Chapter 27

We arrived on the thirteenth and tomorrow would be Wednesday, Maggie's birthday. John was going to stay over and go to the party even if it was just a small one with just our extended family. Paige came running to see me. We hugged and kissed right in the street. The ladies were lined up and I kissed all of them but had to do it more chastely for real family.

Corinne was happy to see both her Grampy and me. All the girls kissed Jamie more thoroughly than I had been greeted, and he seemed to like it. Carm was reserved but he soon softened and I think it was because he had fought beside me in the hospital parking lot.

Jamie greeted Charley and Edgar more warmly because they had a chance to talk to him over the phone. He felt that the men were much more sympathetic to him though I knew the girls were just as supportive.

John didn't like sharing a room and went with Gregory to find a good hotel. Corinne stayed here with us though. She didn't mind at all. The girls knew we were arriving and made a nice meal. Nora and Jack came over and even provided some of the dishes. They also wanted to ask me some questions that could not be properly answered in a newspaper.

The house was very crowded but it was family so I was happy to be here again. Phone calls started to come in and I had to say a few words to each caller. The grapevine seemed to work very well. Mrs Cameron was the third caller and I had to explain how sorry I was that she got involved with this. I also added, "If it wasn't for you, Jamie might have been dragged back to Sinclair's home and raped once more and possibly killed when they were done with him."

"Do you really think that man would do that?"

"When the police were involved with the bugs then they knew they had to watch their step. Jamie would not have been allowed to leave. The mob would have kept him and you might guess what role he would play. Even in as little as a few years he would have died. If they were going to kidnap me, then Jamie would not even get that long. He knew too much."

"Oh, my god. I had no idea."

"You helped save us. Thanks again Mrs Cameron."

Mrs Warren phoned about number eight and Miss Floit was eleven. I thanked them all for their concern then kept the phone off the wall so I could get some peace.

I asked Susan, "What was it like at school?"

"It was like a funeral for a while. They were very excited about you being kidnapped then they found out it was by a mob killer. After the guy was murdered and Jamie's location was given out, we gave updates on your and Jamie's condition. The fight in the hospital parking lot was in all the papers and television. They had a half hour news report just on you. I didn't believe even part of it but when I asked James he said they were all true."

I said, "They got a lot of things screwed up but it didn't matter."

"They said you sold close to fifty hit songs and say you have over a quarter of a million dollars when your inventions are added."

"I do have some money but that is not the figure."

"I am glad in a way. I like having money but being rich scares me."

"Did you have any personal problems?"

"All my friends now keep me separate as if I am special. I like to joke with them but I can't seem to do that now. They even think I speak to Elvis every few days."

I smiled a bit at her and said, "Do you want to talk to him for a few minutes?"

"No! It is hard enough to live with a rumour."

"What about Maggie?"

"It is the same I guess. Her friends treat her differently. Paige had it worse in a way. They know she is much more than your girlfriend and she had to take your place for a lot of things. She stopped a few fights that didn't concern her by saying that it was not right. I think the kids at school will treat you a lot different now. Mark Fenton came out and told everybody how you beat him easily and then treated him like a life long friend. Everyone shuns Helen and Marcy now. They are getting a taste of what they did to others."

"Susan, you're going to have to get used to some of the changes. It is not just the money; it's the violence and the notoriety. I thought I was helping by getting Elvis to talk to you but it may have been a mistake in a way."

"No, I loved it. That is what girls dream of. But instead of the girls sharing my joy they separated themselves from me."

"That is what I meant."

"I think you are even more recognised than Elvis. The kids would run quickly to him but run even faster away from you."

"I can fix some of that and besides, people are funny. If nothing happens when I am around then they will soon forget that I am different. How else do people re-elect crooked politicians?"

"I hope you're right."

I didn't go to school for classes but I went into the building. Paige and I walked around and I gave out the boxes with the records in them to my teachers and to Mr Grissom. Everybody had done something for me and this was a small token of what I thought of them. I informed Mr Grissom that Jamie and I would be coming to school tomorrow though.

It was Edgar, not James the drove me around. "Well, is now a good time to have our talk?"

"The timing is good but I would like to have Charley and Carm here too. It saves time and each of you can think of stuff if the others are here to help bring it out."

"We can do that. A lot of people are just afraid of those two in the car with them."

"I feel the opposite."

We picked up the other two and we drove to the area close to the auto shop. Edgar said, "You can begin now."

"Well, to start off I'm in need of people I can trust. It is not going to be a few measly million dollars though, it will be big money."

Edgar said, "Big money?"

"Multiple billions. I can trust each of you so far but some of the engineers I cannot trust very much. The value of the patents I already hold will go well over a billion dollars in twenty years. The next set will be much more. I have talked to Carm for the last two weeks and got an idea of your strengths and weaknesses. You are not saints but you are not evil either.

"What I propose is to give you tasks as if we are in any standard organisation. You must be familiar to the term 'being promoted to a level of incompetence'. You'll each get a chance to excel but one day you will be brought back one level so you can function with that level less stress."

Edgar said, "What are we going to do?"

"For the moment you three will stay in the same city but one day you will have to separate to different countries or continents. We can try this in small steps though. I told you about my laser ideas. This needs security, for the things I am going to do are worth a great deal of money, but I need you for everything else too.

"Some of the engineers in Toronto did a few simple projects that are worth a great deal of money. One is an expensive counter top that will be soon become a status symbol. A large factory has to produce these.

Edgar asked, "What's so special about them?"

"They look great and don't damage easily. A kitchen with this material will look fabulous especially with the valves I am going to make. To answer your next question, the valves are just easier to operate because there is only one handle that controls the temperature and flow of water.

"I am told that I own all the assets of Camden Wood Products through a dummy company. This does not include the building and land. Camden Wood Products will take some of these counters and put the complete units directly into a customer's hands or through a construction arm, right into his or her kitchen.

"Central Automotive will make some stretched limousines. The rich will like the comfort and style but we will be copied all over the world. There is nothing to patent. The world I see will get more violent and so some other vehicles will be made to repel small arms fire.

"On another note, I want to hire a few men to run a school for me. They will teach bodyguards how to drive in such a way that the occupant of the car survives. Some times a driver sees he is entering a trap and now has to act with split second timing. So we need police and former military to help us.

"From what I have been told North Bay Lumber is ready to be sold. This will be the first retail outlet of my chain. You might think it is very large but it is a small fraction of the size I need in a large city. I will need managers desperately as I expand. Some will have overall control of the building but others have to control individual departments. They need to train the foot soldiers that deal with the public. To do so they need basic training. This school had to produce a great many qualified graduates. North Bay cannot possibly supply the numbers I need, because I want the best."

Edgar said, "I was told you were going to expand to one area at a time and put up all your businesses in one general location."

"That sums it up. One store sells groceries. Our lumberyard sells construction materials but everything is stored inside the building and everything is at least good quality. A third store sells bulk food and things that are used to decorate a house without competing too much with the lumber yard. A forth store sells electronic goods. In years to come the range of products just has to grow and grow. The fifth will be a combination of all the rest but have a good but cheaper line of products. The last store just sells premium coffee but it is not just in our group of buildings but on every major street in North America. It will be the equivalent of Coca Cola and Pepsi for the people that are not drinking soda."

Edgar asked, "Why all the land here?"

"Partially luxury residential but mostly just an area where the products that are made by me can be monitored for quality. As time passes more businesses have to be built and I need room to grow."

"Where does each of us fit in?"

"Edgar, you are going to head my laser physics branch at least temporarily. The engineers do their work and you ensure they do their job and don't run off with the assets."

"I think Carm is best suited to work in the old Pointer building making the counter tops. I know you like to blow things up but for this job you have to look at how not to blow it up.

"I need to find a new manager for the lumber yard. I believe James is the best for this position. Charley is going to get the dirty end of the stick. Very soon when I own a plastics company like Northern I have to make small plastic cases with two spools for carrying magnetic tape. This cassette will be a standard I hope and will fit into the new tape recorder I'm building. I have hundreds of small plastic articles to make and you have to work with engineers to get them made.

"I write songs as you know but soon I want to start a recording industry. Another company will use the cassettes to record and then distribute the songs. Carm may then shift over from his manufacturing company and work in this area until I find a replacement.

"The tape recorder comes under another company banner and has to be developed to play the cassettes. It has to be specially made with not only the circuits but also the new heads. They will be heavily patented. We will make just a few hundred thousand for the domestic market then go to the United States and set up a factory there to make the same units for that country. In five years I'll sell the rights to the Japanese and they will send the finished units to us."

"The emphasis of the companies will all change. The lasers will start an industry so vast you cannot even comprehend it. The tape recorder business will live on by supplying special units that will be used in radio and television for editing audio.

"With enough engineers I can get an affordable video tape machine to market but it will not be that profitable. The Japanese have to want it and make it truly grow.

"In the lab at school I am making special crystals that I can use in a device that can simulate the alphabet and numerals. In a few years I will try to supplant the cathode ray tube in televisions in a more complicated but similar device. This idea is worth billions of dollars but will cost a lot of money to develop.

"So you know most of what I want to do in a general way. Where you fit in is up to each of you. I have proved that I can make money so it is with no great leap of faith that you can see me very rich in the future. To start out I will pay each of you what I pay the engineers. It is not that high but I think it's adequate. I have a bonus system but it has not been formalised. All I can say is that a family member will get a bit more money in the stocking for what they have done that year."

Charley spoke for the first time and asked, "Where do all these ideas come from?"

"I look at things and just see some ways to improve them. The way you walk through a cluttered room and see how things can be arranged to make it neat. It does not always work and sometimes I need to get stimulated by need. I look at this car and see that it is much too heavy. The manufacturer needs to use a lot of engineering to make thinner parts. They have to get the metal parts coated with zinc for corrosion resistance. Plastic has to be used much more. Even the addition of a plastic liner in the wheel wells will do great things.

"The engine can be altered in a great many ways. The points on the distributor can be changed for a switching transistor triggered by a magnetic pickup. It never wears so the device never has to be replaced. The tires themselves should have the steel wire wrapped around the tire perpendicular to the direction it rotates. It may not seem right but great things can be done if it is wrapped radially."

I was asked more questions but I got the feeling that they were hesitant about breaking up their group. I mentioned this to them and said I can work slow and in steps so there would not be problems but that I need to go internationally.

We sat in the car for a long time and I said, "Let's go to a restaurant for a meal and we can talk more."

We drove down town and got out at a small dinner. I was never here before but I was recognised immediately. We got a small booth when one came available and took our meal with us. Our conversation was of inconsequentials until the noise level rose around us. We hammered out a tentative deal that didn't hurt me and was more geared to the growth of the company. I had to temper this with the responsibilities they had. I saw how much I was going to make one day but still had to give these men the incentive to grow with me.

Edgar said in a whisper now, "Out of the eighteen homes you now have all but three. We would like to have the vacant one to use."

"You have to rent it. All businesses have to operate on their own. The home was slated for being refurbished. This will basically gut the entire house. The valves and counter tops go in but much better wiring and plumbing. Take the house but be prepared to move again soon. You at least get the chance to pick out how the interior will look. By the way, what about your families? One house is not usually good for three families."

Edgar said, "We were going to involve our families in the corporation. They will be moving up here for a job and a single large home will work long enough until we find places of our own."

I said, "Housing prices are going to raise after I start to develop the land and businesses. Engineers need places to stay too. Talk to James and we can buy a block of homes before the price goes up.

"On another related idea, the three homes that you mentioned are owned by older people. I want to build a large apartment building but it will only be four stories high. Another area will get a large one-story building suited to those senior citizens that need some assistance to live. I need the governments to chip in for the upkeep and start-up costs. Finally I need another similar building that is basically a hospital. Here the oldest members of our society live along with those that just need long term or palliative care."

"Palliative care?"

"It means soothing without curing. In this case I mean it to contain those patients with no hope of surviving a disease. Hospitals now hold those patients at a great cost to us all. There are many things that will be similar to a hospital but there is also many things not needed. Our cost can be much less. We give superior service to the residents and provide a necessary form of assistance to the community. Again this has to be partially funded by the public coffers. I talked previously to James about this. With the right funding I can move across North America. This business alone will reap billions of dollars by the end of the century."

Carm said, "There aren't that many old folks to spend that much money."

"Social dynamics deals with the population as a whole. We are growing now but soon the growth will slow. We are building schools that will one day have to be closed down. You might look at this as a baby boom that started after the war. With increased education, parents will see that they are not living on a farm and cut back on the number of children. The babies of this boom will grow old. There will not be a lot of new people working to support the large numbers of old people. Medicine will improve the chances of living to a very old age. All this breaks down to a need to grow now and be in position to take care of all the children of today when they get old."

"Like you?"

"Yes, like me, but there's a lot of old folks that need help now and we can help them and help ourselves too. I like making money and I like to help people, in this case I can do both."

We went back to the house and found John and Jamie assisting in getting the party ready. They were putting up paper ribbon onto the walls at Jane's direction. The three men were dragooned into helping and John was not allowed to leave. The tyrant had us in her clutches.

John asked, "Where were you?"

"Talking to three new members of my family. We were working out what they would do to help and what they would get for it."

"Sounds like hiring to me."

"It is but I want employees to be close. You have your management style and I have mine. I get better results but I have to work much harder to get it. That means going to birthday parties and other social gatherings but then the children see me as an uncle that they can work with when they get older. The parents will make sure I don't get any duds."

"I can see that working quite well."

"One of my projects needs government funding. Hospitals cost a great deal to operate. A hospice can take care of long-term patients at a fraction of the cost and still make money. They will be privately owned though. The senior citizens need a safe place to live and those that are very old need assistance that ranges from meals and laundry to the actual changing of the diapers I told you about. This too needs government assistance. How do you think I should proceed?"

"I have to think on that."

When we got down off our perches from putting up the paper, Corinne gave John jobs to do as she mimicked Jane's behaviour. I just smiled as he did them.

The girls got rides home from school and the street became cluttered with cars. Jane shamelessly used some of the new arrivals to assist in the last minute details. My meek mother must be putting on a show or stretching her abilities and I was proud of her.

The party grew quickly and a great many people came over until there was no room. Edgar, Charlie and Carm fled then so did John. Jamie and I had to stay because they came here to see us too. An hour later when Jamie was looking frazzled I said, "Go upstairs and talk to the others for a while. You know they like you. When you feel better come back down until you have to leave again."

"I want to stay here with you — and Paige."

"You can but you need a break. Come back in ten minutes."

"Ok but only ten."

Paige whispered when he left, "He can't wait."

"He has to and I have to come to some sort of idea how to proceed. My brain is battling my glands all the time. At the moment I want to throw you over my shoulder and run up the stairs to our bedroom."

Paige twitched in excitement. "We can go to the garage."

"We have guests and Maggie is too important to leave on this special day of hers."

James and Mr Mason came over to wish Maggie the best and pulled me aside. Mason said, "Mr Durden has finally put his home and contents unofficially on the market. James' sister is the one that is going to be negotiating for it. This will keep it out of your name. From what I can see his wife has no idea that this is happening. My wife is an acquaintance and found out that Mrs Durden is planning to see her family during the Christmas season."

"Will he be selling the business at the same time?"

"We have no close contact with him but I see his employees becoming more dispirited. It may have been something he said or just the way he's acting."

"Have you contacted Mrs Durden?"

"Not without you advising us."

"From what you said before, Mrs Durden will not get a share of the house if it is sold but have you found a way to let her get a share of the business?"

"Not really. She may have some redress through the courts and should get possibly ten percent of the house and a similar percentage of the business."

"If we pay by a cahier's cheque to their mutual account for the business, then Mrs Durden has a chance to get in and take the funds."

"She can do that but I am afraid she will take it all."

"We buy the house and contents but not the clothes and personal effects. Everything has to be itemised. He is going to be anxious to get this completed before his wife comes back so we can get a good price. Find out where Mrs Durden is going to vacation then we have to inform her in person and get her assistance in allowing her to get half of the business when it's finalised. This all hinges on us getting the house and the business."

"You don't have to worry about Mrs Durden too much. She comes from a very wealthy family and likes to spend much of her personal wealth on luxuries."

"I still want her to get a fair share but I don't want Mr Durden to get completely screwed either."

"We'll see what we can do."

Paige came over when the men left my side. "What did they want?"

"Just another business deal."

The party officially ended at seven but guests lingered on. To help the situation I left the house with Paige and Jamie. Paige was more sympathetic to Jamie than Jamie was to her presence. I talked about a new and larger home and showed how Paige would only be allowed to visit until we got married.

"Jamie you will get a room too. You by that time, will be with the best family we can find for you."

"I want to live with you."

"We went over this before Jamie. The Children's Aid is involved and we only have so much room to manoeuvre. You may not be able to stay with us. They have to agree with the family we find. You were in the news and people will want to know that you are safe. That means that the agency has to look good. Our family has no father and they will think that you are with me for sex."