Page 1 of Demitrius

Chapter 1

Mandy was waiting to have her stitches taken out when a young woman came into the room looking like she was going to pop her kid at any moment. It took her a few seconds only, though, to not care for the woman. She was demanding and privileged acting.

“You need to get up out of that chair, young man. I’ve always sat there, and it’s the most comfortable one in the room.” Then she snapped her fingers at him. “Hello, pregnant woman here. Don’t make me get pissy with you about a stupid chair.”

“Then sit someplace else. I was here first.” She huffed at the man, then tried to sit in the chair anyway, shoving the man to the side until he got up or she sat directly on him. What Ms. Privileged didn’t count on was his being bigger than her. “What the hell are you doing? Are you insane? I’m sitting here.”

“I’m pregnant. Or are you too stupid to know that?” The man looked her up and down and said that she was stupid as well. “Do you have any idea who I am? I’m going to have my husband arrest you when you’re out on the streets. You’ll have so many fines that you’ll never see your paycheck. Is that what you want?”

“I’m a cop too. And I do know who you’re married to. Donny isn’t even the father of this kid, and you both know it. Now be a good little girl and find yourself another seat, and leave me to my own.”

Ms. Privileged huffed again. But instead of moving to another seat, she simply stood in front of the man while he seemed to be ignoring her. It was funny how stubborn she was. He was as well, but at least he was justified in his stubbornness.

When her name was called, she was slightly disappointed that she’d not get to see what happened when one of their names was called back. Would she feel triumphant and sit in the chair, or would she be called back first, and it was all for nothing on her part? Oh well, she’d take entertainment when she could get it.

“These look really good, but I’m going to take my time pulling them out. It’s a large cut, and I don’t want you to have it leave a big scar for you.” She thanked Misty, Doctor Keller’s nurse. “The doc is going to want to see you in a couple of weeks just to make sure that you’re healing all right.”

She wished that Locke could have taken them out since he’d been the one who had put them in. But he’d been working in the emergency department for the last month since he’d become a doctor and hadn’t had time to work her in. Nor did he have the sort of equipment at home to work on her. He told her that he’d be more prepared next time. She hoped there wouldn’t be a next time.

Trying to ignore her skin being pulled while the stitches were being pulled out, she thought of the list that Zander, Locke’s brother, had given her if she wanted to try and adopt her nephews. They’d found another relative to take them in, but she couldn’t get past the background check that the county had done on her.

Her name was Georgie Jameson, the same as the boys, but she had an arrest record that was about a mile long. After Georgie’s brother, Samuel, had killed their mother in a drunken rage, they didn’t want the same thing to happen to the boys. It was bad enough that they’d seen her killed by him; making them go to the same sort of person wouldn’t be right on any level.

“Mandy? Are you all right?” She said she was just thinking. “You really zoned out there on me. I was worried that you were really hurting.”

“No, not at all. You did a good job.” At least she hoped so. While the scar was ugly and still very pink looking, it was better than the open, gaping wound that she’d had there a month ago. Samuel had cut her with a knife while she was trying her best to keep the two little boys safe. They’d come to meanthe world to her. “What do I have to do to take care of it? I know that someone mentioned that I’m to keep it out of the sun.”

“Yes, I’ll give you some instructions for wound care before you leave. Now all you have to do is see the Doc and you’ll be free to go.” Sounded good to her. Maybe she’d get to see the end of the fight in the lobby. “You have a good day, Mandy, and be careful.”

She and the boys had been living with August and his wife, Jack, since the night that their mother had been killed. Her sister had married Samuel about ten years ago and had had Teddy first. Then, a couple of years later, Martin had come along. Besty had been a good mom, but she always thought that she should have left Samuel after the first time she’d been beaten bad enough to end up in the hospital, about a week after they were married. But then she’d not have Teddy and Martin, and Besty always told her that was worth it all.

Walking back to the house she was staying at, she decided to find out if there were any places to rent yet. She’d been going by the real estate office daily for the past three weeks, and they’d had nothing. Nothing that she could afford anyway.

Now, with her first check coming in, surprised at how much it was, she thought that finding a place for the three of them was going to be much easier. Plus, it was on the list of things that she had to do that Zander had given her to make it so she could adopt the boys when it went to court. She needed to establish someplace where they could live on their own.

The list wasn’t all that long, but it was things that she was having trouble thinking anyone would care about. What did it matter if she ate out often without the boys? Or that she didn’t have reliable daycare for them when she went to work. Mostly she took them with her, and it hadn’t been an issue. But she’d do each and every thing on the list just to be able to take care of the three of them in one place.

“I do have a place. I was hoping you’d come by today.” The woman, Izzy was her name, grabbed her coat and keys, and said that she’d take her by there now. “He’s a good person to rent from. I think you know him, Demitruis Erikson. He’s one of the Erikson men who live around here. It’s a three-bedroom and has two baths. You’ll love it.”

As they drove to the place, she tried her best not to get her hopes too high for it. While it sounded perfect, there could be a plethora of things wrong with it that would get her into trouble with the county. They’d have to inspect it as well, she thought she’d read.

“It’s in a good neighborhood, too. Not far from his restaurant either.” Mandy told Izzy that she’d not met this brother as he’d been working on getting his place opened. “He does work hard. They all do, for that matter. And they all take care of each other, too.”

Mandy knew that as well. They took care of strangers who showed up on their doorsteps like they were family as well. She knew that to be true firsthand. As they were pulling into the drive of the house, all she could think about was how beautiful it looked with all the trees. She could almost see her raking up leaves and the boys jumping in them. The fenced-in back yard was an added bonus, too.

Mandy toured the house three times before she got around to asking what the rent was. She had to have her tell her four times the amount, as it just seemed too low for her to be right. Then she mentioned that the other services for the house, such as water, sewage, and cable, were included. The man must be certifiable if he was letting it go for this low.

“I’ll take it.”

After handing her the visa that she’d just gotten the other day, Izzy said she’d call it in. Then she remembered the county, and it was then that Izzy told her that the house had only been just inspected for her, and she was all right. It occurred to her that someone was setting this up for her, but she didn’t voice that. If the Eriksons were helping her, she wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. They were more than likely tired of her hanging around their homes while not being related to them in any way.

Signing the paperwork once they were in the office again, she was almost too excited to tell the boys what she’d done. Then something else occurred to her. She had not one stick of furniture nor anything personal to put in the place. She almost wanted to sob right then. What a fool she’d been.

Walking home, trying not to be too upset about the blunder that she’d made. She decided that she was going to ask for the help that had been given to her by each of the family members that she’d met. They all told her to come to them when she needed something, and she was going to do it. All she needed was enough money to get herself some kitchen supplies and two beds for the boys. She could sleep on the floor until she got herself something else, she decided.

Then her list of things that she needed got longer with each step that she took. Towels. Food. They’d need to have a shower curtain as well as bathing supplies. Once she was in the house again, she burst into tears when Jack had asked her what was wrong.

It all came tumbling out. “I don’t know what I was thinking. I know what I was thinking about that Demitrius was helping me fund the place, and I’d not even met him. Now I’ve signed the lease agreement, and I don’t have anything to make it work.” She listed only a few things that she’d thought of on her way home. “Not to mention, how the heck am I supposed to be able to care for the boys when I can’t even care for myself?”

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