Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Alex couldn't wait for this day to be over. His wife had been yelling at him for days since his mother had died, that he needed to get his ass going and get them into their new home. He didn't care what it looked like on the inside because it didn't matter. They were going to live in it until they could sell it, and then they'd have all the cash they'd ever need. He'd made a mistake about telling her about the safes in the house. There were six, he thought, just filled with cash that she'd been hoarding over the years. His mom had grown up during the terrible times, and he knew that she was forever afraid of running out of cash. Not him.

William loved to spend money. It was his passion in life to spend it as quickly as he got it. It didn't matter to him if he had gotten a large windfall only to be broke the next day. Nope. Money was made to be spent, and he thought that he was pretty good at spending it on every shiny object he came across. When his wife popped him in the back of the head, he turned to pay attention to who had just entered the room. It was those men.

"What are they doing here? Everybody knows that they only took care of my momma so they could have her money. I know that they didn't get it because I've been watching the courthouse for houses being transferred out of my mom's name and into theirs." Mr. Ross told him to sit down and keep his mouth closed. "I won't do that. I have as much right to be here as they do."

"You mean you have more rights to be here more than they do." He looked at his wife, trying to figure out what she had said that was so different from what he had said. "Just say it, Willy. Tell them that you have more right to be here than them."

"That's what I said." She told him that, as usual, he got it backwards. "No, I didn't. Why are you going on with me now? I'm making my point about them not supposed to be here. Now hush, honey, so we can get our stuff unpacked and moved in. I'm going to take the master bedroom for myself. The rest of you can fight over whatever you want."

"Mr. Grable, I have several questions to ask you before we move on. The first one is, do you acknowledge Alexsandra Grable as your legal daughter?" He looked at the young woman that the attorney had pointed to. "There is DNA proof that she's your child. Are you going to deny her or not?"

"I guess her momma said that I am. And yeah, they did those tests on me, and it turns out that she's my kid." He looked at the attorney again. "It doesn't make any difference on me getting the house does it? I mean, that don't change any."

"No, it doesn't change the outcome of the house that was your mother's. Your mother just wanted you to acknowledge her so that she could take care of things." He asked what sort of things she was taking care of. "We'll have to wait and see what comes in the will. Since I've never had anything to do with her last will and testament, I have no say in what she might have done about your daughter. And you have claimed her, correct?"

"I guess so. But I'm not to claim her on my taxes. Her mom is taking care of that. She did want me to hand over some money to help raise her, but I think that I dodged that bullet. She's all raised up now." He looked at Alexandra and shook his head. "She sure doesn't look like me or my wife, does she? Kinda skinny, too."

"Why do you think that she would look like your wife? They're not related?" William just stared at the attorney. He pointed out that he was her father. "Yes. But that doesn't mean that she's your wife's daughter. It's you who fathered her. Your wife had nothing to do with that."

"Then are you saying that she's not my kid? You're confusing me." The attorney said never mind, and he turned to the six men. "I wish I could claim me sons like them. Big men who seemed to know how to dress up when they go out. I don't have me no clothing like that, but it sure would be something that I could be proud of. Don't you think?"

"Let's get this taken care of, why don't we? Mr. Locke Erikson?" The man stood up and started talking to him about his degree and how he'd gotten to take care of Martha Grable. William just tuned him out to think about the things that he was going to be doing once he was in the big house.

He already filled out the paperwork to get him a divorce. Unleashing himself from his wife was a big deal to him. While he didn't mind having her around for some stuff, she was good at keeping him straight on things. She was a pain in the ass with just about anything else in his life. And she'd already told him that she was going to have a credit card with every store's name on it, or she'd make his life a living hell. She had already done that, and he didn't figure it could get any worse. Then there were the kids.

He didn't doubt that they were his. His wife was so ugly that only a few men that he knew would sleep with her. Much less have sex with the woman. She'd be forever telling them what to do with it. Do this. Don't do that. Can't you just do it my way? William had a feeling that was the reason that his kids were so stupid. He'd been doing the fucking her way since he'd met her. Well, no more. He was going to do it with whomever he wanted and any way he wanted.

"Mr. Grable, are you paying attention?" He nodded and looked around at the others in the room. The men were still there, so he wasn't worried about the house yet. There wasn't any way that his momma would do that to him. Nope, he'd never believe it. He did notice that his other kid, the one that he'd had to claim, was still in the room, too. William went back to his figuring.

When his dad had been alive, he'd tell him that the house was worth more than anyone would pay for it. He'd never understood that part. How was he supposed to sell it if it was worth too much? Not even him explaining it to him did that help. All he knew for sure was that Momma had stashed money in the safes that were all over the place. But not the barn. He'd been out there plenty, and not one time had he seen any money or a safe.

There were other things that his dad had told him about the house and the money. It had never been his. Not even if he was to die, which he did some years later, would he be able to inherit anything from the estate unless his momma allowed it. And when he died before his momma, he just figured that it was going to be all his. Rubbing his hands together, he thought of the first thing he was going to do when he was nasty rich. He wanted to have a pizza delivered to him, still pipping hot, so he could refuse to pay for it. Like all them rich dummies did when he'd been doing that job.

"Mr. Grable. Have you any questions?" He asked about what. "The things that are going on here. You were paying attention, weren't you? The disbursement of money. Are you satisfied with the way it was given out to everyone?"

His wife stood up and said that he was not satisfied with the money dismemberment. He told her that she had it wrong and that it wasn't dismemberment at all but disbursement. They argued for about ten minutes before they were threatened with the police. He finally had to tell her to sit down and shut up. Oh my lordy, he knew it was the wrong thing to say as soon as it was out of his mouth. No one ever told Gilda to do anything like that, especially him.

Opening his eyes, he knew that he was in the back of an ambulance. The siren was going loud, like it was inside of his head. Sitting up, he was told to lie down until they cleared him from the hospital. Lying back down, William wondered aloud what she'd done to him.

"You'll have to have a few stitches in your mouth, Mr. Grable. Then there is the bump to the back of your head that they'll need a picture of to make sure that you didn't crack your skull. Also, I don't know how she did it, but she also managed to pull your underwear out of the back of your pants and off. You'll be sitting funny for a few days on account of that one." He asked if there was anything else. "Yes, sir. You're not to step one foot in the law offices ever again. It seems you made a dirty mess when your undershorts were pulled out like that."

He laid his head back down after looking down at his body. Sure enough, he didn't have any undershorts on, and his pants were torn up in ways that he'd not seen before. Laughing at the fact that he'd shit himself, he hurt his mouth. William told himself right then that his wife wasn't getting a shiny penny out of his estate for as long as he lived.

The police came by the hospital as he was being stitched up. He fifty-three put in his head and eleven in his mouth. He did ask them why they didn't just put in an even amount like twenty-five but they were too busy laughing to do much more than that. Stupid people."

Since he'd not gotten any money from the lawyer, he had to walk to the hotel that they'd been staying in. It would have been a whole lot better had he been able to go to his house. He'd had to walk right by it on his way into town. But he'd been told, no less than three times, that he wasn't to go back to his mom's house unless he got an invite. The police told him not to hold his breath on that happening anytime in the future.

"What's a man to do when even his own mom short-changes him? Not only do I not have any of her money yet, but I have to sleep in a hotel because those men have taken over my house." Shaking his head, he walked into the lobby of the place where he and his family had been staying and waited in line to talk to somebody about his room.

"Your wife said that you'd have to sleep in the parking lot, that she wasn't having your butt stinking up her room." He asked what she'd really said, knowing that if Gilda had a chance to curse at someone, he'd do it. No calling your ass a butt, either. "That's the way that I'm telling you she said. And so you know, Mr. Grable, you're not going to be sleeping in the parking lot like some homeless man."

"Then where are you putting me? I'm glad to hear that you're concerned about my welfare, mister. You don't know what I've been through in figuring out what my mom left me in her will." He said that he had a letter for him to read. "I don't read so good. Do you think you can read it to me on the way to the room you got for me?"

"Unless you have your own money, sir, I do not have a room for you. Here, take this so that I don't have to be privy to what it says." He took the envelope and stood there while the man who had only just said that he was going to give him a room so that he'd not sleep outside had already changed his mind. What the hell was this world coming to when people were so ready for takebacks. He needed to find someone that would read this to him so that he'd be able to pick up some money. Then he'd show them.

It took him a good hour and a half to finally get someone to read the letter to him. The grocery store owner wasn't happy that he needed to read it for him, but he told him that was the only way that he could pay for the two apples he'd stolen and the bottle of soda. He wanted a meal, not a snack.

"This letter just tells you that the money was disbursed the way that your mother wanted it, and because you'd been stealing from her all your life, you'll get nothing. Nor does your wife nor your kids with your wife." The store manager put out his hand. "You don't have any money coming to you, so you either pay for what you stole, or I'm calling the cops."

"Go on then. Call them. I need me a place to lie down, and it might as well be with them." He waited for a good bit until the police showed up and then put out his hands so that he could be cuffed and taken in. Nobody was having it, and it wasn't until he knocked over the basket of apples and oranges that he was arrested. Stupid people had to make it hard on him, didn't they?

~*~

Locke read over the will he'd been given a copy of three times before he would believe it. She'd left him everything. All he had to do was maintain the house and lawns for the rest of his life and also to take care of Alexandra. Then, it was his free and clear. There were no taxes for him to maintain either. Martha had set up a fund for him that would directly pay off that. It wouldn't be difficult, he thought, to care for the beautiful woman as well as the house he'd been living in for the last eleven years of his life. Christ, he had to sit down for a minute.

"Put your head between your knees before you pass out." He did just that because it was that or kiss the floor again. "What did you expect from her? This is just me asking if you'd be this way if she'd left us what she had. And that's nothing to sneeze about either."

"Were you surprised that she left you nearly five million dollars? I wasn't sure that she had that much. But then, I never messed with her finances. That was never any part of our relationship." Dusty told him he was still pale to keep his head down. "Dusty, this is my home. She left it to me instead of her family. I don't know what to think about that. I'm still fuzzy on some of the details."

"I'm pretty sure that she thought of us as family more than she did her son and his offspring. Alexandra told me that you're going to see about helping the other families of William. His wife could more than likely use some help, too. How would you like to live with William all your life only to find out he's sired a dozen or so kids, including your new roommate?" He told his brother that he didn't want to think about that. "Yeah, I don't blame you there. How much longer do you have on your doctorate? I'm thinking that you should be about finished up. It's funny to me that you tried your best to keep that a secret when she knew all along."

"Yes, she had been paying my tuition all this time, and I thought that I was getting a really good rate from the college. I know now that she's been paying for all of our education all this time. I guess this goes to show you that I could never pull the wool over her eyes, as she was so fond of saying. I have one term, and then I have to take my state boards. Do you think I'll pass?" He snorted at him and then laughed. "Thanks. I think. But I do want to have some education for all the trouble I went through to get out of our home. Something that I can depend on if I mess this part of my life up and lose all her money and ours."

"You won't." He asked him how he knew. "Because big brother, you're one of the smartest men that I know. And you've worked harder at being independent of the money that we all won more than the rest of us. I bet if I were to ask you, I'm willing to bet that you still have the original money and haven't touched a dime of the winnings. Have you?"

"No. I started to do that at first. It was there and I thought that I might as well use it. Then, when Martha started paying us weekly, I made a promise to myself that I'd only use the winnings when it became a dire emergency. Nothing, until now, I guess, has come up that I was willing to crack open the safe to get into it."

He really had a safe in his room. Locke was sure that they all had one in their houses somewhere. They'd been broke and poor before becoming rich, and the need to save every penny had stayed with them even though they were all multibillionaires at this point. Not that he didn't donate his time and money where he found a cause worthy of it, but he owned nothing that he could live without, and he liked that just fine and dandy. He asked Dusty what he was going to do now that his home was paid off and he had extra money.

"I'm going to finish my own doctrine and become a financial wizard. At least with my own money, that is. Also, I'll gladly help with you guys' money as well." Locke thanked him and told him that he'd really like that. "I'm glad. I've already been approached by the others, and I believe that will be a full-time job just keeping us in money. Do you think that Zander and Knox will finish up their education and become partners in law?"

"Yes. Zander seems to enjoy the courtroom aspect of being a lawyer. He loves talking to the jury and pointing the finger in the right direction. Knox is really good at research. He has all his facts lined up before he needs them in order of importance. I love to watch the two of them cooking. Martha told me once that she could watch them over television some nights." Dusty laughed and told him that he recorded him so that he could watch him over and over. "I never thought of that. I'll have to borrow one of them from you sometime. I do love watching him sum up."

They talked about the other brothers. August was fast becoming the one to call on when they needed information. He could quote facts about just about anything. And you didn't have to go see if he was right. He was. And for as smart as he was, he never made you feel as if you were stupid because he knew a great deal more than most people around the town. More than likely, the world if it came to that.

"And Demetrius? What do you think he's going to be doing. In all the years that we've been here, he'd been the most unsteady about a place in the world." Dusty said that he was going to be cooking for someone or someplace special. "Yes, I never thought of that. He'd make a wonderful chef. As long as he can use fresh over frozen. I've never seen a man so obsessed with fresh ingredients when he was cooking."

The two of them laughed. It was fun for them both to guess what they'd be up to in a few years' time. They had done that with Martha, too. He knew now why she'd had such big ideas for the lot of them. When they were joined in their fun by Alexandra, he asked her what was wrong. She'd been seemingly in a down mood since the reading of the will.

"Now, don't take this the wrong way, but I thought that she'd give me money, too, so that I could move on. I had no idea that she was going to have me stay in this house until I was flush again. What the hell is flush? If it means money enough to have fun, that's not something that I strive for. I like having food on the table and warm in the winter months. Not too much. But she did provide me with a roof over my head." She looked at him. "I guess until I wear out my welcome. That's what scares me so much. What you'll do when you've had enough of me."

He looked at her and smiled before answering. "I don't believe there is a time when I've had enough of you. In the last few days, I've enjoyed having you around as opposed to all the males of my family. You don't stink, and you don't seem to have any really terrible habits. I could easily live with you for the rest of my life."

He knew that he was scaring her even more than she'd been, but he really liked having her around. Telling her again how much he was enjoying just talking to her, it made them both blush.

"Yes, but when you've gotten over the excitement of having a woman around, will you—that didn't come out right. When you…just let me know in advance if you've changed your mind and have decided you no longer want me as your roomie. So, starting tomorrow, I'm going to make myself indispensable around here. I don't know what that would be. The place runs like a well-oiled machine, but I plan to find something you're laxing on and take that as my job."

"You can help me out." She smiled at Dusty when he spoke. "I have this dinner thing that I have to attend. It's for some charity event that Martha set me up with. If you could be my date that night, I'd consider myself honored. It's black tie, and I'll pay for you a dress and all the things that go with that."

"I'm not even put off by you thinking that I can't afford it. I can't unless you're wondering. Yes, I would love to be your escort to this dinner thing. I could make a living off that, you think?" They all three laughed, but Locke was a little put-out. It was his roommate, after all. "All right, you let me know when I have to be ready, and I'll do my best not to embarrass you by being a clumsy idiot." When she left them, talking to herself about what color she should wear, he looked at his brother when he said his name.

"You like her." He started to tell his brother that, of course, he did, but he spoke again. "I mean, you really do like her. Like, are you going to have to kill me kind of liking her?"

"I don't know. But I do what you to…no, don't do this. She's much too excited to be going, but I want you not to take her at the same time." He said that he could break it to her gently. "Please don't. She's just the first woman that I've talked to under the age of eighty since…well, for a very long time. That's more than likely what it is. I was asked to protect her, and that's coming out in the form of jealousy. I'm just jealous that you asked her first." Dusty asked him if he thought that was true. "I don't know, to be honest with you. But you take her Dusty and forget that I've said anything. Perhaps I just need to get laid or something."

All of them had gone on dates. Not so much when they were home, but since moving to this home they were in. In fact, it was rarely a Friday or Saturday night that any of them were stuck at home.

It wasn't until he was in his last year of med school that women became…he thought they'd become greedy. They wanted him for themselves, and he was too busy to make himself exclusive to any one woman. And studying had been first so that he could care for Martha. Maybe, he thought to himself, he'd seen the best, and all other women had paled in comparison to Martha. He didn't know if that was true either, but that's what he was going to tell people if they asked. He'd been too busy.

Locke made his way to his office and began clearing up some of the things that had been left when they all knew that Martha was in the last stages of her life. It had taken its toll on all of them, but especially him, as he saw her daily. She told him that he'd better marry and have lots of children. He would fob her off when she spoke of him getting married.

"No, I want you to promise me, Locke, that you will go out more after I'm gone. I want you to see people as young as you are. You've taken such good care of me that I've outlived my usefulness in being around men and women my age. They only want to talk about their ailments and pains when all I want to talk about is how I'd taken first prize with me roses this year. My home was on the cover of a fancy magazine. And what I had for dinner last night. Without telling everyone that I had terrible gas pains after it and needed a good poop." He had laughed when she had. "Will you at least be open to finding someone to love you, son? It's all I want in the world."

"I will make you a promise that I can live with. I will date more and perhaps go on a date with the same woman more than once. All right?" She told him that was fine and dandy. Then, the following week, she caught a cold, and it debilitated her to have to go on bed rest. And after that, pneumonia set in, and she was just too old to fight it.