"I already called my insurance!" Pops cried as he saw Jenny. Jenny gaped at the mess, the burnt smell making her gag. "My cousin is coming over help with the cleanup as soon as the Fire Department clears this up!"
The house looked like it had been stepped on. If she'd been inside...she shook her head and headed towards the trailer, stopping at an official looking fireman "Can I go in there?" pointing at the trailer. He got on his radio and a little back and forth, then gave her the OK.
She got the cats inside and sprung (and the extra litter box, which she put under the kitchen table). She opened a package of peanut butter crackers and opened a warm can of juice, sitting on her bed and musing. She finished her snack and went out, brushing her hands on her shorts. She went up the fireman. "I need to get in my storage unit and see." He got on the radio again.
"I'm sorry, ma'am, not until this tree's gone"
"I'm here for that!" someone yelled and she turned to see a black man with a chain saw. "I'm Boo, Pops' cousin. I'm going to clear this for you!" The fire department finished getting the electrical cable out of the tree and let Boo loose on the tree. Since it was already dead and burned it didn't take much to get it off the storage unit.
Charlie was talking to Miguel out in the street and they were frowning as they looked down the road. She followed their gaze, oh, no, the news. She ran over to the men "Get them out of here!" She had featured in enough news stories she didn't want another.
"It might" Miguel mused "Make it worse if we ask them to leave. Why don't we ask them to keep their distance for now."
Boo came up, sweating, as Jenny handed him a warm lemonade she had made with some drink mix. "Thank you, baby!" She darted a gaze at Charlie but he grinned. "My kid sister set up a Go Fund me for you, sweetie, she's going to send you a link. All you have to do is sign in and they'll put whatever in your account".
Jenny gulped as he continued "I got some real nice shots before I took the tree down, and I told Melinda from the news station about it." Jenny tried not to swallow her tongue. People were going to think she was begging.
Miguel put his hand on her shoulder as Charlie watched closely, "Mija, it's a good idea. People see something like this they want to help." Boo headed off to talk to Pops as Javin picked up branches in his yard. She headed over to him.
"How are you doing?" she asked quietly.
"We're so sorry, both of us. I should have told him to cut the tree down but they wanted $500 for it, and..."
"You don't have that kind of money" she finished.
"Now your home is ruined," he sniffled "I feel so bad about that, now you have to live in that tin can."
She told him about some of the problems the house had, focusing on the awful plumbing issues. 'I couldn't flush ANYTHING, Javin, it was terrible. God used this to do me a favor. I will just figure out something else to do."
She looked over at Charlie on his phone, frowning, as the news crew chatted in the distance. He waved her over.
"Jen." He looked frustrated, but was taking obvious steps to calm himself. "Can I see your wallet?" She handed it over, non thinking.
He opened it up and looked at her debit card, her credit card, and her other debit card leftover from their married days. She had the same bank and they would send her a new card every few years. She would activate it and stick it in her wallet. He took it out.
"Have you ever used this?" It had been their joint account.
"No" she replied slowly... "First it was a pride thing and then I thought if there was anything you needed it more than I did." She looked at his $200 boots. "I guess not."
"I want to show you something" he said quietly. "I have been putting half of everything I made after expenses in this account for you." He pulled up an app on his phone and selected an option, handing her the phone.
She was amused by the high-end phone for a moment and then looked at the screen. "How many zeroes is that?" She asked.
"Enough" he replied quietly "To get you a real home. I want something quick for you so I'd like to go to the mobile home dealer - you know the one who has the homes that survive the hurricanes...and see if they have something that will work for you once we get this cleaned up".
Jenny gaped. "What about my current place?"
Charlie laughed "It can be your in law suite. You don't have zoning here, remember?"
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