Chapter 9

Ben pulled Kevin into his office at Rogers Cylinder. As they grabbed their seats Ben said: “I’ve got an opportunity I want to talk to you about.”

“What’s that?”

“Frank Hamilton called and offered me a sweet deal. It gave me an idea of expanding our hauling service. He had a customer looking for a septic tank truck and he run up on a lot of three. He called to give us the first choice on the other two.”

Kevin looked puzzled. “Cleaning septic tanks? Is there much money in it?”

“There’s some, but that’s not what I want them for. We can use them for a grease pick up business.”

“What grease?”

Ben said: “Restaurants have to get rid of their old grease. They pay people to haul it off. I was talking with Larry Jenks, he retired about two years ago and he and his wife only had a small truck. He said he worked five days a week and made $70,000 a year take home.”

Kevin smiled. “I like that number and we’ll buy two trucks?”

Ben nodded. “I did some checking this morning. Even a pessimistic forecast would give us an extra twenty grand apiece per year. After getting drivers. If that doesn’t work out. We can still do septic tanks or other odd jobs like draining flooded construction sites.”

Kevin’s face lit up. He said: “I’ve heard of people converting restaurant grease into biodiesel. If we could do that we could possibly save a lot on fuel costs. What’s Frank wanting for the trucks?”

Ben shrugged. “They’re a little older. His boys checked them out and said they’ve had excellent maintenance. Each truck has its own maintenance and mileage log, So they’re a little pricier. He wants $25,000 apiece.”

“Is that a good price?” Kevin asked.

“According to what I found the going rate for the average truck of that year is $19,000. The top of the line for the same is $36,000. These from what he said are about top of the line. He picked them up from an estate sale. The family holding the sale didn’t know what they were looking at.”

“He has a construction company. Why is he offering them to us?”

Ben said. “Frank recently upgraded his equipment and has no use for them. He’s afraid they’ll sit in his dealership inventory for months as they’re outside his normal lines of trade.”

“How would we get a clientele built up?” Kevin said.

“That’s where Larry Jenks comes in. He still talks with some of his old clients and they haven’t been happy with the service they’ve been getting. So I figured we would go see the trucks and look them over. If we like them, we’ll go see Larry and offer him a deal to introduce us to his old clients and teach us how to do it right.”

“That way Larry gets his hand in for a few months and a chance to share his wisdom and makes a pretty penny while he does it. We get an almost ready-made business.”

“Any special license needed?” Kevin asked.

Ben shook his head. “For the size, we’re getting no. We have all the relevant business licenses. Just the usual D.O.T. permits.”

“I’m definitely interested. Let’s take a look. What do you think of the bio-diesel idea?”

“If we can do it without the E.P.A. crawling up our ass and it saves us money I’m all for it,” Ben said.

Kevin made a face. “Money. What’s that? These women are nickel and diming me to death. I give them a ready built house to move into. All they have to do is pick paint, decorations, and furniture. Is that good enough? Noooo, They have to have a large stone fireplace with a ginormous wood mantle. Plus, they’re talking about adding another room or two.”

“Huh, you ain’t seen nothing yet,” Ben said. “Remember that tantrum your mom threw when you told her about Carly?”

“Yeah.”

“It cost me $8,000 in dinnerware. One year she cost me $24,000. I had to become a millionaire to keep from starving.”

Kevin looked gloomy. “I’m fucked.”

Ben grinned and said: “Nope, keep building businesses and be thankful that you have women that love you. A lot of poor slobs get all the shit and none of the love.”

“Like John?”

Ben sighed and his shoulders drooped. “Please, never let anyone hear that but me. It would be best if you forgot how to say it. John had a rough couple of years. By all accounts, they had a good relationship until then. He stood by her as a man should. He earned a goddess’s favor. Don’t cheapen what he did by hurting them with those words. They were all dead. Taking all that shit and loving her saved them.”

Kevin’s eyes glistened as he spoke. “I understand. When I think about it, I feel bad for him. He got fucked. I have everything he ever wanted.I’m stealing from him. He should be with Meg, not me. He didn’t do anything wrong.”

Ben raised an eyebrow and asked: “What’s got you thinking like that?”

“When we went to his grave, something happened. Meghan has changed.”

“How so?”

Kevin appeared flustered for a second then a look of resignation came over him as he started. “We went to his grave, and she started a ritual and asked if I wanted to take part. I said yes. Dad, I swear to god, it was broad daylight and we were the only two people there. She started talking. Then there were all these people I couldn’t see standing around us, listening.”

Ben’s jaw dropped. “What!”

Kevin nodded. “I’m not lying. First, she filled a small horn from a brand-new bottle of ale.” Kevin wagged his finger for emphasis. “I saw her break the seal on it. She dipped her finger in the horn and traced a rune on her forehead and mine. We drank to Freyja, Odin, and the ancestors. The next thing I knew, I was standing in a crowd I couldn’t see. She thanked them for coming and poured the rest of the horn to them. She said she wanted to speak with her first husband and said the flowers we brought were a gift for him.”

Ben sat back. He spoke with a slight tinge of irritation in his voice. “Are you fucking with me?”

Kevin shook his head and said. “My word.”

Ben looked a little bewildered then nodded. “Go on.”

“She started talking to him like I’m talking to you. I didn’t see or hear him. I don’t know if she did either. She made her peace and told him that Carly still misses him, stuff like that. Then introduced me as her and Carly’s husband and told me it was my turn.”

“What did you say?”

Kevin threw up his hands. “What could I say? I called him sir and told him my name. I gave him your and mamma’s respect as you said. I told him I heard he was a good person and his picture would be up in our house because he’s still family. I made him a blood oath to do my best to love them the same way he did.”

Ben nodded. “Well done.”

“Thank you, but we haven’t got to the weird shit yet.”

Ben frowned. “If we haven’t got to the weird shit. I’m not sure I want to know.”

“Dad, Before we went, Meghan asked me to put her collar back on there so John could be a part of it. After I put it on and gave her a kiss, I asked her if she was still Meghan or hiding again. She said it was still her, so I hugged her. You’re not going to believe me, but I’ve given you my word. During the hug, it felt like somebody hugged both of us and poured contentment and happiness over us.”

“Did Meg feel it?”

“She said she did, and she had this happy glow. She thanked John for his blessing and told him how much it meant to her. I thanked him too. She closed the ritual and poof we were alone again.”

Ben sat back and let out a sigh and said. “Damn, I’m the One speechless this time. What do you make of it?”

“She wasn’t lying. I asked her when she came back if she was a witch, She said yes. I can see why she started drinking if she was having to put up with that shit as a kid and had nobody to help her. Hell, I want one now from talking about it.”

Ben gave a small chuckle and said. “As your grandpa used to say “Want in one hand and shit in the other and see which one gets full first.” We need to go see about some trucks. We’ve gotta go earn some money for your women to spend!”

Kevin groaned. “Don’t remind me.”

Meghan knocked on the open door to Ben’s study and said: “Dad, do you have a few minutes?”

He set his pen down and set back. “Sure. What’s going on?”

Meghan came in and shut the door behind her. She pointed at the box. Ben leaned forward and reached under his desk. The click of magnetic locks sealing the door and a gentle hum filled the air.

Meghan took a side seat by Ben’s desk. “I have some information and an ideal. I need some questions answered to put it in a context that may help our clan.”

“Ok. Shoot.”

“Who are the Clan’s allies?”

Ben sat back and made a steeple of his fingertips. “Strictly speaking, since we came from the old country none. We still have a few alliances there. None here.”

Meghan looked puzzled. “No one at all?”

Ben shrugged. “We have treaties with certain groups. Some of us have personal friendships within those groups. We may work together on certain projects or do the occasional favor for each other to show goodwill. It is not an alliance. They would not run to save us nor would we them.”

Meghan bit her lower lip and stared at the desk. A moment later she looked up and said: “The priest from Don and Margaret’s funeral won’t leave my mind. He’s the solution to our F.B.I. problem.”

Ben said, “I don’t know-how. He pastors a church and runs the best mission in the state.”

Fire flashed in Meghan’s eyes. “Adviser to the chieftain, are you going to sit there and lie to my face?”

“I didn’t lie to you.”

“You used truth to hide another truth. You heard the Chieftain tell us to work toward a solution.”

Ben looked at her puzzled. “Why would you say that to me, Meg?”

Meghan’s eyes bored into his as she ticked off on her fingers. “You didn’t see how he could help. True. He pastors a church. True. Runs the best mission in the state. Personal opinion, but probably true.”

“I can show you the numbers on that,” Ben said.