Chapter 11: The More Things Change...

Thursday, August 15, 1985

Not that I needed the reminder, but the morning paper’s coverage of the upcoming election would have reminded me. At the moment, the odds seemed to be in favor of former mayor Louie Welsh and at least some of the ‘Straight Slate’ council candidates winning. That would represent a major — and negative! — deviation from my first life. I was pretty sure they were somewhat favored this far out in my first life, though, so it didn’t necessarily mean anything.

I had to wonder if Dr. Ott had given his ‘I will not tell you who to vote for’ sermon yet. Most likely, if he had, Mom or Dad would have mentioned it. I had to hope that would happen ‘again,’ as well. We had certainly affected Dr. Ott, though. Who knew what changes we might have made?

The four of us headed off to the mall in the morning. We all agreed it was time to update wardrobes and get ready for the fall.

We didn’t just hit the mall, though. Target got some business, and so did four different thrift stores. I think, overall, we wound up getting more stuff from thrift stores than new things. We’d always found them a lot of fun, and some of the items were so little used we couldn’t distinguish them from new. Why pay more, if we liked the thrift store item?

It wasn’t just about the money, though. The things we found in the thrift stores were, for the most part, not things we’d seen in the other stores. It was much more about variety. Some things were truly vintage, while others were simply new to us.

We all met outside Rico’s just before noon and exchanged many hugs.

Cammie said, “It feels like forever since we’ve seen you!”

“It does!” Mel added.

“Oh, my, yes!” Jas said.

“Heck, it’s been nearly two months,” Angie said. “It should feel like forever!”

We headed in and started catching up. Our trip was the biggest subject at first. They had a lot of questions about the ‘Back To The Future’ premiere. They’d seen the movie by now and had both loved it. Cammie claimed Mel had squealed when Jess appeared, while Mel denied it. Mel was blushing quite a bit, though.

They both liked hearing about our trips. Aunt Helen’s behavior got glares, but all of the other news was good, and they were eager to see the rings.

We flipped through plenty of photos. They were clearly jealous, but sounded optimistic about taking similar trips before too long. Mel felt very good about her summer school classes, and Cammie felt even better about getting her real estate license. I couldn’t imagine she would spend much time working as a real estate agent, but it opened a number of doors. And, amusingly, she was the first of us to actually have a piece of paper showing she had a marketable skill.

That led to the surprise Cammie had for us. There were two, actually.

First, she’d been involved as a seller’s agent twice and a buyer’s agent once. That gave her a fairly significant amount of commission. Overall, she’d made just shy of $2,000. I suspect Maxine was being a bit generous, but Cammie had been helpful. She had two more potential transactions in the works. If they both closed, she would be up a bit more.

Second, she had found three properties that would work for us as revenue rental properties. They were in decent repair and already had tenants for the fall. We would likely be stuck with those management companies for the next year, but they were (pun intended by Cammie) manageable.

None of them were truly distress sales, but they were below the previous market value. The sales Cammie had assisted on were also below market. Maxine was nervous about a significant drop in real estate values. I was pretty sure she was right to be concerned. We were going into a serious dip.

That said, College Station wasn’t going to get hammered nearly as badly as some places. Overall, the state was in for a roughly twenty percent drop, but it would be worse in oil-dependent areas. Houston would get hammered. Austin would, too, largely because the state government and major employers — save Dell — cut employment.

Three or four years from now would be a great time for us to get into the Austin and Houston markets. We would have considerable capital, and the long-term appreciation in some areas would be spectacular.

Cammie had already tentatively run some numbers. Camel Properties would be taking on debt, but we had guaranteed rental income for the next year. That income would considerably exceed principal, interest, taxes, and insurance (basically, the mortgage payment). It should easily cover maintenance, upkeep, and property management fees as well. Camel was backed by MNMS, too, and MNMS (on paper, anyway) was already successful, with a house it owned free and clear and more than ample rental income.

Cammie, along with Maxine, had come up with financing. We would have to put in a considerable amount of money, but we had that. It would only take us a ten-year mortgage, which was key to keeping rates down. We would get a small amount of current revenue. Ten years from now — possibly sooner — we would own the houses free and clear. There would be a wide range of tax write-offs for Camel Properties along the way as well.

Cammie had already talked to Kyle and Martin, since they worked for Camel as well, at least for now. She wasn’t going to go forward without all six of us agreeing, though.

We did, which had Cammie bouncing. Making formal offers would be just the start of a possibly lengthy process, but it was still very exciting for all of us.

Mel had the last surprise of the day. While it wasn’t as big as Cammie’s, it would (pun again intended) change how we all saw her, at least for quite a while.

Mel said, “Remember, a long, long time ago, you met some girl, Steve...”

Angie, Jas, and Paige all rolled their eyes.

Angie said, “That’s every day, right?”

Cammie snorted, and Mel gave Angie a little shove.

“Shush!” Mel said. “This is a specific girl.”

All of them were giggling a bit by now, even Mel.

She continued, saying, “It was on that trip. The one I completely melted down about.”

“The TEES trip?” I said.

“Yeah. That one.”

“So, that’s probably Karen, since I’m sure you don’t mean Janet.”

“Karen! Yeah!” Mel said. “The thing I remembered was you mentioning the purple hair. I’d always wanted that, and I kept wanting it. But ... well, you know, when Memorial changed the dress code, it ... kinda...”

“It was a terrible time for her to bring up anything with her parents,” Cammie said.

“Well, yes, but that’s not your fault!” Mel said.

“It was my drama,” Cammie said.

“It was our drama, my love,” Mel said, giving Cammie a quick hug. “Anyway, I kinda forgot about it, ‘cuz, you know, parent drama and getting things back on a good path and all.”

“Makes sense,” Angie said. “And?”

“So,” Cammie said, before Mel could speak, “One of the clerks at that Hullabaloo Cafe place — she’s there about as often as all of the other staff combined — has this gorgeous purple hair, and my girlfriend has been drooling over her.”

“Over her hair!” Mel said.

“That’s what you say!” Cammie said, but her eyes were sparkling and she was unsuccessfully fighting back a grin.

In a stage whisper, Mel said, “Make-up sex.”

Cammie blushed and elbowed Mel playfully. “You did not just say that!”

“Hey,” Mel said. “It’s worked! Like ... four times now?”

“Five,” Cammie said, giggling now.

“Anyway,” Mel said, “I’m going to tell my parents. If they don’t completely freak out, it’s on the agenda for before classes. Unless anyone thinks it’s a bad idea, anyway.”

“It sounds awesome!” Paige said.

“It does!” Angie said.

“Go for it!” Jas said.

“I’m all for it, if you like it,” I said. “Heck, I was all for it when it was Karen, and when you wanted it but couldn’t have it.”

Mel grinned.

“They’d better not freak.”

Surprising me a bit, Cammie said, “I don’t think they will. They’re a lot better, and I think they pretty much just want you to be happy, now.”

She gave Mel a fast hug, too.

Mel sighed, hugging back, and said, “I think so, too. It took a lot of time, but we’ve mostly picked up the pieces. I think. Hopefully!”

“Which is wonderful!” Jas said.

“Definitely!” Angie said, with Paige and I also voicing our agreement.

Cammie and Mel had another surprise for us. The 1984 ‘Aggieland’, A&M’s yearbook, was out, and they’d picked theirs up. We would have to pick ours up once we got home.

Cammie had a page marked and flipped right to it. There, plain as day, were two pictures. The first was of Marco and David kissing. The second, slightly smaller, picture was of Paige and Angie kissing.

After some discussion, we agreed it made sense for theirs to be smaller. Marco was the head of GSS, after all. Angie and Paige were named, though. That made them a target, but both of them were clear: they wouldn’t have it any other way.

As Paige put it, “I’ve broken a toe before, and I’ll do it again! Besides, we have Bear Spray!”

“And we know how to use it!” Angie said.

“That, and we’ll be taking a class to learn how to kick ass even better,” Jas said.

“Yes!” we all agreed.

After lunch, Jas and Paige pulled Angie and me aside, surprising both of us.

Jas said, “We think you two deserve...”

“And need, maybe...” Paige said.

“A night together.”

Angie and I looked at each other, then nodded.

“You have a point,” Angie said.

“You do,” I agree.

“We’ll have dinner with our parents...” Jas said.

“Which is also a good thing, we think...” Paige said.

“Then meet up tomorrow at the pizza place for the Candice and Sherry lunch,” Jas said.

“That ... sounds really good,” Angie said.

“Thanks!” I said.

“We talked about it,” Paige said. “You two don’t do this on your own enough, maybe. We love you and we know you love us. It’s fine for us to sleep apart sometimes. Not that we have to when we’re home...”

She winked at Jas as she said that, then continued with, “But tonight...”

“We should, tonight,” Jas said. “It’s fine. It’s more than fine. Our parents deserve some time like that, and...”

“We love them,” Paige said.

“Lots,” Jas said.

Everyone was a little sniffly after that, and we all hugged.

Cammie and Mel looked up, smiling. I think they’d figured it out, or overheard enough, and they seemed happy, too.

Cammie confirmed that, saying, “It’s a little ... different ... but it’s right for you two. We all know that. And, as someone who doesn’t have what you all have ... well, I’m jealous, but that means I’m really happy for you.”

More sniffling and more hugs ensued. We all reassured Cammie that we loved her, and she reassured us that having us as her family meant an incredible amount to her.

That had always been true, though only occasionally said. As bad as things had gone with Cammie’s family, it completely paled in comparison to what things would have looked like had Cammie gotten away from them and reached eighteen but done so without the other five people here. Mel first, but the rest of us, too.

She had never been alone. Not even close!

Angie and I walked into Jane’s office for our long-scheduled appointment.

As we did most of the time, Angie went first and I went second.

When she came out, Angie and I touched fingers. She shook her head slightly, and said, “Nothing from Sharon.”

That wasn’t a surprise, but we’d hoped for news. These things took time, though. In the last exchange, Sharon had taken two months to respond. There was no reason to believe it would be any faster this time.

I headed back into Jane’s office, giving her a warm hug once we were in private. After that, I settled into my favorite chair.

Jane smiled and said, “I imagine Angie told you about the lack of news.”

“She did,” I said.

“So...” she said, smiling. “You have been very busy, from what I understand. Tell me the highlights from your point of view, please.”

I started with the Berkshire Hathaway trip, and my breakdown there, and continued from there. Berkshire had been important both for the PROMISE recognition and meeting Tom Myerson. The Florida trip hadn’t been a big deal, really, nor had the cruise. Oh, we’d loved them, but they weren’t eventful.

The first big thing had been seeing Jess and attending the premiere. I suspect Jane had thoughts there, but right now she was just listening. After that were even bigger things (to my mind, anyway): the rings (along with the associated family goodwill) and Aunt Helen’s explosion. Fortunately, that explosion had its own silver lining. We’d maintained good relationships with the rest of the Wisconsin family and had a plan for next year.

The trip to the UK and Ireland was next. Angie had obviously told Jane about our brush with fame. She seemed pretty amused about it. I ticked off the highlights, but few of them had any major implications. She was pretty interested in some of my comments about my Scottish heritage, though, which hardly surprised me. I finished with my thoughts about engagement timing, which had Jane nodding along.

I mentioned the yearbook, too. Angie had already covered it, so there wasn’t much there.

When we’d finished, she said, “It certainly sounds like you’ve been busy! No issues, I take it, aside from that first one?”

I shook my head.

“No,” I said. “And that Omaha meltdown was ... well, mostly minor. These things will happen, I think. Twenty-five years doesn’t just go away. Some things will occasionally trigger memories, and some of those memories will be pretty emotional. They’re not bad, though. Or, at least, I really don’t think any of them so far have been bad.”

She nodded.

“It seems very similar to a normal divorce. Not that my practice includes many divorces...”

We both chuckled a bit at that.

“ ... but I know something about them, of course. A loss is a loss, and divorce is a loss. There may be divorces where everything was great up until they decided to split in a nice, amiable fashion, but those would be few and far between, I would imagine. Losses, for the most part, don’t go away, they just recede into the background, popping up from time to time.”