My dad gave me the biggest bear hug, nearly
squeezing the life out of me.
63)
My dad said that he’d been shaking when he googled “Community Tech of South Bend.” But
when he saw the Caltech website, he nearly had
a heart attack.
“Baby girl, I already got you a place in
downtown Los Angeles, five different
apartments, you can pick the one you like the
best.”
He put the keys in my hand, but I had
something else on my mind.
I looked at our four–story mansion and asked,
“Dad, where did you take the black and white
Maybach?”
He looked blank and then replied, “I thought
that black car was gathering dust in the garage.
So I let Martha take it, she was going to the
<
farmers market, remember?”
“What’s wrong? If you want a car, I can get you a Lambo.”
I frowned. Martha is our housekeeper, and she’s been with our family since before I was born.
She was divorced with two kids, both of whom
are now successful businessmen in the US.
Martha is so down to earth, and has always
raised her children well, and would never just
drive off with a car without asking permission.
“Dad, is Martha home?”
“No, she asked for a few days off, and flew
over to see her sons in the US.”
My dad picked up on the fact that something
was wrong and asked me what was up.
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today.”
I told him everything that had happened. He
pulled out his phone and called Martha.
Martha told my dad that before flying overseas,
she had taken the Maybach to the shop for
some upkeep. Because she wouldn’t be back
for a while, she asked her brother to go and
pick it up for her when it was ready.
My dad hung up. We trust Martha implicitly, so
of course we believed her.
But now it was clear.
Martha’s brother is her only sibling, and a total
Screw–up.
Martha asked my dad to give him a job at one
of our resorts.
I’d met him once, and from what I remembered.
<
he had a gig as some kind of manager.
As I thought about it, my phone buzzed.
It was a message in the group chat. Brittany
had sent out the address of the resort.
I looked it up on Google Maps, and I saw that it
was just a mile from my house.
What a coincidence.
Brittany was definitely trying to play me.
- 8.
The next morning, I hopped on my grandma’s
mobility scooter and headed to the resort.
When I showed up on the scooter, everyone
started cracking up, making fun of me.
“Tiffany, do you even know what kind of place
<
some hick from the sticks!”
“Yeah, they call this a wellness resort for the
rich and famous! If it weren’t for Brittany,
people like you would never see a place like
this!”
Did these people have a disease that made
them say terrible things?
I almost felt bad for telling them that this was
actually the cheapest resort on our property.
We built it so old folks from our town had a
place to hang out.
“Excuse me, miss…” A server came up to me.
I handed him my scooter keys.
“Park this for me, please.”
Everyone laughed even harder.
<
9:52
- ))
Brittany sneered at me, and took a hundred- dollar bill out of her bag and gave it to the
server.
“Tiffany, you’re supposed to tip the guys who park the cars.”
“But since you’re new here, I’ll cover it for
you!” She said, showing off her kindness while
making me look like a moron.
“What a loser,” Chad said, putting his arm
around Brittany. He looked at me like I was
some kind of garbage.
I rolled my eyes. She was treating this place like
it was some Michelin–starred restaurant.
“I’ve had it with those two,” Jason said, coming
up beside me.
“They’re ridiculous,” I replied.
63
<
9:52A
I looked at Jason, a lightbulb went off in my
head, and I grinned. “Wanna see a show?”
- 9.
“Brittany, are we really allowed to just do
whatever we want here?”
The students‘ eyes were lit up with dollar signs, impressed by the fancy décor.
“Last time my dad brought us here, the bill was
at least $70,000. There are so many of us; it’ll
be over a $100,000, for sure.”
They all looked at Brittany like she was the
Queen of England.
She looped her arm through Chad’s, and said
with a smile, “Oh, it’s nothing, don’t sweat it.”
“Have fun and whatever you do, today is on
me!”
<
9:52
Everyone cheered, praising Brittany’s
generosity.
63
When she saw that I wasn’t joining in, Brittany
came over and took my arm. She pointed at the
golf course. “Let’s go play some golf.”
“Don’t worry if you’re bad, I’ll teach you. It’ll be
a good experience for college.”
I was speechless.
How did golf have anything to do with college?
Did the Caltech handbook say that you needed
to know how to golf in order to graduate?
Brittany dragged me to the golf course with her
followers trailing behind, eager to see me
humiliate myself.
“Okay, watch this. Golf is super easy,” Brittany
said, showing off her stance, then swung at the
<
9:52
It flew through the air and landed a few feet
away from the hole.
Everyone clapped, complimenting her
technique.
“That didn’t even go in,” she said, trying to be modest. Then, she took a few more swings and
missed every time.
