Chapter 15: Secrets Revealed

His mother was discharged as planned on Saturday morning. The day before, Kathy stripped the master bed, washed all the bedding, and aired the room. Peter felt guilty when she gave up another school day to spend with him as he cleaned every surface with Pledge and Pine-Sol. He hired the neighbor boy, Michael, to mow the yard again. Janet walked into a clean, fresh-smelling home. She didn’t comment as she glanced around, checking the kitchen and living room, before going to the master bedroom. Kathy and Peter followed her and noticed her hesitation as she held the doorknob and swallowed nervously.

“It’s okay, Mom,” Peter encouraged her softly. “He’s gone. And he won’t trouble us anymore.”

Janet sniffed and turned to face them with a timid smile. “I know,” she whispered. “It’s silly, but part of me still dreads the thought of him being—”

“I’ll always be here,” he assured her, holding his girlfriend’s hand, “and so will Kat.”

The older woman smiled again and opened the door slowly. She noticed the freshly made bed and clean scents. “You cleaned ... everything,” she remarked. “Thank you.”

“This was all Kathy’s doing,” he boasted. “The stairs make things difficult for me.” He fudged a little to validate Kat’s contribution and dedication to her future mother-in-law.

“Thank you, Katherine,” Janet said gratefully. “I dreaded coming home. You made it wonderful.”

“Of course, Ms. Shipley,” the native girl replied shyly.

They left her to settle in while they prepared a light lunch. When Kathy found her asleep on her covers, she pulled the duvet over her and left the tray on her nightstand.

Sunday morning, Janet reappeared, looking more rested and energetic. She was dressed for church when she came downstairs and accepted a fresh cup of coffee from Peter. Kathy was preparing a simple breakfast of eggs, bacon, and potatoes. Every time Peter tried to help, she chased him away with a kitchen utensil. “I need to prove to your mom what a good little Squaw I am,” she growled, threatening him with dismemberment.

While serving them, Peter helped his mother sort out her medications for the correct doses and times. After breakfast, she asked him to stay behind while his girlfriend gave her a ride to Church. “I think it’s time for Katherine and I to have a candid conversation, woman-to-woman,” she explained. He noted Kat’s resigned expression and shrugged.

While they were gone, he cleaned the kitchen and went to the front porch with his coffee and the Sunday Seattle Times. He had nearly read through it all when he heard the asthmatic wheeze of the orange goblin coming up the road.

“So ... how did it go?” he asked cautiously when his girlfriend exited her car and crossed the yard. “You didn’t scalp her, did you?”

She snorted as she removed her flip-flops and plopped into the other rocker. “Puyallup don’t scalp their enemies,” she retorted, “we cut them up for fish bait.”

He chuckled as she leaned her head back and closed her eyes. “That bad, eh?”

She sighed and took a sip of his coffee before deciding to get one of her own. He followed her inside. “No ... I guess it was to be expected,” she said as she poured a cup. “She is reverting to that bible-belt ideology and wants what is best for her baby boy—I get it. But it’s annoying when people like her take such a myopic viewpoint.” She sighed heavily as she stirred in her cream and sugar.

“Let me guess,” he mused. “She wants you baptized and exorcised of all your pagan demons.”

“Yeah, something like that. She hinted at dragging me in with you for services, but I headed her off without completely rejecting her. I reminded her that my heritage is as sacred to me as her faith is to her.”

He nodded appreciatively. “Well done. Are you two still speaking?”

“Your mom got quiet after that, but I think she was more thoughtful than put off.” She came over and stood behind him, rubbing his neck with her free hand. “She never brought up the two of us.”

He looked at the clock, “When do you have to pick her up?”

She bent down and nibbled his ear. “I’m not. There’s a special thing after the service, and they’ll bring her home after that.”

“Hopefully, they won’t show up with torches and pitchforks,” he grinned.

She kissed him. “We have a couple of hours ... what do you want to do?”

He reached up her skirt and cupped her butt cheeks. “Let’s go play cowboys and Indians.”

“Lead on, pale face.”

According to Forbes, Costco was expanding rapidly, with a market capitalization of $1.2 Billion and a return on equity of over 350 percent. Peter was considering them for his next Option play. He placed an order to buy 50 June Calls at the $40/share strike price. At $4.25 per contract ($425), he committed just over $21K. It was executed on the market Monday morning, and he set his Stop Loss at $4.

After a light breakfast, the three of them loaded into the orange goblin, and Kathy drove them up to the Bellevue BMW dealership, where they wandered around checking out the selections. There were dozens of Model-3s available, and they narrowed their search to three vehicles. Their preferred one was a light metallic blue with black trim. They had been on the lot for over 15 minutes without being approached by any sales staff.

“I wonder if anyone plans to come help us,” Peter grumbled as he rolled along under his girlfriend’s power. She enjoyed pushing him in the chair, and he tolerated her assistance.

“It’s not like there are crowds of customers,” she grumbled. So far, they had only seen one other couple checking out the cars—and they were approached immediately by a middle-aged man in a red sports coat with a clipboard.

“Maybe I can coax them into helping us,” he smirked, pulling out his cell phone.

“It’s a beautiful morning at Bellevue Audi, BMW, Volkswagen! My name is Marissa; how may I direct your call?” a sweet, young, feminine voice answered.

“Hi Marissa,” he replied, trying to match her bubbly tone. I’m Peter Shipley, and I’d like to speak to someone in Sales.”

“Of course, would you like to make an appointment?”

“No, that won’t be necessary. We’re already here,” he said, “We’ve been here for nearly 20 minutes and have been ignored by everyone. We’d like to buy this teal-blue M3 but may have to go elsewhere.”

“Oh...” she stammered. “Um ... let me find someone to assist you. Can you hold—”

“I see several people watching us from the showroom windows,” he interrupted. “Are you a salesperson, Marissa?”

“Well ... yes,” she replied uncertainly. “But I am very junior to—”

“Why don’t you come and help us out? I guarantee you a cash sale and a nice commission,” he suggested.

“Yessir!” she replied excitedly. “Um ... who should I look for?”

“You can’t miss us,” he replied. “Look for the two lovely ladies and my wheelchair-bound self.”

Ironically, once it was clear they were serious customers, several ‘senior’ salespersons tried to impose themselves and send Marissa back to customer service. They ignored Peter and addressed Janet with predatory expressions. There was an awkward stare-down when Peter suggested they go back to ignoring them and let Marissa take care of their needs. “Or ... we can take our business elsewhere,” he stated sternly. Something about his presence and demeanor convinced them there was more to the boy than they suspected.

Marissa was thrilled to complete her first sale. The transaction took about 2 hours, and they were home before lunch with a new car. Kathy made a quick detour to collect the mail before heading to school to turn in his assignments.

The following weekend, they processed another $8,500 in sales, with Pinball Wizard as the most popular game. Peter uploaded the Beta version of Canyon Shooter, and the feedback was mostly favorable. One anonymous user blasted them with non-specific critical reviews, creating discord among other users who defended PAK Gaming. Peter ignored the drama and focused on the insights from recognized gamers, who were respected for their honest opinions.

On Sunday evening, April 29^th, he prepared a summary report for the PAK gaming meeting planned for the next day after school. He also studied his portfolio holdings and Options.

With the proceeds from his Oracle short added to his portfolio balance, he was now sitting on:

20,000 MSFT @ $18.50/sh

5,000 ORCL @ $27/sh

1,000 AAPL @ $47.5/sh

5,000 AMD @ $9/sh

1,000 IBM @ $23/sh

1,000 INTC @ $44/sh

5,000 CSCO @ $24/sh

2,000 LOT @ $24.25/sh

1,000 COST @ $43.5/sh

He was also held several options contracts:

MSFT 200 MAY 11.5 Calls at 13½ ($270,000)

ORCL 100 MAY 25 Calls at 5.6 ($56,000)

ORCL 100 MAY 30 Calls at 3.30 ($33,000)

COST 50 JUN 40 Call at 4¼ ($21,250)

After updating all his holdings and valuations, he compared them with the figures on his E-Trade account. They were a perfect match! His eyes grew wide, and he gave a loud whoop of excitement that startled Kathy, who was sleeping behind him.

“What...?” she sat up groggily. “Everything okay, babe?”

He flinched in embarrassment and tried to shut down his computer screen. He hesitated and turned his wheelchair to look at the half-dressed angel sitting up in his bed. “I’m sorry, Cher, I didn’t mean to wake you,” he replied excitedly.

She dangled her long, beautiful legs off the bed. “What’s got you so spun up?”

He chewed his lip for a moment and nodded as he decided. “I was reviewing the company and my personal ... stuff,” he remarked. “Come here. I want to show you something.” He turned to the computer and minimized his portfolio spreadsheet, pulling up the company report.

He made room for her to settle into his lap and took a moment to sniff her skin before kissing her shoulder softly. “First, these are the PAK Gaming Co. numbers for last month. Since we started last March, we are up to nearly $25K in profits.”

She gasped at the spreadsheet on the screen. “Holy shit! That is awesome, babe!”

“It is,” he smiled. “Once we release the Canyon Shooter, we’ll probably double that.”

She pursed her lips and whistled softly. “We’re gonna be freakin rich!” she breathed.

“Yeah,” he replied hesitantly. She turned to him and slipped her arm around his neck.

“What, baby?” she asked curiously. “Is there something else?” She studied his face as he wrestled internally. Then he looked deep into her eyes and saw something that reassured him. “Sonny?”

“Okay,” he sighed. “Before I get into this, it changes nothing about us, okay?” He grimaced when her expression clouded. “No! Don’t freak out. This is a good thing. Amazing even. I want to preface what I will show you by reminding you how much you mean to me ... which is everything.”

“Okay...” he felt her posture stiffen as she braced herself.

“No!” he exclaimed, sensing her discomfort. “I mean it, Kat,” he blurted. “I love you! And I want you to know that everything I’m about to reveal is about ‘us,’ not just me.”