“Where we are in Lincoln Park is mostly young professionals and college kids. Northwestern Hospital is in the Gold Coast, a more affluent area. Oprah lives close to where Tami’ll be working. I would never say anywhere in Chicago is completely safe, but if she pays attention to her surroundings, she should be okay. I wouldn’t have a problem letting Harper take the bus there,” Bev said.
“What about these two?” Jared, Wolf’s dad, asked.
“They’ll be working with my team. We have several projects going, mainly close together in Lincoln Park, but we do have a couple further west, and they can be dicey. I wouldn’t plan on them going there without other employees who understand the risks,” Jack said.
“David says you live in a mansion,” Wolf said.
“I don’t know about that,” Jack said, getting embarrassed.
“Hang on, I have pictures,” I said as I brought them up on my phone.
Jared and Wendy, Tim’s mom, got the first look as my phone was passed around.
“I think I want to take Tim’s place,” Wendy said, obviously impressed with where my friends would be staying.
“If you want to come to visit, we have plenty of room,” Bev said.
“I’d like to come up for a weekend,” Mrs. Glade said.
“Of shopping,” I added under my breath.
Mrs. Glade blushed.
“Why don’t you all come up and I can take you … shopping,” Bev said, giving me the stink eye.
“You don’t have a problem with our kids invading your home for the summer?” Conner, Tim’s dad, asked.
“David told us they had worked at setting life goals, and they’re highly motivated. He wasn’t always my favorite person, but the more I got to know him, the better I liked him. I’ve been impressed with David, and during the recent political campaign, he showed me he was sharp. If David says your kids are special and just need a little help, Bev and I are more than happy to have them,” Jack said.
I kept my smart comments to myself. All the parents sat a little straighter in their chairs at the praise for their children.
“Why didn’t you like him?” Tiana, Wolf’s mom, asked.
“He dated my daughter,” Jack confessed.
“You have our sympathies,” Jared said with a smirk.
“Well, now that I can look back, he was a blessing,” Bev said in my defense.
“She’s dating Mike Herndon now,” Tami explained.
Everyone nodded. Jack looked like he was about to have a migraine. I wished him the best of luck.
Jared wasn’t entirely done, though. He wore a pensive expression and started to speak a couple of times, but finally seemed to find the words he needed.
“Wolf may not appreciate this, but I have to speak as a dad. We’re not wealthy by any means, but we do an honest day’s work, and we’ve tried to raise our kids right. I’m glad to hear about the neighborhood and to learn he’ll be in a safe environment, but what concerns me more is keeping the bad influences away.”
Wolf gave his dad a horrified, ‘how could you embarrass me like that?!’ look, and his dad caught it. He turned to his son.
“Son, I know I just embarrassed you, and I’m sorry about that. But I’d be even sorrier if I didn’t say anything, and you got messed up with drugs or the wrong kind of friends,” he said gently. Then he looked at me. “Bad friends can ruin a man’s life. Good friends are like gold.”
I really hoped he was putting me in the ‘good friends’ category. I didn’t think I’d like to find out what he’d do if he decided I was in the other one.
Tami leaned in, capturing his attention.
“Don’t worry, sir. Tim and I will be there too. We’ll have each other’s backs, and between that and Mr. and Mrs. Mass, we should be fine. I promise to let you know if either of these two big oafs gets out of line,” she said, trying to glare at Tim and Wolf at the same time.
“Can you do the same with Harper?” Mrs. Mass quipped.
The general laughter around the table got us out of the tension of the moment.
◊◊◊
Tami took me out to her car before she left.
“I have something for you,” she said as she opened her trunk.
She handed me a first aid kit. Well, ‘kit’ might not do it justice. First aid duffle?
“I did some reading on Cuba and put this together for you. Everything has to remain sealed to get through customs,” she advised.
Tami had everything from aspirin to jock-itch cream. She explained that with the hot, humid weather, I needed to be prepared.
I gave her a hug and thanked her. She would be home next weekend after her finals were done, so I would see her before I left.
◊◊◊
After everyone left, Dad and I drove to meet with Caryn and Megan. When we tried to pull into the parking lot, it was blocked off.
“Looks like they resurfaced it and painted new lines,” I observed.
We parked on the street. As we walked up, I could see they had power-washed the sidewalks. It looked like twenty years of dirt and grime had been removed. With the new paint, the building looked almost new. Caryn had done an excellent job.
