Wealth Pt. 02

Stacy looked at the woman in disbelief. That blonde bitch cop must have told this beautiful young woman about her; the woman was echoing exactly how Stacy felt. And there was no way this girl had ever been a drunk; she was too young and too pretty.

"Ma'am? As shitty as you're feeling right now? You don't ever have to feel that way ever again," Julie said.

At Superior Motors, Bob and Jack were giving Barry a good natured ribbing.

"Good God, comes in when he feels like it, leaves when he feels like it; must think he owns the place, huh?" Bob teased.

""Gee, I wouldn't mind going home and seeing my wife every now and then," Jack said.

"Hate to tell you this, but Melanie pays me keep your ass here and out of her hair," Barry smirked.

"Oh, great," Bob groaned as he spotted Dr. Wilson pulling up to the building. "Here comes Dr. 'it's making this funny noise' again."

"It's making that funny noise because he doesn't know how to drive it," Jack commiserated. "I'll take it this time if you want."

"What's it going to cost me?" Bob asked suspiciously.

"Next time that nurse brings in her Ferrari?" Jack suggested.

"The... Oh, okay; I just sent her an email yesterday; it's almost time for an oil change," Bob agreed and the two shook hands on it.

"Wait, the one from St. Elizabeth's New-Natal?" Henry asked. "I thought I had first dibs on that one?"

"Henry, you don't even know how to do an oil change," Bob shook his head.

The nurse they were speaking of was Bertha Johnson an unmarried forty three year old woman that did not look a day over twenty five, and wore very short skirts with no panties. If the mechanic was under the car, she would squat to talk with them, flashing her blonde bush and slick pink lips. If the mechanic was bent over the engine, she would lean forward to afford them a glimpse of her unfettered thirty six C breasts and light pink nipples.

Both Bob and Jack were very happily married, as was Henry, but A visit from Bertha Johnson was always an ego-boost.

"Gentlemen," Barry said as he walked toward the door. "And I use that word in the loosest of terms."

"If I was smarter, I'd be insulted," Jack said.

"If you was smarter, you'd be at home with your wife instead of working on Dr. Wilson's car," Bob said.

Barry drove to the Weinstein house and smiled tightly at to Theresa.

"Again, I am truly sorry for your loss; she was a wonderful woman," Barry said and she nodded in acknowledgement.

Caitlin came and put her arms around Barry, resting her head on his chest.

"Y'all have fun," Theresa said quietly.

This was the most civil she had ever been to Barry; losing her mother took a lot out of Theresa.

"You know, as many doctors, hell, as much money as we now have in St. Elizabeth's, why do we still have to go all the way to Lafayette for a good steak?" Barry asked as they drove to Lafayette, Louisiana.

He was just making conversation, trying to fill the silence; Caitlin was just staring out the window.

A second later, his cell phone chimed, letting him know he had a text message.

"Caitlin," he growled and she giggled.

His cell phone chimed twice before they reached Ruth's Chris Steak House, letting him know he had a text message that needed his attention. Each time it chimed, Caitlin giggled and he pinched her leg playfully.

'Open your own' her text message read.

chapter 19

"Anita Lopez, please report to Brother Dominick's office. Anita Lopez, Brother Dominick's office please," the metallic voice of the school secretary crackled

In their Computer Literacy class, Anita and Toni looked at each other, worried. Anita gathered all her materials and scurried out.

"They're waiting for you," Miss Ormond, the school secretary smiled, which did give Anita some reassurance.

"Come," Bother Dominick called out when Anita gave a soft knock at his door.

Behind his desk, Brother Dominick smiled as Anita entered. Next to him sat a man that Anita vaguely recognized, but could not name.

"Her?" Dr. Desmond, the principal of DeGarde High School asked.

He was looking at a confident, poised, attractive young woman; not the insecure,pimple faced girl he had sent to St. Thomas Aquinas.

"Surprising what a little prayer in the school will do, isn't it?" Brother Dominick laughed.

"Oh, shut up," Dr. Desmond laughed.

"Ms. Lopez, this is Dr. Desmond; he's the principal of DeGarde, your former high school?" Brother Dominick made the introductions.

"Hi Anita," the man smiled warmly.

"Yes sir?" Anita asked.

"Anita, we'd like for you to give a speech, nothing too big, about three or four minutes, about what being a new student at St. Thomas Aquinas has meant for you," Brother Dominick said. "You know, the difference between going to DeGarde and then St. Thomas."

"Three or four minutes isn't long enough, Brother," Anita said immediately. "But I'll try to keep it brief."

"And that, my friend, is why I haven't retired yet," Brother Dominick said as the door closed behind Anita. "Because of the Anitas that come here."

"Uh huh," Dr. Desmond said, and stood up. "Well, my valedictorian was found, dead of an overdose, meth, they think; the girl voted most likely to succeed attempted suicide last week and the Senior class president was arrested yesterday on charges of possession with intent to distribute. We've had eight births among the student population, one of them actually happened at the school. And that's why I am retiring. But, you just keep enjoying your piddling little successes, your Anitas, hear?"

The two educators shook hands and Brother Dominick wished his friend well.

At the mailboxes for their trailer park, , Marco gathered up the usual sales fliers and frowned when he took out three stiff envelopes.

The envelopes were heavy and looked official and he read the names. There was one for him, one for Luther, and one for Momma.

Had Marco flipped the envelopes over, he would have seen his sister's name and address on the obverse side.

"Well, whoop-de-fucking-do," Luther sneered hatefully when he tore open the heavy envelope and pulled out the stiff card. "Little fucking bitch's graduating and expects us to come to it. Well, I wouldn't go to it if she got down on her hands and knees and kissed my ass right in the front window of Abdul's, you hear?"

What Luther did not know, what Marco and Louisa did not know, was that Anita did not want them at her graduation. She almost had not sent then an invitation at all, but Miss Alvarez had quietly, but firmly pulled the girl aside.

"That? That you Madre. You no take these away from her, you hear? She geeve you birth, she change you diaper, you no take these away from her. You let her see you, you graduate, you make her proud," Miss Alvarez had hissed urgently to Anita.

"But she..." Anita had argued.

"Then you do it for me, huh? You make me proud, invite you momma huh," the small woman begged.

Anita looked into the woman's dark eyes, then nodded in defeat.

"Good, you make me proud; I proud of you, Anita, you good girl," the woman said, rubbed Anita's arm affectionately, then shooed Anita out of her kitchen.

"Well, I'm going," Louisa declared defiantly.

"Fuck you are!" Luther roared. "Fucking bitch says we're nothing but..."

"She's my daughter and I'm going," Louisa again declared.

"Yeah," Marco said, stepping slightly behind his mother.

Luther stared at both of them, then gave both of them the finger.

"That's all I got to say, hear?" he said, again giving them the finger.

"Come on, damn it's hot, huh?" Louisa said, dragging her son out of the trailer.

"Where we going?" Marco asked.

"Goodwill, see if they got a suit fit you," Louisa said.

At St. Thomas Aquinas, Anita waited by her car for Jenee to hurry. Next to her, Toni prattled on and on about Anita's speech.

"Oh, and like you got to tell them all about you know, how I like became your best friend and like you just couldn't imagine life without me," Toni smugly said.

"And I'll tell them like what a pain in the ass you are, shut up," Anita smiled as Jenee came running up.

"You believe what an ass hole Mr. Cousins is being?" Jenee complained, scrambling into the car. "Ow! Ow! The seats are burning up!"

"Told you, bring a towel," Toni said, sitting comfortably on her towel.

Anita drove Jenee home, waved again to Mrs. Wolfe and Mr. Wolfe and drove home.

"Go, go, geeve me school clothes, Mees Toni you maybe bring towel I asked?" Miss , Alvarez demanded when they came into the house.

"Yes ma'am, and I like made Anita bring her P.E. towel too," Toni smiled.

"She bring it every Friday, she know it need the washing; she not dirty girl like you," Miss Alvarez teased and both girls laughed as they dashed up the stairs.

"You a dirty girl?" Anita asked, kissing Toni.

"Well, like if I am, it's like all your fault," Toni teased and gave Anita a loving kiss.

They dressed in their work clothes, then barreled back down the stairs again, school clothes in hand.

After Pam, Toni had hired Hank O'Neil, a man that claimed to be a disabled veteran of the Second Gulf War. He turned out to be just as lazy as Pam, and also turned out to be a liar. Not only was he not a veteran of the Second Gulf War, he had never served in the military at all.

He also made both Anita and Toni extremely uncomfortable, leering at them and making suggestive remarks.

Their third hire, Penny, an obese but cheerful woman had worked for three days and both Toni and Anita were thrilled with her. Then on the fourth day, her husband showed up and said that Penny wasn't coming back. He gave no explanation, just gave his announcement and stomped away.

So, Anita and Toni were back to being the sole employees of A And A Soaps.

Anita concentrated on making the all organic citrus candles, while Toni squealed and groaned in disgust as she ferreted through the overripe fruits for their 'Summer-Time' soaps.

"Oh good God, really?" Anita finally tired of hearing Toni whining and quickly dug through the grapefruits and found a few that were on the verge of rotting.

"God, big baby," Anita smirked at Toni, chopped the fruits quickly and dumped them, rind and all, into the large food processor.

"Well, I can't help it," Toni whined.

"Yeah, you can help it," Anita said and made quick work of pulping the grapefruit. "you just know if you cry enough about it, I'll get up do it for you."

Several pulses with the food processor and Anita dumped the contents into a colander. The juice was collected in a bowl and Toni quickly measured out two cups of the liquid. The pulp that collected into the colander was dumped back into the food processor and Anita punished it some more.

Again, Toni whined until Anita sighed, then used her hands to force the pulpy mess down until two cups of juice were gathered into the bowl.

Then four cups of the colander's contents were scooped into the large mixing bowl and Toni happily made the grapefruit soap.

"Whining little bitch," Anita said as she returned to the garage after spreading the remaining pulp around Miss Alvarez's herb garden.

"Thank you," Toni said and kissed Anita.

At her home, Caitlin finished all of her homework. All of their teachers, except for Mr. Cousins, their Earth Sciences teacher, seemed to understand that the end of the school year was only a few days away; the last thing any of the Senior class wanted was more homework.

She sent Barry a quick little text message, letting him know she was missing him. She laughed when, a moment later, her phone rang.

"Caitlin, what will it take for you to get it?" Barry asked. "I don't text, I will not text. Ever."

"Oh, you will text me," she said.

"So what's up?" he asked.

"Nothing; just missing you," she said.

"Uh huh, and in, let's see, thirty nine minutes, you'll be seeing me," he said.

"Thirty nine minutes is a long time," she said.

At Superior Motors, Barry finally managed to get Caitlin off the phone by reminding her that she still needed to get ready.

"Let's see, went to lunch with Ed, did he bring us back any of their fried shrimp?" Jack asked Bob.

"No he did not and Dead End's got some damn good fried shrimp too," Bob agreed.

"And now he's going to Henri's in Elgee," Henry chimed in. "Think he'll bring us back any escargot or pate?"

"Probably not," Bob said.

"Hey' y'all?" Barry smiled as Caitlin's car screeched to a halt outside of the building. "Blow it out your ears, huh?"

"So, balloon ride, huh?" Henry asked as Caitlin skipped into the showroom.

"Uh huh," Barry said and smiled wider as Caitlin stopped and looked at 'her' black Maserati.

"Kind of gay, there, Barry," Bob said. "I mean, I'm just saying."

"Yeah. Balloon rides, unicorns, and pink shirts. Kind of gay," Jack agreed.

"Oh! But it looks good on you," Henry said, glancing at Barry's pink shirt.

"Hey!" Caitlin protested, hugging Barry. "I like his shirt!"

"Uh, you're a girl?" Jack said.

"And I suppose Henri's is gay too?" Barry asked, smiling widely.

"Oh, no, of course not!" Bob said. "Hell, I took Marie there just a couple of weeks back!"

He paused for a long moment.

"Of course, I didn't have on a pink shirt when I did," He said.

"Oh!" Caitlin said and slapped Bob's shoulder.

"Come on, Honey, before you have to beat them all up," Barry laughed and guided her to the door.

"Hey, you know what that is?" Caitlin asked, pointing almost directly across Highway 52, at a sign that announced that 'Side By Side' was coming soon.

"No, but damn, that building is going up quick, huh?" Bob asked, squinting at the dark chocolate brick building.

"I mean, really, just last week, that was like a empty lot," Henry offered.

"She is going to shit," Jack said as they watched Barry's Astin Martin speed away.

"Shit, Shirley's going to shit," Henry agreed.

"Hey, Jack, how much you love me?" Bob asked as Bertha Johnson's red Ferrari stopped in front of the building.

"With all my heart and soul," Jack said, already reaching for the coveralls he would don to work on Bertha's car.

"Uh huh, forever and ever?" Bob smiled as a smiling Bertha got out of the car, making sure that a good expanse of her buttocks 'accidentally' flashed into view.

In the small office in Jack's Creek, Caitlin and Barry watched a ten minute video about ballooning and ballooning safety while Barry filled out their consent forms.

"Here, Sweetheart, sign here, all right?" Barry said as the video closed with sappy piano music.

"All right, y'all folks ready?" their balloonist asked, smiling.

Caitlin looked at the large balloon and hesitated, brown eyes opening wide.

"They don't look this big on TV, she whispered, frightened.

"No, they really don't, do they?" Barry agreed.

"Oh, hang on, ," the man said, barring their entry to the gondola. "Gosh, guess you didn't see the sign in there, huh?"

"Sign? What sign?" Barry asked, confused.

"Uh, no pink shirts allowed," the man said.

Barry burst out laughing and the balloonist laughed as well.

"All right, which one of them is going to be looking for a new job tomorrow?" Barry asked.

"Henry called me about ten minutes ago; Gary's my son in law," the man admitted.

"Shirley's son Gary?" Caitlin asked.

"Barry Delacroix," Barry said, shaking the man's hand. "Missy's a fine young lady."

"Thank you; kind of remember you at the wedding," the man said.

"Oh!" Caitlin squeaked and wrapped her arms tightly around Barry when the balloon gave a small lurch.

"Honey, are you afraid of heights?" Barry asked.

"Uh huh," Caitlin admitted.

"So tethered or free?" the man asked.

"Better do it tethered," Barry said. "Honey, if you're afraid of heights, why did you want to do this?"

"I thought it'd be romantic!" Caitlin whined, clinging onto Barry for dear life.

"Well, it is," Barry assured her. "Oh, my God, St. Elizabeth is beautiful up... Is that the Atchafalaya?"

"Yep; ought to see that, we do this helicopter tour of it," the man agreed.

Caitlin gave a squeal when the balloon reached the end of its tether and gave a lurch.

"Oh!" she moaned as the balloon spun slightly.

"Better take us back down," Barry smiled to the man, who just nodded and made the adjustments to the gas jets.

"And 'whee!'" Barry said gently to Caitlin as they coasted back down.

"I'm sorry," Caitlin sniffled into Barry's chest.

"About what?" Barry asked and chuckled when Caitlin gave a little scream as the basket bumped along the ground.

"Thank you," Barry said, handing the man a twenty dollar bill.

"No problem," the man shrugged.

"Like you're the first ones ever chickened out," he muttered, smiling at the next group that had rented the balloon. "Least she didn't puke in here."

"Barry, I'm sorry," Caitlin cried as he called Henri's to see if they could bump up their reservations.

"Honey, there is absolutely nothing to be sorry about," he gently said, gripping her hand.

"And the soufflé?" Barry reminded the man as they entered the restaurant.

"Ah yes, Henri is working on that himself; it will be the very finest, monsieur," the maitre'd assured him.

"The soufflé?" Caitlin asked.

"It's a chocolate soufflé and it goes so perfectly with the cuisine here, but it takes forever to get it just right, so I've learned to order it ahead of time," Barry said casually.

The waiter came up, greeting them in perfect Parisian French. He then described the specials of the day, then looked stricken as Barry began communicating with him in French as well.

"Oh, let me guess," Barry chuckled. "The menu's about all the French you know, right?"

"Yes sir, I'm afraid so," the young man admitted, blushing hotly.

"Son, that's fine; you did that so good, I really thought you knew French," Barry complimented him.

Caitlin liked the food just fine, but would not admit to Barry, she would have been just as happy with a pizza from A Touch Of Sicily.

"And here we are, monsieur," Henri himself said as he wheeled out the dessert.

"Oh, my, God; that looks so yummy," Caitlin gushed as the dark chocolate dessert was placed in front of her.

"Please, please," Henri urged. "Small bites though; do not overwhelm your tongue."

"Mmm," Caitlin nodded and got a second spoonful.

"Hmmph?" she asked and discreetly spat something into her napkin.

"What? What's wrong? My soufflé, it is the best?" Henri demanded.

"There's a, it looks like a..." Caitlin squinted at her napkin.

"Here, clean it off in your water," Barry suggested, smiling.

"It's a ring," Caitlin said, looking at the diamond ring. "Why would there be a, oh my God, is this, this is a, oh my God!"

The other patrons looked over at the bone thin red head that was suddenly jumping up and down, then started running in place, screaming.

"I believe the lady, she is excited?" Henri asked, shaking Barry's hand.

"I believe the lady, she is very excited," Barry laughed as Caitlin just started jumping up and down again.

He reached across the table and dragged her soufflé to him and started eating her dessert.

"Oh my God, how can you eat at a time like this?" Caitlin screamed at him.

"Easy, you got any idea how much that soufflé costs?" Barry laughed as she threw herself into his lap and started kissing him frantically.

"Took your dad out to eat today," Barry admitted as they were driving toward Caitlin's home. "Told him I planned to ask you to marry me."

"Oh, my Daddy!" Caitlin gasped. "How'd he take it?"

"Not good," Barry smiled. "Started crying, right there, in Dead End."

"Daddy?" Caitlin said into her cell phone, then started sobbing. "Daddy, he asked me to marry him. I said 'yes;' Daddy, that all right?"

She was still sobbing into her cell phone when Barry pulled up to the showroom.

"Hey, Henry?" Barry called out, leaving Caitlin in the car.