Chapter 15

I woke at six, realizing that my hand was still holding a foreign breast, and I could feel her hand along with Zena's on my thigh. Zena liked me to hold her and she liked to hold me. I wouldn't have thought Shannon would want that, but she obviously does, whether it's subconscious or not.

I gently kissed Zena's neck and slid from bed. It took me only a few minutes to shit, shower, and shave. Back in the bedroom, I kissed Zena, waking her so she could get ready for work.

As soon as the coffee was started, the other folks in the house began waking. Margaret was first, as she needed to help in the kitchen for the bed and breakfast. About the time she finished giving me a warm full body hug, Shannon came in and stood in front of me with her head down. She didn't say anything, but reached out a hand and placed it on my side. I took the gesture meant that she wanted a hug, so I wrapped my hands around her and gave her a gentle full body hug. When I let her go, instead of her stepping back and away, she kept hold of me for several seconds then raised her head to look at me. Instead of kissing her lips, I gave Shannon a soft kiss on the forehead. She smiled then hurried back to the bedroom again.

Joanie was her usual impish self and came in and straddled my lap. She was trying to stuff one of her tiny titties into my mouth. She was doing a good job of teasing me, getting me hard under her. She said, "Watching you and Zena last night had me so hot, I was smoking." Shannon sort of helped me out, but she was so distracted it wasn't all that much fun. I wish we had more time, because I'd love to walk bowlegged the rest of the day."

Betsy was pouring herself a cup of coffee and said, "You're just the horniest little girl there ever was. If you worked on one of those ranches out in Nevada, you'd end up the richest working girl ever."

"But I wouldn't get to play with who I wanted to play with," Joanie complained. "I like to play with you, Betsy, Maggie, Zena, and now even with Shannon. I love to sit on Tom's fat dick, but I love it more when he makes love to me. I guess I'm just going to have to find me a man, maybe a man and a woman. Hmm, I already have that. I know, I need more men."

My mom came in the front door and gave me a very nice hug and kiss. Shannon was coming into the living room when we were embracing and just stopped with her mouth open. Zena was following her and came up to mom and gave her a hug and kiss too. She said, "Hi Mom, come to see your kid off this morning?"

"Something like that, I wanted to remind him of the appointment with his attorney. I always like to say good morning to Tommy. That's the one thing I've missed since we had to kick him out of the nest. He was always good for a great hug first thing in the morning."

Mom noticed Shannon's trance and asked, "What's the matter, Shannon, haven't you ever seen a mother hug her son?"

Shannon said, "Not when they are both naked and the son almost has an erection."

Mom laughed and said, "The operating word here is "almost." Since he's young and a male he's usually hard as nails first thing in the morning. You just have to remember not to bend over in front of him, or any guy, under those circumstances. That's how I get Tom's dad wound up in the morning. I tease him real good and bend over to get something and usually get a very nice present for the effort."

Shannon covered her mouth with her hand, saying "Ohhh."

Mom had hold of Joanie by a nipple and said, "You have to learn how to get your guy, Shannon. If you tease them just right, they will do anything you want."

"And everything you don't want too," Shannon said, turning away.

Dad came in the door with his ever-present shit-eating grin on his face. "So, Son, did you remember you have an appointment with the attorney?"

"Yes Sir, and mom just reminded me as well."

Dad had walked over to give Zena a fatherly kiss, and was standing close to Shannon as we talked. As natural as ever, Dad just put his hand around Shannon pulling her hip to his. He said to mom, "We should have brought over some of those pancakes you made this morning. I'll bet even Shannon here would want some, right girl?"

Shannon's eyes and face were full of panic and fear.

Dad let her go and we could all see the panic in her eyes. Dad quickly said, "Shannon, I didn't mean to scare or upset you."

Shannon said, "I just have to get used to how friendly you all are. I even wanted a hug from Tommy this morning. When I went to kiss him and he kissed me on the forehead, some sensual kiss that was."

Zena said, "Well, now that he knows you want a sexy kiss, he'll be sure to give you one next time."

"Like I said," Shannon said with emotion, "I just have to get used to you guys."

Mom said to Shannon, "You didn't have any problem being nude with everyone, so why are you afraid or apprehensive about men?"

Uh oh, I didn't think that was an area that we should get into right then.

Shannon looked at mom then said, "Mrs. Parks, I'll tell you and everyone else that wants to listen. I grew up at my uncle's house because my dad was killed in a truck accident. My uncle had two older boys who were very mean, just like him. He terrorized my aunt and my mom, taking them both in front of all of us kids whenever he wanted to."

"When I was thirteen, he bent me over the table and took my virginity in front of his wife, my mother, and both of my cousins. No one said a word except the boys, who only said that they were next. They would have been, but my uncle said they couldn't fuck me until I was on the pill. He was safe as he had had a vasectomy."

"That day, my aunt and mom took me to the doctor and got me on the pill. They told me that I needed to help take care of the men in the family, as it was our responsibility. I can tell you there was never any tenderness or love shown. The boys would fuck their mom, and if she didn't make them feel good, they would slap her. They did the same to my mom and to me. When I was fifteen, I finally figured out that what they were doing to us was wrong so I took off, ran away. I told my mom what I was going to do and all she said was, "Good luck." I've never seen gentleness like you all show to each other. Mr. Parks, I'm sorry I acted like you were being mean. I was just afraid of you."

Mom was now holding Shannon and asked, "How did you live, what did you do then?"

"Easy, I lived on the streets. There were plenty of men who would pay to fuck a young girl. Then one day a tough looking lady took me home and taught me all about women. I liked that a hell of lot better than what I had to do with men, so I've been women oriented ever since, and have always been suspicious of guys. So far, Tommy's been perfect. He's never touched me improperly or even made a motion like he was going to. I even held his hand over my breast last night. I think he remembers because he gave my tit a little squeeze. I slept touching him and Zena all night. It was the best I've slept in a long time."

Zena and I looked at each other, and she just smiled at me. She gave me a kiss and said, "You better get going, you have an early appointment."

Shannon asked me, "Can you give me some money so I can get some flyers made up at Staples?"

I gave her a hundred dollars, hoping that was enough. When I was getting kisses from all the girls and mom, Shannon came up to me and gave me a very nice kiss. She said softly, "I want to be your friend too, Tommy."

Zena and I left at the same time and while walking out to her car she said, "Wow that was a revelation. Your mom and dad shocked her into talking. They are so loving; someone like Shannon just opened up to them. We may have a new friend after all. Hope you like freckle faced redheads, I sure do."

I took the Jeep this morning and enjoyed going downtown in the open car. When I went up to the attorney's office, I noticed several empty offices in the building and wondered why they were empty.

Aunt Pauline's attorney was a nice older guy that I had met several times while she was alive. He welcomed me into the office and said he had all of the paperwork ready in the conference room.

He had me sign dozens of papers and he had me fill out a bank signature card. While we were doing more paperwork, his elderly secretary went downstairs to the bank and filed the signature card with the head teller.

When we were done Mr. Misegades said, "You're my last client, Tom. I promised your aunt that I would make sure everything was as she wished it in her will. That you finally met someone and married was good because I have wanted to retire. Helen, my secretary for over thirty years feels the same. You know now that the building has raised their rent so high, most of the other tenants are moving out. By next month, I'll be gone as well. Here, Tommy, here's a list of attorneys for you to chose from. If you have any questions about any of them, call me. I'm going to retire but I'll still be consulting with several companies, including the one you work for. You know, Tom, you are a fairly well off young man now. Save your money and invest like your aunt did so you'll have an income for the rest of your life. I know you're levelheaded and won't blow your inheritance. You've done very well so far. Good luck, Tom."

Mr. Misegades sent me off with a new leather briefcase jammed with documents. He said the first thing I needed to do was to get a safe deposit box and put all the papers in it. I had the names of attorneys and the name of the accountant that my aunt had been using for her bookkeeping. I would need to contact that person soon.

I went downstairs to the bank to ask them if I could just use the branch out by the park. They assured me I could, but wanted me to get a debit card and order checks before I left. They said the checks would be delivered to the branch.

While at the Jeep out in the parking garage, I called Bruce to see if anything important was shaking. He said I was clear this morning, but that Zena had said she may need me later. I told Bruce I was busy with some errands but would call again later.

First things first. I drove back out to the branch bank near the park and rented a safe deposit box and begged them to copy all the documents for me so I could leave the originals and take the copies with me to study. Next, I wanted to transfer my personal account to the same bank, but keep a separate account for the inheritance stuff. They understood. I also wanted to open an account for the bar and found out some other things that I may have to do but figured that Gerald may already be doing for me.

I was given some temporary checks for the business and I still had the checkbook that was my aunt's. I was on the signature card, so I could use those checks if necessary. Before I left, I thought that I should check the balances in the accounts so I could make arrangements to pay Bert back.

The teller pulled up the amounts and wrote them on a note pad and handed me the sheet of paper. I looked at the numbers then looked at the lady. "Are you sure about these numbers?"

The teller rechecked the three accounts and said, "These are the correct amounts."

I wandered over to some chairs by one of the desks and sat. I looked at the sheet of paper again. There were three accounts. The checking account had two hundred and seventy four thousand and some change. A money market checking account had a million, seven hundred thousand and a savings account that had almost three million in it. Every thing together was over five million dollars. I kept thinking, that's million, as in six zeros. I folded up the note and put it in my pocket. I pulled my cell phone and called the accountant's number.

The man was very cordial and said he would enjoy meeting me and brief me on how my aunt used to operate. He told me to come to his office right away, as he didn't have any appointments till this afternoon.

The accountant's office was nearby, so it was only five minutes later that I was being seated across from an older man with thick glasses, who had a stack of papers for me to go over. He explained how she had kept her finances and how he and the bookkeeper were responsible for collecting rents and, with the attorney, worked out leases for the commercial properties. He said the properties were right at eighty-five percent occupied and as long as I kept the rents low, I should remain pretty full.

"You are a little heavy in your checking account right now and should probably transfer some to your money market account. Since there are going to be a lot of properties come available during this distressed economy, I would suggest you stay fairly liquid so you can take advantage of any opportunities. Do you have any ventures you might wish to do?"

I laughed, "Over the weekend, before I knew I had the kind of money that is available, I made a deal to buy a tavern or lounge type of bar in the downtown business park. The owner wasn't doing well, but I don't think she was operating correctly. Anyway, I was able to purchase her license and inventory and now I need to negotiate a new lease. If the owner won't make a deal, I'll find somewhere else. Anyway, the deal is excellent and should be successful. I have an excellent experienced manager that is excited to have the opportunity to make the place successful."

Mr. Perkins, the accountant asked, "The bar isn't The Office is it?"

"Yes Sir, it is."

"How are you going to change the operation that will help make it successful?"

I thought for a second to organize my thoughts, then explained, "First, I'm going to change the hours to do business in the afternoon and evening week days only. Today, we will be open from two until eight. We might be able to cut that back to three till seven. I wanted the hours shorter so we would have only one shift. It will probably remain two till eight, and that is only six hours, so we will have an hour prep time and an hour clean up by the employees. That should take care of most of the employee problems and costs. Next, I solicited some advice from a knowledgeable restaurant and bar owner who assisted me getting insurance and some more favorable terms on games, music, and is negotiating some better terms on liquor. We are going to open with a limited hot snack or appetizer menu that will bring in some additional revenue. Another idea I have is to rent out the facility for evening and weekend parties. Since there is plenty of parking, it would be convenient for corporate parties. I will do some redecorating toward that end, and work on promoting the idea."

"Who did you get your advice from?"

"Sandra Mahoney."

Mr. Perkins got a huge smile on his face. "You're just like your aunt. You don't know anything about something, but jump right in. You're smart enough to seek out the best for advice and help. Sounds like you're going to have a decent place. The bar business is always a gamble, but you're getting an easier start than most. How much did you have to give for the license?"

"Eighty-five."

Mr. Perkins whistled, "You stole it. What else did you have to pay?"

"I bought the inventory at the former owner's cost."

"What else?"

"That's it. Rita wanted out and gave me the partials, the entire equipment inventory, and a freezer full of food. I had an attorney make up all the contracts and do all the witnessing of everything."

"Who did you use."

"A friend of mine, Gerald Smithing."

"I know him. He works for the Forest Hunter firm. He's a good man."

"Did you have that kind of cash available?"

"No Sir, I borrowed it from my boss so I could cover the check I wrote by noon today. I did see that my checking account has enough to pay him back, so since this is an investment, using that capital should be all right."

Mr. Perkins said, "It's your money. You can use it any way you wish. You should probably set up some kind of salary for yourself from the proceeds of the estate."

"I think I'll wait. I don't need any personal money and I'm not quitting my job, so I think I'll just use the corporate money for corporate stuff."

"Do you wish to retain me as your accountant?"

"Why would I change? Are you going to change how you treat me compared to my aunt?"

Mr. Perkins smiled, "You do have to pay me quite a bit for my services. The bookkeeping service is not cheap, and your taxes are complex enough that they are not cheap. Keeping your properties in line with your attorney is a job in itself and again is not cheap."

"Can I get someone as good as you for less money than you charge?"

He looked at me real funny then asked, "You're serious aren't you. You just asked me if any of my competition could do what I do cheaper. Excellent, I like you. You don't beat around the bush, but you are your aunt's nephew."

"How about I keep everything status quo for right now? I have a lot to learn and unless something is broken, why try to fix it. Let me get settled with a good property attorney if Gerald can't handle it. Do you have any suggestions on attorneys?"

A couple, but you should see if you could get Gerald to work for you and get him in contact with me. We should be able to take care of you. You work for the management company for the properties, so I think you're set. Make sure you use Bert as a source of information. He knows his stuff. There is a lady I'd like you to meet. She was a good friend of your aunt's for many years. Her name is Veronica Highsmith."

I laughed and said, "I've already met her, but neither of us put together that Pauline was my aunt and that they knew each other."

"Veronica is a little strange, but very smart. She can help you with some purchase decisions. Use her."

"Thank you for you time, Mr. Perkins. You've been very informative. I need to make sure my new venture into the bar business is on track, so if we're done, I need to get going."

"Thank you for retaining me, Tom. I look forward to doing business with you."

I sat in the Jeep a second to review everything. I think I had taken care of what was needed this morning. I called Bruce to hear everything was still quiet. I told him I would be in shortly.

Before going to the office, I parked in our private lot at the bar and went into the back door of The Office. It was still only just before noon, but the girls were all dressed in their new outfits, looking at some new games. There was some quiet Stevie Ray Vaughn playing over the speakers. The smell of fresh popcorn permeated the whole place.