Sell you a Bridge chapter 10 (Patreon)

We decided to tell our mothers together. Honestly any way we tried to  explain two teenagers getting their hands on high rise condos would  sound like a lie, the only real way we would be able to manage to  convince them was to back each other up. Mrs. Crock didn't know about my  old man's business interests and mom didn't know about Mr. Crock's  nighttime activities so neither would think the other's child would be  mixed up in anything shady.

We spent most of the rest of  the morning trying to come up with a rational explanation for how it had  happened, until finally deciding there wasn't one. Nothing we could say  would make this turn of events make sense, so we wouldn't try. We would  just claim we won a contest and as long as we stuck to our story they  wouldn't have a reason to disbelieve us. Mom would call dad, and once he  told her he hadn't done it and pointed out he didn't even know Artemis  or her Mom, she would have to believe it.

As for Mrs.  Crock she thought of me as a good kid, she wouldn't expect me to be  mixed up with Lawrence's nonsense and would know Artemis wouldn't drag  me into that. It also had to be stated that neither woman actually LIKED  living in this dingy old tenement and probably wouldn't really fight  too hard against the idea if given a reason to believe it. We decided to  have Artemis's mother over for dinner at my place. That would give us a  chance to talk to them and would make it impossible for Larry Crock to  walk in halfway through.

Surprisingly Artemis had told me  her dad actually didn't live with them. Her mom had been in prison for a  while and when she got out and came home she kicked him out. However he  still came by to train Artemis and Paula wasn't willing to fight him  over it and maybe cost Artemis one or both of her parents as long as he  followed a few rules. Larry was a dick, but he wasn't beat up the  wheelchair bound mother of your child levels of dick, so he mostly  abided by her rules as long as she let him visit.

Artemis  admitted the rules about training weren't exactly restrictive, her  mother had been in the same line of work as her old man once upon a time  and she was, if anything, even harsher when teaching than he was, but  she tried to curb his more bloodthirsty lessons so Artemis managed to  get away with bruises and soreness as opposed to being forced to kill  some hedge fund manager because he embezzled from the wrong shell  company. I called my mom at work to ask and when she said yes I went to  get started cooking while Artemis went to convince her own mother.

Mrs.  Crock agreed easily enough, mostly because she was assuming this was a  meet the parents dinner and Artemis and I were dating. I ended up making  Lasagna, the ingredients for which I had delivered with my handy dandy  debit card. I had to tip extra to get them to come to my neighborhood  but hey, it's not like I didn't have the money. I picked up a loaf of  french bread and some minced garlic and butter along with the pasta meat  cheese and sauce. To my eternal shame as the child (illegitimate or  not) of a family that owned an actual italian restaurant I knew  absolutely nothing about making pasta sauce so I just bought a few jars  of the nicest pre made stuff I could find.

Still, despite  phoning in the ingredients in a way that would probably make my  grandfather sneer in disgust the lasagna smelled amazing when I finished  it. The garlic bread came out great too, and my timing was on point,  because mom got home at around six (she was only working a single shift  tonight) and Artemis and her mother showed up soon after. My mom came in  and rushed to her room to get ready for company and I set plates out  for our guests as soon as she came in but I was barely finished putting  out the napkins on our tiny wooden table when the bell rang.

It  was a strange feeling to hear that bell and not be expecting some kind  of life changing power based nonsense on the other side, even after only  a few days, but I was just as excited about this particular visitor.  When I opened the door I saw Mrs. Crock in front of the door with  Artemis pushing her chair. Mrs. Crock was wearing a nice blouse and a  pair of slacks, but Artemis...well she must have seen the look on my  face because she leveled a finger at me and hissed "Say a word and you  won't be able to walk tomorrow." I choked back my response to her  clothes and let them both in politely, welcoming them to our home.

I  was having a hard time not laughing. My gorgeous badass best friend was  dressed in a light green summer dress and a white sweater. Her hair was  pushed back with a headband and she was wearing fucking maryjanes. I  was so stunned by the absolute clash between her personality and her  clothes that I wasn't even admiring her looks like I usually did. It was  an active effort not to mock her for the Sunday school outfit. I sidled  up next to her and gritted my teeth to keep from laughing. "Glad you  could make it." As instructed I didn't mention her clothes because she  actually could and would kick my ass.

Unfortunately for  her my amusement was plain on my face. I didn't need to say anything to  make fun of her. Her eyes narrowed with icy rage, though luckily not at  me. "Mom wanted me to make a good impression on your mother. She thinks  this is a meet the parents dinner and refuses to accept that we're just  friends." She gestured down at herself in disgust "Apparently this is  what 'good girls' wear." She made air quotes around the phrase. "I think  she's expecting that dressing me like I just got done teaching a bible  study class will offset the bad impression your mom may have got from my  dad."

It was a valid worry, but in this case it worked  for us rather than against us. My mom would be much less skeptical of  Artemis if she thought she was a goody goody. She would obviously learn  differently pretty quick after the move but at that point who cared. My  mom came out of her room as Artemis pushed her mother to the table and  lit up at seeing our guests "Oh, hello! It's nice to meet you Artemis,  I'm Marie, sorry I was a bit late I just got off work. And Paula! So  good to see you again, you never mentioned your daughter was so  beautiful!"

My mom had put on a  green cocktail dress I hadn't even known she owned and her raid hair was  down in a riot of curls. Her green eyes sparkled with joy as she took  in Artemis's outfit. Huh, looked like Mrs. Crock knew her stuff. I hoped  that would make this next part easier, though I had a bit of a secret  weapon as far as that went. I started plating out the food, getting a  pleased smile from mom at my manners and a knowing wink from Mrs. Crock.  It was funny, if this hadn't been so nerve wracking I would have been  pretty mortified by their obvious attempts to match make, but with this  next part coming up I couldn't be bothered.

After  we were sitting I cleared my throat "So we have some news." Luckily  there was no cheering or anything like that to interrupt so we continued  "Artemis and I entered a competition online for a full ride to Gotham  Academy. We were nervous about it and figured entering together would  help take some of the pressure off. We wrote a pair of essays together  and submitted them and we won! Not only a scholarship but housing closer  to campus too!" I pulled out the envelopes and handed them each one,  minus the billing statement with my account number obviously.

Artemis  met my eyes and nodded subtly. We had decided rather than frame it in  the vein of winning a house it should be something a bit more teen  adjacent. There obviously was no scholarship, I was just going to pay

for  both of our tuition at the most exclusive private school at the city.  But Gotham Academy was prestigious, it would add some legitimacy to our  claim and the more impressive schooling would be a big motivator for  both of them to accept. What parent wouldn't be excited that their kid  got into an Ivy League feeder school?

The  switch from mild disappointment to joy hit pretty damn fast. They  hadn't been expecting it but this was big news, and as they flipped  through the envelopes and read about their new condos they were  ecstatic. I had figured adding the essay contest bit would make it more  believable, and if they asked to see them I would just claim we mailed  them in to the competition. Luckily they were both so starstruck at the  thought of us going to Gotham Academy we didn't even need our well  rehearsed back story both of them were nothing but smiles at the idea.

My  mom hurled herself across the table to pull both Artemis and I into a  hug. "I am so proud of both of you! Artemis thank you so much for  pushing him into this. I know my boy and he's always been a bit quiet  and kept to himself. I always knew he was capable of great things but I  didn't want to push. I just know something like this has to be because  of you and I'm so grateful." She squeezed us both, and despite the white  lie about where it came from I was thrilled to see her so happy.

Artemis  meanwhile was beat red most likely at being thanked for being a good  influence for the first time in her life, she was shooting me a panicked  look from inside the hug as I made a laughing escape. Seeing her so  helpless was pretty funny but I took pity on here and laughed, touching  my mom on the shoulder. "Hey ma, don't you want to call and tell Vinnie  and the girls at the bar? Might have to change your schedule around a  bit with the longer drive?" Her eyes lit up and she bolted to the  kitchen to dial her job.

Mrs.  Crock in the meantime was...crying. Not like big gulping sobs but small  quiet tears of pride. She grabbed Artemis's hand and squeezed it,  speaking in Vietnamese but clearly telling her how proud she was. I  almost felt bad about adding the essay contest thing now, because it  made this a personal achievement and not a huge bribe that convinced the  school to let us in last minute (I'd called earlier and settled our  entry, which they thought was an anonymous donation from a wealthy  patron) but I figured since my power was where the money came from it  was kind of on me anyway.

Mom  came back after fifteen minutes and we all  waited and dug into the  Lasagna together, which needed to be reheated but since it was Lasagna  that wasn't a problem, Lasagna was always better the second time anyway.  I popped it in the over for a few minutes while we enjoyed the garlic  bread and the company. Mom and Mrs. Crock knew each other a bit but by  the end of the night they were like best friends, and Artemis and I were  both grinning like loons at how good this whole thing felt. We decided  to make this a regular weekly thing and I considered it yet another  thing that would make my life amazing.