Chapter 6

While Bitch had her fun, I had a different kind of fun.

As far as I knew, my father never had many friends. Those he had, were people he met in business situations. Robert Parker was the only one I knew a bit, for the simple reason that he lived nearby and so we sometimes met on the streets or during shopping and things like that. We would greet each other, he would inquire how I was. I would have called him a friendly acquaintance. So I was a bit confused but not overly concerned when he asked me if I had time to meet with him. He told me he had something my father had left in his care for me after I turned 18.

I knew where his house was. I hadn’t realized that the house was half personal home, half business offices. He led me through the office entrance. The whole office are was made out off glass walls, and most offices were empty. I assumed that Saturday was not a high business day. But I belatedly realized that, after having kinda known Robert for more than nine years, I had no idea what his Business was about. Whatever it was, judging by the furnishings they made good money.

We went to a conference room where another man was waiting. He was introduced to me as Theo David, my fathers lawyer.

“This is really Theo’s show,” Robert told me, “but I thought it would be easier to meet up here. Theo?” he prompted the lawyer.

“Yes, thank you. First of all, I have to apologize. We should have had this meeting earlier, shortly after your birthday, but I was sick for a while and thought it would be better if I came personally.”

“Well, I hope you are fully healthy now,” I said, “but without wanting to sound like a obstreperous child, could someone please just come out and tell me what this is about?”

“Of course, sorry. And yes, I’m fine now, thank you for asking.

“I was your father’s lawyer, but I was also his friend. I wrote his will. Have you ever seen it?”

“No. Well, I really was too young to understand it back then.”

“Not a problem, I have a copy here. What’s important is that according to the will, he left 20% of his estate to your mother and you in equal parts. Your half of it to be managed by her until you turned 18.”

That was a shock. “So you say I have money?”

“Well, the thing is that your father didn’t trust your mother, I’m sorry to say. And he was right about that. As far as I could find out, your mother has spent almost all of the money the has received - her part and yours. But your father foresaw something like this, which is why he wrote his will like that.”

“Wait. If that were the case, why leave it to her to manage?” Honestly, I wasn’t even angry about the money. I had long since accepted that my mother would keep and spend all of it. But this didn’t make sense to me.

“Because if he hadn’t, she would have wondered why you didn’t get anything. And then maybe she would have wondered where the other 80% of the estate went.”

“Huh?”

“The big chunk went to an organization named ‘Helping Hand For Lost Souls’. Sounds like a religious aid organization, right? It’s not, and we were careful never to imply that. Thankfully her lawyer was too lazy to investigate it. He told her that she would have no chance if she tried to contest the will. She would have had a pretty good case if they knew that it was an investment fund owned by you.”

“Wait wait wait. What?”

“You are the owner of that investment fund and have been since you were nine. However, you couldn’t legally take it over until you were 18, so Robert was made the administrator to manage it for you. Per your fathers wishes, we didn’t tell you because he feared that your mother would find out and find a way to cheat you out of it.”

“You are saying, that my father left me money?”

“Yes. Now most of it is in investments, of course,” Robert said.

“Most of it? How much could there be?”

“We have been pretty successful in investing, so it has grown over the years. The total value as of yesterday is about 215 million Euros.”

One would think that I would have shouted with glee. Or that I would have started making a shopping list of expensive things. Or something.

I’m pretty sure that I didn’t think anything for a while. Maybe shock. The two other guys were talking, but I didn’t hear it.

“215 million?” I asked.

“Yes. Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t want to overwhelm you. Maybe you should drink something, water?”

I took my time to collect my thoughts.

“Where did my father get all that money?”

“He inherited it. I’m sure we can trace the details if you want.”

“So ... what does one do with so much money?”

“My recommendation to you would be to do nothing until you had some time to process this.

“Now that you take over the fund, contact a good forensic accountant and have them go through everything we have done in the last nine years. That is to ensure we didn’t fuck you over. Please pardon my French. That is a lesson you need to learn quickly. With the amount of money you have, people who work with you or work for you will take advantage of you. In general, you will find that people change once they find out you have money. People you hardly knew will want to be your friends. Be very careful about them.

“Another thing you need to consider is the need for security once knowledge about your wealth gets out there. Someone thinks your money would be much better if it were in their bank account and abducts you. If there are people that are important to you in your life, they might also be targets.

“Sorry to bombard you with the negative sides of all this, but to be honest it’s important for you to have a handle on them before you get into the fun sides of having money.”

“Couldn’t I just, you know, leave everything as is, forget it and move on with my life?”

“In theory you could try that, but then what’s the point? Your father wanted you to have it, so do something with it. Have fun. Do good. Whatever you want. But doing nothing with it, well then it’s essentially worthless.”

Nothing was resolved at the meeting. I went home and watched the dogs. Of course, at that time I didn’t know yet what had transpired earlier, but it was soothing. It was a kind of normalcy. As much as having a naked female running around like a dog because I blackmailed her could be called normal, of course.

The only outward result of what I had learned at Robert’s office was a new debit card he gave me. It was for an account that held 50,000 Euros. He told me he would refill it as needed. Who should ever manage to spend that much money?

Robert had assured me that my secret was safe. Nobody at their office knew who the owner of the fund was, not even the guy who managed it. The only people who knew were Robert, Theo, myself ... and the IRS. I asked them to make sure it stayed that way for the time being.

It was Wednesday, and I was happy. That’s because the following Sunday Kat would fly back, and on Monday we would meet and have the day together.

I had just come back from delivering Bitch to the hospital. Now I was thinking about what we could do on Monday. For the first time in my life, I had some money that I could spend on a nice date with Kat. Nothing too fancy of course, but just some of the things we hadn’t been able to do because of my budget.

My cell phone rang, it was Karl from the hospital. He told me that Bitch was freaked out and could I please come and get her? He was in a hurry so I didn’t ask for details, I just got in my car and drove there.

By the time I arrived Karl was in his office.

“What happened?” I asked.

“We lost a patient today. A girl, eleven years old. She had terminal cancer, and we all knew it. The hospital, the parents, the girl herself. But, well, she died shortly after Rosa arrived, and she was there. Rosa ran off to the staff room, and so far nobody had any luck talking to her. She just sits there crying.

“It’s a risk in this job, getting too close to somebody. Rosa gives all the patients her heart and lets them get under her skin. I should have seen this coming. I think it would be best if you take her home for today. Then she will have to decide if she can come back.”

“Thank you, I will.”

“Oh, the funeral for the girl will probably be on Saturday. Maybe she wants to attend. I can call you once I know more.”

“OK, thank you. Can you give me the directions to the staff room?”

I don’t think I had ever before seen anything so pitiful. That’s not meant to be derisive, but I almost didn’t recognize her. She seemed broken, alone in the world. I tried to talk to her, but she wouldn’t react. It didn’t seem to me as if she even recognized I was there. Another woman was in there with her, and I asked her to leave. She didn’t want to, but finally relented.

“Bitch!” I shouted at her once we were alone. She was startled. At least now she looked at me, and seemed to concentrate on what I would tell her.

“Come with me, we’re going home for today.”

Meekly, she followed me to the car. I opened the passenger door for her, than had to close her seatbelt because she seemed to have forgotten how to act in a car. We drove home in silence.

At home, Bitch automatically removed her clothes and went to a corner. I wasn’t sure how to help her, but it was clear to me that she would stay in the mental hole she had dug for herself if I didn’t do something.

“Bitch, come to me,” I ordered.

She knelt down in front of me.

“For today, you will answer all questions verbally. The girl that died today. What was her name?”

“Her name was Lara.”

I hadn’t heard her voice for a while now. And now, hearing it with so much sorrow, broke something in me. But it was time to be strong for her, wasn’t it?

“Tell me about her. How did you meet her, what was she like?”