by W.H. Harrod
Terrance sat alone thinking about the big mess he’d created up until now. Jess did come out way ahead when they compared cognitive abilities, and the prospect of him ever leaving her no longer was an issue. She did need to be in the lead as they tried to figure out a safe and practical way to get him and, now, her out of this mess. That’s twice in one day where he refused to trust someone very close to him. He needed to remember to trust his friends and love ones. No longer did it seem merely a matter of his being ignorant, he’d been told and shown twice. If he repeated this mistake again, it more appropriately indicated a lack of intelligence on his part.
“Where’s that cell phone?” he asked as he stood up to check his pockets. Not finding it on him, he figured he left it in the van. The van would be as good a place as any to go and make his apologies to Arête. He entertained one last thought as he headed out the door. Boy, I hope I never meet up with her as an opponent in a courtroom someday.
The pleasant and familiar aroma of homemade bread baking in the oven greeted him upon his return to the house. A pot of soup simmered on the stove. She always made bread when she fixed soup. A big bowl of hot soup with a thick slap of warm bread loaded with butter, it didn’t get much better than that. Plus, whenever she baked, she always made a fruit pie. That meant a fruit pie was waiting for him somewhere in the kitchen. He remembered how close he came, a short while ago, to losing all this. Again, a feeling of thankfulness rippled through him.
Jess saw him as soon as he appeared in the kitchen doorway. “Okay, come and sit down. The soup is ready for you, and the bread will be ready any minute. After you’re done eating, we’ll talk more. I’ve also fixed one of your favorite peach pies that you can have later with vanilla ice cream.”
Terrance followed her instructions. Both dogs watched intently from a distance, obviously hoping, they, too, were intended to be a party to the feast. The bowl of vegetable soup sent the pungent scent of herbs and spices wafting towards his nostrils. Next came a large glass of cold milk with the hot fresh bread and butter soon to follow. Jess mentioned nothing more about the lady attorney nor would she ever mention her again.
She returned to the kitchen table to find Terrance smiling, his bowl empty, half a loaf of bread missing, and the dogs close by.
“Ready for pie and ice cream?” she asked while clearing the table.
“Yes, please,” responded Terrance knowing full well that if he somehow managed to live to be a hundred it couldn’t get any better than this. On this special night, he intended to partake of every offering from this amazing woman as if it were to be his last day on earth. A good motto for him to remember from this point forward, “Live as if this day would be your last, never taking your love ones for granted.”
His eyes lit up as she placed a large slice of peach pie covered with an enormous scoop of ice cream before him. His server had to see the delight in his eyes and the smile on his face. Maybe she was right, thought Terrance. Maybe I’m just a big kid at heart.
Terrance put aside his fears of the cartel and his recent embarrassment from telling Arête he changed his mind and dove right into this sweet feast. Jess, after some time, came over and sat down at the table across from him, placing an eight by fourteen-inch accordion file on the table. Her companion, meanwhile, gorged on warm peach pie and vanilla ice cream. He ate until he ran out of space and couldn’t hold any more. Like most men and boys, he’d eaten to the point of risking his stomach exploding.
“Terrance, how much money do you have in the bank or anywhere else for that matter?” asked Jess. “I’m only concerned with liquid assets as anything else would have to be converted to a liquid asset, and we don’t have time to sell furniture and cars if we decide to leave without being found out.”
“I’ve got a couple thousand dollars in the bank right now, and my coin collection in a safety deposit box is probably worth three or four thousand dollars. Also, I think Mom and Dad have some bonds in my name at their bank, but I don’t know how much they’re worth. I told you about giving the professor my ten percent share of the three hundred plus thousand. I can’t think of anything else. Why?”
“Okay, two thousand dollars. The rest is no good to us right now. Maybe in a few years, but certainly not now,” said Jess as a physically stuffed Terrance thought about her inquiry.
“Well, here’s the deal. If we’re moving around we’ve got to travel fast and light. That means we’ll take with us only our clothes and cash or negotiable paper. With your two thousand dollars, we’re not going to get very far. Would you agree?”
“I guess, but what’s negotiable paper?” responded Terrance.
“I’ll tell you about that some other time. Right now, let’s keep ourselves focused.” Jess pulled the large file towards her and extracted a single folder from it. She pushed the larger folder away and commenced to review the documents contained in a smaller folder.
“Did I ever tell you about the project I worked on back in 1998 and 1999 where myself and two other women developed an investment model for the stock market? One of the graduate courses I took to get my Graduate Degree in Economics required it. The project dealt with statistical modeling. With stock market investing all the rage at the time, we decided investing would be the best way to see if our model actually worked. Well, we all got A’s because it worked very well, thank you very much.”
“I never knew you invested in the market,” said a surprised Terrance between groans.
“Why should you? You barely paid any attention to me then. You were to busy rampaging through all the sororities to have that much time for me. Anyway, we did very well, and what’s more, we rolled everything out of equities into cash and T-bills right before the market headed south. Now that part, we can’t take credit for. The class ended, and we simply wanted to put everything into something more secure. We were only participating in the market for the short term, so we got out. It was pure luck that we cashed out before the crash.”
“But, we can’t use your money. That’s not fair. I don’t know how much you have, but I don’t want you to spend it on me.” Terrance sat back defiantly.
His defiant look softened as he watched Jess’s eyes narrow and her cheeks turn red.
“Do you recall the gist of the lengthy talk we had not more than thirty minutes ago in the living room?” She stared hard at Terrance as she awaited his answer.
“Yes,” answered Terrance somewhat meekly.
“Excellent. Now I want you to superimpose that conversation over the statement you just now made while defending your God-given maleness, and tell me how they compare.”
Terrance recognized a trap. He had no choice but to bail out early. “You’re right. We’re partners now in everything we do and own. It’s probably going to turn out that you’re bringing a lot more into this relationship then your new partner. I’d prefer that not to be the case.”
“Well, get over it because it’s not important. Our safety is important. Our future is important. So, do you want to know how much I have for the kitty?” A mischievous smile lit up her face.
Terrance thought before answering. “Well, the way you’re grinning, it’s got to be, at least, five or ten thousand dollars. Am I right?”
“Close enough,” replied Jess, shoving the financial report over to him.
Terrance looked down at the piece of paper attempting to decipher all the numbers. His eyes widened and he grabbed the document to bring it up close to his gaping eyes. “Two hundred and thirteen thousand dollars! You made that much money in the stock market and you’re out here feeding animals? You’ve got to be some kind of genius to do that. Holy crap!”
For the first time Jess let loose with a big smile. “I bet you say that to all the girls.”
“No, Jess, this is amazing. You’re some kind of genius. I wish I could remember that. If we ever get out of the mess I’ve gotten us in to, it’s probably you who should be the one to go to law school, not me.”
“No, I wouldn’t make a good lawyer. You’re
the one who’s going to law school in this family. You will be a fine lawyer; I’m sure of it. Being the type of lawyer I think you want to be, and the kind I believe you will be, isn’t about being a genius, it’s about being a good, decent person and wanting to help.”
Everything quieted down as they sat smiling at one another like children enjoying the freedom of having not yet been told it’s impolite to stare. Jess reached across the table to grasp Terrance’s hands in hers. “You told me something important about yourself today, Terrance. When you started to run away because you were afraid, you put aside your fears, stopped, and came back for me. I believe that tells me pretty much all I need to know about you. Thank you for coming back.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT