The Ace of Green Eagles: Section 18.
“While in the hospital, my Momma’s sister, who lived nearby in Nevada came to see me. She was my Aunt Emily, also known as Sister Cactus Flower. My Aunt Emily lived on a small commune. Aunt Emily wanted me to come and live with her on her ‘caring commune.’ I’d no other relatives and nowhere else to go, I was alone. So, I took her up on her offer. As soon as I was to be released from the hospital, I was to travel to Nevadato live with my Aunt Emily. (I just couldn’t find it in my heart to call her Cactus Flower.) Anyway, when I recuperated, I had a place to go. I had something to look forward to, instead of just feeling sorry for myself.”
“When I was in the hospital, the police telephoned Bloomfield and gave them the tragic news. When I finally came out of my twenty-day coma, I got a telephone call from Doc Stevenson. He talked to me for a long time. He said that he would manage my estate in Bloomfield, while I recovered from my injuries. He said not to worry about anything, not to worry about money. He told me that my Daddy, it seemed, kept most of his money well hidden, most likely for legal reasons. My Daddy did not want any lawyers, accountants, or guardians looking at his assets. My Daddy was very careful about hiding away money. He was afraid of the government declaring the money ‘illegal’, which it was, and of them confiscating it, which they could do. So Doc had his work cut out for him. Doc said he would try and get everything he could. At least, that’s what I was told. I believed Doc; he always played poker in an honorable way. Besides, I really had no other choice.”
“While I was in a coma, I had gotten a letter from Caitlin. It was a wonderful letter. Inside she had pressed her lips against the paper. She used special light pink lipstick. I could see the outline of her lips. I could kiss her back by kissing the marks on the paper. It showed just how wonderful Caitlin really was; she signed her letter, ‘Love.’”
“Near the very end of her letter she explained that she was leaving Bloomfield with her family and she was going to live in Africa. Her father and mother were going to establish the very first Church of the New Jerusalem in all of Africa. No one knew her new address, not even Reverend Pike, as the location was not yet determined. She was excited, helping to fulfill her spiritual quest, doing God’s work, helping the much less fortunate of Africa.”
“I never got to write her a return letter. Rev. Pike told Doc Stevenson that Caitlin and her family were on an adventure, somewhere in the African bush, on a calling from God, her address unknown.’”
“Everything of importance in my world had changed, all in a fleeting instant. I was now on my own. I was now an adult at fifteen and a half. I heard from Mr. Ziller that Doc had gotten some money from the guy who took over my Daddy’s poker game. That’s what I was told. Doc called me often, every third day. He would talk to my rehabilitation doctor. Doc said that it sounded like I was getting good care, ‘If I had any problems with any of the doctors or nurses, to let him know, right away.’”
“Using money from my parent’s estate, I was told that Doc was to pay for all of my hospital expenses. He was also to pay for clearing out my parent’s house, and for my parent’s funeral. My Momma and my Daddy’s bodies had been trucked back and buried inBloomfield, buried while I was still in the hospital, deep in a comma. I regretted not being able to attend the funerals, but at the time, I was unconscious. I was told it was an excellent service. Everyone in town showed up, all of my Daddy’s poker players and all of my Momma’s friends. Everyone cried and cried. Even Rev. Pike was moved by the terrible tragedy. Everyone asked and prayed for me. At least that’s what I was told. Doc told me about it over the telephone. I liked and trusted him. Doc also said that he cashed in the HE-FIGures fund. He said he would send me the money. Doc said that my check was in the mail for both the HE-FIGures fund and for the remainder of my parent’s estate, less medical bills, and funeral expenses. I patiently waited.”
“On the morning of the day I was to leave the hospital, a check arrived in the mail, made out to Master Grady Mates, a check for $58,522. Not too shabby for a fifteen year old orphan boy of parents with no life insurance, who always had lived in a small rented house.”
“Although I now had money, I felt poor. I felt poor and lonely. I missed being part of a family, I missed my Momma, my Daddy, and I missed Caitlin. I found loneliness to be a terrible feeling, a bottomless pit of despair, an enlarging vacancy within a starving soul. For the first time in my life, I clearly understood the true value of having loved ones and the limited value of money; unfortunately, I had to learn the hard way, by the loss of all of my beloved.”
… to be continued …