The little black book

“Oh my, what am I to do now?” Jess thought as she once again was packing her few belongings and her daughters' things too.

“I will never be able to find a place to go that would be safe enough for Grace.” Jess is crying to herself as she worries about her baby. Grace is Jess’s 2-month-old little blessing, and Jess knows she does not deserve to live like this.

Jess and baby Grace have been staying at a domestic violence shelter for the last week. Grace’s father Mark had been abusive towards Jess. Jess had been with Grace’s father for a year and 8 months. Jess and Mark moved in together after 9 months of dating because Jess found out she was pregnant.

The first couple weeks was great Jess really felt Mark was happy about becoming a father. One day after Jess came home late from work Mark slapped her in argument about putting the baby in danger and being a reckless mother. Jess stayed because she had no family to talk to and mark convinced her he was sorry and was just scared about the baby being hurt. Mark also convinced her to leave her job because she did not need to work those extra hours.

Things seemed fine for a month or so before Mark seemed to be angry all the time. He always called Jess lazy and made comments about her weight almost daily. Jess was trying to figure out how she could leave but she had no money since she quit working. She would never find a job while pregnant so she stayed. After Grace was born things were worse and Jess could not leave or speak to anyone. One day when Mark was working Jess contacted her friend from her last job Kate.

Kate came and packed all Grace’s necessities as Jess packed some clothes and took her to a domestic violence shelter because Mark had beat Jess pretty badly the night before. Kate could not take Jess to her house because she lived in a sorority house and that was really no place for a baby. Kate was trying to figure out a better living situation to help Jess but for now she had something safer.

Now the shelter had to close because a box of donated clothes had beds bugs and they needed to exterminate. Jess had to find a place to stay for a few days. Kate had told her to get packed she found something that might work and she was on her way to pick them up.

“Hey Jess the mess” Kate says as she startles Jess. She says it with love and a compassionate tone because she notices Jess was crying. She gives Jess a hug and rubs her back as she walks over and picks Grace up from the blanket she was laying on.

“Hello Gracie, gorgeous.” Kate says to Grace in her joking way.

“So, what is this plan of yours because I have exhausted all options and I am skeptical at what you found at such short notice?” Jess says to Kate as she packs up the last few things.

Kate turns to Jess with a big smile and says,” Come see.” Jess follows her outside carrying all her and Grace ‘s things and Kate carrying Grace. They walk outside to see Kates truck parked out front with a little camper on the back.

“A camper Kate” Jess says in shock and then begins to laugh a little.

“Now, I know it looks Kinda rough on the outside but I have been cleaning it so the inside is safe enough for you and grace. I also rented a lot at a camp ground for now and we will figure out something more permanent before winter.”

“It is perfect Kate” Jess says now crying. “I do not know what I would do without you.”

Jess had no living family members since her parents passed away two years before. Kate was a sweet college girl that became friends with Jess at a clothing store they worked at together. Kate was 22 and jess was 20 so they seemed like sisters.

Kate helped Jess get the camper anchored down and the electric set up. She also had bought Jess and Grace each a blanket and outfit. She also got diapers, formula, baby wash, towels and snacks for Jess. With the stress from everything Jess wasn’t producing enough for Grace to eat so now she had another expense she couldn’t figure out how to cover.

“Kate how were you able to get all this stuff and purchase a camper, I don’t know how I will be able to repay you.” Jess says as she once again starts crying.

Kate takes over feeding Grace so Jess can have a moment to gather herself.

“I did not pay much and a lot of the stuff was donations I was able to go get because I have a vehicle. You do not have to worry about paying me back I just want you to be able to get back on your feet. Look food is here!” Kate says.

She had order them pizza and they sat and talked more while grace took a nap. After Kate left Jess was unpacking some things and putting stuff away before Grace woke up. She went to put stuff in a lower cabinet when she noticed a drawer that did not looked to be opened in a while. She pulled on it but it would not open. Now she was curious she had to see what it was.

She grabbed the butter knife from the drawer since she knew Kate had got her one. After a couple minutes of wiggling the butter knife around Jess was able to get the drawer open enough to get her fingers behind so she grabbed the drawer and pulled really hard. With a big bang the drawer came open and smashed jesses finger against the back wall of the cabinet and Grace begins to cry.

Jess pops up and hits here head on the counter trying to get up and get to Grace. She picks Grace up out of the little bassinet she sleeps in and comforts her while her finger and head are aching. She makes Grace a bottle and begins to feed her as she is thinking about what was in that drawer. She was not sure anything came out of it when it smashed her fingers.

Once grace was all cleaned up, she played with her a little and put her back in the bassinet to sing her to sleep. Jess must have been exhausted because she had fallen asleep and woke up to Grace crying again. Jess gets up to make Grace a bottle and remembers the drawer. she opens the cabinet and sees the drawer had landed upside down. Jess picks up the drawer thinking there must not have been anything in it and finds a little black book.

Grace begins crying again so Jess grabs the book and the bottle she made and goes to feed Grace. She begins looking at the book while she is feeding Grace but finds it to be difficult so she decides to wait. She begins to fall asleep when she hears a knock at the door. She opens the door to see Kate standing there with some breakfast and coffee.

Jess changes Grace and gets her dressed and sits down to eat and chat with Kate. Jess begins to tell Kate about the drawer and the book she found.

“Well, where's the book?” Kate says as she gets up to get it.

“On the bed” Jess says.

Kate gets the book and begins looking through it while Jess eats.

“look Jess this is a deed to some land. We need to check this out maybe this is your land now.”

“It can't be my land because you bought it and the man on the deed probably got a new deed. “Jess says to Kate

“No Jess I got this camper from the junk yard and the guy had it for years in a building. It is yours. I will call off work and make some phone calls to see if this man still owns this land.” Kate says with excitement in her voice.

After several hours Kate runs in and wakes Jess up from a nap.

“Jess, I called around and this guy passed away several years ago and had no family, the camper went to the junkyard when no one bought it at auction.” Jess says with a little bit of excitement.

“Ok Kate, why do you seem excited about that?” Jess says.

“Well Jess that means the camper and everything in it is yours and that’s including the deed to that land. So, get dressed we have to go pay for the camper title and then you can put the deed in your name.” Kate says.

Jess, Grace and Kate head to the bank that had the camper title in a lock box. Kate shows them the death certificate and the proof of purchase for the camper and they are able to get the title. When the lady comes back, she hands them the title and a key. She says she don’t know what the key is for she just knows that it goes with the camper.

Kate and Jess go and transfer the deed in to Jess’s name. They then head to the address of the property. Out of all the possibilities they did not expect to find what was on the land.

They arrive to see a big shipping crate sitting on the half acre of land. It has a lock on it so that must be what the key is for.

“Well, it is not a house, which would have been awesome for you but maybe there is some stuff you can sell to get a place.” Kate says with some hope in her voice.

“I thinks it's exciting Kate and either way I would not have any of it without you and at least I won't have to worry about paying to set the camper up.” Jess says with positivity.

“Let's see what's in it.” Kate says excited again.

They unlock the shipping container with the key that came with the camper title. They open the crate to find that there was stored food and water.

“Someone must have been prepping for the end of the world.” Kate says in surprise.

They find a big duffel bag at the back of the crate and when Jess opens it, they find the bag is full of money. Kate and Jess hug and begin to cry with little grace right between them with a look of confusion on her face.

Jess had found 20,000 dollars and no longer had to worry about how she would get back on her feet. She got her own truck and moved the camper to her land. She paid to have electric and plumbing set up. Jess has since found a job and good baby sitter for Grace. She knows she will be able to take care of her daughter better thanks to the help of her friend Kate. Jess also was able to pay Kate back for all the help and treat her to couple of meals together.