Chapter 56
Previously...
As usual Aaron made us a full breakfast before we headed out. I ran up to the bedroom and woke Jesse, who looked like he was plugged into Vlad but wasn’t. I gave them a kiss and departed with Adam and Robb, and my laptop. And the cheque. After I dropped them off I headed to the building supply and called Jeff.
“Where are you?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“At the side, at the order desk,” Jeff said.
They had hand-selected all the top boards for the terraces. It was all clear Western cedar. The substructure didn’t have to be as high a grade. They also got foam gasket material so the wood wouldn’t be in direct contact with the concrete. They picked out enough to do under the hot tub, in case it wasn’t a permanent fixture in the future. They had the studs and thin masonite and drywall for the cyclorama and boxes of screws and nails, even primer and white paint. I silently gasped at the price. Cedar was expensive, but whatever. Do it right the first time. I didn’t want to have to rip it out in 20 years and re-do it. There was a big pile of lumber. I hope they brought both trucks.
I had enough time to pick up the framed prints of the guys waterskiing for their work stations. They did a super job with the framing, and they’ll indicate who is supposed to be where.
Since I was close to IKEA, I checked for more towels. They had them on clearance at half off so I found two more colours and bought enough to make three complete sets of all eight colours.
Next, I saw my financial planner wearing a smart Italian silk suit that I probably paid for. We sat down while he showed me a pie chart on his screen with the way he wanted to proportion the money between cash and equivalents, bonds and stock. The next screen was a division by country. I yawned.
Finally he got down to individual stocks and started up with Dell again. I mentioned if he shorted it 2 weeks ago he would have made 10%. He recommended Apple, Inc., so I told him I was fine with him having some in the portfolio but to buy it after the next quarterly results are announced. I told him I had a large position in it already. By the end of the week when my library is completed, I will lock myself up in silence and plan some options trades. Apple pays a low dividend but I could also effectively pay myself a ‘dividend’ of sorts by selling calls and puts.
“Look up in your texts for ‘Strangles’ and ‘Reverse Iron Condor’. Apple is a natural for doing some exotic options trades to free up some cash. At this point in my life, my income is relatively low, so it’s beneficial to me to make money off my assets now while my tax rate is low. I don’t want to sell assets. I want to own everything, but I want to own more than a pile of stock certificates, like perhaps a condo in Florida. I might want to do a major renovation on my cottage too. It took me a long time to get over the fear of coming home and finding a truckload of pork bellies in the garage, but dad was very good at teaching me about options and futures,” I chuckled.
“We did briefly touch on those types of options trades in school but quite frankly we don’t do anything that sophisticated. Ninety-nine percent of the trades we do involve buying long. I assume you are in business school learning all this while you work on an MBA, Scott?” he asked.
“Actually, I used to spend Saturdays with my dad learning about investments until my head was ready to explode. I hated it, but feel I must use that knowledge to maximize my returns and minimize my risks. Funny enough, I take journalism in school. I had enough dollar signs in my early teens when my friends were out having fun. If you want an easy play, short about $10,000 of DELL and close it out when you have made 15%. It’ll be like taking candy from a baby. As for Google, I think there is too much downside risk because Apple is on the war path protecting their intellectual property. Pass on RIM. It may not survive. Microsoft is anyone’s guess. Considering that its price has been flat for 12 years, I’d be inclined to pass on it unless their Windows Phone 8 starts to take off, and with Steve Ballmer at the head, if past performance is any indication of the future, I’m not expecting anything much. If it happens, it’ll give you lots of warning,” I said.
I put the cheque for more than 1.7 million on his desk and told him when he added that to the assets currently under management, it’s still less than half of what I have but I wanted him to take care of it like it was his own.
“I don’t want to trust myself with all of it. At 20 years of age, my holdings are balanced roughly 80% in equity and 20% in fixed and perhaps you should go a little more towards security and asset preservation,” I said.
“There is close to $50,000 in income cash in the portfolio. Should we reinvest or do you need the money?” he asked.
“I could use the cash now. I’m finishing the loft and building the photo studio and need new lighting and a new camera with lenses. I’m doing freelance work for The Daily. I’ve already had the front page of the sports section once. I need to have top of the line equipment now. Can you cut me a cheque?”
He made a call and said it would be about 15 minutes so he ordered us a coffee and then he picked my brain. I thought it was supposed to be the other way around, but like the saying goes, free advice is worth what you paid for it. Perhaps I told him everything he knows but I didn’t tell him everything I knew. Among other things I said it makes no sense for him to have mutual funds in the portfolio, because I would be paying him as well as paying the fund manager to manage them.
His assistant came in with the cheque which I stuffed in my wallet, we shook hands, and I left. I headed home, stopping off at my Apple dealer. I pulled out a list of lighting and camera equipment for him to quote on and I told him I could probably clear out his iMacs as well if the price was really good, but in any event, I needed the two 15” MacBookPro laptops today that were being held. He got me to sign for them, and I said the drywall dust should be gone on Wednesday. I needed a couple of USB3 portable drives for Time Machine, too.
I went to the bank around the corner from the loft and deposited the cheque, getting a wad of cash for Jeff and the Mac store, then drove home to the loading dock. Aaron, Jesse, and Vlad were loading the freight elevator with the cedar. I unloaded the framed photos, computers, and towels, then parked the ‘Stang.
Jeff and Josh were busy at work on the cyclorama and I heard the thumping of the carpet installer upstairs.
“I have your laptop, whenever you are ready, Jeff,” I said.
“Great! We are trying to get this put together and mudded today so there won’t be any dust after tomorrow,” Jeff said.
To my amazement the carpet installer was just finishing, but the most surprising thing is that about half the books were shelved and they were precisely where they were at the old house. Jesse had mapped it out as they were packing the library! I wondered why the cartons were numbered!
I heard the door open, so I went down to help the boys only to find Gabe and Kyle were now helping. I told Kyle I had his laptop, and offered to help bring in the cedar but was told I would be in the way. I brought in my purchases of today, taking them upstairs to the guest room for safe keeping. The towels went in the washer, and I went back to the library and paid the carpet guy after which I installed the security cameras “black box” in its hidden compartment.
I couldn’t delay moving the books in any longer but didn’t know where to start. Luckily, Jesse came in to see if I needed a hand. With the two of us working away, we were almost finished in an hour, and decided to put the furniture in the library. When I closed the door, it was like a tomb. I hooked up my old Mac Pro which would become a server.
I configured the security camera system, finding the video feed of the boys bringing the cedar from the hallway and stacking it on the terrace to be of very good quality. It wrote to the hard drive with motion activation and time stamped the pictures. There was a way to override the motion activation to check all the cameras output so I tested out the one on the roof, which showed a very clear picture of the bedroom door. I left the system in its normal ‘on’ mode and tested it out from my iPhone’s browser with good results, with the exception that I couldn’t see all the cameras on the tiny screen at the same time; rather, it cycled through the ones that were active.
On checking my email, there was one from Ted stating Caul’s life support was suspended and he would send a copy of the death certificate after it is completed by the coroner’s office. I guess I could take Aaron home to get their clothes, but I wanted to watch the twin’s bonfire movie first, so I got my laptop. I watched the whole thing and didn’t find any reason to edit any part of it. If the twins wanted me to go with them to their moms, it would have to be tonight.
“Aaron, can I see you up here for a minute?” I asked.
“Can I bring you anything?” he asked.
“A glass of ice-water would be good now. Get something for yourself.”
He arrived with two glasses of water and almost dropped them when he stuck his head in the library.
“Wow!”
“You like?”
When he entered, I closed the door and sat on the leather sofa, waving him over. I had a sip of water and placed my glass on the table, and put my arm around him.
“Caul is gone now, babes. If you want, we can go to your place and bring some clothes and stuff over, and clean out the fridge. Also, if you think you can handle it, I could take you and Adam to your mom’s,” I said.
“It’s probably a good idea to get it all over with at one time so we can move on. Just hold me for a few minutes while I collect my thoughts,” he said.
I held him and rubbed his back. After quite a few minutes, we kissed. He thanked me for being there for him.
He was holding on to me tightly, and silently weeping, which is what I expected would happen. I could feel him shake as he sobbed. I was happy to be there for him. I wish someone had been there for me when I lost my parents. It was one of those very special moments when I knew how much I loved him just like I loved Jesse. He was very vulnerable after being mostly fatherless for years, except for that pervert who raped them repeatedly, only to have the jerk die of an aneurysm while they fought him off as he was strangling their mother. Caul was their rock and he’s gone now. The twins needed my love, understanding, and compassion on so many levels.
He looked into my eyes with his bloodshot eyes and we kissed. What followed, most would think was inappropriate behaviour. The kiss became very physical; our hands searched each other’s body, discovering the readiness to demonstrate our love to each other.
“Scott, please undress me and take me to our happy place,” he purred.
Removing all his clothing and revealing his perfect body was very enticing. Even though we had done everything under the sun, it still excited me as much as the first time. I kissed him all over his face and body until he stripped me down to my birthday suit. I had to lick his cock as his precum was running freely, as was mine. I didn’t want it soaking into the new carpeting, so we ended up on the floor in a sixty-nine, in no hurry to complete the journey. This one was more about the trip than the destination. We took the time to explore each other and made mental notes of what we did to the other to make him go insane with lust. Stabbing Aaron’s frenulum with my hot, wet tongue sent shivers down his body and a fresh drop of honey dew to his pee slit, which was my reward for my discovery.
“Do anything and everything Scott. Please let me be your love slave.”
“Only if I can be yours. I have no boundaries when it comes to us, or Jesse, or Adam for that matter. Could you cum just by thinking about it and contracting your ab muscles?”
“We used to do that. Do you want me to try?” he said.
“Yes, tell me when you are going to shoot so I can get my mouth over it, babes,” I said.
His dick was pulsing in sync with his heartbeat and its head was a crimson colour from the volume and pressure of the blood trapped in it.
“Think of my tongue fucking your pucker…”
“Now! Scott, I’m gonna shoot!”
He grabbed my head and forced his huge, convulsing cock in my mouth to fire round after round of his thick love juice as I held him tightly and monitored his incredible orgasm. It was such a turn-on that I went over the edge screaming “suck it”. We resumed our deep kissing after and gave some of our nectar to the other. After we came down off our high, I held him, running my fingers through his hair.
“I love you so much, Scott. Sometimes I think I have a guardian angel, and you’re it,” Aaron said.
“I feel so bad about Caul. If it wasn’t for him though, we would never have become friends.”
“Let’s get dressed, grab some empty cartons, and head on over to the condo. Maybe you could go through Caul’s clothes. He has some really sharp suits, if they would fit any of the guys, but that’s not important today,” Aaron said.
I stuffed a blank CD in the computer and created a new playlist for James’ customer. I started it with “A Whiter Shade of Pale” by Gary Brooke of Procol Harum, and loaded it up with some slow dance music of the ’60’s and ’70’s, much of which I ripped from dad’s vinyl collection. When I got about 5 hours in the playlist, I burned it as an mp3, and Aaron and I grabbed some cartons, and headed over to his condo in the truck. I was knocked out once we got in the building. It wasn’t one of the really new buildings with tiny condos. The building was perhaps 15 years old and was quite spacious. The common areas were well kept. The carpeting was new in the hallways and the granite floor in the lobby looked like it was recently buffed and sealed. Caul had the kitchen and bathrooms renovated recently and a wall removed to open up the kitchen to the living space. The appliances were top of the line stainless. The granite counters complemented the look. New hardwood graced the floor of the halls, living space, and kitchen.
I was surprised that the good-sized guest bedroom had a walk-in closet, through which you accessed the main bathroom, which was also accessible from the hall. It originally had a bathtub/shower which was replaced with a glass walk-in shower, with porcelain tile on the walls and floor. The master suite was really large with its own small balcony. A huge walk-in, full of suits, sports jackets and tonnes of ties adjoined the ensuite which had a large shower and a corner Jacuzzi tub. Slate covered the walls and floors. The king-sized bed was made, carpet was vacuumed, and bathrooms and kitchen were meticulously clean.
“Are you sure you want to move away from this place? It’s gorgeous!”
“Too many memories, right now. Let’s see how we all get along. Adam and I would be happier living with you guys, but let’s hold onto it until we know what’s happening, if we can afford to do that,” he said.
“I think you can. If you need money until the insurance money comes, Vlad and I can give you a loan. I’d hate to see you sell this because the new buildings are really small and don’t have the character this does,” I said.
We found a large suitcase in Caul’s closet and managed to get most of the twins clothes in it. We filled one of the cartons with their toiletries and cleaned out the dresser drawers. The kitchen was well stocked so we took most everything. There wasn’t too much in the fridge or freezer but we packed it all.
“What’s in here?” I asked, pulling a blob of white stuff wrapped in plastic from the freezer.
“Oh that’s puff pastry leftover from the dessert I made. Hey, I could make profiteroles and surprise Jesse!” he said.
It took awhile and ultimately we didn’t have enough cartons to pack everything, so most of the canned goods were left behind for now, but all of Aaron’s favourite tools of the trade came with us like his chef’s knife and rolling pin.
“You can take all the booze next trip. Caul told me he had an extensive selection of single malt Scotches.”
My jaw hit the floor when he opened the cabinet. It isn’t something I regularly drank. I liked it but was too cheap to buy it for myself. I wondered where I would store it. Perhaps in the library? Maybe Jeff could make another secret compartment, I thought to myself, remembering the bar in Caul’s office with the remote controlled door.
“Where is the computer, babes?” I asked.
“Probably in his bedroom. He rarely used it but always brought it home with him. We didn’t use it.”
“Can we start it up and see if it was his or the companies?” I asked.
Aaron went to retrieve it while I went out to see the extra deep balcony. He returned with the computer in a beautiful leather carrying case. I was surprised it was a Mac Book Pro so I hit the power button. The user info showed his name and address. There was a folder on the desktop called “Work” and everything else appeared to be personal so I guess it was his. I shut it off and we took it with us.
When we brought all of the stuff up to the loft I got my camera, grabbed the Lexus keys along with Josh and Jeff and went out to the parking lot for their photo shoot with the car. I got various poses making sure the car looked very expensive. Some of them had the boys holding hands or giving a lateral hug. The car was gleaming. I suspect Aaron had something to do with that, because a run up to Muskoka and back was good for some dust and bug guts.
James phoned.
“How attached are you to your new boat? he asked.
“I love it. Why do you ask?”
“You’ll never believe it but the first buyer’s brother-in-law always mirrors his purchases. If they buy a new car, he gets a new one, if they go away to the Caribbean for a week, he goes away for 2 weeks. He wants that boat but we can’t get any more until the spring, so he said ‘sell me that one or I’ll go somewhere else’. Here is the thing. Dad will give you an incredible deal if we can re-sell your boat and order a new one to your specifications for delivery when the ice goes out in the spring. If that happens, he will get us a new one for a demonstrator. The downside for you is having to use your old boat for a couple of weekends. Purchasing four for one delivery also moves us up to preferred dealer status which improves our discount and a bunch of other good things. You could order the new boat with a V8 if you want,” James said.
“I’m not opposed to it. Can you bring a price list and specs so I can see how much boat I need and come up with a pricing formula, when you come tomorrow?” I asked.
“You understand the sale depends on him getting your boat on Friday which means I have to detail it tomorrow. Can I count on you, Scott?”
“You have my word babes. To tell you the truth, it kind of freaked me out that we had a dead body in the boat. Tell your dad we have a deal -- we just need to figure out its replacement,” I said.
“I love you baby and I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said.
“Well guys, You’re going to hate me for this, as you’ll have to use James’ boat on the weekend. I just sold mine and I’ll get a new one in the spring,” I said.
“Don’t worry. I’d feel more comfortable driving one that wouldn’t break your heart if I hit a rock with it.” Jeff said.
We returned to the loft, finding Vlad sunning himself on the terrace, sipping his green tea, and looking embarrassed as he quickly zipped up. I guess he missed Ryan.
“Where is everybody?” I asked.
“Kyle, Gabe, and Jesse are working in the library and Aaron is doing laundry,” Vlad said.
Just then, Adam walked in yelling, “Hi honey, I’m home” so I went in and greeted him with a kiss, showing him the cyclorama whose construction was nearly completed.
“Jeff, do you want your new laptop today or tomorrow?”
“I’ll take it home tonight and get started with it, if that’s okay,” he said.
Adam went upstairs with me, finding Jesse and Kyle putting away the last of the books. Gabe was sweeping the floor outside the library where the books and furniture had been, in preparation for the office systems which were coming on Wednesday. Kyle also wanted to play around with his new Mac laptop tonight. We went to the bedroom, finding Aaron on his hands and knees scrubbing the bathroom.
He put the back of his hand to his forehead and whined, “a woman’s work is never done,” in a falsetto voice, cracking both of us up. He did a load of laundry as well as cleaning all the bathrooms, which was appreciated as they never did get a good cleaning until now. Aaron suggested to Adam that they try to see their mom tonight which was okay with Adam. I talked to them about dinner and it was agreed we would order in pizza. I suggested to the boys they could use the closet in the guest room for their stuff, so Adam unpacked the suitcase and stored the clothes.
“Have you checked your email, Cinderella?” I hollered to Aaron.
“No, I don’t have a computer and I’m sure my boss wouldn’t give me two minutes off to do that!”
“You can use mine if you do it quickly, otherwise you will turn into a glass slipper,” I said.
“A glass slipper? I think you were in Stock Trading 101 with your dad when you should have been learning nursery rhymes. I’m almost finished. I’ll come down in a minute,” Aaron said with his cute giggle.
I picked up the two laptops from the guest room and met Kyle in the library and closed the door.
“Take your pick. Jeff will be using his on a construction site so the odd scratch won’t matter to him,” I said.
We examined them both carefully; neither had any scratches, however, one must have only seen laps or tablecloths because even the underside looked new. Kyle kept that one for himself.
“Can I set it up here?” he asked.
“You can if your network is called ‘akavit’. It’s the only other network that shows up and I assume it’s yours,” I said.
“Maybe it’s not secure? I should change it.”
I booted mine and went to network settings and tried to log on to akavit but it was locked, so I told Kyle he did a good job of setting up his router/modem. It’s amazing how many people leave them unlocked. At my other house, my computer could see three other networks and I could piggyback two of them because they were unlocked. I wouldn’t do that but I did connect to see if they worked.
“Do you want me to show you how a Mac works?” I asked.
“Let me try myself. I’ll ask for help if I can’t figure it out.”
Adam and Aaron came in and watched Kyle set up his computer while I checked the mp3 I made for James, and put it in a box. I used my laptop, changing it to guest user and gave it to Aaron to check his mail on the internet.
“What does “location” mean?” Kyle asked.
“Just type in ‘loft’. It will save settings for wherever you use it, like school, residence or home. It will save passwords for routers so you don’t have to enter them again, but you should make a really easy password for the computer, so when it goes to sleep, you need to enter your password to gain access. It keeps prying eyes out of your stuff,” I said.
“Wow! Cordon Bleu still has openings! They sent me a pdf of the application, bursary form and a list of documents they need along with the payment schedule. Guess you’ll have to find a new Cinderella,” he giggled.
He got a hug from all of us. Even Kyle pried himself away from his new toy long enough to congratulate him.
“Maybe tomorrow I’ll phone Caul’s friend at the bank in Ottawa,” Adam said.
Robb phoned to say he was leaving work now.
“Okay Bambi, we are doing pizza tonight. I have to go out with the twins after, so don’t be late,” I said.
I took Jeff’s laptop to him and left it in the foyer so he wouldn’t forget it.
“You guys gonna have pizza with us, because Robb is on his way home and we need to eat fast as I’m taking the twins out tonight?” I asked.
“Works for us,” Josh said.
I ordered three extra large deluxe hold the anchovies and delivery was to take thirty minutes, so I got myself a Coke and went back to the library where Kyle was checking his email on his new laptop.
“I have to go home on Friday. Soccer tryouts are Saturday, and next week is going to be busy. I just don’t know how often I’ll be able to get over here. They are now talking about discontinuing the ferry service completely. It’ll suck if that happens,” Kyle said.
The enter-phone rang. It was Robb, who had forgotten his key, so I buzzed him in. It rang again but this time it was the pizza guy who I also buzzed in. I had visions of Robb doing the delivery boy on the elevator but when they came to the door, my worries were unfounded. Both Gabe and Kyle pulled out a bunch of money and paid for the pizzas. We all sat down at the table and wolfed it down.
“Thank you Scott for the last days. It has been so fun but I must to go now. Llama pet is take me to the airport tomorrow. Don’t tell him but I change-ed my flight. I will stop in Florida few days to see a special friend. I very much like to come to visit you guys again some time,” he said, while giving me a piece of paper with his URL, email address, cell number and Skype address.
I gave him all my info and a good long hug, which we both really enjoyed, according to my little head. The others bade him farewell too, then he bopped down the stairs and out of sight but stayed in our hearts.
Kyle was going to go to his loft and transfer everything onto his new laptop so we kissed him goodnight. Aaron got the suitcase, I got my laptop, and we headed off to see mama in the truck. I didn’t know what to expect. It wasn’t very far away. It was in a poorer section of town where there has been some gentrification. Unfortunately, their house wasn’t one of them.
“Well, well, well, if it isn’t my shit disturber sons! So you can smell money, can you? I knew when that cheque arrived, you wouldn’t be far behind,” she said, as her face became more flushed.
“Maman, mangez d'la marde! We came to get our mail and our clothes. We’re not here for drama, and don’t know what you’re saying about a cheque. Anyway, this is our friend, Scott,” Adam said.
“Réjeanne LaFrance, call me Réjeanne.”
“The twins have a chance to go to cooking school and college but they need their high school completion certificates. Do you have them?”
“There’s a couple of big brown envelopes on the kitchen table from their school. Maybe we could trade for the cheque from the old man’s life insurance?”
“Réjeanne, withholding mail could get you into trouble with the law. Are you sure that’s what you want?” I asked, as the twins scurried off to their bedroom with the suitcase, obviously trying to avoid a scene.
She gave me a scowl that would sour milk. The veins in her nose pulsed as she lurched her way into the kitchen, leaving an alcoholic vapour trail, and returning shortly with their mail.
“I was hurt bad when they killed my husband,” she said.
“Have you any idea how badly your actions impacted their lives? You are lucky they are still alive after that ordeal. Would you like to see a video? I tell you what, Réjeanne, I’ll rephrase that. You are going to see the pain you put them through. I’ll show you the video, and I would appreciate if you didn’t get up to pour another drink for yourself,” I said.
I was being very direct with her, with my voice raised just enough to intimidate the Hell out of her. I set my laptop on the coffee table. We both sat on the couch and I started the video. Réjeanne was being a little defiant at the beginning. Body language was telling me she wished I was dead as she sat with her arms crossed in front of her chest, shooting me dirty looks. As the boys talked in the video of their ordeal at the foster home, and running away, she softened a little. When they talked about bumming money for razor blades to slash their wrists, it hit a nerve.
“I guess I owe that guy my gratitude for saving them.”
“Réjeanne, it’s too late for that. He died in a drowning accident on Saturday, witnessed by Adam no less, and the twins are staying with me and my college friends now. They are nice boys and a joy to have around. Aaron is also one Hell of a cook,” I said.
The video continued with Vlad singing “Fuckin’ Perfect” which seemed to get through to her. The twins emerged from their bedroom with the suitcase.
“Well, mom, we need to go. Get help with your drinking before it’s too late,” Aaron said, as they both gave her a kiss and hug. I could see she was starting to cry.
I packed up the laptop and we jetted out of there, driving straight home, and went to the library. Adam immediately opened the envelope from the insurance company.
“Holy shit! That takes some of the pain away,” they both said, showing their white teeth in a broad smile as we had a good long group hug.
to be continued …
There doesn’t seem to be much interest in this story anymore so I guess I should stop writing. What I mean to say is, I got 1530 reads since posting chapter 55 and when I posted this, but it would be nice to get a few words from readers other than DonQuixote, Kyanimal, and Calagang to let me know if the story still works for you. You can send me a message if you prefer.
, I'm needing YOUR Help to keep this going!! PLEASE! 
