------> One Month Later <------
I got myself into this I guess, I think, as I passively browse through the racks. I had made a promise to Linny, last month, that if she did well on her Social Studies paper that I'd take her out shopping. I promised her four outfits, but I didn't think this would turn out to be such a long undertaking. When I said four outfits, I figured four tops, four bottoms, maybe a dress or two, and that'd be it. Silly me. She's in her glory, enthusiastically flitting and bopping all over the store, looking at everything from clothes to accessories to linger-...uh, underwear...to cosmetics and jewelry.
She'd wanted to do this trip alone, with just me, and not bring one of her friends along (like she normally would). I thought that was nice. But when she chose this store to start at, I almost balked. Since the divorce, money's been tight with me. I get a little monthly stipend from my ex-wife, and the job pays for the basic necessities, but there's not a lot of extra cash left over. So - when Linny chose this place instead of the lower-end chains or cheaper department stores...well, I had to suck it up. She DID do well on her paper, and I HAD promised...
An 'A-'...that's pretty good! Really good, in fact, for Linny. I couldn't remember the last time she'd done so well on a paper. It surprised me, actually, how well she'd done, when she came in to my place last night waving it around and giggling. Last month, as she was writing it on Sunday, she had let me read through what she'd done - and I had my worries. Her grammar is terrible, her writing is juvenile, her facts dubious. I didn't have high hopes for her "Life in an Inuit Village" report that she was going to hand in that upcoming week. But, yep...an 'A-'; I looked over the corrected paper myself, to be sure. Mr. Waldman had been, on closer inspection, pretty lenient - very lenient, in fact - but an 'A-' is an 'A-'...
...and she bragged to me, too, about some other good results. A 'B+' on a science test and lab report (with help from her lab partner) - great! I was proud! Mr. Chapman said she was improving, so she says. When asked, though, she told me of the 'C-' on her English Paper...Mrs. Rothchild, I guess, was not equally impressed.
Well, it's a start, I think to myself, as I watch Linny bounce around the store some more, disappearing into a changing room with some more clothes...is she going to show these to me, too, like the last ones? I'd promised her anything so I can't say 'no'...but I hope these are more appropriate...