Date: Tue, 5 Feb 2008 14:02:59 -0600
From: Retta Michaels <rettamichaels@gmail.com>
Subject: Can You Catch My Heart - Buckets Of Blessings - Chapter 004

Can You Catch My Heart


Book One

Buckets Of Blessings


Chapter Four


By


Retta Michaels


Disclaimer:

If your laws do not allow you to read this story, then don't. All the rest
of you people who read it, if you think it's true, boy, have I investment
opportunities for you!


Notes From Retta:


Acceptance of this story has been amazingly positive. I thank everyone for
their emails cheering me on.


There are four stories with this series. It's my first series and I'm really
happy with the characters. I've gotten to know the characters and their
depth is amazing even to me.


One other thing, as an author, I write this stuff and about as soon as it's
out off the keyboard, I've forgotten what I've written. For me, I've got so
many story lines going on in my head, I've got to concentrate on getting
what I've got told...with the characters who are speaking to me. When I
re-read the story to edit and spellcheck, I find it humorous some of the
stuff that I've written. There are also times I when I end up crying because
something is so touching. If you are touched, I appreciate your empathy. Be
sure to write and let me know.


Read and enjoy.


Chapter 4:


After eating, everyone picked out homemade fudge from the many varieties
they had. Joan said, "If I'd known this was up here, I would have came up
here before Christmas! Their varieties would have made everyone happy.
Little Mark loves Rocky Road Ice Cream and I couldn't find him any of that
fudge in the area, so I made him some. Do you realize how much all the
ingredients cost for fudge? ! After that, I'd just as soon pay the six
dollars a pound!"


I looked at her and said, "I've only made fudge one time and it turned out
like runny hot chocolate syrup. Since then, I buy it here."


Ty said, "This stuff's good, I've never had it."


We looked at him and he said, "Mom never made anything like this."


Once again, I thought about how bad things were in their house. And, I
thought, whoever Mitch gets together with, she's going to have it so easy
because they'll appreciate whatever she does.


When we got back in the limo, I pushed up the window and said, "Babe, is our
helping run the distributorship with your dad going to bother you?"


"No, I'm liking the way it's going to be ran now. If everyone's in it, then
there's no secrets and no one can have a bad day. I just worry you'll be too
busy."


"No, we'll take the time we need to run the funeral home, but I think it's
vital we are there to keep your dad and Gregg secured."


"I think we ought to let Gregg start into management of it. If we're all in
there taking a role, then we can keep an eye on him and let him get that
experience."


"O.k., but Heather and he have a pact she gets to go to school with him just
as we have ours."


"Yes, but in our daily interactions, we'll be running the funeral home and
I'll be getting hands on experience. He won't be getting his."


"I never thought of that. Maybe we need to discuss it and see what his
schedule is. Or, maybe we'll get him into a lesser role where he learns each
part of the business."


"That would be good. If he knows each job, then he'll respect that person
more."


"Ok, we'll have a talk with him, Heather, and your dad. I think it's nice
Heather's thinking about a baby. I just hope they don't work too hard on it
before they even get engaged."


"I think Gregg's going to work on it." he chuckled.


A short while later after a lull in the conversation, he said, "Hon, can we
move in together?"


"If you want, but I'd like to see you be there for your dad."


"He's planning on going to Aunt Joan's. She's offered and I think he'd like
it over there. She's his sister, but she's also like a mom to him the way
she takes care of him. Their family was close. Even though mom wasn't the
sort of person to be close to her own family, she was close to Aunt Joan."


"Your mom has more family?"


"Yes, she's got aunt's, uncles, and cousins, but I don't know where they
are. We sure never went to see them, but I do know they used to send
Christmas cards."


"We'll have to look them up. I know I'll have to mention it in the obituary.
Let's hope they'll see it and come. I think it'd be nice if they came and
you got a chance to meet them."


He looked at me and I could see the gears turning. "Let me talk to dad alone
and see if I can get some information. It'll be nice if we can list them by
name in the obituary even though we don't know them."


"Yes, because whose to say your mom didn't want them around. As insecure as
she was, she might have not wanted them around to see what she'd become."


He thought for a moment and said, "She might have done that. I don't know.
All I know is they haven't been around but I do know when I was little, we
used to get Christmas cards."


When we got to Highway 36, I said, "Ty, get to know this intersection. This
one here is one you'll be called to a lot. When you come up, you park way
over here and you turn the strobes on."


"What are the strobes?"


I rolled down the window and said, "Guys, we're going to pull over so I can
show Ty something."


I pulled over and said, "Ty, right here is where I want you to park. It's a
long ways to walk, but it's also not going to get the vehicle hit and you
struck. It looks like it's a good intersection, but the problem here is
people don't use the turning lane when they pull out. Traffic here is flying
by at seventy miles an hour and although it looks like you can pull out, If
someone is zipping along, they'll have you hit before they realize you're
there. Now, the strobes are flashing lights in the headlights, parking
lights, and tail lights that look like a police car. The police don't mind
you having them as long as you use them in an official capacity. Try pulling
someone over with them and I'll have you out of my cars fast."


"Where's the switch?"


"It's on the floor like a dimmer switch in an older car. The reason I put it
there was because it can be removed and moved to another car when we get it.
All of the cars have them, even the flower van. My motto is I'd rather have
a lot of flashing lights than one too few. You'll be amazed at how many
people who don't pull over for the hearse."


"Is it a law you've got to pull over?"


"No, it's respect for the dead and for that person and their family. I'll
tell you now, if you're driving a hearse and you see a business' vehicle not
stop, you let me know and I'll call that business. They'll be told I know
they didn't stop and my funeral home won't be doing business with them any
longer. You'll be amazed at how fast an owner will call me and tell me he
just fired an employee over it. Respect comes in all shapes and sizes, and
it's like people that don't stand and salute the flag. I'll be pissed like
you won't believe. You better believe if you don't stand when it's time to
salute it, I'll be getting your butt up. Others see it and they'll not say
anything, but they'll silently decide not to do business with us again."


"I never thought of that. Do we have many of those times?"


"Military people we bury? Yeah, we'll have twenty one gun salutes, and we'll
be folding the flag that's over a coffin and we'll be standing and saluting
the flag. I'll teach you, but after a while, you'll be like me and you won't
continue a service until they're standing."


"It bugs you, doesn't it. I can hear it in your voice."


"Hell yeah it bugs me! If I could go back and snatch them up out of their
seat, I would...it pisses me off so bad. The man in that casket fought for
us and died for us so we could be free. It pisses me off just as bad as it
does with me an atheist. I'm not the most devout person, but I believe in
God. I believe not only was there Jesus, but Mohammad and Buddha and the
rest of them. Each believed their own ways, and for someone to not believe
is way beyond me."


"Ok, chill dude. You're nearly yelling!"


"Well, you'll see it enough hon that you'll get an opinion too. Another
thing here is chewing gum. If you see it in the funeral home, get that
person out of the room and show them the trash can and then point at the
door. Tell them they can either put it in the trash can or find their way to
the door."


"Why?"


"Try removing chewing gum from satin in the casket while the body is in
there. You can't do it. The only thing you can do is close down the
visitation, and take the casket downstairs and take the body and put it into
another. If that happens, I want the name of the person that did it because
they'll be paying for a casket. It's happened to me more than once and I'm
almost militant about it."


"You mean they spit the chewing gum into the casket?"


"One was told a joke and he laughed. The gum flew out and hit the person in
the casket. It stuck to them. The other thought he'd be a wise ass and took
the gum out and put it in the casket on the satin. As you know, I've got
video out the butt in there. When it happens, I'm really fast at getting the
problem taken care of. The one that had the gum on the jacket of the
deceased, I shut the visitation down and took my own jacket and got it on
the person. The one where they stuck the chewing gum in the casket, an alarm
went off and I went to see the video and saw what they did. Then I went to
the family and told them. They watched the video and chose to get that
person out of there. What we did with the satin, was we cut it there and I
saved it for evidence as well as the video and then I sent the kid's family
the bill for the funeral. The family of the deceased paid, but I sent the
family of the kid a letter and told them he was never to be allowed in the
funeral home again."


"Wow, I can't believe they'd do that."


"You'll be amazed at what they'll do."


A knock came from the panel and I lowered it.


"You guys decide not to be a part of the family or something?"


"No, it's not that, I'm teaching him some about the funeral business."


"Oh."


Ty said, "You won't believe what people will do in a funeral Dad!"


"Oh I'll believe it son. You don't realize how people are because you've not
been around them."


"He said someone spit chewing gum into the casket and another put it in on
the satin!"


"Yeah, and I've been to one where the guys were in a motorcycle gang and
they poured beer in the casket."


"That's disgusting!" I said without thinking about it.


"Yeah, to you or I, but that's what they saw was a tribute to their friend."


"Man, what a tribute. Getting to lay in beer for eternity."


"Oh, if I could lay with the person I love for eternity, it wouldn't be so
bad said Ty, so maybe they loved beer. Maybe it brought them great joy."


He looked at me and it hit me. Man the kid had logic.


"Well, it wouldn't be for me, but I could see someone doing that now, but
I'd insist on it being in the can instead of poured."


Joan laughed and said, "Look how the Egyptians did it. They were buried with
everyone in their entire household. Their cats, their loved ones, and their
servants all died when they did. They had food in there and plenty of
reading material of all the great works they did. They got buried with their
obituaries to tell their God what a great person they were. What I don't
understand is if they were God, then why did they get buried with everything
and everyone if on the other side they'd have all the power and wealth they
would've had here?"


"That's interesting Joan, I never thought of that. It's kind of hypocritical
if you think of it. It's like they had doubts."


Mark said, "The Indians were the same way. What they held dear to them was
taken out and burnt with them. That's why it was so hard to find anything
about their culture."


We pulled into town and I slowed down. I said, "Mitch, when we get to the
funeral home, I need to speak with you for a moment, so Ty and I'll give you
a ride home after we drop off Joan and Mark.


"That's o.k. Lance, we can catch a ride with Gregg and Heather. I need to
speak with them a moment." said Mark.


"Ok" as long as we have rides figured out.


I closed the divider and said, "When we get to the funeral home, I'm going
to run a Armor All wipe over the seats back there and run the sweep through
the floor real fast. Then, I'll be ready."


"Do you do that every time?"


"Yeah, but a lot of times I'll run a Windex wipe over the windows too."


"Ok, what you going to talk to dad about?"


"I'm going to tell him to cancel your car insurance because you're going to
be driving my vehicles from now on. Um, I mean, our vehicles."


"Ok" He smiled and said, "Thanks hon."


"No, there's no need to thank me. You're a part of my life now and that's
how things will be."


"Ok, it's just strange that I've not had to do anything to earn everything."


"Hon, you and I will earn things together and you'll be amazed at how far
we'll go."


"I know, it just now it's strange."


"Well, don't worry about it."


He held my hand and said, "Lance?"


"Yeah dear."


"What kind of music to you like?"


"Oh all sorts. But, when I really jam out, no one's going to hear it because
I know where the best sound system is and the room's sound proofed. When I'm
in there, I can let loose and no one will have a clue."


He laughed and said, "You really do that!"


"Oh yeah, more than you know. One thing you'll learn about me is I'll do it
at the weirdest times. About two or three o'clock in the morning, I'll go
and do it."


"So, what do you like to listen to mostly."


"It depends. In my computer in the office is a file of my play lists. It
varies, but one thing I'm hoping to do before long is be able to project
video memorials in there and when I do, the plasma's going to be throwing
video for the music I play too. But, at other times, you'll hear me in on
the organ and you'll think you've went to a concert. It's funny because when
I sit down, the first thing I have to do at a keyboard is hit the first
notes of "Benny & The Jets" by Elton John. It's almost a required thing for
me."


"I don't think I've heard that before."


"You haven't heard Elton?"


"Yeah, but not that one."


"Oh man, where've they been keeping you hidden?"


He laughed and said, "Some day, would you play for me?"


"Hon, I'll play for you, but when I do, Heather's going to have to be there
too."


"Why?"


"All these years, she's wanted to hear me really jam out and hasn't once
gotten to hear it. She's heard me at the mall start in on a piano, but once
I look up and see the crowd's there, I get off it."


"You that good?"


"Let's say I know my way around it."


"Wow."


"Yeah, it's strange because my mom wanted me to learn to play a musical
instrument, but we never really had the money. One time, they had a piano
for sale at the church for twenty five dollars. Back then, I begged for it
and they didn't have the money. So, I started to save for it. About the time
I got over twenty dollars, someone bought it. I was so heart broken and then
when we went to my aunt's house, I saw it. She'd bought it for her kids and
then they never played it."


"Man, that had to hurt."


"Yeah, but I learned a lesson. From then on, I saved up money so I had it on
hand for when I wanted to have something. I called it my "mad money". Since
then, my mad money has come in handy for little emergencies and for things I
wanted. That building next to the funeral home was bought from my mad money.
The guy never wanted to sell it and I thought I'd never get it. But, one day
he came over and said, "You want it, it's yours for a hundred and twenty
grand." I couldn't run fast enough to get to my check book."


"Wow! So, you have it too?"


"Yeah, Some day, we're going to add onto the funeral home and it's going to
double in size. When it does, you'll have funerals on one side and I'll have
them on the other. It'll double the use of the space."


"Really!"


"Yeah, What you see from the Grand Stairway to the left will be doubled on
the right so it'll be twice as nice."


"That's going to be beautiful."


"Yeah, some day."

"Well, Let me get through school."


"No, when you get to your last semester, I'll have it started so when you're
doing your internship, it will be for you."


"Why don't you go ahead and start it and then allow someone else to use it
for their internship?"


"Well, I would, but not many ever come to this region."


"Hon, I've got a thought."


"What?"


"You say yours cost three point six million, or close to it. How much is the
addition going to cost?"


"Oh, well, What I'm thinking is it will cost almost two. A lot of the
security features won't need to be doubled, but the acrylic panel will and
the last one cost eight hundred grand."


"Why do you need acrylic? Couldn't you get by with chain mail?"


"Chain mail has bullet stopping features, however, fragments can get through
and shot gun pellets can get through."


"Well, there's a new fabric they have the military is using for bullet proof
vests. From what I understand, they're spraying Kevlar with something to
make it have the properties they need. If it's cheaper than that, then we
can look at the possibilities of using it."


"Ok,"


"Well, we can look at it as a possibility. I've got the blueprints already,
so there's no hurry on those."


"Ok, here's another question I'm going to ask you and see if you've thought
of it."


"Ok"


"Why haven't you opened a florist if there's profit in it. If you're
wholesaling to yourself, then it's good, and you'd give a cut rate on the
cost of flowers to everyone else."


"I've not thought of it actually. We have a flower cooler in the basement
already and we have the van, so the only cost we'd incur is the space, and
the coolers for the store front."


"Could you make the phones ring in there?"


"Yes, we could and then we could operate the shop. But, there'd need to be
someone there all the time and with the distributorship becoming a family
ran operation, it'd be tight on time constraints."


"Why do YOU have to run it? Can't someone else run it?"


"Yes, but each person we have in the payroll is a cut in the profits."


"Well, if you have someone on the phones, and who is a floral designer, then
you'd be able to do more things."


"Yes, we can. Now, I've got a question for you?"


"Ok, what's the question?"


"When we're talking, I'm referring to things as ours and with the words, us
and we. How come you keep asking questions with referral to the business as
you and your? Why aren't you including yourself in it?"


"I don't know. I wasn't doing it consciously. Maybe it's because I think of
it as being yours and placing myself as an employee. Maybe I'm doing it
because I don't think I'm worthy here, I don't know."


"Well, think about it but when you do, think about it as being OUR business
and everything WE do, it's going to be OURS. Then, when you get done
thinking about it, you come back to Me with the realization that I'm
throwing everything into OUR relationship and making it OURS. Ok?"


He smiled at me and said, "Babe, I love you. Maybe I won't be ready to feel
like I can throw it all into the pot until I'm finished with school."


"OK, but our relationship isn't going to be like your parents. We're going
to be sharing this one."


He looked at me and said, "OK, I like that. It seems though you're giving me
the better end of the bargain and I don't like it."


"Who's to say I'm not getting a sweet deal here too?"


"How?"


"Let's see. I'm getting someone who wants a relationship and I'm getting
someone who loves me and will build upon that love in our day to day
interactions. Take a look at your Aunt Joan and Uncle Mark. They give each
other and they build it together. Yes, they've got separate vocations, but
when the day's done, they're together and it's all brought into the same
house. Maybe one of them makes more than the other, but I'd be willing to
bet they'll tell you they're an equal in their relationship."


He smiled and said, "That's true. Maybe my concept's fucked up because my
mom's was hers and my dad's was his and she constantly reminded him she put
in more than him."


"Selfish, yes. Self centered, yes. Equal, well, they were in if 50/50 with
making you kids and when they said I do, so where'd she get the fucked up
concept she was better?"


"I don't know, but when you put it that way, I see what you say. I never
thought of it."


"Well, when we're done at the end of this run, I'll be willing to bet you'll
say we were partners in this life."


"I can see it, but I really hope we go out together because I don't think I
could handle losing you and I sure can't imagine how you'd feel if you lost
me. Oh man, my dad has to be hurting so bad."


"Yeah, and he's not broke yet. That's why I keep saying I'm worried about
you. He's cried more over Gregg being scared up in that room than he has
losing his wife. The love they had can't have been that dead."


"No, he loved her still. And, at times I've seen her be tender towards him,
but when she was drinking, she was a real bitch. It was so I could tell when
she was drinking at work, because she'd come home in that mood."


"Had to be tough on everyone."


"It was, but dad was the one that tried to be the peace keeper and the go
between. The whole time, she'd be cussing him and telling him what a
worthless piece of trash he was."


"Sorry, but your mom needed someone that would have turned around and put a
fist in it. Sometimes, people don't realize words can be more lethal than
the military. That's why weak Presidents use military and the strong ones
use speeches."


"Wow, we sure know what we've got now."


"Yeah, and I'm afraid to get beyond it, we're going to have to have a lot of
love from our friends. The ones that matter are the ones that will come
back. The ones that matter are the ones that will understand we're not the
aggressor but just as much the victim as the rest of the world."


"It's like our family."


"Yeah, look how people have come back around Gregg in your family. They
realize what he was going through and they realize your dad was in it too.
You were out there being sweet no matter what and they had to wonder how you
were able to do it."


"She had pretty much already discounted me as being worthless. I knew it got
to her and knew my reputation as the one that was the nice one mattered to
me and if it pissed her off, then so be it."


"That's had to be rough on you too."


"Yeah, because every time she said I'd never be a man, it hurt. Finally when
we were arguing, I said, "What sort of man you want me to be mom because if
I was the man you wanted me to be, I'd already gotten rid of you years ago."
She nearly hit me on that one and that's when I told her, you touch me and I
won't take down the charges like dad does. You'll go in front of a judge and
he'll know what you've done every time you get drunk. She tried to say she
wasn't drunk, but I could smell it four feet away. That's when she changed
tactics and tried to tell me she would contact you and get you to back off."


"It wouldn't have worked. I would have told her, "Get him to tell me that
alone and privately and I'll do it, but you aren't the one that can tell
me."


"She'd not been able to do it. Just as soon as she tried to drag me to tell
you, I would have stood there in front of her and told you the way I really
feel and that she was doing it. She knew that and she knew all the things
she tried would come back to haunt her. Now, she's gone and her legacy is
all of us aren't feeling the remorse we would if she'd been better."


"Well, you all are broken up, but this funeral is strange because the love
is so fragmented. What's strange is I think when you left and Gregg is gone,
your dad would have laid down the ultimatum and divorced her. Then, her
world would have crumbled."


"Yeah because her strength was coming home."


"Yeah, because I think she thought she had to be just as low and just as
vile what she had working out there. What's ironic is she was so weak. In
ways, you guys have been strong in changing and doing things for the better.
I think getting that guy out of there was one of the best decisions you
could have made. It's funny because I think the whole place out there is
going to fold like a house of cards. They think they've got you guys over a
barrel, but you've got them."


"Yeah, and tomorrow when we talk to those guys up there and get them hired,
it's going to be a serious wake up call to the ones at the distributorship.
They'll come in thinking they're going to work and they'll see guys there
doing their jobs. When we call the meeting and tell them we can do without
them, where are they going to go? They'll either have to play it our way, or
face being terminated. I think the unemployment you've said we'll have to
pay is going to be worth it."


"Well hon, let's finish this with your dad. Just keep him occupied for a
moment and I'll get the limo wiped and swept. I'll wash it tomorrow."


I pulled into the garage and parked. When everyone got out, I already had
the Armor All wipes. They stepped out and I stepped in. Joan smiled and Mark
shook his head. When I stuck my head back out the door, they were still
standing there and Ty handed me the sweeper. I swept out and then got out
coiling the cord and hanging it on the wall."


Joan smiled and said, "Tomorrow, you are going to Quincy to get suits,
right?"


"Yeah, as well as going to speak to the truck drivers. But, sometime, I've
got to wash the limo and do the order for flowers."


She looked at me and said, "When's Wendy's body going to be made ready?"


"It's ready, all I have to do is dress her and then put her in the casket.
Then, she'll be ready for the beautician. Then, we'll have the visitation.
First thing this afternoon when I have a chance, I've got to email the
obituary to the papers and then, we're set."


"Is there anything I can do?"


"Not that I can think of. The detailer will get the limo in the morning, and
then he'll get it washed. Then, Ty and I will go over to get Mitch."


"So, Ty's going to stay with you?"


"I would like him to, but I also would like to have him stay with Mitch."


"Mitch? You want to come over to our place?"


"Yeah, let Ty have his time with Lance. I'll be fine over there."


"Ok, Mitch, what I needed to speak with you about is something on my mind.
Could you come in my office with me alone, so I can do what I need while I
talk?"


"Sure"


"Ty, stay out here for a moment, we won't be long."


We went into the office and I said, "Mitch, I'm putting Ty on my insurance
and he'll be driving the Escalade."


"What are you going to be driving?"


"I'm going to be driving the flower van, or one of the other cars, but what
I'm doing right now is getting his Escalade ordered. They'll get the order
tomorrow and then, they'll send me a total of what it will be. The reason
I'm telling you is so you cancel his insurance on that car. It's going to be
parked in this garage and no one will drive it with it being in the shape it
is."


"He was supposed to have gotten a new car."


"Yes, and your wife went back on you guys word to him. He did his part and
graduated, but she wanted that Mercedes and she got it by breaking word to
him."


He could tell I wasn't happy and then I looked up at him.


"Mitch, I'm not saying what I really feel here because my anger's not to be
aimed at you. The person who should be hearing what I feel is dead and if
she were here, believe me, she'd be getting an earful. She got Gregg what he
had coming and then she thought of herself first. That's a fucking pathetic
excuse for a mother if you ask me."


I composed myself and said, "I'm sorry Mitch. The sound of his voice when he
told me what she did. Man, I'm not going to cry here. But, Mitch, she kept
you in the dark as to what vile shit she did so she could play you to get a
fucking Mercedes. Excuse me, but she deserves what she got."


He looked at me and said, "I'll pay for the Escalade."


"No you won't. It's a business vehicle and as my partner, he's beyond that.
I'm doing it because that boy's been driving a car he jokingly refers to as
a Flintstones car because he can put his feet through and touch the ground.
What a mother. I wonder if she'd felt anything if his feet had went through
and it killed him. I hope she enjoyed the Mercedes."


Mitch came over and said, "You only get pissed when someone is done wrong
you love, don't you."


"That bad thing Mitch, is the person who has been done the dirtiest and who
I'm worried about the most is you. When the anger comes about everything she
did to you, I'm going to have to be alone and go through a whole cycle of
martial arts to work until I'm so exhausted I can't move or punch any more."


He came over and hugged me. "Lance, don't worry about me."


"I can't help it. Each of you has been through hell and each of you
suffered. Earlier, I crossed a line and told Ty I'd probably hit her in her
mouth and the anger I feel is surfacing."


"It's hard to keep it in. Anger, hurt, and pain surfaces in so many ways.
When I felt that way, I'd go and do plumbing. It may not seem like it, but
that was my therapy."


"I understand. Still, you've not broken down and I know her being gone has
to hurt. It'd kill me if Ty was gone."


"You don't understand. I mourned the loss years ago. What I dealt with after
the loss was for the boys. I tried to keep them from her, but I wasn't
always able to get it done. What I got told in regards to Ty's car was he
wanted to wait until he was done with college. I should have asked him if
that's what he wanted, but I trusted what she told me. You're right. I hope
she enjoyed the Mercedes because it's the last car she ever would have
gotten from me. You see, when Gregg and Ty were finished with college, I was
already decided to get the divorce. In my safe at the house are the divorce
papers. No one knows they're there, and no one will know about them except
us."


"I wondered when you were going to let go. Now, I know. I'm still going to
be here for you because I know you loved her. Although it's probably gone,
there's still a sense of loss."


He smiled at me and said, "Ty still has a sense of perfection with her. He
thinks once she met you, she'd liked you. I'll tell you now, with the way
you are and the way she was, I'd hate to see the way things would have
turned out if you'd went into a room with her. I'm afraid she would have had
a heart attack."


"Yes, and I would have never gotten it fully explained to Ty."


"Well, thank Heaven for small favors."


"I guess, but this is a wrong way to feel."


"Tell me about it. I thought that for years. She'd sleep next to me and I'd
think, "If I did what I wanted to this woman, she'd be found with a pipe
wrench sticking out of her skull."


He began tearing up and said, "It wasn't always that way. I keep saying it,
but I also dread the day when someone asks me why I stuck around. The only
reason I can give is I did it for the boys. If you really look at it, I did
it for her too because I would have fought for custody and she would've
lost. The alcohol was such a problem, I would have asked for guarded
visitation with her submitting to a Breathalyzer before the visits. She
would have failed, but by then, she would have already been drug through the
mud because word would have gotten out."


"Mitch, tonight you're wanting to go to Joan's. Tomorrow, Ty and I are going
to need to speak with you about another business we're going to be getting
into. Ty thought of it and it makes sense. So, I'm going to go ahead with
it. If you want to put what money he had for a car in, he can look at it as
his. He's having a problem with me giving all of what I have. I've told him
you and she's relationship was 50/50 when you said, "I do" and when you made
the kids, but he is continually being reminded of what she said to you in
arguments. Yes, I think it was self centered and yes, I think it was
selfish, but if you'd do me the favor of telling him each of you put in and
each of you shared, then I'd appreciate it."


He looked at me and said, "Lance, he's going to have problems because he's
afraid of things ending up like his mom and I. His insecurity is going to be
he's not put in what you have."


"I tell him that's not what I'm wanting. He just doesn't hear it."


"If you'd heard the things she said, you'd be afraid too."


"Well, hopefully some day he'll believe me."


"He will. It's just going to take time. Gregg is going to feel differently
because he's looked at as the provider in their relationship. Call it a
boy/girl thing, but that's the way it is. When two guys get together, if
one's not equal, there's probably going to be insecurity. With his mom and
I, we went into it together, but when she got the distributorship, she was
viewed as the breadwinner in our family. Now, I'll tell you a secret and she
only put what I did into our household. She was down to the penny on that.
Someplace, is an account of what she put the rest into. When we find that
account, I'm going to split it up for the boys. I don't want the money. Do
me a favor when he gets it and let him in as a partner."


I looked at Mitch and my first thought was "NO", but for Ty's sake, I knew I
had to.


"Mitch, the first thing I wanted to say was No. But, for Ty's sake, I know I
can't. What I'll do is invest it into the business and do the other side.
Then, I'm going to call it even no matter what it is."


Mitch smiled at me and said, "Lance, you might want to rethink that. I know
her first year she worked there, she made over a quarter of a million and
only brought home thirty thousand. I know last year, she put more money on
her back in clothes than what I made and she bragged once when we were out
she'd made over a million last year just from the interest on the account.
So, I'd say the account is really large."


I looked at him and said, "Oh."


He laughed and said, "So, I'm thinking there's going to be a lot of money in
it."


What was weird was I couldn't say anything anymore. Suddenly, Ty had more
money than me and he's thinking he's poor. I looked at Mitch and said,
"Mitch, he thinks he's poor."


"He thinks that, but he doesn't know. The kids are thinking she put her
money into the house. I forbid her to mention it in front of the kids. If
she had, I can guarantee you she'd been single that night. A man's got only
so much pride he can give up and that was the line with me. She knew that
and she knew she was dancing on that line by just mentioning the account."


"Mitch, that money's rightfully yours."


"It's rightfully an inheritance. Don't fight me on this one. I don't want
it. The kids are going to have that wake up call and they're going to think
bad of me, but what I do know is it's going to come down and I'm not going
to take a dime of it. I got what I had coming when she brought the money
into the house."


I looked at him and thought to myself, "The bitch would screw your kid out
of a car, when she could buy it herself. But, she'd do what you asked when
it came to money. How unreal."


Mitch looked at me and said, "I can see the gears turning and I know you're
thinking something, but I don't know what it is. Please don't think badly of
me."


"Mitch, I'm not thinking that at all. It's ironic she'd buckle to you on the
money issue, but she'd fuck your son out of a car."


He smiled and said, "I'd like to introduce you to my wife because that's
her. Did I mention she wasn't always the nicest person!"


"I'm wondering what she would have done if you'd put your foot down more."


"She had to be her own person too."


"And that included putting you through hell."


"She did it because I let her down. She wanted me to be the strong one. I
didn't want it."


"I've got one more question and then we've got to go."


"What is it?"


"How much of her bad attitude was her and how much of it was her reflection
of the people out in that office?"


"I think she had a crop of assholes out there. When one came into harvest,
she came home in a mood. I also think she had to drink in order to be as
mean as they were back to them. When she went to work out there, she was
sweet, kind, and caring. The bad attitude didn't start coming out until she
started drinking."


"Drinking loosens inhibitions. It comes out as a truth serum in people a lot
of times. That's why I'm wondering what she really thought of you all. If
she said those things, then she thought them. That's what I'm thinking, but
I don't know why."


"Because she wanted to be the one home. She wanted me to face those guys.
Imagine if I was standing in front of the boys and she was aiming a shot gun
at me. With her words, she did that. What the boys got was blow by. I tried
to protect them, but they still got hit."


"Man, I can't even begin to imagine what you went through."


"It's over now, so let's get on with life. I'm really excited to do so
because I know I've already been through hell."


"Ok bud, I'm just so sorry."


"Everyone else is, but the time for that is gone. What you see is the
phoenix already rising from the ashes. Just know it was going to fly when
the boys graduated. What's funny is she got the last laugh about the money
because I was planning on them finding out about it when she suddenly began
living lavishly. I thought they'd see it as her keeping it from me. Now,
they'll know I was keeping it form them because I wouldn't let her bring it
into the house."


"Don't tell them that. Just tell them you found the account and want them to
have the money. The burden of proof is on her and she can't tell them
differently."


"Ooh, that's shrewd."


"No, that's the best way out of this situation. It's best for the boys, for
you, and for letting the matter drop."


He smiled and said, "When that time comes, I want you there so you can break
it to the boys. If it's up to me, I'll probably tell them the truth."


"OK, but let's let this be the last secret we have to keep."


He smiled at me and said, "You're really a good guy."


"I try to be, but this situation is way over my head."


"I know, but surprisingly, I thought it was normal for a long time."


"Normal is where mom and dad loves each other and the kids are enriched by
it. Yes, there are ups and downs, but nothing like this has been normal.
Believe me, I deal with normal everyday and it doesn't have my head swimming
like this."


He smiled and said, "Do me a favor and give Ty normal. I'll go the rest of
my day thanking you."


"You got it."


We went out of the office with my arm across his shoulder.


When we went out into the garage, everyone was looking at us with
questioning eyes.


"The Escalade's ordered and your dad is taking the insurance off your car.
He wanted to buy the Escalade for you, but I told him it was a business
expense. While we were in there, a credit report came back from your mom.
She's got an account someplace and the bank there needs to speak you guys."


He looked at me and said, "What!"


"Yeah, it's quite a sum. A bank doesn't search for you if it's not. So, we
need to look it up and I'll do that. Then, we'll call and see. Ok?"


Joan looked at me and then turned to Mark. "Mark, did you know about an
account?"


"No, and I thought I handled all of her transactions. Well, would it be a
retirement account?"


"Could be. Did it have a lot of money going into it?"


"Oh yeah, but I thought you knew about it Mitch?"


"No, it escaped me."


"I swore she had your signature on the papers. I'll check."


"She required my signature on every paper for everything. Maybe she put it
in with those."


Mark looked at us strangely and said, "Guys, if it's a retirement account,
it rightfully should go to Mitch, but it'd be an inheritance, so it'd be tax
free. I do know this. She invested it heavily into stocks that did really
well. It seemed she was on the mark when investing in the stock market. I'll
check to see with the fund she put it into because they were the one that
handled that. I do know she had their number so she could switch it as
will."


Mitch said, "Can you put it into the boys names?"


"Yeah, it's rightfully yours, but if you don't want it, they can't make you
take it. If you name the boys as who you want it to go to, they'll get it.
Are you sure?"


"Mark, as much as she harranged me about money, I'll be damned if she ever
said she did a thing for me she didn't want to do. Obviously, she had no
intentions on me having the money. It's her money, so give it to the boys."


Ty looked at us and said, "Dad? Why didn't she tell you?"


"Hon, your mom used money like she used everything else. You know the way
she was. She felt empowered if she could hold it over my head."


Ty went over and hugged his dad. "This makes me mad. All those times she was
complaining, she knew she had that account and could have done more."


Mitch looked at me and I could see his eyes begging me, "Ty, let's not put
the cart before the horse. It might not be that much. She might have a few
dollars in there."


Mitch smiled and Ty said, "You just said it's got to be a lot."


"Yeah, but maybe the guy's real fastidious about doing his job. Let's go
home and worry about this later. It might not be anything."


Mark looked at us and said, "I'll call first thing tomorrow. Is it ok if I
ride up with you guys tomorrow?"


"Yeah, we're going to be doing a lot of errands, but togetherness would feel
good."


He smiled and said, "Well, I want to talk with you guys about a few things.
The hotel's plans are going to be going on hold so we can do a redraw of the
plans. Lance, Joanie wants you in on the redraw if you'll do it."


"Sure, I don't know much about a hotel, but I am familiar with hotel supply
and Joan? Have you been to the hotel supply place in St. Louis?"


"No, I got their catalog, but I've never been there."


"Oh, we've got to go shopping. They've got that place set up like a huge
hotel. Each room is done differently with all the furniture they have and
all the different accessories they've got. Plus, they give you a discount if
you buy it by the room. That suite up there is one whole room from the
refrigerator to the bed...even the faucets were bought there."


"Really!"


"Yeah, they've got the catalog and quite a bit of their stuff isn't even in
the catalog."


She looked at Mark and said, "We've got to go."


"How about on Thursday. It'll be good to do it as a reliever from the
funeral on Wednesday."


Joan smiled and Mark said, "Well, I've got a favor to ask because I know how
it is to drive in the city. The boys are going to be home and I imagine
they'll want to go, so could we take your pall bearer car? The reason I'm
asking is I can just imagine driving in two vehicles or more and getting
separated."


"Sure, I told you guys you didn't need to ask. It'll be a pleasure and
what'll be nice is it's no different to drive than a normal car or limo. We
can all share the driving."


Mark smiled and said, "I've never driven a limo, but it looks difficult."


"No, have you driven a truck?"


"Yeah."


"Well with the limo, you have to use your mirrors more because you can't see
out the back. With the pall bearer car, it's open like a normal car, but
it's as long as the limo...well, a little longer, but you can turn your head
and see to pass and turn it around."


Mark said, "I'll drive, that sounds like it'd be a treat."


"Ok"


Joan came over and said, "I'm really glad we found you because I sure didn't
know all that. It'd been a kick if I'd found it after we'd gotten it built."


"Yeah, Heather's going to love the trip because she's just the person you
need to do all this stuff. That girl can hold a laptop and a digital camera
at the same time and get every shot in. They got to the point they sent her
around with a maids cart so she'd not have to carry it."


"Oh, I never thought of that. We could take photos of the ones we like and
get them into their own files as to the cost and everything. This is going
to really help."


"Yeah, but what you might want to do is talk with them because if you've got
the sizes of the suites, then they can help you design them."


"Really."


"Yeah, they did that one up there and all I had to do was tell them which
one I wanted and the size of the space. They did everything else. I don't
know if it matters, but that one came in at sixteen thousand. It would have
been forty eight hundred more with the heat and ac unit. Those things are
expensive."


"If you don't mind, we'd like to look into the heating unit you were
discussing."


"Ok, I'll get ahold of my cousin and he'll be able to help you with that."


I handed the keys to Ty and we all got into the Escalade. He adjusted the
seat and then the mirrors and said, "This is going to be way different to
drive as I'm not used to being able to put my foot where it's supposed to
go."


Everyone heard him and Joan said, "What do you mean Ty?"


"My car's the Flintstone mobile. There's a huge hole in the floor of it on
the driver's side and on the passenger side, is a small one big enough one
of my school books fell out once."


Joan gave a startled look and said, "Well, I'm glad Lance is having your
drive his vehicles. That's not safe."


"Well, I was going to get a car when I graduated, but mom sort of took that
out of the picture."


"What do you mean?" Joan asked. I saw Mitch and he sort of cringed.


"Well, to be honest, she wanted her Mercedes and it's about the time I was
to get my car I was promised at graduation, so guess who got their car?"


Mitch said, "Ty, I'm sorry. Your mom told me she'd discussed it with you and
you two agreed you'd get a car for graduating college."


"No, she told me to drive that car I had until the end of college and she'd
see if there was money for me a car. I knew she wanted the Mercedes and she
told me she was going to get it no matter what and not to give her no sass
about it."


"I'm sorry Ty. I never knew about that conversation. I wish you'd came to me
about it."


"If I had dad, there would have been a big fight and you know she'd held it
against me, so why bother. It doesn't matter, I've got this to drive until I
get the other one, so that's nice."


Joan was pissed. Her lips told me her anger. They were flat as can be
pressed together. She turned to Mitch and said, "Well, one thing, you can
rest peacefully there's nothing else being kept from you and the boys aren't
playing second to her whims. That car she traded in for the Mercedes could
have went to Ty and it was a nice car."


Ty said, "Heck, I'd loved to have that car. Me driving a Seville CTS!
Sheesh, I'd been the envy of everyone at school. But, that's ok. When I pull
up in this, everyone's going to ask me who did the customization of it."


"Ty, yours is going to be a bit different. It's going to be white, but the
interior is going to be gray leather and the walls will be gray suede. I
thought the gray suede seats would take a beating, so I ordered leather.
They're the same style though."


"Neat. And it has the digital dash you told me about?"


"Yeah digital everything and it's going to have the GPS Sirius in it. The
mirrors fold in automatically when you put it in park and the running boards
fold out. One thing they have new is side running lights that are all led
and the carriage bars light up like diamonds. I did put the name of our
funeral home in the door. I'll have to have these changed."


He looked at me and said, "What do you mean?"


"Well, since this one has my last name, I thought we'd have both our names
on the funeral home when you join, so it got put on the order form."


His eyes misted up and I put my arm over and touched his. "Pull over hon
before you wreck us."


He pulled over and I handed him my kerchief. He wiped his eyes and said,
"Guys, I really love him. He surprises me in the best ways."


Mitch touched my arm and said, "I'm glad we got him as a family too."


Joan said, "If I could do as well for my boys as we did for yours, I'll be
doing good. Little Mark's not really ready yet, and Jake's so quiet he's
almost mute. Mark tells me he talks, but the boy says more with his eyes to
me than words."


I looked at her and said, " Take the time to sit with him and talk. He'll
open up. I used to be the same way when I was younger. For me, the phrases,
"Be seen and not heard" and "Silence is Golden" were my mottoes I lived by.
The only way you knew I was alive was by hearing my stereo in my bedroom
running my parents used to say. What's funny is when I was in my shell, only
Heather was able to talk with me. When I came out of my shell, everyone knew
what I thought."


"When was that?"


"Well, to be honest, when I was in high school, I was really quiet. I was so
afraid everyone would know what I was thinking, I stayed quiet."


"Because you were gay?" Joan asked with concern.


"Yeah, it was tough because Tony and I were together and I was living a
double life. My parents thought I was going to bed at ten pm, and I'd act
like I was going to bed, but then at eleven o'clock, I'd be out the door and
by eleven thirty, I'd be in Quincy at a bar being a social butterfly. Then,
I'd come home and sneak back in and go back into my cocoon until the next
night. Heather knew some, but she didn't know it all. I had to keep a lot of
secrets."


"Why?"


"The chance of my parents finding out was one. Even bigger was if everyone
else found out at high school. They threw words around in that place that
hurt because I knew I was gay. Where it might roll off other people's backs,
it didn't mine because I knew those words were true.


Heather knew, and she kept a lot of secrets for me. We were voted the boy
and girl most likely to marry because we were seen as a couple from early
early on. She knew my secret, and I knew if she had her way, I'd been
getting married to her. It couldn't have ever worked because I would have
been miserable."


Joan looked at me and said, "Jake might be gay?"


"Oh no! I didn't' say that. All I'm saying is that's why I stay quiet.
Things are different today Kids can be open and they're accepted. The anti
bullying and zero tolerance stopped all the harassment."


"Not if they're in on an athletic scholarship to Dartmouth. He's told Mark
he's expected to perform to his utmost abilities or he's out. So, he's
constantly afraid. Oh my!"


"Joan, please don't think that. If you'd like, I'll speak to him. I'm sure
there's probably another reason. Maybe it's the pressure of school."


She looked at Mark and looked really distressed. I felt like a heel for
talking and not thinking she was taking it in for a different reason.


"I'm sorry for alarming you. If I thought you were listening to me and
applying it towards him, I sure wouldn't have said anything."


"No, I'm glad you did. He needs to know if that's the reason, we love him
and we accept him. I don't want my baby thinking I'm going to accept him for
being anything other than who he is."


Mark looked up at me and said, "Lance, he'll be in tomorrow afternoon.
Jake's plane gets in first and then Mark's. They're meeting at the airport
and renting a car to get up here. How about if you two come over tomorrow
night for supper and that will show him we're accepting of you guys. Then,
you and Ty can go with the boys and do something."


"Uncle Mark, I hate to say this, but Jake will tell us he doesn't want to
go. Mark will be dressed before the words are out of our mouths. That's the
way they are. Jake will say, "No, I'll stay at home" and he'll go to his
room. I asked Mark what he does in his room and he said every time he goes
in there, Jakes laying on the bed with his hands up under his head like he's
content to do only that."


"Well, that's what he does when I go in. For me to speak to him, I have to
go to him and then when I do, it's short answers. Not impolite, but just
short like he doesn't think his thoughts matter."


"Ok, so I'm getting a better picture here. What does he do for fun."


"He writes. The stories he rights are beautiful. He uses words so
powerfully, he uses them for impact. One word can hit you and you know
you've been hit. But, they're amazing stories."


"What are they about?"


Joan smiled and said, "One was about a dog that was lost in a storm and all
of the things it did and all the things that frightened it while it was
lost. How big and scary the world looked in the dark and in the rain. Then,
it saw it's master's house and knew it was home. I cried when I read that
story because he used one word. Thunder. And then wrote a paragraph
describing it's vibrating pulsing sound echoing inside it's ribcage. Then,
he used the word Lightning. And then described how it's eerie light flashed
and made ghosts and goblins out of things it knew weren't supposed to be
scary. Another paragraph was Darkness. And describing the darkness of the
path it was used to walking everyday and how it could see to know where he
was during the daylight, but the ebony of night time took that away."


"Wow. Now, I'm going to ask some questions here. Was the dog a boy or a
girl?"


Joan looked at Mark and said, "I don't think it said. I don't think it
mattered to him."


"Well, a true word smith won't because the reader will assume the sex they
are. Any interjection by the author of sex will be subtle, but it will tell
the reader what the writer won't. It's more powerful if the reader assumes
it's their sex. The darkness and storm could mean anything. But, it reaching
home gives a completion of overcoming the obstacle. It's a very compelling
story because it's heart warming and the reader feels good afterwards."


She looked at me and said, "You took a lot of psychology."


"Oh yeah. You know how much I had to take. I imagine you had to take a lot."


"Not as much as you think. I went into this as a nurse assistant and then
went to medical technician and then went to prescription tech at the
pharmacy. Then, I went in and took the courses I needed to get my
administrative credentials. They used what I had taken and then carried them
over to the degree. I was only short a few credits, so they had me do those
courses over the summer. You know how Summer courses are. They're basically
a hand out of credit hours with some teachers because they don't require
much home work or studying. I used those to get my degree. You're looking at
a Director of Nurses who wasn't a nurse."


"Wow. You snuck in the back door!"


"Don't tell them and I won't!" She chuckled.


"Well, you're very effective. I'm proud of you."


"Thanks. Maybe it's because I wasn't a nurse that I believe in helping
everyone in a hospital from housekeeping to the maintenance people to the
nurses and doctors. If I was biased towards nurses, then they'd be the ones
getting my focus."


"True."


"So, what I'll do is I'll talk to Jake and draw him out. He won't even know
I'm doing it. But, what I'm not going to do is psychoanalyze him. If he's a
normal boy, I'll not look for anything that's not there. It's not up to me
to do that, but instead, what I'll do is to find common ground and do it so
he doesn't even realize No is not the answer I'm looking for."


She smiled and said, "He'll have a good time. What do you think you guys
will end up doing?"


"Well, my advice is we make it something everyone will enjoy and no one will
feel pressured to perform. A movie is something that is pretty neutral, but
one might like action whereas another might hate them. So, what I'll do is
raid my piggy bank and we'll go to the arcade. Then, he can pick what he
wants and everyone else can pick what they want."


Mark smiled and said, "Can I go?"


"I'd say yes, but I think the conversation's going to be flowing all over
the place and he might feel pressured if it gets onto the topic of parents
and expectations and you are sitting there."


Mark frowned and said, "I don't think I imposed anything on him he didn't
want."


"No, I didn't say that, but I'm sure you asked for good grades and how would
you feel if you found out after all this time, he's dyslexic or something? I
know he's not because you said he wrote the story, but that's what I'm
saying is there might be a hurdle there you didn't think about."


Joan said, "Maybe he's just a normal boy."


"Yeah, and if that's it, then that's the answer I'll tell you. Heck, I'd
rather him be normal and know I've gained a friend than to know he's sat at
home on his bed while everyone else went out and did something fun."


"Well, that doesn't sound like fun to me." said Joan, "But, maybe he writes
the stories while he lays there. Then, puts them down on paper."


"Do you have the stories? Maybe there's a theme to them."


"Sure, I keep everything the boys have given me."


"Can I see them? Maybe I'll find he's the next huge writer and he's an
aspiring author. Wouldn't that be cool."


"You'll love his writing." she said proudly.


Ty began pulling up their hill and said, "Man, this truck's got power. My
car has to have a run at this hill. If I don't, about half way up, I'm
wondering if I'm going to make it to the top."


Mitch once again looked pained and I reached over the seat and patted his
leg. He looked up and I said, "Things are working out. Don't worry."


He smiled and I said, "Mitch, in that story, the dog made it home. You're
now on the front porch, so the best part's coming."


He held my hand and said, "Having the strength of walking through the door
and hoping the master isn't upset with me is where it's going to be tough."


"I"m sure they're missing you as much as you missed them. So, let's just not
be afraid anymore."


The smile on his face wasn't matching his eyes until I said that. Then, he
nodded.


"Remind me to give you a hug. You know just what to say at the right time."


Joan clasped our hands and said, "He's doing everyone good. I'm glad we got
him."


She then turned to me and said, "When we're having the visitation, you're
going to be hearing nothing but praise about your abilities from me to
others, so be standing close by."


Mitch said, "I'm going to be telling all the guys to go upstairs and check
out that bathroom!"


Joan laughed and said, "I'm going to be saving that for the hard sell old
women. Once they see that, they'll know he takes care of the details."


When we pulled up, she asked, "You guys coming in?"


"No, we'll be going home. I love family, but the thought of snuggling with
him on the sofa and watching whatever he chooses sounds like more of a plan
to me."


Mitch said, "What time tomorrow?"


"Well, it depends. You want to eat breakfast with us?"


Joan said, "No, he'll have it here."


"Ok, then make it about nine thirty. I want to be there at ten fifteen even
though the appointments at ten thirty. That way we have a little browsing
time."


He nodded and said, "I'll tell Gregg and Heather."


"Ok, he's got his cell?"


"He keeps his on him at all times."


"Oh that reminds me, I've got to get Ty a cell phone. We can do that
tomorrow. It can go on my plan."


Ty said, "I've got three months left on my contract."


"Who's your provider?"


"Nextel."


"Good, that's mine. I'll call them and explain they'll be gaining more if
they let me switch your number over to my plan rather than being hard nosed
and me dropping everything I have with them in search of someone who will
treat us better."


Joan smiled and said, "Good luck guys."


The got out and I got out too so I could give them hugs. Ty stayed in the
driver's seat and gave kisses and hugs through the window.


When I got back in the truck, he backed up carefully and made the turn
around beautifully. I held his hand and said, "You used the mirrors like a
pro."


"It'll take some getting used to, but I love this truck."


"Me too. It's awesome, isn't it."


"Yeah, I was afraid I hurt my dad's feelings there."


"Nah, we talked about it in my office."


"Oh man, did he feel bad."


"Yeah, but not at you. He did say he wouldn't want to leave me alone in a
room with your mom when we had our talk though."


Ty giggled and said, "Oh man, that would have been a battle."


"Yeah, but the bad part is I think your mom and I would have ended up not
liking each other. She would know I wouldn't put up with crap and that
sounded like it was what her buffet consisted mostly."


"It's funny because my dad once said "I wonder how she's going to serve the
shit salad tonight" in front of me. I thought it was funny, but then he made
sure I knew he didn't mean it. I know he did, but pretended anyways."


"That's why I said what I did to him. He needs to realize you boys are going
to love him no matter what."


"What do you mean? He knows that."


"No, he doesn't because you should have seen him when I found out about that
money. He's afraid you two are going to hold him accountable for it."


"Did you get a clue as to how much it is?"


"Ty, I didn't say it in front of everyone, but they only do that for really
really good customers if you know what I mean."


He looked at me and said, "You mean?"


"Yeah, I'd say there's several million in that account."


"Oh jeez."


"Yeah, at first your dad was mad and then he instantly thought you and Gregg
would hold it against him."


"I know he didn't know it was there. She wouldn't have talked to him the way
she did if he knew it. You don't know how often she held what he made over
his head. It seemed like every time they'd argue, she'd tell him they'd have
more if he made more."


"Well, let's just say apparently everyone knew about it that wasn't in your
house. It seems your Uncle Mark knew about it."


"That has to suck for dad."


"Yeah, and he's afraid you two are going to hold it against him. That's why
I told him to step through the door because he needs to know that's the last
secret and you two love him after it."


"What if she kept something else from us all?"


"Will it affect you loving your dad if he didn't know about it either?"


"No."


"Then, it shouldn't matter."


"No, it won't. I've got to call Gregg and tell him."


"How about if we go over there and see them."


"They might be doing the wild thing."


"And wrinkling my sheets!" I said with mock anger.


He laughed and said, "IF I had my way, we'd be doing the same thing at your
house."


"At WHOSE house?"


"At your......oh, I'm sorry, OUR house."


"There, I'll break you of that bad habit yet."


"If there's a lot of money in that account Lance, I want you to have my
share to put it into the business."


"What if I said it didn't take that."


"I'd tell you to either take it or find it stuffed in places you least
expect it. So, please take it so I'll feel better about it."


"Hon, how about if I put it into the building of that addition?"


"That'd be great!"


"Well, if there's a lot of money in the account, and half's yours. Then what
are you going to do with the rest?"


"I don't know. Do you think there's more than that?"


"I don't know. I can't tell you."


"Can't tell me, or won't tell me. I think you know more than what you're
saying."


"Hon, what if I told you the person that I spoke to on the phone told me the
interest accumulated just last year from that account was over a million
dollars."


"Holy Crap!"


"Now, you can't tell anyone and I mean not even Gregg because that person
telling me that could lose his job."


"Lance, I swear. Jeesh. What am I going to do with that kind of money?"


"That's what I was asking you because here's the next one. You heard Mark
say it was tax free so what I'd tell you to do with it is make sure you put
it into things you're not going to get taxes on later."


"What do you mean?"


"Ok, I'll give you a lesson in taxes. If you take that money and invest it
into accounts that draw interest, then you're taxed on that interest. That's
not a bad thing because that's money you made on it. The same goes in real
estate. You pay real estate taxes every year, but if you sell it, you don't
pay taxes on it unless you sell for a profit. But then, I'd tell you to
average it over three years and then, you'd suffer that over three years.
Unless you were reinvesting it into more real estate you were planning on
selling at a profit soon."


"That wasn't clear. That was confusing."


"OK, what I'd do with the money if I were you would be to invest it into
real estate or put it into an account where you had the interest. Is that
clearer?"


"What sort of real estate?"


"Hon, here's the deal on the funeral home. Because I think you're going to
try to switch the game rules on me when you find out how much there is."


"Do you know how much there is?"


"No, I don't know that, but I'll tell you this. If your mom invested wisely,
she's getting a return of ten percent on her money which was good. So that
means there's ten million in that account. If she invested poorly, and is
only getting five percent, that means there's twenty million in that
account. Bad for her, but good for you and Gregg."


"You mean!"


"Yeah, somewhere in between. Now, let's say you've got half of ten million.
Then, you've got five. What I'm going to tell you is I'm not taking anything
more than the money for the addition. I know you've got money and you are
going to want to pay for half the overall cost of the funeral home, but Ty,
I won't take it. To me, your investment is the addition and that's what you
want to do. For me, you don't have to even do that, but I understand your
point."


"Ok, what else does the funeral home need?"


"Nothing really except another funeral van and another pall bearer car.
We've got an extra limo and we've got the extra hearse. Anything else would
be pissing it away and I don't want you to do that."


"Then order the van and the car and tell them to start the construction of
the addition."


"Let's wait and see how much is there first."


"Oh ok, but Uncle Mark could know that tonight. So, what else. Do you want
that flower shop?"


"Ty, if we do, then we go 50/50 on it and we do what we can to pinch
pennies. I'm not made of money and I'm not taking yours. Now, if you want to
know what I was thinking is this....you'll have a couple of million left
over, so why don't you speak to your dad, aunt and uncle about investing it
with them into that hotel, or in a hotel somewhere where they need one bad."


"Where's that?"


"I don't know, but it seems to me people wouldn't be investing in them if
there wasn't money in them, so either do that or do something in the name of
your mom."


"Like hell. She got that money and kept it from us. As far as I'm concerned,
she can see it's going on something she wouldn't have invested it in."


"Ok, but don't just be doing it to spite her. Let's talk about these things
first."


"Ok"


He smiled and said, "Babe, you don't know how this makes me happy. I feel
like I'm actually a part of this relationship now."


"Isn't it funny what a dollar will do when I told you a dollar didn't
matter."


"I know what you said..... Oh, I'm sorry."


"No, I know it means something to you, but it didn't matter to me. What if I
didn't have money and you did. Would it matter?"


"No."


"Then why does it make a difference?"


"Oh man, I feel bad."


"See. But that's ok. You feel like you're a part of us now and I'm glad. At
least miracles happen."


He smiled at me and said, "Yeah, and the best one's sitting next to me."


"No, I'd say he's sitting next to me."


"Well, we're both lucky."


"Yes dear we are, so let's go to the funeral home because I don't want to
have you tell Gregg this over the phone."


"He'd shit."


"Yeah, and Heather wouldn't have a clue what happened."


"Oh man, I'm so happy for them. They'll be able to build a house and be able
to get married sooner."


"No, he wants to pop the question on the 4th of July."


"If it takes me paying for a fireworks display in February to get him to pop
the question sooner, then I'll do it."


"There you go pissing it away." I said joking.


"No, I'm thinking of others. So there! " He said sticking out his tongue.


"Ok, but how about if we just use a skillet and I conk him on the head and
he sees stars. Then, he'll think it was the 4th of July."


He laughed and said, "That would be a tightwads way of doing it, but Heather
wouldn't appreciate it."


"I wasn't talking about hitting Heather! She'd kick my ass!"


He laughed and said, "I could see her chasing you with that skillet now.
That'd be funny."


"No it wouldn't because you saw how fast she ran with him on her back."


"Yeah, she's tough."


"Yeah, but Gregg sure got showed, didn't he!"


"Yeah, you need to teach me that yet."


"I will. How about if I'm there while you tell Gregg and then you two sit
and talk about what you're going to do with the money while I go down and
get your mom ready."


"Do you have to?"


"Hon, it's bugging me it hasn't been done already. Usually, I'm way ahead of
what I've got to do yet."


"Well, you want help?"


"Not no, but hell no."


"Lance, it's not going to matter much to me. She can't hurt me anymore."


"No. That's firm. Any other person on the planet except family and I'd say
yes, but No."


"Ok"


"You might want to stop by your house to get the clothes she's to wear."


"Ok, that way I can pick up my clothes and get them taken to your house."


"Whose house?"


"Oh man, our house, but I didn't pay you half."


"And you won't. Just take it as that, Ok?"


"Ok, by the way, I love that house."


"I love you, so consider it a wedding present."


"Do you really want to get married?"


"I'd like a service and to have legal paperwork so you get what's mine if I
die and I get what's yours."


"Ok, that's good. I'll pay for the paperwork."


"No, it's a business expense. The funeral home has a lawyer. Let him earn
what he makes."


"Ok What else do we have?"


"What do you mean?"


"We have a lawyer, so do we have an accountant?"


"Yeah, and we've got health benefits and a dental plan. I don't have eye
glass on it because I don't wear glasses."


"OK, So, you said you'd like a video system. How much will that cost?"


"Oh man, I have no clue. What I was thinking about it being a big one that's
big enough everyone can see it, so let's say probably twelve feet wide."


"So, you want it wired into the computer system and you want it to hide
away,"


"Yeah, but I don't know how to do that because that panel takes up a lot of
space up there. It'd have to come down from the ceiling and not be in the
way of the casket because I'd want them to see the person and the video"


"What's above the ceiling up there?"


"The floor above it is three feet above but the joists are two feet above
the ceiling."


"And the panel slides between the floor joists?"


"Yeah, It's in it's own room up there. I have to get in and make sure
everything can be maintained."


"Ok, So, There's a good sixteen feet between it and the casket."


"Fourteen, but that would change if it were a two casket funeral."


"How would you have it in a two casket funeral?"


"You know where the lights are for the flowers on each side coming inwards
towards the casket at the thirty degree angles?"


"Yeah."


"Well, those lights are used for the two casket funeral and we have them on
the caskets instead. Where the casket is now, we have the flowers."


"You said video is on the caskets at all times, is it then?"


"Yeah."


"So, either you have the casket where it is, or you put it over at an angle
and put the video up between joists on the same system as the panel. Either
that, or you can put the video down and leave it and put it where the
flowers are and just have flowers up the sides where the visit lines are so
people can see them as they file past."


"That's a good idea."


"What? I threw out about four there." he said chuckling.


"I know, I'm thinking the flowers can go along the sides as there's five
feet of walkway there. There's still room to move, but the lights aren't
trained on them there. But, we could have the video over behind the curtain
where the singers stand."


"Where do they stand?"


"To the right of the casket is that curtain. That curtain can slide back and
that's where the singers stand. Right behind that wall is the room where the
organ is, so we could put the computer in there."


"So you have it over there and the curtain can slide back. Is that a good
enough angle so everyone can see it?"


"I don't know, maybe we can have it on something that will push out one end
so it does it automatically."


"Everything with you is done automatically, isn't it."


"Yeah, if you noticed, I ran a funeral home single handed. So, it has to be
done that way."


"Well you've got help now buddy."


"No, because we're going to be running two funerals at a time."


"After I get out of school. Now, what do I have to go to school for if
you've got the embalmer's license?"


"Well, you'd want one."


"Not if it's not needed. You're the embalmer dude if I don't need it."


"Well, if you don't need it, then I could teach you everything and then all
you have to do is go take the test to be a funeral director. That's not
hard. You probably learned everything you need for that this afternoon if
you've got a good memory. I've joked they made that test easy enough a dead
person could have a pencil in their hand and fall forward marking down the
sheet and pass the test."


"That's not funny but that's funny. "Here, you passed! Now, go do your own
funeral!" He giggled.


"With a remote control, he could do it at my place."


"Oh man, that's so not right." He laughed.


"Yeah, but you'll be making jokes about it. You'll see."


"Honey, I've got a question. What do we do if the body's are really bad."


"Well, if they're really bad, then I'll tell you what we do. We get the
phone call and we go to the house. In the back of the truck here is a haz
mat suit and a respirator. In the respirator is a connector for oxygen
because I did it once with just using the respirator and the smell still
came through, so now it's got oxygen. Then, what we do is go in with a body
bag and we put the body bag on the gurney and we lift the body on. And then,
we close it. When we get back to the funeral home, we take the gurney in and
we put a can of air freshener in the truck and we set that baby off like a
roach bomb. I'll show you where those lids are. Then as it's making
everything right, we go in and take the body bag and we put it into the
morgue that has a fan vent that's going through charcoal filters. When the
family decides the casket, we put it in it and we seal that puppy up and
that's how it's done."


"That's it!"


"Yeah, the toughest part is for a drowning in the river. Those aren't
pleasant."


"Why not?"


"Because they're hard to reach. We have to go out in a boat, and then we get
there and they're over on the shore and we've got to get out and wade and
get it into the bag. Now, in the cabinet is a box of those body bags.
They're bigger because those bodies are really swollen. Don't be surprised
if you see one and it's not all there. They're brownish purple and they kind
of squish sometimes when you lift them. It'll be enough to make you gag."


"Can you refuse it?"


I looked at him and said, "Who the hell's going to go get it if we refuse
it. That's our job!"


"Oh,"


"Hon, if it gets to you, I'll tell you how to get over it. You come home and
I'll have a nice pot of spaghetti on for you to dive into. If you can get
through that afterwards, you're a better man than me!"


He pulled over and I said, "Don't you get sick in this truck."


He looked me with watery eyes and said, "Subject switch."


"ok Do you want me to drive?"


"No, I can make it, but man you're gross."


"Love ya hon."


"LB"


"When we get to your house, call your dad and tell him what we're doing. He
might think of something he wants."


"What all do you want as far as clothes?"


"Everything."


"Shoes too."


"Yeah."


We pulled up and as we walked in, I said, "What do you want from your
bedroom?"


"Wait a minute and I'll be in there"


I went into his bedroom and looked around. He had photos of him from when he
was really little. Him in his little league uniform was adorable. Him at a
fair on a horse. Him fishing with someone that probably was a grandparent.
Him with probably his uncle because the guy look like him mom. Other grade
school shots. Him at graduation. Prom photos. Other baseball photos. His cd
collection. A lot of good tunes there. A matchbox car collection. Baseball
trophies. Swimming trophies. Floor hockey photos and a trophy.


He was so good in so many things and his mom ignored it all. I took one look
at things and saw his life story. How she ignored it was beyond me. Instead,
she seemed to just see the negative.


His computer looked new and really nice. I could tell he was a gamer from
the looks of it. The speakers on each side of it were either for music or
the games, but they were high end units. Diploma on wall with tassel.
Various certificates of achievements, a teddy bear, AFX race track set up in
the corner, underneath a Lionel train set setup on a board on the floor.
Photos on the wall of several years of classes he was in, library award for
reading.


>From behind me I heard, "What I think is we should just take about
everything."


"How about if we wait on some things. You won't need your bed."


"No, I didn't mean that!" he giggled.


"Ok, The ball bat's nice, we taking them. We could play pitch and catch."


"The kind I'm wanting to play won't include baseball equipment, so let's
leave them until later."


"Ok stud boy. Tell me what to pack."


"On the bed is some trash bags. Just start taking and emptying the drawers
into them. I'll get the clothes out of the closet, I want."


"Ok, Do you want the computer?"


"Not now, I won't be bored in the bedroom there."


"Cool. I see you're good at floor hockey. I can hardly wait."


He laughed and said, "Love ya dude."


"LB"


"I know."


He came over and said, "You know, I'm not depressed like I thought I'd be. I
thought I'd have a hard time, but I guess it's because I know I'm going home
to be with someone I love. That means a lot to me."


"Me too. It's a little depressing for me though."


"Why?"


"It's hard for me because I looked through this room and I got your life
story. I see photos and with the exception of those over there showing your
grandpa and your uncle, I don't see any of your mom or your dad."


"That's by choice. I didn't want photos of her in here and I couldn't have
any of dad without having her, so I left him out too. She couldn't bitch
about grandpa and my uncle. How'd you know who they were?"


"Your uncle looks like your mom, and I guessed your grandpa. I don't know
which side, but I'm guess hers since she was insecure."


"You got it."


"That's upsetting."


"Yeah, in the closet there are all my other photos. When we get home, I'll
have a room of photos on the walls."


"Your office."


"You don't have an office?"


"Yeah, but all the wall space is used there. So, what I thought is we use
the bedroom closest to ours as yours and that way you can have your space
and the other bedroom can be for the ni-ne kids."


"Ni-ne?"


"Yeah, the first two letters of niece and nephew. We know they'll be one or
the other, so we'll have Ni-ne kids."


"Cool."


He came over and hugged me and then laid a lip lock on me that took my
breath away. One thing I do know was Longfellow was sure reciting poetry. He
felt it and said, "Jeesh, that all you?"


"If it's not, I'm not giving it back to who I got it from. Kinda makes me
look like a tripod, don't it!"


"Wow, I expected nice, but that's a beaut."


"Nah, what I'm feeling is nice."


"Compared to that thing, it's not."


"Ty. Stop."


He looked at me with hurt feelings and I said, "Whoa dude. Listen up."


"Ok"


"One thing I refuse to hear is you tearing yourself down over size of
something you can't control. I got this thing and you got yours. Believe me,
I heard the jokes in high school about it in the showers and I'm sure
Heather got talked about bad because we were supposed to be together, but to
be honest, you don't have problems like I do and you should be thankful. You
can wear tighty whiteys and I can't. You can sit down and not have to worry
about the unexpected pain of sitting on it because believe me, do it once
and you'll tear the house down getting back up and do it in a nice
restaurant and dishes clatter. But, you can't stand up and make the
announcement of "Sorry folks, just sat on my dick." Instead, they stare and
you get embarrassed. So, give me the chance to trade it and I would. And,
then think about this. You've been making jokes about wanting me in bed and
you see I've not been doing it. You know why?"


"Why?"


"Because I know we're going to have problems having sex. It's going to hurt
you and that's going to kill me. So, maybe one day we'll get over it, but
until then, I'm going to be hating it all the more."


"Lance, didn't I say I loved you?"


"Yeah."


"And it's a part of you, so get over it. Let me worry about that and you
worry about mine. So shush."


"Ok."


He smiled and said, "Besides, when I fantasized about you, I fantasized
about you and making genuine love to you. So, I got a little more in the
bargain than even the fantasy included. So, I'll have to get used to it. So
fucking what. Because I'll tell you now, I love you and I'll certainly will
do that so it doesn't hurt so you never have to worry again. Now, if we go
to a restaurant and you tear a table up sitting on it, I'll lay down on it
and yell, "Fuck me now!" They'll really think we've went insane and so what
if we get asked to leave and can't go back. I bet other restaurants will
have us."


I chuckled and said, "Well, ok then!"


He hugged me and said, "When we get home, you are going to make love to me,
aren't you?"


"No."


"NO! Why the hell not!"

"Because tomorrow we're getting fitted for suits and I don't want you
getting a bow legged suit."


He laughed and said, "That man who measures you for the suits is going to
think I'm a lucky guy."


"I doubt it."


"Why not."


"Because he's the one that told me how to tuck mine so I wouldn't have to be
worried all the time. I think he's working with something comparable."


"Damn."


"Hon, those that don't have it, want it. Those that have it, dread it. So,
just know I could've starred in porns and made a living. The only thing
you've not done yet is ask how big, so don't."


"Ok. I'm sorry."


"Don't be sorry. You just know where I'm vulnerable now and know how touchy
I am about it."


"You shouldn't be."


"Size doesn't make the man. What's in here makes him a man. You've got it
and I've got it, so what's the difference? Not a damned thing."


"Ok"


"Can I say one other thing before we're done with this subject?"


"Yeah."


"Don't bring it up in public. I mean no jokes, or anything. Normal people
don't about theirs, so don't about mine and I'll thank you before hand."


"I wouldn't do that."


"Well, some people do. I know they do because I see them snickering and
pointing. Guys in my class remember it and they sure make it a point of
saying things. Because we're together, they'll talk about you too and that's
going to really piss me off. Heather's dad knew and that's why he paid for
my lessons. He told me, "Son, you've got more at your age than I do at mine.
People are going to talk, so you need to know how to defend yourself if they
ever want to do more than talk." That's the real reason my lessons got given
to me."


"What was he doing looking at your dick!" Ty asked outraged. "Because if I
recall right, you told me you were six when you started your lessons."


"I was. We went out camping and he went out with me to be sure I didn't piss
in poison ivy. Until then, I considered mine normal and I was the one that
made the comment about his. See I was six years old and had a six inch dick.
So, who knew!"


"Ok, you've got my word on it. I won't ever embarrass you or anything about
it in the future, but promise me one thing."


"What?"


"Promise me you're not going to stop using it on me even if I find it a
little painful at first."


"I can't promise that."


"Bullshit. You can promise it, you've just got to be sure to work with me.
If you don't, then I'll tell you now, I'll go get some dildos and use them
until I can take it and then bud, you better believe me I'll take it. So now
you can either have patience with me, or I'll be sure to get what I need.
You are going to make love to me in this relationship whether you like it or
not."


He was upset.


"I promise. I'm sorry. I just don't know how I'm going to do it without
hurting you."


"It's going to hurt some. But just be patient and we'll get it so it
doesn't. I watch X-Tube, I know it can be done."


"Ok, smut king, we'll work on it."


He laughed and said, "I'm not smut king, I'm just curious."


We got the clothes and as we walked out the door of his bedroom he grabbed
the teddy bear.


"You sleep with your teddy?"


"No, he goes where I go. This bears been to college and he's been to Disney
and to New York. He'll go on every trip we go on. This little bear's been my
only friend sometimes and I'm not going to forget him just because I got
older."


I hugged him and said, "I love you babe. I'm sorry."


"No, you didn't know. Now you do and you now know that if you take me on a
secret surprise trip anywhere, I won't go unless you tell me you've packed
him."


"Ok What's his name?"


"You going to laugh?"


"No"


"Well, think of all the bears you know on television?"


"Ok"


"Now guess."


"Oh sheesh Yogi, Boo Boo, Pooh, am I close?"


"No"


"You gonna help me?"


"Ok, it's a bear."


"Thanks a lot."


"Is it a cartoon bear?"


"No"


"Ben?"


"No"


"Come on here, I'm running out of bears."


"No, a bear could out run you. That's why people die."


"Can I have another clue"


"Ok, but you're not making it fun."


"Ok, a teeny weeny great big one."


"Only you can put out forest fires."


"Smokey!"


"Yeah, now aren't you glad you guessed it?"


"Yeah"


He held the bear up to his ear and said, "I know you weren't even in the top
five. Yeah, I know he must really like forest fires....Well, he is cute. I
thought so too."


"Smokey's gay!"


"Only for other bears. If you sleep with him, you'll be safe."


I laughed and said, "Thank him"


"He's a teddy bear and now I can tell people you talk to teddy bears."


"Ok, you got me there."


"No, I could've had you at Chili's but I wasn't smooth enough. But, I'm glad
I got you."


We left and then went to the funeral home. When we got there, we went up in
the elevator and rang the bell. Since I saw Gregg's car parked there, I knew
they were there. I made a mental note to get him a door opener for his car.


When we got to the door, I knocked on it and heard a yell on the other side.
Then, I hear Heather yell at Gregg, "Ghosts don't knock on doors. They walk
through them. Damn!"


Ty chuckled and said, "Man I'd really like to have a sheet right now."


"It'd be funny wouldn't it. Next time, we'll have to wear them."


Heather opened the door and said, "What you knocking for?"


"It's consideration on our part. Besides, ghosts don't knock on doors"


Ty and I chuckled and Gregg looked embarrassed.


"Gregg, never seen one since I've been working here. So, don't be worried."


"There's always a first time."


"No, I think if it would have happened, it would have happened by now."


Ty giggled and said, "Gregg, the reason we're here instead of at home
snuggled up together is because we found out something earlier I thought you
ought to know. Lance said you needed to hear it in person because you'd
faint and then Heather would be pissed because you wouldn't have told her."


"What"


"Well, when Dad and Lance were here earlier, They ordered my Escalade and
Lance had Dad into the office to tell him he didn't need to keep insurance
on my car. Well, while they were in the office, Lance told Dad about Mom
screwing me out of my car for my birthday and it hurt dad's feelings, so Dad
offered to buy the Escalade for me. Well, Lance refused because it was a
business expense."


I interjected. "Ty, sometime today. He doesn't care about all this."


"Well he oughta, I got an Escalade!"


"Tell him the part about the money."


"What money!" Gregg asked real excited.


"See, I told you."


"Well, as I was saying, they were ordering me this Escalade. It's white with
gray leather seats and gray suede interior."


"Tell me about the money Ty!"


"In a minute, I want to tell you about my Escalade."


"Ty, if you don't tell me about the money, I'll strangle you."


"Dang, don't you even want to hear about the bars on the side that light
up?"


"I promise after you tell me about the money, I'll listen to you tell me
about the Escalade."


"No, because you'll be able to afford your own and that will make you forget
about mine."


Heather said, "He does this a lot, doesn't he?"


"Just when he knows it really bugs me. Otherwise he forgets to tell me about
things."


Ty rolled his eyes and said, "Well, as I was saying, they were in the office
and someone called and spoke with Lance....Oh, I forget his name
now.......oh.....what is his name...."


Gregg looked at me and said, "He's about to lose his life."


I smiled and said, "He thinks he's cute."


"You told me I was"


"Well, you are. Remember at Chili's when you walked up and I told you
Heather how cute I thought he was!"


She smiled and said, "Yeah.....and remember how you told him you wished he
was a cowboy with the ranch dressing!"


Gregg smiled and said, "Arghhh...Will someone please tell me about the
money?"


Ty said, "Well if I recall correctly, your order came up to over forty
dollars, but I don't know why Gregg wants to hear about that!"


I chuckled and Heather just laughed and said, "Guys, please tell him now.
You've got him."


Ty said, "Well, ok, but as soon as I tell you about the money, then you're
going to forget about everything else. And, who's to say you haven't already
forgotten about my Escalade?"


"No I didn't! It's white and it's got gray leather interior and gray suede
walls. See I was listening. So tell me about the money."


"Are you sure you don't want to hear more about it because if you'd just
listened to me the first time, I'd already be to the part about the money."


Gregg looked at me and said, "Would you puh-leaze tell me about the money?"


"Well....."


Ty came over and sat on my lap and said, "Now, he's forgot what he was
telling you about because all he can think about is later tonight. So, I'll
tell you about the money. A guy called and said he was mom's banker and
theres an account that has a lot of money in it. Apparently, dad didn't know
about it, so they asked Uncle Mark about it. It seems mom slipped some
paperwork in for dad to sign saying he was ok with this account and she's
been shoveling money into the account for like forever."


Gregg looked at Ty and said, "What!"


"Yeah, fucked up huh."


"Yeah, dad didn't know!"


"Do you think he knew with the way she bitched at him about telling him if
he made more they could have more around there?"


"Dad has to be so pissed."


"No, dad doesn't want a thing to do with the money. He said she gave him all
the money he wanted her to give, so he wants us to split it up."


"Well, there's probably not much in it."


"That's what I thought, but Lance said they don't call about those accounts
because they're small ones They call about large ones."


"So there's a lot of money in it?"


"Yeah."


"Was mom doing something illegal to get it?"


"No, she wasn't telling dad about it, that's all. Apparently she was making
it at work and not bringing it home."


"Oh, dad's got to be so pissed."


"Yeah, but he's more worried about what we're going to think than about the
money."


"What?"


"Yeah, he thinks because he didn't know about the account that we're going
to think he did and we'll be made at him. Gregg, I swear, dad didn't know
about that account. Do you think he would've taken all her shit all these
years if he knew?"


"No, that's crazy. Dad shouldn't be worried about what we think. Heck, it's
not him I'm pissed at. I'll tell you now that Mom kept that money away and I
bet she was going to leave him."


"No, she had Uncle Mark involved. If she was going to do that, I think she
wouldn't have had Uncle Mark in it."


"Then what was she doing? Because it sure wasn't smart not telling dad and
then putting it away. She could've brought it into the house all these years
and..... Oh shit Ty, you've got to feel bad. What she did about your car. Oh
man Ty, I'm so sorry."


"No, you didn't do a thing. It was her own selfishness."


"Yeah, and look what it cost her. She screwed you to get that car and hid it
from dad. I bet she hid a lot more from him. Man, dad has to feel so bad."


"He does, but he's worried what we'll think."


"Well, What I think is we've all been played by her."


"Well, we got it now, so it serves her right."


"How much do you think?"


"A lot. Uncle Mark's supposed to get ahold of the guy and see."


"When?"


"He was supposed to do it tonight."


"Well call him!"


"No, you do it. I don't want to seem like I'm rushing them."


I stepped in and said, "Let me call and find out what they found."


Heather looked at me and said, "Lance, can I speak with you before you
call?"


"Sure hon."


"Alone"


I looked at her strangely and she said, "Let's go in here."


She walked into the bedroom and I said, "What's up sis."


"Something doesn't add up, so I'll tell you because I think you're in up to
your neck in this."


"Ok hon, tell me fast and I'll tell you if you're in the ball park."


"Well that tells me there's more than what I'm hearing but the thing I heard
in there was a banker called today and today's Sunday. Bankers don't work on
Sunday, so tell me the fucking truth."


"Hon, I can't."


"Why the hell not!"


"Because I promised"


"You're telling me Mitch knew about the account."


"I can't tell you."


"That means he did and you're covering for him."


"Yeah, but if I told you everything, it'd really make Mitch look like a fool
and he was doing it for the kid's best interests."


"Ok, she was making money and shoveling it into an account and he knew but
it was good for the kids that they argue over money. How fucking dumb is
that?"


"Well, they agreed she would match him dollar for dollar and no more.
Whatever he brought home, she did. Everything else got put into the
account."


"You're telling me what here?"


"She refused to bring a penny more in than him."


"Oh man, what a bitch."


"Well...."


"So how much is in the account?"


"Hon, I promised."


"Tell me or so help me..."


"Ok, but you can't tell."


"Tell who."


"Anyone outside this room."


"Man, that's hard."


"Well, I'm not going to tell Ty and you can't tell Gregg."


"That's hard."


"Well, hold off until they get told the exact amount. Until then, we're
guessing because I don't really know."


"So, what's bringing about the guess. That has to have given you the ball
park figure."


"Yeah, it was. Sometime in the past year, she bragged about making more than
a million dollars in interest off the account."


"Holy Shit!"


"Yeah. So, I'm thinking if she invested it good, and it's ten percent, then
it's ten million. If she didn't, it's twenty million."


"Oh man. Gregg's going to have a cow. We were just talking about scrimping
and saving in order to put ourselves through college."


"Well hon, now you'll be able to do that because Mitch is giving ti to the
boys equally And, since it's coming out of an account like that, it's going
to be tax free."


"Oh man. Lance, this is huge."


"Yeah hon, and now you see why I'm being cautious."


"Well, let's go back in there, but I don't know what we're going to tell
them is the reason we had this talk."


"I'll tell Ty it was about the size of my dick. We already had that talk."


"And....."


"He's making me be gentle on him, but he wants to be able to take it all."


"That's a tall order."


"Hon, he's my lover. He doesn't know how big it is. It just started to get
hard and he thought it was huge."


"Lance, you've got to do something."


"Heather, you worry about what you're going to tell Gregg and I'll explain
it to Ty."


"He'll be curious."


"So, what do we do?"


"I suggest you get honest with Gregg and show him your dick. Then, he'll
think you're telling the truth."


"No, then he'd lock away his little brother."


"No he won't. He knows you two love each other."


"Well, let me take Gregg out and talk to him. You talk to Ty and tell him
you now know but you'll keep it from Gregg."


"You told him!"


"Hon, he's my lover. I couldn't keep it from him."


"And you want me to keep it from Gregg! Fuck you."


"Ok, but don't tell him everything. Ty doesn't know it all."


"Then you tell him."


"OK, but follow my lead."


"I'll sit back and shut up."


"No, then that looks suspicious."


"Damn, this is hard."


"I know, but it's going to end later when Mark finds out the figure."


"Ok, if you say so."


"Well, that's what I was told."


"Ok, let's go do it."


We went back in and I said, "Gregg, Heather now knows the whole truth and
said she can't keep it from you. So, I told her I'd tell you. What you have
to promise is not to breath a word of it to anyone, Ok?"


"Ok, why's it got to be a secret."


Ty looked at Gregg and said, "Because the banker dude could lose his job.
It's confidential he even called."


"Ok"


Heather looked at me and smiled. I knew that look and it wasn't very nice
what it meant.


"Well, the guy gave us a figure but it's only a ball park. It's not an exact
number."


"Ok, how come he did that?"


"He doesn't have the exact number yet. But, what he did say was the account
had over a million dollars in interest on it last year."


"Oh Man!"


"Yeah, so what I've figuring is it will have between ten million and twenty
million dollars in it."


"Why such a big range?"


"Well, from what I heard, your mom invested things wisely. She was uncanny
when it came to stocks and she did good. So, did she do good all the way? Or
did she put it into safer fund? I don't know. What I do know is one will be
ten million if she's invested in things that will pull in ten percent
interest. If she pulled it out and went safe, then it's drawing less
interest...say about five percent, sot that'd be twenty million."


"Oh man Ty, this fucking sucks."


"No Gregg, Dad's giving it to both of us."


"No, Heather and I were just sitting here talking about how we were going to
scrimp and save to get through college and it really had me feeling so good
about us. Now, that's all fucked up."


"Who's to say you can't do that anyway? You'll just be doing it for fun
now."


Gregg looked at Heather and said, "Babe, will you still share your salad
with me?"


"Yeah hon, and you'll still share your cheeseburger with me?"


"Ooh boy" I said to Ty.


Ty giggled and said, "Gregg, you're funnier than hell when you're in love."


Gregg smiled and said, "Well, now we'll be able to do more things."


"Like have a fireworks show in February."


Gregg smiled and said, "Yeah!"


"Good, because I was going to do that for you."


"You were!"


Heather looked perplexed and said, "What am I missing here guys?"


I said, "Go get the skillet."


Ty started laughing and Gregg looked at us and "what's up with the skillet
man?"


"Lance was telling me a joke he wanted to pull about a skillet with Heather
and I told him she'd beat him to death with it. The mental picture of her
chasing him down the street with the skillet was funny and we got a good
laugh out of it."


Heather looked at us and said, "What's up with the skillet?"


"Oh nothing hon. Believe me, I'll tell you after it happens."


She looked at me and Ty and said, "Guys, you're not telling me something."


"Heather, can you hang on an hour and then we'll be back?"


"It seems I'm going to do a lot of waiting on you tonight, this better be
good."


I looked at Gregg and said, "Gregg, come here dude."


He looked at me and I said, "Ty, go call your dad and tell him it's going to
be tonight and to get a video camera and your aunt here. No, on the other
hand, tell them we'll be there because it's Ralls county and it's legal
there."


Gregg looked at me strange and I said, "Come here dude."


He went into the bedroom with me and I said, "I'm going out to the fireworks
stand and I'm getting a finale bundle. You've got the money now to marry
her, so get on the stick and get that proposal ready because she's going to
ask a lot of questions if we don't."


"Man, I don't have a ring!"


"Dude, you don't have to have a ring to get engaged. You just got to ask the
question. Tell her you'll get her a ring when you get the friggin' money."


He looked at me and said, "Ok, what's the big secret that Heather was really
called in here about because Ty said you two were talking a long time in
here.


Gregg, I don't really want to tell you, but I'll tell you. When I do,
promise me you won't forbid me from being with your brother."


"What the fuck dude!"


"One second, if I'm going to do this. You need to see the whole thing and
then you've got to promise me you won't forbid me from being with him."


"Man, he fought our mother over you, I'd say I couldn't say anything to stop
him"


"That's not a promise Gregg."


"Ok, I promise."


"Ok, the next promise I'm going to have you do is ask you not to put me up
on sexual harassment since this is my place of work."


"What!"


"Do it dude."


"Ok, I'll do it. You better not do anything because I'm about to get
engaged."


"Here's the problem. Ty knows some because we were beginning to make out and
it started to get hard. But he doesn't know how big it really is."


I flopped the thing out and Gregg stared open mouthed. "Jeez dude! And you
say that's a problem!"


"Man, turn around and I'll show you the fucking problem."


"Oh man, poor Ty, but better him than me. Just don't wreck his guts dude."


"Don't joke about it dude. Heather knows how I am about this thing and she
was afraid of how I'd tell Ty about it."


"Oh man, I never thought how it'd be to be the owner of one of those, but
man it must suck to be you. Guys must run from that thing."

"No, only one other guy has ever experienced it and he became a cock whore
over it. Ty's made me promise him I'll use the whole thing on him, but he's
only guessed how big it is. It wasn't all the way hard. So, now you know
because Heather said she couldn't keep a secret from you."


"How's she know?"


"Dude, we grew up together and one time we did this I'll show you mine if
you show me yours thing and we did. Since then, we've been friends. In high
school, we were so close everyone just assumed we were together, so you'll
probably be told about me because guys did see this thing in the shower."


"Hard or soft?"


"Soft, none of them were cute enough to see it hard"


"So, I'm cute enough?"


"Gregg, get real. Ty's cute enough. You'd be cute enough if Ty wasn't my
lover, and you were single, but that's not happening."


"Good thing because I don't know how Ty's going to manage it."


"Well, he says it will make him happy, but he hasn't seen it yet. So do me a
favor and don't do any jokes and you won't have your teeth put down your
throat. That's all I ask."


"Ok dude. Just be easy on him. Who knows? Maybe he'll get it done. I know he
loves you, so I bet he'll try."


We left the room and Ty looked at me and said, "You ready to go?"


"Well, I need to go downstairs to do some work."


He looked at me and said, "Heather, would you do me a favor and go to the
basement with him? He refuses to let me and I just worry."


She looked at me and said, "Ok, but he's done it before, so I don't know why
you're worried."


"The difference is he did it without me and now, I'd like for us to be
together all the time but he forbids me doing this."


She smiled and roller her eyes. "You think Gregg and I are pathetic. You
should see you two from the outside."


I chuckled and she said, "Well come on." with mock exasperation.


We went down stairs and she said, "Lance, he loves you, but I disagree with
the way you handled this."


"I know. If I hadn't thought it was the best way, I wouldn't have done it. I
just couldn't see a better way of doing it so it was a win for everyone."


"They should have been told the truth."


"How would you have seen it if your dad had went through hell over money
when you later found out he knew about the account?"


"I don't know. I'd think he was dumb most definitely."


"Yeah, but then when you thought about all the arguments, wouldn't you be
pissed you had to be subjected to them in the first place?"


"How bad were they? Gregg gets to a point and doesn't say anything. He did
say Ty took the worst of it."


"No, Mitch took the worst of it, but when he wasn't around, she took aim at
Ty and blasted away. The woman was so self centered and so evil with what
she did, it just doesn't make any sort of sense. If you or I had been told
half the shit she told him, we would have knocked her on her ass, but he
took it. Do you know what went on with the Mercedes?"


"No, I was meaning to ask about that."


"Get this. Ty was promised a car for graduation. Gregg got his truck, so
it'd only be right for him to get his car. He had the Flintstone mobile as
he calls it and that car's a piece of junk. He can't put his feet on the
floorboard because there's apparently a huge hole big enough to put his feet
through. On the passenger side, the smaller hole is big enough one of his
college books fell through it. Need I say more! But, the mom knew this and
she knew the promise. Instead, she told him she was getting a Mercedes and
Ty could eat shit and die. Then, she went and told Mitch Ty didn't want a
car until graduation from college."


"Oh man, that's low."


"Yeah, what's low is I think she knew Mitch was going to leave her just as
soon as Ty graduated, so you know who would have gotten told to buy his car.
So double fuck 'em."


"Well, she got the last ride in the Mercedes."


"Yeah, I got to the point with my anger Heather, I actually told Ty she got
what she had coming. You know I really felt bad after I said that because
that's his mom."


"Oh man, I understand. So, Mitch knew the money was there. Why didn't he
tell her to hit the stash more often?"


"She refused to bring in a dollar more than him. If he told her they needed
more money, she'd tell him to go out and earn more and she'd match it."


"You don't hold back money when it's your kids." She said incredulously.


"No, you and I wouldn't and a normal person wouldn't but this one sure as
shit did. She'd go eat steak and feed the kid a hot dog and tell him to like
it or do without."


"That's crazy."


"Yeah, and it built up resentment. But, she had them over a barrel. If he
went to Mitch to complain, then she'd see to it Ty caught hell all over the
place. Mitch swears he took the brunt of her actions, but even his
description is fucked up. He calls it "blow by"."


"What's that?"


"Ok, Say someone's shooting a shotgun at us. I stand in front of you and
take the full shot. What you get hit with is blow by."


"And he thinks that's normal? A family doesn't do that to each other!"


"In that house, it was normal hon. That's why I'm going to tell you to ride
Gregg hard. He tells his feelings now of what happened with Ty, but before,
he'd make fun of Ty and say, "I got a car and you didn't and shit like
that."


"So, the kids were in on the abuse."


"No, Gregg was in on the abuse. Ty took it."


"Why didn't he snap?"


"He was little enough that when this all started, he thinks this is normal."


"What!"


"Yeah, here's what I mean and then you'll understand. Imagine if you will,
we're out on a cruise and the ship wrecks. For us, that wouldn't be normal.
However, let's say you were pregnant and you have a kid. That kid grows up
and it thinks it's shipwrecked home is normal and can't imagine how it ever
sailed because it's never seen it sail."


"Oh man, so Ty thinks this is normal."


"Yeah"


"He's going to have problems."


"We've already been dealing with some of them. He refused to think of our
relationship as an 'our' and 'we' thing because he didn't have anything to
give me. So, my house was my house not ours. It was that way with
everything. Yet, when he found out he was getting the money, he insisted on
paying for the addition onto the funeral home and then, it would be ours."


"Oh man, I bet you were pulling your hair out."


"Yeah, What's strange is I explained it to him using reverse psych and he
understood it that way, and then, he turned right around and said my house
was mine. Go figure that out."


"Because he didn't put anything into it. What he learned at home. Do you
think Gregg's going to have problems like this?"


"Maybe, that's why I tell you to ride him hard when it comes to bullying.
He's gotten by with it and he thinks it's normal. One violation, tell him
it's not acceptable and come down on him because he'll see it as a weakness
on your part and I guarantee you, he'll do it more and more."


"How do I know what's normal joking and what isn't?"


"Well, ask him. If it hurts your feelings, turn around and say, "Are you
serious? Because if you are, this hurts my feelings and I'll tell you this
time and then the next time, you'll deal with getting your feelings hurt."


"I won't live that way."


"You won't have to live that way if I see it happen. So, either you drop him
on his ass over it, or I will."


She looked at me and said, "Lance, this has gotten complicated."


"Yeah, but honey, I swear to you every relationship has some things you have
to get used to. The advantage we have is we're dealing with members of the
same family and we can talk like this. Help me get this casket downstairs,
so I can get her in it."


"Why are you doing this now?"


"Hon, I usually already have this done. I'm running behind, so I need to get
this done so we can get the beautician in."


"They did pick a nice casket."


"Yeah, but I feel bad because it's nearly the opposite of what Mitch wanted.
If you look at colors as psych, then look what Mitch picked versus the kids.
Mitch picked white....virginal. The kids picked black...evil. We've got the
rose in it Mitch wanted, but she's going to be buried in a power suit. I
think Mitch wanted to remember her as she was before things got bad and the
boys wanted what they actually feel for their mom."


"The only thing they can remember."


"Yeah. Messed up, huh."


"I'm beginning to think Mitch is like an ostrich and chooses to keep his
head in the sand about her."


"I think that's his security blanket. However, when he does finally pull it
out, he's going to realize she's gone and it's going to hit him hard. So, as
I keep saying, we need to watch him because even as hard as the boys are on
her, I'm thinking they're acting more normal than Mitch."


She looked at me and said, "Do you think Mitch is aware of everything she
actually did?"


"No. He didn't know about the deal with Ty's car. I do know that."


"Did he know about the guy at the distributorship?"


"About firing him? He was there and talked to the guy."


"No, you apparently don't know."


"Know what?"


"Gregg says he was in there several times and his mom was all up on a guy.
He won't say he thinks she actually went out and had an affair, but he will
say he thinks his mom showed more affection towards the guy than he ever saw
him mom do with his dad."


"Oh man, once again, she used the kids as keeper of the secrets. He couldn't
say anything because he knew it'd tear up the family and he knew if he did,
he'd incur her wrath."


"Yeah. So, who was the guy?"


"Gregg didn't know his name, but said he'll personally be happy to go in and
fire the guy."


"Well, tell Gregg, I want the guy pointed out so it doesn't look like he's
doing it out of the blue. If Mitch thinks the guy should stay and Gregg
thinks he should go, then I'll vote with Gregg on it so Mitch doesn't have
to find that out. What else did that woman do?"


"Oh there's a lot. The more Gregg talks, the more I'm hearing One thing he
did say was the guy she was all up on was receiving preferential treatment
from her."


"In what way?"


"Well, the entire office crew gets company pickups. The way it goes, is when
a company vehicle gets four years old, it then goes out to the back where
dispatch people and maintenance people get them. What they do is they
deliver kegs in them and they use them to see the beer trucks all get
maintained. When the truck gets to be 8 years old, it gets traded in on a
new truck that goes to the front office people. What she was doing was she
was getting this guy a new pickup every year. She was to get that vehicle,
but she didn't because she preferred driving cars. So, she got the guy hers.
Gregg says she did this three years running he knows of."


"She'd get a guy a truck, but wouldn't allow her own son a vehicle."


"Yeah, and apparently, the guy who was her assistant knew the relationship.
Gregg said he's overheard comments when he was in the office that the guy
was only upset because he wasn't her main squeeze any longer."


"Oh man, so this thing is a power keg ready to explode."


"Yeah, and Mitch doesn't know a thing."


"Well, we're not going to tell him until after the funeral. I don't think
it'd be nice if Mitch gets into an altercation at the visitation, however
what I will do is have a microphone with the video near Mitch so anything
said can be overheard. If the guy starts the fight, then I want it on tape."


"No, I've already told Mitch I'm going to be there next to him, remember.
It's going to be Mitch closest to the casket, then me, then Gregg, Ty and
Joan, and Mark."


"When was this decided?"


"Probably when you were talking with someone. We think it's best if I'm near
Mitch so I can carry him if he should go down."


"Well, that's good, but it won't look right. But, I think it'd be good if
you were there to keep something from happening. I'll tell you now, I'm
going to have a lot of video going and sound like you wouldn't believe."


"Will that be normal?"


"No, usually I run it without sound, but the waivers are signed and I can do
it if I want."


"I bet you'll be glad when this one's over."


"Yeah, anything that will get me away from this mess is going to be
welcomed. Ty really wanted to come down here. Can you believe it?"


"Maybe he wants to see his mom and have a private moment with her."


"No, he wanted to help me put her in the casket and do prep."


"That's why he wanted me down here?"


"Yeah, maybe he thinks she'll do something to me. Or, maybe he's afraid I'll
do something to her."


"Maybe he wants to do something to her. You know that could be possible."


"Well, I told him absolutely not."


"So, you want the casket over here in the usual spot?"


"Yeah, put it on that lift and we'll get it tilted."


"You do have a nice set up down here. I think he's going to like it."


"He'll love it. I'm really excited about us working together. What will be
hard is he'll have a hard time turning on and off his emotions."


"I doubt it. He's had plenty of practice with his mom."


"Well, I don't want him to get used to it."


"He won't. He'll compartmentalize. He'll know work is work and home is home.
I bet he'll be more affectionate with you."


"Well, I worry about that."


"Lance, let him be him and love you. I think your problem is you see
everything with your size as being a hindrance. If he thinks he can love
you, then let him."


"I'm going to, it's just that I'll be worried."


"Let me tilt her up so I can get this bra on her."


"Ok. She was a pretty woman. I can see where the kids got their looks. Both
of them are nice looking."


"Yeah, it's sad someone so nice looking was so hateful. They would have been
the perfect family otherwise."


"Yeah, but as you know, nothing's perfect in families."


"No, I know mine wasn't."


"Well mine wasn't either. Dad's dad and mom's mom two totally different
people."


"Well, your dad's cool. I like him."


"But mom's another story, I know."


"Your mom would be nice if she didn't hold me not being your boyfriend
against me. Has Gregg met her?"


"Not yet."


"Well, you might want to do that soon.....like real soon."


"Why? We're not going to be getting engaged for a while."


"Are you sure of that?"


"Well, he said he wasn't going to propose for a while. I've told him I think
we can make it work."


"Well, when it happens, be prepared to say yes."


"I will, I think the longer I get to know him, the more prepared I'll be."


"He's going to do it really romantically Ty and I already have your wedding
gift figured out from the way he's going to do it."


"Really?"


"Yeah, when he proposes, we're going to take the photo and it's going to be
gorgeous."


"You know and you're not going to tell me. I know!" She said smiling


"Yeah, because otherwise it's not going to be a surprise."


"What are you and Ty going to do for your service?"


"Well, we haven't talked about it a lot, but what I do know is we're going
to protect each other legally and instead of signing the wedding license,
we're signing a commitment contract and a lot of other legal documents. I'm
giving him half of everything I've got and then, I'm doing a mirror will
where everything I have is his if I die and the same goes if he dies."


"That's smart. Just be well insured."


"I am. It will suck if I die first because he doesn't want to go to school
to get his embalmer's license. He just wants to take the funeral director's
test. If I go, then he won't have an embalmer."


"Well, he can have one of the other funeral homes do that for him."


"Yeah, but it'd be better if he could count on himself."


"I imagine if you weren't around, he'd not want to be in it."


"I never thought of that. You think so?"


"Yeah. So that might be good because I'd have to really watch him because
he's going to be a zombie if you go."


"Well, let's hope it's not for a long long time."


"You going to put her shoes on her, those are some heels."


"No, they'll be laid there and that should be fine. For someone who got
killed in a car wreck, she sure wasn't banged up bad. There's hardly any
bruising or anything."


"No, she only has that puncture wound from where the tree limb hit her
heart."


"Surprised the limb hit anything. Lord knows she didn't use it for loving
people. Probably pumped puss."


"Ooh"


"Well hon, it's ironic she looks like a normal being but was capable of such
vile things."


"That puncture wound doesn't look like a tree limb."


"Well, it was sure stuck in her. I pulled it out myself."


"Looks like a knife wound to me."


"Nah, sometimes they look that way."


"How many you had like this?"


"Not any actually. I did have that one wreck where the guardrail came
through and that was a jagged mess."


"Well, if you say so, but that looks tiny."


"It doesn't take much, you know that."


"Well, you're right. You've got the wax?"


"Yeah, I'll dab it on there and it'll be good as it can be."


"Almost doesn't even look like anything's wrong now. That's some amazing
stuff."


"Yeah, if I just put it on my arm, it gets the texture of my skin and then
covers. If that doesn't work, I put it on the back of my hand and it looks
like that skin."


"Can you use it anywhere?"


"Yeah, but lips are hard. It takes a lot of lipstick to cover it not looking
natural. I hate it when I have to do them because they just don't look
right."


"What was her hair style?"


"Basically she just kept it shoulder length in that style like Hillary
Clinton. Not much to it."


"Why do you have to have a beautician in then?"


"Professional courtesy mostly. I mean, I've got the hair shine that will
look like she's had a good wash and set and that's all that girl's going to
do besides makeup."


"This blouse is gorgeous."


"Yeah, This is strange."


"What?"


"It looks like she had a chain necklace on and it got ripped off. It wasn't
a thick chain, but I didn't see it in the wreck. I'll have to ask Mitch.
Well, hand me that wax."


"It really covers things up doesn't it."


"Yeah, I wouldn't normally use it on this, but this blouse is really low
cut. Almost indecent on a corpse."


"Well, that's what they want her buried in."


"That's what she wore. There's no buttons to take it up higher. At least the
ruffles are not showing her bra. I feel like I'm dressing Madonna with that
much chest showing."


"It sure doesn't match the hairstyle being like Hillary Clinton."


"No, it's kind of like two clashing personalities which is her to a tee."


"Yeah, business power meets mom."


"Power women don't show that much chest. She used it to get people off
balance."


"You think?"


"I bet."


"Well, maybe that's why Gregg liked me in my leather outfit. I was
definitely showing boobs in that thing!"


"It sure doesn't seem like this morning, does it?"


"No, damn long days."


"Yeah, some days are like that. A lot goes into them."


"Lance, was there a lot of blood in the car?"


"No, just a little, why?"


"Wouldn't a puncture wound make a lot of blood."


"Not if what punctured is still in the body like the limb was."


"Oh, So it filled her chest cavity?"


"Yeah, wait a minute, when I embalmed her, it ran clear pretty fast. The
blood wasn't in that cavity."


She looked at me and said, "She wasn't killed with that tree limb Lance.
That looks like a knife wound."


"Oh man, where do I even begin with this one? The Coroner's already ruled
and the Sheriff's already investigated. So, who do you think did it?"


"I'll give you three guesses."


"I'm afraid of this. I love each one of them."


"So, what do we do? Do we act like we don't know? Or do we ask the truth
come out? Or, do we let the authorities know?"


"The ethical choice is to contact the police and tell them. The other option
is to say they did their job and we should let it slide. I mean, she wasn't
the nicest person."


"Oh man, Lance, I don't know. We're in too deep here. What if we're wrong?"


"What if we're right?"


"Ok, let's dress her and then go back upstairs, I don't even know where to
begin. I think we need to talk to someone who's would know how to handle
this."


"Joan?"


"She'd know, but do you think she'd let it slide if it were Mitch?"


"I don't know. I'm willing to let it slide if it is Ty and I know you'll let
it slide if it was Gregg, so what do we do hon?"


"I think we need to talk to Joan and ask her advice. This is way beyond me.
I knew better than to get emotionally involved."


"Like you could stop it."


"Well, what I think is that we just not go upstairs and we get her put in
the casket and lock it. I'll take the key with me."


"Ok, Then what? Because I'll tell you now if we act suspicious, the one
that's guilty is going to know."


"What if it happened in the argument and Mitch and Ty are covering?"


"It didn't happen in that house. I know the smell of blood and it's not
there. Also, nothing's smelling like it's been freshly cleaned."


"Then where?"


"I don't know. This is perplexing me because the only place they said she
was is at the house and at Joan and Mark's but she didn't get in. We do know
where she ended up."


"Ok, let's piece this together. Gregg saw where the car ended and didn't
react. Mitch did. Ty's been stoic through out this. Gregg was an asshole and
then showed up at the house after being up all night partying. He would have
an alibi if he was at the girl's place he said he was. Ty and Mitch are each
other's alibis."


"Lance, I'm not a detective. You aren't either. We missed this, and we might
be jumping to conclusions. So, what I suggest is we use the necklace that's
missing as the reason to go to Joan and Mark's and ask Mitch."


"Hon, you're going to shoot me, but I'm going to tell you something."


"What."


"We're supposed to go to Joan and Mark's anyways. You're down here so the
boys can go get fireworks so Gregg can propose to you in their front yard."


"Oh man. Well, we can't do that! I'm not going to say yes until we know what
happened!"


"Hon, we need to talk to Joan. You need to act like you don't know and you
might have to go through with it."


"Lance, how can I do it if I suspect Gregg might be the one? That's not
going to happen."


"Ok, so, this is where we're at. We can sweep it under the carpet and find
out later and you can act like you don't know and I can too. But, if we do
that, we'll find ourselves slammed into the visitation and funeral and then
she'll be buried. Now, I'll tell you I'm clear and you are, but me putting
wax on that is going to look like accessory to murder and it's going to look
like I covered it up if I don't get the police in here."


"This is going to be a mess. They'll be arrested."


"Yeah, and that will most definitely have us looking for new mates because I
wouldn't get together with someone if they accused me of murder."


"Ok, let's think rationally. Ty wanted to come down to see her. Do you think
he wanted to see if the wound still looked as bad as it did?"


"I don't know. But Mitch doesn't act like he's really........Check under her
finger nails. If there's skin there, we'll have a clue."


"Hon, you're not seeing something. Gregg doesn't have scratches. Does Ty?"


"No, when we slept together, we were down to our skivvies."


"Are the boys covering for Mitch and he's using that account to pay them
off?"


"I don't know, but that's capital murder and all three of them will get the
death penalty."


"Oh man"


She looked at me and said, "The only way that this looks good is if we agree
with the cover up."


"Oh man, I'm thinking what the Coroner said. He said Gregg had been in a
suspicious death previously and if a trial happened, that would come out.
BUT, he also said people who are rich around here are viewed as
"untouchables" because the law covers things up for them. We're looking at
reporting it and possibly not having anyone listen and they know what I did
about Tony's grandma."


"Oh man. If you tell, they'll tell and we'll all go down."


"Yeah, this sucks."


"Well, I'll stand by you, but I say we go back upstairs and keep our butts
out of jail. However, when it comes to being near a knife in the kitchen,
I'll do all the cooking for Gregg and I."


"I don't know what to do."


"Lance look at me. Have you been happier than you've ever been? Haven't you
loved him more than you ever loved Tony? So, look at that and say what we
saw there might be a fluke. This whole thing's looked suspicious. It could
be murder, or suicide, or accident. The Sheriff's already ruled accident as
did the coroner. If we let it be, then what we had in the past stays in the
past."


"I hate this."


She looked at me and said, "I'm in love with him. I want him. Until he came
along, you were that person. I'm asking you to let me have him. I'll act the
part and you act yours. We'll know and we'll go through this life knowing,
but we'll also know she got hers and she had it coming from the way it
sounds. Even that whole family said she wasn't a nice person. You don't
convince a whole group of people to lie."


I looked at her and said, "Ok, but if anything happens to me, you go in and
you kill anyone that's near and I'll do the same if anything happens to
you."


"He's not going to do anything to me. You just watch your back around any
knives."


"Ok, let's get her in the casket and forget this mess."


She looked at me and said, "I think we say that all too often to each
other."


"From My Keyboard To Your Heart",

Retta


RettaMichaels@Gmail.com

Copyright Notice - Copyright (c) 2008 by RettaMichaels

The author, RettaMichaels copyrights this story and retains all rights. This
work may not be edited, changed, or duplicated in any form, media [ known or
unknown ], without the author's expressed permission. All applicable
copyright laws apply. RettaMichaels does NOT give editorial consent in order
for this to be published. If it is deemed unpublishable in it's context,
permission much be granted before publication or changes occur.

"From My Keyboard To Your Heart","'Retta","RettaMichaels"."Retta","Rhett",
and "Rhette" are all trademarks of RettaVonnMichaels LLC. None of these
trademarks may be used, or authorized without consent.



*Disclaimer: *All individuals depicted are fictional, and any resemblance to
real persons, locations, or incidents is purely coincidental.












--
>From My Keyboard To Your Heart
Rhett

Here is a list of stories I've written and where to find them:

With Love - Nifty - Beginnings Section
Rural Love - DeweyWriter.com
Write Me A Love Story - DeweyWriter.com
To Love Him - DeweyWriter.com
Military Zone - Nifty - Military Section
Evan - Nifty - Beginnings Section
Jordan - Nifty - Beginnings Section

Can You Catch My Heart
    Buckets of Blessings
    Chains of Love
    Dead Air
    Prayers of Thanks

All On DeweyWriter.com or Nifty.org