Chapter 29: 29 Visitors

Annie and Arnold watched television for almost three hours. Annie's hand made slow caressing circles on Arnold's chest automatically, just like she had when he was a young boy. Arnold's eyes opened and closed in long slow blinks and was completely relaxed, also just like when he was a boy. They both liked being there like that, with nothing in the world to disturb them, then they heard a car pull into the driveway with a screech of tires.

Annie let out a sigh and stopped rubbing Arnold's chest. “I'll go check and see who it is.” She said and carefully lifted Arnold's head and moved out of the way, then rested it on the couch. She gave him a smile and went to kiss him on the forehead, then remembered what he had said about it meaning more on the lips. She gave him a kiss on the lips and walked out of the living room to go to the front door.

There was a loud bang, then another.

Are they trying to kick my door in? Annie asked herself and pulled open the door.

A young black woman stood there with her foot posed to kick the door again. She had her hair in a tight weave, wore a workout outfit that looked brand new, and she carried a large bag in her hands. She also had a slightly surprised expression on her face.

“Yes? What do you want?” Annie asked.

“Hi, there.” Amy said and used the best 'nice to meet you' smile she had. “My name is Fareena Amilia Hollister and I work for the biology department at the college.”

Annie stood there and wasn't sure she had heard the name right. “Farrena?”

Amy chuckled. “Everyone just calls me Amy.”

“That's easier.” Annie said with a smile. “Hi Amy, I'm... wait, did you say you worked for the college?”

Amy nodded. “In the biology department.”

“What are you doing here?” Annie asked.

“I'm on scholarship there and work in the mornings at the lab and take classes in the afternoons.” Amy said. “The professor gave me the morning off to drive all the way out here to deliver this.” She hefted the bag to get Annie's attention on it.

“What is it?”

“It's an assistant package that comes with a summer job offer.” Amy said.

“Wh-wh-what?” Annie asked, stunned.

“I know it's pretty sudden and you have every right to be surprised.” Amy said. “Can I come in? This thing is heavy.”

“What? Oh! Yes, come in.” Annie said and stepped out of the way.

Amy came inside the house. “This is a nice place.”

“Thank you.” Annie said and pointed. “The dining room is right in there.”

“Dining room?” Amy asked and walked where she was pointed.

“So you can put that down and we can look through it.” Annie said.

“I'm sorry.” Amy said with regret in her voice. “I can only hand this over to Arnold.”

“That's what I meant by 'we'.” Annie said and turned towards the living room. “Arnold, come here.”

Amy was prepared for the worst and turned to face the living room, then she nearly gasped as a five foot ten inch tall hunk of a man stood up from the couch and walked towards her.

Oh. My. God. Amy thought in surprise as Arnold stopped beside her. He looks like an angel!

“What's in the bag?” Arnold asked and Amy managed to not shiver at the sound of his voice.

“It's an assistant package, whatever that is, and a job offer.” Annie said. “For the whole summer.”

Arnold reached out and took his mother's hand. “Let's look through it together.”

Annie nodded and they both started pulling things out of the bag and looked them over. Amy just stood there and didn't say anything for almost twenty minutes, until Annie started to ask her questions about the procedure manual and lab protocol book.

“You're really offering him an assistant position?” Annie asked, surprised.

“Not me, the professor. Hamil Crenslav.” Amy corrected. “I was hired last year and I'm the senior assistant.”

“So, Arnold will be working under you?” Annie asked.

“I certainly hope so.” Amy said and gave Arnold a look that said she was going to eat him all up. Arnold didn't notice, because he was currently looking through the thick introduction booklet for the biology department. Annie had noticed it and took the young woman's arm and led her out of the room and to the front door.

“Let me get something straight with you, right here and now.” Annie said in a low voice that was filled with anger, and she saw Amy's surprise. “Arnold has a girlfriend.”

“I... I know.” Amy said.

“That didn't stop you from looking at my son like he was a piece of candy.” Annie said. “Normally, I wouldn't say anything; but, my son doesn't need you to tease and tempt him like you're planning to do.”

“Mrs. Strickland, I...”

“If you lie to me, I'll toss you out this door so fast that you'll wonder if you had been in here at all.” Annie spat. “Normal people don't make deliveries over two hours away dressed like that, unless they had a specific reason to show off so much of their bodies.”

“But... the job...”

“All I care about is the welfare of my son. If he takes this job and all he gets from you is propositioned, used, and dumped, then I would rather he stayed at home to watch television with me on the couch.”

Amy looked into the woman's eyes and knew she wasn't going to be bullshitting her way out of the situation. “Okay. I admit that I came here with the intention of getting his attention.” She said. “We're going to be working together for almost three months and I wanted us to get along as well as possible.”

Annie let out a huff. “Getting along is great. I won't interfere with that. Being friends is fine as well.” She said and leaned in close. “But if I ever hear that you are trying to seduce him or manipulate him, I'll rip those god-awful mini-braids out of your hair, one by one, then I'll report you for abusing your position and have you fired.”

Amy's face had paled slightly at the threat. Not because it was startling to hear, it was because she knew with all of her heart that the woman, whom she now thought of as crazy, meant it.

“Before I ask if you understand, you should know that Arnold tells me everything I ask him about.” Annie said. “If he takes this job, I'll be talking to him every day and I'll ask him if you've tried anything with him. Flirting, revealing clothing, rubbing on him, everything.” She let those words sink in for a minute, then spoke. “Do you understand?”

Amy nodded.

“Say it out loud, please.” Annie commanded.

“I understand. No using or abusing your son.” Amy said.

“Good.” Annie smiled and let her arm go, then walked back to the dining room.

Amy rubbed where the woman's fingers had dug in, then she held in her sigh.

“Amy, why don't you come back to the dining room and tell us all about the job, the perks, and what it would mean for Arnold's qualifications for scholarships and bursaries.” Annie said with a happy tone and a welcoming smile.

Amy had seen behind the facade and knew the woman was not someone to be trifled with, so she walked over to the dining room and did as Annie asked and told them everything they wanted to know. She didn't bend over slightly, or tease a bit with playing with opening her vest, or even casually touched Arnold as she spoke. All of her plans for making Arnold hers, before he reached campus, had crashed and burned before they had even started.

“Thank you so much for coming over with all of this.” Annie said and looked at all of the things that had been in the bag, including examples of a lab coat, medical masks, high quality rubber gloves, and Amy's card with her information on it.

“You're welcome.” Amy said in a defeated tone. She had tried, unobtrusively, to get Arnold's attention and it hadn't worked at all. She had to assume that his mother was right and she wasn't going to make any headway with him at all.

“Arnold, go ahead and walk her to the front door.” Annie said and started to gather everything up to put it back in the bag.

Amy gave her one last look, then walked to the front door with Arnold right behind her. She opened the front door and saw a car and a panel van pull up to the curb and stop. She turned to look at the handsome man and stopped herself from sighing at the lost opportunity.

“Call me when you make a decision about the job.” Amy said. “Goodbye.”

Arnold put a hand behind her head and bent down slightly to give her a three second kiss. “Goodbye.”

“Is that your girlfriend? Oh, what a wonderful time to arrive!” A woman exclaimed as she and a camera man walked up the driveway. “Did you get a shot of that kiss?”

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“No.” The camera guy said.

“Well, then.” She said and turned back to Arnold. “Kiss her again and we can take a picture.”

“W-wait!” Amy managed to say before Arnold kissed her again.

“Aww, how sweet! Young love!” The reporter said and turned to look at the other woman behind her. “I hope it's okay to include a picture of the young couple.”

“It's supposed to be about the benefits from the company; but, I guess you can include it as a happy response.”

“Wonderful!” The reporter said.

“What's going on out here?” Annie asked and her eyes took in the other people.

“I'm a representative from Charles and Associates.” A well-dressed woman said. “I came here as soon as we received the police findings in your husband's case.”

Annie took a shaky breath and Arnold was there to hold her by the shoulders.

“Can we come in?” The representative asked. “There are some things we need to discuss.”

“Yes, of course.” Annie said and waved them in.

*

Amy was left all alone on the front step as the front door closed. “What... the... hell.” She said and stared at the spot Arnold had just stood. After a moment, she shook her head and climbed into her car and left. She had a long drive to get back to school before her first afternoon class. She dismissed the entire event as something she was never going to mention to anyone, not even Cissily, and stepped on the gas. Only one thought kept going through her mind.

That was a great goodbye kiss. Amy thought.

*

“I'm so sorry for your loss.” The representative said as Annie led them into the living room. “It was a horrible thing to have happen.”

The reporter directed her to sit on the couch where the camera guy could get the best angle, then Annie sat beside her and Arnold was told to stand near Annie and to put a hand on her shoulder.

“As soon as we received the police findings, we came right over to help alleviate the burden on you.” The representative said and opened up her purse and took out a large envelope, then she held it out for Annie to take. There was a click of the camera and a flash, then the camera guy checked what he got, nodded to the reporter, and left.

“What is this?” Annie asked when the rep let the envelope go.

“It's your husband's life insurance policy benefits.” The representative said with a big smile.

“I didn't know that he had life insurance.” Annie said as she looked at the envelope. Please be enough.

“All of the Charles and Associates employees have the policy given to them after ten years.” The representative said and her face kept the same smile. “It's an automatic reward for dedicated years of service.”

“How... how much?” Annie asked, almost in a whisper.

“Well...” The rep's smile reduced in quality to a normal smile. “...even though it was ruled an accident, your husband was... allegedly drunk behind the wheel... which contributed to the accident.” Her smile disappeared. “He did not qualify for the accidental death clause of the policy.”

“Do I want to know how much that would have been?” Annie asked.

“No.” The representative said with a sad voice, then she smiled a little. “There were other clauses that he did qualify for and the policy payout was adjusted accordingly. Also, after Gerald's work history was taken into consideration, the company head saw fit to increase those benefits appropriately.” And absolve himself and the company of liability.

Annie's hands trembled as she slid open the envelope and pulled out something that looked like a contract. She gave it a quick look and then flipped to the last page, and there it was. The check.

It was for a hundred and sixty-five thousand dollars.

Annie gasped and folded it back up and put it back into the envelope as she fought the urge to hug it tightly, which would crush it and potentially make it worthless.

“Shall we move to the dining room and sign the paperwork?” The representative said with a satisfied tone of voice.

“Y-y-yes.” Annie said. “Arnold, help me.”

Arnold eased his arms around his mother and helped her stand, then guided her as if she was elderly and took her to the dining room. He sat her down and she held the envelope as if it would break.

“Make sure to read all of that.” The rep said as Annie opened the envelope again and took out the contract. “It's a non-disclosure agreement and acceptance of the policy payout.”

Annie looked at the reporter and then back to the representative.

“She's agreed that if she does see how much it is, she won't reveal the total.” The representative said.

Annie nodded and read through the contract quickly and flipped to the last page again and Arnold saw how much the check was for.

“It's not very much.” Arnold said.

“Excuse me?” The representative looked at him in surprise. “That is a significant amount of money.”

“After all the debts my father left us with, with two secret mortgages and a bunch of loans, we'll only have a few thousand left to live on.” Arnold said to both her and the reporter's shock. “The account manager at the bank let him steal nearly all of my college fund, too.”

“What?!?” The reporter and the representative asked at the same time.

The reporter was the first to recover from the shock. “What did he spend all that money on?”

“Investments... stupid, stupid investments.” Annie whispered. “We only found out a couple of days before he... he...”

“Mom.” Arnold said and she looked up at him and nodded.

“Can you get me that man's name?” The reporter asked.

Arnold left the room and went upstairs and retrieved the account manager's business card from his backpack. He went back down to the dining room and handed the card to the reporter.

“I told him I would tell everyone that he helped my dad rob me.” Arnold said. “Can you do that?”

“You're damn right I can.” The reporter said and smiled. “I'll get on it as soon as we're finished here.”

Arnold nodded as Annie took the pen from the representative and signed the contract, then she endorsed the check, as did the representative. The three women stood and shook hands, then Annie sat down and stared at the check. You could see the disbelief on her face, so the reporter and the representative turned away and Arnold led them towards the front door.

“I thought I was delivering a huge payday for you to make you all happy after the tragedy, and all I did was alleviate some of your worries.” The representative said, sadly. “I'm sorry it didn't work like I thought it would.”

“Thank you.” Arnold said and gave her a quick kiss and hugged her. The woman was stunned for a moment, then her heart melted and she hugged him back tightly. When he let her go, she had tears in her eyes.

“I promise you that I'll have this story in tomorrow's paper.” The reporter said. “In fact, I'll try and make it into a whole series of articles about the bank's corruption and its subversion of their client's expectations.” She touched Arnold's arm. “I'll also spread the word as quickly as I can on social media, from both the paper's website and with my own contacts.”

“Thank you.” Arnold said and gave her a brief kiss and hugged her, too. The reporter held her emotions in check a little better than the representative had and only had a sad face when Arnold let her go. Her tears would come once they left the house. With nothing else to do or say, the two women left through the front door and the reporter started crying.

“That poor boy.” The reporter said. “He's the man of the house now.”

“I know.” The representative from Charles and Associates said. “I just... now that I've met them, I... I wish I could have done more.” Despite that not being the policy of the company. She thought.

“I'm glad I still can.” The reporter said and wiped at her tears. “Even if the editor squashes the best human interest story we've had in years, everyone will know what happened.”

“You're going to submit the benefits story separately?” The representative asked.

The reporter nodded. “It's the best and safest way. I'll include a single line stating that it will barely take them out of their crushing debt.” She smiled. “We'll be flooded with calls for a follow up story. I just know it.”

The representative nodded and they split up to go to their respective vehicles, then drove away.

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