Chapter 21

We found when we went back to the information center that John and Jimmy Salyers were in the same room and Cindi was in the room next to them. We went to the room with Mr. Salyers in it first. He was just laying there. Jimmy had the TV on for his side of the room, but Mr. Salyers was just staring at the ceiling.

I went in first with Bonnie. We introduced ourselves and I told him we were the ones who had brought them in. He brightened a little at that. "I want to thank you for saving my kids," he said. "I don't know what I'd do if I'd killed them too."

"Mr. Salyers, you didn't kill anyone. A combination of a deer and slick roads did that. I was less than 200 feet behind you when it happened and I don't see how anyone could have avoided it."

"Mike is right, Mr. Salyers. We had a heck of a time pulling you guys back up the side of the mountain because the road was so slick we kept losing traction with our feet. If there hadn't have been five of us pulling, there were times when we'd have lost you."

"Remember, sir. You are all your children have now. You need to shake yourself out of this so you can take care of them."

"I know I do son. It's just hard. We were having a rough time anyway. I'm an accountant. I worked for the same company for fifteen years, and I was let go four months ago when they downsized. We lost our home and were going back to live with my wife's parents until I could find a job. Our insurance on the car had expired, so it's a total loss as well."

"That's a real shame Mr. Salyers. Where did you live and work before you lost your job?"

"We were from the bay area. That's the only place my kids have ever known. Jenny's parents live in Ohio, and the kids don't even know them."

"What part of the Bay area?"

"We lived, and the kids went to school in Hayward."

I looked over at Bonnie and she was staring back at me. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" I asked.

"We really could us a good accountant for the company," she said.

<I wonder if Thelma would let them live in her place?>

<I don't see why not. They could drive the Aspen.>

<You suggest it Bonnie. He thinks I'm just a kid.>

"Mr. Salyers, we are just starting up an investment company. We don't even have offices for it yet, but we are going to need a good accountant. Would you be interested in working for us. We'll be opening the offices in Hayward, by the way."

"My God yes! You're not joking me are you?"

"No sir," I said. "It is going to be investing mostly in the stock market and in real estate. Do you know anything about that type of accounting?"

"Most definitely. I've been doing that type of work for fifteen years. How much capital do you have invested?"

"It's somewhere between nine and ten million right now. We are growing quite rapidly."

"How much were you making on your last job, Mr. Salyers?" Bonnie asked.

"I was making $18,000 a year ma'am. And, please call me John."

"Okay, John. If you are willing to accept the job, you are on salary with MBBS Enterprises starting today at $21,000 a year."

"Yes ma'am! I do accept."

"I'm Bonnie and this is Mike. We don't answer to anything else."

<Thelma, we've just hired ourselves an accountant for MBBS. Do you suppose he and his two kids could stay in your house for a while?>

<Not a problem, Bonnie. As long as he wants if you don't kick me out.>

"John, you said you'd lost your home. Would you be interested in staying in one of our places, rent free, for a while?"

"Bonnie, I don't know how to thank you. That would be fantastic. I'd insist on paying rent though."

"Nonsense. If we pay you well and treat you well, I'm sure you'll repay us with your loyalty. We also have a three year old Dodge Aspen station wagon you can drive until you get something of your own. You can even buy it from us if you like it."

"Bonnie, Mike you have lifted a great burden from my shoulders. It's going to be difficult making it without Jenny, but you've made it so we can at least survive financially."

"Oh we may be able to help in other ways too. We have three teenage girls in our family. I'm sure they'll be willing to babysit if you need someone."

"Bonnie, I think we should go over and say hello to the young man in the next bed. He's been so engrossed in the TV I don't think he even realizes we're here."

I went on over and said hello to Jimmy. I could hear Bonnie asking John when he was going to be getting out of the hospital. He told her they said he could go today, but they wanted to hold Jimmy until tomorrow.

"Jimmy, I'm the one who pulled you guys out of our car last night," I told him.

"Why didn't you get Mom out?" he asked me in an angry voice.

"She was the first one I got out Jimmy. I'm sorry, but she was already dead when I got to your car."

"How did she die?" he asked choking back a sob.

"Her neck was broken Jimmy. Probably from when the car hit the guard rail."

"Is it true what you said about Dad not being able to avoid what happened?"

"Yes Jimmy. I think anyone would have reacted the same way, and I'm sure their car would have reacted the same."

"Why didn't your car slide when you stopped?"

"Do you know what a Greyhound Bus looks like?"

"Yes."

"What I was driving is a little bigger than a bus. It has ten huge tires where your car only has four small ones. It's a lot harder to get that big thing to slide than it is a car. After everything settles down, I'll take you a ride in it so you can see what it's like."

"Did Mom hurt much?"

"Jimmy, your Mom died instantly. I doubt she felt a thing. Maybe like someone slapped you on the back of the neck or something. Did you go to Arroyo Middle School?"

"Yes. I'm really going to miss my friends. Is Dad really going to work for you?"

"Yep. And guess what. The house you're going to be living in is in the Arroyo school district. You'll be going to the same school."

You could see Jimmy brighten. "Really?"

"Really."

Bonnie came over and said hello to him. She talked with him a minute or two, then we told him and John we were going to go so some of the rest of our family could come in to see them.

We went on over to Cindi's room and Thelma and Sharon went in to see John and Jimmy. <Tell him about your house Thelma, > I told her as we passed.

Cindi was a lonely little girl. She was in a room with a lady who had to be at least eighty. The older woman didn't talk at all, and Cindi was just laying there looking at the television, but not really watching it.

Bonnie and I introduced ourselves and told her we were the ones who had pulled them out of their car the night before. "They won't tell me anything in here," she complained. "I think Dad was alright, but Jimmy was hurt real bad. I think Mama is dead."

"Honey, your Dad and Jimmy are fine. We were just in to see them. Cindi, I know it's tough, but you are right. Your Mom is dead," Bonnie told her.

"Thank you for letting me know," she sobbed. "I was afraid Dad and Jimmy were dead too. The people here said they were all okay, but I knew they were lying about Mom."

"How did you know they were not telling the truth about your Mom?" Bonnie asked her.

"Mom told me never to tell anyone. I guess it doesn't matter now. I could always hear Mama think. When the car went over the edge she stopped thinking."

"How old are you, Cindi?" I asked.

"I'm nine. I'm just little for my age."

"Cindi, your Mom was right about not telling anyone you could hear her thoughts. Bad people would come and take you away from your Dad if they knew it."

"That's what Mama said too."

<Cindi, can you hear me?> I asked mentally.

"Yes... You're not talking. You're just thinking at me aren't you?"

<Yes, Cindi, and if you think at Bonnie and I we'll be able to hear you too.>

<Like this?>

<Just exactly like that, > Bonnie told her.

<Wow! You guys are better at this than Mama was. She couldn't ever hear me.>

<There are four more people here who could hear you too. Please remember though that the bad people would take us away as well. You must never tell anyone about this.>

<Oh, I wouldn't. This is awesome. I could hear Mama when she was at home and I was at school. Can you do that too?>

<Yes. Listen to this. Beth?>

<Yeah Mom.>

<Say hi to Cindi. She's a natural telepath.>

<Hi Cindi.>

<Hi Beth. Where are you?>

<I'm in the waiting room. Want to see what it looks like?>

<Sure.>

Beth sent a picture of the waiting room. Missy was in the picture as well. <The girl you see is Missy. You can say hello to her too, Cindi.>

<Wow! Mama could never do that. Hello Missy. Can you hear me too?>

<I sure can Cindi. It's fun to be able to talk like this isn't it?>

<It sure is. I feel like I have some new friends.>

"Cindi," I said. "As you get older, you'll come to think of us more like family than like friends. Your Dad is going to go to work for us, and you'll be living close. Close enough we can talk any time we want."

"That's fantastic," she said. "Where are we going to be living?"

"You're going to be back in your old school district. You'll be able to be back in school with all of your friends."

"I don't have that many friends Mike. Most people want something from you before they'll be your friend. They want you to not like someone else or they want you to give them things or something."

<Well, as of right now, you have six new friends Cindi, > Bonnie told her.

When we left the room, Bonnie and I went to talk to the head nurse. She told us that John and Cindi could leave the hospital at any time, but that the doctor wanted to keep Jimmy until tomorrow.

"Why don't we get John to go back to Hayward today with Thelma and I?" I asked Bonnie. "We could show him the house and he could bring the Aspen back so he could take Jimmy and Cindi home in it tomorrow."

"You don't mind driving that far?" she asked me.

"I'm sure Thelma will spell me. We need to find out what John wants to do about a funeral for Jenny too. Does he want to have it here, or back in Hayward."

"Let's talk to him and find out," Bonnie said.

We went back to John's room and Beth and Missy were just getting ready to leave. We talked to him about going to pick up the Aspen and to look over the house we'd be letting them use. Then we asked him about the funeral.

"Oh God! I haven't even called her parents. I have to do that right now."

Bonnie placed the call for him. She had the operator charge it to our home phone. When it started ringing she handed the phone to John.

When someone answered we heard him say, "Marj, this is John... No Marj everything isn't okay. There's no easy way to tell you this. We had an accident last night and Jenny was killed." He started sobbing and Bonnie took the phone away from him.

She held it for a minute then said, "My name is Bonnie Green. We're friends of the family. John is so broken up he can't talk."

- - -

"No I don't think she suffered at all. Her neck was broken. Jimmy and Cindi are fine."

- - -

"That's one of the reasons John wanted to talk with you. He wanted to talk with you about a funeral, and where she should be buried."

- - -

"No, John is going to be working for us. We have a house for him and the kids as well."

- - -

"Just a second. I'll ask him."

"John. Marj wants to know if you'd consider having a memorial service for Jenny here, then ship the body home so they could have her buried in the family plot."

"I guess that'd be okay. Jenny and I were never much on funerals or anything anyway."

"Marj. John is okay with that. We'll have a service in the chapel here in the hospital here tomorrow, then ship her home. You'll need to contact your funeral home there and they can arrange for the transportation."

- - -

"Okay Marj. I'm sorry we had to meet in this way. We'll take care of John and the kids for you."

She hung up after saying goodbye. "Now, John, Mike has a proposition for you. Mike would like to take you over to Hayward today and show you the house you're going to be living in. You can pick up the Aspen as well and drive it back here so you can take Cindi and Jimmy home in it tomorrow after the funeral. Cindi can either go with you today, or she can stay with us until you get back."

"That sounds okay Bonnie. At least it should help me keep my mind off things today."

<Bonnie, I want to stay here with you, > Cindi said.

<You little Minx, are you listening in on me?>

<Yes, Bonnie. Is that okay?>

<This time it is Honey, but you should always ask first. There are things that people think that are a little too mature for someone of your age.>

"Why don't you get yourself and Cindi checked out John? We'll get some lunch and you guys can get on your way."

<You mean like when Mom and Dad were going at it with the sex thing?>

<Just like that Cindi. That kind of thing is private.>

<Okay. I'm sorry Bonnie.>

<That's okay Cindi. Just ask first and you can listen in just about any time you want.>

<Thank you Bonnie.>

We all talked it over with Thelma and decided it would take at least eight hours for the round trip. We decided to go this afternoon, but come back early in the morning. When John asked Cindi if she'd like to go with us or stay with Bonnie, she was very decisively in favor of staying with Bonnie. Sharon decided to stay with the rest of the girls as well.

We learned a lot about John on the way over. He seemed to be a hard worker who had just fallen on bad times. I asked what had gotten him into accounting and he told me it was his uncle. His uncle had his own accounting firm while John was in high school. John had started working for him during the summers when he was sixteen and during the rest of his high school career he had worked at least two hours a day in the evenings.

"I always was good at math, and the accounting practices just made so much sense they just seemed to come naturally. When I got out of high school, I took the CPA exam and passed it the first time. I had planned to go on to college, but my uncle said I didn't need it, already having my CPA."

"So, if you were working for your uncle, how did you get downsized?" I asked.

"Oh, my uncle sold out the business nine years ago and retired. I got along well with the new owners and things were going fine until four months ago when the business was sold again. One of our biggest accounts didn't like the new owners, so they left. Several of our other large accounts said, gee if Albertman's left there must be a good reason, so they left as well."

"Ahh I see," said Thelma. "Sheep following the Judas goat."

"Exactly," John agreed. "I might have survived, but I was making more than a lot of the younger accountants. The new management didn't realize that I also knew more than most of the young accountants."