Tlover
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Last edited Fri Apr 20, 2012, 11:50 AM - Edit history (1)
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His name was aint, short for aint mine as all the men had called him. His mother had called him that too, as she wasn’t sure either. Nobody much wanted him around, at least until there was something--some kind of unpleasant work--to be done. It was then that they called his name. He was not mistreated, but he wasn’t treated either; he was disposable and everyone knew it. He grew knowing that. He knew that he was less than everyone; that they belonged and he didn’t; that they were loved and he wasn’t; that they were smart and he wasn’t; that they knew stuff and he didn’t: except for one thing----math. Aint knew math; he talked math; he played with math; he loved math. Math was his rock. No one had to teach him anything about manipulating numbers; aint had it figured. He learned it on the swing. He would count by ones, threes, sevens and on up each time the swing carried aint. Then he would divide by prime numbers, then figure interest, then a circle’s area, then solve for x. The swing became his teacher. Aint loved it. Loved the feeling of belonging to numbers and that they belonged to him. This was his homeport. This was his base.
His business started when aint was almost thirteen. Jeff Mowdry needed some money.
“Aint, I’ll pay you the $200 back in two weeks, just what I owe.”
“Well Jeff, I need what you borrow plus 10 percent interest. So $220 is what I’ll need back.” Aint was not so silly as to be too smart. “Is that alright with you?”
“Yeah, that’ll work, but don’t tell anyone we’re doing this. I don’t want anyone knowin’ I had to ask you for money.”
“Works for me too; I don’t want people thinking I’ve got money to throw away.”
And so it began: so innocent, so simple and with no intended malice towards anyone. More men asked and got loans. Aint liked this; he was having fun and making quite a bit of money at the same time. Of course, someone had to screw it up. There is, isn’t there, always someone who just has to do whatever is necessary to screw things up. It was Jeff. He had borrowed so often, that he felt he had a right to be late in paying back the money. What was aint going to do anyway? Jeff found out. Aint doubled the interest. Jeff didn’t like it and started to refuse, “I can’t afford that, aint.”
“Jeff, you broke your promise to me. I know I’m not much, but my word is good. It’s like your word is no good anymore. What am I to think the next time you need a loan? I need the extra to make things right. Without it, we could never do business again. I’ve heard people call this money “taint”. It isn’t interest, it isn’t principle, and it doubles every day you’re late. Jeff, I’m really sorry this had to happen, I feel just terrible about it. I hope you understand.” It kinda looked like a tear was forming in aint’s eye. Jeff noticed and felt powerful again.
“Alright kid, we’ll let it go like this, this time,” and he paid the taint.
Aint worked that way. He made his partners feel powerful. Just to be around aint made most people feel powerful because aint was such a lowly little thing. He really wasn’t all that small at 165 pounds, it’s just the slouching made him seem small. Aint stood 5’5 or 5’10 depending on how much he slumped at the time; mostly he seemed much smaller than that though. Yet no one seemed to feel at ease being unfair to aint; kind of seemed beneath them to stoop so low. Some had tried but aint worked it out with them. He didn’t consider them customers or clients; he considered them as partners. This attitude had served aint well, so well that by December 1977, his fourteenth birthday, he had $28,000 in his account.
Aint had heard about BS, but had not paid much attention. Supposedly, BS was a great salesman; could sell termites to a lumberyard type of salesman. He was a big round guy with a voice that boomed off the walls of a room. BS was in his twenties but sounded and acted older. He always wore rumpled plaid shirts and suspenders that he liked to flip as he talked. They met when aint stopped in for a cup of coffee at the lunch counter of the drug store. BS had stopped in looking for some money and he focused on this lowly little aint guy that the owner had pointed out.
“Hey aint, I’m BS. Been hearing some good stuff about you and thought you and I should talk and maybe do some business.”
“Always ready to listen, sir, I’ll even buy the coffee.”
BS sat down and explained the situation. Camp Atterbury was getting rid of many of its old barracks and warehouses built in 1942. The wood in the buildings was mostly native poplar with some white and red oak that had been cut and milled onsite. BS wanted to tear down and sell the lumber from those buildings. He had checked and most of the lumber was select grade used for the posts, beams, and joists.
“I’m not interested in the barracks, but the warehouses would be a good investment. Each of the 20 warehouses is 100’x60’. They are built on concrete piers and have floor joists made with 15 2x12s nailed together to run the 60’ and spaced16” on center, that’s 1500 pieces. The floor is 2x6” tongue and groove with ½” plywood protecting it. The 2X10” posts and 2x12” beams support 2x8”rafters. The siding and roof decking are 1x6” t and g. I can sell this wood as fast as it can be taken down and cleaned of nails.”
Aint didn’t have much to say other than, “I’m interested, how can I help?”
“Well, I’ll need the money to buy the buildings. They auction them off the first of next month and I figure it’ll take between 10 and 15 thousand dollars to get them all. Then someone will need to be on site to manage the crew and make sure none of the lumber grows legs and walks off, but I’ll be there to handle the actual sale to the buyer and then once we are all done, we’ll split the money 50/50.”
“Would you drive me out there, I’d like to take a look at these buildings,” said aint, “we can talk on the way.” His mind was already redefining the percentages and the relationship. They drove through the ghost-town-like warehouse area, which was 5 miles from town and surrounded by woods on 3 sides and the active military base 2 miles off the south side. The size of the project was daunting; these things were huge. A knowledgeable man would have walked away, but aint didn’t know what he didn’t know. He saw a lot of work, but he also saw a whole lot of profit. In just the floor joists, there were 1500 2x12s in each of the 20 buildings for 30,000 total boards, which would sell for $15 each. That would be $450,000. Aint was working the numbers for the rest of the lumber and liked what his mind saw.
BS and aint talked for several hours as aint wrapped his mind around what all had to be done. This job was going to take at least 6 months and aint was going to have to live onsite. His outside income would be zero for that amount of time and he would be trapped out there for security reasons. He offered BS the money to get the buildings and 5% of the profit. BS drove them back to town cussing most of the way. Figuring he could snooker aint while handling the money, BS finally agreed to 10% plus expenses, but had to agree to drive out supplies for aint and the crew.
The auction date came and aint handed over the $13,000 it took to be the high bidder on the 20 warehouses. Most of the people at the auction wanted the barracks as they were smaller and easier to dismantle and were a better size for building a house for a family. The next day aint filed slots in the square head shovel to catch the nail heads and started ripping off the shingles. He started early because roof work in July in Indiana was hot. Aint was going to get a good tan and though he had not thought about it, he was going to develop a muscular body that would be the envy of any body builder. To get there he had to get these buildings down. The first building took three times longer than the others because aint had to figure out how to do it, what tools to use (he had never seen a slam-hammer nail puller and had to be shown how to use it), what order the boards should come out, when to clean the nails out of the boards and everything else that went along with getting the job done; including managing the crew that BS brought out. Aint insisted that buyers come only on Fridays to get the lumber, because that way aint had the money to pay the crew. This didn’t sit well with BS because this took the money out of his reach. Aint was insecure; he just wasn’t too dumb. BS tried several ways to get ahead of aint, though it just never seemed to go as planned, aint always came away clean, but since BS was stuffing money in his own pockets he didn’t get too upset, it just kinda gnawed at him.
Aint had made a bed area in one of the warehouses where he kept his little stash of food. He rode in with the crew on Friday nights to deposit his portion of the profits in his bank account, ate a good meal at the diner in Edinburgh, then jogged back to the warehouses five miles away. During the six months tear down, aint was filthy, constantly. The warehouses had been heated with coal furnaces while they were used and the 30 years of accumulated coal soot was everywhere. As there was no running water, aint had to wait for a rain to wash off or just sweat it off. August and September meant no rain, no washing; October and November meant a few rains, but cold enough that aint did not waste much time getting it done. December just meant that it was miserably cold to wash off. December also meant the job was almost finished. Aint was getting a reputation for being that dirty little guy out at Atterbury. He was also getting a reputation for being hard as a rock. A few of the crew came away with a newfound respect for speed, size, and determination. They found age had nothing to do with being a man.
Finally, in aint’s mind, they sold the last of the boards. He shook BS’s hand one last time and then handed him an extra $10,000. BS did not know what to say and wisely said nothing except, “Thanks.” Aint was 15 and had $862,000 in his bank account.
Del was a lanky old man that aint met while tearing down the warehouses. He lived off 4 Mile Ridge Road in Brown County, not close to anyone or anything, so giving directions to his place was difficult; it was just hard to find. He had a two room run down shack of a place that suited him just fine, thank you. Delbert never had much to say to people and they seemed happy about that. But Del and aint seemed to click, so when Del told aint to come and stay at his place, aint agreed.
Del had a ’54 Ford pickup truck that just barely seemed to run, yet it seemed never to quit either. When Del picked up aint, aint insisted on stopping to get some extra food for the two of them. Del wasn’t quite the gourmet eater that aint was. Del didn’t care what brand of peanut butter he bought, but aint did. It was Jiff. Period. So aint loaded them up with food, $150 worth to be exact (and in 1979 that was a lot of food). Del never had this much food and didn’t know if there was room to put it away. In fact, they had to store some of the food in totes outside for a while. These were plastic totes that aint found outside the back door of a grocery store by the dumpsters; they had the name “Consolidated Sales” printed on them. After they put the food away, they fixed up a place for aint to sleep. It was just a kind of mattress thing that aint laid on the floor and pulled up during the day to keep it out of the way. It worked for him.
Del found that everything he had ever wanted done around the place, aint was willing and eager to do. Del was having fun teaching aint how to do stuff and aint was having fun learning how to do stuff; they were having fun together. Aint learned to drive on the old Ford tractor, he learned to cut wood with the old Montgomery Ward chain saw, he would eventually figure out how to use all the attachments to the old Shopsmith out in the shed, they went fishing in the ponds using old Mitchell 300 reels on fiberglass poles from K-mart and aint learned how to shoot with an old Savage 30-06, but liked shooting the little scoped .22 caliber Remington 514 better. Aint also learned how to shoot the old Bear bow that Del had and learned the proper respect and attitude when harvesting a deer. Del couldn’t teach aint about fancy stock market trading or big banking or any of that kind of stuff; though he said he did trust gold, (aint didn’t know really what that meant). He did try to teach aint his thinking on politics and government and religion. Del could not teach aint about art, but he could explain beauty by just looking around: at the grass, the woods, the sound of the chickens, the feel of the wind, and yes even the smell of the goats though that was tougher to get across. Del also taught aint to trust his feelings, to quiet his mind and listen to his instincts and stretch out to filter in the truth, to listen behind the spoken word. Del lived a very simple life, but that did not mean he was a simple man. Del loved his life and it showed in the way he carried on around his place.
However, there was a serious side too. They Played Chess. Serious chess. Though aint wasn’t very good in the beginning, he learned fast and he quickly became the equal, then the superior. He lost often enough to keep it interesting; Del was no slouch. They also played poker for toothpicks. Poker didn’t hold their interest long though; they found it somewhat boring.
The two guys put out a good sized garden that spring. Del put out his normal sized area for growing mums. That was how Del made his yearly money, growing and selling mums wholesale to the farmers market on Highway 46. He didn’t make much, but he didn’t need much either. Of course, there were the two goats that got milked everyday and the ten or so chickens that were constantly running around. Cobaka was the name of the German Sheppard that barely clung to life around the back door. At best guess he was as old as mud and colored pretty much the same. Del could never figure what the dog was good for, but then, Del knew he couldn’t pass a close scrutiny either. They were good together.
Aint had started a habit of running around the property every day. He did it just to stay in shape, but also to keep an eye on things. Del had a little over 250 acres, mostly hilly woods with a couple of ponds here and there and a small creek that ran in front of the woods. The creek dried up in August each year, but ran almost all other times; it had a 6-foot fall where a ravine cut through, but nothing had been done with it. Aint kept looking at the fall and wondered about the possibilities.
The good thing about living in a very small county in Indiana is that no one pays much attention to you. There is little county business and the county feels that what little business you have with it, the county has less business with you. Pay your taxes, keep your nose clean, your mouth shut and you will never need to know the name of the sheriff or the county commissioner. But when a boy needs to be in school, he damn well better be in school. That’s pretty much what the letter from the school board said. Hoosiers tend to be blunt sometimes.
“Have you ever been in school aint?”
“I went for awhile, the kids didn’t want me back so I stopped going.”
“Well, looks like you’re gonna have to go for a least a year ‘till you turn 16. We need to take you in to be tested to see what grade you fit in. We can do that on Thursday and get some clothes for school at the same time.”
“I’m gonna have to put you down for guardian or parent or maybe granddad. How would that be with you?”
“Yeah, I guess I had a long lost son out in, uh, Utah that got killed sometime back, and you found your way here this spring. Good enough? Probably won’t fly long, but then it only has to drag out a year.”
“I’ll see about getting a birth certificate and a social security card; hope that will be enough.”
Thursday came and so did the test scores. Math of course was excellent, English sucked, big time, history and social were marginal. His scores were just good enough to put aint in the 11th grade. Del and aint knew Mr. Stars was helping. Aint promised to be worthy of the help and he was.
Bus 40 pulled to a stop by the drive and aint got on. He started to sit at the first available seat when a boy said, “Ya can’t sit here.” Aint handed the boy a Kleenex and said, “You’re gonna need this in a minute” and sat down. The boy grabbed aint’s arm and felt like he was holding a 4” cast iron pipe. He had found his newest best friend. It did not work out that way, but at least the kid tried. Aint made friends slowly, if at all. Aint knew he didn’t belong there so he didn’t try to fit in. He knew the other kids did belong there so he didn’t try to knock them out of place. Aint was just trying to get through the day without a hassle.
Some of the English rules just did not make sense to aint, but all of the math rules did. A lot of the history seemed repetitious and the thing with Tesla and Edison made believing what was taught as truth, questionable. The Edison lie was useful to aint in that he realized that the only truth was math. All else, just like statistics, could be manipulated. As Del kept saying, “Your job is just to get done with it, don’t stand out or up; don’t try to fight the system, try to go around, under, over or through it. Most of what you are learning is important for you to know, it’s just that some of it is a lie. We will work out the falsehoods after you take the test.” And they did, mostly. There was no TV at Del’s so after chores there was time to talk. Del did insist that aint read a dictionary; he said that just seeing the words would help aint all through life.
On one trip into Nashville, aint stopped in at one of the two lawyers’ office and after some general questions, aint told the lawyer to get busy setting Del as aint’s legal guardian. It was going to take some time, some legal wiggling, and some money, up front, if you please and thank you. Two months later Del and aint walked in to sign some papers and that was that. Amazing what a small town and cash can accomplish. Del also asked while at the office to make out his will so that aint would get his land and stuff, cause aint had already said he wanted that truck.
Aint had talked to the councilors at school and told them he could not afford to attend school the following year as it was just too costly. They thought aint meant that he could not afford the books and clothes.
“No, no it’s not that. There are so many opportunities right now that won’t be there next year that I really can’t wait for it. Maybe later I can get back to finish this up.”
High school folks do not like being told they are unnecessary, especially by this “aint” kid.
He finished the school year with unremarkable grades (except math of course) and let them know he would not return next year. He was free again.
Del had agreed to be the necessary adult when signing business papers as long as his property was never in jeopardy. Aint was sure this new cell phone thing was going to be popular so he acquired the rights to the state of Indiana. He then talked to BS.
“I need you to go to every city in Indiana and set up marketing. This is going to be big so explain that the sales force will not be able to get all the phones that they can sell. They will need to be patient. I will try to get other brands also, but that may take some time and some more money. I also want you to start selling these new printers and the Epson dot matrix printers to commercial places. “I will front your expenses and initial orders and for that I need a bigger slice this first year. I need the money built back up quickly to go forward. You and I will re-negotiate next year to bring you up where you belong. I would not have to do this if I were old enough to go through a bank, but I’m not so this is the best I can do. “Oh, if you can, try to hire Viet Nam vets for the jobs.”
BS grumbled about the numbers but he was already infected with aint’s idea and it was exactly what BS lived for--to be in on the ground floor of the next biggest, best thing. It took him two months to get it all set up and orders began coming in. Not being able to supply the demand was going to be a problem until aint had enough money to get secondary suppliers. As the orders kept flowing, the capital built up, and aint added other suppliers to the stable; the cussing tapered off. However, re-negotiating with BS brought the cussing back to new levels. Aint endured. BS and aint decided to call the company “AllTechIndustries.” They would veer into computer type technologies.
Del was getting a real kick watching from the sidelines. He had never been attracted to business, having always received the short end of the stick, so watching aint’s progress was fun. He wanted to help, but knew the best he could do was to shut up and pat aint on the back. That was something Del was good at.
Del died on July 5, 1980. He had been back to the woods cutting down a dead white oak. It had kicked out and caught him. The force collapsed both lungs. He did not suffer long. Aint did. Aint contacted BS and had him run the business for a month as he had to get away. Just seeing the shack where they lived hurt. Touching the truck hurt. He walked out back to the woods, grabbed a fallen branch, and beat the heck out of a tree all the while screaming his guts out.
Del was buried in a cemetery on Bellsville Pike facing the morning sun. No one was there but aint. The amount of tears surprised aint. The guttural sounds of his pain surprised aint. He was beginning to understand belonging, but god it hurt.
Aint tried to get away; tried to stay at a motel, but they would not rent a room to this 16-year-old kid. He had enough frustration, he went back home. There was no sense trying to run away from it. He needed to face his pain and be done with it. He went everyday to the cemetery and talked with Del. And Del talked back about as much as he ever did. After three weeks, aint drove into Nashville to talk to the lawyer. He had to wait 4 hours as he neglected to call first. That gave him time to check out getting a drivers license and insurance. The insurance cost $110 a month. An adult would have to go with aint to get the license next trip into town. Aint had to have that adult since obviously a kid cannot do this kind of thing, alone. He did get the drivers manual so he could study, but it was all just common sense, except knowing the braking distances and that sort of thing.
“Mr. Revile, I just need to finish up Del’s business and understand some of my shortcomings. I expect you to help me live my life free and clear of legal stuff. Whatever needs fixed, help me understand it and then let’s fix it.”
“Your age is your biggest problem for you right now. You must have a guardian until you are 18. Del left everything to you, which includes the proceeds of a bank account of $22,000, the deed to the land, the title to the truck and this letter.”
“Could that be a business associate?” asked aint thinking of some contacts he had while reaching out to take the envelopes.
“Could be anyone that you trust, they are going to have access to your assets."
“I need you to figure a way that we can create a front man for me so that I can work for the next two years without legal hindrances. I can pay this person to do this, but I must have the freedom to do what is necessary. And of course be certain that this person has no way to get into the cookie jar.”
“Do you have anyone in mind?” asked Revile.
“Couple. Let me get back to you next week. Wednesday?”
“See you at 1:30 next Wednesday.” Revile liked the way this youngster talked.
Aint left and called his old customer Jeff Mowdry.
“Yeah, what?” was the great greeting Jeff had for everyone.
“Jeff, this is aint. You remember we did some business a couple of years ago.”
“Yeah aint. How you been? Haven’t seen you around for awhile. Where you at?”
“Oh, I’m still around just getting by. Look, the reason I called. How would you like to make $4,000 for doing nothing? “
“Yeah, right. What you got going on?”
“Jeff, I am still underage. I need an adult to act as my guardian; to sign a couple of papers once in a while and do nothing else. Think you can handle that?”
“Yeah I can do that.”
“I’ve got a lawyer drawing up some papers. You sign them and I’ll give you $2,000. Then the day I turn 18, I’ll give you the other $2.000. You may need to sign some other papers from time to time which will allow me to do what I need to do and I’ll give you $50 each time I need you. I will also need you to keep your mouth shut about this. How’s that sound to you?”
“Sounds like you’re awfully grown up for a kid. Yeah, count me in.”
They set up a meet for next Wednesday to meet the lawyer and clicked off.
That night after dinner aint opened the envelopes to see what was there. There was a check for $22,000, the deed, and the title. There was also a slip of paper with a poem from Del. Aint knew this was weird, Del was no poet, but here it was:
Mirror shines behind the water
Below the impasse hardly seen
I treasured your thoughts
On Tesla’s charter
Keep the goats, they are a team.
Aint put it away not knowing what to think about it. But he did think about it.
The following Wednesday, aint picked up Jeff and drove to Nashville, gave him $10 and dropped him off at the diner for lunch while aint talked with Mr. Revile. They talked for 30 minutes while aint soaked up the information, then aint brought Jeff back to the office to sign some papers and they were done. Aint stopped at the license branch, took his test, passed, and got his license. He had already paid for the insurance. He gave Jeff an extra $50 for his time, then aint drove Jeff home and gave him $2,000.
Aint stopped at Sans Soucci, the goodwill- type store in town and bought a bed as he felt odd sleeping in Del’s old bed, so he didn’t; it did not occur to him to get a new bed. It didn’t take long to get it set up when he got home and he felt a twinge of pride putting it together having never seen it done before.
Meals around the house were terrible. The sense of loss was tough to overcome at mealtime; it was lonely. Cobaka was no help as his time was fast approaching and as if on cue, aint found Cobaka two days later laying in his little dug out hole by the back porch. Aint took care of it, but the loss was heavy and dragged hard on him. This was getting to be too much. Darn. Shoot. Shucks. Yikes. The words were like pouring tears in the river; just had no effect at all.
Aint had a lunch meeting with BS the next day to get back up to speed on the business. It was as though he wasn’t needed; things were going great. Orders were up, sales were up, and the cussing was down. Aint was not a dirty little jerk after all. They both understood that they would run the company one more year and then hire a manager to take over for them. They would each be listening for the next business. Aint worked hard at making sure everyone was satisfied with his company. The economy was in the tank, interest rates were beyond belief and most companies were struggling with gas prices. Stress was piling up on people. Aint found ways around it. Aint went home that night and fixed a can of beef stew for supper. He listened to hear the wild turkeys flap their way to a roost in a tree in the woods out back and later heard the coyotes yapping their way to start their hunt. “But to what purpose,” thought aint, “isn’t there more to it than just survive? All this work, all the planning, all the struggles, shouldn’t there be more to it all?” Aint was searching for his answer, but had not found it yet. He was evolving the question.
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