Grantville Gazette - Volume V (10 page)

It was hard to tell the girls apart if you didn't know them. They both had long honey-colored hair and were nearly the same height. Tina at sixteen was just a bit taller and more finished looking than her sister. Susan, two years younger, seemed to be balanced on the edge between child and young woman.

"Girls, come on in." He opened his arms for hugs. "It's so good to see you."

Released from the three-way hug, Susan looked around the small living room. "Grampa, if Gramma Susan could see this place she'd be chasing you with a broom. It's a mess! Why don't you hire a housekeeper?"

"Because I don't want some strange woman running around my house clucking at me," Fred remarked. "I pick up every day or so. Just leave stuff alone."

"Nope," Tina and Susan said in unison, as they swept through the room. As Fred watched in surprise, order emerged from chaos. In less than ten minutes the dirty dishes were soaking, the piles of clothing and papers were sorted and put away, and the furniture was dusted.

"We'll finish it later, Grampa," Susan said. "Right now we really need to talk to you. It's pretty important."

"Is Velma at it again, girls?" Fred asked.

"Yesterday she had beer for breakfast. She says she can't afford coffee, but that's just an excuse." Tina grimaced. "She drinks off and on all day and then brings a man home every night. We never know who's going to be there when we wake up. Last week, one of Mom's men tried to open our bedroom door. We always lock it, but the door itself isn't very strong. He was probably just trying to find the bathroom, but it still scares me, Grampa."

"Mom never has had any sense about men," Susan added. "The Ring of Fire just gave her a reason to act stupid here at home. She can't just hop in her car and go to another town anymore. We've got to do something. Why should we have to live with this? It's wrong, Grampa. Mom can live the way she wants to, but Tina and I shouldn't have to be afraid to get up and go to the bathroom at night."

"I heard she was running pretty wild lately, girls. I didn't realize it was that bad, though." Fred's grizzled face showed his distress. "I guess when Cory left with the Army and Pam moved out, Velma must have thought you two were too young to realize what was going on."

"You mean that Mom wanted us to be too young to understand," Tina said. "She's acting like some kind of tramp. We're not too young to know what that means. I'm over sixteen, Grampa. I could quit school and get a job if I wanted to. The only reason I haven't tried to leave before is because it would leave Susan alone with Mom. I'm not going to leave her there, by herself, with Mom acting this way. Especially not while some of those guys seem more interested in Susan than they do in Mom."

"Why would they be interested in Susan?" Fred asked. "Are they thinking she's, she's—!?"

"No, it's not that. It's the money," Tina explained. "She's got a lot of money now, since she sold the Barbies. Mom never pays any attention, so I don't think she even knows about it yet. It makes me wish I hadn't broken all of my dolls."

Fred looked at the younger sister. "Susan, are you one of those 'Barbie Dolls' I've been hearing about? The little girls who got rich from selling their toys?"

"We don't call ourselves 'Barbie Dolls,' Grampa. We're the 'Barbie Consortium.' We took the money from the sale of the dolls and invested it. We even hired Helene Gundelfinger to do the legal stuff. We tell her what we want and she buys stock for us. Right now I have a lot of stock, but no cash. Helene says if I leave the stock alone I'll have a lot of money someday. Right now, I'd have to sell some stock to get any money.

"A couple of Mom's boyfriends seemed to think I could give them an edge with Other People's Money. I can't, really. They need to talk to Sarah or David. I don't know enough about business or technical stuff yet. Grampa, all I really want to do is finish school and lead a normal life. Mom's making that impossible. Can we come live with you?"

"Well, it's been pretty lonesome around here since your Gramma died. I'd like to have the company, but Velma always insisted on keeping you with her. She got pretty mad when your dad tried to get custody after the divorce. I'm pretty sure she hasn't changed her mind about that."

Fred paused a moment. Velma had put on a good show during the custody battle. Enraged that Carney had called her an unfit mother, she had pulled out every trick she knew to disprove his statement. Somehow, she had managed to look like a respectable and caring mother. The judge had ruled in her favor.

Fred shook his head, and brought his mind back to the present. "Still, times are different now. You two aren't safe living with Velma. Let's go talk to Maureen Grady. She works for the Child Protection Agency. Maybe she'll have an idea."

"We brought overnight bags, Grampa. Mom won't even notice we've left yet," Tina said. "And we're not going back there. If Mom decides to get nasty, we'll just have to get nasty right back."

Maureen Grady wasn't much help.

"I understand the way you feel, girls," she'd said. "I really do. But you aren't being abused according to the law. I can't take action against Velma when nothing bad has happened. Taking lovers isn't against the law."

Fred Logsden was nearly engulfed in rage.

"You mean to tell me that we can't do anything to protect these girls? We have to wait for one of them to be raped or beaten?"

"Fred, all I said was I can't take legal action against Velma. I didn't say we couldn't do anything. First of all, we can petition the court to emancipate Tina. That won't be a problem. She's over sixteen and you can hire her as your housekeeper, so she'll have a job."

Maureen pursed her lips in thought and continued, "The real problem is Susan. She may be rich but she's too young for legal emancipation. If we don't want to leave her with her mother, we're going to have to think of something else. I'm going to have to ask Maurice for a legal opinion. Will you three be okay for day or two? Judge Tito is really busy right now."

"We'll manage, Maureen. Just try to get it cleared up soon. Velma may be drinking too much right now, but she's bound to notice that the girls haven't been around much. Sooner or later, I'll be getting an unpleasant visit." Glumly, Fred muttered, "I'm not looking forward to it at all. Velma's a holy terror when she's mad."

The holy terror was unleashed two days later.

Velma punctuated her screams of "You rotten bastard" and "Lousy, no-good, piece of shit!" with thrown pots, pans and crockery. This fellow had gotten overconfident and asked about Susan and the money Velma hadn't known about. Velma's reaction was not what he expected.

She stood with her ample chest heaving and watched her latest lover high-tail it out of the yard. Still incensed, she threw one more pan at the fleeing figure. "Don't ever come back, you bastard!" she screamed.

The sound of a laugh being choked off made Velma realize that she was standing in full view of a large number of neighbors. Worse, she was wearing a skimpy teddy and a sheer robe, which were giving her audience quite an eyeful.

Drawing herself to her full height, Velma stared directly at the crowd. "You just wish you looked this good, you old bats." She turned to go indoors.

After slamming the door, Velma headed for the shower. "They'll be at Fred's," she steamed. "They always run to Fred."

Forewarned by a timely phone call, Fred, Susan and Tina decided to wait on the front porch. Velma's tendency to make scenes in public would cause her to call them outside, anyway. This way, she might be confused for a moment.

"Time's run out, Grampa," Susan said. "Here comes Mom."

Following the direction of Susan's gaze, Fred immediately understood the concern in her voice. Velma was clearly "loaded for bear" today. Fred had to admit that Velma looked younger than her forty-four years, but he didn't really think the mini-skirt and tank top were appropriate wear for a Sunday. Then again, Velma hadn't set foot in church in years.

"Do you two want to go inside?" He asked. "I can handle this alone."

"No, Grampa," Tina answered. "We're the reason she's here. She may as well hear it from us."

"There's going to be a big scene, you know," Susan remarked. "This time the 'tragically deprived mother' show isn't going to work."

"What's all this 'show' you two talk about?" Fred asked. "I feel like I've walked into a soap opera."

"We feel like we live in a soap opera, Grampa." Susan explained. "We started naming Mom's scenes a year or so ago. It gave us something to laugh about when she embarrassed us."

"That show just got cancelled, girls," Fred stated firmly as Velma finally reached the front walk.

Velma immediately began the confrontation. Standing with hands on hips, she barked: "You two might as well go get your stuff. You're coming home with me, right now!"

"Afternoon, Velma," Fred said, calmly. "Would you like to sit down and have a cup of coffee?"

"There won't be time for that, old man," Velma snapped. "We're going home, now. And when we get there, Susan, we're going to have a little talk about all this money you seem to have."

"Is that what you want, Velma?" Sounding calm was already becoming an effort, but Fred wasn't going to let his anger show. "Susan has money now, so you'll pay attention to her? Or do you plan to get your own hands on it?"

"She's my daughter. I've supported her all her life. She can just pay some of that back, can't she?"

"No, Velma," said another voice. "That isn't the way it works."

The trio on the porch started in surprise as Judge Maurice Tito walked up beside Velma and took her arm.

Maurice Tito hadn't been a judge before the Ring of Fire. The acrimonious divorce and custody case of Velma and Carney Logsden had been a nine-day wonder at the time, so he hadn't been able to not hear about it. Still, he believed in family and had been prepared to listen to Velma until a moment ago. Velma's willingness to rob her own daughter of her future, stated boldly and publicly while she stood on her father-in-law's front porch, had caused a rapid change in his evaluation.

"Come inside, Velma, before you embarrass yourself in public again today." Judge Tito said. "Everyone, inside please. Fred, I'll take a cup of that coffee you offered."

Susan and Tina went inside with Fred, as Velma continued to struggle and try to pull away from the judge.

"Inside, Velma," he said firmly. "You're going to sit down and have a normal conversation. No dramatics, no fits and no screaming, period."

"You can't do this, damn it!"

"Yes, I can. We can go inside and do this quietly, or we can do it in court tomorrow, Velma. It's up to you. I warn you, you won't like it if you force me to convene the court." Judge Tito looked sternly at Velma. "Your little business this morning caused about six phone calls to my house. No one in town appreciates the way you've been acting. Now, shut up and get inside."

Susan and Tina had poured coffee for everyone and were sitting with Fred at the kitchen table when Judge Tito and Velma walked in. Velma took a seat at one end, while the judge took the other end.

"This isn't actually a courtroom, but I'm the Chief Justice for Grantville now, so it will do. I'd like to do this and get home to spend some time with my family, so I don't want to hear any arguments." Judge Tito opened his briefcase. "Velma, in case you haven't noticed, times have changed. We aren't living in the safe world we had before the Ring of Fire. We just can't afford the sort of shenanigans you got away with back up-time. Not when kids are involved."

He cleared his throat, and spoke the next words in a more formal tone of voice. "Tina Logsden, I understand you're now working as the housekeeper for Fred Logsden. Is this correct?"

"Yes, sir," Tina stated.

"It is therefore the determination of this court that your petition for emancipation be granted. Here's your paperwork. Don't lose it, okay?"

Judge Tito turned to the younger sister. "Susan Logsden, I'm told that you have a net worth that exceeds my own, is that correct?"

"I'm sorry, Judge, but I don't know your net worth, so I can't say. I have a lot of investments and I can show you the last quarterly balance sheet, if you like."

"No need, Susan. Maureen got a copy from Ms. Gundelfinger when she briefed me on the case and asked for my opinion. Considering what I heard on the porch just now, it's clear that leaving you in Velma's care isn't in your best interest."

Judge Tito gave Velma a hard look and sorted through some more documents. After placing two sheets of paper in front of Velma, he said, "Two things can happen now, Velma. You can sign the papers to give Fred custody of Susan. That's this paper right here. If you sign it, Susan lives with her grandfather and there's no issue of child support."

Pointing to the other document, he continued, "Or, Fred can petition the court for custody and child support. That's this paper. I can promise you this, Velma, if I have to waste a day in court you aren't going to be happy. You might have enough money left for food, but paying child support won't leave you enough for very much else."

After placing a pen on the first document, Judge Tito asked, "Well, Velma, what's it going to be? A nice, quiet change of custody or a court battle you won't win?"

Hands shaking, Velma signed the custody order.

"Velma, you can go home and live any way you want to now. I warn you though, don't try to cause these girls any trouble. This is a protection order for them," the judge said, as he filled in the blanks of another sheet of paper from his briefcase. "Now, business being finished, I'm going to drink this coffee and go home."

Judge Tito did exactly that, as Velma sat stunned in her seat.

Fred, Susan and Tina continued to sit quietly after the judge left and waited for Velma to react. It took a few moments, but tears eventually began running down Velma's face.

"Don't bother with the tears, Mom. We've seen them before," Tina said. "It's not going to work this time. And please remember what the judge said about causing trouble."

"You know you don't really want us," Susan told Velma. "We've known it for years now. All we want is to live normal lives. You wouldn't let that happen, with your drinking and your men. Just leave us alone, please."