Cathy Sampson was living the good life of a High School Cheerleader. She was smart, pretty, and popular. Her classes were going better than ever in this, her senior year at West High. Cathy's folks were proud of her, as you would expect.
She always tried to keep an upbeat outlook, no matter what. The example she used was her neighbor, Mr. Ward. Anytime she called him Mr. Ward, he joked that his dad was not around.
"Just call me Jim."
She was amazed at how friendly he seemed to be, even now, less than a year after losing his wife. This left him as both father and mother to their sixteen-year-old son Timmy, a sophomore at West. Jim was a good-looking man, still in his thirties. His son Timmy was a nice enough kid but on the quiet and shy side, so Cathy had never talked to him much.
Cathy felt sad for Jim and often told him not to hesitate to ask if there was any way she could help.
On Friday, Cathy spotted Jim arriving home and getting out of his car. He smiled and waved to her.
"Cathy, can I talk to you for a minute?"
'Sure, Jim." She smiled and walked over to him.
"What's up, Mr. Ward?"
"The name is Jim, Cathy," he joked.
"I have some very good news, but I also may need a favor from you."
"I'm all ears, Jim."
"The good news is that I just got a very nice promotion at work."
"That's fantastic. Congratulations!"
"What this means is that I will have more responsibility and need to do some traveling. Next week, I will be leaving on Sunday and not getting back home until Friday night. Timmy is too old for a babysitter, but he has never been left alone. I'm not sure that I can trust him to get up and off to school on time. That is where you come in. If you can, I am hoping that you could check in with him each morning to make sure he is up and getting to school on time. Of course, I would pay you $20 a day, $100 for the week, if that would work for you?"
"Mr. Ward, I mean Jim, I would be happy to help. There is no need to pay me."
"I know you would, Cathy, but you know that I was given a job with greater responsibility and was given a nice pay raise to go along with that. So, it does not seem right to expect you to take on this responsibility for nothing. Trust me, you will be earning the money, I'm sure. Plus, I know I can trust you, and knowing that is worth plenty to me."
"Sounds great, Jim. I'm sure that Timmy and I will get along just fine. If he wants to, he can even ride to school with me instead of taking the bus."
"I'll let you two work that out, Cathy; meanwhile, here is a house key for you. Feel free to go in anytime you like to help Timmy move along."
Monday morning arrived with Cathy focused on Mr. Ward's instructions. She called the house, and much to her relief, Timmy answered.
"Good morning, Cathy," he said, "My Dad told me that you would check in on me. You really don't need to. I'm not a little kid. I can get myself up just fine."
"That's great, Timmy. I'm happy to hear that. I'm just doing what your Dad asked me to do. I want to be friends with you, not your babysitter. If you want to ride to school with me, just come over in ten minutes."
"That's Okay. I'll take the bus, Cathy."
"Alright, Timmy, I know you will be on time. I'll see you at school. Have a nice day."
Cathy had a good school day, but she never saw Timmy. She knew that she may have messed up by taking his word. She had a cheer practice after school, but as soon as she got home, she went over to see what happened to Timmy. After ringing the doorbell and knocking, she used her key to enter.
"Timmy, it's only me, Cathy. I just wanted to say hello."
There was no answer, but she heard some noise coming from his bedroom. She walked to the door, which was open a crack. Peeking in, she saw Timmy playing a video game with headphones on. She flicked the light to get his attention.
Clearly startled, Timmy shot up from the bed and yelled, "You scared me, Cathy; what's going on, why are you in my room?"
"Timmy, I'm only trying to help. Your Dad asked me to make sure you get to school, and today, I did not do my job. I let him down, and that makes me feel really bad."
"Oh, I'm sorry about that, Cathy. I just didn't feel so good this morning, so I decided that I should take the day off."
"Timmy, you didn't tell me that you were sick. If you had, I could have at least let your dad know why you missed school. Now, he'll get a note from school, and I'll be in trouble with your dad.
"Oh jeez, I guess you are right, Cathy. I am truly sorry about that. I wasn't thinking. I swear it will not happen again."
"You're right, Timmy, it won't happen again. For the rest of the week, I will be here each morning, and you'll be riding to school with me."
"I am sorry that you are mad at me, Cathy. I really am."
"Timmy, I'm glad that you are sorry, and I believe you feel bad about what you did, but still, I just feel like you deserve a good spanking."
"Now I know you are joking, there is no way a little cheerleader is going to spank me."