Free Small Change by Sheila Roberts Page B

with, too. But don't worry. You'll only be an assistant. Gene the gymnastics coach will be the instructor.”
    Still. Mounting a beam? What else was she going to have tohelp with? Someone was whimpering and Jess realized that someone was her.
    â€œYou'll be fine,” Mary Lou assured her.
    â€œAre you sure you don't need another tennis instructor?” asked Jess.
    â€œWe might later this summer, but not now. What I really need is a kinder gym teacher.” Mary Lou cocked an eyebrow.
    Jess thought of the office assignments she wasn't getting and could almost hear the old Beatle's song “Money” playing at the back of her brain like a soundtrack. “Okay. Teach me a forward roll.”
    Mary Lou beamed. “All right. You do it exactly like we tell the kids: tuck and roll.” She turned herself into a tight ball and rolled across the mat, then bounced back up like a spring. “See? Nothing to it.”
    Right. The last time Jess had been able to curl up that tightly was in the womb with her thumb in her mouth. She took a deep breath, then squatted on the mat and tried to turn herself into a ball. All the blood rushed to her head as she bent over and she suddenly felt sick. The thought of what she looked like from behind made her even sicker.
    Mary Lou was next to her now, coaching her. “Tuck a little more.”
    Easy for her to say. She didn't have to figure out where to tuck a couple of 38Ds. Jess made a superhuman effort, rallying every muscle in her body to help fold her into something that would roll. The sound of ripping fabric echoed through the gym.
    â€œPlease tell me that wasn't my pants,” Jess groaned and started to straighten up.
    â€œNever mind. They're already split so you may as well keep going,” said Mary Lou, and proceeded to turn Jess into a pretzel.
    Now Jess could barely breathe, but she managed to protest, “Hey, I'm not made of elastic.”
    â€œStretch more and you will be. Come on now, roll.”
    Rolling was preferable to getting smothered by her own boobs. Jess let gravity take over and started forward. She was doing great until her nose made contact with something hard. Her knee, of course. She saw stars and rolled over onto her side, landing like a beached whale. “Oooh, my dose.” She reached a tentative hand to her nose and discovered it was bleeding. Great. Mary Lou could trot her out when she wanted to show the kids what not to do.
    Her friend handed her a tissue. “Are you okay?”
    In the space of ten seconds she'd managed to split her pants and give herself a nosebleed. Oh, yeah. She was great, a real natural. She flopped back on the mat, pinching her nose. “Fide.”
    â€œMaybe you really aren't cut out for this,” mused Mary Lou.
    Oh, no. She'd already washed out as a temp. She'd be darned if she'd flunk forward rolls. “I can do this,” she insisted. “Let's try it again.”
    Half an hour later she limped to her car while all the muscles in her body cried, “Pain, pain, pain.”
    â€œOh, shut up,” she told them. “No pain, no gain.”
    And she had gained something today. She was now a Park Department employee. She wasn't going to make a fortune at this, but at least she'd be making something. And, at this point, some-thing was better than nothing. She only hoped she didn't spend all her paycheck on aspirin and muscle cream.

    Tiffany had driven straight home from work on Saturday. No bargain-hunting detours. (What was the point without a creditcard?) She didn't even so much as stop at the grocery store. Not only had she spent no money, she'd acquired a free book on how to live great on next to nothing. She could already hear how the conversation with her husband would go.
B RIAN : You didn't so much as stop at the grocery store? That's amazing. And what's this, a book on saving money?
    T IFFANY (looking modest): I didn't pay anything for it. I'm going to save us so