Chapter 10

The next morning I was looking outside after breakfast before we all put on our coats and got into mom’s four wheel drive to head back down the hill. It was less than a hundred yards, but with over a foot of snow on the ground none of us wanted to walk there and back.

The presents were all opened, and everybody seemed happy with what they got. I went outside for a bit, and was on the porch looking out when Pete joined me. I was a bit surprised when he pulled a tube out of his pocket, and clipped and lit a cigar.

“I didn’t know you smoked, Pete.”

“Oh, on occasion. But a little birdie said that we should have a talk. And I always listen to my little birds when they tell me something like that.”

“Would this birdie happen to be named Linda?”

He blew a large cloud of smoke into the air, and he nodded. “That’s one of them, but Becky was another. Neither of them gave me details, but said we needed to discuss some things.” I nodded, and held my hand out for his cigar. He laughed and shook his head, and said we should head to the lower barn. Once we were inside he pulled out another tube from inside his jacket. And with a grin clipped the ends then handed it to me, and lit it up for me.

“It’s a real Cuban, Harve picks some up for me whenever he goes to Mexico. So what’s on your mind?”

I took a puff, and it was a good cigar. We sat on a wood bench that was inside for the winter, and I told him about my discussions with Linda over the past months. He looked somber, and almost sad as I told him. Then the three way conversation with Becky and Linda both. And after I wound down, he nodded.

“Yep, that is actually pretty much right on the money. Of course I see it a bit differently, but not significantly. Linda and I were very much in love then, and she was the world to me. Then, when I went to Okinawa she got lost. And she went her way, and I went mine. It took almost a decade until we became friends again, and she had a rough time of it between the two. A very rough time, as you now know. I still love her, I always will. But, she is my past now, her sister Mandy is my present and future.”

“Pete, would you have taken her back if she had been more honest in front of the house when you were home for that month?”

He took another drag of the cigar, and seemed to ponder that for a moment. Then let it out in a long slow breath of smoky air and slowly shook his head. “No, I don’t think so, George. By that time, I had learned how much she had lied to me already. And you can’t build a marriage on a foundation of lies. If only some of it had happened, maybe. Just her having an affair, I might have accepted that. Just the stripping, maybe. But combine those, the prostitution, the drugs, and the porn? No, that was just too much. Plus, there was the physical. You said you saw some of her videos, you saw those things. You see, it was like she had become a joke version of herself at that time. Those enormous boobs, yet trying to look like a cute girl again. It was all a show, and a mockery of the Linda I knew and loved. It was all that and more combined that made it impossible for us to get together again.”

I nodded, and borrowed his lighter as my cigar had gone out. “And what she is doing now?”

“Writing porn?” He then laughed softly. “Porn does not bother me, the problem was that we were supposed to be together then, not with her secretly banging guys on the side. Remember, much of my money from the computer and Internet business came from the porn industry. Still is, as Hainji Net. Yes I sold off most of it years ago, but still keep web hosting services for web sites as well as access for us. And when I first took them on providing services, one of the requirements was that I did not have to handle photos of her. Thankfully by then Sue took over that part, so I never had to see a photo or video of her.”

“You blackballed her?” I said, slightly surprised.

“No! Oh no, I just did not want to see what she had become by then. George, you have to understand that she broke my heart. And I did not want to see her fucking other guys. They could promote her work, I just did not want to be associate with it is all. And I had no problem when she moved behind the camera, that was pretty legitimate actually. As is what she does now, I actually respect her for that to tell the truth. Mandy and I have seen some of those movies, and they actually are very artistic. Almost a mainstream romance movie, if you removed all the sex.”

“And I guess that is why you are also known as Jenny?”

Pete burst out laughing at that, and nodded. “So she told you about that too, I see. Yes, we kind of started that as a joke but it has been a profitable one. That and my own game publishing are my personal sources of income independent of the family company.”

“She also told me that Mandy goes by Mona, but told me I should ask about Connie.”

At that he did surprise me, as he looked at me sharply, and shook his head. “OK, this I am not going to discuss myself, one moment.” He then told me to wait, and left the barn. But what I did not expect was his returning about ten minutes later with my mom.

“So Linda told you about me, I see” she said, and this did shock me.

“Wait, you? Mom, you’re Connie, er, Connie Lingus?” I exclaimed, almost a little ashamed to say that name to her. But she came up and gave me a hug, then nodded and sat between Pete and me.

“Yes, I write for Pete’s company also. Why not? I’m a writer, and it’s a lot of fun. But where most of them are really dirty nasty, mine are more sexy dirty. Where sex can be used to solve the adventure, and is even encouraged. But it is not required, unlike most of them. And I get a fair amount of fan mail for them, mostly from other women. I make one now maybe every two or three years, whenever I get inspiration for one.”

“And why that name?” I asked.

“Oh, that’s because of me” Pete said. “Back when I wrote the first one, I realized that I could not publish it under my real name, so I made a female one to seem less threatening. If gals thought it was written by another girl, they would see is more as sexy, which was my intent. Mandy illustrated it, and she got a similar name. Then later when Dee wrote hers, I suggested that name and she accepted it.”

Mom giggled and nodded. “It was one of the dirtiest of his names at that point, but I admit I did like it. Especially as being the most dirty name, my adventure was the tamest of them all. I loved the dichotomy of it, to be honest. And I like that I can write more creative things that way, normally based off of those romance books I’m always reading. I just take a plot from one of those, then turn it more from a Hallmark Channel movie to a hard R rated one from say Cinemax. But it is also optional how much sex they involve. It can be a lot, or none really.”

I admitted it made sense, it was just hard to imagine my own mother was doing that. At that she actually gave me a hug, and said that her and my dad certainly were not dead. “After all, it’s not like we have ever stopped making love. In fact, when we test those out it is one of the few times your dad actually plays a game.” That did surprise me, and all I could really do is nod.

We talked for a bit longer, then mom looked at her watch and said it was time to go back in for dinner. We both nodded, and on the way back Pete asked me what my plans were for the week. I said that the next day I wanted to drive out in town and see a few friends, and he nodded. “OK, don’t make any plans for Friday though. How about you, me, Mandy, and Grace all head to Bogus for the day?”

“What, flying there?”

“Yep, just the four of us. We leave here at 5:30, ski the day, then fly home that night.”

“So long as you don’t break your plane again!” mom said, and we all laughed. I said it was a deal, and actually said that sounded like a great way to spend the day. And Grace was all for it when Pete asked her.

That night after we got home mom went to bed early, and I sat across from my dad as he had a beer. I then asked him if it was true they had made a decision to keep my money a secret from me. He took a deep breath, and sighed.

“Not directly, son. You see, one of the things about your older brother is that he never knew how much money he had. He grew up right here, and from all of us learned a good work ethic. He worked for his first car, even though his mom really paid for it. He dreamed of having his own car when he turned 14, but he could not work yet. So his mom paid some of the locals to hire him to do work around their places. Now mind you, that was only for a while. By the time he was 14 he was working on his own without that, they liked his dedication to doing a good job. And I had your mom do the same thing with you when you were 14 and 15, so you could buy your truck. And just like Pete, at first they hired you because your mom paid them to. Then kept hiring you without that because you were a good worker.”

He took another sip, then looked in my eyes. “And when Pete was really getting that computer business going, Dee was basically his executive assistant and accountant. And it was funny, he actually had absolutely no idea how much money he had. He lived off of his pension mostly, the money from the store and his games just went in the bank. He would call up and ask if he could afford something like $10,000 for buying an old computer store. And your mom would say yes, knowing he had by then over a quarter million in the bank. He was with Becky for about a year when he finally called and asked what he was really worth. He was blown away when he was told it was by then almost a million dollars.”

I whistled, as that was rather impressive. “Do not think your brother is greedy, he simply most times has no idea what he is worth. This newest plane? That really is mostly for Mandy, that’s her dream. He simply has the money to be able to afford it. And notice, instead of just buying it for her, it will really be a company asset. He’s just like that, wants to put what he has back to work if he can, instead of it just sitting around unless she is using it at some air show. I had kind of hoped you would get the same kind of ethic, to be honest. Ignore the fact you have a large net value, and live off of what you earn yourself. Not be one of those idle rich that infest LA. Make your own path, wherever it is you decide to go or what you do. Knowing there is a safety net in case you need it, but not relying upon it.”

I nodded, as that did make sense. “And if I decide to just drop out, take up surfing, and live in a trailer on the beach?”

“Well, I would be disappointed then. Not in you, but that choice. But it’s your life, I would not tell you not to do it. Just that you would be wasting your potential. No matter what you may think, I never wanted you to grow up to be a copy of your brother. In many ways, he was broken and wandering for years. Linda broke his heart, then Becky did. Thankfully he was blessed to realize what he had in Mandy, and has kept her. At one time, I was actually thinking he would never have a family.”

“Is that why he wanted me to be involved in the company?”

“Maybe, George. Maybe. Now that I think on it, that may very well be part of it. Back when things ended with Becky, he was feeling trapped in LA. Like that was the only place he could live, and he wanted to come back here. He did not know how much money he had, and his insistence he return here and her insistence she stay there ultimately doomed them. He did not know he had enough money to set up almost anywhere. Denver, Seattle, Portland, he could afford it easily. When he told us he wanted you involved, that may have been in his mind. When you are ready to take the bar, you may want to stay in LA because that is where the money is. But know, you will not have to do that. Pass the bar here in Idaho, set up in Boise, do it in Seattle, Kansas City, or anywhere else. Live where you want, do whatever you want. You may want to practice maybe pro bono family law for battered wives, not much money in that. But if that is your desire, you can afford to do it for free because the family and company will support you. That you will know you have options, which if he had known back then might have seen him with Becky still.”

“Pete has regrets?”

Dad looked at me, and nodded. “Oh, we both do. His mom and I were together for over two decades all told. It broke our hearts when she died, and we both were living here with her ghost looking over us all the time. LA was a fresh start, and we did need it at the time. Then he discovered what those Californians did to the ranch here, and he got mad. That regret affected me also, as I had fucked up the legacy of his mom’s family by taking him from here. But now, he has returned it. Linda, Becky, and a few others, he had several loves that were ripped from him in one way or another. If you ask me, I think he might see the same thing in you. And he wants to spare you what he went through. I know the best decision was to come back here with your mom and you. I feel at peace unlike I ever did in LA. And you have those same choices now.”

I nodded, and we talked until after midnight when we hugged each other and headed off to bed.

The next day after breakfast I fired up my old truck, and headed out to see my friends. But as I was doing that, I knew he was wrong. Pocatello was still a hick two horse town, and I wanted to live in the big city. But the money would be nice, especially if once I graduated I moved into our old house. No tiny apartment for me, I was meant for better things.

On Friday morning, I got up at 5, and at 5:15 we were getting into Pete’s car and driving to the airport. And it was 5:45 when we finally took to the air. I told them that I was thinking of taking flying lessons the next year. I was not surprised when they both said that was a good idea, and that when I was close to graduating we would all talk with Harve.

“Now mind you, he’s an employee and will be paid for giving you the flight lessons. And Tina is right, we are considering another plane. If you pass the ground school portion, you will be paying for Harve and the fuel out of your own pocket, not the company. And we can work out a minimal cost for the rental of a plane, that is for taxes mostly. One thing your mom taught me was that things like this are actually small, but pay off when it comes time to pay the government. It’s a bit of a shell game, really. You never see the money, but when you file it can be deducted from your taxes as a business expense. We can also write off the use as wear and tear, so we get a tax benefit also. I don’t pretend to understand it all, but that’s how it works. We pay ourselves, and in the end pay less taxes.”

“Plus it’s a lot of fun. I still want to get a T-6 Texan, that was a fighting trainer aircraft. We have looked, but as this would really only be for us to fly and air shows we have never found one we wanted for a price that we could justify.”

Grace asked what all you needed to do in order to fly, and Mandy smiled at her. “Well, you have to take a school first, that can take from two months to a year, depending on how many hours a week they hold the classes. Then pass a physical, fly solo, and be 17.”

“Wow, that sucks, still over two years away.”

“Oh, not quite. You see, it’s kinda like driving a car. You can take the classes at 15, but can’t get your license until you are 16. Same here, Grace. You can do all of the work and solo at 16, but can’t get your license until you are 17. And all that means is that you have to have a licensed pilot at the controls with you. Say if you had accomplished everything and flown solo at 16, you could fly with either of us and control the plane. Think of it as like a learner’s permit.”

I mentioned that next year I was considering taking flight school as an elective at college, and that really made Grace look up. And Mandy told her to check to see if her school offered it. “I know some do, and you can even see if the University does. You could probably even arrange to take it and get school credit.”

Pete asked her why she would want to fly, and she grinned. “Well, you and Mandy both enjoy it a lot, and go to all these neat places. Plus maybe I could fly down and see George during the summer, it’s going to be years before he comes back.”

I did not say that I was not planning on coming back, at least not to live.

Mandy then got on the radio and started the process for getting us on the ground again as Pete continued flying. And I helped him tie the plane down as Mandy and Grace went to pick up the rental car. We had just finished unloading the skis when Pete saw a service truck pass by. They apparently knew each other, and he drove us to the gate with Pete in the front of the truck, and me in the back with all the gear. And by 8 we were heading up the mountain.

Grace and I went and picked up our lift passes, I was not surprised that Pete and Mandy had annual passes pinned to their jackets. We started out easy as this was my first time in a year, and by lunch we were going anywhere we wanted. We had lunch at the nice lodge at the top of the hill, and I asked them about the passes.

“Oh, Bogus always has a great deal on a season pass. Like in, if you go more than four or five times a year it’s paid off. With the plane we come at least every other week on average.”

Grace nodded. “Mandy’s right. During vacation they sometimes bring me.” Pete asked me if I was on the ski team at University, and I shook my head.