CHAPTER TWO
Mom says, “You’ll understand when you’re older,” and I do my best not to scream at her. Of course, since I’m giving her silent treatment, it isn’t as hard as it could be. “You’ve only had a week to think about this, Samantha. You’ll see.”
“I’m just here to notarize the documents,” I say in the most professional voice I can. One of the perks of working for a small bank is that they don’t mind me taking my stamp and ledger home after every shift so I not only make a dollar more an hour because I’m a notary public, but I also get a chance to keep my kit with me and I can do freelance notarizations as long as I don’t charge a bank customer.
I won’t be charging for this.
I sit down in the conference room and maintain my professional demeanor with my mother, but I glare at the asshole she’s sleeping with. My stepfather walks in and says, “Okay, great.”
He sets up stacks of paperwork. He slides the first to mom’s boss, Mark Thompson. “You’re paying me eleven percent and it’s secured by your receivables. Your firm will be audited monthly to ensure your annual revenues are on track for twice the total amount of the outstanding loan, including the five thousand dollars of fees my attorney charged me to form the paperwork. You may choose the auditing firm and negotiate their price, but I will approve them. Go ahead and sign and Samantha will notarize the document.”
He turns to me. “Sammy, would you mind also making copies of the documents as they’re signed?”
“My pleasure,” I say.
He looks at mom’s boss again. “We need your signature.”
“This is highway robbery!” Thompson says.
“Robbery, Thompson?” my stepfather says. “Are you sure that’s a term you want to use in these circumstances? If you think it’s robbery, perhaps we should walk to the end of the street to the Redleaf River Police Department. There, we can report any robbery we need to report.”
The man glares but he sighs and signs the document. I fill out the notarization form and then, just to be a bitch, I tell him I’ll need his ID card even though he’s personally known to me. I take the ID and walk to the copier in the conference room and take my time copying it just to extend his irritation. Then, I open my ink pad and have him put his thumbprint there. I have a pad that reacts with the paper so there’s no residue on the client’s thumb. I use a pad with regular ink for this prick. I stamp where appropriate and then sign. It’s notarized. I fill out my ledger, indicate no charge, and have him sign there. Only then do I go to the copy machine and copy the loan documents.
I almost laugh when I consider that we’re using the conference room of the oldest fraternal organization in the state, the Redleaf River Stepfather’s Club. Since in the days of the Old West, mail order brides were common but almost nobody would take a woman with children, the founders of the town thought accepting kids made sense to get wives for the men. Before long, the town was known as a town of stepfathers. As far as I’m concerned, the only one in the room I want in this town is a stepfather.
My mom is next. The first document surprises the hell out of me. It requires notarization but it’s my stepfather’s signature that’s needed!
I stare at it for a moment in shock, then my stepdad says, “Go ahead, Sammy. It’s okay.”
It takes all of my effort to keep from exploding and maintain my professional demeanor. The document in question transfers ownership of the loan to my mother, so she’ll end up with all of the money her boss owes my stepdad. I can’t understand why he would do that but I get the necessary signatures and notarize them.
Mom, of course, is more than happy to accept and the smug smile she gives me as she thanks me for notarizing causes my blood to boil. I narrowly managed to avoid spitting at her and prepare the third document.
The third document is the stipulation of divorce. Mom gets to keep the investment, her car, and her own personal property. She reads the list thoroughly, then nods in satisfaction and signs.
The fourth document removes her as a signer from my college savings account. Her eyes darken at this and I see anger on her face for the first time today.
“What the hell is this?” she says to my stepdad. “You can’t lock me out of her college account! She’s my daughter more than she is yours.”
“You could have fooled me,” I reply.
It’s the only time I break my professional demeanor and Mom whips her head around and stares at me in shock. There’s no hurt in the shock, only anger. It wounds me that she’s not concerned for my welfare but after all of this, it doesn’t surprise me.
“We could go another way if you’d prefer to dispute this,” my stepfather tells her quietly.
Mom’s lips thin until all the color is drained from them but she doesn’t argue. She knows as well as he does that if this goes to court, she’ll not only lose everything my stepdad is giving her but she’ll have to serve a lengthy prison sentence for the theft of his money. She signs wordlessly and tosses the documents at me without looking at me.
I notarize them, make copies and hand the originals to my stepdad.
“Thank you, Sammy,” he says. “Will you please wait outside?”
I don’t really want to leave but there’s no more reason for me to be here. My professional obligations are completed and though the divorce obviously affects me personally, there’s nothing I can add to the conversation that will help. I stand and smile at him, then make a point of staring coldly at my mother and glaring at her boss before leaving.
There are several other stepdads in the club lounge. They stop talking and stare at me when I enter. I don’t blame them. As far as I know, I’m the only girl who’s ever been inside the club who didn’t work here.
Speaking of girls who work here, my friend Hannah sees me from behind the bar and calls out, “Sammy! Hi!”
“Hi, girl!” I reply.
We embrace each other and she says, “Hey, don’t worry about the snobs. You’re here on business. They can huff disapprovingly all they want.”
One of the snobs calls for a drink and Hannah rolls her eyes at me and says, “Unfortunately, I don’t get to ignore them.”
She leaves to attend to the member and although I appreciate her encouragement, I decide I don’t want to be here anymore. I leave to tell my stepdad I’m leaving but stop when I hear him arguing with Mom.
“You can be as pissy as you want, Jane, but that’s all you can be. You know as well as I do that if I pursue legal action, there would be no company, no investment, and a nice, comfy prison cell for you and your brilliant businessman boyfriend. Fortunately for you, I don’t want Sammy to have a felon for a mother, so instead, I’m letting you ruin your own life.”
I decide not to interrupt them and ask Hannah to let my stepdad know I went home when he comes out. On the drive home, I am filled with admiration for my stepdad. It would be perfectly understandable for him to decide to focus on his own needs but instead, he’s putting me first.
I head home with a big smile on my face and despite the anger and stress of the day, I am completely happy with my life right now.