Chapter 60

The next day I spent most of it working on the disco-ized version of “Iceman”. I was in mom’s office, and using the software on her computer to sequence multiple MIDI tracks. I would have it play what I had already laid down, and was adding additional tracks one at a time with the extra instruments.

Finally I thought I had a pretty good version, and asked mom if she could come in. She stood over my shoulder as I played it, and she squeezed both shoulders as she did. In total it was about two minutes long, and she said it sounded great.

“Thanks, now is the part I hope you can do. You are a lot better at laying down percussion, can you handle that part please?”

She hugged me from behind, and said she would love to. I hooked up her DX-7, and after about thirty minutes we had added an additional two percussion tracks laid down.

She came over and I played it again, and when it was done I saw she had her head cocked to the side. She grabbed a copy of the sheet music and propped it on her music stand, and after several minutes asked me to play it again.

And I was more than a bit surprised that when she started to accompany it, she was playing harmonica! She finished, and asked what I thought.

“You know, I never thought of adding a harmonica. Makes it sound a bit like Billy Joel, I like it!”

“Well, I was trying more for Stevie Wonder, but Billy did harmonica too.” It took four tries until she got a track we both liked, and mom called dad in when it was finished and I played the newer version.

When it was done, we both looked at him expectantly. “Well, Larry, what do you think?”

He smiled, and came over and kissed mom on the lips then my forehead saying it sounded great. “In fact, I’m looking forward to seeing the show now. George, you did a great job capturing what a song for a TV show would sound like back then.”

“Well, this is not even a pilot, dad. Just a proposal at this point. Odds are it will never even get shot, but I can always hope.” He smiled and nodded, and headed back to the living room to watch more football.

Mom looked at me, and asked who had given me this project. I said it came from somebody that Jack knew. Mom just looked at me and gave this kinda grin, and asked if that somebody that Jack knew who happened to be named Linda.

I looked at her sharply, and softly admitted that Linda was involved. Mom just nodded, and actually smiled. “Oh, I know what she did, and what she does now. And to be honest, I don’t really have a problem with what she does now. Now she’s on the creative side and not the talent side, and I actually see nothing wrong with that. Remember, I’m a journalist still, at least part-time. And I’ve done some things that were published in Playboy, Penthouse, and Hustler among other adult magazines. So it just makes sense that if she knew of somebody needing a theme song, she would reach out to the brother of her old boyfriend. Who she knew was a musician and could always use the money. Tell me, are you getting credit, and are they going to pay you well?”

I smiled and nodded, and started it playing again. “Actually, she agreed to be my agent in this. She said she is going to shoot for twenty-five hundred. And recognizing me as the songwriter.”

Mom looked at me when I said that, and I laughed. “And yes, I actually decided I will use a pseudonym. ‘Kurt Matadero’, combining Kurt Vonnegut, and Matadero is Spanish for “Slaughterhouse’. And I might be able to use this to get other similar work if they like it.”

Mom laughed and gave me a hug. “Actually, consider this. There are several web sites out there that allow you to release your music for free. Set up an account on one, give it a name and release it there. In fact, release several of your songs there. That way if they use it, there is nothing wrong with allowing your real name to be attached to it. If you get more serious and anybody ever asks you about it, play dumb. This guy heard the song and liked it, got ahold of you to write lyrics for it. You simply had no idea it was for a porn project.” I actually laughed, as that was a hell of an idea!

“Thank’s mom!” I said as I hugged her. “That’s even better. And this would give me credits on two projects.”

“Three, don’t forget your playing at the presentation last month. Brad already said he liked the last song you all did together at the performance, so that might be in there also. And next year, consider actually joining the band. That would be yet another credit.”

“That’s not a bad idea. I’ll never get rich that way, but the money would be nice.”

“Oh, and good call on choosing Linda there as an agent. That girl has the hunger of a shark, she’ll do you right. What’s her percentage going to be?”

“Well, honestly, I have no idea. We never actually talked about that. Just that she would handle the money side for me. Mom, should I be worried?”

And I was relieved when she shook her head. “Naw, don’t be. But expect to maybe buy her dinner sometime. Remember the agreement your dad had with her, her mom, and Mandy. He did that for them early on until their Rosie got the hang of it, and the only thing he charged them was baked goods. So it would not surprise me if she did the same thing. I think she would remember that, and would largely do the same with you. But if she does want money, if she asks for more than ten percent, give me a call.”

“Well, that would be two-hundred and fifty dollars, so I guess that would be fair.”

Mom nodded, but said as much as she loved Linda she still did not fully trust her. “And it’s not her. It’s just that, well, she was a hell of a gold digger at one time. And even though I don’t know who Sherry’s father is, I have my suspicions. That house is far more than she should be able to afford on her own, your dad and I suspect she was somebody’s mistress. A kept woman, who gave her the kind of life she always wanted.”

I looked into her eyes, and softly said it was. “Mom, this is kind of a secret actually. Linda told me her sister and Pete already know. I realized it shortly after I got down there. Pavel, he’s Sherry’s father.” I told her about meeting Pavel for the first time when he showed me the apartment I rented from him, and how he treated Sherry. “It struck me right away. The way he hugged her, it was not like Linda’s boss hugging her daughter. It was like he was hugging his own daughter. And they have almost the same cheeks, and Sherry has eyes almost the same shde of blue as Pavel has.”

Mom just nodded, and said that had been her suspicion for years. “But don’t worry, all you did was confirm what I really already knew. I only met Pavel twice I think, but she worked for him for years so that does not surprise me at all. So he gave her the house when she decided to have his kid?”

“Oh no, not at all. Linda told me some of that, Sherry was an accident. And Linda does not own the house, Sherry does. Linda holds the power of attorney and it’s all in a trust, but that house actually belongs to Sherry. Linda can only live there until Sherry turns twenty-two. At that point, the two of them will have to come to an agreement if she can remain there or not.”

Mom actually whistled at that softly. “Wow, that actually makes sense though. Let me guess, he’s married. And that was a way to do it so his wife would never find out.”

“Uh-huh. She told me a bit about it, the trust has some vague name, like ‘Golden Bear Investment’ or something like that. Each month she makes a check out to the trust, which she then draws back out. She said in case Pavel’s wife ever dug, none of their names are attached to it, and it just seems like an investment firm that she rents it from.”

“Well, if anybody knew how to do things like that, it’s Pavel. One of the things they nailed him on was his financial dealings. Apparently he had over a hundred things like that set up. Moving money from one to another, to hide where the money was going to or coming from. There was an article on his case a few months ago. And how intricate the web of shell corporations was, and how it was actually easy with their cooperation to separate his legitimate income from his illegitimate income. Did you know he was worth over two-hundred million?”

“Wow, I had no idea! Really, that much?”

“Oh no, the total was closer to half a billion. But that is what they think his legitimate value was. Real estate mostly, and a few that were legitimate businesses like two pawn shops, five bars, and a dozen liquor stores. That he got to keep, the rest the government seized.”

I went ahead and burned the MIDI files to a disk, and after moving everything back to my room popped it in my laptop and rendered it down to an MP3 and burned it to a disk. I spent a couple of hours working on lyrics, then took a shower and got ready to go.

At five, I drove down to the bottom of the hill. Grace ran out of the house when I pulled up, and she gave me a hug after climbing in. And she looked great! Loose dark green jeans was all I could see as a jacket covered her top. She told me to head towards town, and thanked me again for this.

“Grace, it’s not a problem. Here, I want you to listen to something.” I changed the stereo from FM to the CD, and saw her cock her head to the side. When it was done, she looked at me when it started to repeat.