No Visible Means of Support

This little romance is my contribution to the Money Honey event of March 2022. While it mentions sexual activity, there are no detailed depictions of same. If you are looking for descriptions of sexual activity, please look to some of the many other stories on this site.

Any discussions of legal or financial issues in this story are purely fiction and should not be assumed to be legal or true.

My thanks to Randi for having me contribute to this event.

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Geena was in a terrible rush that Wednesday afternoon. Her daughter Emma was at a library preschool reading circle and needed to be picked up promptly at five pm, yet Geena was on the far side of town driving a boy in her daycare back home to his father's. Geena ran a small child care out of her home during the day and on this particular day the little boy's father had become ill and wasn't able to drive over to pick him up.

After she dropped him off, she realized she was famished. The day had been one of those wild ones with screaming kids, crying jags and a poor nap time leaving her with no time for her own lunch. It was a bit early to go to the library but she did not have enough time to go home for a snack. To grab one, she pulled into a Thrifty Gas 'n Go store where she was horrified by the costs. Hunger drove her to grab a large candy bar for which she took her last little bit of money, a wrinkled five-dollar bill, and slid it across the counter.

"That'll be two sixty-seven," the bored looking clerk announced.

"Thank you." Once the change was given to her, she saw the state lotto sign. "Here, take these two dollars for a ticket," she requested.

"Random numbers or do ya wanna choose one?"

"Uh, I don't know. I've never played before."

"It's easier to let the computer choose unless you have some special numbers that mean something to ya."

"Random, then."

"Here ya go. Winner's announced Saturday night. Good luck."

"Thanks," she smiled as she left, tucking the ticket into her nearly empty coin purse. She was always concerned about her finances but knew she'd get paid Friday by the kids' parents and by her second job at the lawyers office. "I can get by two days with no cash. Plenty of food at home, unless Matt eats it all, and the car has plenty of gas," she thought. She knew she was rationalizing buying the lotto ticket but figured two bucks wouldn't be the difference between survival and homelessness.

On the way to the library, she thought about her life situation. She was a single mother in her mid-twenties, her daughter Emma being the result of sleeping with her then boyfriend. He, however, took off once he heard she was pregnant, and she never had the money to hire someone to track him down. She worked two jobs and hit the food bank frequently just to get by. She lived with her 'boyfriend' Matt in a single-wide mobile home. Unfortunately, he was an unemployed alcoholic who let her live in his home in exchange for food and an occasional roll in the hay. He also watched her daughter most evenings for the two hours she worked doing custodial work at a law office. She never particularly liked him, especially when he was verbally abusive or drunk, but lived with him in able to survive.

Once she picked up Emma, she drove home and fixed a modest meal for the three of them. Matt hadn't been drinking very much and she felt comfortable leaving Emma with him while she drove into the Smith and Jones law office. If he had been drunk, she would have taken Emma with her and have her wait in the office. Geena usually put in a couple of hours vacuuming, dusting and cleaning the toilets. She was grateful for the work which paid forty dollars a day. That was an extra two hundred dollars a week, money that was dearly needed to make it from week to week.

On the following Sunday morning she had the news on the local TV channel turned on low while she tidied up in the kitchen and started breakfast for herself and Emma. Matt had come in late the night before obviously drunk and she knew he'd sleep until afternoon. There was something about the news report that seemed odd. The announcers were all excited about something, so she turned up the volume.

"So, it's been confirmed. The latest winning lotto jackpot ticket was purchased right here in Brownstone at the Thrifty Gas 'n Go over on Carolina Avenue. One of our lucky listeners is a very rich person to the tune of twenty million dollars!" said the older male announcer who sported a perfectly coiffed hairdo.

"I wonder who it is," said the blonde bimbo announcer,"Maybe I can be their friend, you think?" she giggled.

"Well, I don't know, but everyone who bought a ticket there this past week, you should go and check your numbers. One of you is R-I-C-H, Rich."

Geena's heart rate picked up a tiny bit. The winning ticket was from the Thrifty! The odds of her winning were still very low, she understood, but certainly they were better than when all the tickets from the entire state were considered. Once she had started the water to boil, she went over to her old computer, a computer that was hanging on by a thread and was slow as molasses. She searched for the state lotto site and logged on. There were the numbers from the night before. She reached into her purse and pulled out her ticket.

45 "I've got that number," she thought.

15 "And that one."

23 "Yes, and that one."

32 "Oh, my god, I've got that one, too. One more and I'll get a thousand dollars!"

7 "A thousand dollars!" she almost shouted out.

Q "No, this can't be! I've got the 'Q' also."

She suddenly felt faint. She realized she may have won the lotto. After pouring herself a coffee, she walked back to the table with the mug shaking in her hand. Forcing herself to relax, she looked once again at the numbers and the final letter. For a second time they matched. And they matched when she looked a third time. She was rich!

She immediately knew this would be a major life changing event for her and her daughter. And she quickly figured Matt was not going to be part of this. No, she'd leave him before he could get any of his alcoholic and abusive mitts on her winnings.

Then she became afraid. She was rich and she knew that not only Matt but friends and what remote family she had would come out of the woodwork looking to share in her winnings. She had heard that some people blew through their money so fast that within a few years they were back to being broke and having to go to work again. Wanting to avoid that at all costs, she decided to keep things quiet for the time being and try to figure out her next steps. The ticket was slipped inside her bra as Emma came to the table.

"What's for breakfast?"

"Whatever you want, Honey. Just name it."

"Really? French toast and jam?"

"Coming right up," said a smiling Geena.

"Why you happy, Mommy?"

"Oh, I just feel happy today. Wanna go with me to the water slide?"

"Really, Mommy, really?"

"Yeah, why not? Eat a big breakfast and lunch and we'll go to the afternoon half-off session. "

Normally Geena would never have considered spending money for the waterslide but she wanted to celebrate a tiny bit. She promised herself not to spend like crazy, but a little party with her daughter was called for.

They left before Matt woke up and had a wonderful time. Emma was still too small to go on the 'big kids' slides but she was thrilled to slide down the kiddie slides and splash into the pools. She even found a big squirt gun and shot her mother who was sunbathing in the late afternoon sun.

"You watch it, Kiddo. I'm gonna get you for that," she cried as she chased her daughter and tickled her until Emma cried out 'Uncle.'

They were in high spirits when they drove home to the single-wide they called home. Geena was nervous Matt would demand to know why they spent so much money on the afternoon activities so she had a plausible lie cooked up but was relieved to see Matt was not at home. By the time he came home late at night, he was reeling drunk and Emma was already in bed, so the topic never came up. After he crashed, Geena spent an hour or so online looking up what to do if you win a lottery, took the general advice to heart and remembered to erase her search history.

The next day was almost eerie. She knew she was suddenly rich but couldn't let on and had to keep doing her usual activities. She had six children with her for the day and by four pm they had all left. She fixed a simple meal, one that could be microwaved for Matt for whenever he came home. She found herself happy when he came home late. Late meant drunk and drunk meant he wouldn't demand sex. When he was totally plastered, she would sleep on the sofa, preferring its lumpiness to the reek of alcohol and sweat.

By six pm he was still not there so she bundled the PJ-clad Emma into the car and drove to the attorneys' office where Emma was used to entertaining herself in the waiting room, coloring or playing make-believe with her dolls. As Geena got busy she dusted the front office quickly and in the back saw Mr. Jones was still working at his desk.

"Excuse me, Sir, shall I come back?"

"No, no. Go ahead and work around me. I still have a few hours of work to do."

She dusted his office and vacuumed it before turning the vacuum to the rest of the office. Lastly she cleaned the toilets and put all the cleaning equipment away. Right before she went to leave, she told Emma to be patient a few more minutes and strolled back to Mr. Jones' office.

"Excuse me, Sir. Do you have a minute to answer a question?"

"Sure, Jana, what's on your mind?"

"Geena, Sir."

"Oh, yes, of course, Geena. Sorry. What's on your mind?"

"Uh, how does someone hire a lawyer? I mean, how's that happen, anyway?"

"Well, usually, we get a call from someone to make an appointment. We ask a few questions on the phone to see if it is something we deal with and if it is, we have them come in."

"I see. Uh, what if it's really private? You know, if you don't want the secretary to know."

"Our staff are sworn to secrecy and would be fired immediately if they violated that. Uh, Geena, are you in trouble? Do you need some help?"

"Uh, maybe. Not in trouble, but I need help and I don't know where to turn. So, how do you get paid?"

"We set up a retainer. That is a contract; an agreement between us and the client. Usually, the client pays a certain amount to set things up and if we use the money up, then we bill them for the rest."

"How much...?"

"It depends on the case, you know, how complex it is, if there is a crime or if there's court time. Lots of things. We usually get several thousand dollars to open a file, you know, to take on the client."

"Oh," she softly said.

He looked at the defeated-appearing woman for a few seconds. "If there are special circumstances, we can start a casepro bono which means we do it for free. Are you needing help, Geena?"

"Yes, Sir, I do need help. I can't pay anything now but I will be able to pay later."

"OK, then let's set up a retainer contract right now. Do you have a dollar?"

"Yes," she answered as she pulled out a crumpled bill from her pocket. "Here."

"Gimme a second and I'll pull one up and print it. Yeah, here it is." A few seconds later the printer spit out a one-page document. "Geena, this document says in return for your retainer fee, the one dollar, we will open a file for you and get to work on your situation. Sign it here. I'll sign it there. Now let me copy this for your records. OK?"

"Uh, I guess so. Does this mean you're my lawyer? And I can trust you with my private things?"

"That's what it means," he smiled while crossing his hands on the table, "So, how can I help?"

"I don't know if you heard the news but there was a winning lotto ticket here in Brownstone and it's mine."

"What? Oh, wow. Congrats! And I guess you want help dealing with....?"

"Setting it all up, Sir, I need help with that."

"Wait a sec. Let me turn on my recorder. Do you have a cell phone that records?"

"Yeah, it's pretty old, but I think it still works." She pulled it out and did a quick test to see it still recorded.

"OK, turn it on and I'll turn my device on. We both want to have proof of this meeting."

"Why?"

"It's for your protection. What if I was a crook? I could steal your ticket and claim it was mine. And honestly, Geena, who do you think a jury would believe? I want you to know I will honor our contract but I also want you to be able to sleep at night knowing it. So, turn it on and... now mine's recording, too."

"This is William Jones, State bar number 784,980 recording a conversation with Geena Brown. It is seven fifty pm on the tenth of August.

"Geena, please state you full name, date of birth and the last four numbers of your social security number, if you know them."

Once she had given him the info, he went on, "Ms. Brown has hired me to be her representative regarding a winning lotto ticket. Uh, Geena, do you have the ticket with you?"

She pulled the ticket out from her bra, causing Mr. Jones to blush a bit, and handed it over to him. He read the winning numbers and letter aloud and turned back to her.

"Geena, for your protection I will make the following four recommendations: First, I will keep the ticket here locked in our safe. We don't want you to lose it or have it stolen. Second, do NOT tell anyone about this. No one, not even your best friend or any family member. At a later date we can discuss how we want to do this, but not now. No one. Get it?"

She nodded yes and he asked her to say the word 'yes' aloud for the recordings.

"Third, please act like nothing has changed in your life. Go do your usual work, shop like normal, come in here every evening," he chuckled before going on, "and don't spend any money frivolously. Later your budget will be bigger, but we don't want anyone in the community figuring out that Geena certainly is spending a lot of money so she must have won the lottery. And finally, I will do some quick, anonymous research and sit down with you in three days. Let's meet back here Thursday evening. No one will suspect anything and you won't have to deal with my front office. OK?"

"Yes, Sir. I can come back then easy. And thank you. This means so much to me. Uh, now that you know what the issue is, I hope you will set up the bills so that I can pay you back later."

"Thank you. We'll set something up but don't worry about that now. This will mostly be paperwork and no trial work, so the cost should be minimal.

"This ends the conversation between William Jones and Geena Brown."

"Now, Geena, don't let anyone near your phone. You don't want them to hear your recording, right?"

"Yeah. Thank you so much Mr. Jones. I know I'll sleep a lot better. Now I've got to run my girl home. Good night."

"Good night, Geena. Oh, congrats, by the way. If we do this right, you should be very, very comfortable for your entire life."

On the way home she was relaxed and at ease. Emma was falling asleep and didn't notice her mother's good mood. Even Matt sitting there watching TV didn't ruin her mood. After she put Emma to bed and read her a chapter in a book, she went back to the living room.

"Hey, Babe, you interested in coming to bed with me," asked Matt.

"No, Matt, I had to work later than usual and I'm exhausted. Maybe tomorrow?"

She heard him curse under his breath as he stormed back to the master bedroom and once things quieted down, she pulled up the throw and curled on the couch to sleep.

On Thursday evening she was able to see Mr. Jones without Emma being there. Matt had avoided alcohol for several nights, something she knew meant he wanted sex. He was actually fairly nice to Emma but he could be quite nasty and verbally abusive to Geena at times. She knew she'd have to put out soon and she was willing to in order to keep things calm until Mr. Jones came up with a plan.

Their conversation was lengthy and detailed. He asked about her family, about Emma, Emma's father, who had disappeared right after she announced her pregnancy to him, Matt, their living situation, her jobs, her income, the car and just about everything. They scheduled another meeting for the following Monday.

By that weekend Matt had been fairly sober for nearly a week and she decided to 'reward' him with a roll in the hay. At one time she had enjoyed sex with him but by this point it was looked at as simply a chore, much like cleaning or fixing a meal. She knew he would soon no longer be a feature in her life so she put up with him as long as he was sober and polite.

On the following Monday Matt was again sober so Emma stayed with him. Geena told him she had 'a lot to do' at work and she'd be late. There Mr. Jones outlined a plan of action for her to consider.

"Geena, lottery winners are hounded by friends, family, scammers, you name it. Many burn through their winnings in a few years and end up poor or having to work again. If you do things right, you can avoid all of that."

"How?"

"This is going to get fairly complex, but let me try to explain it simply. You will not receive the money. A corporation will. We can do things to protect the privacy of the owner, that would be you, so no one will know that you won.

"Next, we need to decide if you take all the money now or over the next twenty years. There are advantages either way. If you take it all now, there is a fairly hefty tax, but you'll still end up with over half the money. If you take some of it yearly, well, it increases your risk of exposure. Also, once you consider inflation and investment strategies, you actually get less money in the long run if you spread it out."

"So, it sounds to me like you think I should take it all now."

"We can set up some nice investments with the help of an accountant and a financial advisor. There are two excellent folks here in town who I trust and will do a great job for you. We can set up a mechanism for you to get your money regularly into your bank."

"But wouldn't people figure it out? I mean, Matt's a drunk but he's not stupid. I plan on leaving him as soon as I can."

"Have you thought about moving?"

"Yeah, I have. Can all of this money stuff be done here by you guys and I won't have to come back?"

"Sure, that's easy. So, we need to plan for a move. I recommend at least a thousand miles or so. And it will have to be done quietly."

"What if he tries to track me down? I mean, when I leave he's got no money at all. I've been earning it all and he's let me live with him."

"We could do an official name change. That is done in a court and it would be best we not do it here in Brownstone. Maybe we could head up to the capital and do it quietly there. And Emma will need her name changed also. It's best to keep your first names and we'll pick a new last name."

"What about a car? I'm sure my old heap won't make it a thousand miles."

"Our firm can buy the car for you to pick up right before you leave. Maybe we can do it on the trip to the capital and we'll keep it here until you're ready to go."

"What about my jobs?"

"Well, for your job here I'll tell everyone you had to move suddenly for personal reasons and we'll get a new person. We'll miss you; you do good work but we'll survive. Stopping the babysitting needs to be done quietly, also. I suggest you verbally tell all your clients that you've been 'advised' to stop your business due to licensing issues."

"But I haven't been advised of that."

"Geena, you are hereby being advised if the state licensing board hears you've been doing babysitting on a regular and repeated basis, you could be in trouble for having an unlicensed daycare facility. So, consider yourself 'advised.' Don't do it yet. I suggest you tell them on a Monday with the idea of leaving the following weekend. That will give them time to arrange for day care elsewhere. Tell them privately outside the house and away from Emma. That way Matt shouldn't hear of it."