Free Super (Book 2): Super Duper by Princess Jones Page A

on. I’ve known you a long
time, Audrey. I used to wipe your butt. I know what you look
like when you need something.” He pointed to the food. “I’m
already feeding you. You don’t need to move back in because
you get your apartment with your job.” He paused. “Wait.
Did you get fired again?”
“No!” It was a fair question. I’d been fired a lot over
the years. But I was still offended. “It’s probably the best job
I’ve ever had.”
Dad handed me the sandwich. “So why do you need
money?”
I took a bite and chewed slowly to prolong what I had
to say as long as possible. Finally, I swallowed. “I need money
to pay my Council dues.”
“Again?”
My parents had given me money earlier that year for
my dues. When I got evicted from my last apartment, I’d finally
confessed to them what a mess I was in with everything. I’d
been losing jobs consistently because I was having a hard time
balancing them with being a Super, which put me behind on
my bills—rent, car insurance, dues, etc. Being behind on my
car insurance meant that when my car disappeared, it was
just gone. Behind on my rent meant I had to move back in
with my parents for the summer. And being behind on my
dues was part of the reason I got audited.
“I used that money for some of the past dues and I gave
some to my old landlord so he wouldn’t sue me for eviction.”
“What about the money you made this summer
working at Cranky’s? We let you stay here rent so you
could put money aside and you didn’t need it for your new
apartment.”
“I did use that to pay the rest of the money to my old
landlord. And since I got the new super job, I’ve been doing
a lot better. I got caught up on my bills,” I said, starting to list
all of them. “I paid my fines for getting arrested last year. I
paid off all of my old parking tickets. I paid by back balance
to Bank of America and they let me open another account. I
actually have a bank account now, Dad.” Even I could hear
how high my voice was getting.
He raised his hand up in a stop motion. “OK, OK, OK.
How much money do you need?”
I repeated the number that Miss Fine had given me.
Dad took another bite of his sandwich and walked out of the
room. He came back with his checkbook and a pen. “This is a
loan, Audrey. You have three months to pay me back for this.
And if you don’t, I’ll tell your mother it was you who broke
that porcelain figurine she had on the mantel.”
It took me a half of second to realize that he was talking
about something I’d broken as a kid while I was throwing a
ball in the house I’d been specifically told not to throw in the
house. Mom had been livid and Dad had taken the fall for
me. “That was twenty years ago!”
“And if you think that matters to your mother, this must
be your first day in the family,” he shrugged. “I’m going to
make this out to the Council because I want this to go directly
to the Council, Audrey. Not paying your dues can get you in
big trouble.” He ripped the check off of the book and handed
it to me. “You don’t want to end up audited or in jail do you?”
I stuffed the check into my pocket and said with what I
hoped was a straight face. “No, I wouldn’t want that.”
“I know I don’t have any appointment but I know how
important it is to get this paid.”
I was standing in the doorway of Miss Fine’s office. I’d
gone there straight from my parents’ place, taking a chance
that she’d be in the office on a Saturday. She seemed like the
type of person who would work on Saturdays.
I could have mailed the check. I could have gone to
the accounting office, which was two floors down from the
auditing department, and made the payment. It would have
been credited to my account within hours.
But for some reason, I wanted to put that check in her
hands. I wanted to see her face when she saw that I had taken
care of the back Super dues. I wanted to see how she