Chapter 1: Slipping Into Success

“So you’re back,” Tom Hanson noted, raising his glass as I sat at the table. “Planning to stay?”

“Yeah, I’ve got an apartment in Hayward. It’ll do me for now.”

Tom and I were good friends and had spent our first two years of college together at Sacramento State. From there I transferred to Geary Polytechnic in San Francisco for my Chemical Engineering degree while Tom completed his degree at Sac State. That’s right, I decided to follow in my father’s footsteps. Through my father’s connections, I was taken on as a summer intern at Dow Chemical, back in Midland, Michigan. It was a valuable opportunity and I didn’t miss out on taking advantage of it.

I graduated from Geary with my BSc and went to work for Dow. My internship was apparently the key to my getting the opportunity. I spent two years doing both lab and field work under the direct supervision of Rex Lyman, a senior tech rep for Dow. At the end of two years, I was pronounced ready and sent out to guess where ... California. Rex was promoted to field tech supervisor, relieved that his days as a “road warrior” were coming to an end. I was given a list of accounts to service, and as I reviewed it I saw a very familiar name: Diamond Stream.

If Geary Polytechnic had a hall of fame for successful graduates, John Smith would be at the top of the list. He took a high school project for water purification and turned it into a half-billion dollar enterprise that was still growing. Just the thought of being inside that plant in Union City was enough to set my nerve ends tingling. On top of that I was made aware, confidentially of course, that they were working on another equally major project that would also involve Dow. I was excited at the prospect.

So, back at the tavern near my office in Hayward, I was lost in my thoughts about what had happened to my world in the past four years.

“You still operating on eastern time?” Tom asked with a chuckle. “You look like you’re a thousand miles away.”

I nodded. “Yeah ... sorry. Just thinking about everything that’s happened in the last few years. It’s was Dad’s connections that got me the internship at Dow, and I did well enough to get a permanent job out of it. It’s just a damn shame he couldn’t be around to see it,” I said, raising my glass and sipping some beer.

“He’d have been proud of you,” Tom nodded. “I feel lucky to have caught on at Clear-Tek, even if I have to drive to Tracy every day.”

“Housing’s cheaper out that way,” I reminded him.

“Yeah, but the action is down here in the Bay area. Being as we’re both single, you’ve got the best of the deal. A local office, a local apartment, and a hop, skip, and jump to all kinds of fun.”

“Well, you can’t complain. You live near enough, so it’s just the commute, and even that is against the flow at rush hour.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m just bitchin’ for the sake of bitchin’,” he admitted with a snort.

“Well, I’m glad I ran into you at the Safeway,” I said. “I don’t know anyone here anymore. Both my sisters are in SoCal and our friends from college are scattered. In a way I feel like I’m starting all over again.”

“What about your grandparents? I thought they were living in Sacramento.”

“Moved to Costa Mesa. They were always close to my sisters, and they live nearby in Santa Ana. I didn’t think they’d ever leave Midland, but a couple of years with no family and one brutal winter convinced them.”

He nodded, probably being careful not to bring up the issue of my family. It was still something that stayed with me over three years after the fact. I wondered when the time would come when I’d stop being haunted by what happened to them.

“Another beer?” Tom asked.

“Yeah, sure. I can walk home from here. Will you be all right to drive?”

“Yeah. I could catch a cab if I was in doubt. I don’t need a DUI any more than you do.”

I signaled the waitress for two more and Tom and I resumed our conversation, catching up on what had been going on in the Bay area over the past two years. The Giants and 49ers were still winning, the Raiders were still losing, and The Warriors were looking like a future powerhouse.

“Any girlfriends at present?” I asked.

“Nope,” he said. “I’ve been singularly out of luck at finding something even remotely more interesting than a night’s exercise. I’ve never met so many vacant airheads in my life. Have all the Valley Girls moved up here?” he wondered.

“I doubt it,” I laughed. “You just need to hang out at more intellectual establishments. You know, like Hooters, or The Upper Deck.”

“Thanks for the helpful advice,” he snorted. “But I will admit you’ve got a point. Going back to the same places time after time and expecting to strike it lucky is sort of challenging Einstein’s law, isn’t it?”

“That would be my guess,” I smiled. “Try the Jack London Square Market on a Sunday morning. You’d be surprised at what you might find there.”

“You speaking from experience?”

“As a matter of fact, I am,” I grinned.

“Huh. Well, at least it would be different. I can check on the melons when I’m there,” he said, waggling his eyebrows.

“It’s nice to see you’re the same old Tom I knew in college,” I laughed.

“Are you still running?” he wondered after a silent moment.

“Oh, yeah. A hard habit to break. At least here it’s pretty well year around outdoors. I was running indoors half the year in Midland. The rest of the time I was trying to find a place to exercise on the road. Rex liked to stay in hotels near good eating establishments. Me, I’d rather find one with an exercise room and even a pool.”

It was a nice, early September Friday night and I chose to walk back to my apartment. I could pick up the Jeep Saturday morning. It would be safe in the tavern’s lot, hidden from view in the back. My mind wandered back to late June after my first year at Geary. I remembered the phone call from Liv like it had happened just yesterday.

“Hello,” I said as I picked up the phone from the hallway near my bedroom.

“Kyle? It’s me ... Liv.”

“What’s wrong, Liv? I can hear it in your voice. What’s happened?”

“It’s Mom and Dad, Kyle. They’re dead.”

“What! Dead? What happened?” I asked, my mind reeling at the thought.

“They were killed in a traffic accident in Italy. They went off a cliff or something and were killed. I don’t know what to do, Kyle. I’m a mess. I don’t know what to do. Shan’s here with me and she’s just broken to pieces too.”

“Okay, Liv. Uhm ... what details can you give me?” I asked, desperately trying to focus on keeping calm and not letting Liv down. She may have been my older sister, but she was obviously coming unglued with the news. I might have too if I were in the same situation. But I wasn’t living at home, I was back in Midland serving my summer internship at Dow and staying with my paternal grandparents.

“I got a number from the police in Italy. You can call them there. The guy that phoned me spoke English. I don’t know what to do, Kyle. Please help.”

“Sure, Liv. I think I’ll phone Mr. Hatcher, Dad’s lawyer. He may know what to do. I’ll call you as soon as I learn anything.”

“Okay ... call me as soon as you can, please,” she begged.

“I promise,” I said as I hung up the phone.

Darren Hatcher got the necessary things in motion the next day. He called me to let me know the bodies would be transported back to California as soon as they were released by the coroner in Milan. There was a police investigation ongoing related to what caused the crash and that had been identified as a sideswipe collision with a heavily loaded truck on a two lane mountain road. The truck driver was blamed for the accident and was being held for questioning ... and probably would be charged, Darren said. Apparently, he’d had the better part of a bottle of wine with his lunch, the evidence of which was still in the cab of his truck.

I was tasked with the impossible duty of telling my father’s parents that their son and daughter-in-law were dead. That was the most soul-wrenching experience of my life. They were my grandparents’ only living offspring. My grandmother was devastated, while my grandfather just sat motionless, staring at nothing, as if he wasn’t there. It would be a while before they were able to accept the reality of having lost their son and daughter-in-law. It would be just as long or longer before I could accept the loss of my parents.

At times like this, it’s good to have friends and organized people around you. Again, Darren stepped up to the plate and made arrangements for the funerals, and then called a meeting of my grandparents, my two sisters, and myself. He was aware that we were going to have to make financial arrangements for us to continue living in the house, while I would be continuing my education.

The funerals of my mother and father were held three days after their bodies were returned from Italy. That in itself took almost two weeks. Nothing was done in a hurry from what we could tell. During our meeting with Darren he advised we would review the wills of both our parents and let us know what arrangements would be made regarding various insurance policies. He had also contacted Dow, my father’s employer, and let them know of the deaths.

I flew back to California with my grandparents for the funerals and the meeting with Darren Hatcher. It was a solemn gathering that afternoon in Darren’s office as we sat together, still stunned that our parents were gone. Dad’s parents were taking it very hard, as were we all. They were in their early seventies and in good health, but this was a shock to their system and I worried what the long term affects might be.

My sisters had recovered somewhat from the news and were quiet and composed. Liv was the oldest, and I expected her to support Shan. I was the youngest, living with my grandparents in Midland during the summer, and my dorm room at Geary during school. I didn’t see much of my sisters except at Thanksgiving, Christmas, and spring break.

Since all of us siblings were considered adults, the issue of custody was a non-factor. I think my grandparents were relieved at that small blessing. But what we learned over the next two hours caught us by surprise. The terms of the will were straightforward. Their estate was to be divided equally among my sisters and me. But that would come after a lump sum of $500,000 was paid to our grandparents, should they still be alive. There were a number of special items that would be assigned to individual sisters or me, but that would be detailed later.

At first I thought that would diminish the estate by quite a bit, but I was wrong. First, the house in Davis had no mortgage; its value set a $750,000 at last appraisal. It was title free of any encumbrances. That was surprising to all of us. Secondly, their savings and investments totaled well over $2,000,000. Another surprise. Finally, they had both taken out insurance policies for themselves, leaving the three of us children as equal beneficiaries. That was another million dollars after the double indemnity was factored in. Then there was the Dow policy that automatically came to my father of a further half-million dollars. When I went through my father’s papers some weeks later, I learned he was earning over $260,000 annually, not including bonuses for performance. That was the answer to where all the money had come from. He was earning it.

When Darren unraveled all the bits and pieces, my sisters and I would each inherit something over one million dollars. There would be some estate taxes and funeral costs to deal with, but we would be temporary millionaires. Darren cautioned us to find a trustworthy investment counselor to help us protect and even grow our inheritance. I knew the name of the man that my parents used and I would contact him and suggest he handle my affairs. Liv and Shan had the option to use him or chose their own. We chose to trust Conrad Leitner, the man who had done so well for Mom and Dad.

Despite this instant wealth, I felt no better about what had happened. I would gladly forsake all the money for having them back with us. I spent so many hours reliving the great times we had together, skiing at Caberfae Peaks in Michigan, working with Dad restoring the motorcycle, talking about his job and how much he enjoyed working for Dow. I could think of nothing that would ever replace them in my heart.

I never knew my mother’s parents. In fact, she barely knew them as well. Her mother had died when she was five, pregnant with her sixth child. Her father abandoned the family and the children were put in foster care. Mom made a concerted effort to find her three sisters and one brother over the years, but to no avail. The family was originally from West Virginia, but scattered when the family unit dissolved. My mother was moved to Michigan with her foster family and she always said she was treated very well by them.

My Dad met my mother while on vacation at Saginaw Bay. He was a sophomore in college, while Mom had finished high school and was working at a K-Mart in Saginaw. Mom claimed it was love at first sight, but Dad kind of grinned at that version and suggested “first sight” lasted about two years before they decided to get married. I don’t think anyone who knew them had a single doubt they were in love with each other. I also think that was why Liv, Shan, and I grew up to be reasonably well adjusted. We were given both good guidance and the comfort and consistency of our parents’ happy marriage.