Chapter 16

James and Jane were sitting down drinking some tea when I arrived. He seemed to like some of Jane's pastries. He jumped up when I got there. I had to smile and said, "Sit and eat. We are not in that much of a rush."

He nervously said, "I got most of the things you wanted. The planning department provided me the maps without a problem."

"Did you find out about the crusher?"

"It was bought by a scrap yard. I went by and saw that it has not been cut up yet. I don't know how good it is though."

"James, did you ever see a very large truck with a revolving drum on the back? It would be used for mixing cement as it travels instead of mixing it at the plant and transporting it in an open container."

"All I ever saw was a dump truck hauling the dry ingredients. It gets mixed with water at the site. Is this something new?"

"I don't know. I invent things. Maybe this truck has already made its debut but none have come this way yet. How is concrete prepared now? Is there a company in the city making it for us?" This was not that important but it did represent some additional patents. This time a mechanical engineer would do the drawing and thinking for me. North Bay was too small to need a big cement plant anyway.

"As I said, it is usually mixed at the building site if there is a lot needed."

He brought out the maps he mentioned and pointed to the major substations and the directions of various lines. The city had not gone overboard in making these substations. If the properties sold then they would have to be upgraded.

James and I drove to Northern Plastics. The lot was ploughed for more than fifty cars but only a dozen were visible.

The secretary was a pretty redhead but she didn't have any eyes for a twelve-year-old. We sat for only a few minutes before Mr Boise came out and introduced himself. At my insistence, James only introduced me as Jeff but the man had seen my picture and shook my hand with a compliment to what I had done for Corinne.

This building we toured was about six thousand square feet too and had tables for assembly and for moulding the plastics they needed. Very little of the space was being occupied.

I checked out the moulding machines and asked questions now that I was found out. This had to do with the size of the moulds; the types of plastics, whether thermosetting plastics could be handled; and the information about how good current machines were over this particular model before us.

Other machines used different plastics for different applications. I could see a few improvements and I had never been in a plant like this before. We spent an hour going over the plant.

Mr Boise asked James, "Were you looking to get a product made?"

"I am sorry, I don't. A prospective buyer though asked me to come and see this facility. He has one product but it is made of many individual parts. He was going to get it made in Toronto but wanted to see what this city had to offer."

"We are the only plastics plant in town. What's the name of this buyer?"

"That is confidential for the moment. My advice to you is to make sure your books are up to date so an adequate picture could be formed of this company. That is if you are interested in selling this property."

"Oh, I am interested alright. That is, if the price is right."

On the way back to my house, I asked, "James, would you like to stay for supper? I am sure there will be something good to eat."

"I would love to, Mr Congdon."

"I asked you not to pry into my personal life but now I feel I have to do the same to you. Do you happen to be married?"

"I was until about six years ago. It didn't work out."

"I thought your receptionist was your wife."

"No, that's my sister. She handles the books and the phone."

"That's ok then. My mother seems to like you. She's a widow and does much the same for me as your sister does for you. I just had to ask because I don't want my mother hurt but she has to have a social life too."

"That is good to know Sir. I noticed her looks from time to time and didn't know what to do about it."

"The best thing is to ask her out. I can't see you going wrong."

"I would love to Sir. By the way how often would you like me to turn in my hours?"

"Every two weeks is good to start. Later, when you have to give me more of your time, then it can be every week. If there is any high cost items to be purchased just talk to mom."

Over our meal, I talked to Susan and Maggie about Alice and what she had done for me. "She may be an asset to show that girls can do much more than sew and make meals. You still have to watch her inquisitive nature. Once she gets in this house it will be hard to keep her out again."

I found out during the next day that the student that tried to assault me was expelled for a week. Mr Grissom had talked during opening ceremonies about there being no fighting or the next expulsion would be considerably longer.

The chemistry books gave me some insight into something that could help me. I was not finished by the end of the class but could come back during my third period to complete the experiment. When I finished, I was very excited. My variant was able to work very near room temperature. Perhaps some other related molecules would do better.

In gym, Sam said, "I heard you were in a fight."

Ian came over and listened. I said, "Somebody wanted to teach me a lesson from his point of view. Alice happened to be walking by and hauled off and punched him herself. When he was down she put the boots to him. That is one beautiful and amazing girl."

Sam said, "I'll say. She is one bea — u — ty — full babe."

I said to him, "You hurt Gloria when you stared at Alice. You're just starting to understand girls. Do something stupid now and you will find that you have no way of doing any further research. Gloria will leave you in a flash."

"She isn't like that Jeff."

"Yes she is, and you're warned. You do something foolish and you will be dating your hand and thinking of a girl instead of holding one." It occurred that this applied to me too. I loved Paige and just wanted some fun with Alice. Paige was subservient but not stupid.

For the rest of the school day I pondered about Paige and myself. I had not changed my feelings but I just wanted a bit of breathing room to enjoy some other girls. My sisters and Jane were great but they had been increasingly busy with their own agendas.

I walked Alice home and waved to Joyce but hurried around the block to my house. Paige was there with some of the other girls. She was doing most of the listening. When I could I asked Paige to come with me for a few minutes.

We hurried upstairs and kissed in my old room. Holding Paige was many times better than holding anybody else. I sat on the bed with my back against the headboard. I pulled her to me and kept my arms around her.

"Paige, I haven't told you in a while that I love you. I miss holding you and I miss talking with you."

"I love you too Jeff and I always will."

"You know that after I got hit by the lightning I changed. I said to you then that I might want other girls. I want to tell you that I did have another girl."

"Alice?"

"Yes Honey. She is beautiful, smart and she protected me. I just want you to know that it is my hormones and a bit of an investigation but that is all. I do not love her. I like her though and we may be friends but never anything more. The way I feel now, holding you, is greater than being with anybody else."

"Are you going to see her again?"

"I want to. I want to see other women too as I get older but I want to come home to you. I just felt guilty about what I did. I don't want you to ever leave me. I just don't know what I would do without you."

"I know you love me Jeff. Sometimes I worry but I just remember your promise."

"I remember your promise too. You were going to take me for better or worse. I'll try to be discrete or invite the girl to meet you. Maybe you would like her too but I don't know about Alice."

"She is pretty but I am afraid of her. She's too pushy."

"I get the same feeling. Speaking of feelings, when are you and I going to get back together? Even if we don't make love, it is great being just the way we are now."

"I feel that way too. I like to help the girls and I'm glad you decided to get us to do this. It — it's something bigger than me now."

"That's great but as long as it isn't bigger than us."

This time I took a taxi to the bus station. Once again the bus was filled with hockey fans headed towards a Maple Leaf game. I tried to study and fill in some of the ideas on cement trucks and the concrete pumper that I was fairly certain had not been invented yet. As I wrote, I remembered a stone slinger and added that to do. This was simple, with a conveyor belt that wrapped around the truck but was able to drop its load where it was wanted the same as the pumper but here it could be many stories higher.

Around Barrie I noticed that there was a lot more snow flying and we were going slower because of the conditions and traffic. When it quieted down on the bus, I put everything away and tried to get some sleep. It seemed to work after a while.

I got into Toronto an hour later than usual. I got off at the usual street and looked around for Gregory. He was across the street this time and the car was covered in snow. He must have been waiting for a while.

I watched traffic and got across the street as quickly as possible with my large pack. "Hi Gregory. I'm sorry for keeping you out here during the storm."

"That is perfectly alright. I got a chance to read and listen to music."

We drove for a few minutes but Gregory was always looking in his rear view mirror. I asked, "What's wrong?"

"I think we are being followed. Our license plates are probably still covered in snow, but it may be somebody that knows you or us."

"Can I turn around and look or will that alert them?"

"You won't see much. They have as much snow on them as we have. They are staying fairly far back though and that makes them more professional."

"Can you lose them?"

"Maybe. Have you ever been on a subway before?"

I had many times but that was in the future. "No, but I heard about it from people that have."

"Two blocks from here is one of the entrances. Why don't you get on one and go for a ride. I'll block the entrance but you will have to call a cab to take you to Mr Holtzman's house. Do you have enough money?"

"I have more than enough. I don't feel worried and at least this breaks the monotony you were talking about before."

"It sure does but they are probably trying to follow you not me."

"When the time comes turn a corner and stop by some cars. I'll bail out but leave my pack. If you leave right away they may not know I have left. I'll see if I can get a glimpse of their back plate."

"Very good Sir."

We were lucky in that the street we turned on was empty. I jumped out and slammed the door after saying a polite, "Ta-ta for now."

The car raced off and a the following car turned the corner. It accelerated to catch up but I was only able to see the last three digits. I also noticed that it was a 1957 Buick with a black paint job. When the car was far enough away I did as was Gregory suggested and I took the subway. Ten minutes later I was in a taxi and heading north.

I tipped the driver generously and hopped out. John was with Corinne, and he had a perplexed look on his face.

"Welcome Jeff. What happened to the car and driver I sent?"

"It looked like I was followed. Out of respect for your privacy I came alone while Gregory is trying to lose them."

I was talking as I moved and pulled Corinne away from the open door. When my coat was off I picked her up and swung her around. "How has my little girl been doing?"

"I baked a cake for you," she said instead.

"You did! Show me."

Corinne had already eaten but liked to be fed from my plate. John used a light banter to ask about the car. I gave what information I could the same way so as to not alarm Corinne.

A half hour later the phone rang. A happy John came back from answering it and said, "Gregory lost the car and will be coming home now."

We talked of about business but I continued to devote much of my attention to Corinne. Gregory brought my pack in and I thanked him. So did John. Gregory seemed to think this was better than a raise.

John made a few calls of his own while I fished out the papers I was working on. "Not much today but worth a million maybe."

"What is this?"

"They are plans for concrete handling equipment. The truck is very big with large wide tires. The larger trucks have a second set of steering tires just behind the driver that turn a fraction less than the front set. The mixing is done in the a spinning drum and that is driven by a hydraulic pump off the front of the engine. When you want to empty the drum it just goes in reverse and a large auger welded to the inside of the drum moves the wet cement out. This is a neat idea and somebody may have already patented it.

"The second device is a diesel driven pump designed to handle concrete. You need aluminum pipe in sections that clamp to each other. To get even higher, a second pump is put in series. The truck I mentioned, just fills the hopper and the pump takes it to where it is needed. The discharge pipe can have a flexible control so one man can put wet concrete far into a work site without a truck getting stuck in the wet soil.

"The second kind of truck just has a conveyor belt attached to it to deliver crushed stone or sand where it is needed without a man having to use a wheelbarrow or a front end loader.

"All of these machines reduce manpower requirements. They put the material where it is needed even though the intervening space may be blocked or impassable."

John said, "They sound great but I don't see how to market this."

I said, "Making even one of these items will cost a lot of money. Buying into a construction company that wants to get big is a possibility. Failing all that, you can interest any of the large truck manufacturers into making these vehicles. A construction company wanting to purchase a dozen stone slingers or a few pumps would help. The cement companies should buy the trucks. Dry ingredients and water go into the truck and it is off. By the time it gets to the site it is fully mixed. All you need is a tank of water to clean out the drum before the residual coating of cement dries."

I added, "This may be a very bias question and it isn't meant to be. Does Mr Scordino have anything to do with construction? If he is a neighbour he is not one of the faceless poor."

"No, he certainly isn't poor. He may like these ideas of yours and not because he is Italian. He worked in the construction industry all his life. Do you see us selling him any of this information?"

"It is nice to have favours owed us. I will let him know what they are probably worth and what he can do to make a lot of money. I will explain that it is just too costly to do this ourselves."

John called Mr Scordino but instead of coming over later he would like to see us now. Corinne went with us dressed in her warmest clothing. The trip was only about a block. I had to convince John to walk a bit even if it wasn't what he usually did.

Instead of a bruiser answering the door, an older woman with grey hair and wearing an apron, greeted us. She said in fair English, "Come in, come in." She greeted each of us by name and bent down to hug Corinne. The child had been warned of this and hugged back to please me.

"Let me take your coats. Carlo will be out in a minute."

I said in the dialect I knew best in Italian, "Thank you. If I may ask, what were you preparing?"

The woman smiled at me and turned her head to one side. "Some meat sauce. Carlo wants you to eat with us and I have to make the gnocchi."

"Would Mr Scordino get upset if we talked in the kitchen? I am learning to cook and it is always good to see new recipes. Do you use cheese in your dough?"

John didn't understand so I said, "I am looking for extra marks. I tried my hand before but I didn't have the knack to make the gnocchi properly."

I turned back to the woman and said, "You know our names but I like Jeff better and this is Corinne to me but Cori to her nonno."

"My name is Maria."

From around the corner came Mr Scordino. He was propelling his own wheelchair quickly to get to us. He said, "I'm sorry, I was detained." He looked at John and said, "Hello Mr Holtzman."

"Hello Mr Scordino. We were just trying to see if you have any better recipes."

Corinne was introduced and she actually went close to and hugged the man though he had to lean awkwardly to do this. He spoke in Italian now saying how nice Corinne was. Even a person not understanding the language should understand roughly what he said.

"You must be the young man I heard so much about. You invent a wonderful device, fix televisions, run many small businesses and find time to — to do other nice things."

I was lucky because the man spoke the same dialect of Italian that I knew best. I didn't know that much but could fudge it with Latin and French if pushed. I now spoke in his language. "Thank you sir. Part of it was just being a business man and part was just doing what any young man would want to do if presented with the same situation."

This time he paused and looked at me. "Your Italian is fair. Where did you get a chance to learn our language?"

I said in English, "I had some friends that speak Italian. They speak a different dialect but many words are similar. Before that I had a friend when I was young and spoke more to his family than to him in this language. Learning to speak another language is not that hard for me. I already know French and Latin so Italian is not that difficult."

"Come, let us talk in the other room."

"Sir, I hope you don't think less of me but I have passed many different courses in high school. The only ones I work at now are those that I do not know that much about or those that are difficult. I am learning to cook though many boys are not taking this subject. I was hoping that Maria would show me her recipe and we can talk there."