"Ive thought about this all night, and um, am not real sure whats the best way to ask you this, but here goes anyway. Melinda, what would you be willing to give up to be my friend?"

She looked shocked, like someone had asked her that question before, and suddenly I was afraid that I had totally messed things up.

"Im sorry. I can see my question upsets you."

"No, dont be. It was just that Norma said something so similar to me yesterday and I didnt know the answer until just now. I would be willing to give up everything, Chris."

I almost giggled, but I didnt. Instead I put it out there on the table and held my breath to see what her answer would be.

"Melinda, youve told me before that you wanted something more out of life, and I think I can help you find it, if youre willing?"

"Willing to do what?"

"Give it all up. Give up your money, your fast cars, your booze and loose women."

"No s.h.i.t?"

"No s.h.i.t. Im challenging you to give it all up for one month. For that thirty days you will live in a small apartment like this one, I think theres one for rent across the street, get a job, theres an opening at the restaurant for holiday help, and live off of that paycheck, abstaining from everything else."

"d.a.m.n! Thats kinda extreme, dont you think?"

"Thats exactly why Im suggesting it. Thanksgiving is next week, so you could start on the twenty-sixth. That will give you time enough to put your affairs in order, wont it?"

She nodded her head but I wasnt really sure she was listening to me. I though I might have really frightened her this time, and half expected her to dump me on the side of the road and take off. A moment had pa.s.sed before I realized that I was holding my breath.

"So, for a month, I will just give up everything?"

"Yes, everything. No wads of hundred bills in your billfold. No credit cards, not even your cellphone. You cant contact anyone for anything; you must rely solely on yourself. Completely independent from the life you lead now."

"Wow, uh..., wow."

"Its not like youll be stuck in that way of life forever, not like I am. In thirty days youll go back to the way it was, richer, but wiser. So, what do you say, ready to take the test?"

"Is that what it is, Chris, a test?"

"I wont lie to you, Melinda, it is a test, for both of us. So, are you up to the challenge?"

"One question."

"Yes, maam?"

"What happens between us if I fail?"

"Thats a good question and one I hadnt given any thought to." I ran all the possibilities through my mind and came up with only one answer. An answer I didnt like and I knew she wouldnt either. "I think we probably go our separate ways, or back to how it is now."

"Okay, well, lets do this then. I am up to the challenge if you are."

"Oh, a challenge within a challenge, should be interesting."

Panic George Kirk and Melinda Blackstone Blackie called me in a panic, rushing through her words so fast I barely could understand her. But when she told me that Chris had challenge her to see how the other half lives, I took out my pen and wrote on the calendar, marking the day that history was being made.

"Why, that is a wonderful idea, Blackie!"

"What the h.e.l.l are you talking about, George? I cant do this. Ive never worked a day in my life, unless you count prying the oyster out of its sh.e.l.l, as work?"

"Now dont panic, Blackie, you can do this. Its exactly what youve been asking for."

"Oh no, I never asked to be dirt poor, slopping greasy fried food at people all day and then taking the bus home to a dump of an apartment."

"Blackie, what will happen if you dont do this?"

I thought that I already knew her answer, but I wanted her to hear it come out of her own mouth. Maybe then shed understand whats at stake. This may very well be her only chance at redemption.

"Chris and I talked about that and she said wed probably stop being friends."

"No, not with her, with you. What will you do if you fail?"

"Honestly?"

"Yes, be truthful to yourself and a.n.a.lyze it from every angle, and then tell me what will you do if you dont succeed?"

"I have already a.n.a.lyzed it for hours on end, and the answer always came out the same, go back to Vegas, get drunk and screw the first skirt that walks my way. Thats what Im use to and thats what Im good at."

"So, the very thing that you are trying to escape from, would be the very thing you run back to? What a crock!"

"Excuse me?"

"Wake up already, girlfriend. This is your chance, your saving grace. Dont you see, in thirty days you could have everything you ever wanted, including having your slate wiped clean, if youd only try."

"Girlfriend, why George, youre such a tease. All right, I hear what youre saying and you are absolutely right, I will try, and I will succeed, d.a.m.n it!"

"d.a.m.n straight you will, because I dont want to write in your biography that you failed."

"Thats not going to happen because Ill sue your a.s.s off if you do."

I heard her laughing over the phone and I breathed a sigh of relief. Blackie has a wicked sense of humor sometimes.

"Blackie, Im so excited for you that I almost wish it were me starting over again. Almost."

"Listen, would you tell my parents that Ill be out of touch for a while. Theres no need to tell them why, thats just between you and me, okay?"

"Sure, what do you want me to tell them when they ask why?"

"They wont ask you why, but you can tell them Im working on an experiment for you if you want?"

"Oh G.o.d, I cant do that!"

Again I heard her laughing, and again I exhaled. Ive known Blackie since she was a little girl and Im still not use to her sense of humor. I wished her luck, and she wished me a happy Thanksgiving and hung up.

I wish there was some way I could be a fly on the wall and watch her progress. I need to chronicle it for her biography. Imagine, billionaire heiress Blackie Blackstone, living in the slums with nothing to her name but the shirt on her back. Hollywood and social magazines everywhere would pay good money to see that, and I imagine a few ex-girlfriends too.

Chapter Twelve.

One Last Hurrah Christine Livingston and Melinda Blackstone "Taxi service, maam."

I laughed when I heard Melindas voice on the other side of my door, and then I panicked. I was about to show her the poverty that I live in and I knew it was going to be a shock for her. I looked around the room again to make sure everything had been put away, and then I scooped the kitten up and opened the door.

"Melinda, wont you come in?"

"You mean youre actually letting me cross the threshold into your domain?"

"Stop being silly and get in here. I want you to see the kind of apartment youll be living in when the time comes. Would you like a tour of my humble little abode?"

She nodded and I shut the door behind her, and then I showed her around.

"This is the kitchen," I pointed to the hotplate sitting beside the tiny sink, and then I stepped over beside the bed, "in the corner there is the kittens bathroom," I pointed to the cat litter box, "and here we are finally in the living room," and then, feeling silly, I took her elbow and led her around in a circle back to the bed again and said, "and this is the bedroom." She chuckled nervously, but I had saved the best for last and walked her over to the bathroom door, "and here we have the facilities. Its a little snug in there but I think youll fit inside all right." The bathroom had a single person shower, and a toilet, with a mirror over the toilet. There was no sink to wash my hands, so I used the kitchen sink.

Melinda laughed at my joke and walked inside the bathroom and then back out again. She said with a smirk, "Okay, let me make sure I know where everything is so that I wont get lost when the time comes. The bathroom is just here." She stretched one long leg across to the kitchen, and said, "This is the kitchen, right?" I nodded my head, smiling, while she took one step over to the bed and said, "And this is the living room," and then she stepped back and looked around the room as if she were trying to remember. "Wait, dont tell me, Ill figure it out." She said and then she stuck her finger up in the air and said "Aha!" and took a step forward again, "and this is the bedroom. Am I right? Did I miss anything?"

"Yes, I forgot to show you my balcony with a view." I walked over to the window with the security bar across it, "Here is where I found Blackie on the fire escape."

"How on earth did she get out there?"

"I have no clue. I thought maybe she had fallen out from the apartment above me, but when I asked them, they said she wasnt theirs, that they dont own a cat. "

"Perhaps she was a gift from your guardian angel."

"She certainly has been a gift to me, thats for sure. Listen, on the way to work, would you mind taking a detour? Ive been longing to see my parents home again but couldnt afford the taxi fare and buses dont run in that neighborhood."

"Sure, I would love to see where you lived."

"Thank you." I kissed the kitten and sat her on the bed and told her to be a good girl while Im at work. "Norma gave me a couple of toys and some food and litter for little Blackie. She said she had too much. Was that your doing?"

"Yeah, I wasnt sure how much a cat ate so I probably over did it a little."

"Well, for my kittens sake, Im glad you did." I teased the kitten with the feather toy, and then we left.

I finally make it into Chriss apartment, and I instantly have second thoughts about our test, though I wouldnt tell her that. I will be moving from my thirteen hundred square foot Vegas penthouse, with two master bedrooms, a spa, a hot tub, three bathrooms and a kitchen twice the size of Chriss entire apartment, into a cardboard box with barely enough room to turn around in. Her bed was only a queen size, how am I supposed to stretch out on a queen size bed? And that bathroom. Good G.o.d, that miniscule bathroom. I was at a complete loss for words. What if my apartment across the street from her, ends up being worse?

Once I had purged my soul of all the complaints about the living quarters, I segued right into the next pending disaster, the dreaded waitressing job.

I got it of course, after I swore the restaurant owner to secrecy. That wasnt as easy as I thought it would be. I knew Chris wouldnt want me bribing him, but I did have to promise to send business his way whenever I could. That was sort of a bribe but not in a monetary gain... sort of.

I said I would do this, and I wont renege on that. But Chris needs to understand the scope of what she has asked me to give up. Were on our way to see her house where her parents live; perhaps I should show her one of my houses that I grew up in.

I guided Melinda across town, to my parents mansion. When I saw it again, tears instantly blurred my eyes, and I angrily wiped them away so I could see.

"Are you all right?" She asked me.

I couldnt speak, I just nodded my head and kept looking out the window at my home. G.o.d, how I miss that place. Finally, after a few minutes, I began to reminisce and Im sure it wasnt long before I was rambling.

"When we first moved here, I was almost twelve years old, and to me, it looked like a giant playground. I ran from room to room, up and down the staircase, shouting to make it echo my words back at me. It was a magical place. I helped mom unpack while dad was at work and the large house made it seem like we had very little. I remember that after we had unpacked everything, Mom stood with her hands on her hips, surveying the huge living room and decided it was bland, terribly bland, as she put it. The next day there was an interior designer at our front door. Mom had hired her at a hefty cost, to makeover the entire house. The designer did a great job. Mom and dad were very please, but I had lost my echo friend."

"Were you happy living here? I mean besides losing your echo friend?"

"At first, yes, very happy. Well, at home anyway. I didnt like my new school, the kids were so standoffish and cliquish. Thats when it started."

"When what started?"

"The downhill spiral into the gutter." I turned and looked at her and I knew what she wanted to ask next, but I still wasnt ready to go down that road with her, not yet anyway. "Listen, wed better get me to work before Im late again."

She opened her mouth to say something, but changed her mind. We rode silently back to Beale Street, but before I got out of the car, she stopped me.

"Chris, when is your next day off?"

"If he doesnt change my schedule again, its on Friday. Why?"

"I want to show you something and I dont want to have to rush to get you back to work, like were doing now. Can you get off an hour early?"

"Im sure I can, Thursdays arent that busy."

"Good deal."

"It sounds intriguing." I said half-heartedly, my mind still back at my home, and then I thought to ask, "Should I expect you to pick me up tonight?"

"Yes, maam, you should."

I smiled and got out of the car and then stood there on the sidewalk and watched her pull away. Just as she turned the corner, she stuck her hand out the window and waved. I went into the restaurant with a smile on my face.

Her parents house was just about what I had expected. It was beautifully landscaped with a Mercedes in the driveway. I know that her father is worth millions, and his home reflects it, but compared to her parents mansion, my parents houses are castles. I hit the phone b.u.t.ton on the console and began making calls in antic.i.p.ation of our trip on Friday.

"Hey, its Melinda. Got a minute?"

"Melinda? I thought your name was Blackie?" George said on the other.

"Oh, uh, yeah. Anyway, can you find out what house my parents are living in on Friday?"