The Freak - S01 E28

2 months ago

The Freak - S01 E28

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 28

I phoned Lt. Flanagan at 9:30 the following morning, realizing that the number he had given Mom was different from either of the ones I had used to contact him at police headquarters. Thus, I wasn't at all surprised when the phone was answered by a young child. "Hi," I began. "My name is Jack French. Your dad asked me to phone him at this number."

I had barely finished speaking when I heard the young boy scream, "DAD! IT'S THAT GUY YOU TOLD US ABOUTI"

"Hello, Jack sorry about that."

"No need to apologize, sir. I have three younger sisters and if the youngest, Carole, had answered the phone you would have heard Just about the same thing."

7 phoned you about your appearance at the grand jury. How is Wednesday morning for you and Barbara?"

"It's fine Lieutenant. Barbara will register for school Monday morning and I'm sure the teachers will be very accommodating. Where do we have to go? Will you be there to meet with us?"

"I think it would be best if you meet me at headquarters and then. I'll drive you to the courthouse where the grand jury meets. It's an old one and we no longer use it for criminal cases because the jail cells aren't all that secure. How is 9:00 for you?"

"That will be fine. I'll take Barbara into the office around 7:45 and give the secretary our note. If we leave by 8:15 we should be a bit early, but you never know with rush hour traffic."

"Okay, Jack...see you then." He rung off and I dialed Mr. Silverman. I knew that his children were older so wasn't at all surprised when he answered the phone himself. After the usual preliminaries he got right down to business.

"I found you a house to rent through the end of the school year. The owner will be in Little Rock on business for four months. He does want to meet you and Barbara. He's heard of you, but I think does want to meet you and Barbara. He's heard of you, but I think he wants to be reassured." He gave me the number and the address. I recognized it as being only about a half mile from school.

I took a few minutes to bring Barbara up to speed then dialed Mr. Grover's number. I introduced myself and we spoke for a few minutes before he asked if we could stop by later that morning. We agreed on eleven and I rung off. "We're going to meet the home owner at eleven. He lives close by the high school so think we'll be okay if we leave around 10:40.

"I'm a little nervous, Jack. What if he doesn't like us?"

Then my family will be stuck with us." Carole laughed while my parents gave a performance with fake grimaces that would never win an Oscar. Then Barbara did what she always did-she kissed me

I knocked on the door to Mr. Grover's house at 11:00 on the dot. He opened the door and invited us in. "I've heard a lot about you, John, but I'd like you to describe yourself and why you want to rent my home.

"Okay, I'm sure you know that I'm a senior at the High School. In addition to playing football, basketball, and baseball am also a very serious student. I'll be valedictorian easily and I've been accepted at Harvard. That's where Barbara and were most of the week-looking for a place for us to live and, hopefully, get Barbara pointed in the right direction finding a college she can attend."

"How did you make out?"

"Very well, sir, a woman in the admissions office pointed us to Lesley University which is very close by Harvard and her husband who works in the Lesley admissions office recommended a real estate agent to us. She found us a house that I'm prepared to buy in nearby Somerville."

"You're buying a house? Where is all this money coming from?"

"Money has never been a problem for me. I need to tell you a bit about my history. My brain changed dramatically when was struck by lightning at age eight. That gave me some interesting abilities. For one thing my IQ increased by 76 points even though it was high beforehand. I can also do silly things like this." I held my hand out and his fireplace poker flew into it. He looked on amazed.

"I came into some money when was eight and I've done well investing it. I bought IBM when it was about $5.00 a share. Since then it has split three times and now it's almost fifty. I also have several other investments that have done equally well. can pay you in advance, if you wish, rather than monthly."

"What about parties? I would think a young man like you would enjoy an active social life."

"Barbara and have dated for months and in that time we went to one party-New Year's Eve. We might entertain, but it would be a small crowd, more than likely just my basketball teammates and their girlfriends for dinner and TV later, but not a party and never anyone else. Barbara and are both eighteen, but we don't drink. We did have one glass of champagne at a Broadway play back in December, but that's all."

"I'd need to have you out of the house by July first."

"Not a problem; anticipate that we'll go to Massachusetts once school is out. We have to buy a bed, furniture, desks, and think we'll need some new carpets, too. We need to have all of that done before school starts in September

"One final concern-you and your wife...I understand that you had to get married."

I don't know where you got that Idea, Mr. Grover, but you're wrong. I offered to marry Barbara because she was badly beaten.... whipped would be a better description by one of the nuns at her school. There was a disturbance when the other girls saw her engagement ring. The nun took it from Barbara and around noon Barbara asked to have it returned. Instead, the nun grabbed her, pulled her into the classroom, and whipped her mercilessly until she was able to break away. There was no way I would allow her to return to that school so I stepped in and married her. Now she'll be able to attend the high school with me where I'll be able to protect her.

"Okay, you can stay here, but I'll expect a $1,000 deposit as Insurance."

"That's fine. I'll have my attorney draw up a contract. You'll have it by Monday afternoon." We shook hands and I led Barbara out to the car

"The house looks nice, Jack"

"I'm sure it is, but I doubt we'll live there. He doesn't want to do it.

He was looking for an excuse not to. He also thinks he can cheat us out of a thousand dollars. Once he gets his hands on that money we'll never get it back."

"Can he do that?"

"He'll come up with some phantom problem and we'll have to go to court to get it back. It's a good location, but I'm sure Mr. Silverman will advise us not to get involved."

Sure enough, that's exactly what he told me. "Stay away from that Jerk, Jack. We'll find something else." And he did. By Wednesday the real estate agent he was using had found us a house to share with a widow. She was pleasant and offered to cook our meals for a small fee if would agree to maintain the yard and her flower beds. It was a winning proposition for both of us. She-Mrs. Mazzone-had a bedroom and bathroom on the first floor along with the kitchen and living room that she was willing to share while Barbara and I had a good-sized bedroom, bath, and a smaller room where we could study on the second.

Barbara and walked into the high school main office at 7:45 Monday morning where we were greeted by Mrs. Cecil. "Morning, Jack...and you must be Barbara. I know that Mr. Wickers isn't too happy, but think what you did was wonderful."

Thanks, Mrs. Cecil. Here are Barbara's records and here's a note in regard to Wednesday."

"You're appearing before the grand jury? Oh, myl guess that really will be a legal excuse, won't it?" Then she laughed and her laugh brought our asshole principal out from his office.

"I'm not very happy with you, Mr. French!"

"I really don't care, Mr. Wickers. I want Barbara to be here and she is. I'm taking her down to see Mrs. Costello now. You'll find out soon enough what kind of person she is." I took Barbara by the arm and led her away.

"Oh, Jack-I'm so sorry. I'm nothing but trouble for you."

I pulled her into the lobby where there were several large pillars. Standing behind one I told her, "I don't ever want to hear you say that again. I love you, Barbara, and I'm thrilled to be married to you.