Story Blockhead [complete]

Part 83​


The rain had made it through my coat, causing it to cling damply to my arms. Like the truth, the barrier had let the rain in. The rain in the city didn’t wash things clean though, it just made the grime stick harder.

I set the bags and boxes that I was carrying in from the SUV, that Seth had insisted on purchasing for me, near the pile that I was already packing into storage tubs to fit into the trailer I would pull tomorrow. He did it because he still could and because he wasn’t going to watch me and the twins drive around in a van that looked like it had been in a gang-style battle. Only a mild exaggeration after I’d gotten caught in an event that was more riot than the “peaceful protest” the media called it one day when we’d been back in the city getting some special order items for the tinkering I’d planned since, due to fuel costs, they wouldn’t ship freight within so few hours of the City.

No sooner had I gotten shed of the whole “Rachel drama” than life started happening at an even more breakneck speed. I was tired and felt like an automaton, and it must have shown on my face.

“You’re thinking about it again,” Seth said while bringing a towel to dry me off. I hadn’t realized how much I was dripping. “We’ll be leaving for the Homestead as soon as the sale of this place closes tomorrow and things will settle down.”

I looked at him, really looked. He was even more tired than I was though he was trying not to show it. The stress hadn’t done him any more good than it had done me. He’d had to force himself to step away and not interfere with how I handled Tom’s estate, the Trust he left for the twins, and Rachel’s pursuit of it. He hated the backlash of all the gossip I was subjected to, but at the same time he was dealing with his own challenges yet still found time to be my biggest cheerleader and rather enjoyed my play-by-play synopsis at the end of the day.

On top of that, contrary to his initial relief at being ousted as CEO once Beaumont Enterprises went public, it was much harder to unwind from the company than anyone expected. Grant did have a backup plan with the SEC, but it backfired. Bigly as my grandfather used to say. Not only was the company investigated for various accusations brought by an “anonymous” whistleblower, the government had their eyes on several of the company’s subsidiaries and professional contacts. The accusations quickly came to nothing but by then it was too late. Between the bad press and the economy, the government had their hooks in deep and making headway to take over. Not necessarily a true nationalization, but definitely a hub of government control that started extended outwards.

Seth’s getting us out of the Beaumont stocks – both Class A and Class B – was probably one of the smarter moves of our constantly (necessarily) evolving plans. The trust still has a nominal amount of the converted company public stocks, but there is time to absorb the “crash” experienced by the company when it went public and was then put under government control. There is still a long time before the twins will need access to the trust so we’re hopeful that the stock price will go back up significantly. There are indications that the stock price is already in recovery mode, but it is going to take time for them to appreciate anywhere near where they used to be. Especially with what is going on in the rest of the world.

Seth has spent a lot of time moving money around after his assets were unfrozen. They hadn’t been frozen long, but long enough that it was a good thing he had other sources of liquidity beyond those associated with Beaumont Enterprises. Thankfully the Tennessee resort never even came up due to its Trust status and Seth hasn’t had to worry about Marion and her family losing their financial stability. Even if the resort loses money for a few years – though it is on track to at least break even – there are reserves to cover the shortfall.

The SEC investigators kinda flipped their wigs when they found out Seth had never received an actual salary from the company, that his compensation was all based on profits and that he was actually contractually owed remuneration from the company rather than the other way around. It put a different spin on the story they were hearing and the one that the media was putting out for consumption. That’s one thing the Board had failed to include in their ouster plan for him. He was still owed an entire year’s amount (and it had been a good year) because the CEO position was paid in arrears after taxes were filed and satisfied. And he had been paid in quarters in the past, except with Seth no longer holding the position of CEO he was due everything upfront. The SEC also wanted anything Seth was owed off the company’s Accounts Payable ledgers so they could revalue the corporation. Moving that kind of liquidity into secure investment vehicles was no easy task and Seth wound up having to put a lot of it into secure accounts set up by the Cook Island lawyers.

There were other accounts that had to be dealt with as well. Some were investments back into the company, but the reviewers redefined them as “loans” that had to be paid back immediately instead of over time with interest. There were also actual loans to family members and those were reviewed closely as well which caused some hard feelings on top of hardships. As if it was Seth’s fault they had the government sniffing around in their finances. None of them considered how much Seth was losing overall, just their own personal problems.

A good number of the family blames Seth, especially those that threw what weight they had behind the Board’s move to go public. Many of them, however, are being forced to learn how to dance and juggle at the same time. Things are turning bleak, and not just for the Beaumont family. Seth felt as guilty as I worried he would. So not only was he taking care of his own finances and plans, he’s been working with several families within the Beaumont group trying to help them to secure their personal financial stability and also trying to convince them to lay in supplies for just in case with only moderate success. However, he has to do that carefully to avoid any type of appearance of messing with the company structure and using undue influence for retribution or any other rumor and accusation that could get started. So some days we aren’t all just dancing and juggling, we’re dancing, juggling, singing recitations of Shakespeare, and building walls to hold off what is coming down the road heading straight for us.

As a result of everything, some health issues that Seth thought he’d conquered reared their heads enough to make it obvious they were something that he was likely to have to manage for the remainder of his life. The metabolic and absorption issues primarily though his blood pressure was also a concern. His pride was hurt for a bit until he realized just how prevalent the issues were, including with people younger than both of us. He agreed to take it seriously which brought my own blood pressure down several points. On the other hand there were challenges. Getting him off any kind of caffeine was so not fun. Having to do it myself at the same time (to make things fair) made things much worse. One night in particular we … er … went a little over the top with a pillow fight turning into something it shouldn’t have. The next morning I felt terrible, as did Seth, and it wasn’t solely from the headache of caffeine withdrawal. We’d gone so far over the boundaries we’d set that we were both embarrassed and ashamed at our lack of control.

That evening when I came home from yet another deposition/interrogation by the government to see what I knew both prior to and after my divorce from Tom, I found candlelight, roses, fried chicken, mashed potatoes with homemade gravy, and green beans cooked until the squeak was gone. I wasn’t in the door but a few feet when he was there and on bended knee. “I can’t wait. I promised myself I would, but I can’t. But I don’t want last night to influence you except to say we are … er … pretty damn compatible. Oh hell, this isn’t what I wrote. Dammit. Just believe me and marry me Mattie Block. I’ll never be a whole man if you don’t. I’ll wind up a raving lunatic. Just look at me. I’ve been searching for a ring, but I haven’t found one yet that deserves you. Take me anyway.”

It was so unexpected all I could do was fall on my own knees and say, “Uh huh, me too yeah, what you said.” We wound up on the floor laughing with the twins watching like their adult people had suddenly lost their minds … and they wanted to join in. There was a bit of a battle over a wedding … society statement, small and intimate, or the courthouse. What came next down the pike decided for us. We were married quietly by the preacher of Ms. Birdie and Caleb’s church. There were people there but none from Seth’s side. They were all grieving another loss.

Mr. Reginald had a final stroke and died. Apparently, Tom wasn’t the only one left with permanent and fatal consequences of the New Measles. His case exacerbated by the family history of heart problems. Given some things that my ex mother-in-law revealed, it is likely that those problems pre-existed the measles infection and hadn’t been given the serious attention they should have.

At the funeral I was surprised to no longer be a decorative inconvenience. Seth and I no longer concealed the seriousness of our relationship (we hadn’t married yet) and I was surprised at how many accepted it with little more than a shrug of indifference. They weren’t rude, they were just self-involved.

I tried not to make my thoughts on that day all about myself and how I was feeling. There was certainly enough to focus on. Seth said for him, it was like closing a circle; all the patriarchs of the family were now gone. It also brought to a close his unresolved issues about those four men … his grandfather, both uncles, and his father. I could see his point and knew one day in the not to distant future I might be starting the process as my aunts passed on. None of them were spring chickens and I was already having to learn without them as they finally made their move to Scotland permanent. They’d even started the process to become permanent residents and obtain their dual citizenship. It gave me what I needed to be kinder than I might have otherwise been.

Tom’s mother was like a puppet with her strings cut. Most of her identity came from being Mrs. Reginald Beaumont. Not only was she continuing her grieving process – his death had been predicted not long after his dementia diagnosis and forced retirement – but she was unsure how to move forward in her new reality. Seth solved some of it by offering her a position in the Foundation and it turns out she’s really good at handling the details that Seth once hired outsiders to deal with. The Foundation will soon be operating out of The Residence. The office space will be in one wing and the remaining area is going to be a museum with space that can be rented out for special occasions with the income used to maintain the building and grounds and any excess being deposited and used in the scholarship fund.

There was one unexpected attendee that shocked Seth. His mother. The woman looked every bit what she was and I’ll admit I was leaning towards being intimidated. Funny enough it was Rose, looking like a newly minted mafia boss, that shut his mother up even before she started talking. She’d opened her mouth on her first verbal salvo when Rose said, “Be nice.” To say she was surprised was the understatement of the century. She was further silenced when Seth took her from my arms and kissed her head and saying proudly, “That’s my girl.”

I’m not going to lie and say that Seth and his mother suddenly became close, but he did agree to meet with her to discuss her income and the fact she was ready to somewhat settle into her own home rather than renting wherever her adventures took her. Detent I suppose you might call it. But between you and me I wouldn’t call it much more than that.

Tom’s sisters were also trying to figure out who they were though one sister was further down that path than the other. She’d surprised everyone by marrying a man she’d been friends with for years. To her own surprise, she soon found that she was pregnant. She’d never gotten her fertility tested, made some assumptions so they’d taken no precautions. Whoops.

She called me one day to just to talk. I didn’t know what to make of it, but I was trying not to make Seth’s life more difficult so I was polite to his family. I answered her questions about whether some of her symptoms were “normal”. She then apologized with tears. She admitted that life was not at all how she envisioned it but that she’d learned that love without respect is just control in costume. That she was sorry how things had turned out between Tom and I and her part in that, and she wanted me to know that she supported Seth and I. I liked the phrasing so well I repeated it to Seth.

“Took her long enough,” was his gruff response before he got back down on the floor to multitask between helping Rose feed her dolls her dolls and Garrett needing a little assist to build a symmetrical pyramid with his Duplos.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Earth to Mattie. Hey Angel, are you okay?”

I shook off my mood and memories and said, “How does Pecan, Grape, and Pickled Onion Flatbread[1] and Pecan Crusted Salmon with Apple Slaw[2] sound for dinner?”

“Delicious as always. Now tell me what’s wrong.”

I sighed. “Are you really satisfied to be leaving your life behind like this?”

“Oh my Angel, I’ll tell you as many times as you need to hear it,” he said, echoing my own words to him when he wondered about any leftover feelings I had for Tom. “I’m not leaving my life, I’m moving so I can live it.” He ran his hand down to my still flat stomach. “How are you feeling? You seemed upset yesterday when the doctor told you it wasn’t twins.”

“Not upset. I just … I mean you seemed to talk about twins and …” I shrugged.

He kissed me from where he was hugging me from behind. “I feel blessed already. A single baby might be best. I don’t want Rose and Garrett to feel like I’m replacing them.”

“They won’t if we raise them together.” I sighed. “This issue is going to come up again if we have more children.”

He looked a little alarmed. “I don’t want to put you at risk. You were an only child. I’m an only child. Er …”

“I wasn’t going to be an only child, remember? And I have family members that have multiple sets of twins. Not as many as there used to be in my great grandparents’ days since the generations aren’t having as many children but …” I gave another shrug.

Seth blinked and then said, “Let’s just get through this one first.”

I gave him a small, understanding smile and agreed. And to be perfectly frank, this baby isn’t going to be convenient. I have so much going on at the Homestead. I have paperwork that is still processing so that my microbrewery and winery efforts aren’t going to bring the revenuers down on us. We need to shore up all the supplies we are going to need, especially any imports. I have a list a mile long of all the spare parts for repair and pieces for my tinkering that it is going to take Seth’s skills at negotiations so we can obtain and afford them. And so much more.

War has broken out in Europe. I’m not talking about small, regional conflicts. I mean war. And it wasn’t Russia or China that started it. The waves of immigrants of generations passed finally made their moved to fully take control in some places. The EU has become fractured. It makes me worry for my aunts but they are well off the beaten path and the Brothers took surprisingly well to stocking up, and due to their leadership in the community their entire village has been taking care of their families.

Seth spoke with Caleb and they are in tune with Caleb being much more aware of things than he at first appears. His years as a contractor “in ferrun parts” has given him an insight many lack. Many of the local orchards have been renting out garden plots to people who no longer have the yard for it. Clyde Heinz keeps the food processing kitchens going full tilt and even got a grant to enlarge it by adding a few more commercial size freeze dryers. Seth insisted on buying one for us. We’ve also added to and expanded our existing non-electric energy options. We have a lot of plans, we just don’t know how many we will get to do before the war becomes a problem for us in the States.

That night, after the twins were in their beds, Seth and I did a last walk through of the townhouse to make sure all of the nooks and crannies had been emptied. I was in the middle of giving serious consideration to a cup of ginger tea when my phone vibrated. It was one of the newly appointed “monitors” calling to question me about a bulk order of sugar that I’d made. It shouldn’t have been his business as I’d made it with my commercial license through an LLC. Yet somehow he asked for Mattie Block.

By the time I was through asking for his name, badge number, supervisor’s name and phone number, the man was thoroughly rattled, angry, and on the defensive. By the time I was through speaking with his supervisor – his real one and not the made up name and phone number he’d given me – he was on a list himself. Apparently the quasi-government agency was becoming fully federalized because it had been found that several of their employees were going on phishing expeditions and then using that information to target storage facilities for places for protests to take place near giving cover to the thefts that then occurred.

I was exhausted but triumphant by the time I was done, even receiving a written guarantee that I’d been called in error and that the matter was being handled internally.

Seth looked at me and grinned. “I like this version of you.”

Not taking affront I asked him, “What version is that?”

“The one where you’ve stopped waiting to be understood.”

I can live with that. Now here’s praying that we continue to find the quirks we both have a healthy part of our happily ever after.


THE END




[1] Pecan, Grape, and Pickled Onion Flatbread | American Pecan Promotion Board
[2] Pecan Crusted Salmon with Apple Slaw | American Pecan Promotion Board
 
Kathy you probably suspect I, like so many others here, am a fan.

This latest piece is the most enthralling from your word processor I've read to date. To put it mildly, that's going some.

I was under the gun to complete some tasks so I'll heve to go back and reread the last 3 or 4 chapters.

I can hardly wait . . . . .
 
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This is fantastic! I've been over in Fiction Press the last few days rereading To All Things There Is A Season and come back to see how Mattie is doing and find that she has been kicking butt! I have truly enjoyed this story and am glad the twins now have their Bud and the family is together. Thank you so much for hours of enjoyment.
 
I haven't been able to check this story for a few days and come here to find quite a few new chapters and a "complete" label. And...WOW...just WOW!! While I'd love for this story to continue on, you've done a very masterful telling and completing, and WOW doesn't even cover it. But that's all my mind can think of right now. I'm boggled.
 
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