Joint Venture

by Tey Holden

  Addy chuckled. “You always find something you like, but baby, even I would have trouble explaining your find to the little one sleeping next to our bed.”

  “Rats!”

  Addy chuckled. “Sssh! Good night, baby. Don’t worry, your find will still be there tomorrow. So, hold off on the exploration and try and get some sleep.”

  Karen smiled and kissed her on the head, but remained awake caressing her back. She needed to remain on guard, nothing would deter her guard.

  ***

  On Sunday they talked about the school situation and their fears for Alex. “Addy, I was thinking that perhaps we could home school Alex for a while, or we could get a tutor, at least until all of this is over.”

  Addy looked at Karen’s worried face. It was evident that the ordeal was taking a toll on her. She was not sleeping well and it was beginning to show.

  “Babe, I already know what we are going to do with Alex. First and most important of all, she has to have a normal life no matter what. We’ve agreed about that.”

  Karen was puzzled. “I don’t know how we can keep normality under the extreme circumstances we are facing, Addy.”

  “This is what I’m going to do. On Monday, when I take Alex to school, I’ll speak with the principal and the teacher and explain our situation. I’ll volunteer at school to help in Alex’s classroom.”

  “The whole day? Every day?”

  “Yes, they are always asking for help, so I’ll be a full-time volunteer. This way I can keep an eye on her all day and she will still get to enjoy her classes and friends.”

  “Addy, you can’t do that.”

  “Why not? It’s the only thing that will give us peace of mind. We won’t have any peace, unless she’s with you or me, and you know it.”

  Karen was thoughtful for a few seconds. Anxiously, she got up and raked her hair with her hand and walked up and down as if to let off some steam. “I think this is all crazy, but we have a desperate situation. Let’s just hope that it’s temporary.” She stopped. “You can’t be going to school forever. Since you’ll be busy at school, I’ll deal with the insurance company and look for contractor’s estimates to rebuild the stables. Then you can tell them how you want things done. Is that okay with you?”

  “Yes, Alex is the priority. I’m even considering changing schools.”

  Karen seemed interested. “Why? What’s on your mind? Tell me.”

  “Yes, for some time now I’ve thought about it and was doing some research before talking to you. I’m looking at a couple of private schools not far from here. I think Alex is very bright and she needs to be challenged. On another positive note, three of her friends are changing schools also, so this would be perfect timing.”

  “Why didn’t you say anything until now? I’m all in favor. What school? Have you looked around?”

  “I wanted to have more information and maybe even visit the schools before I told you. Let me get the information I have.” She went upstairs and brought back some brochures and papers. They perused the booklets and forms.

  “I like them. Yes, this is good.” Karen seemed excited with the prospect.

  “I’ll make appointments at the schools to check them out, and then we can all go and see them. Ker, don’t worry so much. Why don’t you go up and get some sleep? You didn’t sleep much last night, and don’t say you did, because I know you didn’t.”

  Karen pursed her lips. It was raining hard outside. Before she went upstairs, she stopped. “Addy, what if starting next weekend, and subject to Alex not having a school project or something like that, we start planning outings like we used to? It might also be educational for Alex to see different things.”

  Addy was preoccupied with this request. She knew Karen’s real intention was to get away from there, if only for a couple of days every week.

  “It’s a good idea, baby. Getting away for the weekends will be relaxing.” Shortly after, they began to plan short weekend trips. They’d make reservations and leave on Friday, right after Alex and Addy got home from school.

  Alex was no fool. She knew things weren’t normal. Outings every weekend and Addy coming to school every day was not the usual. “M’Addy why are you coming to school every day with me?”

  “Well, because they need help at school. You are in a big class, and you are all little devils.” She tickled the little one and the serious question was soon forgotten. They ended up rolling on the sofa with Alex ‘attacking’ Addy and, of course, winning as usual. The battles always ended with lots of kisses.

  Karen chuckled. “Another battle?”

  “Yes, Mommy, I’m winning!” Addy was laying on the sofa laughing.

  “Ker, rescue me! Take the little Viking and throw her in the hamper!”

  Karen smiled, grabbed Alex and pulled her away. “You are going to kill Mommy Addy, Little Bit!”

  “I won!” Alex proclaimed as Karen held her up in the air, and a very discombobulated Addy sat up on the sofa laughing.

  ***

  A few days later, the private investigator called Karen. “Ms. Larsen, this is what I’ve found so far about your family members status and whereabouts. Rupert Tabb died in a car accident three years ago. His wife Beth, your aunt, is eighty years old and lives in a retirement community in Glasgow. She is in the full care section and has trouble moving. You Uncle Phillip died of lung cancer two years ago. He was an avid smoker. His wife, Augustine, retired and moved to London to be closer to her family. Charles and Margaret are still in Edinburgh, and from what I can tell, they are the most active and most capable of causing harm. The pair in Edinburgh are closer to you and healthier. There’s also a son, Alfred, he is a car salesman in Aberdeen.”

  “And what do my aunt and uncle do?” Karen asked.

  “The same as the last time, when I informed Mr. Tidwell. Your aunt Margaret stays at home, and your uncle Charles works in the same investment company downtown. That’s all I have for now. Police Scotland is investigating the possibility of arson. I’m working with them. I’m also still keeping your family under surveillance.”

  While Karen was handling the matter with the investigator, Addy called Stephanie. Stephanie was Addy’s friend and the district attorney who had prosecuted the fraud case against Sparrow and Finch. Stephanie had a sudden and quite rapid rise to fame in the Justice Department on account of the successful prosecution of the Sparrow and Finch case. She had been promoted several times, and she was now the Attorney General. Addy explained the situation, and she promised to look over the matter and follow up with Police Scotland.

  Part 4

  Concurrent with the investigation, Addy set out to look for a new school that would provide the academic enrichment Alex needed, as well as her safety. Addy had already done her research, and now it was all a matter of visiting the schools. On three different occasions, she dropped off Alex with Karen and went to visit the schools on her own. Following her visits, she narrowed the list to two schools.

  “How are we going to tell Alex?” Karen was worried about Alex’s reaction. She had heard so many stories about people’s kids having tantrums and not getting along with parents that sometimes she was afraid that Alex would be one of those spoiled kids. The issue here was that Alex, even at an early age, had a strong character. She had an air of confidence that few children had at her age and that was a bit intimidating, even for a parent.

  For Addy, however, dealing with Alex was second nature. “What do you mean how are we going to tell her? I’ll just talk to her and tell her what we are doing.”

  “Just like that, huh? Like she’s not going to start with her questioning? What if she doesn’t want to go?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean she’s going to start wondering and questioning why we want her to go to another school, and she may not like our answers. That’s what I mean.”

  “Ker, we’ll make her want to go there.”

  “Yeah, right. Good luck with that one!”

  “Jus
t let me handle this, okay?”

  Karen put her hands up in a defensive gesture. “By all means!”

  “Thank you.”

  A few days before visiting the schools, they were sitting at the dining room table with their individual laptops in what Addy called ‘family office time.’ Addy had come up with the idea to share time even when each of them were doing their own browsing. While at it, they would share any interesting finds, or simply do their own thing. But the setting lent itself for sharing information, as well as a way to supervise, without her knowing it, Alex’s time at her computer.

  “Hey, Alex, I want to show you a school I found. It’s really pretty. Come here.” Addy wasted no time. When there was something that needed to be done, she had to take care of it immediately. Karen looked up from her computer discretely to observe the dynamics.

  Karen was looking for a pair of shoes she had seen at a store and which she had not been able to buy because they didn’t have her size. Karen didn’t just go for any shoe, comfort was her priority and she always claimed that there was something wrong when no one had ever been able to associate comfort with a pair of nice shoes for women. So now that she had found these particular shoes, she was determined to buy them.

  “What school? Where?” Alex asked with interest.

  “It’s a real nice place. I want you to see it.”

  “Why?”

  “I might want you to go there?”

  “Why?”

  “Because it’s soooo pretty. Oh my God! Why didn’t they have schools like this when I was growing up?” Addy’s exaggerated excitement caught Alex’s attention, as Addy expected.

  Alex laughed amused with Addy’s expressions. “Okay, let me see it.”

  “Look, isn’t it pretty? It’s got a beautiful gym, a swimming pool, and look at those soccer fields! I wish you could go there. I almost wish I could go there! I want to go check it out. Would you go with me?”

  “Sure, when? But, M’Addy, you can’t go there! You already went to school. This would have to be for me.”

  “Of course! Just because I missed out on a great thing doesn’t mean that you have to miss out just the same. If this school is as great as it looks, you have to go there. I think it’s amazing. But first I need to call them to see if we can just show up, or if we need to make an appointment. Let me just say also that the minute you show up there, they are going to want you to go there.”

  “Why?” Alex was amused and extremely interested in the reasons about to be explained.

  “Well, because when they look at you, they are going to see that you are a top student, and I’m sure that’s just what they want at their school. Besides, you are too pretty! Who wouldn’t want you?” Addy tickled her, and Alex laughed.

  Karen raised her eyes from her keyboard, once again, this time shaking her head and smiling. Amazing!

  Addy held her gaze and smiled while Alex continued to browse the school’s web page.

  “Want to see it, Mommy? I like the soccer fields.”

  “Sure, let me see.”

  “Wow! Who wouldn’t want to go there?” Karen stated while staring at Addy.

  ***

  Two days later they visited St. Claire, surprisingly, with a very excited Alex in tow. Karen liked the school the minute she saw it. What was not to like? It was the number one ranked school in that part of the country, even offering boarding for students who lived far away.

  Academically, the school offered everything they wanted for Alex. It also had innumerable sports facilities, which was appealing to Alex. Karen was impressed with the security to enter the grounds. The school looked like some sort of fortress with beautiful landscaped grounds, and was located only fifteen minutes from Altee. To get inside the grounds, visitors had to check in with the guard at the entrance. Anyone going inside the building needed a school issued ID card. It went up to the eighth grade, and its affiliated college preparatory school was on the far side of the extended property. It was perfect.

  “I love it, Addy. I’m ready to make the move. Your call,” Karen whispered into Addy’s ear taking advantage of Alex’s distraction. Addy was pleased with Karen’s reaction. It was a very nice place, and she had no reason to doubt that Karen would like it as well. The cost, which was rather steep, was not a problem.

  Alex loved the school grounds and was really excited about all the sports facilities, as well. However, as the top school in the area, admission was difficult. Having excellent grades and the ability to pay were not the only requirements. There was also the matter of having the right recommendations. Addy was not concerned about any of that because she knew they had it all.

  It was not long, after the tour ended, that Alex made the unexpected comment. “M’Addy, everyone is wearing a uniform.” Alex’s eyes were huge and her nose was all wrinkled in her usual way whenever she disliked something. She was also making her usual gestures with her hands.

  It was the way she said it that made Karen worry. Karen immediately looked to Addy for a possible resolution of this imminent and unexpected tragic discovery. Karen was the type of person who was always prepared to resolve and face any foreseeable or unforeseeable situation, except those that related to Alex. With Alex there was no possible preparation. She never knew what was coming at her. This was one of the things she had found most disconcerting in her life, the lack of instructions on raising children. For Karen, there weren’t enough books on the subject. She had entire shelves filled with them, and still, she never had the right answers.

  Addy always laughed. “There can’t be instructions for everything, Ker! Sometimes you have to wing it.” Karen was usually in horror when Addy made that kind of remark. In Karen’s world everything had to be organized, studied, and planned. “How can you wing it? Raising a child is a major event in anyone’s life! It should require planning to the smallest detail. Otherwise, it’s like trying to construct a building without blueprints.”

  Most horrifying to Addy was when Karen began to quote Dr. Spock or parenting books. “Pleeeease! Karen that man wrote those books in the 1950s and based, probably on his sister’s kids!”

  “But he was an expert in the field.”

  “Maybe you should write a book, I think that you are as much of an expert as he was. At least you have a real kid.”

  “Maybe I will. Still, I may have my personal expertise, but I’m not a doctor.”

  “Trust me, from what I read of his books, I don’t think that man was a parent, or maybe even a doctor!” Addy chuckled at her own comment. “But I’m afraid that if you wrote a book on raising children, it would be like a supplement to Dr. Spock’s.”

  “Ha, ha, very funny. And are you questioning my parenting skills?”

  “No, baby, I would never do that, if you’d only relied on your instincts and not all of those books. I think that you are a much better parent and doctor, for that matter, than Dr. Spock.”

  Karen felt better on the positive reinforcement of her parenting skills, but furrowed her brow on the comment about being a better doctor. Addy was obviously still mocking her. Karen was the one who was always ready to either medicate Alex at the first symptom of a possible cold, or apply first aid whenever Alex got hurt playing, or riding her bike.

  Invariably, when Alex threw a curve ball, it was Addy who had to bat it because Karen usually just froze. She’d call on Addy for what she called “one of her wacky answers.”

  Karen grinned expectantly, thinking that Addy wouldn’t be able to handle the uniform remark. But she was astonished by the unexpected response from Addy, which immediately made her look for Alex’s reaction. She actually looked expectantly from one to the other, as if she had been watching a tennis match.

  “Wow! Isn’t that wonderful? Ker, did you notice that? Everyone is wearing a uniform! Aren’t we lucky!”

  Alex was looking at her with the same slightly confused look as Karen, who was still waiting for more of a response, and wondering where this would go.

  “Ima
gine how great it will be?” Alex watched smiling, as Addy raised her eyebrows and opened her eyes while making all sorts of gestures with her hands. “Not having to worry about what you are going to wear in the morning, or the next day, or any day because you’d already know!” Then she started to laugh with Alex joining her. Karen chuckled, unbelieving the mother-daughter reaction.

  “And what about at the beginning of the school year when everyone is rushing to the stores trying to buy school clothes? We, instead, won’t have to worry about any of that because we would already have your school clothes, and we would be at the pool tanning and swimming. Isn’t it great to have all that much more time for the fun stuff?”

  To Karen’s astonishment, Alex agreed.

  “Hey, you know what? When I was a little girl, like you, I also had to wear a uniform. In fact, I even went to a high school where we also had to wear a uniform. And I’m sure Mommy Karen did too.”

  “Yes, I did and I—.”

  “She loved it. She has told me all about it. What color was your uniform, Ker?”

  “Blue and yellow.” Karen hated it, and Addy knew it. She hated it as much as anyone who has ever worn a uniform to school, but Alex didn’t need to know that. Addy had also hated her brown school uniform with a long ugly skirt. The truth was that uniforms had come a long way since their time and the one for this school was actually pretty and modern.

  “They are usually very comfortable, you’ll see.”

  Alex seemed to have accepted her fate well. “Am I going to have to wear it all the time?”

  “Well, I don’t really know about that, but I do know one thing—.”

  “What’s that M’Addy?”

  “I’m sure glad it’s not pink!”

  “Me too!” They both laughed.

  “Well, really, I don’t think I would have sent you to a school where they had pink uniforms. This one is so much better and prettier.”

  “Yeah! M’Addy, when do I come here?”

  “Soon, baby. We need to sign you up and buy the uniform.”

  Alex continued to walk and skip in front of them in a ‘business as usual’ way. Alex had not only accepted the uniform, but she also found it pretty. As they were walking back to the car, Alex was still walking in front of them, so the women were able to speak without being heard.