Chapter 1

This was probably the last time Ted Larkin would be golfing this year as the weather was turning cold plus basketball practice was starting this coming Monday. Ted was the new head basketball coach at the high school replacing Don Carlson who retired and had moved to Florida. Originally Cory Williams was slated to be the new head coach but he was offered an assistant coaching position at his college alma mater which he quickly accepted. The longtime coach Don Carlson had some successful years and Ted knew that his coaching performance would be compared to the results Don had achieved.

Ted was not fresh out of college nor was he inexperienced in coaching basketball.

After a short stint in the Army and after three years being an assistant high school basketball coach, he had become the head basketball coach at a Catholic Boy’s high school. He did that for six years before becoming the head coach here. Ted had taken a good look at what the future held for him at his prior school and thought it was time for a change. The salary was considerably higher in the public school system and the pension plan was an added benefit all of which caused Ted to apply to this school when the opening occurred because of Carlson announcing his retirement.

Ted had made it a point to meet with Don before he left for Florida to pick his brain as to what advice and counsel he could give him. The main thing that Ted remembered which came out of this meeting was Don telling him to be careful in his dealings with the player’s parents.

“I don’t envy you in now becoming a coach here,” said Don. “I say that because there has been a marked change in how the player’s parents act towards the coach. They no longer just sit in the stands and watch the game. Most of them seem to think their son is the next Michael Jordan or Steph Curry and they want their son to play the full thirty-two minutes of the game. Most parents have unrealistic expectations of their kid’s playing ability. They want him to have this playing time because they think their kid will get a college scholarship which will defray the cost of going to college which has gotten to be so expensive. Because of that, they will exert all kinds of pressure on you. Other, younger coaches have told me some of the things the parents have done which would blow your mind.”

“They left me pretty much alone probably because I was older than them and had many years of coaching experience. Be careful in dealing with them because they are your age or a little older and they may think they can bully or trick you.”

Those thoughts were running through Ted’s mind when he was playing golf. Ted was not a great golfer and accepted the fact that he was an average golfer. He normally posted a score that was in the middle nineties. He did like to play the game and was playing today in what was a tournament to benefit a local charity.

After the round was over Ted along with the other members of his foursome, had a few drinks in the clubhouse and then the buffet meal. He listened to a speech that mainly thanked the people for participating today which was followed by the giving out of some golfing awards.

The final item of business was a raffle. Ted had purchased twenty dollars’ worth of tickets. His ticket numbers were called twice. The first prize he won was a free round of golf for a foursome at this golf course which was good for a year. His second prize was a wireless nanny cam. What he would do with a nanny cam caused him to wonder since he presently was single. There were no marriage prospects on the horizon for him although he hoped in time that would change.

Back at his condo Ted signed on to the net and looked up nanny cams on Amazon. He discovered that the nanny cam he won was one of the more expensive models that were listed. The write-up said it was a current state-of-the-art nanny cam since it was activated by motion and would record both video and audio. This nanny cam also had many other features. What Ted would do with it he wasn’t sure but for now, he set it up by downloading the software to his laptop and he put the nanny cam on a book shelf that was to the right of the television. Its location would give the cam a clear view of the living room.

Basketball practice had started and by the end of the first week, Ted had a good indication of who his starters would be and how his team would do. He thought he had six solid players along with some height. While he wasn’t that deep in talent, the team could do well in conference competition if no one was injured.

Ted was a history major in college as was Don Carlson. History would be the subject Ted would be teaching just as Don had done. Don was nice enough to offer Ted his lesson plans since he said he had no further use for them and Ted accepted his offer. This saved Ted a considerable amount of time in preparing for class.

The pre-season basketball games went well with his team winning more games than they lost. Conference play would start right after the New Year. The week before the Christmas holidays an incident occurred which caused Ted to think about the uncertainty of life. One of the teachers at school, a man who was about Ted’s age was killed in a single-car accident. It was the rain on the road which turned to ice that caused his car to leave the road and flip over.

That death resulted in Ted thinking about his own mortality and it told him he needed to do a few things regarding estate planning. While he didn’t have a large amount of assets he did have some and thought he should have a will. He would name his brother the beneficiary of the will for now. If Ted’s situation changed he could always change his will. Ted was aware that he could go on the internet and download a specimen copy of a will but he thought to play it safe he should see an attorney to have this done.

He asked around at school for a referral to an attorney to draft this will and received a recommendation that he should go to the Stevens Law Office on Second Avenue which was just down the street from the courthouse. He was told the attorneys there were strong school supporters.

Ted was able to go to this law firm right after basketball practice ended and before the law firm closed its office for the day. He told the receptionist what he was there for and after a minute a good-looking lady of average height in a dark business suit came out of an office and up to him.

Extending her hand to him she said, “Coach Larkin, I am Marcia Stevens and it is so nice to meet you. What can I do for you?’

“You know who I am?”

“My son Parker is on your team.”

Ted had not thought because of the similarity of the last names to make the connection of Parker to this law firm. Parker was not one of the starters on the team and would only see limited playing time. That would only happen if the outcome of the game was no longer in doubt. Ted told her that he was looking to have a will and a living will drafted. She listened to what he said and told him to wait there for a minute and she would be right back.

Ted watched her walk back to her office and admired her nice backside and her nylon-encased legs. She did have a nice figure he thought. Age-wise because of Parker’s age, she could be a few years older than him but if she was, she didn’t look it. Besides being good looking she seemed very professional in how she talked and acted.

Coming back to him she handed him some papers saying, “For what you want this is the information I will need to draft what is called a simple will. If you will fill out this form and mail it back I will draft both wills. Once I do that you can come back here and sign them and they will be notarized and witnessed.”

He thanked her and left the office. Because of her attractiveness, he couldn’t help but wonder what kind of a lover she would be. He thought she would be pretty good but laughed to himself thinking that she would be the one who would want to be in-charge and probably would prefer the dominant cowgirl position.

It was five days later after completing and mailing in the forms he was given that he received a phone call telling him the wills were ready for signature. He went the next day to the law office right after basketball practice and did the necessary signing. The fee for doing this was surprisingly low and Marcia smilingly said that they had given him the “teacher’s discount.”