralegal visit with Barbara to begin preparing for the divorce.

Finally, she told Barbara, that if she gave her a verbal consent to allow her to represent Barbara, that she had a law clerk standing by at the Warrenton Circuit Clerk's Office ready to file a prepared answer immediately.

Barbara was impressed at the thoroughness and empathy that Veronica Starr presented to her. "I have a question, Ms. Starr. What is this going to cost me?" Barbara braced herself for the ungodly amount that her lawyer was going to charge.

Instead, the attorney laughed, "Mrs. Lovett, payment has already been taken care of, you won't ever owe us a penny!"

Once again, Barbara thought on how much she owed John. "Mrs. Lovett, what have you decided?"

"Ms. Starr, go ahead and file the answer and thank you so much for your help."

"Hold on, one second Mrs. Lovett."

"Bill, go ahead and file the answer for Mrs. Lovett"

"Mrs. Lovett, your answer has just been filed. I'm going to give you my secretary's direct line. Call her when you are ready for us to come visit you or when you want to set up an office visit. I have also instructed her to give you my cell phone number. Call me 24/7, if you have any questions or concerns."

Barbara felt a great weight lifted off her shoulder as she replayed the conversation with her attorney in her mind. Minutes later, the doorbell rang and soon Linda was coming upstairs. "Momma, there is a courier downstairs saying he brought some documents for you to sign."

Barbara looked at them and noticed it was the written contract for Ms. Starr to represent her. She was impressed at the speed of how fast and effective her attorney was representing her. She signed them and then settled back and relaxed.

That evening, after a spicy bowl of gumbo, Linda excused herself, saying she was going to visit her friend, Beverly. As Linda left to go downstairs, John and Barbara watched her leave. "You should feel good for yourself, Barbara. You are raising a quite extraordinary daughter." John complimented her.

'I think I owe a big thank you to you, John. She has changed so much, and now I know that I will only have a little time left with her before she goes to live her own life. She has started talking about going to medical school now. Six months ago, the only things on her mind were boys and clothes!" Barbara shook her head still not believing the transformation.

"You never know how people react in a crisis, Barbara. For some people, when things are at the absolute worse, they are at their absolute best." Barbara was disturbed by the far off stare on John's face as he made that comment. She quickly decided to change the topic.

'I went ahead and hired Ms. Starr to represent me. You were correct about her and I feel secure in her representation. She gave me the bad and the good. She let me know that given Richard's initial salvo, that I should anticipate this to be a long drawn out affair. She said it was going to be painful and costly.