Ginger Blue

Done with his breakfast, he grabbed a cup of coffee and met his grandfather outside. They sat under the tree where it had all came to a head about two years earlier. They looked out over the lower pasture toward the tree line beside the Elk River. Gramps looked at Al and grinned. He said, "I'm proud of you, boy. You kept your pussy hunting away from town and most of the ire directed toward ya has died down. I got friends over in Neosho, though, and they tell me you don't have quite as good reputation over there. Of course, Reverend Moore is still angry as all get out at you. You just couldn't leave that girl of his alone could ya?"

Al looked at his grandfather with a sheepish expression. He hung his head and said, "No, Gramps, I have trouble leaving Angel alone. There's just something about her I keep going back for. I can't explain it but after a while I just need to get together with her for some reason."

Gramps looked at Al a moment and said, "Well, enough of this idle chit chat. Maybe one of these days you'll figure Angel and you out. Let's talk business now. What I want to do, son, is turn all the work over to you here on the place. Mostly, I just want to do the daily chores here around the house, keep the garden, and help with the busy times. I'll give you advice and all but unless you are going to make a hell of a mess I won't over rule ya. You been working with me now for the last two years and you've learned a lot.

"I'll let you have two thirds of the profit from the place as pay for your work. Your grandma and I can get by passing well with a third of the profit and our Social Security checks. We'll call that rent for the place 'cause rent doesn't count against what I can earn and still get my Social Security. That's also why I won't be helpin' you any or managing the place. This fall after crops are harvested we'll begin working on your old house. I'll help with some of the work on the building and will pay half of the cost of materials like I promised. That sound fair to you son? As long as you live here I'll provide the apartment and food like before. After you move into your own house you'll get lunch here. How's that sound?"

"I guess I can live with that. At least I'll try to do that. I don't rightly know how much money we're talking about though. Will it be enough for me to live on?"

"Well, Al, I don't know how much money we're talking about either. Profits vary a lot year to year and depend on the crop you choose to plant. Some years we only make five or six thousand dollars. Other years we make thirty or forty thousand dollars. Of course we could make more some years but I've been slowing down. I don't plant as much and we don't have as many cattle as we used to. I've had to hire more of the work done too so that cuts down on the profit. We get a lot of our food from the farm though son so we won't go hungry in the lean years. Of course a lot of farmers hereabouts either work in town or their wives do. That helps in the bad years."

True to his word, after the summer work was finished Gramps and Al began renovating his old house in the unincorporated settlement of Ginger Blue. This was a small resort community that had seen better days. They only worked on the house when they had time that could be taken away from the farm work so the renovations went slowly. At one time the house was a showplace. It sat on a bluff overlooking the beautiful Elk River about a quarter mile from the Ginger Blue lodge. The resort still served meals and had a few threadbare rooms to rent. The bar was still open and did a fair amount of business on weekends and during the summer. The few cabins still good enough to rent were small and outdated. Most of them were in poor enough repair they weren't rented any longer.

Al and his grandfather started the house renovation by stripping all the damaged and outdated material from the interior of the building. They stripped out all the old wiring and plumbing, then repaired the structural damage. After doing that they replaced all the windows, repaired and painted the siding and replaced the shingles on the roof.

Just after Christmas, Al and his grandfather decided to install a wood stove inside the old house and continue the renovation throughout the winter. While they were trying to get the stove set up in the living room they dislodged some stones from the old fireplace while inserting the stove pipe into the chimney. When Al looked at the damaged fireplace he saw a metal box inside that had been hidden behind some of the stones. He reached in and pulled out the box. It was locked with an old fashioned padlock.

Al took the box over to a workbench and cut the lock off it. Inside were several papers, including an old deed to the property, a small amount of old money, and a large ornate document. When they read the document they saw it was a bearer bond issued by the resort of Ginger Blue, face amount $30,000.00. The bond was issued in 1929 and still had coupons attached from 1931 through 1979. The stated interest rate was 5% per annum.

"Hey, Gramps," Al yelled. "Look at this. Do you think it's worth anything?"

"Well, I can't say for sure son. I suspect we need to talk to someone down at the bank to see. It says here on it that the Bank of Pineville issued the bond for Ginger Blue. Maybe they can tell us something about it."

Since it was almost lunch time Al and his Grandfather got into Al's truck and drove to the bank before they went home for lunch. The Bank of Pineville no longer existed. Al and his grandfather actually went into the bank building that once housed the Bank of Pineville but was now U S Bank, a large national chain that had purchased the smaller local bank. Al walked up to the teller and Samantha, one of his fuck buddies, smiled back at him. She said, "Hey, Al, what's up?"

"Hey, Sam. I got this bond here and I wanted to know if it's worth anything now. It says here the Bank of Pineville issued it for Ginger Blue and I wondered what it could be worth. Since your bank bought out the Bank of Pineville several years ago we thought you all might be able to tell us more about it."

"Oh, I don't know anything about that. Let me get Mr. Tolliver, maybe he can help you. I'll be right back." She rushed from behind the counter and entered a small office. Al and Gramps watched her talking for a moment then she and the man inside the office came out.

Les Tolliver smiled and walked toward Al and Gramps. When he got near them he held his hand out to shake and said, "Hello, Don. How are you, Al? It's good to see you both. What's this Sam tells me about you having a bond the Bank of Pineville issued and serviced for Ginger Blue? I've never heard about any bonds for them. Heck, I've never heard of our little bank ever underwriting and servicing bonds of any type at all."

Al held the bond out and Mr. Tolliver took it from his hands. His face showed shock when he glanced at the bond. "Oh, my. On first glance this sure does look like a legitimate bond. Why don't you come into the office and let me see what I can come up with here?"

The three men walked into the office and took a seat. Mr. Tolliver began looking at something on his computer. After a few moments he pushed back from the computer and looked at Al. I can't find anything on the system about this bond. Could I keep it for a few days and see if I can find anything else out about it? For something this old we'll probably have to dig into the old paper records stored back in the archives. Hell, I don't even know if we can find anything."

"No, I don't feel real comfortable about that. Can you make a copy of the bond and do your research then get back to us?"

"Well that really isn't the best way to do this. If this bond was ever even issued we would have to be sure it was not a counterfeit or hadn't been recalled or paid off before we could tell you if it still has value. I really need to keep it so I can do all that."

"Why don't you copy it and do what you can that way, then after we know if there was a bond issued and not called or paid off we can see if this is a valid bond?"

Mr. Tolliver glanced at Don and frowned. When Don didn't say anything he turned to Al and said, "Well, if you insist Al, I suppose we can do that. It's highly irregular however. You know it could be several days before I have any kind of answer for you."

Mr. Tolliver made the copies front and back of the bond. He grudgingly handed the original bond to Al. Al and his grandfather shook his hand and left the office. They went to a clerk and asked to access Al's safe deposit box. After placing the bond inside they took off for a late lunch.

Later that night Don received a phone call from the irate owner of Ginger Blue. He introduced himself and immediately said, "What's this I hear about you saying I owe you a pile of money? I've never borrowed money from you for anything much less for this resort. I bought this place in 1968 and the only loan I have on it is from the bank in Joplin."

"Well, Mr. Parks, I never said you borrowed money from me. My grandson found a bond in his father's house issued in 1929 on behalf of the resort. It is a bearer bond, sir, and if it is valid the resort will owe the principle and accrued interest for all the unpaid coupons."

"That's preposterous. I don't owe anything of the sort. Even if that is a valid bond the money would be owed by the people who owned the place in 1929 not me."

"Well, now, I can't say about that. Why don't we just wait and see what the banker and lawyers come up with Mr. Parks."

During the next several weeks Al and his grandfather continued to work on his old house. Twice during that time period Al had a confrontation with Mr. Parks. The first contact was the afternoon after his irate phone call to Al's grandfather. Al was working alone when a man he recognized slightly came storming into his house unannounced. The man walked angrily up to Al and stood glaring at him. His jaw was clenched and his face red with anger. He was almost shaking from his anger.

Al was still standing where he had been working, hammer in his hand, when the man began yelling. "Are you the little pussy chasing pissant that is trying to rip me off for some damn fake loan? I've heard all about you, you bastard, and if you keep up with this shit you'll be sorry you were ever born. I don't owe you a damn red cent and you know it. You'd best just forget about your thieving plans and leave me alone you little asshole."

Al was so shocked he stood gaping at the angry man. He didn't know what to say or do. Finally, he found his voice and said, "All I did was find a document in my father's house and ask the banker if it was still valid. I have never told anyone you borrowed money from me or owed me money. We were curious about the paperwork, but if you keep fucking with me and the bond is valid I guarantee I will exert my rights and demand payment. I hadn't decided what to do about it until you began threatening me and my family. Now you can be sure I will rape you with the bond if it is valid. You've done stepped on your dick as far as I'm concerned, asshole."

Mr. Parks face got even redder. He rapidly moved the few steps to Al and pushed him back against the wall he had been working on. He said, "You Son of a Bitch. You just stepped in a pile of shit here. If you don't let this drop I'll be on you like stink on shit."

Al was struggling to rise from where he had fallen after the push. The man pulled his foot back to give him a kick when they both heard, "Stop right there, Mr. Parks. Now you back up and let Mr. Thomas up."

Without turning around Mr. Parks snarled, "Get your nose out of things that don't concern you asshole. In fact, get your ass out of here right now or I'll take after you when I finish with this little pissant."

By the time Parks finished his statement Al had seen who he was addressing. He smiled and finished getting to his feet. The man talking to Parks was one of Al's old friends from school. He was also a deputy sheriff. He had been stopping by occasionally to talk to Al and shoot the shit after his day ended. Al was sure glad he decided to stop by this afternoon!

As Parks was berating the deputy for interfering he was turning to confront him. He stopped moving and his eyes got big when he saw who he had just threatened. The deputy stood back about ten feet; hand on his pistol while Parks glared at him. He glanced at Al and said, "Al, do you want to press charges against Mr. Parks for assault or what do you want done about this?"

Parks began shaking in his anger and snarled, "Assault! That's bullshit and you know it. I wasn't assaulting this little shit. I was just explaining to him that I don't owe him any money and he had better not try to say I do."

Al looked at Parks again then turned his attention to the deputy and said, "No, I guess not. Just get his ass off my property. If he keeps on making his threats against me I might change my mind though."

Ten days after his confrontation with Mr. Parks, Al received a phone call from the banker in Pineville. The banker hemmed and hawed after his effusive greeting. Finally he said, "Al, we found records in the archives on the bond you have in your possession. There was $200,000.00 worth of bonds issued on that date for the Ginger Blue Resort. All have been paid off except for the one you have in your possession. Assuming the bond is found to be valid it appears as if Ginger Blue will owe you a large amount of money. You do understand the bond matured in March, 1979 and stopped accruing interest don't you? Even with that though, the unpaid coupons and the face value of the bond will amount to somewhere around $102,000.00. Could you bring the bond in so we can verify the validity of the document? I'll give you a receipt for your bond and the unpaid coupons. We'll have to do that when we redeem it anyway."

"Yeah, sure. I can do that first thing in the morning if that is ok with you?"

Six days after Al took the bond out of his safe deposit box and gave it to the banker he received a letter from the bank. The letter stated that they and a securities expert determined the bond was not a counterfeit and was still outstanding. Al had a valid claim against the Ginger Blue resort in the amount of $72,000.00 for the unpaid interest and $30,000 for the principle amount on the bond. What was even better, his bond was a senior debenture and stood in line ahead of the small remaining loan balance the bank in Joplin held against the resort. The banker wanted to know if Al wanted them to begin collection procedures since the resort no longer had an account with their bank.

Al was still angry with Parks. He didn't even consider forgiving the bond as he and his grandfather previously discussed. Instead, he immediately got into his truck and drove to the bank where he signed the documentation authorizing collection of the full amount due.

Three weeks later that authorization sparked the beginning of the final confrontation between Al and Mr. Parks. Al received a certified letter informing him he was being sued in court to prevent collection of the bond. The letter from the attorney gave him the option of coming to his office and signing a paper relinquishing his rights to collection or meeting Mr. Parks in a court of law. Of course, this inflamed Al's temper even worse than his confrontation several weeks before. He went to town and talked to the banker about the issue. To his delight he found the banks agreement with the resort so many years previously required them to stand for the legal fees in the collection action.

The lawsuit drug on and finally devolved on titular ownership of the bond even though it was a bearer bond. The slimy attorney Mr. Parks hired was grasping at straws and claimed Al had no right to the bond since he found it hidden in the old fireplace. Al was in turn disillusioned with the law, angry, and scared he would not get the money. The evening after the attorney played what he hoped was his trump card Al was sitting in his apartment drinking a beer when he had a thought. He got his small lock box out and riffled through it until he found the purchase contract his father signed with the administrator of the estate he purchased the house from many years previously.

Al read the contract and began grinning. He pumped his fist and yelled "Yes!" The contract was signed by the administrator of the estate of the person who bank records showed had originally purchased the bond. It was a well to do businessman from Joplin who vacationed and spent numerous weekends in Ginger Blue. His estate sold the house AND contents to Al's father in 1973, along with the ten acre plot of ground it stood on. The document was very explicit as they legally must be and gave the legal description to include the specific ten acre plot with beginning and ending points in the Range, Section, and Township of McDonald County, Missouri."

The next morning Al took the document to court and gave it to his and the bank's lawyer. As the attorney read the document his grin became larger and larger. As soon as court was called to session Al's and the banks attorney stood and asked to approach the bench. The opposing council followed upon the judge's invitation.

Al's attorney said, "Your Honor, it appears from prior testimony we have proven the bond in question is valid and still outstanding. It is a valid debt of the Ginger Blue resort. I believe my learned opponent's only remaining point is the somewhat questionable one of ownership of a bond that is clearly labeled as a Bearer Bond."

The attorney turned slightly to the opposing attorney and continued, "Am I correct?"

Without thinking the opposing attorney smiled and stated, "That is correct, your Honor. We maintain that even though this is a bearer bond the person who has it in hand has admitted he only found it, therefore he has questionable right to demand payment on a bond he might not own legally."

Al's attorney turned back to the Judge and placed the sales contract on the desk before him. He said, "Well, your Honor, I have here a document that proves my client does own the bond. Since this is the last point in contention I request a judgment against Ginger Blue in this case for the full amount of the debt due plus attorney's fees and costs. This document I have presented is the sales contract for the property my client now owns just down the road from Ginger Blue. The contract was made between the administrator of the Estate of Gerald Sommers, the man whom records show originally purchased the bond and Mr. Thomas's father. This contract is for the purchase of the land and house in which the bond was found. It specifically states the house was purchased with contents. Since Mr. Thomas's father and mother are deceased and their estate was previously probated transferring all their belongings to Mr. Alfred Thomas, my client and their son, it is obvious that Mr. Thomas IS the legal owner of this bond any way you wish to look at it."

The opposing attorney wilted as he heard the statement about the sales contract. The Judge picked up the document and read through it rapidly. He leaned back in his chair for a moment then handed the document to the clerk. He said, "I submit this sales contract for the house and contents of said house to be marked as defense exhibit 7. This contract specifically states Mr. Thomas's father purchased the land, house, and contents from the estate of the original purchaser of the bond in question. It is the opinion of this court that Mr. Al Thomas does own the bond in question and that the principle and interest in question are due him from the current owner of Ginger Blue resort. Said current owner did purchase the resort and its debts legally from the original owner therefore he is liable for this debt."