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Aiden
and Norman hadn't moved far. Aiden was much too obsessed with Moon and
especially the daughter that "was stolen from him". He had bought an
empty lot not very far from Moon's home, but in a much more secluded
area. That purchase left them nearly totally broke, which explains why
they practically had to live in the wild for the first few months:
All of Aiden's attempts to find new female company seemed doomed - none
of the women he met were even slightly interested in him. Still, he
seemed strangely unconcerned...
 
Norman meanwhile was quite taken with the new mail girl, Zoe, and soon
they became fast friends:
 
Some lucky (?) coincidence had Aiden run into his old dorm buddy Adam,
who had dropped out during Sophomore year. They started reminiscencing
about the "good old days", and soon their friendship was as close as
it had been back then.
 
And over the next few weeks, their relationship grew into something
more than just friendship:
 
Soon, Aiden asked Adam to move in with them, and the first thing they
bought with Adam's money were some walls so they could woohoo in private.
Adam didn't bring much money - he told a story about how he had been
cheated out of most of his earnings by some bitch of a woman, and of
having had his reputation ripped to shreds by her. Aiden ate it all
up, and bonded even further with Adam over how all women were cold-hearted
and unfeeling whores. Norman was rather more sceptical, but just kept
silent. The little that Adam had brought they used to build a small
house. Not much money was left for furnishings, but at least they had
a roof over their heads.
Adam was a bit vague about the details of his job. He did say that he
worked in sales, and on special commissioned goods, but there was a
lot of handwaving and fast talking, and essentially Aiden and Norman
had no idea what he really did. They just knew that he was home most
of the day, and usually was out during the evening. His days at home
Adam (a Popularity sim) used to make more friends - and lovers.
For a while, Norman was watching Adam suspiciously...
 
... but then he got distracted by falling in love with Zoe!
So distracted that the first time he noticed that his father had, for
some unknown reason, decided to adopt a girl, was when the Social Worker
van pulled up in front of the house!
 
Norman was stunned. What the hell was his father *thinking*? They barely
had enough money to make ends meet, how were they going to support another
hungry mouth? But as soon as he actually saw the girl - Rahali, an Aquarius
- he knew: his father still felt that his baby girl had been stolen
from him, and in Rahali, he'd found a substitute.
Norman lost all patience with his father and finally blew up at him
over the shitty situation Aiden had put him into. But Aiden waved it
all aside, saying that soon they'd have a lot more money, and that then
they could start thinking of finally getting more siblings for Norman
and Rahali. Adam would take care of them all, they just had to trust
him.
 
Norman was stunned over how much his father seemed to be in Adam's thrall.
Adam did slowly start to bring home more money - but strangely enough,
Norman and Rahali still only had the bare essentials, because Adam always
spent his money on things *he* wanted: TV, video, DVD, pinball machines,
arcade game machines... It all seemed fishy to Norman.
Finally one day, he got an inkling on what was going on. His friend
Xanè Legacy had told him that her mother, Jessica, had been a criminal,
a drug-dealer, and that her father had kicked her out when he found
out. She had even shown him pictures of the woman - and that was how
Norman found out just *what* Adam's job was. Yes, Adam dealt drugs.
 
Norman kept a close eye on everything for a few weeks, and started collecting
clues and evidence. He secretly took pictures of Adam meeting with both
Jessica and Jeb Trash, the resident neighborhood juvenile delinquent.
Finally, when he thought he had enough to make sure that Adam would
get convicted, he called the police.
Officer Dorian came over immediately, and after a quick fight was able
to subdue and arrest Adam.
 
Aiden was heartbroken - for all of 5 minutes, until Officer Dorian arrested
him as well. Adam had already gotten him involved into so many fishy
deals, not to mention had implicated him in many things that Adam had
actually done, that both of them ended up getting first a prison sentence
and then getting deported out of Normalville forever.
 
Norman was stunned - he never thought that his father would fall *that*
low. Not to mention that Norman now had sole responsibility for his
adopted sister... At least they had grown very fond of each other, closer
than many blood-related siblings. He talked everything over with Zoe,
who gave him some very helpful pointers, and helped him get rid of all
the gadgets Adam had amassed, which allowed Norman to make sure that
he and Rahali had decent living quarters.
He even managed to splurge a bit on Rahali - she had a keen interest
in extraterrestrials, for some reason, and for her 12th birthday, he
surprised her with a telescope.
Zoe was the one who made him forget all his father had done, and who
instated told him jokes and then laughed herself silly right along with
him. He felt so happy to have her...
 
But when he finally wanted to make it official and asked her to go steady
with him, he was shocked to have her refuse. She told him that he was
a fun guy to be with, but she had plans: she was going to go to an expensive
private college, and had no plans to bind herself to someone like Norman,
who had no chance of ever having enough money to go to college. And
since he was getting "too clingy", Zoe decided to break off any relationship
with Norman.
 
Norman, of course, was heartbroken - especially since it was true that
he'd never make it to college (he was hoping to somehow make sure Rahali
had the chance, but for him, there was just no way). Eventually, he
called his friend Xie Legacy, who came over and consoled him. And she
promised him that while she was also going to university and thus leave
him behind, she would definitely *not* forget about him, and would always
keep in close contact with him.
 
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