“Maria, don’t start. I want a pleasant evening. He told you several times he was going to do it and you did not believe he would follow through so...the joke is on you girl” chimed Ms. Jean. Mom looked back and forth at Maria and Ms. Jean and asked “Did I miss something?” Ken spoke up “No, you didn’t miss anything it’s just that they had a disagreement and Maria is still angry with Nick about it. It’s actually kind of funny.” Maria shot her fiancé a look and at the same time Ms. Jean said “No. Good, I mean cool. He walked ahead of me and we entered the lazer tag room. The kids lined up at the end and I took my usual spot. Okay everyone, you all know the basic rules, no hitting, no climbing, no running. Matt said. Brady walked in the room and sat down in the chair. Just so everyone knows, Im playing as well. Matt stated. My heart beat faster. Okay. Brady and Jeff said. Matt divided the teams up and then they headed in. I was sitting there listening to Brady and Jeff talk. I heard. "Do you know when he'll be back?" No, I don't. Would you like his voice mail?" There's no way I can talk to him?" I asked impatiently, and then decided to add, "it's sort of a family emergency." You're family?" she asked, sounding somewhat surprised."I'm... his son," I admitted, the words sounding strange to me, but I hoped that the admission would get me somewhere."Right," she replied skeptically. "I'll transfer you to voice mail. Please hold." Wait!" I didn't bother to hold back the groan. By the end of the morning, there were always at least 15 to 25 dollars in change. Brandy felt really good about that; and it made her time on the lawn count towards community service credits for graduation; plus she ended up on the front page of the local paper, with a picture of her blowing Mr. Aiken again under a big heading that read “Local Girl Goes Deep for Charity.” So it truly was a ‘win-win’ situation, all around.Often, more than money went into that basket. Mr. Aiken preferred dropping.