Playmaker

Chapter Twenty Three

PlayMaker

By

RettaMichaels

“The Queen of Gay Romance”

Disclaimer

This is my disclaimer for 2009 folks! As you know, I change them, so please read and smile!

This is a fictional character. I'll say that until I'm blue in the face and yet, someone will write to me and tell me I've got something wrong, or he/she is that character, or they're going to sue me because their client has a family member with that name.

I can put disclaimers on a story all day long and still, I get someone who is just about nuts who will do the above paragraph. It makes no sense to me, but apparently, there are people who take themselves so seriously they want to be a fictional character. Well to those of you who choose to be that way, go read someone else's story and be a fuck-tional character.

By the way, if you're reading this to jack off (Adam Curtis). I'll smile and you hold it in your hand and read until the end. If you've spilled a load (Edd Howes), I bet it wasn't reading a scene here! Everyone else who knows my writing is probably laughing their asses off right about now...I know I'm chuckling!

If you can hold it in your hand and type, then please BY ALL MEANS write me an email and send a photo of it. I want to see the man's appendage which can write, type, and just plain want to know it better!

If your appendage says it's straight, get a clue and get to a different site. If you're that confused, go to your search engine and type in Mental Health Help and seek the one in your area. Your appendage has my permission to cut and paste.

Just to make it an official disclaimer, if you're above the age of 18...great. If you're 118, super great...put a napkin over the keyboard and you won't get any drool on it.

If you're under the age of 18, please find the off switch on your computer and press it. It'll make your day and mine a lot brighter.

If you come back to this site when it reboots, please repeat until you lose interest. If it takes more than once, get a clue you dumb fuck!

Notes From RettaMichaels:

PlayMaker is written as a period piece. The lead character is writing his memoirs at the end of his career in this day and time. Please read it as such as I've really got no time to correct people for what is obvious.

PlayMaker

Chapter Twenty Three:

We went out into the outer office and I saw a guy sitting there. “Who's he?”

“Pete Stein.”

“Man! You should've told me he was here.”

“I figure he's been screwing us for long enough, he could wait a minute while you counseled your player.”

“Ok, my player doesn't have a two million dollar check in his pocket.”

“Your player stands to make you and him that much in a far sight less than that man will.”

“Ok.”

I turned to Pete and smiled, “Hi, I'm Jake. This is what I look like with clothes on!”

He laughed.

I said, “You need to ride with us. We're taking him down to meet the team and shipping them off to Missouri to go practice.”

“Why?”

“Because most of my team can't come here to practice. Rather than not having a practice, we're taking the pros to the amateurs and we're having practice.”

“You're not practicing?”

“I'm dealing with you and then having a Larry King interview and then a Letterman interview tonight. Later, the team will come back in and I'll hold a follow up meeting with them to see if that's going to work for our practices.”

We rode down to the locker room and I sad, “Guys, pack up your gear and be ready to fly to Missouri. You'll practice there for a few hours and then will fly back.

If you don't mind, I'd like to ask a whopper of a favor of you all and ask you to ride a taxi over to Jordan's house and help him get his stuff out of his parent's house.

If you've got a problem with it, then stay on the plane when you arrive in Hannibal and don't help him. I'd like to point out we play with a 'one for all and all for one' mentality on this team and the day you need help, he might not and I might not be there to help you.”

One guy asked, “How long are we going to be doing this?”

“I don't know. That's the most honest answer I can give you. I know we're doing it this week, but a complaint has been lodged by our competing high schools, so that's got to be fought now.”

“Why?”

“Well, apparently, they think pros are playing on the Spartans team. They got it wrong. Amateurs are playing on the Angels and they think I'm not smart enough to know how to get around it legally.

They'll hash it out in court, but until then, I'll have a paper trail of where the money went to the point they'll probably have all sorts of thoughts as to who the Spartans are playing for before I'm done.”

Pete asked, “How's that?”

“Well, if I send the money to Vegas and pull it through an account at a casino and then pull it back here and run it through the Sister's Orphan's fund and then distribute it out to some Japanese banks...SO, are they playing for bookies, priests, or japanese drug lords? I can fuck with their brains just as bad as I need to get the money to their parents. When it's all said and done, the Angels are sending the money through various channels to their parents for them to be compensated for their time practicing football on our field during our game time on Sundays.”

Pete smiled and a whole lot of the team laughed.

I said, “Guys, understand this is all a dream for them as well as me and as you know, sometimes dreams come true and sometimes, they're an alternate reality.”

That got a big laugh.

I said, “Ok, grab your gear and be prepared to be met by the weirdest version of moving someone out of their home you've seen yet. When you get to Hannibal, you'll be met by a convoy of taxis. Grab a box and load it into the taxi along with yourself and get back to the plane. IF each of you do that, you should be back in the air in no time.”

“His parents are making him move out because he wants to play?”

“His parents gave me custody of him rather than admitting to their coach there that he's playing for us. That's how intimidated they are of the asshole.”

One guy said, “Is that guy going to be there?”

“If he is, he'll probably have some of his team there to hurt Jordan. If it happens, be prepared for the cabbies to go to war. They've already fought a war and beat them, so they'll be all to happy to do it again.”

“Sounds bad.” Pete said.

“It's like the coach is king bigot and has his own little mafia he keeps in check through fear. Because Jordan dared to step out of the mold he made for him, he's got to pay.

The problem there is I'm the person who caused Jordan's problems. I knew the man was a bigot and I knew he'd get violent if he viewed one of his fraternizing with our team. I pushed the envelope and he laid his hands on Jordan.

The press got ahold of that and they really got airtime out of the deal. Needless to say, Jordan's assault charge is being carried by the state and has video, photo, and approximately eighty witnesses to it happening.

I don't think they'll fight it, but I didn't think the man was that stupid either.”

They got up and left. I turned to Pete and said, “I don't know you, but I also don't see your distributor with you. Either I buy directly from you now, or I don't buy your product. The man wasn't going to receive any further business from me, but I'll make that a certainty now.”

He held out a check. “First of all, here's the check.”

I looked at it and said, “Good, my team thanks you. It's being split up and will be in their bonus money.”

“Huh?”

“My high school players are all receiving thirty five grand a game. On top of that, they get bonuses such as this, and they get their merchandising profits. As I find money like this the team is owed, I'm giving it to them as bonuses.”

“Why?”

“First of all, they're playing without contracts. That means their parents signed a permission form to practice on my field during game times. For that practice of getting knocked around by other teams, I'm compensating them for their parents for their time lost to their families.”

“You realize that's an extremely gray area through the loopholes.”

“It's the only one I've got. Other than that, I've got to pull a team from the league and worry about it not being able to play not only this year, but next. It's been approved and in an air of sportsmanship, the other team is deciding to go along with it.”

“It made Tampa look like idiots.”

“Yeah, but if we lose and they throw our guys around, it could make them look like bullies, but my guys are willing and when the time comes, they'll be given contracts which will make them team members.”

“How are you going to swing that to the league for approval.”

“I'm not.”

“Huh?”

“The league is concerned about personnel issues which makes our team look bad. I've gotten rid of my bad boy players and all the others have signed addendums to their contracts which state I'll provide them outlets which get them benefits. It might look like I'm asking a lot of them now, but in the end, they'll be receiving a lot from me in return.”

“Who do you have batting for you on your approval?”

“Tom is all I've got right now. I've not met the other owners, so I'm hoping I can find seven who will agree to let me in.”

“Do you have mob connections out in Vegas?”

“Huh?!”

“You mentioned them changing money for you.”

“Dude, are you aware you can go out to Vegas, cash a check and get chips and then cash in the chips and get a check made out to whomever you want? That's Vegas. They don't ask, you don't tell and they write checks.”

“So you're doing that with the money you've got coming in and sending checks to the parents.”

“No, I believe I said I was sending it to the Sisters here. If I sent it to the parents from Vegas, they'd have to pay taxes on the money. By sending it to a non-profit, it's not taxed. By having the non-profit send it to a Japanese corporation, it's invested in that corporation and dividends are paid to whomever the corporation chooses.”

“SO without being a shareholder in the said corporation, the parents receive dividends?”

“The Sisters are the shareholders. It's non-profit, so the dividends are viewed as charitable bequeaths from them to whomever. Man, you need to learn tax law.”

“I'm asking because I'm an owner in a football team. I'm worried about you shooting your foot off here to spite your toe. As I see it, you've got a tax shelter system which is way better than I could even begin dreaming up.”

“Pete, it's only because I think the date on someone's birth certificate deciding whether someone can or can't be a legal person in our country is stupid.”

“What's that mean?”

“I'm seventeen. In order to buy this team and get into the contract, I had to be emancipated from my guardian. In order to buy and sell my stocks, I had to have it also.

Now, let's say I buy the Angels under a corporate banner. I could and you know I'll probably do it that way, But if I don't and I buy it personally, then I'm fucked for playing high school football. However, if I buy it under a corporate banner and don't pull a profit and don't have myself under contract to play football, I can play high school as well as own a team and also do what I can with it.”

“You're good at this.”

“It's called being raised in a system that wouldn't think twice about fucking me before I got to be old enough. I learned they thought of themselves and I learned they could strip me of a billion dollars worth of assets and put me where they damned well pleased.”

“Did they want to do that?”

“They were a cunt hair away from doing it as well as having me found mentally unfit to fight to get it back.”

“The State of Missouri?”

“Yeah.”

“Man! I never knew that about their system.”

“Let's say you are under 18 and your parents die. Your parents leave you the brewery and a mirror Will. Both die, so the state steps in and says you need to go to a foster home.

Because you've got assets, they can sell those assets to insure your care is afforded by the state. Thus, the state becomes a brewer and because you're pissed off about it, you're put into counseling and the counselor being paid for by the state writes a tasty little report which says you've got aggressive behavior tendencies because you want to beat everyone in authority's asses.

Now, is it justified? I think it was. Is it true? Yeah, but there are circumstances not listed in the reports and there are issues which the state conveniently leaves out when they're trying to fuck you for their benefit.”

“They tried that with you?”

“I had a guardian. My guardian wasn't always acting in my best interests. He'd play hide and seek with my stock certificates and he'd tell me he' was going to take away my money and fuck with my bank accounts. I was pissed about it, but when I was pissed, he'd make me feel like I was going to get slammed into a home because he was going to wash his hands of me.

Fortunately, I've got a lawyer. I say that because he smells a rat in the hen house and he filed emancipation papers before it was set to happen. Needless to say, I got emancipated last Friday and that's the same day my guardian froze my bank accounts.”

“Oh man, did you file suit?”

“No, I got even. We went to war and I started using his assets against him. He owns car lots and he owns fast food. I used the cars from his car lots to blockade his fast food, gas stations, his grocery store, and his factories. I hid the keys and I called the wrecker companies and I told them I'd file suit against them if they dared to touch one of the cars.

We made it through the weekend, and now he's acting on better terms. So, I moved the cars and he worked with my lawyer to get me what I wanted.”

“What was that?”

“A car lot.”

“You extorted a car lot from him!”

“Dude, listen and you'll hear. This wasn't extortion. It was fraud. The man TOLD his car dealer I bought his dealership for three million. He let me invest two million into the dealer and then, he refused to sign over the deed to the place.

If I sold you this team and let you come in and spend money on it and then refused to sell it to you after you improved it, would you have me in court on fraud?”

“Yeah.”

“So, what happens if the judge is my family and I've helped him with money? Do you win?”

“Oh man.”

“Yeah, so I fuck with him and I fuck hard. I blockade, I threaten suits on damaging a child and I mess with his reputation to the point he's got to stand there and smile because I made him look like it was all his idea. He looks like a hero in town and everyone's really talking good about him because he shut down his businesses over the weekend. The net result was people saw those cars sitting on his gas station's parking lot and they bought four of them.”

“You're a little manipulator!”

“Yeah, but when you go into a poker game with a stacked deck, you either manipulate, or you lose. I played. I bluffed. He called. I raised. I showboated. When, he folded, I won. That's it and that's how the cards are played.”

He smiled. “Man, you're honest, that's for sure!”

“I gotta be. If I tell you up front what I expect, you know what I expect. IF you decide to fuck me, I'll tell you what I'm going to do to fuck back. IF you think I'm lying and you see your world falling down in the exact measures I told you, then you know I didn't lie.”

“Ok, so what do we do to get out of our mess between us?”

“We're going to count kegs. You're going to see there's approximately a hundred and thirteen more than what we're supposed to have, but I'm going to ask you were the other forty thousand and eight hundred and some are. They're not in this storage cooler and as you can see, there's not enough room for them in here.”

“You've got all the paperwork, right?”

“You see these papers here? They're the books for the past three and a half years. Well, there's the books for the past four years here and you'll see where Heilman was and where your guy started. You see the invoices here and you see Heilman took this many. You see your guy takes the same number, but you see your guy sells us a thousand kegs a month more than Heilman ever did.

Now, with a thousand more a month coming in and no difference going out, there's forty one thousand kegs here somewhere, or I'm an idiot, or your man's a thief and a liar. I'll tell you now even if I was a thief, there's not a chance in hell I was able to ditch a thousand kegs of brew and there's certainly not any way I could ditch forty one thousand kegs.”

“I know you're telling the truth.”

“Well good. How'd you come about that brilliant conclusion?”

“I've got the man's purchase invoices from the brewery. I've also got his contracts which state how much he's sold to each and every business or person in this area and the money's dead on except when it comes to yours.”

“Good.”

“Now, here's the deal. My man says he was giving kick backs to a manager here. He says he had an agreement with him and to tell you the truth, I'll tell you now, I don't like that.”

“It's embezzlement. Your man's willing to say he conspired and embezzled from my company along with my manager which has already been fired.”

“As I said, I don't like it. It's also racketeering and a list of other crimes.”

“I know. So, you pay me and we count kegs and then what? You throw me to the wolf again and this time you know I'll drop kick him in the teeth so hard he shits teeth the rest of his short life?”

“No! I'm saying I'm going to offer you something I hope you accept.”

“What's that?”

“The management and operations of our distributorship here.”

“Ok, I'll speak with my lawyer. I need to ask some questions first.”

“Ok”

“First question. Does it make money when they're not stealing?”

“On paper, I'm showing they're tops in the region.”

“That's not an answer I feel comfortable with. Are you saying they're the top money loser, or are you saying all of them are losing money and based upon losses, they're the one who loses the least?”

He smiled, “They make money.”

“How much? And how much is theft?”

“They had receipts of a hundred and twelve million last year. On that, they saw thirty seven million in profits.”

“You make that damn much money off your brew?!”

“We don't do bad.”

“How about I invest with you? I mean why buy butter if I can milk the cow? Damn, I can make butter!”

He laughed, “You're funny.”

“I'm not laughing. I've got a billion I need to invest and really need to ditch. If I can invest it with you, then I've got it ditched, it's making money, and it's making me happy.”

“You really got that much?”

“I've got a lot. I've got more than even I know. I know I've half a billion sitting in a bank someplace which needs investing and I know I've got some stocks to sell which will easily put me over that billion mark.”

“What sort of stocks?”

“Kmart.”

“How much of the company?”

“The last I knew, it was ten percent of the company.”

“Why'd you buy them?”

“I didn't. I bought Little Ceasars. They bought Little Ceasars and because I wasn't voting my block, they sold the company to Kmart and suddenly, I'm the proud holder of a bunch of shit!”

“What don't you like about Kmart?”

“Ok, first of all, I loved Little Ceasars. I bought their stock because they have a store in Moberly and it's one of my favorite places to eat. It made me feel good eating there.

Kmart bought them and they also bought Home Depot. Why buy food and why buy home repair if you're already in that business?”

“Well, buying your competition is a way to make you stronger.”

“Or, you weaker in your own flagship. Since they bought them, their sales are going down quicker than a submarine on dive. It's a dumb mix, and although I've never been in a Home Depot because there's not one close to where I live, I have been in a Kmart and it's just shitty. It sure didn't make me happy I drove thirty miles to go there.”

“Oh”

“So, I'm proud owner in a block of their shares which is worth half a billion which tells me if I own half a billion at ten percent, the entire company is worth five billion. If you ask me, it was damned dumb for them to spend way more than that on the purchase of those two companies because either they're way undervalued, or the company together isn't worth the paper it's sold on.”

“How about I take the stock and get you a percentage of my company?”

“Voting or non-voting?”

“Voting and on the board.”

“How much of a percentage?”

“A billion would get you four percent.”

“That's a helluva chunk of change for not that much. How much is it worth?”

“Well, first of all, it's worth way more than that. Second of all, it's not been released yet. Third, when it hits the market, it'll most likely go up super fast.”

“Then why sell it to me at that price?”

“I want someone I know sitting on my board who is interested in making money.”

“Ok, that's not smart.”

“What's not smart about it?”

“You want me on the board because I want to make money. Doesn't that sound dumb if I buy it for a quarter bill a point and suddenly it's worth a whole helluva lot more? I mean, lets say it goes up to three bills a point. I'm sitting on twelve bills worth of stock for one bill investment, don't you think I won't sell?”

“If you do, there's a clause which says it has to be to me or my family.”

“I'm not following.”

“Ok, listen to me and you'll see. Right now, I'm wealthy. Our family is wealthy, but my family is fractionalized.

What I mean is my brother was caught in a compromising position with my wife and it caused me to get divorced and me to not speak to him again. He's got a percentage point, but I want him to be outvoted should he get that share.”

“So you're wanting me to vote along side you with my points and just take dividends. Is that right?”

“Yeah.”

“What are the dividends going to be?”

“I don't know. It'll be based upon their value.”

“What if I want to buy more?”

“You can, but I'll tell you now I'm most likely going to be your competition.”

“Then why sell stock in the first place?”

“We need cash to do what I want to do. We need a reorganization in order for me to do it.”

“Why?”

“Let's sit over here. When I tell you, you need to know this is only known by a few people.”

“Ok”

“On paper, there are members of my family. You've got my dad, my older brother, my step mother, and my two younger step siblings.”

“Ok.”

“My dad is in ill health. IF he dies as it is now, my brother is going to come back into the company fighting for control as well as shares which he doesn't think my step mother or step siblings should be entitled to.”

“You think they should?”

“Yeah, they're great.”

“Ok, so how are those percentages going to be split up?”

“I'm trying to get it to be fifteen or sixteen percent per member with my brother only having one percent.”

“He'll sue.”

“Not if it's done before my dad dies. If my dad dies and the company has been made into a corporation, he has no vested interest and his one share can't be anything but a token gift. All the others, since they work the company are entitled to more.”

“So he comes back in, works it and gets more?”

“No, he got fired. When I found him with my ex, my father was there. He assaulted my dad and I, and got fired.”

“Oh! So, you want me to buy four percent and vote along side you. If you've got all those other shares out there who are voting for you, then why me?”

“Because I like you. I like your direct honesty and I like the way you carry yourself.”

“I'm confused about a lot of things. It doesn't make sense. Can I ask you a question you're going to think is real strange?”

“Sure.”

“Can I do something and you not think it weird?”

“What's that?”

“I put my hands upon your temples. It's nothing sexual, but I get impressions if I do that. It tells me things about you which I can't get other ways and what I get, I'll tell you as I get them.”

“Like what?”

“For me to say it any other way, I just need to tell you I get images of the past, present, and future. You'll think I'm full of it until I start, and when I start, I'm going to be throwing touch down after touch down until you just know I'm getting the truth.”

“You really can do this?”

“Are you afraid of me knowing the truth?”

“In a way, yeah. I mean, there's secret formulas for our brews and I know them.”

“Man, I'm not interested in making your hooch. I can't stand drinking the stuff and quite frankly, it's not something I'm inclined in doing.”

“Ok, but you need to speak aloud.”

“I'll speak fast, so you need to listen.”

I put my hands upon his temples. The images flashed and man oh man.

“You live in a castle. Damn, it's a big place. They give tours through it. You gave tours through it. Your dad...ooh, your dad isn't like a dad. Your dad is distant. Your mom, man oh man, what a piece of work, you sure you're from them?

It's strange, your family is full of breeding and inbreeding. They've got mental illness and they've got misdiagnosed mental illness. Today, we're learning more and more about the illnesses they suffered.

There's a curse. Something to do with indians and death in caves. The caves were made into tunnels and the tunnels became the company. Your great great great grand great uncle was a wicked man. His eyes are wild with greed. He killed them in the caves because he wanted their land. He stole a bunch of land from them and said he bought it.

Through your generations, there's been lots of deaths. Suicides, attributed to the curse. I'll tell you now it wasn't the curse. There's a curse, but the curse isn't what brought about their deaths.

Your grandfather, man, he was young when he took control of the company. He worked it and he took control in more ways than one. He didn't drink it, therefore he didn't die. If you don't drink it, you don't die...that's the way to beat the curse.

Your dad, yes, he's gravely ill. I see lots of yellow spots of cancer all over him. Oh man, he's in love. He loves and he's loved. He loves you, that's for sure.

He's proud of you. You took the time to get to know him and understand rather than judging. You love her like a mom which is good because your own mom is a nasty piece of work.

Your younger siblings. There's a boy and a girl. There's your step mom and I see death. Man, I see death.

Your older brother. I see him with your wife on a desk with another woman. There was more there than meets the eye and when you think he's out, he's not out but he will be out after all the death.

The death. You attribute it to the curse. It's sadness. Man, accidents happen when it's their time, but it's terribly sad. Through sadness, there's enlightenment and there's a soul searching on your part.

You have strength and you've got solidity, but you go to seek your solace in animals. The animals are your sanctuary and your sanctuary is a safe haven for animals.

I see purchases of many lands. I see ventures which bring about enormous wealth. You think you're wealthy now, but without trying, you happen into wealth by helping others.

Ooh, love, man oh man do you find love. He's young, but he's right for you. He adores and in his open honesty with you, you love him in return. My lands do you find love. You find it and you just don't know the depth of that pool.

The curse is lifted. You made a promise to someone on a death bed who gives you the key to the curse. You forget it, but you do the right thing with a relative of the love of your life and together in forming your new family, you lift the curse.

The tunnels. The tunnels are sealed. You seal them and yet because you attempted to find a loophole, you lose someone near. The ghosts of the tunnels smile their ghoulish smile. They think they've won.

Love, man, you're loved. You have someone near with two initials. She loves another, but she loves you. She gives you joy and she's your rock. You've got great friendship, but it's interesting, she'd be yours and you'd be hers, but it's not that way. Friendship in it's purest form.

Sparks, I see sparks. You are a sparkler. You give off sparks of creativity and you build upon that creativity. Where a spark happens, a flame will grow.

I'm seeing you selling pieces. You sell your teams. You sell what is dear and you invest in different. Your teams aren't held. They weren't your sanctuary and you sell them. They were your dad's sanctuary and he built love with you and with her in those teams.

Your dad buys gifts. Gifts which aren't fully built until you take them. You build upon them and you even build upon things with your mom.

Your dad has or had many wives. Wives who were both in love and out of love with him very fast. They punished due to his wealth.

Your older brother. He's deceitful. He lies to those he professes to love and he knows no loyalty in either lies or loves. You have a show down with him but it's very peaceful. You expose his deceit and you expose the lies rather publicly. His family never does regain closeness even after his death.

Death, you build a monument to death. It's beautiful. It's amazing because it helps you lift the curse.

I'm going to say something strange. You're related to unrelated and you're bred to be inbred. Your honesty is lies and you don't know them to be other. Your family is not family and what you control has no controls. It's a world of spinning tops and it's like you try to keep them spinning, but you don't know why except it's what is expected of you.

In the tunnels. They must be drained. They fill and have no outlet, therefore you'll have problems. They need drained. In draining them and emptying them, you'll finally find closure.

Bones. They'll find bones. Until the bones are laid to rest, you'll face problems. Through purchase, you bind yourself with the indians. The indians bind themselves to you, but they don't lift the curse. They do take the bones which gets the bones honored.

This is a very full life. You're going to not believe this, but I see your soul being released at the end, but I don't see the body dying. I see suspended animation and I see someone you love not letting go. He loves too much.”

I sat down suddenly and just felt drained.

He looked at me strangely and said, “Man, oh man, you're for real!”

“It's smoke and mirrors.”

“No, you're telling the truth.”

“No! I mean your life. There's so much smoke and mirrors. Things you thought you knew aren't what is true.”

“What does that mean?”

“I can't say. One day, you're going to find out and when you do, it'll all fall together. It'll happen on a death bed, but not the one you think it'll be. It'll come, but by then, you'll have your own soul searching.”

“Who's death? You said there's so much death!”

“I can't tell you. If I told you, you'd think I was a terrible liar and only trying to sadden you and scare you.”

“I've already known death.”

“No, you're not HEARING me!

If I told you to go into the woods and to walk through them and you came upon a bunch of lumberjacks cutting down all the trees, you'd ask yourself 'where were the woods?' It's that complete.

What I see is you in the ocean like a lone man in a life raft after a ship has sank and all went down with it. The ones who would be there for you, you cut loose and those who you depend so much for are what buckles you like the ground in an earthquake. It's terrible because it's a moment of sadness which is just so overwhelming.”

“My dad?”

“I can't tell you. I can not tell you. I'm forbidden to tell you, but let me tell you what I may.”

“Ok”

“When you make it through the tunnel of darkness, you'll find new life. It's like you drowned and you're suddenly alive again. When that happens, and it's happened before, you'll find the love of your life and you'll find friendship and strength in great volumes.”

“So I'm finding a great love?”

“Yes.”

“It's a he?”

“Yes.”

He nodded and smiled. “Good.”

“You don't seem surprised.”

“I've loved before.”

“Familial.”

“You saw it.”

“Sadness. I saw sadness. You've not had a very happy life.”

“If I saw your life, would I see happiness?”

“No, not yet.”

“So we're like two kindred souls.”

“Yes, but I'm not he. He's younger yet.”

“Really?”

“Dude, when this one hits you, it's going to be way different than what you thought it'd be.”

“Good. He loves me back?”

“Oh yeah, and through family, his family, you build wealth in a business enterprise which is beyond all measure.”

“Another business?”

“Yeah, your friend. You turn a lot over to her. You know her now, but you don't trust her completely like you will.”

“There's a lot you said which didn't make sense.”

“Pete, let me say something and then you'll understand how I see your life through that portion.”

“Ok”

“You see this hallway?”

“Yeah.”

“Now, if I told you to walk it, you'd walk it and then what would happen if you suddenly had an epileptic seizure during an earthquake while walking on lopsided shoes?”

“Huh?”

“It's swaying. It's staggering. It's rolling from side to side and it's all designed to make you off center and for you to lose your way. So many before you didn't find their way because they thought they were crazy. They weren't.”

“What was it?”

“Something you can't see. Something which we've now got detectors for which comes from the ground which seeped up from the tunnels into that house. It was released because of that man's greed.”

“You sure?”

“Let me tell you what I saw and you'll understand what those indians went through. It pisses me off, but I know it's not you.

That fucker knew he was going to make beer there. He knew how to make beer and he knew he was going to kill those Indians Now, what happens if you don't pull out of fermentation soon enough and you let it run until it is totally spent?”

“Too much alcohol.”

“Now, let me tell you how I'd kill a bunch of Indians if I was going to kill them and then, you see how they were killed.

First of all, I'm going to go into those tunnels and I'm going to 'accidentally' store a bunch of grain where it gets wet in that moisture. Second of all, I'm going to make a bunch of mash and leave it in there as my second stage of development. After all, if they drink of it, they get liquored up and what's it to me if I kill me a bunch of Injuns.

Third, I leave a bunch of barrels in there of finished product to cool and then, I find out there's no way out of that mess except one entrance.

Fourth, I tell the indians I'll buy their land if they'll agree to work for me in those tunnels. After all, they know them and I supposedly don't.

So, they go in there and that grain is hitting that water and it's coming off with some severe carbon dioxide. Yeah, killer gas which just doesn't get seen.

Then, I've got fires which are close enough to the mouth which are burning up the oxygen to the rest of the tunnels and throwing off carbon monoxide which is a killing gas.

Then, I throw in a bunch of Indians I know are going to go in there and find those barrels and get liquored up. They drink it, they get drunk. The world is woozy, but the world was already woozy from all those fucking gases. They fall down, they're drunk, the water is dripping and if they don't drown, they die breathing that mess of fumes.

That man sat there and waited. He sent them all in there to die because they trusted him. He gave off being concerned for their welfare in order to steal from them and kill them.

Man, we're kindred souls alright because I'm seeing me in those tunnels and I'm seeing Grant as that man. He was killing me and I finally had someone get me to clean air.

You, you're in a different boat. Your sadness is you're in that tunnel and you know it's killing you. In order to lift the curse, you've got to walk towards the light and you've got to have strength and confidence you can make it.

With all you've lost, it's tough. With what you've lost, you want to lay down and give up. You somehow have the strength and stamina to make it and you've got the perseverance which will get you to the light.

When you get to the light, you've got riches, love, friendship, and you've got a vitality of life, but I'll tell you now, the man you were going into that tunnel isn't the man you were going in. It's hell and it's the worst thing I think I've ever seen anyone living has went through.”

“That's not real optimistic.”

“The optimism is you make it. IF you don't hear anything else I say to you, you made it and you really know how to appreciate it when you get there.”

“All this because I asked you to buy into my company?”

“Yeah, it didn't make sense, but now I know your life, I know why it doesn't make sense.”

“So are you going to buy in?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“The wealth is there you describe. The familial issues are there you describe, but with what I saw, if I was there after what I told you, you'd focus your anger and energy at me and there'd not a thing I could say.”

“I wouldn't do that.”

“Hey, let me tell you something. I saw what you're facing. I saw what you've got coming at you and I know when you get down that far, you're there to protect the core and it's what we call killer instincts which help you survive.”

“It doesn't sound like something I could do.”

“You do it.”

“How long does it last?”

“Fifteen years.”

“Jesus Christ!”

“Hey, you asked, I'm telling you it's worth it. If you know nothing, you know you're loved and he's out there.”

“Could I know where?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because I told you he was young. I told you you're older. You're going to be forty two and he's going to be seventeen. He's not your life raft, but he's the coast guard boat which pulls you from that life raft.”

“That'd have me being a child molester!”

“Dude, when it happens, you're going to embrace it and what's funny is this...”

“What's that?”

“Downtown in St. Louis is a mansion. In that mansion is writing.”

“Yeah, I know where it is.”

“Not until you take him there will you realize you forgot about me until you see that writing.

When you have him there in your arms and you're showing him your family and how they were deemed crazy and mentally ill and all misdiagnosed, you're going to see that writing and think of me.

And when you do, you're going to go over there against that wall by that window and you're going to sit down and cry like a baby because you're going to know I saw it all and it scared the supreme hell out of me.”

“I've got to make it to remember?”

“Yeah, but when you remember, it's a flood of emotions. It's sadness, anger, pain, happiness, joy, triumph, and it's love. You're going to see I saw it all and I know you've got it all at that moment.”

“There's nothing I can do to escape it?”

“No, that's what is terrible.”

“Then why tell me?”

“Dude, you need to know something. My agreement with you was to tell you what I saw no matter what in order to make you believe. Now, I'll tell you I think you were destined here to find out what you were facing and me telling you that you'd make it so you'd have the strength to endure what you're facing.”

“That's reassuring, but not.”

“See, it's a world of opposites with you. In order to begin, you've to to end. In order to end, you've got to go through the valley of the shadow of death, but you've got to know in facing it, you're going to have evil the likes of which were placed on you by the first one of your family in that city.”

“I know about that.”

“Your family is strange. I'll tell you your family tree is made up of some twisted branches.”

“I know that too.”

“You're figure out what I'm telling you when you're there on that floor in that dormer. I'm seeing it and it's just a horror story if I tell you any more.”

“I'm understanding what you're saying. I know about the curse, but I didn't know what happened. Now I do and it makes all the more sense.”

“He was a cruel bastard, but I'm going to tell you one thing and it's rather humorous.”

“Ok”

“In your monument of death, he's on the bottom rung closer to hell and you just know one thing, where that bastard rests, he's locked in his bit of hell.”

“Serves him right.”

“You know I find it ironic because I see me and the person I've had in my life serving me the problems I've been dealing as that relationship he had with the Indians. The problem I've got and he's got is I'm not dying and he's not getting to profit from all those who died before me.”

“What's that mean?”

“Ok, look at what the man would've had if he had one Indian in those tunnels who stayed close enough to the entrance he didn't go back and die.

What would've happened if he never drank that tainted water, but instead learned how to eat the nutritious and keep himself strong enough the man couldn't go back into the tunnels and get those barrels which were finished?”

“Oh man!”

“Yeah, so I'm that Indian who won't die and Grant is the one who can't figure out how to get me to die.”

“You're over him, right?”

“Yeah, I outsmarted the son of a bitch. I gave him what he wanted to make him rich, and then I was smart enough to profit from it with him.”

“Why not leave him and make your escape?”

“You don't get it. The Indians couldn't go out and make the booze. If they did, no one would trade with them.

He had a livelihood in making the hooch and he knew it. He doled it out to the man and he profited. The man knew better than come in and he knew better than to leave the man. Together, it was an abusive relationship, but they made it work.

With Grant, I've given him tidbits of knowledge and he's profited. HE wants to fuck me with it, but I divvy it out and lay down the law if he fucks me, I fuck back severely.

He stays his course and one day, he'll learn I outlasted him, or he got stupid and got past me in that tunnel which will be his most certain death.”

“Who is this Grant?”

“My coach. He was my guardian, but he used and abused.”

“So you use him and together you profit.”

“Yeah, because I've got keys to investments which he's investing and if he fucks me on them, I've got the power to tell him to go back and try again.”

“I'm not following.”

“Ok, he's rich in his own right. I own ten percent of a telephone company. The telephone company needs cell phone towers. He's investing in the towers with me as a partner.”

“Ok”

“Now, we invested in an entire state together. It reaped rewards, but we found out they're about to start allowing the towers to be built overseas.

What I did was I'm getting us the entire continent of Australia for us to expand into. Well, he wants all these people who don't matter to be able to invest in it with us. I'm telling him no. It's ours and that's it.

Today, he wanted to argue about it and get sarcastic. I told him if he submits a proposal which has names on it which aren't he and I's, I'll tell the company to deny the permission and I've even insinuated I'd go into it with a hidden corporation and go it alone. I can't, but he doesn't put anything past me since I've already messed him upon lots of other things.”

“What's it matter to you about him?”

“We're bound in this. For the next fourteen years, we're like thorns in each other's sides until we finally get through the abuse and find out we love each other. I know it. He's been told it. And, it's just a jumbled up mess.”

“What about your partner?”

“Rob? Well Rob has a date with destiny. We split and he gets together with a girl who is dating and will marry a friend of mine.

Rob and the girl were together until he admitted he was gay and wanted me. In the end, he realizes in order to get what is his destiny, he needs to have a wife and she realizes he's someone who won't lie to her and needs her as much as she needs him.”

“You're fine with that?”

“I saw it. It's told me to love, but not get so close I'm hurt beyond everything when it happens.”

“If you saw it, why don't you put in safeguards so it doesn't happen?”

“I have. My friend is going to marry her and have kids. He goes to a Mizzou game and meets a cheerleader there. He falls for her and he gets her pregnant. His wife finds out and she divorces him.

It's a mess financially, but he eventually splits it with her and thinks the girl he sired the baby with is it.

She's not. I'll tell you now she's not. He's trying to keep his inflatable boat from sinking and he's patching and he's bailing and while he's gone, she has that baby and panics. She puts it in a dumpster and it lives, but she ends up in trouble over it.

Because they're not married, and because he's trying to get the kid, he forgets about what matters to him some more and the divorce happens. He's out and he's lost it all except for the money.”

“That's depressing.”

“Not really. He finds happiness, but not where he expects it and it's not attached to dollar bills he thinks matters to him.

It's interesting because I could point him in the right direction, but he's already forgotten the girl as a part of his past, but as you know, our pasts are our futures in a lot of ways.”

“So you're saying the person for him he already knows?”

“He already knows and he's already dated. They suck pretty good face together and he's just an idiot for letting her dump him on a stupid reason without attempting to go back and resurrecting it.”

“You see this and don't point him in the right direction?”

“I've tried. He's made that decision this other girl is the right person for him and for a while, she is. Speaking of that, your friend is going to have that same situation.”

“Who?”

“The girl with the initials.”

“CJ?”

“Yeah.”

“She's in love right now.”

“I know, but for a while there she gets disillusioned and she goes elsewhere. Eventually, they regain what they've got, but by the time you're back on the scene, she knows what it takes to be happy.”

“You're really strange about all that.”

“Think about it as you telling me your secret ingredients and when I've guessed them all, you give cryptic answers about the rest because you know it's just a matter of time until I have the right fractions put together to get it right. BUT, even with the right fractions, you know there are tricks I just won't know like the roasting of the barley and hops to get the caramelized coating on them which gives off the best flavors.”

“You saw that!”

“Yeah, I also saw how you caramelize them and I think it's rather ingenious. It's smart because the brew pots are hot and them going around inside them on that heated surface both scrubs the pot for the next brew and it caramelizes them together. I'll also tell you the roasting of them together gets the caramel from one onto the other and starts a unique chemical reaction which just makes it taste different.”

“So you saw it all and understand it?”

“Yeah, but I also see something which is going to be a real problem.”

“What's that?”

“You need to pay attention to your gut instincts.”

“Why?”

“If it tells you to do something, you should do it. If it tells you to do something which everyone else tells you doesn't make sense, you should listen to it rather than to the other people.”

“I'll ask again, why?”

“Because you think you're safe from take overs. You think if you invest in the future and keep progressing and you're the largest in the world, there aren't outside mitigating factors which won't come back and cause you to lose it all.”

“Huh?”

“You have control of your company the likes of which just doesn't seem to be able to be gotten control. That's your undoing because someone figures out a way which totally broadsides you.”

“You're not going to tell me?”

“No, I'm not able to tell you. I'm telling you if it's your gut instinct to go ahead and spend the money and take it back to private, you should do it.

Instead, you lose focus on why you want to take it back to private and you go out and concentrate on things which you know are a part of your destiny.”

“So I lose the brewery?”

“You lose it, but you gain.”

“How?”

“Ok, first of all, there's such a thing as a teeter totter effect. What is up one day will be down eventually. You're outsmarted, but not without weapons.

When it happens, you do the wise thing and you continue to focus upon what matters and you go with it. Eventually, there will come a time when you've gotten yourself into position where you can get it back, but when you're at that point, you're at a great moment of clarity and realize if you do it, you would be back on the merry-go-round you don't want to be on.”

“I need to know how to safeguard it.”

“You can't. That's your disadvantage. In order to go public, you've got to build in the key to the undoing.”

“What can I do?”

“You're going to be a lot smarter than you are now with it. First of all, you'll have a very smart friend there. Second of all, you've got a love who is going to be your strength. Third, children. You realize in order to get it back, you've got to make it so it won't ever be taken again. You do it, but you do it in a way which you don't get it, but no one gets it again.”

“You're speaking in riddles.”

“No, I'm speaking in truths.

Now, let me tell you something. The moment you're on that floor up in that dormer, you're thinking the world is lost because it's the last time you're supposed to be viewing that house as your family's legacy before you hand over control.

When that day comes and you remember me, you give me a call and I'll tell you what you need to do in order to get it.”

“You can't tell me any more?”

“No, but you'll remember this conversation at that time and up until that time, you're king of the beers and king of the world. Your name holds rank and you really don't know how to do it any other way.”

“So when I think all is lost, I'll come to you and you'll tell me what I'm not seeing?”

“Right. It's so easy and so transparent, you're going to be told what I've got to tell you and you're just going to shit yourself blind.”

“It doesn't sound cheap.”

“None of it is at that point. You know it, but you were there and so close you just don't realize it. You lose focus for a second and it's suddenly gone...or so you think.”

“You're telling me I own most of the company for some reason and even owning most of the company, I still lose it. However, I'm not seeing things which could make me regain control.”

“No, you're not hearing me. You lose control but you don't lose control.”

“That's dumb.”

“Dude, when it happens, it's going to bust your little bubble. Now, if you don't believe me, why don't you ask your lawyers how you can lose the company when your family controls all the voting stock? When they tell you it can't be done, then you think about it because I'll tell you it can.”

“And I let this happen?”

“Not only do you let it happen, you invite each and every movement which gets you into that position. You're thinking because you're getting wealthier that it's not possible, but I'll tell you it can.”

“Ok, I'm lost.”

“Right, let's let it rest and you just remember this conversation because you'll need me.”

“I'll call you if I need you, but when I do, I'm going to be pissed you wouldn't tell me now.”

“Ok, I'll tell you. When I tell you, it's not going to make sense because you're that fucking dumb.

You believe in your lawyers. You believe they can't steer you wrong and you believe they'd not put you at a disadvantage.

Now, I'm not going to tell you how you get most of the stock in your company, but you end up with most of the voting shares of the board.

You put the shares into dummy people who vote your shares. You think because you've got ninety seven percent of a company's voting stock on the board, you've got control.

On the other side of the equation is common stock. In that common stock is a percentage of ownership on that board. IF you dilute your company to the point someone goes in and offers an unGodly fortune for them because the European dollar is so strong against the American dollar, they invest fifty some billion dollars and they buy up the major block of that common. They in one full swoop took out your power on that board because they pulled rank with all those fractions.

You think because you're at ninety seven percent, you've got the world by it's balls. You're brilliant and you're the wealthiest man in the world, but you're also able to take it private and someone tells you to invest the money in modernization instead of that stock.

When it happens, you sit there stunned. You're worth nearly a hundred billion dollars all locked into a stock which got taken over by a fifty some million dollar investment.”

“That's not possible!”

“Think that and it'll happen. Now, what your little mind is caught up on is right now it's a million shares of common and a hundred shares of preferred. What you don't realize is when you dilute those shares over on the other side is when you sell more shares, they're what you call B, C, D, E, F, and so on and so forth until it's just diluted to the point you just think it can't happen. Well, you're dumb. You don't see it. I'll tell you and I'll tell you it can happen because you believe your lawyers.”

“How?”

“That A stock you dumb ass. The A stock is the power. Buy up that A stock and own it all and you've got all the fucking power in that company because it's the undiluted shit! IF you own it all, you can and will go in and take it to a court and the court will tell you that person who owns it is the man with balls the size of draft horse's because he owns your company for nearly half of what you own it for.”

“Ok, so you're saying it can be done.”

“It can and WILL be done.”

“How do I regain control?”

“You leverage everything you've got. Your food corporation. Your can corporation. That box car company. Your refrigerator company, and all those soft drinks and cheeses, and you leverage them to the hilt.”

“Huh?”

“Sound like a lunatic, don't I? Well, you'll own all those including a plastics plant and a glass plant.”

“I own a bunch of those already.”

“Well, you're going to leverage them to the point you're seeming suicidal and when you have it, that's when the dollar is going to suddenly be strong and the Euro dollar is going to suddenly be in the shitter.

You go over and you buy out the bank which owns that company who bought you and you pay pennies on the dollar for what they bought you for. However, due to banking regulations and the U.S. Regulations for banking, a public company which is a brewer can't own a bank.

So, you're wracking your brain and you finally remember you spoke with me and I told you a private foundation can own the whole fucking mess bottle, keg, and barrel...and if you think I forgot the can, you think again because if you still own canned beer by then, you're an idiot!”

“We've got to get rid of cans. I know that.”

“Yeah, and why?”

“Because of natural gas. Our contracts on the purchase of gas is going to be over in twenty years.”

“And if you own the glass bottles by then, you're an idiot for the same reason. BUT, the cost of materials which goes into them and the cost of labor making them is through the roof by then. The natural gas is the cheapest part of it, but all three combined makes you go to plastics.”

“We don't even have a plastic which would work!”

“You'll find it. My advice is to get the plastics company and you develop the plastic which will hold milk. If you can hold milk, you can hold beer. The chemical necessity of them both is where it's needed.”

“You're telling me all this at a machine gun rate. There's no way I can remember all this!”

“I'm telling you because you insist upon knowing. I'm also already telling you there's going to come a day when sadness hits you so fucking hard, it's going to be like my slamming you in the nuts, stomach, and doing an upper cut all at the same time.

You're going to go out for the count and it's not going to matter one bit to you. You're going to forget it all and you're going to sit there stunned to the point when the next axe handle blow hits you, you're just numb to the point you run for the hills and don't come back for fifteen years.”

“You're saying all this and I just don't know how that can be.”

“Dude, I'm telling you because you're thinking you can remember it. I'm telling you it will happen and when it happens, you're going to just totally lose it.”

“Ok, let's get off this. I'm shutting down already because you're not telling me everything.”

“That one thing I can't tell you! I won't tell you because if I did, you'd see my ass vaporize right here and disappear. I'd never even be allowed to come back to speak to Rob and none of those who matter to me. And you, you're not worth it to me. I love them, but I won't give them up for you.”

“Ok, your eyes are manic and I know you're afraid for me, but I just don't see it.”

“Dude, do me a favor. When you go to the meeting for the league, you give me approval. That's what I ask. BUT, when you sell your teams, you sell to me through one of my friends.”

“You can't do that!”

“Why the hell not! I'm not buying it in my name! I'm buying it in a friend's name.”

“Why would you do that?”

“There are twenty teams. IF I own two, I own ten percent of the league. That means given a little luck, I could eventually get your team back to St. Louis where you should've kept it.”

“That was out of my hands.”

“Bullshit, you let someone talk you guys into moving it over a dollar bill. How many dollar bills are you spending where it's at now? How much would you have kept if you'd not had to move it? And how many would it have taken to build a stadium instead of going out there and losing rights you gave up in the deal?”

“I don't know.”

“Right. Someone told you it was the best move. I'm telling you it was a dumb move. You don't see it, but when I move that team back home, I'm going to be the prince of the city even though you're the king.”

He smiled, “You want to be in St. Louis?”

“If I could tie my Angels in with your Falcone E logo, I'd do it. They've got a team called the Falcons and why you don't own it, I don't know. It's dumb, but hey, I'm not you.”

“You're a sarcastic little shit.”

“I've been told that a few times, so do I have your word?”

“On what?”

I rolled my eyes. “I'll speak slower. First of all, you approve my way into the league. Second of all, when you sell your teams, I get first option on buying them.”

“Ok, I doubt if I sell them.”

“Ok, whatever, I didn't just read your head and I just don't get it, but the second you think I'll approve your selling the team and having someone else stand there asking for approval and it's not me, I'll slide that black ball slicker than shit so it's seen in front of everybody. You'll be pissed, but as I walk by you deliberately, I'm going to call you a lying asshole.”

“You're trying to cheat and own two teams and you expect me to go along with it!”

“Ok, whatever, play by the rules and when it's time for you to remember everything, come to me and I'll tell you playing by the rules is why I can't tell you how to get it all back. You're going to think I'm an asshole then, but by then, I'm not going to give a shit what you think.”

“What haven't you told me!”

“Dude, don't get paranoid, but I'm done with this conversation. I've told you more than I can tell you and I'm not telling you more. I will however take this distributorship and how much is that going to cost me?”

“Not a damned thing. Build it and manage it and keep it out of the mafia's hands. He lost it because all of his dealings smell of mafia and I just can't put my finger on it, but I know it and can't do anything about it.”

“Ok, does he know he's history?”

“Not yet. He will just as soon as I finish here.”

“You going to have a problem slapping that certificate into a minor's hands?”

“No, you're legal.”

“Good, let's go count kegs.”

We went in and counted kegs. When we got to the end, he turned to me and said, “You're right.”

“Good, now if you'd like, I can take you around here and you'll see there aren't any hidden which....son of a bitch.”

“What!”

“Pete, here's your check back.”

“Huh?”

“I think I know what they did.”

“What?”

“Let's go across the street. We've got to count kegs in those bars. If that's where they went, I'm going to be so pissed, I'm going to scream.”

“You own bars across the street!”

“Yeah, but I own the buildings. I don't think I own the businesses. If I'm supplying them their beer and liquor, I'm going to be so pissed.”

“Even then, there can't be that many kegs.”

“Let's get out of here and let me make a call. If I'm wrong, I'm so sorry.”

“No, if you're wrong, I still want you to run the distributorship because I still don't see the returned kegs.”

“You're right! But just to be sure, let's call and make sure. Either way, if I'm wrong, you owe me the return deposit on all those kegs. IF I'm incorrect and they're separate from this over here, then they've been overcharging me.”

“Let's find out.”

“I'm sorry. If I'm wrong, I want you to know I was so headset on being right, I never took those into consideration. It didn't hit me until was finished counting them.”

“Let's call. It doesn't sound right they'd be charging everything to being delivered here when the liquor licenses are separate over there.”

“Stranger things have happened here.”

We went out and I called Jan.

“Hey hon!”

“I've got a question and I really want to be right on this either way, ok? To be certain, I'm putting my phone on speakerphone so Pete can hear this.”

“Sure.”

“Those bars across the street, are they in our name and someone else runs them and buys the liquor, or are they in our name and we buy the liquor and own the businesses?”

“We own the buildings, but the businesses are ran by separate individuals. As far as I know, none of their purchasing including their power is done by us.”

“Ok, would you call and double make sure?”

“Who would I call?”

I looked at Pete and asked, “Would they tell us down there at the distributorship?”

“Yeah.”

“Ok, call down there and ask them. Tell them Pete Stein is here with me and we're asking.”

“Do you want to be on the line when I call?”

“Can you put it on speakerphone up there?”

“Yeah, hang on.”

She put us on speakerphone and we heard the entire conversation. The guy got real smart with her and refused to answer her question. Pete said, “Schwartz, this is Pete Stein. She's asking for a reason and I'm here. We're trying to see if Mr Martin here is wrong, or if he's right. I've already figured you wrong, so don't make me come down there and see how wrong you are in ALL your business' operations.”

“Hang on one second. I don't have time to be doing a wild goose chase for that damned kid.”

I looked at Pete and asked, “Can I practice a football throw and see if it can hit his lower jaw?”

He smiled, “No, you'd miss when it hits the floor from what I've got to tell him.”

“Ok”

He came back on the line and said, “For your information, those businesses aren't his and they do their purchasing from a total different route truck than that damned asshole.”

“Ok, that's what we wanted to know. Now, for what I've had to come here and do, I'm going to go ahead and tell you to go over to your wall and get your certificate certifying you're a distributor.”

“What the hell for?”

“Because it's going ot be mailed back to my office in St. Louis and it's going to be forfeited over your business practices.

You're to be out of that office within the hour and you're to have that driver who handles this account in that office waiting on me for when I get there.

You've cost this company two million dollars and prestige which can't be regained. If you think I'm going to give you a second chance on that, realize we've had another issue back in 1982 which was similar.”

“You've got to be shittin' me!”

“Sir, hang up the phone and do as you're asked. I promise you I'm not even joking. I'll be there with the police in the amount of time it takes for me to get there and I'll promise you by the end of the day, the locks will be changed and your business accounts will be transferred to the new distributor.”

Pete said, “Ma'am, you may hang up the phone now.”

Before it happened, I heard, “You rotten son of a bitch!”

Jan hung up and said, “Jake, you on your way up?”

“Yeah, shortly.”

“Ok, I've got two call messages for you.”

“Thanks.”

Pete smiled at me and said, “I need you to ride over there.”

“We gotta go up first. My ability to play football in high school might be in jeopardy.”

I hung up and suddenly remembered to call the taxi company in Hannibal. I called and arranged them to have their cars meeting the jet. The guy assured me he'd even have a couple of pickup trucks waiting also.

As we drove around the horse shoe, I pointed things out to Pete about how badly the place was designed. He saw the kitchen and noted his company made equipment we could use. I asked if he could get us a rush order on what we would need and he said he'd get me the name of the guy to call for the equipment. I pulled out my phone and dialed Dolly.

“Dolly!”

“Yeah hon”

“I've got Pete Stein on the buggy with me and he said his company makes equipment we could use. HE's going to get us the name of the guy to get the equipment ordered through and assures us we could get a rush order.”

“Great. I'll need to know what they've got in order to order it. If possible, I want to go with larger equipment than what we've got.”

“Hang on a second.”

I asked Pete if they had a catalog and if he could get it over nighted to us. He said he could and would get right on it as soon as he was able to get to a phone.

“Doll?”

“Yeah.”

“He's getting us a catalog over nighted so you'll have it in the morning. Ok?”

“Yeah, that'd be great.”

“I'm working for ya dear!”

“Thanks!”

“Hey Doll?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you have any idea of anyone we could use to manage a beer distributorship?”

“Yeah, you're going to shit, but he's the most obvious person and why you're not thinking of him, I don't know.”

“Who?”

“Marty Powers.”

“Oh man! Damn, I never even thought of him! I'll give him a call.”

“I thought you'd kick yourself with the big shoe.”

“I'm doing it with spikes hon. I need to hang up and call him.”

“Thanks again.”

I hung up and said, “My best friend's dad. He's like a dad to me also.”

“What does he do?”

“He's working in a factory now, but he's working there because he managed the local Double Cola distributorship until they consolidated everything and phased out his job.”

“Ok, so he knows the business in a way?”

“Yeah, and it'd be nearly perfect.”

We went up to the office and went in.

“Here you go hon.”

“Thanks.”

I looked at the messages. “Mayor called. Needs confirmation on key.” “Grant called. Don't worry.” “Mike called. Paperwork finished.” “ Mike called. Don't worry about suspension.”

I handed them to Pete. “Mike's getting called first.”

He read them and said, “What's the paperwork?”

“Grant's putting everything he owns into my name 50/50. I'm supposed to get the car dealership outright, but there've been so many things told to me, I want to make sure it's absolute.”

“Why is he putting it in your name 50/50?”

“He was my guardian. Because he's got someone to leave it all to now, he wants to leave it to me.”

“That's a lot of money!”

“Yeah, but you don't know the rest of the story.”

“What is it?”

“Ok, Grant got the gas station from his dad when he was a teen. He ran it and his dad worked as his employee. Because he had extra money and no kids, he socked the profits into a lot of things. My dad and he were lovers, so my dad helped build the things. Grant thinks because my dad didn't take pay, he now owes him a share of those profits.”

“And you agreed with that?”

“I agree and disagree. It's spot logic, but I sort of get what he's thinking, but if it was my business and my money, I'd tell you my dad walked away from it and it was mine to manage and operate to the heights of what he owns now.

However, my mind might be different if I had no heir and your kid showed up and needed a guardian. I'd take the kid in and would raise him as my own and I'd most likely would give it to him.”

“How old is this Grant?”

“Mid thirties.”

“He's got a lot of life left! He's not counting on finding someone else?”

“He's got me throwing people at him like you wouldn't believe. They're good for him, but because we were told by my dad's ghost we are going to be lovers in fourteen years, he's holding out.”

“Really!”

“Yeah, it will be if he makes changes mentally, but that's why I put up with him the way I do.”

“What am I missing here?”

“We already tried it once. I love him, but it wasn't time. The sex is great, but mentally, he's abusive.”

“You and he were lovers?!”

“Yeah, what's wrong with that?”

“It's just something I don't understand.”

“You're going to be five years older than him when meet Lenny....damn, I shouldn't have said his name.”

“Lenny?”

“Yeah, his name's Lenny. Gorgeous kid. Hung like a mule, and quite obviously will be in love with you.”

“Who are his parents?”

“Won't matter. They won't be alive and the day you meet him, he'll have just gotten returned from foster care into his brother's custody.”

“Man, that's strange.”

“Don't think about age. He's not. When you think about it later, you're going to realize you're not much older than he is mentally.”

“What's that mean?”

“You're twenty seven now, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Ok, consider in fifteen years, you'll be forty two, but you've locked your brain down for fifteen years so you're basicly a twenty seven year old in a forty two year old body. He's seventeen, but he's had to mature faster in foster care, so he's nearly twenty three or four mentally. So, in mental age, you two are only four years apart and nearly compatible.”

“That's far reaching, but I understand what you mean.”

“Mental age. It's basicly how old you feel you are. If you get up in the morning and you quickly ask yourself how old you are, it's the age you tell yourself before you do the math to figure out really how old you are.”

“Ok, so I'm eighteen.”

“Yeah.”

“Me, I'm twenty two.”

I dialed the phone and Mike answered. “Hi, it's me.”

“Hey, I left you messages.”

“I got them. What's up with the suspension thing?”

“The other teams made complaints. Grant fielded them and then, I did what you taught me, I called an official and he told me it would depend upon how you guys are paid and whether contracts are awarded. Since you didn't give anyone a contract and since no pay is directly going to them, we're clear.”

“Mike, I'm telling people we're using the field here and wherever to practice the guys who are playing. We're not saying the practice is a scrimmage while there happens to be a pro ballgame playing, so we're in the clear.”

He laughed, “Ok, so how do I acknowledge the parents being paid.”

“They're being reimbursed for family time given up for our scrimmage.”

“Ok, that's explainable. We're on the same page, so don't worry about it now.”

“But a written complaint was filed?”

“No, verbal over the phone to our superintendent.”

“Ok, if it goes written, then we've got to address it and write out the rebuttal in terms which we've laid out.”

“I'll do that.”

“The other one I've got is you finished the paperwork.”

“Yeah, everything's 50/50.”

“The Chevy dealer?”

“No, that's yours.”

“Ok, did he put on there the three million purchase price?”

“Yes, but he's told me not to charge you anything for it.”

“Mike, write him out a check. He can deposit it back into our joint account, but I want a canceled check showing I bought that damned thing.”

“Ok, I'll tell him.”

“You also tell him he didn't have to do the other. Now, one last question and I'll quit bitching. Ok?”

“Sure.”

“IF he asks you to apply for Australia in anyone other than he and I for cell phone towers, you tell him to save his money because I'll call Kansas City and get it stopped. We argued about that this morning and I'll tell you as I'll tell everyone else. That's not happening.”

“Ok, can I ask why?”

“Sure, the same reason I told you. No one from the investment club has shown or really given a shit to show. When I'm talking about a whole friggin' continent, I'll lock it down so only he and I profit from it instead a bunch of no shows.”

“Ok, now can I ask about loopholes there?”

“Sure.”

“You want you and he to do the whole continent, what about everywhere else?”

“Chris is applying for a heavily populated Asian country like Japan, Singapore, or somewhere like that. Grant is supposed to apply for him on my behalf. I'm footing the bills on that and what I want from you is you to apply for it with me being a minor shareholder in that corporation.”

“Why?”

“Because if he ever loses it in a divorce, I want to be able to testify he owned it before the marriage happened and she's not getting a damned thing.”

“You're seeing a divorce?”

“Yeah, and I'm seeing a marriage to Rob. So, you're seeing how he becomes a justice and how he gets that feat pulled off being gay.”

“He dumps you and gets with her? What happened to Chris?”

“Chris meets a girl and screws around. She finds out and dumps him. Chris thinks he's in love with the girl, so he tries to have the cake and eat it too. It doesn't work and that's when Rob sees her and they realize they're good together in a business relationship.”

“So, he gets together with her in a business relationship to become a justice?”

“Yeah.”

“Ummmm, Jake, I'm going to file that paperwork for everything so you're protected should you and he split.”

“Ok, whatever, but if it doesn't happen, then it's sort of moot.”

“What's that mean?”

“Well, Chris meets that girl at a Mizzou game. He's promised me on his nuts he'll never go to a Mizzou game or even go there for anything. So, if he happens to just find himself walking in his sleep and at that stadium, I'm going to tell you Chris' nuts are going to be in a vise.”

“I don't blame you there.”

“Everyone's happy now, but that one thing sets up the dominoes to fall.”

“I'll protect you.”

“I appreciate it, but it's not really needed.”

“It is. You can say he's a partner and he can say he's a partner, but if your articles of partnership are based upon your relationship and residing in the same bedroom of the same address, then he's going to be giving it up if he thinks he can give you up for that position.”

“Ok, just do what makes everything right. Now, does he have to sign that in order for it to be legal?”

“Yeah, but I'll have him sign it, or I'll pull him out of it now. We had a long talk and we're wanting to sit down with you and he and his mom and I and us all agreeing to some terms which the school is allowing for you guys.”

“What is that about?”

“You're on work study. What it does is gives you a leave of absence and it requires you to take the finals. Because you're still enrolled and it's agreed to by the administration, you're not viewed as truant and can play in the games.”

“Ok, that's decent of them.”

“You've got to take those tests. Whatever you do, don't miss those.”

“I won't. I can probably take them tomorrow if needed.”

“You coming back tomorrow?”

“It's the best day for me this week. It's a loaded week.”

“What's on your schedule today?”

“Well, I'm sitting with Pete Stein and we're going to go over to his beer distributorship here. He's awarding me the certificate to distribute beer here because of them screwing us hard on those invoices.”

“Ok, how much did you get back?”

“Two million.”

“Ok, that's reasonable.”

“Yeah, but what I'm doing is getting Marty over here to manage it.”

“Oh man, he'll love that!”

“Yeah, Dolly thought of him, so that's how good of 'another son' I am to him.”

“You're busy.”

“Yeah, but here's the schedule for tonight. I've got Larry King and then Letterman to do.”

“Man”

“On Wednesday, I've got a morning show and then Leno later that night. And Thursday, I believe, is when we get the key to the city.”

“You're busy.”

“Yeah, now would you do me a favor and keep it quiet?”

“Sure”

“Check and see with a Rabbi what it takes to make a kitchen kosher. This one here told me I had to make it so it's not cooking on the Sabbath. Now, is that meaning Saturday, or Sunday, for the Jewish religion and do all of those practice that?”

“I'll find out. I don't even know that answer.”

“I've got another request but I'm going to wait on it until we can speak privately.”

“Ok, is it personal?”

“Somewhat.”

“Ok”

“I'll call you later. It doesn't need to be done today, but I want to be ready for when it happens.”

“Son, rubbers are bought in most stores.”

“Dad, if that was it, we'd have to go to the farm and home and get the kind which goes on horses. I saw that thing on the jumbotron and you wouldn't believe how the television will make things look huge!”

He laughed, “Oh kid, you crack me up!”

“I swear on that jumbotron it was six feet tall and at least eight inches wide.”

He laughed, “I'll think about that all day long and laugh my butt off. I'll have to tell his mom because she was sitting there slack jawed when she saw the tape.”

“Oh man, that's gonna be embarrassing. I'll be sitting there having the sex talk in front of her and she's going to know what I'm built like.”

“Don't be embarrassed. I think most of the nation right now probably knows you got lucky in that department.”

“I gotta get off here. Petes' over here red faced. He's already admitted he saw the interview as he called it.”

“Ok, I'm sorry if I embarrassed you.”

“Don't be. I handle it with a good laugh. Speaking of a good laugh, I'll tell you how I handled something today and you'll die laughing.”

“Ok”

“Jordan and I went over to a restaurant for lunch. We went in and it served nothing but hot dogs. Now, I was hungry, but you know the last thing on my mind was a wiener. Well, I told the lady I bet mine was more famous than hers. It got a good laugh.”

“I bet it did.”

“But here's what is funny. I asked the Rabbi about kosher and he said I couldn't do it and I told him I was pretty sure all our wieners were cut.”

He let out a huge laugh, “Oh my God, you didn't!”

“Yeah”

I looked over and Pete was bent over laughing. “Well, pops, Pete's losing it on that one. I'll get off here.”

I hung up and Pete looked at me with a huge smile on his face, “Man kid, that's funny.”

“My question is if they only eat at kosher places, what makes that place kosher and us not? The Sabbath thing? Or, do they look around the corner on that?”

“I'm pretty sure you could say they were precooked and you're only reheating them. As long as everything else is conforming to their specs, you'd be fine.”

“I don't want to exclude anyone in our stadium. We're remodeling the kitchen, so I want to get it redone to be sure we get all of our things conforming to their needs.”

“That's considerate. I'd have to tell you I don't know the answer to that either.”

“No, but you're cut.”

“You know that!”

“Yeah, remember I saw you with Max and I saw you with that Tony guy and I saw you with Lenny. What's strange is I didn't see you with your wife.”

“We had sex, but there sure wasn't much in it.”

“Why do it then?”

“I was doing it more for acceptance than I was anything else.”

“Man, I guess that's why some people do it, but I'm just glad I didn't go that route.”

I paused and said, “By the way, you sold a lot of wine out of your cellers, where'd you sell it?”

“Man, you see everything! I sold it through Sotheby's.”

“Good, that's who is going to be selling mine.”

“You've got a wine collection?”

“Yeah, my grandpa collected it. I've got nearly forty years worth and nearly a hundred thousand bottles.”

“You'll probably do really well with it. I'll tell you even some of the less expensive wines went for five and six hundred dollars a bottle.”

“Really!”

“Yeah, so, depending upon he vintage, you could be sitting on a fortune.”

“He knew how to buy wine. He bought a case each and they only drank one bottle from each case. I'm going to pull out a bottle for me and then putting the rest up to sell.”

“You're probably looking at less than what you'd expect.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, figure this. Forty times fifty is two thousand. Then multiply by ten and you've got twenty thousand bottles.”

“Ok, well, it sure fills the basement.”

“How big of a house?”

“It's about twenty four feet wide and fifty long...maybe sixty. I know it's packed floor to ceiling and wall to wall for a long ways.”

“Ok, even figuring twenty thousand bottles and the possibility it's four hundred dollars, you're at eight hundred thousand dollars. It's still a good check.”

“It's covering my house in Moberly. I bought it and want to be assured it's always maintained properly.”

“That's a good thought.”

“I need to call the Mayor about this key being presented.”

“Ok”

I called the office and got answered by a receptionist.

“This is Jake Martin, I'm supposed to receive a key to the city.”

“Sure Jake, he wants to know when you want to schedule the presentation.”

“How about Thursday afternoon. I'm open for then.”

“Two pm?”

“Sure. How long will the presentation take?”

“The ceremony will take about thirty minutes, but I'd schedule an hour.”

“Ok, I'll be there at one thirty and schedule until three. That way if we run a little before or after, we're fine.”

“Ok Jake, I've got you on for then.”

“I need to know his size.”

“Why?”

“I'll give him a jersey for our team.”

“Oh! You might make it extra large or double extra large.”

“I'll go triple in case he wants to put it on over his suit. It'd be easier to slide on.”

“Ok, that's a good thought.”

“Does he want me to wear my jersey for a photo op?”

“You probably should.”

“Ok, thanks.”

I hung up and said, “That was easy.”

“Are you going to call Grant?”

“I need to, but I'm afraid of arguing in front of you.”

“Do you think he'll argue?”

“We argued earlier. He'll probably still be spiteful.”

I dialed the phone and got a message. “It was me calling you. I spoke with Mike about the paperwork and he assures me it's done. I wanted to thank you and tell you I appreciate you keeping your word.”

The phone was answered with a breathless Grant answering it. “You there Jake!”

“Yeah.”

“I heard it ring and was trying to get to it. Are you ok?”

“Yeah.”

“You spoke with Mike?”

“Yeah, I appreciate it.”

“I wanted you to have it in our names. If anything happens to me, you're covered.”

“Nothing's happening to you.”

“Have the guys left?”

“They left and are flying to Hannibal. They're getting off and going to his parents to load his stuff and then getting back on and flying there.”

“Ok, we're cleared to practice.”

“Let me give you my schedule and updates. Ok?”

“Sure,”

“Thursday at two o'clock, I've got the key coming from the Mayor. As far as everything else, it's much the same.”

“I haven't spoken to Mike about those applications yet about the cell contracts.”

“I spoke to him and told him if you asked for what I didn't want to tell you not to waste your money.”

“What'd he say?”

“He wanted to know why not, so I told him.”

“I bet his feelings were hurt.”

“Grant, I'd already told him what I thought and told him I wasn't happy about the people who didn't show to the functions. It just wasn't aimed at his wife and daughter, but it's also about Eric's wife and kids and me feeling like we left a good number of people out in that investment group.”

“What if we include them in the group?”

“Include them in the group and get them someplace which isn't called Australia. Australia is ours, yours and mine and if you don't want to invest in it with me, then realize I'll go it alone.”

“Ok, but you're cutting me thin here.”

“Then let me get it and you just agree to share it with me. We can invest it into our joint account and we'll be fine. Speaking of that, I'm going to have Mike give you a check for three million for that dealer. If you don't want the money, you put it into our joint account, but I want a canceled check.”

“Ok, I'll do that.”

“Good, the profits from it are going there, so don't think it was about me having the profits. This is about me having something I'm responsible for.”

“I'm not getting it because you've now got half of everything I own.”

“Ok, but it wasn't a priority of mine and I want you to know if you need me to sign anything out of my name, feel free to ask me and I'll do it without complaint.”

“Alright, but there's no need to think that's happening.”

“Are we back on the same page?”

“I think so.”

“Good. I appreciate it and don't like it when we argue.”

“Jake, you're not patient. Maybe you'll become more patient, but I need to have time to do things before you get upset.”

“Maybe some day I won't feel so rushed, but right now I've got to treat it like each and every moment could be my last.”

“Can I give you a pointer there?”

“Yeah.”

“If you're seeing things all the way up until 2007 or 2008, then realize you're going to live that long.”

“Ok, I never thought about that, but I don't want to get lax.”

“You might read yourself. Your dad could do it.”

“No, I don't want to. It'd drive me nuts knowing what's going to happen and why.”

“I understand and I really do think your dad was driven by knowing.”

“Just the same, I'm glad he did otherwise I wouldn't have been born.”

“You're right, but I really wish he'd communicated with me more.”

“Maybe he tried. I mean, I've tried and sometimes I don't get heard.”

“I've rethought it and rethought it, but I don't think he did.”

“Ok, so he wasn't as upfront about things as me. I guess I've got my grandma to thank for that.”

“He was upfront, he just didn't get as blunt as you do about it. He was blunt, but I think he thought more for my feelings. You're not patient.”

“Well, I'm not patient. Life's too short and I've got to get it all done now.”

“Take time to breathe and enjoy it. If you don't have those around you to enjoy it, then you're missing a great deal of joy from it.”

“Ok, now, I've got a question.”

“Sure.”

“This work study thing. Is that just for me, or can the other guys do that too?”

“Ummm, I think it's for you and Rob. I'm not sure about everyone else.”

“Ok, I learned Rob's in it too. I didn't hear that from Mike.”

“He wants to speak with you and his wife wants to meet you before she sends him off with you.”

“Why can't you call her your sister?”

“I don't know.”

“She's your sister and I never knew that until I was told. That's sort of hurtful and demeaning to her.”

“We're not much alike.”

“Well, I know she's sure as good looking as you from what I saw when I read Mike, so I guess I should say I know what she looks like.”

“I don't want to give you the wrong impression. We get along, it's just I don't think she views me as being someone she considers an asset to the family.”

“Grant, fuck them. If you'd let your middle fingers fly once in a while, you'd probably find out they'd suddenly have more respect for you.”

“Maybe, but it'd sure give them more to be gossiping about.”

“IF that's what they want to do, they'll do it no matter what.”

“I understand, at least I did get approving glances today with people knowing I'm a winning coach for a pro team.”

“Kind of makes you puff up with pride, don't it?”

“Yeah, it feels good.”

“Well, you deserve it and before I forget, when Pete sells his teams, I've got first option on buying them, so you be prepared for that.”

“Huh?”

“Pete Stein. He owns the St. Louis teams or team and a former St. Louis team.”

“Ok, but they're not real good.”

“No, but we can make them better. It's just paying attention to details.”

“You're going to make me gray headed yet.”

“By the way, I want photos of everyone. We gotta get a photographer to do that. I'm realizing we've not gotten that done and it sure doesn't look good in our office here when we don't have our players proudly displayed.”

“Ok, we'll get on that. Do you want it done here or there?”

“It should be here. Now, what I want you to do is our Spartan guys should practice in our Angels jerseys, so tell them to get rechanged.”

“Why?”

“Wear and tear on your jerseys. If one gets ripped while they're practicing on the Angels, I've got to reimburse the school and that's sure going to look like I'm paying the school for stuff.”

“Ok, that's smart. Keep it separate.”

“It's a headache, but that's the best way to be and one last thing, ok?”

“What's that?”

“You tell our guys if there's anyone who is there to watch, you tell them they need to sign autographs. It might not be a big town, but one fan is more than what we've had.”

“I'll do it. I might have them sign while the guys change out.”

“Good time management. I like it.”

“You're on Larry King and Letterman tonight, right?”

“Yeah, pass along the word so everyone can see I do talk us all up.”

“I'll do it. You have fun now, ok?”

“Sure.”

I hung up and said, “Thanks for the time.”

“He didn't sound bad.”

“No, but I'm just glad we worked through some stuff.”

“You gotta practice with your team.”

“It's a priority, but being a public face for our team is a priority also.”

“I understand. I don't do it enough.”

“Does your dad?”

“He's there every game. His players know he's like another father, but I don't know how the press perceives him.”

“I know we fans love him. I saw him at the world series and was more excited for him than I was the team. The joy on his face was exhilarating.”

“Is that a goal of yours for your team?”

“Yeah, I want to own it long enough everyone sees me as someone who played it, loved it, nurtured it in bad, and had joys in the good. I'd like to have it until I die and then be able to pass it along to an heir.”

He smiled, “That's why I don't think I'll get rid of them.”

“The luster leaves for you. I'll tell you it will.”

“You really paint a depressing picture.”

“Pete, let me say this. When you go through what you're going to go through, you're going to realize the depression all your family felt in past generations. You'll see why they took the way out they did, but you're also going to be tested in ways you've never thought you could be tested.”

“That's why I'm saying you're painting a depressing picture.”

“Ok, I'll get off it, but if you ever need me, you give me a call. I'll come in a heartbeat and you better know I don't care and won't care if it's in the middle of the SuperBowl, I'll pack up and come there as fast as I can.”

“You'd do that?”

“Yeah, because if you call, I know you thought of me in the moment when you didn't think you could need anyone else. I'll tell you now when the demons and the devils are ripping your soul apart, it's going to be hell. I'll be there and they'll let you free.”

“So learn more scripture and have it test me.”

“Be strong and know you'll make it no matter what. You're the one who beats the odds and quells it.”

“Because I now know the history.”

“For a giant part. You know why they're mad and you know why they feel robbed and you know the one thing you can't afford is to ever drink your own brews. IF you do that, you're gone.”

“I won't do that. My dad's forewarned me our family is susceptible to alcoholism.”

“Your susceptible because the alcohol allows in the spirits. It starts with the feeling of euphoria and it ends in the downward spiral of loathing, anger, pain, and death.”

“There you go again.”

“I can't stress it any stronger. I worry for you and know this is going to be starting very very soon for you.”

“Man, you paint that picture and get me right into it.”

“Ok, I'm done. I've got to let it go. You're failing to realize it's magnitude on what I normally see.”

“What do you normally see?”

“I see happy lives. I see people living their lives, meeting their loves, and forming bonds, families, and have just a few points I need to tell people to watch out for.”

“And mine is totally different.”

“Have you ever been to Silver Dollar City and rode the Fire in the Hole rollercoaster?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, look at that ride as your life. I'm seeing barricades. I'm seeing danger signs, flashing caution signs, and I'm seeing tire marks screeching out of control through them all to a deep cavernous pit of one wreck right after another and another and another until you're feeling you're hanging off a cliff and one wrong word and suddenly, you go over the edge and you take that plunge. That freefall to the crash at the bottom is what I see and you're alone in that car. You're holding on and you're screaming and when that's happening, I don't see you taking the time to reach out and call me. For that matter, I don't see you thinking anything but total abject fear and panic. It happens in so many ways in your life that you don't even think about what I said as suddenly coming true.”

“Man.”

“Pete, if you think of me, you'll call out and I'll give up everything to be there. I don't think you'll think of anything when the time comes and that's why I just see what I saw. It's terrible and it's the worst life scan I've ever seen.”

“Not even of people you know are going to die?”

“With people who are going to die, I don't see life. I read them and there's nothing else there which gives me life signs. I can't tell them they're going to me that special someone and I can't tell them they're going to get that dream job. It's just not there. I tell them what I see and I don't divulge anything else unless I see an alternate plan and life course.”

“What's that mean?”

“Ok, let's say we go out here and we get to the hallway. We could turn left and we could turn right. You know right doesn't take us far, but if I insisted we take that way rather than left, there's a reason I told you. It could be someone up the hall laying in wait, or it could be someone you meet who takes you to financial ruin, or it could be an earthquake happening and the building collapsing with you in it and you dying in it.

That's why I lay it out and insist you go the other way. IF you don't listen, or wont' listen, it's telling me you are destined to die, or go that path. I can insist and if you go the other way, it means you're destined for the life plan which means success.”

“Hmmm, so there's no alternative for me?”

“The dominoes are already falling. Your dad is dying, he's found love, the step mom and children are back in your life and you're really enjoying life because the love is all around you. You know your dad is going to die and when that domino falls, your world begins it cascading fall of those other dominoes.”

“I'm just a player in the game.”

“You're a student. You have to learn in order to show. Your lesson isn't about teaching, it's about surviving and being assured it won't be the same.”

“I'm not following the teacher and student thing.”

“Here's how it was explained to me. In our world, there are trinities. You've got the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. You've got past, present, and future. You've got time, space, and dimensions. .

In lessons, you've got the teacher, student, and show person.”

“Ok, what's a show person.”

“It's got to be knocked down to principals. A student is an open mind wanting to absorb things. A teacher is someone who teaches and plants seeds of knowledge. A show person is someone who knows but assists the teacher in showing others principals. They help teach, but they're not a lesson master.”

“So, if a teacher uses a blackboard, it's a show person.”

“Yeah. I was told I was a show person when it came to tennis. I would play and rather than compete, I was so overwhelming to my opponent, it wasn't beneficial to the opponent, and it wasn't beneficial to the audience. It was pure annihilation of my opponent to meet the ends of me receiving the prize money.”

“Sounds barbaric.”

“It was. Consider the tennis court for me my forum or arena. I'm the Spartacus of the tennis court.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I could take you down and show you, but let's watch this tape over here. I've made a video to remind me what I'm not to be on a football field.”

I went over and popped the tape in the vcr. I hit play and showed my playing in a tennis tournament. Then, I showed my tricks, and how I handled the ball.”

“Man, that's just amazing.”

“Right, but did you enjoy the competition? Or, did you enjoy the demonstration of me beating a competitor into submission? There wasn't a competition, only a exhibition and decimation.”

“You're right.”

“So I'm a show person.”

“I'm understanding it better.”

“When you complete the tests, you'll be a show person. You can tell about what you went through, but the ghosts, the curse, and the ordeals you went through will be gone. They can only imagine what it is you went through, but only one person will actually know and that's you.”

“You'll know.”

“Yeah, and right now, what I've got to tell you is so unbelievable, you don't even want to believe it. All I can say is afterwards, we should get together and put it into a screenplay so it's shown.”

“Oh man, that'd be a way for me to demonstrate what it is.”

“Yeah, but I don't know if you'll do it, or not. You're going to respect those ghosts and you're going to have such profound understanding, I don't know if you'd want to do it.”

“What do you think?”

“Ask me that afterwards. I'll speak with you and we'll see if it's something you'd want to do.”

“I sense you trying to distance yourself from it.”

“I'm distancing myself because if I dwell on it, I'll get sucked into it with you and this is your quest.”

“How soon?”

“Let me think on that answer. I know what I want to say, but it might be self serving if I give it.”

“Let's go down to the distributorship.”

“Ok, I need to make two important calls and then, I can go.”

“I'll be right out here.”

I closed the office door and called Mike.

He answered, “Hello?”

“I don't have long, but here's what I want you to do.”

“What's that?”

“You free up my cash and you sell that keyboard stock, my Kmart stock and you sell everything you don't see me needing in the near future and you hold onto that money.

When Stein takes his brewery public, you buy every bit of that common stock you can and you buy it at all costs. You let me know when I'm about broke and I'll tell you if I think we should sell everything else and go for it.”

“What's the priority in that?”

“It's coming fast. I'll tell you it's going to be within the month and it's something dire if I don't get that stock.”

“Why?”

“I'll tell you later, if I told you now, you'd think I'm a total fruit cake.”

“It's dire?”

“Yeah, if you saw what I saw in reading that man, you'd be scared to death for him.”

“What'd you see?”

“His dad dies. He starts to recover and sometime next year, his step mom and sister are killed in a car wreck. His little brother and him are left.

Just when they're preparing that funeral, the little brother goes back to his room and blows his brains out. This man doesn't know it, but there's one friend in his world to anchor him and she says one word wrong and he totally loses it and cuts her lose.

For fifteen years, he flounders and when he's seeing the light and coming out of it and regrouping, he thinks he's safe and suddenly, someone buys all that Common A stock and takes over his company.”

“Huh?”

“They give the first release of common stock power.”

“Yeah.”

“If you own it all, it has more power in it than the entire board of directors preferred stock. I want that common stock because it protects his company and it's the only way I can see to stave off him losing his company in the future.”

“You'd do that for him?”

“Mike, I'd do it for my worst enemy after what I saw in that man's future. There's loss and then, there's loss. This man is seeing it that there's a light at the end of his tunnel of darkness and there's a coast guard boat saving him from that sinking ship. Now, what would happen if the coast guard boat got torpedoed?”

“Oh man.”

“I gotta see to it that it's protected. If it costs me a fortune, I'll protect it.”

“Ok, I'll get ready.”

“You tell Grant we're investing in Australia with dividends because I've got to have my ready cash available for this buy when it happens.”

“You're really serious about this.”

“More serious than anything. Now, just do it for me please.”

“Ok, I want to hear the story sometime.”

“You'll get it. I want it recorded because he's making jokes about it being a screenplay for a horror story. He has no clue.”

“Bad?”

“It's scaring me and it's got me knowing what Job felt with he was being tested. It's just terrible.”

“Ok, don't dwell on it.”

“I'm not, it's the one way I can see we'd have a way of saving him.”

“Thanks for calling.”

“Thanks for being there.”

I hung up and called Tom. “Tom?”

“Yeah.”

“You sound busy, I'm sorry.”

“Mondays. It's always busy.”

“I hear ya.”

“What can I do for you?”

“Pete Stein is here.”

“Ok, what's he want?”

“It's not what he wants, but way different, I need to ask you a question for the league in such a way you're going to be thinking you're my lawyer.”

“Ok”

“Tom, you know I can read people, right?”

“I'm aware.”

“Well, I read him. His immediate future is such that his dad is going to die within the month and by next Summer, he's going to have so much death around him, he's just going to be losing it.”

“How much death?”

“His dad is married and has two kids.”

“Right, they're all real close and she is helping Pete run things somewhat at the brewery.”

“Well, she's going to be dead by next summer with the daughter. They're going to have a car wreck and on top of that, Pete is going to grab ahold of the boy like a life preserver and that boy is going to go up to his room and blow his head off.”

“Son of a bitch!”

“Yeah, it's all saw and there's nothing I can do to help it. What I want to know is if he speaks to you and give his approval for me, can you use that?”

He laughed, “You're serious!”

“Tom, I'm worried about this. He's going to suddenly have those teams and he's going to be sinking fast. I'll tell you more when we speak, but what I saw is just a horror story of magnitude.”

“Ok, you tell him to call me and I'll say I got his approval if he can't make it to the meeting.”

“It's not he can't make it, but his dad is buried that weekend.”

“Oh shit.”

“Yeah, it's that close. I see this stuff happening and I just can't tell him how close it is.”

“So you want the approval without him knowing he's giving it as the owner to be?”

“Right.”

“Damn, that's tricky.”

“I know, but that's another vote besides yours and I really don't want to be blackballed.”

“You won't be, I've already got four approvals. They've heard you speak and saw your interviews and they're just blown away by the way you are and how everyone's gravitating towards you and pulling for you. They think you're the future of football because you're getting kids excited again.”

“Let's hope. I'll speak with him and ask him to speak with you. If he agrees, I'll call you. Ok?”

“I see why you're worried. It is like I'm sort of playing the part of your attorney.”

“It's a position I don't like being in, but one day soon, I'm going to sit down and tell you his whole family's story and you're going to just be horrified.”

“There's a book out about it. It might be in your library there. Look up beer barons and see if it's there.”

“Ok, I'll do that”

“I'll forewarn you it's some really heavy reading.”

“I'll scan it. I might learn a few things I wasn't shown. I imagine I could give more in depth background than they could.”

“That's scary. I know that book is a trip through a lot of stuff I wouldn't wish on my family. They're cursed.”

“The curse is real. I'll tell you about it and you'll just be overwhelmed.”

“Ok, when are we going to see each other?”

“What are you doing Sunday?”

“IF you're not playing football, I don't want to see you.”

“I'm playing, we're going to be in Dallas. Afterwards, I could pop over and see you.”

“Do that.”

“Ok, give a call and see if you have to have reservations at Big Mama Thornton's place.”

“You know that place?”

“Her name just popped into my head. I know she's got the touch too and I know she's someone I need to meet.”

“Ok, you can get in there, but you can not drink.”

“I won't.”

“It's a bar.”

“Really?”

“Well, it's a blues and jazz club with a whole lot of beverages served.”

I laughed, “Ok, it's a bar with live entertainment.”

“Yeah.”

“Good, I'd like to surprise her, but I already think she knows I'm coming.”

“Man!”

“It's interesting. I'll see you then.”

I hung up and went out into the office. I said, “Jan, I'm going with Pete to that distributorship. If anyone calls, take messages, but I won't be in the office for long when I get back.”

“Ok”

We left the office and rode down to the employee entrance. He had a limo waiting and we got in.

I sat next to him on the back seat and said, “Pete, I need to ask you a question.”

“What's that?”

“I spoke with Tom Benson. As you know, he's the President of the league. Would you speak with him and give your opinion of me?”

“Why?”

“I'd like to have him know what influential people think of me. I'm meeting Mayors, and I'm being interviewed by celebrities, but I don't know how I'm coming across and I don't know if I'm being perceived as an idiot, know it all, or just cocky arrogant asshole. I'd like for everyone to give him their opinion and have him speak with me as my mentor as to what I should do different if I need to, or keep doing if I'm doing something right.”

“Sure. What I've seen and what I've gathered, you're really doing a lot good. I've got amusement parks and I've got animal parks and I know a mess from success. You're putting everything together to get it going in the right direction and I think you'll be an asset to the league.”

“I worry. If you see what I got and what we've done in two days, you'd really be amazed, but it takes time.”

“Don't worry, it all takes time. I'm giving you a distributorship and I know it's not going to change over night. I know it'll take work and change and it's most likely going to have more people upset before it has people happy.”

“True, but I've got someone who is great about getting results. I know he'll have all those guys doing amazing things to get results.”

“Good.”

I pulled out my phone and dialed Tom. “Tom?”

“Yeah.”

“Pete Stein is with me, I've asked him to give you an opinion of me. I'm prepared for whatever he says, so gather all the input and mentor me with it and I'll really be appreciative.”

“Ok”

I handed the phone to Pete and went up to the front of the passenger compartment. He spoke and before long, he said, “He would like to speak with you.”

“Oh, ok.”

I came back and said, “Tom?”

“Tell him thanks and I'll use it in my advisement of you.”

“I appreciate it.”

I hung up and said, “He thanks you and tells you he'll use it in advisement of me.”

“He's your mentor?”

“My grandma knew him and I know his daughter. I didn't even know he owned his team until I was seeking advice about the Angels. I called him and he gave me his opinion. Afterward, I asked him to mentor me.”

“What'd he tell you about your purchase of the Angels?”

“He gave me excellent advice. He told me the guy was in debt with the savings and loan crisis and he told me buying a team is always a good investment because there's only so many of them. He said his has paid for itself several times over and he'd do it all over again.”

“And what has he done to mentor you?”

“He came up and scouted me. He told me he'd tell me the truth about my abilities and did. He said he'd have offered me twenty five million if I was available.”

“You doubted your abilities?”

“Well yeah, I mean, I knew I was so-so, but everyone else was acting like they were blown away. Now, were they acting like they were blown away because we had had some real sucky quarterbacks previously? Or were they just being kind? I didn't know. What I did know was we had the Redskins coming to scout me and before I bought a team, I wanted a second opinion of someone who wouldn't be afraid to tell me the truth.”

“And he gave you a glowing report.”

“Yeah, but now I'm at this point of being a lame duck and not knowing if I'll get approved by the league. So, what I'm doing is I'm enlisting reports from influential people so I can have support on my side in case the owners don't see me as a viable candidate.”

“Why wouldn't they see you as viable?”

“I'm in high school. I'm already skirting rules and while that would look good for my high school career, it'd look bad to the owners because they could say, “Oh, he's skirted rules to get what he wants there, what am I going to have to put up with if he decides rules are made to be skirted here?” So, I've got to cover all my numbers and hope for a Bingo soon.”

He smiled, “I think you'll make it. He said you've got four already approving you.”

“Good, I wonder who?”

“He didn't say and he probably won't say, but I'd say they all talk amongst themselves and feel each other out as to what everyone else is thinking. IF there's glowing reports flowing already, I'd say there are more out there who are agreeing.”

“Hmmm, that's something I never thought about. It'd be kind of funny if the Dallas guy has already given is approval and I'm in his head before the game.”

He laughed, “Is that what you do?”

“Yeah, it's a big psyche game. Did you see the beginning when I do flips down the field and then do that throw?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, that's a psyche out. It tells the team this little high school player is damned good and he's just did something they can't do twice in a row. What you don't know is I've got another trick up my sleeve which is a total brain fuck to the other team.”

“What's that?”

“My first play of the game, I run it backwards and let the other guys chase me at full speed. I outrun them and when I get that touchdown, they're just blown away. It's like they suddenly see me doing it backwards and they know I just ground them under and can do it faster going forward.”

“You've done this?”

“Yeah! It was awesome. I used the jumbotron to show me where to run and how to skirt my flankers.”

“You're going to cream a lot of teams. I can tell that for you it's a thing of getting a tactical advantage and using it.”

“It's all a part of getting something for my team to grasp ahold of and use to rally. Basicly, if I can show our team from the get-go the other team isn't much, they know we've got the game won and it's just a scrimmage to them. If I can't get it done, they know we've got to hunker down and beat them through brute strength.”

“And that's happened before?”

“Yeah, we did it on Sunday with Tampa. We hit extra low and lifted their defense up off the ground and sent them flying. Rather than hitting at their knees, we hit them at their ankles. After a few times of picking themselves up off the ground, the other guys are finding out they're whipping themselves and the best way for them to survive is to let my guys through. As you saw, my guys used that mistake as an open door to get down field and make themselves open to me passing.”

“Dallas is a very adapt team. They can adjust real quick.”

“Good, it'll keep me on my toes. It'll keep my guys on their toes and we'll learn a good offense game.”

“How do you handle that?”

“It's relatively easy. We don't let them hit us hard and let them on through. By us letting them through, all their guys think they can sack me, but what they fail to realize is they just freed my guys to run like banshees to the end zone so they're open and I can get them the ball.”

“Aren't you afraid of being sacked?”

“No, not really. I've got a whole field to run around in. As long as I don't go out of bounds and as long as I don't go into safety, I'm giving my guys the time they need to be where they need to be. Once I throw, I duck down and let the collisions happen.”

“You know that's rather simple in plan. It's like you've told your guys to get down field at all costs and you're using your passing ability to get them the ball.”

“Yeah, that's the goal is to get touch downs. As fast as I can get them, it gets me off the field and it gets the other guys wondering what they need to do in order to get the advantage.”

“What if you find guys who hit your guys hard?”

“Let them through. Let them wear themselves down and save our strength for when they're worn down and start hitting back. By then, we should be ahead and we can make them real aware we're not going to show much weakness.”

“You had one guy really hit hard. Is he ok?”

“Yeah, that was DJ. What you don't know is I saw that happen before hand and forewarned him. What you should have seen if you paid attention was he got back up and he used his head into that guy's ankle as a battering ram. The guy saw DJ rally from it and not show weakness.”

“Man, you saw that game before hand?”

“Yeah.”

“How's it going to go for Sunday when you play Dallas?”

“Hang on, I'll tell you.”

I touched his thigh and said, “We win. It's a tough battle. The score is 14-7 and we have Bake get a touch down. Chris gets the other touch down and Bake gets the wind knocked out of him. We put Jordan in as substitute and he makes a play which really has us up the field.

The Cowboys see us able to substitute our spare quarterback into a running back's position and they're blown away. They begin to wonder as to the announcers if we can substitute at will all our other players. To mess with them, we put our punter in to hike me the ball once and he hits their guy low and in the solar plexus to where he gets knocked down and taken off the field. That's when the first real solid observation gets made we're playoff capable.”

“Are you?”

“We'll be in third place. It's not our play which gets us but our previous team's losses which keep us out.”

“You see all this.”

“I see it and if you dare use that score to bet on, I'll be pissed.”

“Do you bet on it?”

“Dude, I'm not Pete Rose! I'd like to be in some Hall of Fame some day. I'd like to be there and be promoting so many products, they have them still sitting on the floor under my statue.”

“Hold up, you want to promote things?!”

“Yeah, but whatever I promote, I want a long term contract. What I mean is I want a fifteen year fifteen million a year contract. I sell and whatever sales are, we take down as a basis at that contract signing. If sales go up fifty million, then I get ten percent. IF they go up a hundred million, then I get twenty five percent. It's only fair because there has to be a direct correlation of my name on the line versus increased sales.”

“If you were spokesman for the brewery, what would you want for commercials?”

“Fun commercials. Honest commercials. Commercials where I'm playing football against horses facing backwards so I can say I've played some <camera shot to the horse's ass> in my time, but this is the first time I've met an entire team of them.

It gets everyone laughing and it's funny.”

“Any other?”

“Yeah, me sitting down and not in a football jersey. Maybe having me out by a mountain stream and talking about the quality of the beer and how it's natural ingredients make me proud to endorse it. It doesn't show me drinking and it doesn't show anything but a glass of beer getting drawn up at the end.”

“Man, that'd be nice.”

“For the sentimental out there, I could be shown out on the football field with a puppy. It shows me hugging and showing the dog affection as he grows until he jumps up on that beer wagon and sits there with a proud pose looking forward. Then I can say, “Go be all you can be. That's what it's about.” Once again, it's not got the beer in it and it's pulling in dog lovers and it's got an inspirational message which crosses to the customers.”

“Damn, you just brought a tear to my eye on that one!”

“There are a lot of them like that. We change them for the seasons and we pull in different spirits so when I'm out there in front of everyone going through my daily life, I can be seen as being a spokesman.”

“I'm not following what you mean there.”

“Ok, me getting the key to Akron. We show it and we say, “The key to your future is being an inspiration to all.” Then, you show your logo and it's a direct correlation of what happened in my life to your product.”

“Interesting.”

“Let's say I'm seen on Saturday Night Live...which I will. You could show me in my tights without my shirt on and have me turn and say, “This holiday season when you're feeling all sexy and you've got on your tights, just remember you're out there without pads and protection. Drive defensively and drink responsibly.”

“I like that.”

“It sells a little sex and it's a play on that locker room interview, but it gets a message across which has real meaning.”

“Can I use your phone?”

“Sure.”

He used the phone and spoke to someone. “I'm sitting here with Jake Martin. I want him to get a contract to be our spokesman. He wants a fifteen year contract and fifteen million a year. Give him bonuses of ten percent for fifty million in increased sales and twenty five percent for one hundred million. For two hundred million, give him shares equaling the dollars worth of sales.”

I waved frantically. “You messed up.”

He looked at me and said, “What!”

“The ten and twenty five percent is on that fifteen million...not on the sales!”

“Don't worry, you make more this way.”

I rolled my eyes. “Do you realize what you just paid me?”

“Yeah.”

He spoke again on the phone and said, “Get him the contract and get someone over to Akron to film him receiving the key to the city. It'll be his first commercial. It won't take long to edit and we can have it out on the air real fast.”

He hung up and handed me my phone back.

“You messed up Pete.”

“Why?”

“Dude, do you realize I know what you're going to buy when you go public? You take over market share which is going to increase your sales worldwide. When you buy that brewer down in Mexico, your sales go up something like ten percent. When you buy in Japan, your sales go up like forty percent. You're tying my contract into those sales which have no bearing!”

He smiled, “Thanks, you told me what I hoped would be true and your prediction is worth what you earn.”

“Ok, but I'll insist on making commercials for all the various elements of your brand.”

“What's that mean?”

“Your brand is going global. If you want me there, I'll be there making commercials all the way.”

“What's that mean for you in pay?”

“Nothing. Let me make a commercial a week and we'll try to get as many locations as possible.”

“Why?”

“Because you're failing to realize you're going public. That in itself is going to flush your company with money. You buy brands and you really are going to need to go to town advertising. I realize this and I realize you're going to have to have different segments catered to across the board. You'll have elderly, young, middle aged, white collar, blue collar, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Portugese, German, Italian, French, and all segments of those markets.”

“You really think so?”

“I know so. You buy big and you buy small and you've got money going into places which up your sales. If I'm going to be paid several hundred million a year in bonuses alone, then I better be earning that pay.”

“What!”

“You just created the monster which pays me. I was meaning the percentage on the fifteen million, but you based it upon your earnings. There's a whole different money pool you're putting me into and you just didn't know it.”

“Man!”

“Let's work the contract and get me to making commercials. Heck, if I'm this lucky with all of my endorsements, I'll be way wealthier than everyone.”

He laughed, “So I just gave you a great contract?”

“You gave me a standing in the line of the goose which lays the golden eggs. It's darned near like I'm third in line behind you with our palms out.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. There'd be you, your step mom, your brother, your sister, and then me on that list respectively. That's exactly how much I'll be making. CJ is in there, but I think by year four, I'm surpassing her income.”

“She's not making that much now.”

“You make her rich with that one percent.”

“You know about that!”

“Yeah, I see it, but I also should tell you that bank share is going to have you really pulling your hair out. You get it taken care of eventually, but I'll tell you it's not for a long while.”

“You see my board and know the percentages.”

“I see it, but I don't understand why you gave to your banker.”

“I needed to. It's incentive for the public offering.”

“You should've given an option for Common stock in the future.”

“You see us issuing common stock in the future?”

“Yeah, you have releases real fast and furious. The value of them goes up so fast you need to reissue them to keep the stock down. It dilutes the shares, but it doesn't dilute the values.”

“Hmmm, I need to learn more about all that.”

“You do a million shares at first. You value them at sixty dollars, I think.”

“You sure?”

“Six billion.”

“Hmmm, I don't know how you got that figure. I think it's only worth three.”

“Then you do me a favor and you put those Common A into my hands for that thirty bucks each. I'll buy as much as I can and it'll keep the sovereignty of your company in the future when it could come back to bite you.”

He looked at me and frowned. “That would keep control in my hands?”

“Yeah, it'd make me immensely wealthy, but you'd not have to worry about me versus an outside group from another country.”

“You're really worried about that.”

“I see threats. I see tactical errors and I worry about you. You come through that tunnel and you think you're safe. You're finally happy and wham! You're suddenly broadsided by something which you have no clue is happening. I'll tell you now it will be nearly enough to put you back under.”

“Your taking that would buy me protection?”

“Yeah, that Common A stock is what is going to really be your Achilles heel.”

“It'd make you wealthy and would keep me protected.”

“Yeah, but you really need to keep that confidential because it's inside trading like a motherfucker.”

“Oh man!”

“How much could you get?”

“Let me see.”

I pulled out my phone and dialed Mike, “Hello?”

“It's me. How much is my Kmart stock worth?”

“I just sold it for one and a half billion.”

“Ok, what about that keyboard stock?”

“Probably a hundred and fifty million.”

“The Intel stock?”

“Don't sell it. And don't dare think about selling your Apple stock or your phone company.”

“So, I'm looking at some one point six five billion.”

“The billion you've got in the bank and that cable company and your assets for the phone company.”

“Contact Sprint and see if they want that cable company. If not, see if Time Warner wants it. If they do, tell them I'll sell it for a quarter of a billion. It's getting a mediam price for it, but they could see it going into them a lot better than into me.”

“Ok, I'll work on that. You really gave me a load of stuff here.”

“I know. I appreciate it. I'll call you back. I think we need three billion for what I want to do.”

“Ok”

I hung up and he looked at me, “You already had him working on this?”

“In a way. I had him liquidating stock but to be honest, I was pretty sure it would be going into a company called Microsoft. We had spoken about that so he's probably unsure why I suddenly need three billion.”

“You own shares in all those stocks?”

“Yeah, it's worth quite a bit, but it's value increases more than what I actually know it's worth.”

“How's that?”

“Ok, when you first release your stock, you think it's worth A amount of dollars. Now, lets say the public thinks it's a great deal and says it's worth A+, then you know it's worth the plus side of A. IF they say that amount stinks, then it's worth A- which is the minus side of A which makes your stock price go down.

Now, if you say it's worth thirty and I buy it at thirty, then it's worth three billion. Your company is suddenly worth nine billion because you've got your shares over there and that's worth approximately double of what mine should be worth, but mine are worth three.”

“So I'm thinking it's worth three and because I own preferred, it should be worth six and you are worth three.”

“Right.”

“Now how do you think I'm going to lose my company?”

“Let's say we get to a point where the country is in sad sad financial shape and the dollar overseas is worth about half of the European dollar. Now, if I buy the stock over there for sixty billion, then that would make yours worth whatever the dollar is based upon that currency overseas.”

“SO if the dollar is worth fifty cents compared to their dollar, they could buy that stock and it'd be worth twice as much as what my preferred stock is worth?”

“If they buy the Common A. If they buy Common B, or Common C, then it's not worth as much. What they do is they figure it out and they sink all their money into finding the Common A and targeting it to buy. If I've got it locked up, they'd not have that opportunity.”

“What if they bought Common B?”

“It has no power. It's worth half as much as A. What you'd see is them driving up the cost of my stock by buying it and nullifying their position.”

“That's smart.”

“It's a mess. Basicly put, the Common A is the one worth something period.”

“How can I legally get you the stock without being seen as cheating?”

“There's an initial offering and an inside offering. What that is, is you offering the stock to employees first. That's an inside offering. It rewards your employees because they get the stock offered to them first. If they take it, they're smart because once it goes out to the public, it shoots up in value.

The Initial offering is you offering it to select outsiders before you offer it to the public. People like bankers, stock brokers, and such get it, so you're in a better position.”

“So by having you on contract, you're an employee, therefore I can offer it to you and you can either take some or the whole of it?”

“Right. If I take it all, then what I'd tell your people to do is to offer B to other employees and see if they take it. If they don't, you offer it to stock traders and they usually will take a huge chunk of it.”

“Why?”

“They turn it around and offer it to the people who buy it from them. They make profit on it by selling it at a higher value which is what your stock is valued at when it hits the general market.”

“By offering B instead of A, it drives up your stocks value by twice what it's worth.”

“Right. So, if it hits the market at thirty and shoots up to sixty, then it's got mine at one twenty. A nice profit, and suddenly I'm at way in the billions for net worth.”

“Your tax load is terrible.”

“No, I invested it for the duration. I pay tax when it's sold. Yeah, I lose, but they're going to be sold when hell freezes over for me. This investment is something which drives up my net worth and is something I can borrow against should I ever need to. I doubt if that will ever happen because as you saw, my lawyer steps in my way on my investments and won't let me get rid of what is really worth a lot.”

“But if he sees you could make a fortune.”

“Don't think negatively. You're failing to realize what I'll be making from my endorsement of just your company. With that income, I hardly think I need to sell stock!”

“I see.”

“What I'd like to do if you don't mind is I want an option on this Common A stock to trade it for preferred when the coast is clear.”

“I'll do that.”

“Will you do it for other stock you own in other companies?”

“You sound like you know something I don't know.”

“Your partner Lenny, his family, and you start a company which is just amazing. I won't tell you what it is, but if I used that idea, you'd see me blowing all the fast food and restaurants off the map. You do it brilliantly with them and you keep the company private which is even more amazing. Because you do, you really make those shares in that private corporation worth their weight in hundreds of tons of gold.”

“Really!”

“Yeah. So, let's switch subjects because I don't want to divulge more, but I'd tell you if you wanted to trade your shares of that company for my Common A, I'd do it in a heartbeat.”

“Sounds spectacular.”

“Yeah.”

PlayMaker

Notes From Retta:

This story wouldn't be possible without a good person by the name of Wes. Fortunately, he downloaded it while it was still able to be gotten on the Google Groups site.

For those of you who know, my Google Groups site is shit. Please don't get that confused with “the shit”, but just plain shit.

It seems I can upload a chapter to the site and it will promptly lose the thing. When you go to click on it, you will get an error message which states the page you've navigated to is no longer available. Needless to say, I'm not please because their customer service sucks.

I'd lost the first twenty five chapters of the story, so without Wes having them, I'd be fucked. Thankfully, he had them, so he gets a great BIG HUGE Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

From My Keyboard To Your Heart,

RettaMichaels

RettaMichaels@Gmail.com

Copyright Notice - Copyright © 2009 by RettaMichaels

The author, RettaMichaels copyrights this story and retains all rights. This work may not be edited, changed, or duplicated in any form, media [ known or unknown ], without the author's expressed permission. All applicable copyright laws apply. RettaMichaels does NOT give editorial consent in order for this to be published. If it is deemed unpublishable in it's context, permission much be granted before publication or changes occur.

Trademark Notice – 2009 by RettaMichaels

“From My Keyboard To Your Heart”,”'Retta”,“RettaMichaels”.“Retta”,“Rhett”, and “Rhette” are all Trademark of RettaVonnMichaels L.L.C. None of these trademarks may be used, or authorized without consent.

Disclaimer: All individuals depicted are fictional, and any resemblance to real persons, locations, or incidents is purely coincidental.