Chapter 19

As I drove over, I was a little nervous. Chris knew about me being there but Nozomi wasn’t on the street and Bill wasn’t watching my back. I had on the embassy plates so didn’t worry about speeding tickets or parking tickets. I pulled up right in front of the bar. I got out and locked the door. Yuto walked out after one of his guys let him know I was there. I said, “Would you like to go for a ride in my new car?”

He nodded and we both got in. I revved the motor and he smiled. I pulled away and we talked. I said, “I have twenty-five in the trunk. I was hoping that maybe I could find a building or two with a garage. I could park it with the merchandise in the trunk and when I come back there is money in the trunk. All done behind closed doors and I wouldn’t be seen handing you backpacks all the time.”

“We have a lot of real estate.”

“I’m in the market for real estate.”

“Really? It is very expensive here in the city.”

“I have many forms of income. I own a couple businesses. I started my first when I was fifteen and it still makes me millions a year. I just rented an apartment but would rather own the building and not pay rent. I want to open a store or two and a chain of restaurants.”

“Show me your building.”

We drove over to my apartment and I parked in the garage. “Come on up.” We rode up to the apartment and I opened the door. The painting was almost done but there was still drop clothes and tools about. We walked out onto the patio with the dark sky and lights from the city.

“This is a nice place. This building is probably worth a billion Yen.” He walked over and looked over the edge. Walking back he asked, “What business are you in that pays you so much?”

“I have a few. My first was a software program for trading stocks. I made a quarter million trading stocks in a little over a month. Now some of the major brokerage houses in New York pay me to use my software. Then I created a program that would buy and sell stocks and other commodities on different exchanges at the same time. Buy on one exchange for ten dollars while selling at the same time on another for a nickel more. Multiply that times a thousand shares a few times a minute on different stocks and it adds up. I take a good cut and the brokerage house takes the rest.”

“So you write software?”

“My company does. I have a partner and he runs the company and people that write the actual code. I have the concepts or ideas. After working with my designer here, he is writing a new program or programs for architects to draw on computers instead of on drafting tables. They will pay us to use our software to do that.”

“Why would they do that?”

“If there is a mistake or a change, they can fix it very easily and just print out a new blueprint. It won’t take someone hours to redraw it.”

“What about the stores and restaurants?”

“I’ve written software for both. It manages inventory and can track what is coming and going. It can point out trends and if someone is giving away drinks or stealing steaks from the cooler. We just did the restaurant conventions in England and Las Vegas. We sold millions of dollars worth of software and they pay us every month to use it.”

“Nick, you are not who I thought you were. Why do you sell me guns and take the risk if you have all this money?”

“I didn’t plan to. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. If your guy hadn’t pulled a knife on me I wouldn’t have pulled my gun. Now you know why I carry one. Then you came out and asked if I could get more. I can get whatever I want. I’ll help Bill make some money because he is just a student. I just graduated college at the age of eighteen. Bill and I grew up in the embassy together.”

“Can you show me this software?”

“How to draw buildings? Trade stocks?”

“Nick, do you know about the mafia in the states?”

I just gave him a questioning stare. It was the first time I was acting. I finally said, “I have a friend in New York.”

“Who is your friend?”

“Tony DelRocco. You probably have never heard of him but he and I are friends.”

He actually laughed. “You know Tony? I know Tony. We’ve done business together in the past.”

“I was on his boat a few months ago. He told me that he knew some people over here.”

“If I call him and ask about you what would he say?”

I thought for a second and then pulled out my wallet. Let’s go call him. He should be awake by now. I want to see if he knows you. We walked into the kitchen where the phone and answering machine was. I called New York. Some guy answered and I asked for Tony.

“Who is this?”

“Tell him that Nick Duke is calling from Japan.”

There was a pause and then Tony picked up the phone. “Nick, how are you?”

“I’m doing well. I have a guy here in Japan that says that he knows you. His name is Yuto.”

“Nick, I’m not even going to ask how you met him. I know Yuto very well.”

“He wanted to say hello. Tell your family I said hello and give Nadia a hug for me.”

“I will.”

Yuto took the phone from me and he spoke to Tony. I could only hear one side of the conversation and it sounded like Tony was doing most of the talking. When they finally said goodbye, Yuto turned to me and said, “He says you have big balls. That you make him money in the stock market and own the company that you said.”

“I have no reason to lie to you.”

“Nick, he said that you are not part of his family as we say. He says that your family has always been one that helps all the families. He said your family was in banking and during prohibition made a lot of money in other areas.”

“I wasn’t alive then.”

“He said that you’re one that can be trusted.”

“I’m not sure what you are saying but since I’m selling you guns I guess we’re trusting each other.”

“He said that he wouldn’t be surprised if you had his daughter running around and buying them for you.”

“No comment.”

Smiling, he leaned against the counter. “My organization, like you, is diversified. We have kids that sell the pot. We have legitimate businesses, like bars and restaurants. We have casinos that aren’t legal. But that is all small business. We buy and sell real estate and own shares in major corporations. There are other things but after talking to Tony maybe we should be talking about how you can help us do better.”

“I’m leaving on Wednesday.”

“Where are you going?”

“Around the world to get furniture for my apartment and look for suppliers for the store I’m thinking about opening.”

“How long will you be gone?”

“I don’t know but probably not more than a month. Bill will call if I get more guns in. He can drive them over.”

“I’ll think about some things while you are gone. Now that I know you better, I think that we’ll be able to help each other out.”

“In what way?”

“You want this building. It is a nice building. With the right things said to the right people, there is a good possibility that the owner will want to sell at a good price. I think that eight-hundred million would be fair. Do you have that much?”

“For this building? I can have it in a few hours.” I felt like I had just crossed the line if I was going to get a building that they were forcing a guy to sell. It was a fair price but just on the low end of the range.

“We can also help you find the best places for your restaurants and stores. You will help us with stocks.”

“I’m happy to help you where I can. There are some contracts, exclusivity and other requirements. Do you have a brokerage firm you work with? For the software to work you will need live feeds. We work with E. J. Patterson in New York but they have offices here that would save you a lot of time, hassles and money.”

“We can buy and sell at the same time like you said?”

“The courts have made us sell that to other firms so if you had a trading desk on all the exchanges you could. The problem today is that more than one company has the software. Since it is my software, I get paid on each trade. If you used it your software would be competing against other companies using the same software. It pays because you would get your share of the trades, but it wouldn’t be worth setting up a firm just for that.”

“I have some thinking to do and need to talk to some others. We’ll drive to a garage over by the bar.”

We drove over and he had some guys take the bags from the trunk and then dropped a bag in the trunk. I closed the deck lid.

“Don’t you want to count it?”

“We trust each other. I’m sure there’s twenty-five million in the bag.”

“The guns you brought me last time are all brand new and in great shape. Tonight has been very interesting. My mind is going in all different directions. I may have to give our friend in New York another call to sort some things out. I hope to do more business with you. Give your friend Bill this address. He can park here when he goes and has a drink. We will take his bags and replace them with our own.”

“I don’t know the address. I can tell him the blue garage door.”

“I’ll give him the address when he calls.”

We shook hands and did a slight bow. I wasn’t going to stick around to play cards. I left the bag in the trunk and parked at the embassy. I didn’t want the money to walk off. I would take it to the bank on Monday.

Sunday, I relaxed and spent time getting my clothes washed and getting ready to move out of the hotel. I spoke to Adam that night and let him know about the real estate and see if he wanted it owned by the company or by me individually. He said the stores and restaurants could be owned or leased by the company while the apartment building was up to me.

Monday found me at the bank. Half went into the checking account and half went into the safe deposit box. I did get some Dong or some money from Vietnam. I had dinner with Bill and brought him up to speed on the dealings with Yuto. I gave him the keys to the car and told him he could park it at my apartment or at the embassy. He had the telephone number and the order was for twenty-five more and he should get twenty-five million yen or a hundred thousand dollars. You can keep it all. I have a checking account and a safe deposit box at the bank.

“Nick, you do this like it’s no big deal. I’m going to have to adjust the way that I think.”

“Bill, we’re adults now. We may be young adults but we’re adults. I was talking about buying some real estate this weekend. If you go and buy a new stereo and a car and take your friends out drinking then you may not be ready for this. Money is a tool. Just like a hammer or a screwdriver. It helps you to get a job done more easily. If you don’t have the tool when you need it the job will be that much harder.”

“You bought a car. I’m just trying to understand.”

“I bought a car so that you and I can carry around five backpacks without looking silly. I paid under ten grand for the car and you will use it to make a hundred this week. It has embassy plates and will keep the police away. It is a tool. I could have bought a Corolla and we would look like some kids. We wouldn’t have been taken seriously. I could have bought a Porsche and wasted a lot of money. This car is a tool. It can be a fun tool but it’s a tool. Don’t love anything that can’t love you back.”

“That makes sense. I just wanted to look cool. I’m fine on the subway or walking. Finding a place to park can be a pain in the ass.”

“Do well in school. It’s almost over and you want to graduate.”

“I’m doing well. I’m trying to figure out where to work when I get out.”

“I have plenty for you to do if you want work.”

“Doing what?”

“Whatever you are good at. We can figure that out when you have a diploma.”

“Have a good trip.”

Tuesday I met with Sakura and looked at her list. We would fly into Ho Chi Minh City. Most of the furniture manufacturers were in the city but in a section south and east of the city on the other side of the river. She had a list of ten that she wanted to visit. I figured that we could either expand or reduce the list as needed.

Wednesday morning she was at the airport when I arrived. I tended to get there a short time before boarding. She saw me and got up and came over to me. She looked nice wearing a dress that was cut to highlight her slim body and nice sized breasts. She said, “I thought you were going to miss the flight.”

“It doesn’t start boarding for ten minutes and then it will take thirty minutes to board. We have assigned seats. Have you been here long?”

“Almost two hours. I didn’t want to be late.”

“Me either. That’s why I’m here ten minutes early.”

“I don’t fly very much and this is the first time without my mom or dad.”

“You’ll be fine.”

Fifteen minutes later we were sitting in first class. She looked around and smiled at the cup of tea being set in front of her. I had a cup of coffee and was on the aisle while she had the window seat and was watching the people working around the plane. The time came for us to take off and the flight attendant took our cups and the plane pushed back from the gate and taxied to the end of the runway. She took my hand as the jet accelerated down the runway.

As we leveled off, she realized she was still holding my hand. “I’m sorry. I always get nervous during takeoffs and landings. It is nice to be in first class. Thank you for taking me on this trip.”

“You’re welcome. It would have been pointless for me to try to do this alone. You look nice today, by the way. You always dress nicely.”

“Thanks, I took some fashion courses in school. I can help you, if you want. There are some good places to shop where we’re going.”

“There are good places to shop everywhere according to my mom. I tend to buy what is convenient and it shows. I’m comfortable in jeans.”

“Jeans are certainly a style but it depends on what you are trying to say with the clothes you are wearing.”

“What are you trying to say with that dress?”

“I represent both you and my father’s company. I’m professionally dressed.”

“But you still can look pretty at the same time.”

Blushing, she said, “Maybe some of that too.”

“We’re going to be working together for the next few weeks. Maybe this afternoon we can do something fun before we start our meetings tomorrow.”

“We can walk around and look at architecture or go to the opera house.”

“We can do that if you want. Get something Vietnamese for dinner.”

“Pho is the main thing that they’re known for. A soup dish.”

“We can have some for dinner.”

Both of us brought a book to read on the plane. It was a long flight, over six hours. We arrived in the early afternoon. The food on the plane for lunch was good. It was a Japanese dish since we were on a Japanese airline. As we started to descend, she took my hand for the landing.

The big surprise came when we went to pick up our luggage. She had two full size suitcases. I just looked at her. “I don’t know if those will fit in the taxi.”

Looking down at my one medium size suitcase she said, “Sorry.”

There wasn’t much that I could do now. I shrugged and picked up my bag and started for the door. She struggled with her two. I stopped and handed her my bag and picked up her two and they were both heavy. I didn’t say anything but had to find a taxi that was a full size car before we could go to the hotel.