Chapter 10: Starting to Grow Up Tonight

Tommy pushed his bike back to the rented apartment only to find Ashley had left, leaving Melanie sitting on the living room sofa, sipping on tequila.

Noticing Tommy staring at her, Melanie shifted her gaze away from the television set and met his eyes, "Got a problem?"

"Nothing, just that alcohol will make the redness on your face you've been covering with makeup become obvious again." Tommy sat down at the other end of the sofa and pointed to his face, saying, "So, can this minor have a drink now? Considering this booze was bought with money I earned."

Then he took out a cigarette, handed one to Melanie, she placed it between her lips, and Tommy lit his lighter and held it out to her to light the cigarette.

Melanie took a drag on the cigarette, then turned her gaze back to the television, "Just one glass."

"Thanks." Tommy poured himself a drink and took a small sip, "How's work going?"

Melanie, her eyes on the CBS hit sitcom "Family Ties" playing on the TV, responded coldly, "So great that I'm actually determined to find a new job."

Melanie had the typical Italian features, with her dark, long hair and delicately contoured face. She was petite, compared to Germanic or Irish women, and now sat expressionlessly, sipping tequila from her glass, sip by sip.

The beauty was icy, as was the alcohol.

"What kind of trouble did your ex-boyfriend cause you this time?" Tommy carefully observed his aunt's facial expression as he continued to inquire.

Melanie turned to look at Tommy, "That's none of your business."

Then she downed the rest of her drink and walked towards the bedroom.

"Goodnight, Melanie," Tommy said, watching her retreating figure.

"Bang!" The bedroom door was shut closed by Melanie from the inside with a bang, as if in response to Tommy Hawk's words.

Tommy Hawk sat alone in the living room, staring at the messy coffee table, and suddenly let out a bitter laugh.

It turned out that those adult magazines had been brought home by that jerk who used to live here, no wonder his father, who would always talk about family, never tried to stop him when he said he was moving out.

At that moment, Colin Hawk's thoughts must have been what he had spoken to his son earlier that night, regretting ever having a son like him, the one because of whom Bessie was taken away into foster care.

Tommy had no recollection of this, or rather, he wasn't sure those magazines were his, since occasionally when he and Tony's classmates came over, they would also bring such women's magazines to pass around, but now that he knew the answer, it was as Colin Hawk had said, he owed this family for Bessie being taken to a foster home.

He had an undeniable responsibility—it was time to think of a way to make amends, to bring Bessie back home.

Of course, another reason was, if he still planned to apply to a good university, it would be best to sort out his family affairs. Otherwise, when the university phoned to check on his situation, either his old man or Tony could easily use this situation to ruin his educational pursuits.

Getting custody of Bessie back was simple and yet difficult. It was simple because you just needed to pull out cash and meet all sorts of tricky conditions set by the judge, and you could have Bessie back home in no time; it was difficult because, for someone like Colin Hawk who had lost his job in big companies and turned to odd jobs, those conditions were like a pipe dream.

Thinking this, Tommy got up, went to the bedroom to get paper and a pen, and then began to list the conditions for getting his sister back home on the coffee table.

First, Bessie needed a separate bedroom in her original family home with no less than fifteen square meters, including a child-exclusive wardrobe and desk.

Tommy checked it off but hesitated for a moment and then added a suffix of two hundred US dollars.

His home was a detached house with three bedrooms which belonged to his dad, himself, and Tony. Bessie had always lived in the attic arranged for her by his dad, which, although falling short of the stringent requirement of fifteen square meters and being somewhat cramped, had been decorated very cozily. Many families in Warwick City would make the attic very cute and then let their children live there alone, but clearly, in the eyes of the judges and child protective services, Bessie could not live in the attic.

To bring Bessie back home, it would be necessary to give up either his or Tony's bedroom for her, and Tommy had no problem with that. However, it would require an expense of two hundred US dollars to renovate either his or Tony's bedroom.

The second condition was that the household income must not be less than eight hundred and fifty US dollars per month.

The temporary worker's monthly salary at his old man's shipbreaking yard varied between six hundred to seven hundred US dollars due to the inconsistent working hours. Together with Tony's income, they should have enough to meet the requirement, but Tony's salary couldn't be reflected in tax returns, since he was an apprentice and his compensation was paid in cash. Therefore, to achieve this standard, they either had to wait for Tony to complete his apprenticeship and become regularized, or they needed a stable monthly income of no less than two hundred US dollars to be shown on the family income tax returns.

Tommy added a suffix of two hundred US dollars a month after the second condition.

The third condition required the family to ensure that they provide no less than seventy US dollars per month for Bessie's growth and education expenses, with an observation period of two years.

This meant that each month they had to keep track of Bessie's expenses, save the bills for the child protection service to review to confirm they met the expenditure requirements. Tommy wasn't too worried about this; seeing how his old dad deducted consultancy fees by seducing the female lawyer in front of her husband today, he was certain that his dad was willing to spend far more than seventy US dollars on Bessie.

Check.

The fourth condition required the family to purchase various children's commercial insurances designated by the child protection agency.

Tommy wrote a suffix of one thousand three hundred US dollars after the fourth condition.

Yes, if Bessie wanted to return to her biological family, then the biological family had to purchase a set of various kinds of children's combination insurances that cost up to one thousand three hundred US dollars per year, for at least two years.

The official explanation was that the child protection service needed to ensure that during the two-year observation period when the child returns to her biological family, any potential issues are avoided as much as possible, and comprehensive insurance could minimize this risk.

The other answer was, the insurance companies underwriting these policies were sponsors of various political parties, or simply the businesses of some legislators before they entered politics, profiting handsomely and openly by virtue of being designated by the child protection service.

This was why it was easy for child management services to send Bessie to a foster family, but hard to bring her back.

"This is simply not a problem a high school student can solve," Tommy Hawk vented his frustration while looking at the paper.

Just relying on old dad and Tony, there was no chance of bringing Bessie back home. Even adding himself, a high school student was no different. Not to mention a stable two hundred US dollars of monthly earnings, the mere cost of one thousand three hundred US dollars a year for insurance already presented a mountain-sized obstacle between Bessie and them.

On TV, CBS's popular show had finished, and Providence TV Station switched back to its own nighttime news program. The host was saying to the camera:

"New York City's measure to increase tobacco taxes has been in effect for a month, and the government optimistically states that the new tobacco tax could add sixty-three million US dollars to New York City's revenue and help citizens quit the bad habit of smoking. However, the smokers in New York City obviously do not think so. Here are some interviews..."

Tommy Hawk listened to the New York smokers on TV fiercely cursing the city government's decision to raise tobacco taxes. Suddenly, a white youth burst onto the scene and shouted at the camera:

"Ed Koch must have never even bought a single pack of cigarettes himself! This bastard is making New Yorkers spend an extra three hundred US dollars each year on cigarettes! I would risk it all for three hundred US dollars! He's forcing us poor people to commit crimes just to buy cigarettes!"

"Turn off the TV and go to bed! Otherwise, I might not know whether that guy would risk it all for three hundred US dollars, but I can assure you, I'll send you out on the streets for being so loud I can't sleep," said Melanie, who was already dressed in a magenta nightgown, as she opened the bedroom door and angrily told Tommy Hawk, who was watching the news.

Tommy Hawk turned off the TV, packed up the paper he had written, and bowed slightly to Melanie, like a student to a teacher, "Alright, my dear landlord, teacher, and aunt, Miss Melanie, goodnight, oh~ and might you congratulate me just a little?"

With that, he smiled and walked towards his small bedroom.

"Congratulations? For what?" Melanie eyed Tommy Hawk's retreating back as she inquired.

"Congratulations on entering the damn adult world from tonight on," replied Tommy Hawk, smiling back at Melanie before entering his bedroom and closing the door.