Chapter 17

• The rest of the semester went as smooth as he could expect. He did get the passing grade in Mrs. Dmitrov's class, a seventy eight to be exact, but it was the only class he managed to improve his grade in. The rest remained at the C- level no matter how hard he tried. Spring semester began and he no longer had a class with her. True to her word she never invited Ed over to her place again and word got out that she was transferring to another school in another city. He hoped she'd find happiness there.
• Shirley continued to visit him on a nightly basis and he endured her visits. He lived in fear of Grace discovering what her mother was doing and worse, what he was doing to her. The woman struggled through her withdrawal of alcohol and Percocet but with her family's support she managed to get clean by spring. The house became an alcohol free zone and with the extra money going into the house account they ate a little better. Shirley managed to get her old job back, the manager was sweet on her, so there was even more money coming in. It only took a couple of months to be able to afford a new pillow top mattress for herself.
• The school year was coming to an end and Ed was ready to begin his full time job. He'd managed to get work off and on through the winter and spring but his real job, working for Drakos Heating and Cooling installing air conditioning and furnaces would start the moment he graduated. He had a great relationship with the owner as he'd done some unpaid apprentice work with the man the previous two summers. Mr. Drakos was a surly older Greek gentleman with a strict work ethic. Ed was a hard worker with a natural aptitude with anything mechanical so he'd learned quickly at the side of Mr. Drakos' other workers.