Chapter 31: 31 Free And Clear

Claire was disappointed when she slowly drove by Arnold's place and didn't see a car in the driveway. She thought about going to see if it was just Annie that was gone, then changed her mind and drove to the high school. She arrived just in time and heard the bell ring, so she didn't bother going into the parking lot and stayed by the curb. When she saw her daughter, she honked the horn several times.

Heather waved and brought Kelly over, so she could take her suitcase from the trunk. “I'll see you tomorrow, Kelly.” She said and gave her friend a hug.

“Don't have too much fun doing homework without me tonight.” Kelly said with a grin.

“I'm sure Arnold can keep me from missing you.” Heather said with a teasing tone as she climbed into the backseat. “Bye!”

“Bye.” Kelly said and bent down to look in the passenger window. “Hi, Mrs. Bradshaw. Bye, Mrs. Bradshaw.”

Claire smiled. “Get home and tell your dad he needs you.”

Kelly laughed and waved as they drove away, then she waited for the school bus. She had about fifteen minutes to wait and didn't mind that she had her suitcase with her. She could have asked for a ride home and decided that she didn't want to impose on Heather's mom any more than she already had. It had been a great weekend and she had a lot of fun.

Kelly's face flushed red as she thought about the last thing she had ever thought she would see. Arnold naked. The way he casually walked around with his thing hanging out was just as distracting as it sounded, and then he had given her a close up view when he had applied sunscreen to her entire body.

“You look like you're remembering something good.” A male voice said.

“AH!” Kelly jumped and whirled to the side to see Eric as he stood about five feet away from her near a tree. “You scared...” She stopped mid-sentence and narrowed her eyes. “What do you want?”

Eric raised his hands in a surrender gesture. “I just want to talk.”

“Yeah? One of Brad's friends, who picks on my best friend whenever they can, wants to talk to me?” Kelly asked in an accusing tone. “Well, whatever you have to say, you can shove it where the sun doesn't shine, and I don't mean your armpits!”

Eric sighed. “I knew this was going to suck.” He whispered. “Look, I came to warn you.”

“Me? What for?”

“Brad's got a hard on for getting Arnold back, and so does Kevin.” Eric said. “I've been doing my best to keep them away from him; but, they just found a good way to get him.”

“How?” Kelly asked, despite not wanting to listen to the jerk.

Eric had been one of her dates and unfortunately he had proved to her that he was just like the rest of the guys she had dated and only wanted to feel her up, no matter what kind of date they were on. Walking, driving, mini-golf, movies... the movies were the worst. Just because it was dark, they thought they could grab whatever they wanted, because they had paid for the tickets and the popcorn. Eric had taken her to the movies once and she could still feel how hard he had grabbed her.

“VR.” Eric said. “Brad is getting the old group back together.”

Kelly closed her eyes and sighed. Brad's old group were a scourge on the multiplayer community and they had no scruples. They would steal kills, robbed other players for little or no reason, and tricked them into not getting any loot when they shared quests. They were the worst kinds of people to play against in any game and everyone had felt relief when Brad's group had officially retired.

“Is... that all?” Kelly asked and opened her eyes.

“No.” Eric said. “I'm sorry for what happened between us and...”

“Save it for someone who cares!” Kelly nearly yelled. “I had finger-shaped bruises on my breasts for two weeks! I was so embarrassed when I had to shower in the girl's locker room after gym class!”

“Kelly...”

“It wasn't even because I had them, either! I accepted it as what I deserved for thinking you were an okay guy.” Kelly said and then her voice dropped. “It was because everyone saw the bruises and knew exactly how I got them. You had told everyone about our date and how you had finally conquered me.”

Eric let out another sigh. “I told you that I didn't realize...”

“What? That ruining my reputation didn't matter at all to you, as long as you got the girl, even if you actually didn't?” Kelly spat.

“Yes.” Eric responded, fruitlessly.

“Well, I hope you're happy, because every guy I've dated since then has tried the same thing, because they all think I'm an easy lay.” Kelly said. “How am I supposed to find a guy who actually likes me if all they want to do is copy the things you said you did and will say anything to me so they can try it?”

Eric didn't know how to respond to that, so he stayed quiet.

“Exactly.” Kelly said and gave him one last scathing look before she turned away from him. “You better get the thought out of your head that I'm going to forgive you, because I'm not. I won't ever forgive you for hurting me. Not ever.” She said. “No one is going to forget what happened because of what you said, and neither will I.”

Eric let out another sigh and walked away. He didn't see the tears in Kelly's eyes and when her school bus arrived, she walked over to it and climbed on. No one commented on her tears or asked her what was wrong. She was perfectly fine with that and rode the bus home in silence.

*

“I can't believe he wasn't home.” Heather said as she climbed into the back seat of her mother's car.

“I told you there was no answer when I called before coming to pick you up.” Claire said. She didn't say that she had driven by and saw that the car wasn't home, either.

“How is he going to do today's homework if I don't give it to him?” Heather asked.

“We'll just call him after supper and hope for the best.” Claire said as she pulled away from the house.

“He needs a cell phone.” Heather said, echoing Claire's thoughts from earlier. “That way we can get a hold of him when we need to.”

“That's a good idea, except I don't think he can afford one right now.” Claire said. She knew how much in debt Annie actually was. She had to assume that adding another monthly bill for them to take care of wasn't going to help with the situation they were in.

“What about working for you?” Heather asked. “You haven't paid him yet, right? What if you included a cell phone?”

Claire chuckled. “He didn't do that much work, Heather.”

“But... you said...”

“A hundred dollars a day for four days work isn't a lot of money when buying a cell phone for a few hundred dollars and then a paying a bill for nearly a hundred dollars each month.” Claire said. “I intended for him to have a bit of spending money, not give him a steady income that he would need for a cell phone.”

Heather let out a sigh. “It's too bad we couldn't reload our plan and add an extra phone.”

Claire smiled. “At least you're considering options and not sulking over it or whining at me to get him one.”

“Like that ever worked.” Heather said and smiled at the back of her mother's head.

Claire drove them home and as soon as they went into the house, Heather went to the house phone and called Arnold's house. “Your time would be better spent doing the homework.”

“I'm just trying it a few times.” Heather said as she hung the phone up and dialed again.

Claire chuckled and went to the kitchen to start on supper.

*

It took another two hours for the account manager to get all of the loans sorted out. He had needed the help of one of the bank's accountants as well, and the two of them managed to construct the best plan to distribute the money. Unlike what some people thought, you couldn't just go to the bank and pay off a structured bill system. It was intended to make the bank money over time and getting by those additional fees was quite the rigmarole, or long and complicated procedure.

“I think we got it!” The woman exclaimed and stood up with the final total and took in a huge breath to start talking. “With the death benefit loophole, we can pay off the first mortgage and primary car with only a small early payment fee penalty, which will establish a good credit and payment history with us. Once that's entered in the system, you become eligible for discounts on bringing more accounts to our bank, which will save you on the early payment fees for the smaller loans.”

Annie and Arnold sat there and listened.

The woman took another breath. “We've managed to juggle the smaller loans into a consolidated single payment to make them eligible for the same single payment loophole, then the second mortgage comes into effect and becomes the primary mortgage on the house. It then qualifies for the same payment reduction and the death benefit loophole lets a single balloon payment be made to clear it. We can't do anything for the second car, since it's not a primary asset and you have to pay the full early payment fees for it.”

Annie thought about what she said. “Okay, I think I understand. You broke it all up and will enter it into the system as a series of loans and mortgages and not as a coherent whole.”

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“Yes!” The woman said excitedly. “It won't matter if the entries are seconds apart. It'll become a credit history, a very favorable one that's on par with some of our more prominent clients, and then the last car payment will clear you of your debt completely. Even your house taxes have been included!”

“And the insurance, once you enter the primary car as wrecked?” Annie asked.

The woman smiled. “You've never had an accident with it and it's been on the road for years. I'll bet that your payments are going to be significantly lower than they were before, especially with such a high credit rating.”

“But... the accident...” Annie started to say.

“...happened when you weren't on the policy, so it's not on record.” The woman said with a grin. “It doesn't affect your driving record or will impact your monthly or yearly fees. By the way, I suggest paying the yearly fee each year. You save quite a lot by paying for it all upfront.”

Annie nodded. “How much is left after all of this?”

The woman picked up another sheet and circled a number on it, then showed it to her.

“Eight thousand, three hundred and some change?” Annie asked, surprised. “I thought...”

“That's including the yearly insurance payments on the house and car, too.” The woman said. “That total is how much that will be left in your account.”

“Our account.” Annie said and took her son's hand. “Both of our names will be on it.”

“That's not a problem.” The account manager said and looked at the accountant. “Can you stay and help me put all of this mess into the computer?”

“Sir, I'd be honored to.” The woman said. “Once I heard their story, I wanted to turn this into the best possible outcome for them.”

It took another half an hour to get all of the paperwork sorted out into the proper order and entered into the computer. When they were done, the account manager and the accountant sat back with satisfied looks on their faces.

“Well, now that it's all done, would you like to take any of that money out?” The account manager asked as he handed them two bank cards with their signatures on them.

“No.” Arnold said before Annie could respond. “We would like to leave it there for as long as possible.”

“Arnold, you're starting college in the fall.” Annie said. “You're going to need...”

“According to the package the college sent over, I won't need anything.” Arnold said. “If I take the job for the summer, I qualify for school sponsorship.”

“You're going to have a full scholarship for the college?” The account manager asked.

“We just received the offer today.” Annie said. “We haven't even talked about it or what it could mean.”

“Well, in any case, bring any and all paperwork about that to us if you accept. We will handle all of the details for you.” The man said and smiled. “You will have more than ten dollars in your college account in no time.”

Arnold stood up and walked around the desk. “Thank you.” He said and started to hug the man.

“Arnold!” Annie shot to her feet. “Just a handshake for him!”

Arnold moved back and held a hand out to the man.

“You're welcome.” The man said with raised eyebrows and stood to shake Arnold's hand. “Thank you for choosing our bank and I am happy to have you as a client.”

Arnold nodded and turned to the woman, who stood and started to put a hand out for him to shake. He ignored it and stepped close to her instead and put his arms around her.

“Thank you.” Arnold said and kissed her for three seconds, then let her go.

“Arnold, take the paperwork and wait in the car.” Annie said. “We'll go out to eat and celebrate.”

Both the account manager and the accountant stared at Arnold as he took the copy of the paperwork and left the office.

“I'm sorry about that.” Annie said. “He's a little socially inept and hasn't had a lot of practice in dealing with people outside of school. He didn't mean any harm.”

“That's... quite all right.” The woman said as she recovered. “It was a shock; but, you're right. He wasn't trying to do anything past thanking me.”

“It's usually only a quick kiss, though.” Annie said and held a hand out for her to shake. “He appreciates everything you've done, and so do I.”

The woman smiled and shook the offered hand. “I'm glad I could help as much as I did.”

Annie held her hand out to the account manager. “Thank you for everything.”

“It was my pleasure.” The man said and shook her hand. “Have a good day.”

“You, too.” Annie said and left the office.

“Are you going to report him?” The account manager asked the woman beside him. “That was still an unwarranted sexual advance.”

“No. He really was only thanking me.” The accountant said and turned to the man. “What about you?”

“What about me?” The account manager asked.

“Are you going to report him for almost kissing you?” She asked.

“No, he was only...”

“His mother had to stop him and tell him to change to a handshake.” The accountant said. “He was going to kiss you.” She said with a smile. “It would probably be a big wet slobbery kiss, too.”

The account manager gave her a bit of a glare, then he chuckled. “Go back to your office and don't let me catch you telling stories.”

“Me? Telling stories?” The accountant asked and walked around the desk and opened the door. “I wouldn't dare.” She said with a smile and left.

The account manager sat down as he shook his head, then he started to clean up his desk and added everything to the Strickland file. He put it into his filing cabinet and thought over what almost happened.

He really was going to hug and kiss me. The account manager thought, shook his head at the absurd thought, and went back to work.

*

Heather sat down at the dining room table with a huff.

“Still nothing?” Claire asked.

“I wonder where he is?” Heather asked and picked at her food.

“I'm sure he's out with Annie somewhere.” Claire assured her daughter. “You know he doesn't go far from home without supervision.”

Heather sighed. “I haven't seen him in forever.”

“There's the whining I expected from you earlier.” Claire said and let out a soft laugh.

Heather thought about glaring at her mother, then changed her mind and ate her food instead.

Bokuboy

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