Chapter 2: The Last Straw

Friday, June 15^th Peter, Alan, and Kathy skipped excitedly out of the Orca Games headquarters building in Belltown. They each carried a small folder with a copy of the contract they had just signed, offering the corporation exclusive licensing rights to the four games they had created so far. Peter also held a Bank draft for $45,000 that would soon be deposited into the PAK Gaming Co. bank account, bringing their gross capital to over $100,000.

“We never have to copy another disk!” Kathy sang excitedly as she clung to them, her arms locked in theirs. “We need to celebrate! Where should we go to celebrate?” She was so giddy her energy was infectious to the boys on either side of her. They both grinned and talked over each other as they debated a suitable venue for a celebration. Ultimately, they wound up back at their favorite Round Table pizza parlor, at their regular booth. They spent over an hour burning through quarters in the arcade, ensuring that they still maintained high scores in all their favorite games. After a while, they settled down to pick over the remains of several pies they had consumed earlier.

“So, what is the big picture?” Alan asked suddenly, then belched loudly. “With the company that is?”

Peter broke it down to specifics. They were approximately 75% finished with the Beta version of Dungeon Lords and he projected an initial release date of July 31^st, for the Beta on the Gooney Board. “I’m thinking we don’t settle for less than 20% when we are ready to negotiate licensing,” he surmised. They were still receiving numerous orders but were told to just bulk mail them to the corporate headquarters, unopened and they would take care of everything. “I’m setting aside 30% to cover all our corporate taxes and after all is said in done, we still have about $72,800 free and clear.”

“Do we have any projected expenses?” the Asian boy asked animatedly.

Peter regarded him shrewdly. “Nothing major, we don’t need to upgrade our burners anymore since we don’t have to make copies. Are you suggesting a distribution?”

“I’ve been thinking that it would be nice to have my own car,” he replied simply. “I’ll have my license soon and it will be awfully nice to be able to go anywhere I want when I want.”

“Let’s vote then,” Peter suggested. “All in favor of a $22,500 distribution?”

All three hands went up. Kathy’s eyes lit up as she produced the checkbook and made out the checks.

“Can you run me back over to the bank so I can deposit this?” he asked his beauty queen.

“Of course, sir,” she replied smoothly, kissing his nose. “I got big plans for mine.”

“Oh?”

“Hell yeah! I’m gonna get me a Camaro!” she laughed dancing excitedly in her seat.

“I thought I was going to buy you a Camaro,” he replied glumly.

“Pfft!” she scoffed. “I’m an independent woman, son. l can buy my own damn Camaro.”

The next day Peter transferred most of his checking account balance to his E-Trade account, adding another $70,000 to his available capital. He had just under $310,000 in cash and decided to start planning his next Options play. Like Oracle, he was obsessed with the downtrend of Hewlett-Packard’s stock. The Saturday IBD showed that they once again reached a 52-week low, closing at $29.65 which was 30% lower than the $43.50 high just two months ago — yet they still maintained the highest accumulation/distribution rating of A. Knowing what he did about the reliability of their computer peripherals, not to mention their huge market share — he was convinced that this was just a fluke or some kind of orchestrated pressure to force it well below its market cap valuation. He pulled up the last four quarterly earnings reports and reviewed their financial statements and SEC filings. The only red flag he could find was that they had missed their previous earning estimate by a wide margin.

So, he began pulling up the Option strings to get a feel for the spreads and open interest. He recalled one of the stock trends he read about while he was in the hospital, referred to as a ‘dead-cat bounce’ and he felt in his bones that HP would soon reach a level that simply could not sustain any further downward pressure. When it reached that point, he was certain it would rise quickly to its April high of $43.50/sh and beyond. The Calls he was most interested in were:

SEP 35 C $1^1/8 with OI 695 ($112/contract)

SEP 40 C $2¼ with OI 1300 ($225/contract)

SEP 45 C ¾ with OI 12 ($75/contract)

The December 40 Calls that he had been stopped out of earlier had dropped down to 2½ with an open interest of only 102.

After reviewing his notes and pausing for a third cup of coffee, he logged into his portfolio and placed orders for 250 SEP 35 Calls, 250 SEP 40 Calls, 600 SEP 45 Calls, and 250 DEC 40 Calls. His bullish gambit depleted his cash reserves by $192,000, leaving him with $118,000. Since AMD continued to be his least expensive stock at $11/sh he also placed an order for another 5,000, doubling his holdings. He had $63K left.

Kathy stayed at her place the previous night and he felt lonely waking up without her. But she promised to see him again that afternoon and stay the night with him if things felt right with his dad. By 10 am he was thoroughly bored and couldn’t even occupy his mind with the programming for either of his two projects. So, he went out to the living room and plopped onto the couch to watch TV for a while. He was enjoying a Dr. Pepper and watching Bill & Teds Excellent Adventures when Roger finally got up and made his way downstairs. He ignored his son’s presence and went into the kitchen to pour himself a cup of old coffee. Peter heard a pill bottle rattle and assumed he was washing down some aspirin to relieve his hangover.

“No girlfriends last night?” he asked with heavy sarcasm.

“Boy,” Roger growled as he came over and collapsed onto the couch beside him, “your mother brought a crackpot to her bed and wound up doing drugs and catching AIDS from the punk. Don’t you go judging me for what I choose to do or who I do it with ... Got it?”

‘Touche,’ he thought. “You ever figure out what happened with the settlement money?”

Roger snorted. “Fuck no! I can’t believe they managed to blow through it so fast...”

“When you do the math it’s not so hard to believe,” Peter intoned sagely.

“What’re you talking about?” his dad grunted.

Peter turned down the volume. “Think about it ... a $40,000 Trans Am — seized in a drug bust, that kilo of smack had to cost upwards of a quarter mil easily, the BMW was another $35K, who knows what they did while I was in the hospital and rehab,” he waved his hand around the room. “All these renovations weren’t cheap I’m sure...” he let his voice trail off as he took another sip of his pop. “And they were in Vegas after all.”

His dad swore vehemently and got back to his feet. He mumbled incoherently as he headed back upstairs.

“Hey, um ... Dad?” Peter called after him.

“What?” Roger snarled back.

“Mom gave me $500 for groceries and stuff back in May before the ... shooting.” He was glad his dad couldn’t see him struggling to keep a straight face.

“Yeah? So what?”

“So, I am nearly out of money and was wondering if you could spare a couple hundred soon so that I can keep the fridge and pantry stocked.” He tried to remain deadpan as he chewed on his lower lip. In fact, he had already made three $400 withdrawals with his bank card that week alone, building back the wad, he had given to his sister.

“Fuck! I’ll get you some cash later when I head out,” he heard from the top of the stairs before the master bedroom clicked shut.

His cheeks became sore as he resisted grinning but he couldn’t stop his shoulders from quivering as he silently laughed.

The mirth quickly evaporated when he glanced back at the TV and saw a news clip. A group of reporters surrounded two very familiar faces, standing outside the Law Offices of Bale and Bale. He turned up the volume just in time to hear his attorney Scott explaining his dismay at the outrageous misconduct by the Honorable Henry Davis for not recusing himself from a case in which his daughter-by-marriage was the Plaintiff. For that reason, he was seeking an emergency injunction with the Superior Court in Olympia. The news clip was from the KING 5 Evening News the night before. After he had finished speaking, the scene changed to another urban block where several reporters were waiting outside a business when the attorney-in-question herself appeared, stepping right into the midst of the media crowd. Naturally, she tried to cover her face with a parcel and offered no comment.

‘Damn!’ Peter thought incredulously. ‘This train is about to go off the rails!’

Kathy was sitting with him on the couch later that afternoon when Roger reappeared and headed out for his usual haunts.

“Don’t forget to bring me some cash for groceries,” Peter said to his back as he stepped outside. He got no response and chuckled to himself after the door closed. Kathy nudged him in the arm and giggled as she buried her face into the side of his neck.

“You are so bad,” she hummed as she began kissing his jaw and lightly tracing the tip of her tongue across his ear. She felt him shudder and smiled inwardly at his response. “Guess what I did today?” she whispered seductively.

His breath caught in his throat as he savored the erotic sensation of her warm breath and tongue on the side of his face. “Wh ... what?”

She sat back suddenly with an excited bounce. “I went to the Chevy dealer and ordered my new baby!”

He turned to meet her exuberant gaze. “Whoa! Really?”

She nodded excitedly and grabbed his arm. “They are painting it mid-night blue and I’m going to have my cousin Demarc, put pinstripes on it and a tribal feather on each front quarter panel.” She reached up and touched her favorite earrings that jingled lightly whenever she turned her head.

“So, what did you get?” he prompted her.

“A Camaro fool,” she retorted gently.

He rolled his eyes at her. “I figured that! Which one? RS? Z28? IROC...”

“Oh, it’s the Z28,” she grinned. “You wouldn’t believe what an ass that salesman was ... That’s why I took Uncle Dean with me. He has the shop over in Spanaway,” she explained when Peter lifted another eyebrow. He once teased her about the number of uncles and cousins she had and how she kept them all straight. “Hey, there wasn’t a lot to do on those cold winter nights in the 40’s and 50’s,” she explained to him. Her dad had seven brothers. He and two others went to Vietnam but only he returned. The others were either too young or exempt from the draft because of the Sole Survivor Policy of WW2.

“Anyway,” she continued. “The dude was pitching the IROC model which was $5,000 more expensive, but Uncle Dean explained that they were basically the same car with the same engine and performance.”

“So, when do you get it?” he asked eagerly.

Her eyes were glowing with excitement. “They are releasing the ‘91 models next month, and I will probably get one of the first off the line ... I hope.” She got up from the couch and crossed the room like a runway model in her bare feet, checking to ensure that the front door was locked. Then she turned and eyed him suggestively as she padded towards his room. She lifted off her tank top exposing her marvelous breasts with their small dark areolas and firm nipples.

Peter swallowed awkwardly and struggled to get up and follow her. By the time he entered his bedroom and tossed the bolt, she was already lying atop his bed completely nude. She stretched like a cat and his mind went completely blank as he mechanically stripped off his clothes before joining her. Even after months of passionate sex and post-coital snuggling, she took his breath away every time he gazed at her. He absently removed his ‘feet’ before crawling up to lay beside her, touching her warm skin.

She returned his look with an intense gaze he knew only too well. She was aching for his body. She grabbed the side of his face and kissed him passionately. He sighed into her mouth and she regarded him curiously. “You’re shaking baby,” she commented softly as she wormed her way beneath him. “Are you okay?”

He shuddered as he felt his rigid pole press against her lower belly. “I’m just ... still amazed, blown away even — by all of this,” he whispered.

“By what?” she asked as she reached down to feel his stiff cock and wrap her slender fingers around it.

He shuddered again. “I just can’t believe how lucky I am, I guess,” he replied as he closed his eyes to savor her touch. “You are like a goddess and I’m just a mere mortal in your arms.”

She giggled lightly and kissed him. “You say the sweetest things,” she purred. “Now stop talking and fuck me with this magic spear!” She firmly took control of his boner and guided the head between the warm slippery folds of her outer labia. With her other hand, she gripped his hip tightly and pulled him down until he entered her. With one smooth penetration, he buried himself to the hilt inside her and they both sighed contentedly to be intimately connected once more. They made passionate love for several minutes before they both came together and spent several moments recovering. They lay together touching each other intimately and sharing soft kisses.

“God, I can’t believe how much I love you,” he murmured to her as he gently squeezed and kissed her firm breasts. He loved her breasts! “I don’t think there are words to describe it.”

“Hmm,” she hummed with her eyes closed and a contented smile on her lovely face. “I’m sure my ancestors had a term for it,” she mused. “But I know what you mean.”

“It’s strongest whenever you are not here,” he added. “I hate waking up alone, without you next to me.”

“I know baby,” she whispered. “I feel the...”

She stopped short as they both heard the familiar putter of a Volkswagen engine pulling into the driveway.

Peter rolled away from her and sat up. “What is she doing here so early?” he wondered aloud. “She’s not supposed to be back til tomorrow.”

Kathy made no move to get up so he carefully crawled over her and reached for his shorts. By the time Ronnie had unlocked the front door and staggered in with her large duffle bag, he was fully clothed and had his feet on. He stepped out into the living to greet her and studied her pained expression for a moment.

“Everything okay, Sis?” he asked tenuously.

Kathy joined them with a blanket wrapped around her. “Whoa, girl!” she gasped. “You got some sun!”

“God! Tell me about it,” Ronnie winced as she dropped her bag on the couch. Peter could see the redness on her face and all over her arms. By comparison, her eyes were paler with the obvious shape of her sunglasses around them. “Oh, fuck I got burned so bad!” she moaned.

“Jesus Ronnie,” he whispered in amazement once the full impact of her discomfort became apparent. “Good thing you weren’t in Cancun.”

“I know,” she moaned in agony. “Oh God, I am so cooked!”

“Come on,” Kathy said as she led the older brunette towards the stairs. “I have some cream that is rich with aloe.” She turned to Peter. “Babe, can you bring my bag? And a jug of water?” They climbed the stairs and disappeared into his sister’s room. “And a bottle of Motrin!” she added loudly.

He gathered the requested items and climbed the steps to join them. He found Kathy delicately lifting his sister’s light cotton tank top over her head. He gaped at the angry red color of her otherwise pale skin. Her breasts were larger than Kathy’s and her nipples remained flat within her pale areolas. He stood back as she hissed from the contact of her shorts sliding down her sunburned legs.

“When you are done gaping at your naked sister, can you go run a cool bath?” Kathy teased causing him to blush.

“I wasn’t...” he stammered before turning away to go into her bathroom.

“Oh, holy fuck!” he heard his girlfriend chuckling sympathetically. “Oh girl, what were you thinking? Haven’t you ever heard of sunscreen?”

“I know!” Ronnie nearly whimpered. “And I did ... this morning. Oh, fuck this is bad!”

“Yeah!” Kat agreed. “Okay let me put some of this on you, just stand still. Then you need to go soak in the tub and get your skin to cool down.” She spoke as she began applying lotion carefully to the other girl’s skin. “Baby? How is that bath coming?”

“It just started,” he replied.

“We need to go out to Freddy’s and get your sister some cool satin sheets to lay on.”

“Ow!” he heard from the bathroom.

“Jesus Ronni-kins! Were you on the beach naked?” Kathy inquired dubiously.

“No!” his sister retorted painfully.

“How did you burn your jay-jay then?”

Ronnie hissed painfully under her ministrations. “We ... ow! We swam out to Haystack and then ... we, ow! Stop laughing!”

“I can’t help it,” Kathy giggled. “Oh my God!” she couldn’t speak without chortling. “Every fucking inch of you is cooked!”

“I know!” Ronnie cried out. “And then there was this huge fucking purple jellyfish...”

“Oh no! You didn’t get stung too, did you?”

“No, but Laney bumped into it and, damn you should see her legs and back!”

“Did you pee on her?” Kat asked calmly.

“What? No!” Ronnie retorted in disbelief. “Is that some folk remedy with you savages?”

Kathy sniffed, “It works.”

“So does calamine, you freak!” the brunette shot back. “Peter close your eyes and get out!” she demanded sourly. It didn’t help that both of them were laughing at her. She yelped when Kathy gently smacked her red bottom as she limped gingerly into the bathroom.

An hour later they returned from the store and found the girl lying miserably on her bed with a towel draped over herself. She moaned in quiet agony as they gently helped her up and stripped her bed. Once it was remade with the silky-smooth sheets Peter excused himself while his girlfriend slathered more aloe on the poor woman and made her swallow several more pain pills before tucking her in. They took turns checking on her every hour and making sure she drank plenty of water. When it became dark Peter went to the kitchen and began preparing his mom’s famous meatloaf and mashed potatoes. He and Kathy enjoyed their meal together at the table after she took a plate up to his sister’s room.

They returned to bed and fell asleep after trying to make love without disturbing Veronica, or the foundation. They were only asleep for a couple of hours when the rumbling Dodge pulled into the driveway.

Peter groaned silently as his father came into the house with another tipsy female. They stumbled up the steps and retired into the master bedroom.

“Oh man, this is gonna be ugly!” he said softly as he and Kat lay beside each other in the dark.

He wasn’t wrong. Soon enough the sounds of clumsy and vigorous sex began sounding through the floor and walls of the house, as the creaky master bed once more began thumping loudly against the wall.

Then they heard his sister cry out angrily, and the sounds of her feet stomping across the floor above them. Her door opened and snapped closed and they listened as she stomped across the landing and began pounding on his parent’s door.

“What in the fuck is wrong with you?” Ronnie yelled hysterically through the door.

The sounds of sexual activity halted and his father growled, “What the fuck is your problem?”

“How fucking dare, you, you goddamned asshole!” she cried back. “Our mother is laying in a hospital dying and you bring a fucking whore to her bed?”

Heavy feet stomped across the floor and they heard the door jerk open. Peter grumbled, climbing out of bed and getting dressed in the dark. Meanwhile, Roger and his oldest yelled angrily at each other above him. “Fuck this,” he muttered and he groped for his ‘feet’ in the dark.

By the time he stepped into the dimly lit living room, he saw the stairwell light up and a thin red-haired woman descended the steps quickly. She muttered under her breath as she held her purse and shoes in her hands and strode past him for the door. He caught brief snatches of her disparaging words, including “outta here ... freaks ... fuck this ... and ass-holes,” as she went.

“Bye Bambi,” he called after her as she opened the door and stepped through. “Or is it Trixie?” he smirked.

“Piss off, kid,” she called back and slammed the front door.

“There!” Roger screamed from above him. “Are you happy now? She’s gone!”

“How could you even think of doing that?” Ronnie cried back tearfully. “Have you any simple common decency?”

“Oh, and what your mom did was so much better?” he retorted.

“No! It’s not,” Peter heard his sister reply with less anger. “She made some terrible decisions, and now she is dying because of them.” He watched her turn back towards her room. “At least you could have a little more self-respect around here,” she added as she went into her room and closed the door, leaving their father swaying drunkenly atop the landing.

Sunday morning Peter and Kathy were snuggled up on the couch with their coffee cups when Ronnie came down the stairs with her packed bags. They could hear her shuffling about her room earlier and Kat snuck up the stairs to check on her and reapply the lotion to her burnt skin. She had a sad expression on her face when she returned to the kitchen. “She’s leaving,” she said softly to him while he watched the coffee drip into the carafe. He nodded his understanding but remained quiet as he considered some extreme ideas that came to his mind late last night.

Now he stood up and faced his sister as she set her things down. Veronica wore an anguished expression. The skin on her face and arms appeared less inflamed but still tender. She sniffed dejectedly as she reached over to hug her brother. He held her back carefully so as to not aggravate her sunburn.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured tearfully. “I’m so sorry that you have to be in this situation at all. It’s totally unfair to you.”

He didn’t reply as she looked sheepishly at his new choker that she had brought back from Oregon. It was a small sea turtle carved from myrtle wood and he accepted it eagerly as she handed it to him the night before. For Kathy, she presented a pair of delicate abalone earrings shaped into seahorses. Kathy was delighted with the gift and promptly switched them for her tribal feathers.

“I can’t take it,” she continued with exasperation. “I can’t take ... him!” she indicated the man snoring loudly up the stairs. “I’m sorry to abandon you like...”

Peter stopped her with a raised finger and kissed her forehead gently. “Don’t,” he replied softly. “This isn’t your fault, nor is it your concern,” he said smiling. “I completely understand. And, thanks to you, I may have an idea for fixing this whole problem.”

Both girls looked at him expectantly but he simply smiled and kept his thoughts to himself.

“Where will you go?” Kathy asked.

Ronnie shrugged. “I don’t know ... I don’t care either as long as it’s away from ... that,” she replied, once more nodding her head towards the stairs. “I can get a hotel. Maybe I’ll stay with Laney or Becca.”

“Well, you have our numbers,” he replied as he released her and picked up her bags. They walked her out to her red car that was parked along the street. “Call us before you fly out,” he said as he placed her stuff in the back seat.

Kathy gently hugged the girl and stepped back to put her arms around Peter.

“Any requests from Cancun?” Ronnie asked wistfully as she stepped around to the driver’s side.

Peter pursed his lips together, considering. “I was thinking about those coconut shells and a grass skirt,” he grinned.

His sister snorted, “For you or her?”

“Actually, Al’s birthday is coming up and I thought he’d look quite fetching in them.” Kathy laughed aloud beside him.

Ronnie shook her head and rolled her eyes. “How about you, sweet stuff?”

“Vanilla beans!” Kat replied eagerly. “And one of those big monster iguanas.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” the brunette laughed as she put on her sunglasses and climbed into her car.