“Like what? How well? Are you a millionaire or something?”
“Yes, that’s exactly what I am,” I answered.
Suzie just stared at me for a second or two. “Are you serious?”
“You bet! Now, you have to promise not to tell anybody. This is just private, between family members and a very, very few friends. Promise me you won’t blab it to anybody.”
Suzie gave a big grin. “Won’t Mom be surprised! Or do they know already?”
Marilyn and I looked at each other, but we weren’t smiling. I turned back to my baby sister. “See? That’s why I said not to say anything. No, I’ve never told them, and I don’t want to tell them. I haven’t talked to them in four years. Can you think of anything good that would happen if they knew I had money and had moved home?”
“You moved home!?”
“I thought we told you that. We’re living in Cockeysville. We bought some property in Hereford and plan to build a house in the spring.”
“HOLY SHIT!” she exclaimed, a little too loudly. Several people turned their heads to look at her, and she gave a guilty look and lowered her voice. “Holy shit! I had no idea!”
“We moved back a couple of months ago, when I got out of the Army. We’re renting a town house right now. When you come home for the summer, you’ll have to come out. The development even has a pool.”
“Cool!” Suzie turned to Marilyn. “I had no idea!”
“Neither did I! He kept it a secret, even from his wife!” grumped Marilyn.
I shrugged and failed to look all that sorry. “Yeah? Well, there’s a reason for that. People act differently when they think you’re rich. I have friends now that I would have never had if everybody had known I had money, and the friends I did have I would never know why they had become my friends.”
My sister looked startled at that, and when she glanced over at Marilyn, my wife shrugged and nodded in agreement. “I love your brother, but I don’t know what I would have done if I had known he was rich when I met him. What if I had been too afraid to even talk to him? Or what if some beautiful blonde had been chatting him up instead?”
I smiled at my wife. “That wasn’t a concern. I prefer brunettes… Ouch!” Marilyn had slugged me in the shoulder at that comment. I looked back at my sister. “It’s just, well, keep it under wraps, okay?”
“Just how rich are you?”
I shook my head. “Does it matter? I’m rich enough I can fly on chartered airplanes and take my wife on nice vacations. How rich do you need to be?”
“How?”
No way to explain that one. “Remember long ago when I had that fight on the school bus…” I gave her the quick and simple explanation. I finished, however, with, “Don’t tell the family.”
“You know I wouldn’t do that!”
“I know, it’s just… it would become a problem.” Charlie was snoozing peacefully, so I ordered another round of beers. “How’s the family?”
“It’s okay. Hamilton’s working for the phone company now. Aunt Nan and Aunt Peg got him a job there. He works the midnight shift in the billing department, I think. It’s something to do with computers, anyway. Did I tell you that before?”
I nodded. It’s what had happened before. “Is Mom on his case about going back to school?”
Suzie grinned. “Of course! He’s actually started part time at UMBC.”
I snorted at that. Back before, he had spent seven years going to school part time at UMBC, and then dropped out with only 6 credits left to go, giving some bullshit statement about a conflict over the course scheduling. He simply refused to ever finish something properly. It was part of his mental problems. He just threw it all away.
“How’s Mom and Dad?”
Suzie shrugged. “Mom’s Mom. She’s just like always, as long as nobody mentions you. You’re the one who caused all the trouble. I don’t know whether she just says that to hide the fact that Hamilton’s a jerk, or whether she actually believes it. Probably both.”
I just nodded. What more could I say?
“Dad asks about you from time to time.”
My ears perked up at that. “Oh? Like what?”
“Well, he knows that you and I still stay in touch. It’s just that sometimes, every few months, it will just be the two of us in the house or driving, without Mom or Ham, and he’ll ask if I’ve heard from you, if you’re all right.”
I felt a cold and painful fist closing around my heart. Without my brother, couldn’t I have had a decent relationship with my father again? What made my brother so hateful? What had changed in me this time that made him so much of a problem? I missed my Dad. “What do you tell him?” I asked quietly. Marilyn reached over and took my hand.
“Nothing you’ve asked me not to say. Usually just that you are fine and happy. He doesn’t know about Charlie or getting out of the Army or moving home. If he presses, I simply tell him he has to ask you directly. I did offer to give him your phone number, but he hasn’t asked for it. Maybe you should call him?” she said.
I shook my head sadly. “And say what? Listen, if he asks, give him the number. I can pretty much guarantee, though, that if he calls, it won’t be from home, where Hamilton and Mom can throw a tantrum. He’ll call from the office.”
“I’m sorry. It can be pretty weird at times. As soon as I’m out of school, I’m moving out and getting an apartment.”
We talked about her classes for a bit. Suzie was finishing up her junior year, and had another year to go. She was sharing a suite with three other girls, and they planned to stay together the next year, too. When I asked her about her love life, she blushed and told me to mind my own business. That just made me laugh and push harder. If you can’t tease your baby sister about boys, what’s the world coming to? Marilyn was happily torn between defending Suzie and asking questions of her own.
Charlie woke up and fussed, so I paid for lunch and we went back to our rooms. We planned to change him, clean up a bit, and then head over to the Lefleurs for the rest of the day. I told Suzie to come up in about 30 or 40 minutes. I told Marilyn we needed to get ready immediately.
The family reunion with Marilyn’s folks was interesting, to say the least. We had traveled up here frequently over the years, since Marilyn was very close to her family. I should say that Marilyn frequently traveled to Utica. Quite a few times were when I was in the ready cycle, preparing to invade some far off place on a moment’s notice. If it fit with her schedule for school, I would often fly my wife home for a week or two. This, however, was the first time I had visited in over a year, and Marilyn hadn’t seen them since her parents had come down in the fall when Charlie was born.
It started simply enough, but like I suspected, it got complicated quickly enough. “How was the drive up?” asked Harriet.
“Well, actually we flew. Carl’s knee gets stiff when he sits or drives for a long time,” answered Marilyn. I just nodded agreement.
“Oh, so you drove here from Syracuse? What, did you upgrade the rental car?” Harriet was looking out the window to the parking lot and could see the Cadillac.
“No, we had that waiting for us at the Oneida County Airport in Whitestown. Carling arranged a charter flight. We flew to Philadelphia and picked up Suzie, and then flew here. It’s so much faster if you don’t have to go through a regular airport!”
I rolled my eyes slightly. Both Harriet and Big Bob turned to face me. “You chartered a plane?!”
I shrugged and smiled. “Come on, let’s go in and sit down. Can I get a beer?” I led the way into the kitchen, limping and using the cane. Marilyn was right. I tended to stiffen up when I was sitting in a chair for a few hours. It was worst in the morning when I crawled out of bed. I felt like I was moving like an old man then. Then it would get better during the day, and get stiff again in the evening.