Carla

I had spent days looking for places for her should she need something quick, stumbling upon something for her, suggested by one of Helen's suite-mates.

Carla was nervous about going alone, not knowing what to expect, so I drove us there. We found the address, an old house in a residential area, shaded and with sidewalks. One girl's family had purchased the house for their two daughters to live in while in college, with the stipulation they had to have other girls to share the cost, including the house payments. The house therefore wasn't entirely rent free but it was reasonable, especially if the cost could be split among several girls. They were on their own for utilities and maintenance, not insignificant for an older house.

Marie met us at the door and gave Carla the tour, introducing her to the other girls. The house had three bedrooms, furnished as a single and two doubles. One girl in particular seemed excited about Carla's pregnancy. Marie laughed that her sister Judith was a sophomore majoring in Early Childhood Education and had been known in high school as a Super (with a capital 'S') babysitter. Only Marie and Judith were in school; the other one worked.

While Carla and Judith talked I took Marie aside and filled her in on Carla, including her part time job situation and gave an excellent character reference. Marie crossed her arms and sized me up. "What's your part in this? Are you the father?"

"She and her boyfriend lived with us and had their own room. I'm afraid he started to get rough with her, so my roommate and I kind of took her under a wing, so to speak."

"I see how she looks at you. I bet she was well protected."

"Well...she confided things to me. I like her. I like her a lot. But in town here the surroundings are familiar and it feels like home to her. I'm moving halfway across the damn country into I don't know what. I'll be both working and doing an internship. I don't have a place to stay. I'm winging it. I know she doesn't have a lot of money, but I'd certainly be comfortable with her here if you think she fits. The asshole won't bother to look her up. He's after some chick with big...you know.'

"Oh. One of them. If he comes around here we'll kick his ass out. One of us teaches martial arts several nights a week. Has a black belt. The rest of us have been taking self defense classes and know how to hurt him." She laughed out loud. "It would let me put my kickboxing skills to use. I'm told I'm good at it."

Carla enthused about the place and the girls all the way back to my place, where the last of our bags and duffels waited for us inside the door. We each made a quick tour around to make sure nothing was left behind and the place was clean enough for me to get back my security deposit.

Before we left she wrapped her arms around my neck. "Thank you. Thank you for everything. If we still had a bed here I'd..."

"I'm gonna miss you, too. I'm sorry you got mixed up with a guy like Clement."

"He liked me, at least at first. But you showed me I don't have to settle for being liked. I don't have to fuck any guy who takes an interest in me. Now I know how it feels to be treated good."

"And I know how it feels when I make you feel good. It's win-win. Why can't more guys realize that? You take care of yourself and that baby. I was worried how they'd react to that. A baby is likely to be a distraction."

"We talked about that. I was up front about it, but that one girl...Judith...was actually excited for me. In fact, that's who I'll be rooming with."

I reached for the door but she stopped me. "One last thing. You were so concerned that I was Clement's girl that we never really kissed."

I put an arm around her and tipped her face up to mine. That was one heavenly kiss.