Chapter 18: 2 and 2 more

After our Saturday morning bike ride, Carol complains about needing a shower before she gets to work. I stop her.

“You will need a shower in a couple hours again anyway.”

I hand her a smaller pair of coveralls.

“Put this on. It’s time you leant all about fibreglass.”

In reality, it isn’t fibreglass at all. If it were, then the frame would be too stiff. It’s the same resin, but I teach her how to apply it to a more suitable material.

We move the boat into the smallest bay in our big garage. It is actually a paint shop for cars. My Uncle lets me use it. I just had to buy my own paint gun. He doesn’t want his wrecked, in case I forgot to clean it when I was done. I teach her all about the resin and why we use sailcloth instead of fibreglass, but I get Sam to teach her how to apply it with a paint gun. I am not very good at using a paint gun, and Sam is. I don’t want her picking up my bad habits.

I leave her to coat the kayak while I head off to meet Kim in the field beside our house. Kim is waiting for me to teach her some basics when it comes to unarmed combat. It is obvious she took a sponge bath while she waited. I am glad to see she is drinking an OJ while she waits.

“Thanks for waiting.”

“Not like I had a choice. You needed your kissy time with your new girlfriend.”

I’m not sure if I detected a hint of jealousy in there, but I think there is. I ignore it and begin instructing,

“Defence as a bodyguard is completely different than that for an individual.”

“How so?”

“Self-defence focuses on defending one’s self. That is your only concern. A bodyguard or security person has to focus on protecting something else first and themselves second. There are also times where your client isn’t really at risk, but they are being harassed or are concerned because of a fan.”

“In what way?”

“Let’s say you are guarding some a celebrity or public figure. Given how much wealth I am acquiring, my intellect and how much I intend to be in the news, I fall under this category. The most common thing you have to guard against is an overzealous fan. The person isn’t a danger, but kidnapers and other people with ill intent can pretend to be a fan. The chances are it is a fan, but are you going to take the chance when it could be a trojan horse? So, even fans need to be dealt with.”

I run her through some scenarios. It is all really basic stuff. It’s mostly things like showing her how to get a fan to let go of the celebrity’s hand when they can’t stop shaking it. I know it sounds silly, but is a common problem. The fan is almost always embarrassed once they have been separated and realize what happened.

Kim and Carol ended up having a shower before supper. We only eat a light one since we had a late lunch. This is when I confront Sam.

“Sam, I have been thinking. There is a good chance Yarrow will be closing down in the next few years. I was also thinking I need a welder for fabrication. I want to hire you part-time for now, and by the time Yarrow closes you should be working full-time. Hopefully, by then, we will have grown big enough that you will be the senior fabricator, and Carol’s Dad can be shop foreman.”

“I don’t know if it is a good idea having me act as your parent and employee. We will have to talk to Mom about it.”

I don’t wish to embarrass him. Truth is, he is my de facto guardian, but in reality, my grandparents are my legal guardians and Sam never so much as takes a shit without Gran’s say so. Our relationship would not change at all if he were to work for me.

“Well, for now, I still need to hire you for a few quick jobs. I need a couple prototypes, and I know nothing about welding.”

“I can at least do that.”

“I’ll pay you the same wage you get at Yarrow plus expenses.”

I am a little disappointed that he isn’t more enthusiastic, but at least I will have my prototype. It will not be the first full-suspension mountain bike, but it will be the best. The ones in existence all use systems that are only used for a few years because they suck. Mine is based on a motocross suspension that isn’t invented yet. Once I sell that, I have a hybrid that is a cross between the two systems and is what will be used in future downhill bikes. I don’t skip to the final product so I can make more money.

I don’t know why, but when Sam takes us to drop Dahlia and Moira home, I walk Moira to her door. It isn’t something I usually do for a friend. That is for girlfriends and other romantic interests. I go to give her our usual farewell salutation of a hug. As I go to wrap my arms around her, she shifts so our heads align and moves in for a quick kiss. It isn’t very romantic, but to a 15-year-old girl that has no experience, I’m sure it was the world.

I go to sit in the back seat, and I can see Sam is trying really hard not to say anything. He is smart enough to realize I could be in real trouble with Dahlia. She teases, “Two girls aren’t enough for you, huh?”

I turn red-faced. I try to cover, but don’t know how well I’m doing because I am still flustered. I say, “You saw it. I was trying to give her our usual hug goodby. She is the one that moved in and stole a kiss.”

Dahlia laughs, “Relax, you didn’t do anything wrong.” She then moves in for a proper kiss, then says, “Now, if you allowed her to do that, then I might get mad.”

“Don’t worry. With the two of you, I have more than I could ever dream of.”

I don’t have a clue what it means, but she winks at me then does the sexy little giggle some girls do. We get to her house and I walk to the door with our usual goodby kiss. Since we have officially started dating, these kisses are getting longer and longer.

I get back to the car and ask, “What, no stepping in to see Ms. Fells?”

Sam, confesses “I want to, but I have no clue where we stand.”

“Ask her on a double date with Dahlia and me for Thursday. We go for dinner then you suggest a romantic walk. Drive to the breakwater. I will take Dahlia on the breakwater while you take Ms. Fells along the waterfront for a private conversation. That is when you tell her what it is you want. If she says yes to the date then you already know she will say yes to wanting a relationship. She isn’t about to take her daughter on a date with you if all she wants you for is a fuck buddy. At the same time, you need to hear her say she wants you too, or you will continue to act this pathetic.”

He does take my advice. As soon as we got home, he phones, and she accepts. I am happy for him. He has a big shit-eating grin on his face for the rest of the night.

Sunday is a bit different. After breakfast, I set Kim up in the dining room with a stack of books she needs to read. Dahlia and Moira are both churchgoers. Dahlia never shows up before 12:30 on a Sunday because her church doesn’t get out until 12. Moira gets here at 11:15. I have her clean the floors then cook lunch. Her Mom wasn’t kidding when she said Moira couldn’t cook.

Moira makes mac and cheese out of a box with wieners cut up in it. I am used to good-home cooked meals not something you give a 5-year-old to make him shut up. I don’t provide Carol with much instruction. I show her the blueprints and let her put together a kit to mail out for a customer to build their own boat. It takes her an hour, but it is her first one and without instruction, so that is a good time. After that, I have her sit down in the dining room to work on a project. She needs to write out instructions for a kit including all the things the builder needs to watch out for and any tips that could help the customer out.

A couple times during the day, I work with Kim to give her a break from reading. I spend most of my time working on mounting the full suspension on the mountain bike. The reason it takes so long is that Sam is teaching me to weld. I weld some practise pieces, but he does all the welding for the bike. I don’t want ugly amateur welds all over it.

As soon as supper is over, I excuse myself and make a call in my office.

“Hi, is Kevin there?”

Ms. Murphy replies, “Just a minute.”

It is only a moment when he answers, “Hello.”

“Hey Kev, I was wondering what you know about sales?”

“It is my Dad that is the salesman, not me. Do you want me to get him for you?”

“If I wanted to know what your Dad knew, I would have asked him, not sent him to fetch you. Just humour me. What do you know about sales, and how do you feel about it?”

“I know it is a lot easier if you believe in your product, and it is a crappy salesman that doesn’t know his product. Other than that, I’m not sure. I suppose it is as good a job as anything else. Now, what is this all about?”

“Two things, really. I feel kind of bad for hiring all our friends, but not including you. I also want to start a new business and want your help. I always try to kill two birds with one stone.”

“So, what is it?”

“I don’t want to say because I don’t have anything worked out yet. Even if it doesn’t work out, I see a shortcoming with my current staff, and I want you to fill the void.”

He is a bit tentative when he says, “Ok ... I don’t want a job if you have to make one up just for me.”

“This isn’t charity. Fact is, you should have been the first one I started training. Speaking of which, how would you feel about working with your Dad?”

“It would be nice to see him a bit more. Being a salesman, he doesn’t always keep to banker’s hours. Even when he does come home early, he often spends time in his office with the door closed.”

“Let me speak to him for a bit.”

It takes a few minutes, and I was thinking of hanging up and trying again later when I finally hear a, “Hello,” on the other end of the line
.

“Mr. Murphy, this is Trent.”

“So you are the boy Kevin won’t stop raving about. What can I do for you?”

“It is as much what I can do for you as it is, what you can do for me. How would you like a free intern?”

“I’m sorry, but we don’t take interns.”