Lemonade and Pussy

"Are you out of your fucking mind," spat Leanne. "She's the only one that I get cash for. The money I get from the state for the other kids isn't money. They give us assistance with the mortgage, but it isn't cash. I have a bridge card that I can buy food and drugs with. I can't get my fucking hair done with that. There's no way I'm giving her up. I know you Jeanne Marie. I'm your mother. I taught you every dirty trick you know. You only want the brat to give you more leverage over Mike and take some away from me, fuck no. You can't have her."

"Mom, Allie is my sister. I love her. What if I got Mike to give you five thousand dollars?" said Jeanne. Leanne got quiet. As I listened to the recording I could almost hear the wheels turning in her head.

Suddenly Leanne started laughing. "Okay Jeanne, how much money is there really? How badly does your fiancé want my sainted, beautiful daughter?" she asked.

"Okay, there's twenty thousand," said Jeanne. "Maybe he can get a little bit more. But mother this is my wedding money. The idiot is obsessed with Allie. He has all of these ridiculous ideas about trying to be a good father and all of that bullshit. What a schmuck! I'll split it with you fifty/fifty."

"Why do you need the money?" asked Leanne. "You have Mike. He's going to only make more over the years. I'll give you a finder's fee of twenty percent."

"Come on, Mother, I'm your daughter, thirty percent?" asked Jeanne.

"Twenty five percent," offered Leanne.

"Done," said Jeanne.

"I'll talk to Mike about it tomorrow," said Leanne. "As a matter of fact, I still have his cell phone number I'll call him right now to see if I can shake a few more dollars loose. But don't worry you'll get your five thousand."

Leanne hadn't called me. And when I stopped by to see Allie before Mildred picked her up that morning, Leanne had tried her teasing routine again but she hadn't mentioned anything else.

One good thing had happened that morning though. As I was leaving, Terry, the oldest of Leanne's remaining kids called out to me.

"Mike, I got what you wanted," he whispered. He handed me a piece of paper with a phone number on it. I handed him fifty dollars. His eyes got greedy.

"Is it true that you're buying the baby?" he asked.

"Maybe, why?" I asked.

"It just doesn't seem smart," he said. "But I hope you do. I'm so tired of taking care of her that I just want her gone. But why would you want to have to do that much work changing her and feeding her? It's not smart, Mike." He turned to leave still clutching his money.

"Terry doesn't your mom take care of Allie sometimes?" I asked.

"Mom barely knows where the baby's room is," he said. "The day that you and Jeanne left was the day I took over. Please buy her."

I went to work and while I was there I called the number that Terry had given me. At the end of the call the person on the other need of the line agreed to help me.

It was time to end this little drama. I had only a few things to do. When I went back to Leanne's house that evening, I made a quick trip to the basement before I checked on Allie.

I played with Allie for a while. I saw Leanne out of the corner of my eye a couple of times. She watched me and Allie and then ducked away. As I got to my car, I noticed Hal. He was sneaking out of Kyle's house. He saw me and I waved at him and shook my head. As I pulled out of the driveway he flagged me down.

"Look, Mike, it was only a one-time thing," he said. "I swear I haven't even spoken to Leanne since....you know. So can you not say anything to Deidre?"

"Hal, the idea of you sucking my dick, really doesn't appeal to me," I said. "I give you my word that I won't say a word to Deidre." He looked at me and as my words sank in he ran towards his house. He didn't make it and ended up throwing up on his porch.

It was funny but that conversation brought what I had learned from the women home even more. Cheaters are always going to cheat. It's just in their nature.

When I got home I made three phone calls. One was to my boss asking him about the favor he was doing for me. He had contacted a friend of his and got me a job in another state. When he told me that it was a done deal, I thanked him and told him that I needed the following day off.

The second call was to Ronnie. His was the number that Terry had given me. The last call was to Kyle. He didn't want to talk to me at first. Kyle was still having trouble walking normally and couldn't sit at all. I told him that he needed to be careful. I told him that as badly as I'd felt when he had been screwing Leanne behind my back; I couldn't stand by and watch it happen to him.

He asked if I knew who it was. I told him that I didn't but that he should be careful.

That night I went home and went to sleep. Jeanne looked almost hurt that I didn't want to have sex with her.

"Mike, did I do something wrong?" she asked.

"I don't know," I said. "Did you?"

"Mike, I'm not my mother. I swear to you that I haven't slept with anyone else since the two of us got together," she said. She rolled over near me and wrapped my arm around her.

"What about Allie and the money?" I asked. Even in the darkness I could see her smile. She screwed her face up and pretended to be angry.

"Okay, Michael," she said. "I lied to my mother to try to save us some money. Think about it. I lied to my own mother, to try to get something for YOU. If that doesn't prove that I love you, I don't know what will."

I wrapped my arm around her more tightly. "Mike, why is Allie so God damned important to you?" she asked. "Don't forget you have me and we're having our own baby, you know. You can't always have everything you want."

The next day came and I was very nervous. I was nearing the end of that little drama and looking forward to it. I don't know how Leanne and Jeanne managed to keep all of the lies straight and all of the schemes clear. I couldn't have done it. But they obviously lived their lives that way.

I woke Jeanne and made her breakfast. She was delighted that I was staying home with her. Are we going back to bed now, Honey, she asked.

"No, we're going to visit your mom and take her out to lunch," I said. Two hours later we went to Leanne's house. I stayed with Jeanne the whole time while Leanne got ready. I wanted to make sure that they had no chance to scheme or plan anything.

When we got to the restaurant, we ordered our food. We made small talk while we ate. Leanne mentioned that her furnace didn't work. I told her that I'd come over and check it out for her. After lunch was over, Leanne started talking.

"Mike, let's work this out," she said. "How much money did you offer for me to relinquish custody of our daughter?"

I looked at her as if I didn't know what she was talking about.

"Mike, I think Jeanne lied to me about the twenty thousand dollars," she said.

"It was fifty," I said. Leanne immediately turned on Jeanne.

"You lying bitch," she spat. "Mike, I'll take it," she said. "But I have a better offer for you. Forgiveness means free. If you forgive what I did and move back in with me, you'll get Allie for free."

"Mother, you skanky old whore," screamed Jeanne. "What are you trying to do?"

"No thanks, Leanne," I said.

"So will that be cash or a check. I'd rather have cash," she said.

"Neither," I said. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a paper. Leanne looked at it.

"What the fuck does this mean?" she asked.

"This is me being nice," I said. "The paper is called a cessation of payment. I got a DNA test done. Allie isn't my daughter. This list of figures is a total of all of the child support, I've given you. I was going to sue you to get it back. They told me that I could do that. But I figured enough damage has already been done. We're even."

She sat there in shock. Her mouth was open but no words came out. "Leanne, I don't know what I ever did to you to make you to keep hurting me like this, but you are totally out of my life. I never want to see you again." Jeanne grabbed my hand.

"I'm so sorry Honey, I didn't know. I swear it," I just looked at her.

"What about Allie, Mike?" asked Leanne. "That little girl loves you."

"It's best for both of us, if I don't see her anymore. I'm already too attached to her as it is," I said. "Her daycare is paid up until the end of the month. After that you'll need to make arrangements to pay for it yourself. If you don't give me any problems I'll pay for another month so you can spend the days getting the house in better shape. CPS has started an investigation on you. I shouldn't have said anything but I don't want to see her taken from you. Treat her better Leanne."

"Are you sure, Honey?" asked Jeanne. "I know you loved her and our baby could have an aunt to grow up with."

"I'm sure they'll grow up together," I said sadly.

"I meant in the same house Mike," she said. I could see through her. She was trying to come up with a way to still give her mother the money.

"They probably will be in the same house," I said. "Goodbye Jeanne. I loved you too."

"Mike, wait," she said. "I'm on your side. Fuck my mother. I don't need her. I didn't know Allie wasn't yours. I know you're hurt but you have to think about this with a clear head. I'm not a part of this."

I raised my hand and Ronnie came over to the table. Jeanne looked at him as if she had no idea who he was.

"Who's this?" she asked.

He stepped right up to her. "Hi Jeanne, it's me Ronnie. Remember, I'm the worthless guy who'll never amount to anything. I told Mike about how you let me sign away my parental rights. Remember how you claimed that we were too young to have a kid so we should put it up for adoption? Remember how we were supposed to move on with our lives together? It looks like you'll be raising your kid alone."

"Jeanne, I need you to go back to your mom's place tonight," I said. "I'm going to pack my stuff and leave. You can have the place back tomorrow night. I'm taking a job in Chicago."

"No, Mike," she whined. "I made a mistake, but I never cheated on you."

I put the recorder with all of the phone calls, including several where she called me stupid and talked about Ronnie badly as well on the table in front of her. I pushed play and walked away.

I flew away to Texas the next afternoon. I immediately started looking for a place. I had to find one and close on it quickly because I only had two weeks.

A few days after I left Mildred commented on how Allie had been cranky and sad. "She misses her daddy," said Mildred.

"Whatever," said Leanne. "She's a kid. She'll get over it. Do you report to CPS? I'm having some problems with them."

"At the end of the month I'm contracted to prepare a report on Allie's progress," said Mildred. "You could probably submit a copy of the report to them."

"Good idea," said Leanne. "Even though he doesn't know it, Mike is still helping me."

"He loves his new job in Chicago too," said Mildred. "It's cold in here. You might want to get your furnace turned on."

Every day I got calls from Ronnie telling me what was going on. Deidre remembered Ronnie from his time dating Jeanne. She thought he was a nice young man. She thought he was hanging around the neighborhood to try to get back with Jeanne. She invited him into her house a few times while Hal was out. She thought that she was helping him with Jeanne but they became friendly.

It didn't take me two weeks. In ten days I had a new apartment. I had a crew go in and clean it and bought as much furniture as we needed. My timing was good. I flew back to Michigan early one morning and showed up at Mildred's house just after she'd picked up Allie. Allie was excited to see me. I hugged her and carried her around like I would never put her down again. I paid Mildred her last check and told her we wouldn't need the report. Mildred told me that she was glad that I was back in Allie's life because she didn't think very much of Leanne.

Mildred had no idea what was going on. Leanne had no idea where or even how to contact Mildred. I flew back to Texas with Allie. I was counting on my plan leaving everyone too confused to worry about her.

As soon as the pilot allowed cell phone use I called and asked Ronnie the same question I'd asked him every day since I'd left Michigan.

"The two whores went over to your place," he said. "All of the kids are away at school. Should I push the button?"

"No Ronnie," I said. "Don't push it anymore. Delete the program. Enjoy college and make something of your life. We're done with this."

Ronnie also had no idea of what he was doing. He thought that the iPad I had given him as a present for helping me was recording Leanne's phone calls. I had also paid for his first semester at the local community college. Ronnie was so hurt by what Jeanne had done to him that he was determined to make something of himself.

I had him check her house and count the number of people who left every day. I told him that if anyone was in the house, they'd hear the phone turning on and we'd get caught, so he had to be careful. He really believed that every time he pushed the button we got a bunch of recordings of their calls.

The iPad was really a controller for Leanne's furnace. Her furnace was programmed to come on and warm up the house. Every time Ronnie pressed the button it delayed the furnace from coming on for twenty four hours. Ronnie deleted the app that controlled the furnace and it roared to life. The flame from the pilot lit the furnace. Unfortunately someone had slightly loosed the fitting around the gas line in Leanne's basement. No one really spent any time in her basement, so the leak wasn't noticed.

It took about ten minutes. Ronnie and Deidre were having a cup of tea and talking about his plans when the explosion happened. Leanne's house was destroyed and both Hal's and Kyle's homes were rocked by the force of the explosion. Fortunately they suffered only minor damage.

When the fire department showed up they put out the flames but there was nothing to save.

Leanne and Jeanne came back about an hour later. They'd been making trips back and forth to the apartment Jeanne and I had lived in. They had been selling the furniture. With the apartment only rented for a few more days they were frantic. Now with Leanne's house destroyed. They had no place to live.

Leanne had no insurance so she was out of luck as far as the house was concerned. She decided that the only thing they could do was to move all of her kids into the two bedroom apartment that Jeanne and I had rented. The landlord refused. He had seen the two women making trips back and forth from the apartment. Neither of them was the tenant of record. He had recognized Jeanne, but didn't trust her or her mother. When they showed up with four kids he called the police.

The police called CPS since kids were involved and when they found out that Leanne was already the subject of an investigation, they took the kids into custody. It's a terrible thing for a mother to lose her children, but at least the kids were better cared for. They were eventually placed, all four of them, with an energetic middle aged couple, who couldn't have kids of their own. They were loved and spoiled.

Somehow, Allie fell through the cracks in the system. The CPS workers had taken all of the kids with Leanne into custody. They never found out that there was another child. Most of their complaints had been from the teachers of Leanne's school aged children. With all of the children placed, they closed the case. Leanne on the other hand assumed that Allie had also gone into the system too. She had no resources to take care of any of her kids. She had her own life to worry about. She needn't have worried though. Allie was loved and cared for by the one person who had always loved her...ME.

Leanne and Jeanne ended up in a women's shelter. To make money, Leanne started using one of her two skills to make money and it wasn't her lemonade. Leanne was kicked out of the shelter after being arrested for prostitution. Jeanne chose to stay there. They lost touch with Jeanne going on welfare and Leanne on the street.

About a month after I left Michigan, Kyle came home early and shot Hal. Kyle's wife had heard just as Deidre had; what they'd been doing and whom they'd been doing it with. She wanted revenge on Kyle, like Deidre had on Hal. Deidre had given her my number, but by the time she tried to use it I was gone.

She decided that since Kyle had cheated on her, she'd cheat on him. She picked Hal because he was available. Hal couldn't stop cheating. So whenever Kyle was out he was in his house with his wife.

Kyle had been watching his wife ever since I warned him. It took him a while but he finally caught her. He had just emptied his gun into the man fucking his wife. He didn't realize that it was Hal until it was too late.

Kyle got seventeen years for second degree murder.

Kyle's wife got a life sentence of guilt and emotional problems for causing Hal's death and her husband's incarceration.

Deidre got Hal's life insurance and a twenty year old boyfriend. Ronnie helped her get over Hal's death. The two had bonded while Ronnie watched Leanne's house. And though the difference in their ages was vast, it worked for them.

That all happened a year ago. Allie is just over two years old now. The first place that we lived when we moved here was an apartment. I saved some money and just bought this place because she needs a yard and a place that she can grow up in. She needs a neighborhood and to be a part of a family.

"I don't know why I told you all of this, Rita," I said. "In the year that I've had her, I've never told anyone about us. I've never let anyone close enough to us to ask. I did some really bad things in response to what was done to me. I suppose to someone listening to what I said, I'm as bad as the rest of them."

"The worse of my crimes is that I stole a child. But her mother never loved her and we have no idea who her father is. I guess technically I should be in jail for kidnapping. I swear as soon as Allie is old enough to understand this I'll tell her and turn myself in."

"I guess I only told you this because...Rita, maybe it's just me, but I felt something between us and I wanted you to know that you aren't alone. I wanted to let you know that sometimes people are just shitty, no matter how nice you are. I never started out to hurt anyone, just like you didn't. The circumstances that got us here are just the result of what happened to us."

She just stared at me.

"Mike," I don't know what to say," she said. "The people around you got what they deserved. As far as Allie, Mike, you love her. You have since she was born. The most suitable punishment for your crime is that you should have the responsibility of taking care of her until she's grown up and on her own. At least that's what I would say. But you're a single guy. There are a lot of things you're going to need help with when it comes to bringing up a young girl. It's going to be especially hard for you when she hits her teens. But you're a good guy. I'm sure you'll find the right woman. As for me, I'll keep your secret."

She leaned over and kissed me. The kiss took my breath away. I reached around and pulled her to me. My hand moved down to one of those huge globes on her chest and she slapped my hand away.

"Mike, I told you, I'm not like that," she said sharply. "Remember the three date rule."

"Sorry, Rita, I guess our signals got crossed. I'd wait thirty dates for you. I really think you're worth it," I said. Something went across her face. It softened.

"Apology accepted," she said. "Now walk me out."

I took her hand and helped her up. For a woman as big as she was she was surprisingly light. I walked her back across the lawn to her door.