Everyone in the room held their breath and looked at Penny. "I'm sorry." she said. "I'll quit, she just cannot tell anyone. She has to deny it if anyone asks her. She had to post a retraction. I will quit. She doesn't have to be suspended. Just, please, I can't handle people all over me. I can't."
McKenna grabbed her phone and started typing furiously. "I'm doing it right now. Saying I was lying. And that you name isn't even Penny, its Cricket. Okay? Okay, Mr. Staples? The picture I posted of you is pretty blurry anyhow. Okay? I posted it."
Mr. Staples looked at Penny. "You don't have to quit, Cricket."
"I do. Just the job here. Teenagers? All the band members have music out and all of these girls were tweens when One Direction was big. No matter what McKenna posts, there will be questions? People talking about me? I just can't" Penny stood up and walked out.
She went to her classroom, opened her phone and starting researching how to contact twitter. She started by reporting McKenna's account for harassment. That led her to another site where she sent an email. Further research led her to call a privacy lawyer who would contact twitter, making them remove the images anytime they popped up for the low price of ten thousand dollars. He could have it done in hours, he said. Maybe less, the internet moved fast. She agreed and gave him her credit card number, with a five hundred dollar down payment, all the money she had in the world.
The contract came over her email and she read though it quickly and signed the form electronically. He called her back, said his team was on it and that she'd owe the rest of the money once he had confirmation from twitter. His services also included internet searches for the images and removal. They already found it on two other websites and on a newspaper site. All would be sent cease and desist orders.
Penny sighed and tried to figure out how quickly she could sell her house.
Marian called eight times before Penny picked up. She ran through the entire story, going over details for hours with Marian. "You can't sell the house, Penny. You can't."
"How else am I going to get ten thousand dollars?"
"Hock the ring. It's worth like forty grand." Marian said.
"I don't have it." Penny lamented.
"Okay, well, what other jewelry has he given you? What about the necklace? The heart leaf thing? Or the matching bracelet?"
Penny sighed. "I guess I'll have to take that stuff and see what I can get? I have a few other things, too? He got me earrings for Valentine's Day? I don't even wear earrings. And a bracelet for my birthday?"
"Okay, well, there you go. Start there."
Penny took off the necklace. She wore it every day. Liam had gotten it as an apology and a promise for her after they had a fight in Chicago. She didn't want to part with it, but she didn't know what else to do. The cuff bracelet that matched had been her birthday present that first year together. She grinned when she thought about how they'd made love in her classroom that day. She added that to her the pile, along with the earrings she'd never worn.
Finally, she had the bracelet that he'd given her for her birthday. It was lovely and she wore it every day. It was white gold, a bangle and full of sparkles. He'd taken her to dinner and handed it to her as an afterthought. If she remembered correctly, he'd said, "Oh, ya, here. I got this." He had seemed drunk and she was pretty upset that he was drinking on her birthday. Now, looking back, Jamie had probably given him something to ruin her night. He'd fallen asleep on the car ride home. When he woke up in the morning, he was full of apologies, saying he didn't know what happened. She cried, now, thinking that he didn't. And she'd been angry at him.
The closest jewelry store that sold 'good' jewelry was in Saginaw, about an hour and a half away. Marian had agreed to meet her and do the talking. They were going to pretend to be looking for appraisals for an insurance policy, just to be sure they didn't get cheated. Penny knew that the necklace was nearly four thousand dollars. She'd been there when he'd bought it.
Marian told the jeweler what they wanted and asked for a quick idea of the value before agreeing to pay for the appraisal. He started with the necklace and told them it was worth about thirty five hundred. He'd recognized it as a Tiffany piece. Then he grabbed the cuff. He said it was also from Tiffany. About thirteen thousand. Penny sucked in her breath. 13,000?? Dollars?? And it was just lying in her drawer? The earrings were small, only a thousand, he said. Penny scoffed. Only a thousand. Was this guy nuts? Finally, he took the bangle. He looked it over, walked over to his computer, typed for a few seconds, came back and looked again.
"This is a Paloma. Also from Tiffany. It's in amazing shape. You should insure it for it's full value of sixty six thousand dollars." he said. Then he set it on the counter.
Penny sat down, hard, on the floor.
"Miss!" the jeweler said. "Are you okay? Is she okay?" He looked from Marian to Penny, eyeing their very pregnant stomachs.
"She's fine. She wants to sell that bracelet. How much?" Marian asked, pulling Penny to her feet.
Penny burst into tears. "He did love me. He wasn't being a jerk on purpose!" she wailed. "And now, he won't even answer my texts. He blocked me on twitter and Instagram. He hates me!"
Marian grabbed all of the jewelry and walked Penny to a set of chairs, meant for people buying rings. "Please, calm down. This one bracelet can save your life, okay? You can pay the lawyer, you can get what you need for the baby. You will have enough to start a college savings account. Even if we get half, you will be fine. Please, think of the baby. Okay?"
Penny nodded. "I know, you are right. I know. But, he was acting so strange? And I just got weepy and didn't even try to figure out what was going on. To be honest, I kinda hate that stupid bracelet right now."
Marian dragged her back over to the counter, handed the jeweler the bangle and asked him how much he'd give them.
"I'm not a hock shop, ma'am."
"Come on. Don't tell me you don't know someone who'd like a Tiffany Whatever Fancy Pants Bracelet. Fifty grand and it's yours."
The man scoffed. "I wouldn't make a profit. Thirty."
"Forty." Marian shot back.
"Thirty five and not a penny more."
Penny nodded. "Not a Penny." Then she turned and hugged Marian. "Thank you, Marian."
"Hey, babe, it's what I do." Marian laughed. "It's what I do."