“Okay, then you are all free to leave. I suggest you go pack and prepare your rooms for inspection if you want your deposits back,” he said dismissively.
They nodded sheepishly and walked out of the room. Candy straightened her clothing and stood up. “I guess I should go pack, too."
“What?” Madison asked in disbelief.
Candy scoffed. “Madison, your grandmother is going to lose the house. I have to find a place to stay. You don’t want me to be homeless do you?”
“What about your mother and your kids? Where do you think they’ll end up?” She stepped towards Candy. She was trembling with rage.
Candy backed up and headed for the door. “I don’t know what you expect from me, Madison. Really, you’re being ridiculous. The kids will be fine. I’m sure the foster homes around here are very nice.”
Ephraim reached out and restrained Madison as she swung to hit Candy. She missed, but barely. “Get out of here then! We don’t need you!”
“Shh, it’s okay, baby, just let her go.” He half dragged her to an overstuffed chair and sat her down. He sat on the arm of the chair and held her hand.
Mrs. Buckman sat up. She looked more composed. “I’m sorry about everything.” She swallowed. “Thank you for your help. Ephraim, I think you should go see if you can snag one of those rooms up before it’s too late.”
Ephraim ran a hand over his hair. “Chris, run up to my room. On the desk you’ll find two folders, grab them along with my checkbook and my wallet’s up there somewhere I think in my pants, go grab them.”
“Okay.” He looked weary as he ran out of the room.
He sat back. “Eleanor, how bad is it?”
She tried to smile, but couldn't quite manage it. “I’m late on the utilities, taxes and insurance, but I’ll catch up.”
Ephraim looked between Eleanor and Madison. “Would it really kill you women to let me know when you need help? It would make my life a great deal easier you know.”
“This is my problem, Ephraim. I’ll handle it. I might have to sell the house. I’ll find an apartment big enough for me and my four grandbabies. We’ll be fine.”
“And what will you do if you can’t sell quickly?” His eyes ran over the kids. He noticed for the first time how raggedly they looked. Even Eleanor and Madison looked like they needed new clothes. She told him Chris needed new clothes, but she failed to mention the rest of them.
“We’ll manage.” Eleanor lied.
“Jesus Christ, Eleanor, I bet you don’t have enough money to put food on the table and you think you’ll manage? Look at these kids. They need haircuts and clothes, badly. Living in a house without electricity, water or heat is not going to be good for them either.”
Eleanor sobbed quietly. “I’ll manage. My babies are not going into foster care,” she said firmly.
“Foster care? I’m not going. No f**king way,” Chris said, walking back into the room.
“Watch your mouth in front of the kids,” Ephraim said quietly as he took the items from Chris. “Have a seat, this affects you, too.”
He sat down on the arm of the couch with his arms folded. He looked scared and was trying not to show it. “I’m not going.”
Ephraim eyed the four of them before looking down at Madison. “Go sit over there with your family so I can talk to all of you without straining my neck, please.”
Madison moved to sit down between her grandmother and Jill. Ephraim sat down in the chair. “Where to begin?” he pondered. His eyes fell on Eleanor.
“How much do you owe against the house?”
“Nothing. I own it outright.”
That confused him. “Then why did you get denied a loan?”
Her hands fidgeted in her lap. “My age and I wasn’t bringing in enough to cover the bills as it was. The roof cost more than I expected.”
“Did they deny you because of us?” Jill asked.
Eleanor reluctantly nodded. “They said they didn’t feel right loaning money to me with so many dependants. If I didn’t pay on time they didn’t want to have to throw kids out of a house.”
“Damn it,” Chris muttered. “I knew this was my fault.”
“Not it’s not and don’t you dare say that!” Eleanor said fiercely.
“Grandma, I have twelve thousand dollars. You can have that,” Madison said, glad Ephraim took it upon himself to get it back.
Ephraim held up his hand the same time Grandma said, "No."
"That's your money, Madison. Keep it in the bank," Ephraim said. He turned his attention once again to Eleanor. “How much debt do you have?”
Her fingers stilled. “Over fifty thousand dollars.”
“Grandma.” Madison could not believe her ears.
“With the lawyers, and then the roof and the foundation and they cost more than I thought, and then I couldn’t rent out the extra rooms. It just got out of hand.”
“And because I was no longer paying for the second room you actually ended up losing money,” Ephraim added. She nodded. “How much are you going to ask for the house?”
“I’m afraid I won’t get much more than two hundred thousand if that. The house is older than most around here. Last year the Thompsons sold their house which was about the same size and brand new and they only got two-sixty. I don’t have high hopes.”
“Are we gonna have to go into a foster home?” Jill asked.
“I’m not going and neither are they. I’ll get a job,” Chris said firmly.
Ephraim sighed as he tossed one folder to Chris and the other one to Eleanor. “What’s this?” they asked in unison.
“Open them.”
“What does this mean?” Chris asked.
“It means you are not going to foster care. It means you are now Christopher Williams.”
“What?” his voice rose. “You adopted me? How? Doesn’t that take months to do?”
“Yes, I adopted you. I asked your mom and she decided that securing your future was better than abandoning you to the streets so she signed the papers. As for the expediency of the adoption I pulled a few favors.”
“No shit?” he asked cautiously. Chris thought it might be a joke. He didn’t trust easily.
“No shit. You are now officially my brat,” Ephraim said with a wink.
Chris smiled. “Nice,” he said appreciatively.