Chapter 23

Wednesday, Yuto showed up and asked how I was doing. I told him that things were good. He had a guy with him that had a suitcase. He opened it and started to sweep the house for bugs. Yuto and I went outside. I said, “I got a fax machine if you want the number. I’ve been on the phone a lot. Your shipment of .357s should be here by tomorrow. I think some showed up today. The pot is a problem that I’m still working on.

“Getting it isn’t hard at all. It’s hard to get into Japan. I was trying to get it into Vietnam or Thailand and that’s no problem. The quantity, and smell makes it hard to get into Japan with what I have available. If it were gold, diamonds, guns or cash, it wouldn’t be a problem. The smell of the pot is the issue and customs or the people at the embassy would smell it and I would have to answer for it. I’m still working on it.

“Lastly, I have my lawyers working on setting up a few entities to own this place personally, the real estate as a corporation and the stores, restaurants, bars and clubs with you and Adam. So, you’ll need to decide how you want your shares registered.”

“You move fast.”

“I don’t have much else to do.”

“Do you want me to pick up the guns here or at the club?”

“I was going to drive over and spend some time, eating, drinking, gambling and having some fun with Bill. I can park in the garage. I trust the car will be safe. You or your men can open the trunk and make the swap. I’ll leave the key above the sun visor on the driver’s side.”

“You can stop by and say hello. I want to introduce you to Tadao. He is my right hand man. He wants to meet you and is likely someone you deal with when I’m busy or not around.”

“You’ve met Bill. Adam will be in town in the next week or two to sign off on some documents. I would like for you to meet him. If you want to bring your wife, we can all have dinner. Adam may bring his wife to Japan if she can get away.”

“Does she work or have kids?”

“She’s my age and still in college so it’s more about teachers and tests.”

“Let me know when he’ll be in town and if his wife is with him. We can eat at my steakhouse.”

“I’ll let you know. When I show up Friday, I’ll come to the club and meet Tadao.”

He left me with the contract and I went over to the law firm. I dropped the contract with Omi and then went to see Satoshi. The trust was drawn up. He handed it to me with a pen. I sat back and started to read it. He clapped a little and looked over my shoulder. I saw Omi standing there next to Mr. Yamaha from the last meeting.

Omi said, “We had a bet whether you’d sign it just because he put it in front of you. I just won.”

“I’m glad, I want to know what I’m signing. I’m not that worried about it because I pay you to protect me and I could sue you for malpractice if you intentionally screwed me. If it was the corporation I might have signed but this is personal and I wanted to see what I can and can’t do.”

Satoshi asked, “What do you mean?”

“I mean that we didn’t talk about beneficiaries, beyond me. Can I buy stocks, bonds, trade currencies, or options? I want to know if this is just for the building or all of my assets. Is it only good in Japan or will this hold up in the states? I want a clause that says that if I get married or one of the future beneficiaries does that there needs to be a prenuptial agreement in place or this trust stops paying out until the next generation and they need a prenup as well.”

“I can put all that in there but why is it important?”

“Well, all of the different investment vehicles are so I can move from place to place without having to change ownership. The prenup language is so that if I run into a beautiful, smart and charming woman that wants to marry me, I can say, I don’t care if we have a prenup or not but the attorney put in my trust that there needs to be one or my trust stops paying me. If you want to sign one you can and we’ll live off the income or if you don’t then we can live off of your income and I might need to get a job. Who is the bad guy? Me or the attorney?”

Laughing, the partner said, “I guess I need to update my trust.”

“If you pass away and your wife inherits it or your children, you don’t want it to end up in the hands of someone they met at a bar and found out they had money. My grandfather put it in his trust that he set up for me and it’s in another where I hold the shares for D&B.”

Omi said, “It makes sense to me. Let the trust be the bad guy. By the way, the contract was done right. I had to read all the small print but it was written to an individual who has properly assigned the contract to you. I’ll finish reading it and we can talk about financing and inspections before you leave.”

“I can come over now while Satoshi adds in the part about being able to buy any type of asset or investment that’s legal. I think it’s illegal for an individual to own nuclear weapons so that they can’t be bought in the trust. Also add the part about the prenups for any and all beneficiaries to be paid out. I’ll be down talking about real estate.”

“I’ll add it in,’’ Satoshi said. He turned and had an IBM word processor.

“Do you like the word processor?”

“I love it. Did you have one in school?”

“I invented it. That’s my software idea and I’m buying the building with the profits from that and other software.”

“I love this thing. It saves me hours and hours of time.”

“I’m glad.”

Omi and I went over the contract. She said, “You should really look in every apartment before you buy it. There could be nothing behind the doors except concrete floors and pillars. I have an inspector that can look for any structural damage. I’ll call the seller and tell him we’ll be out on Tuesday next week. That way he’ll have the weekend to tell all of the residents. I have two banks that both want to loan you money. They both liked the deal but when they found out who you were they both started to bid against each other with better rates. One is at six and the other six and an eighth percent.”

“Maybe we should get a third bank involved to see if we can get into the fives?”

“We can. They want the future business.”

“Tell them that for our own protection and their protection that we plan to work with multiple banks. If they continue to be competitive and give us VIP rates we’ll consider them for this deal and others in the future.”

“I’ll do just that. It’s funny that you are the kid that knows nothing but has corrected both of the experts. Not that we did anything wrong but you just have a new perspective.”

“You educated me on the building use and fees yesterday. I have a couple trusts. My grandfather was a smart and shrewd businessman. As for the banks, I always want people competing for my business. It helps to keep them honest.”

We got all of the paperwork in order for the trust, the building and we discussed the different corporations. The bet Omi won was only for ten thousand yen or forty dollars. When I got home it felt like it had been a long day. I fixed myself some food and did some reading before I went to bed.

Thursday, I had no plans. I picked up around the apartment and was having tea when the phone rang. It was Sakura the decorator. “Nick, I hope you are doing well, I have three magazines that want to take pictures of your place. When would be good for you?”

“I don’t care. Do you want daytime or night?”

“Maybe afternoon and evening. The natural light will be good and then the lights against the dark sky would be good for the patio and looking in.”

“Okay, what day?”

“Would tomorrow be okay? If not, then the next time they’re all free is two weeks from Wednesday.”

“If I don’t have to be here then you can come on tomorrow. I have to leave around two and won’t be home until late.”

I’ll be there early with a cleaning crew if that’s okay and then the photographers can come after lunch, take a break and then come back after dinner for the night time pictures.”

“Anytime after 8am, I should be up and out of the shower.”

“Sounds good. We’ll see you then. I have a few calls to make.”

I needed to workout more and changed to start pulling on the erg. I was going to row a 20k or 12.5 mile. I was working hard and finished with a strong last kilometer. I was dripping sweat onto the wood floor. I got a towel to wipe off my body and the floor. Stepping into the kitchen I got a glass of water and my breathing was almost back to normal when there was a knock at the door.

Mi was there and looked at me just wearing a pair of shorts and dripping in sweat. “I was hoping to catch you but didn’t expect this. Is now a good time?”

“I just finished my workout and was going to shower. I need to cool off some before I shower or will still be sweating when I get out. Do you want to talk on the patio or should I come get you when I’m clean?”

“We can talk outside.” After we sat down she said, “The last two days have been interesting. “I told Kenji that we could stay married but I wasn’t going to be faithful if he wasn’t. He almost hit me but I stepped up to him. He backed down. Then last night at bridge I told one of my friends the story about the restaurant, before the others arrived.”

“Telling a woman a secret, was that smart?”

“Hush,” she giggled. “Later my friend was at another table and asked hypothetically what others would do if they were in that position. Most said things like they would kill him or castrate him.

“After everyone was done being all high and mighty one woman quietly said, I caught my husband cheating on me. I would bet with the women that we have here that it’s close to Fifty or sixty percent. Our husbands work hard, make good money and feel that they deserve something on the side. My husband told me to grow up when I confronted him. I told him to fuck off and stormed out. I went home to my parents.

“When I got there, my father said that Nonoka was no secret. He knew the girl that my husband was having an affair with. I was mad but he said that it was common and I could either get mad, get out or get on with my life. Since then I’ve had my own guy. We don’t talk about it much but I get what I need. How many of your husband’s are home tonight and how many are out? Who are they out with and how do you know?”

She took a break and said, “Nick. Then I said that it was Kenji and I had seen him at a restaurant with that girl.”

“Aimi”

“Yes, that girl. I told them that I was with a guy and that it was not sexual. We were neighbors having dinner when he came into the same place. By now the card games had stopped and everyone was listening.

“I went on to tell them about our argument, and us getting together. I told them about how big you were and how many times you made me cum. There is one woman who is older, Sumika and hadn’t said anything so far. She said, ‘You found a bull.’ I didn’t know what that meant and neither did most of the other women. Sumika explained that horses have stallions, cows, buffalo and other animals have bulls. They breed the lady animals, are well hung and are the alpha males of the group.

“After that it seemed like everyone was talking at once, some denying that their husband would ever cheat. Two even left to find their husbands and prove he was an angel and innocent. Some were calling me a whore and some wanted to know more about you and if you were free. Sumika smiled and said I was a lucky girl. I’m not sure if we’ll even play in two weeks. I’m sure the phones are busy today. Mine has rung four or five times but I haven’t answered it. I didn’t want to.

“Kenji came home later than normal, drunker than normal and smelled like perfume. I asked if he had another round in him or if he was only good for a shower and some snoring. He ignored me.”

“His loss. Is that why you came over here? Did you want to have sex?”

“Maybe but I just wanted to let you know what was going on.”

“After my shower, I’ll give you a hug. I had a couple interesting things happen. They’re coming over tomorrow to take pictures for some interior design magazines. I was also offered to buy this building. I was told by my real estate person that I should turn our floor into a private club and move down a floor, if I wanted to increase my revenues.”

“It was you?”

“What was me?”

“You bought the building?”

“I haven’t yet. A person I know bought it and then he assigned the contract to me.”

“I told you before that I’m a trust fund girl. This building was in my trust. The income paid for most of the building’s expenses and taxes, there were fees from the agent and with the empty units and ones that weren’t being collected on. We made some extra income each month. My father is the trustee and told me that he sold it.”

“Are you happy about the cash or sad about the income?”

“I think he sold it for not enough.”

“I think so too. I got a good deal. I was also told that the way the building was run and the income from the rent is what kept the price down. It should be enough for you to do what you want.”

“I won’t have a place to live. If I start to use the principle to live off of, that is just like lighting a candle that will burn out at some point.”

“Your husband makes good money. He can support you. You can get interest or income from your investments. You can stay in your place or rent another place. If you want a smaller apartment for you, Kenji can move in with Aimi. You’re old enough to run your own trust. If you can change it then I can help you set it up to protect it from your husband.”

“How would you do that?”

“I just went over it with my attorney,” and explained all about the prenup clause. Her dad would set up the trust so she could blame her dad or the trust. I also told her to put in a clause that if she was sued or going through a divorce it would stop paying except for her attorney’s bills.

Mi was smiling. She said, “I know that most Japanese don’t divorce. I think I would rather be alone than stuck with him for the next thirty years. I have money and if I invest it right, it will pay me well. I can also get a job.”

“I’ll always have a job for you if you need work.”

“Being your whore?”

“No. Real work. I’ll also make sure you have a place to live.”

“Thank you Nick. You have been a good friend through all of this.”

“And a good Bull.”

“Yeah, and that. Do you want me to pass out your name and address?”

“No. Thank you. Let me know how it goes with your dad, the attorney and Kenji. I should be around this weekend.”

She gave me a kiss but no hug. She pointed to the shower and patted me on the butt. I had a sandwich for dinner and tried to clean up as best as I could. Everything went into the safe that I didn’t want seen or taken. Sakura showed up with two ladies around 9am and they went to work. I did tell Sakura that I expected her to stay with the photographers and that I didn’t want the safe in any pictures for security reasons.

Nodding, she said that she would take care of it. After the cleaners left, we didn’t want to mess anything up so we sat out on the patio. The photographers and a couple writers came out about 1pm and they walked around and talked about the shoot. Sakura’s dad showed up and watched but let Sakura explain what she did and why. I was asked some questions about what my vision was and why I wanted things a certain way. When they had all of their questions answered the photographers were set up and they went from room to room. They would take pictures with different lighting, camera settings and from different angles. They would move the lights and do it all again in the next room. I said goodbye and left.

I was dressed nicely with a sports coat covering my holster and gun. I went over to the law office and reviewed the corporate documents with Satoshi, and everything looked fine. Omi told me that I needed to sign a form for the banks and a release for her to share my personal information with them.

From there I drove out to the university and stopped by to see Mika. She was busy studying but invited me in and we talked for a while. I told her that Adam and Tiffany might be coming to Japan soon. I also told her I’d moved into my apartment. I didn’t stay long but got a hug and a kiss before I went to pick up Bill.

As I walked in he said, “Dude, what are you wearing?”

“I’m early but ready to go out tonight. What did you plan to wear?”

He held his arms out like, ‘here I am.’ I said, “I planned on spending a night on the town. Maybe doing the casino and enjoying the clubs. I also have on a jacket that covers my pistol. You don’t have to carry if you don’t want to.”

“Can’t a kid be a kid for a while?”

“Bill, why don’t you just stay here tonight? Maybe go out to a college bar and I can do the drop. If I’m worrying about you, then I might miss something that I need to see or hear. I’m just doing the park and pick-up. It should be easy. I’ll play some cards and not worry about you getting bored.”