Chapter 8

The following characters appear in this chapter:

Grigor O’Corrain

Marine DI, tutor, 5’-8’’ tall (1.73 meters), 175 pounds (79 kg), 46 years old, dark blond hair, green eyes

Bill

Street person, veteran, 42 years old, a bit thin, long brown hair, haunted blue eyes

Mildred

Street person, 5’-6’’ tall (1.67 meters), an older woman, a bit heavy but motherly looking, sharp hazel eyes, short hair going gray

Yuryi still has the Narrative

“Were you serious about what you said in the truck?” I asked when we were seated in the breakfast room. Helga had just brought out our dinners.

“Yes, about all of it,” she told me.

“About staying with me?” I asked.

“Yes, I like ... love ... you very much. You are a very nice and considerate person,” she told me, as we started to eat. “You are also a fantastic lover,” she added with a smile.

“And about adjusting my portfolio?” I continued in a skeptical voice.

“Yuryi, I have been a professional investment counselor for more than twelve years now. I started at the firm as a secretary shortly after Zach’s death. After a time, they started me doing simple look-ups of information for them. That’s when I discovered that I could see into the future of stocks and other investments.

“At first, they doubted what I had told them, but after some of my short-term predictions came true, they realized that I really could see a number of years ahead on investments. I was promoted over several others and received a substantial raise. Our firm became very well known for raising the value of the retirement funds for our clients. I was often swamped with work but kept careful records of which funds were doing well for up to six to eight years in the future. It was often necessary to check on those predictions to ensure their continued good rating, but I can do that easily,” Yvonne told me.

“And you’re not just staying because you are out of a job?” I asked.

“I could have a job in any of the large or small financial firms in Duluth or any other large city tomorrow if I wanted. They all know about my ability. In fact, I have had a number of job offers in the last year or so. Some were for significantly more than I was making with Stephen. I didn’t leave because I liked the way he did business, and he is very honest,” she told me.

“Okay ... sorry. I need to be very careful who knows about my investments,” I told her. “I’ll need to pull the information together. Some of it my tax accountant has, but others are in various places. I could have most of it in a couple of days, and you can look at it. Just how do you do this, by the way?” I asked.

“I start by looking up the company on my laptop, or I could use your computer here, if you have one, or at the building. I will need to download a stock market program on your computer though. Anyway, I look up the company in question and look at their current financial condition, and then I can see how they will be doing over the next six to eight years normally,” she told me.

“And this is on the computer?” I asked in amazement.

“NO! certainly not. The computer only has their current financial information. What I ’see’ is in my mind. I’m the only one who can do that, that I know of. I’ve never heard of anyone else able to do that,” she told me.

“And you’ve always been correct?” I asked in an amazed voice.

“I have occasionally been wrong about how long a company will remain in good overall financial condition. Sometimes, other events such as storms, crashes, or other problems will alter their financial condition. Sometimes for the better, but more often for the worst, and they will have problems sooner than predicted. I cannot, of course, predict those kinds of things, only the financial results of them,” she told me.

“If you are willing to look at them, I will need a bit of time to collect all of the information on my various investments. Some are in other names that I have used and are held in other countries. I do have the ones here that are in my name and are in the United States. I sent the list to the firm that prepares my taxes earlier this year. They do both my business taxes as well as my personal taxes,” I told her.

“I need to check on my daughters,” she told me, as we finished eating. “I haven’t seen them at all today, and I have no idea of what they are doing. I would suspect though that they are not doing any studying,” she said before leaving. She was gone for the better part of twenty-five minutes, before she returned in a very upset mood.

“I knew it!” she said angrily, as she rejoined me. “They have spent the day talking on their phones and playing games on their game machine. They haven’t done a bit of studying since before the start of the storm. I don’t know what to do with them!” she told me in an exasperated voice.

“I could hire a tutor for them,” I told her.

“That could be expensive,” she countered.

“Not all that expensive,” I told her.

“But would they even pay attention to him or her?” she asked.

“If I can get the one that I’m thinking of, they most definitely would. He is a hard-ass and a real disciplinarian. He could come here a couple of days a week, or Olaf could take them to his location as needed. They would do the work assigned completely and correctly or else. They probably wouldn’t like him at all, but he is used to that, and they would learn or else. They may have some sleepless nights as he often assigns a heavy study load,” I told her.

“Additionally, you could remove their cell phones and their game machine for a time. They could be used as an incentive to complete their studies quickly,” I added.

“Let me think about that a bit. He wouldn’t physically abuse them, would he?” she asked in concern.

“No, but he can be very loud and pushy. He has a Master’s Degree in teaching, but he spent most of his military career in the Marines and as a Drill Instructor,” I told her to a look of surprise from her.

However, we didn’t do any of the things we had discussed that night. We’d had a busy day and just relaxed until going to bed early that night.

The following morning, I got out the list of my investments in the U.S. and gave them to her. Yvonne worked on her laptop for several hours that day. Later she went to check on her daughters. She was very unhappy on returning from that.

“I believe that it will be necessary to obtain the assistance of a tutor if my daughters are to ever have a chance of attending college. My speaking to them last night seemed to have no effect on them at all,” she told me in a disappointed voice.

“Alright, I’ll give him a call this afternoon. His name is Grigor O’Corrain,” I told her.

“That seems a rather strange name combination,” she said.

“He’s of Viking descent from the West coast of Ireland. He’s a bit of a contradiction,” I told her with a smile.

When I called him, Grigor happily agreed to come over and discuss tutoring the twins. Yvonne was more than a little surprised on meeting him.

“Are you sure that he is a good choice to tutor my daughters?” she had asked very quietly after seeing him. Grigor is not an imposing individual like Olaf. He is a bit short at 5’-8’’ tall and about 175 pounds. He has a broad chest and is very muscular, but that wasn’t obvious when he is wearing a suit, as he was presently. He smiles a lot and is a real gentleman.

“Remember, I told you that he had been a Marine, and was a Drill Instructor for some time. He actually taught ‘Hand-to-Hand Combat’. He has Black Belts in three Martial Arts,” I told her, before Grigor interrupted me.

“Actually, Yuryi, I now have Black Belts in four Martial Arts,” he informed me.

“Really!?” Yvonne asked in surprise.

“Yes, ma’ am,” he replied.

“Grigor, this is my friend Yvonne Strupinski. It’s her twin daughters, Ilene and Julia, that you would be tutoring,” I told him.

“How old are these young ladies? Are they still in high school?” he asked.

“They graduated from high school last spring, but their grades weren’t very good, and they didn’t score well on their SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test). They want to go to college, but they need to improve their SAT scores,” Yvonne told him.

“Yes, I’ve tutored others with that problem. Where are they now? I will need to meet them and speak with them before agreeing to tutor them,” he told us. Yvonne went to get her daughters, while Grigor spoke to me.

“How bad is the problem?” he asked.

“They are more interested in talking on their phones and playing games on them and on a game machine than doing anything of importance,” I told him.

“A reoccurring problem. I take it that they are reasonably bright,” he asked.

“Yes, but lazy and brain washed by the present ’Educational System’,” I told him.

“Yes, it will change eventually, or we will have a country full of dummies,” he agreed with a heavy exhale just before Yvonne returned with her daughters.

“These are my daughters, Ilene and Julia,” she told him before introducing him to them. “This is Mr. Grigor O’Corrain. He will talk to you about being your tutor,” she told the twins, who didn’t appear all that happy to hear this.

“Where can we talk privately?” Grigor asked.

“The den or the music room would be good choices,” I told him.

“Let’s try the den,” he said, and I led them to the den. Neither Yvonne nor the twins had ever been in there. It wasn’t used much presently.

“We shouldn’t be more than thirty minutes or so,” Grigor told us, as he and the twins entered the den, and he closed the door. About twenty-five minutes later, the three of them emerged and joined us in the small parlor.

“The ladies have agreed to me tutoring them. They will surrender their cell phones and the game machine when we start. I will be here for classes three days a week. They will have assignments to complete between classes, and they will be turned in at each class. They will supply their own paper, but may use their computers for research and to prepare their reports. They will need a printer and Ink. I will charge the single student rate, as they are twins and think very similarly. They will be required to do their own work and no copying unless it is a subject they are to work on together. Are there any questions?” Grigor asked.

“They agreed to this?” Yvonne asked in a surprised voice.

“Yes, they agreed after I pointed out a number of things to them. They are very interested in going to college and in getting a good job afterward. They may have a problem paying for college, as they are not likely to qualify for a grant or a scholarship,” he told her.