Chapter 20

We got into North Bay at a little after eight. We all went to our house in two taxis. I opened the door first and knew there was something wrong. I could detect the faint smell of cigarette smoke. It was old but not that old. Being at the front of the bus all that time kept the smell of cigarettes away from me.

I pulled Jane off to one side for a moment and whispered, "Someone was in our house. Don't say anything that can harm the family. Tell the other girls though. I don't want to upset Laura." Jane nodded in understanding. I looked around for additional evidence. Nobody smoked in our house but visitors still could. Eventually that would stop too.

I found a shoe print of a man's shoe on the linoleum. An ashtray had a butt in it. I checked around the house and found four more butts. Two were in one container.

By now everyone but Laura knew of what I had found. I took Paige and Jennifer home but outside I said, "There were five butts in the ashtrays. The person or persons were in the house long enough to do a great deal. I suspect that there are now listening devices in the house. I am almost positive that the phone now has one on its circuit. Talk normally but just watch what you say. If you are too quiet or talk too proper then they'll know that you suspect. Until I get a device built, don't even whisper in your house either."

Nora and Jack were happy to see us back and examined some of the things that the girls purchased. Paige acted happy and said about what she had coming in the next few days.

Jack asked, "Where did the money come from?"

"I sell songs remember. I have enough money to indulge my future wife and our friend."

Jack was reminded of this, which he probably wanted to forget. I said, I have to leave, we have a guest. These two ladies can fill you in. Goodnight."

Angela put on a coat and came out onto the veranda. I said the same things as I said to Paige and Jennifer.

"Who would do such a thing?"

"I'm making a lot of money now. People may want to find out what I can do then find a way to use the information before I do."

We went back in and Angela began to talk normally or at least tried to. She called her dad and said she was back and asked for a ride. Laura called soon after and said that she would be home in an hour or less. There were a lot of questions and I let her answer any way she wanted. If the phone were tapped then the person would know when the article came out later.

Giovanni came over and we invited him in. Jane sat with us as we discussed the two days of intensive combat shopping. Angela was going to mention riding in a Rolls but I stopped her and added that it was a tight squeeze getting everybody in. She already knew that she had to keep quiet about where we stayed.

I called a taxi and when it came I did the same thing I had done to Jack and Nora and gave the girls the go-ahead to talk about the Browns after we left.

The Browns rented the same as we did, but their house was much more normal especially for the area. The house was smaller than ours and they still had three children. The door opened when we arrived and Jena waited for us. The walk was not shovelled but I didn't know how much work had to be done in the house or even the work ethic of the family.

Jena, I recognised from school. She was even in my grade eleven English class. She was a low to mediocre student but that didn't make her stupid. Barry was there sitting in his wheel chair. He was quite thin and his arms were large for his body.

I explained what I had done for their dad then explained what was going to happen in the next few months. I then handed over fifty dollars. "This is from your dad. It was for expenses until he gets back."

Jena asked, "Why did he give it to you?"

"I think it was because I can better protect the money. You know about me or should by now."

I turned to Barry and asked, "Your Mom said you fix radios. How much do you really know?"

"Are you that guy that runs a repair shop?"

"That's me."

"Well I don't know as much as you by a long shot. I read a lot of books and I tinker with the radios I get my hands on. Usually I'm able to get them to work but I have little in the way of test equipment."

"Do you want a job working on some of the units coming into the shop? I can't pay that much but I can have you trained at the same time."

"I'd love — "

Jena jumped in, "Can't you see my brother is in a wheelchair. How is he going to work for you?"

"Jena, I see two strong arms, a quick mind and a willingness to work. Do you only see the chair?"

"He can't do that work."

"I think he should get a try then say whether he can or not. I did mention training."

"Have it your way."

I said to Barry, "Show me your shop and books."

He didn't look happy now but did turn around and rolled the chair to his room. It was not very clean but then he was a boy or more properly a young man. He had some simple test equipment and three books. Two radios were in the room but nothing was apart.

I closed the door and asked in a whisper, "Barry you still have the job but I have to know some personal things."

He was nervous and said, "What kind?"

"Can you go to the bathroom by yourself. That means with no assistance from anybody else."

"Ah, I can but it's hard."

"Do you have any bars mounted in the bathroom to allow you to hold on so you can support yourself?"

He looked at me questioningly and said, "No, should there be?"

"Yes. You need things that allow you to slide off and onto your chair without falling. Now are you able to stand if you have something to hold onto?"

"I can do that for a while but I can't take any steps."

"That is fine. Now one that may hurt. How much education do you have?"

"I was in grade eight when it happened. I couldn't go back to school."

"There is some good and bad news I have for you. You get the job and you have to learn much more electronics. The bad thing is that you have to take correspondence courses to get not only your grade eight but thirteen too."

"Why? Anybody that can read and is interested can do this stuff."

"Barry, you don't know me at all. There are many calculations that have to be made to work on some circuits. If you don't do this you will be working in the dark and hoping to get something right. A resistor that is unidentifiable can be deduced by analysing the circuit. You need a great many other small things to allow you to advance."

Taking another track, I said, "You have to trust me when I say that I have a great many patents to my name. I have the potential of making millions of dollars every year. To assist me you need to have an education. You can stay as a repairperson but what happens when I open a new business and I need a manager? You may be that person or maybe, even with an education, you can't do the job. The only way to find out is to learn all you can."

"You want me to manage stuff for you?"

"I said might. A person can go to school all their lives and cannot manage a department in a business. I am doing things now that no one has ever done before. I am pushing back the boundaries of physics. I can prove a little of that and you will learn more in the next few months. I am offering you a chance, not the job. You need to learn. In fact an adult now has to learn for their entire life.

"I'm going to shoot a beam of light to the moon and know to the thousandth of an inch how far away it is. I am going to make more money than you ever believed existed. You can grow with me if you can hold on."

"I can try."

"That is all I ask."

That night I whispered into the girls ears what I suspected in more detail. The first thing I did was undo the screws under the phone and have a look. Sure enough there was a small diode across two terminals. I used long nose pliers and a screwdriver to remove it. The device went into a small container for storage. Perhaps I could get a partial print off of it. The butts were collected and stored separately.

Rather than search more I just went to bed and felt violated for what had happened. Instead of giving information to person's unknown, I slept in my old bed and so did everybody else.

The girls were shown the diode and I explained how it worked on the telephone to send information to a tape recorder some place. The person planting the device was either lazy or thought that they didn't need to be as careful because they were dealing with a boy, some girls and a widowed housewife.

Things started to get better only after I found a third compound that was good for my LCD. Jamie was again worried and I had to reassure him all the time or I feared he would fall apart. It was tough to be a teenager.

After English class both Alice and Jena wanted to talk to me and as they eyed each other I just went to my next class. At lunch, I phoned North Gate and left a message for James. He would have to meet me after school if he could or at home later. Pagers and cell phones had to be invented soon, at least pagers.

I loaded the phone with coins and called John's office. He was not there but I gave my name, which was instantly recognised. I said, "Please tell John that my house was infested when we got back. Add that I am developing the extermination method. Ask him to find out about the black Buick too."

During most of the classes I worked on the pager. I had to smile because if I did this right the pager network could be used for the cell phones later. The LCD though had not been completed yet. The pager might be the first device to incorporate it instead of the wristwatch.

By the end of the day I was bummed out. The pager could not be fabricated yet because not enough of the vital parts had been developed.

During music I played the sax to the discordant sounds around me. I told Jamie where I would be for our talk, and that I may not be alone, but would try to be.

During gym he changed close to me again and it looked like he was flashing himself to me. I smiled back wondering what was going on inside me. I was getting an erection now. During the class I looked at Jamie. He was a beautiful specimen of a young man. He pretended to be very macho but he was a marshmallow with a very thin crust. I didn't know if he was gay or not. He possibly was trying to find his way. The same things may be happening to me and I was over sixty years old and should know my sexual orientation by now. When I was young I had male friends but nothing had gone very far. It had been exciting at the time and I found that it was not what I wanted.

When the school day ended, I hurried outside and found James waiting. I opened the door but didn't get in yet. "Hello James. How are you today?"

"Great but it is still cold and I am not used to it yet."

"I opened my big mouth too much on Friday and got docked a million dollars. Instead of three and a half I got two and a half."

James was not over it yet so I showed him the paperwork so he would know for sure. Jamie came running over with a smile and I had to smile back. He was so beautiful. "I have a short meeting now."

I closed the door to let James read and think while I talked. "Hi Jamie. Glad you can make it. It's still hectic. There is lots of things I have to explain and a lot of things to share with you but out in the cold is not good."

"You could come to my house."

"I would like that but not just yet. Now, before we get interrupted, I wanted to say that all boys including me experiment with our own gender. If you repeat that then I will be hurt by those you feel threatened by."

Jamie looked like he was relaxing. I added, "During puberty and after, everybody sets their sights on a male or a female. The truth of the matter is that it is not like black and white. Nobody is that way. All of us are grey. Some are almost black and some are almost white but most of us are just close to one extreme or the other. Do you follow what I am saying?"

"Yes I know. I have been dealing with this for a long time."

"The next thing to make sure you understand is that we experiment to see just where we belong. There is nothing wrong with this as long as nobody is hurt. The next thing is our culture. Girls can kiss with nobody raising an eyebrow but not two guys. In lots of the world, women are only used for breeding while the guys have fun with each other. Some of this is cultural but a lot is what is really inside us and what we want. So what I am saying is that I am your friend, I would not say anything. Even if I were your enemy I would not say anything. It is something that can destroy a person because of the way others view it."

Jamie said with a smile, "I didn't know about the other countries. Maybe it would be fun to visit."

"If you did you would get lots of takers. You have a beautiful exterior but I know how soft you are inside. Next time you slip don't make a big thing of it. Just laugh it off. It looked like you were ready to cave in any minute and that is not good. Just remember I am your friend and I would say nothing."

Jamie jumped at me and hugged me. It felt odd in a way but it felt good too. The odd was not all cultural hang-ups though and I wondered if in this life I would be radically different.

Alice must have seen me for she hurried through traffic to get close. I said, "Here comes another beautiful person but she has big sharp teeth and is not a marshmallow at all."

Alice looked at Jamie as if apprising a competitor but smiled at me. "Hi Jeff. I wanted to talk about last time."

"Yes?"

"Not on the street silly."

"I don't know if I can talk now but would you like a ride home?"

She thought for a few seconds and said, "Ok."

I opened the car and crawled in. Whispering to James I said, "Put that away and don't talk about any business. You're an uncle."

James folded up the paper and put it in his pocket and said, "Sure nephew."

"Can we get a ride? I don't know where one destination is."

"My time is yours."

Jamie got in the back then Alice did. I closed her door and got in the front. "Uncle James, this beautiful lady is Alice Henderson. Alice this distinguished gentleman is a maternal uncle. He's a smooth talker so watch out."

Alice was polite but I could tell she was not that thrilled about meeting an older man.

"Uncle James this other distinguished gentleman in the back is Jamie Sutherland. Since you have the same first names I doubt if you will forget the other. Jamie this is Uncle James."

Jamie was much more animated and much more polite too.

We drove Jamie home first and I saw it was in the same neighbourhood as the Browns. In fact their house was across the street and just around the nearest corner. We parted with a wave and a polite thank you. Again this was not what it was like in even thirty years.

When we stopped at Alice's home she invited me in. "You were going to talk to me."

I said to James, "I'll walk around the block in a few minutes."

"Ok Nephew."

James left and he had not been given even a, "Thanks."

"Come on in Jeff."

"I don't want to. Tell me what you want."

Alice's features changed then reformed again. It looked like she was back to playing games. She looked ready to cry. "Won't you come in?"

"No thank you. What is it you wanted to talk about?"

"I wanted to tell you that you were right last time. I wanted to apologise. For the way I acted."

"The matter was not that important but I'll forgive you if it makes you feel better."

"But I wanted to show how important you are to me."

"Your words are good enough Alice. I'm sorry because I have to go. I still have a great deal to do."

"What is it?"

"I can only say it is related to Toronto. I will see you tomorrow at school."

Alice looked like a fisherman that saw a large fish getting away. "Ok, we will talk tomorrow."

James was waiting in the car when I arrived. He got out to meet me and said, "Jane said I had to wait out here today. Is she upset with me for some reason? I can fix it somehow."

"No, James. It is nothing like that. We all went to Toronto, as you know. When we got back I found that our home had been entered. There was a bug on our phone and I'm sure there are more in the house. We cannot talk in there. A few weeks ago a black Buick followed me. I do not think it is a physical threat but more of a spy thing. They want to know what I am doing and see if they can make some money too. It could also be a threat to my business actions though and I hate to be thought of as paranoid."

"I would be paranoid in your case. Do you want to go some place and talk?"

We can do it in the car but soon we have to sweep this vehicle too before we talk."

"Sweep?"

"Search for eavesdropping devices. You know; bugs."

"Oh!"

We sat back in the car and I said, "Can I have the paperwork back?"

"Oh sure."

"Talk to Northern Plastics on my behalf. I can get you some papers to say you are working for the North American Development Incorporation."

"Where and who is that?"

"Me. Now ask to have a corporate accountant look over their book in preparation to present an offer. Mr Boise may or may not have moved on our suggestion. I was with you because I was your favourite nephew. Don't mention my name as the purchaser. If they dig they can find out but it will take a while. I plan on offering only a hundred and thirty thousand."

"Ok, anything else?"

"You said Central Automotive has a newer building and should go for a hundred and fifty. Offer them a hundred and thirty. The company will stay where it is and I will hire the previous owner to manage my company for me. Hurry with this property if possible.

"The neighbourhood across from Central Automotive has eighteen large residential properties. See what you can buy all of them for. I have your figures for what they are worth. Get them for twenty percent less. Offer to rent back the homes to any that want to for three quarters of what I have to pay in mortgage. You may have to go to the county seat to see who owns what first. Keep this low key if possible. Tell the homeowners that the owner is going to expand on the Central Automotive property and their homes will be worth less than they are now. That is the truth because of the heavy construction.

"Go to the fire marshal's office and find out about the order to tear down the old paint building. If it looks like they are stalling call Mr Mason immediately. If the order still stands, offer ten thousand for the property and I will tear the building down myself. The man is probably sweating bullets about now on how to comply with the orders.