Chapter 18: 018 First Night

It was our first night in the condo and Jenny was more than a little excited. It was her first night living alone... well, away from our parents... and her enthusiasm couldn't be contained. She pretty much dragged me around to a few stores to buy the essentials we would need. We stopped at a restaurant to eat and she tried to tip more than was necessary.

I reached out and took her hand with the money in it. “Jenny, stop.”

“What?” Jenny looked at me in confusion.

“What was the condition on the loan?” I asked.

“To use it to benefit the country.” Jenny said. “So?”

“Giving an excessive tip isn't helping the country.”

Jenny looked at my hand and frowned a little. “I can spend it however I want.”

“No, you can't.” I said.

“It's my money.”

“No, it's my money that you are in charge of.”

“They gave me the loan.” Jenny countered.

“Which you spent on a condo that we didn't have enough money for.” I said. “The bank extended the loan, only because most of the money came right back to them. In reality, we only got about two hundred thousand dollars as a loan on a nine million in gold deposit.”

Jenny frowned at me. “Well, if you hadn't been so stupid to tell them you had so much...”

“I did that on purpose.” I said and she caught her breath.

“Why?” Jenny asked, shocked. “Why would you give them so much gold for nothing?”

“It wasn't for nothing. I was essentially buying my life back.”

“But... but...” Jenny looked at our clasped hands. “Nine million?”

“It could have taken months, maybe even half a year, to get all the paperwork cleared away.” I said, recalling the flashes of Divine Sight that I had before going into the government building. “I could have been living on the streets while I waited for permission to get my life back.”

“Damon, I... I would never let you live like that.” Jenny said as she turned her hand over and gave me the money. I took out a good tip for the meal and handed her back the money.

“No, you keep it.” Jenny said and tried to give it back. “It... it's your money.” She reluctantly admitted and held it out to me.

I shook my head. “I think we both need to take a class at the college on proper money management.”

Jenny took a deep breath and let it out. “I haven't been that bad at it, have I?”

I had to smile at that. “How many bathing suits do you have now?”

“Only six!” Jenny exclaimed, then she blushed a little. “I bought Kathy's and Sarah's, too.”

“Then I think before we do any more reckless spending, we need to learn how to manage it better.”

“You bought a car.” Jenny said as we stood.

“It's economical, easy on gas, and the repairs are cheap because it's a common car.” I said. “I might have splurged on the leather seats, though.”

“...and the stereo system.” Jenny said. “...and the tires.”

I sighed. “Like I said, we need help.”

“You have to work in the morning.” Jenny said as we left the restaurant.

“I'll find out what my work day is like and then we can head to the college to see what they have to offer.” I said and we climbed into my car. We drove for several minutes before Jenny spoke.

“You're not getting any of that gold back, are you?” Jenny asked.

“Not one coin of it.” I said. “In fact, I suspect it's already been sent to the US Mint for reclamation.”

“For what?” Jenny asked.

“They'll either re-mint them as US coins or they will smelt them into bars and add them to the federal reserve.” I said. “If they're smart, it's already got the best gold content, so they can just melt and pour. No mixing needed.”

“That won't make many bars, will it?”

“Well, if an ingot is about twenty-six pounds and I gave them three times a hundred and thirty pounds of coins, or three ninety... that's about fifteen gold ingots. Give or take a sliver or two.”

Jenny thought about it. “Nine million divided by fifteen, so that's six hundred thousand a gold ingot.”

I nodded. “In essence, we got to use two bars and they kept thirteen, free and clear.”

Jenny let out a sigh. “I can't believe you did that.” She said. “Even speeding up the process... was it worth it?”

“By itself? Absolutely not.” I said.

“Wh-WHAT?” Jenny yelled in surprise.

“There was a very specific reason why I did what I did and we should be getting it in the mail tomorrow morning.”

“At my place?” Jenny asked with a smile.

“At our place.” I corrected. “It's my legal residence. My driver's license says so.”

Jenny chuckled. “So what is it?”

“It's in my name, so do not open it.” I said. “It contains official documents that I need.”

“I thought you had everything to get your life back?” Jenny asked, a little confused.

“I did. Now I'm going to try improving it.”

“What? How?” Jenny asked. “I'm in your life now. What needs improving?”

I chuckled. “Ah, my dear sweet little sister. There's more to life than having a place to call home.”

“Not much more.” Jenny said. “You better not be thinking of buying a woman!”

I burst out laughing. “Now you're speaking nonsense.”

“Hey, they still have mail-order brides.” Jenny said and crossed her arms.

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“I thought you meant a prostitute.” I gave her a smile and pulled into the driveway of our home.

“I will never acknowledge that you've visited a brothel, no matter how many times you mention it.” Jenny said and stepped out of the car and grabbed the several large bags of sleep clothes, sheets, blankets, pillows, and toiletries.

“Let me take something.” I said as I opened the front door to the practically empty condo. “You're never getting through the door with that many big fluffy bags in your hands.”

“Just watch me.” Jenny grinned at me and then I watched as she proved me wrong and pushed and pulled all the bags through without letting them go. “You're lucky the rooms are the same size.” She said and tossed two of the large bags into my room. “I'd be arm wrestling you for the master bedroom.”

“You're assuming I'd lose?” I asked.

“You better lose!” Jenny said with a laugh and took the other bags into her room. She had things in them that I did not want to see. She came out ten minutes later and handed me a practically empty bag.

“Gee, thanks.” I said and took the bag.

“We have to go to mom and dad's on the weekend.” Jenny said. “I want to pack up my things and...”

“You're staying here for the long haul, are you?” I asked, teasingly.

“I'm going to college next year and having somewhere nearby is going to absolutely rock.” Jenny said.

“I can't believe you convinced dad to let you take a year off.”

“Once I told him I was taking care of you, he practically yelled at me to go with you.” Jenny said with a grin.

“Jesus, Jenny.” I shook my head. “He might try to get the college money back from you.”

“He can't. It's my account and he's not a co-signer or on the approval slip.” Jenny said. “I knew that much about security when we set up the account and transferred your old college money into it.”

“I'm glad.” I said and tossed the bag with my jogging pants, t-shirt, and toiletries into my room. “Once I get a few things going and work for a bit, things are definitely going to change.”

“For the better?” Jenny asked me.

“Definitely for the better.” I said. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.” Jenny said and watched me go into my room.

“My door has a lock!” I said loudly and laughed when I heard her curse.

I went to the bed and made it up quickly, changed out of my clothes and into jogging pants, then climbed into bed. I was tempted to shower tonight; but, I didn't know what it was going to be like sleeping in a new place. I could sweat, freeze, be too comfortable, or not comfortable enough. In almost every case, I would need a shower in the morning.

I set the alarm on the nightstand for extra early and pulled the blanket up to my chest. I took in a deep breath and let it out, then closed my eyes. Sleep somehow evaded me. I knew this, because half an hour later, I was wide awake when there was a knock on my bedroom door.

“Damon? Are you awake?” Jenny asked, tentatively.

“Yes.” I responded.

“I can't sleep.”

I took another deep breath and let it out. “It's open.”

In only a few seconds, Jenny was somehow through the door, on my bed with her own blanket, and had it tucked up to her neck with her head on my pillow. “Thanks.”

I chuckled and shook my head at her. “I hope you don't expect to do this every night.”

“Not every night.” Jenny said with a grin. “Kathy and Sarah are staying over on Friday.”

“Oh, joy.” I sighed and closed my eyes.

“Hey!” Jenny slapped my shoulder.

“I said that out loud. I'm sorry.” I said and kept my eyes closed.

“You're supposed to say you're sorry that you said it.”

“Are you sure?” I asked with a smile.

“Damon.” Jenny said in a lower pitched voice, which meant she wasn't joking around.

“I will always love you.” I said the magic phrase and she went quiet, then I felt her cuddle close, even with two blankets between us.

“Goodnight.” Jenny whispered.

“Goodnight.” I whispered back, then fell right to sleep.

The alarm went off the next morning and Jenny groaned in my ear. “Ugghhhh. Shut it off.”

I opened my eyes to see that she had mostly stayed under her own blanket and only had an arm across my chest. I rolled over, away from her, and hit the alarm. I had spent ten years sleeping in a hostile environment, so I was instantly awake. I got up and grabbed my change of work clothes and went to the bathroom. I showered quickly and efficiently, dried off, and dressed. With a few exceptions.

I slipped small bracers on my forearms, put a necklace on, then added small greaves to my calves. I had to leave the rings off, because I needed to wear gloves, and I slipped on the small stat boots I had. Once I was adorned properly, I dressed in the work pants that easily fit over the boots and the greaves, the shirt fit over the bracers, gloves, and necklace. Each item gave me boosts to my intelligence, my speed, my strength, and my dexterity.

I was sure I couldn't get away with wearing any kind of cloth helmet, though. They looked too much like an aviator's hat and I knew the other workers would make fun of me if I showed up looking like that. So, I was as equipped as I was going to be. I left the bathroom and Jenny was sitting up in the bed and stared at me.

“What is it?” I asked.

“You forgot your hair again.” Jenny said.

“Ha.” I said and went back into the bathroom. I took out a hair tie, did the same trick with bending over and setting it in place, then stood back up and pulled it down. “Remind me to get a haircut.”

“No.” Jenny said and I walked out of the bathroom to look at her. “Women love men with long hair and confidence.”

I thought about arguing, then smiled. “Just for that, you can take the girls out for breakfast and they can hang out here for the day.”

“Thank you for your permission.” Jenny said, a bit sarcastically.

“Don't worry, Jenny. Things are going to get so much better so quickly that you won't know what's going on.”

“How do you know that?” Jenny asked.

“I... can see... the futurrrrre!” I said and wiggled my fingers at her.

Jenny laughed and threw a pillow at me. “Have fun at work.”

“I will.” I said and tossed the pillow back. “See you tonight.” I said and left.

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