King of the Mountain

"Evander," My mother said too sweetly. I knew by that tone of voice I was going to be in trouble, or I wasn't going to like what she wanted. "May I have five-thousand dollars please?"

I pushed the mute button on my phone as I laughed. My mother never ceased to surprise me.

"No problem, Mom," I said as I watched my assistant set a cup of coffee on my deck. "I'll transfer it as soon as we get off the line."

My mom rarely asked me for anything major. She had no reason. I long ago set her up by paying off her mortgage and buying her a new car and anything else she could have wanted. I also set up a line of credit for her to draw from as needed, but she never bothered to learn how to download the app to manage it. My suspicion was that it was her way of making sure we continued to speak on a regular basis.

"Well," she sighed, "I was hoping you could give me cash this time."

I laughed but didn't mute the line. "Why? Do you have to pay a bookie or a gigolo?"

"Evander Walsh! You be careful, young man. You're not too old to spank."

"Sure, Mom. You'd have to catch me first. I'll come by after work, okay?"

"After work for normal people or after work for workaholics like you?" she grumbled.

She knew me too well. If not for her call, I'd have stayed at the office until after 8pm.

"I'll come over for dinner. Is six okay by you?"

"Perfect, dear. I'll see you tonight."

"Goodbye, Mom."

I tossed the phone on my desk and took a sip of coffee. Jan, my assistant walked in and smirked.

"Sit down, Jan. I have to be out of here at 5:30 so we need to get a couple of things done quickly. Oh! Could you get me five grand for my mom? I should have you get it in ones just to mess with her, but I'd hate to waste your time like that."

She frowned, "You know I'd never do anything like that to your mother. You should be ashamed of yourself for thinking it."

I laughed, "Too right. Okay let's get busy."

*****

As I walked up to my childhood home's front door, I wondered again why she wanted so much money and in cash no less. Before I got to the door, a baseball went flying past me.

I stopped abruptly and looked at her neighbor's yard to see a little boy running towards me.

"Sorry, Sir. I missed the net," he shouted as he ran past me.

I looked and saw a net set up and realized the boy was playing by himself.

"No problem, you missed me," I smiled and continued to the door.

"Evander!" she shrieked as my mom opened the door. "You're on time."

I sighed as she hugged me, "Whatever, Mom. What's for dinner?"

"Stuffed shells, and we have guests."

I didn't like the smirk she gave me as she turned to walk into the house. I looked once more at the little boy throwing baseballs at the net and smiled. I remembered my baseball days fondly. The only difference was I would have been playing catch with my dad rather than throwing balls into a net by myself.

I groaned when I saw his mechanics. To use a sexist term, he threw like a girl. I had to help; I couldn't let that go.

"Mom, I'll be right in," I shouted and walked over to the boy.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..." the boy started. I cut him off.

"No, no, I'm not here because I'm upset. Can I show you something?" I asked.

I held out my hand for the ball and he wildly tossed it to me. I laughed and caught it, barely.

"Here, Buddy, watch my arm, okay?"

He nodded and I made a throwing motion. Without my asking, he mirrored the movement.

"Yeah. Just like that. Try it with the ball." I handed it to him and helped him make the motion.

"I got it," he argued. I let him go and watched him throw it into the net.

"See, didn't that feel better?" I asked.

"I threw faster," he said and ran to the net to retrieve the balls.

"Sure did. You'll be a Major League pitcher in no time, little man."

I watched him throw a few more and he nailed the motion every time.

"Good job, buddy. I'll see you around."

As I walked away, he asked, "Do you know Nana Jean?"

"Nana Jean?" I thought. Only my desperate for grandchildren mother would have the neighbor kid calling her Nana.

"Yep. She's my mom."

"She's nice. She lets me play video games after school."

I figured she babysat the kid. I wondered why she didn't mention that to me.

"Sounds fun," I said as I sat on his front steps. "Is she watching you now?"

He shook his head. "No. Mom's home from work now."

"Good."

Funny thing about kids. They either don't talk due to shyness, or they are little chatterboxes. That kid was the latter.

"I'm Nicky," he said as he threw another ball into the net. I smiled when I saw he stepped with the correct foot.

"I'm Evan. Nice to meet you."

"Nana Jean talks about you all the time. She tells me and my mom all kinds of stories about you."

All of a sudden I smelled a rat.

"She does?"

He nodded his head. "Look here," he shouted excitedly and ran over to a familiar baseball bag. "She gave me your stuff."

I looked in the bag and it was like a time capsule. I saw my old glove, bats, some tape, and I laughed when I saw a couple of pouches of Big-League Chew.

"The glove is too big, but she says I'll grow into it," he chirped. "And the gum is gross."

"No doubt about it, Nicky." It was only a dozen years old. Probably hard as a rock too.

"Evander!" Mom called from the door. "Bring Nicky here and get washed up for dinner."

I looked down at the boy and asked, "I guess you're having dinner at Nana Jean's house."

"Yeah. We eat there a lot. Mom gets home late from work and is too tired to cook."

He ran off into the house leaving everything a mess on the front yard. I shook my head and smiled as I cleaned everything up and put it into the bag.

I wondered why my mom didn't mention Nicky or his mom. By the looks of the house and yard, they must've lived there for a while. I frowned when I realized I didn't visit my mom enough. I should have known she was babysitting a neighbor kid.

I walked into the house and heard Nicky chattering away in the kitchen. I looked at the bookshelf in the living room and smiled seeing all of the pictures that lined the shelves. A tear threatened to escape my eye when I saw the picture of me and Kelly in Hawaii. She was so beautiful that day.

"Come on, Evander. Everyone is waiting for you," Mom shouted.

I stopped in my tracks at the doorway to the small dining room. While Nicky was scooping pasta into his mouth, a gorgeous woman was pouring him milk.

She looked young yet worn down. It was obvious she was tired and barely had any energy to spare. Her pale blue eyes were stunning yet sad. Her sweater was threadbare, but at one time would have been stylish. She wore no make-up and had her red curls pulled back into a ponytail, so I didn't get the impression she was in on my mother trying to set us up. She seemed to not care I was there at all.

"Evander, this is Lisa Hendrix my neighbor. You already met her boy Nicky."

I smiled and said, "Nice to meet you, Lisa. You've got a great kid there."

She forced a smile and said, "Thanks."

I sat and a plate of stuffed shells with enough grated Parmesan-Reggiano cheese to choke Giada De Laurentiis was set before me.

"I'm sorry, Lisa. I didn't know we were having guests joining us, or I'd have brought some wine. My mother doesn't drink."

"Nicky," she snapped at the boy as she ignored me, "use your napkin."

"Aw, Mom," he groaned but grabbed the napkin to wipe his mouth, "I was gonna."

I was annoyed that the beautiful Lisa wanted to act like I wasn't there, so I looked at my mom. "Mom, the shells are delicious."

She smiled and said, "Nicky loves my shells, just like you did when you were little. Isn't that right, Nicky?"

He smiled with a face full of sauce and a mouthful of shell and nodded.

As mom droned on about Nicky and how much he reminded her of me, I couldn't help but stare at Lisa. It was as if she were an unfinished work of art. She was naturally beautiful with cheek bones that should have been on the cover of Vogue. I couldn't help but wonder what her story would tell.

"Evander! Are you listening?" my mother asked.

"Sorry, Mom. I was thinking of an issue at work."

"I asked you if you could take a look at Lisa's car. It wouldn't start this morning."

I looked over to Lisa and she blushed with embarrassment.

"Sure. I'd be happy to."

The rest of dinner went peacefully. We mostly listened to Nicky tell us everything we ever wanted to know about him. For some reason I found out that Lisa used green mouthwash. I have no idea how that came up in his run-on rambling, but it did.

"Well, let's take a look at that car, huh?" I asked Lisa when we finished our meal.

"Sure."

I motioned for her to lead the way and when she left the room I took the envelope of cash out of my jacket pocket and handed it to my mom.

"Here you go."

"Thanks, Evander. It means a lot."

I shook my head and followed after Lisa. Along the way, she noticed that the baseball gear was cleaned up and sitting on her porch.

"I suppose you did that," she grumbled.

I ignored her just so she could see how it felt and asked, "What's going on with the car?"

"It won't start."

I sighed. I'm not sure why she was so surly, but she was rubbing me the wrong way.

"Can I have your keys, please?"

She handed them to me, and I tried to start the engine. I heard the tell-tale clicks of a dead battery and said, "You need a jump start. How old is your battery?"

"I don't know. It came with the car," she said snappishly.

I looked at the older model car that I figured had to be from the late nineties and sighed.

"Okay. I'll be right back."

I went to the garage and grabbed some of my dad's tools. I popped the hood and hoped for the best. The connections were corroded, so I knew I'd need to clean that off, I saw the battery was ancient, so I didn't bother to jump it. I pulled it out and started walk to my car.

"Wait!" Lisa shouted. "Where are you going?"

"AutoZone."

"Hang on." She hurried into my mom's house while I put the battery in the trunk of my car. I was behind the wheel when I saw her come back out and open my passenger door. "Okay."

The ride to AutoZone was silent and I worried that my mom told her terrible things about me. The kid thought I was all right, but Lisa disliked me from the get-go. I'd have to remember to ask my mom about it later.

At AutoZone, I set the battery on the counter and asked the bored kid masquerading as a clerk, "Test that would ya? And if it's shot, get me a replacement."

I walked to the aisles, and she was on my heels. "Wait! How much will that cost?" She asked.

"Probably $150 maybe a little less since your car is an older model," I answered without looking back.

I found the wire brush I needed and walked up to the counter.

"It's toast," the kid said. "I've got the new one here. $125 all day."

"Okay," I said. "Add the brush."

"Wait!" Lisa groaned. "I can't..."

I saw her open her purse and touch the envelope of money I gave my mother. I shook my head and said, "I'll pay for it. It's okay."

"No! I don't even know you. You can't just..."

"Lisa, stop! I don't know why you dislike me so much, but you're a friend of my mom's and I know she would want me to help you. Let me help you."

I handed the kid my card and tried to tune out her complaining about me paying for the stuff. I shrugged my shoulders and the kid laughed. "Have a wonderful day, Sir."

I walked away and said to Lisa, "Thank you."

She was shocked and said, "What?"

"You were complaining so much, the kid didn't try to sell me something else. You can never get out of here without them trying to sell you some goop or air fresheners or something."

She grunted and continued on telling me I was an ass and overstepping some kind of boundary or such, I don't know. It all went in one ear and out the other. I swear, a guy couldn't even do something nice for someone without getting crapped on.

I put on a classic rock station and cranked the music. It worked. She folded her arms across her chest and stared out the window silently. I smiled. Maybe she liked Boston?

When I pulled up in my mom's driveway, Nicky ran out the front door. "Mom! Did you get a batt'ry? Can I see it? What does one for a car look like?"

"Come on, Nicky. Do you want to help me put it in?" I asked making her snap around and glare at me. I grabbed a rag from my trunk and closed the lid.

"Lisa, go get me some Vaseline, a tablespoon of baking soda in a cup of water, and an old toothbrush Mom doesn't need."

"Listen, Evander..."

"It's Evan. Only my mom calls me Evander. Hurry we're losing the light."

I walked over to her car holding Nicky's hand while she huffed into my mom's house, hopefully for the stuff I needed. If she let my mom help, mom would know exactly what I needed. Dad had an auto repair shop when I was a kid and mom worked the counter. She would sit with him, and they would talk as he worked when it was slower. I worked there during my summers and school breaks. It hurt dad more than he ever let on that I didn't want to take over the shop, but I wanted to be like Warren Buffett, not like my father.

I used the wire brush on the terminals first, then she came out with the cleaning solution. I used the toothbrush to clean as much of the terminals as I could, then Nicky rinsed them off with the garden hose. Thankfully, they weren't in too bad of a shape, and I didn't need to make another trip. I forgot to check them more closely before I left.

After drying them, I put the battery in, tightened everything up and watched a small smile try to crack her face as I started the car. Nicky jumped up and down, pleased that his efforts helped. As much as spraying the hose helped anyway.

I handed Lisa her keys, fist-bumped Nicky, and kissed my mom on the cheek as I walked to the house to wash my hands. I had no idea what was going through Lisa's mind, but I could tell my mom was happy I could help her friend.

I just finished drying when my mom leaned against the door jamb. "Thanks, Evander. You have no idea how afraid she was that it was going to be a serious repair."

"It needs work, Mom. I noticed the check engine light is on. The damn thing is as old as she is."

"I know, I know. She can't afford anything else right now."

"Yeah, I gathered that when I saw you gave her the envelope. How am I helping her with that money?"

"How aren't you?" she sighed. "Her mortgage is behind, credit cards are due, and I think they are gonna turn off her electricity soon. She needs it badly."

"Sorry to hear that. Is it just a band-aid though or is she going to be okay?"

"Son, when people live paycheck to paycheck, they're never really okay. All they can do is get by and hope nothing major happens. Her furnace went out in January and well, it set her way behind. I think they went a couple weeks without heat. They spent a lot of time here."

"Jesus," I gasped. "Nicky says they eat here a few times a week. Why haven't you mentioned them to me?"

Mom smiled, "I watch him after school every day. I know I can save them some money by feeding them dinner too. I say it's because I made too much, or she looks too tired to have to cook. I always give her the leftovers too. I think she saw through my original pretense of them just keeping an old lady company. I feel horrible for her."

"What does she do?"

"She works in a warehouse, and let me tell you, the bastard men she works with? I'd like to stick my foot so far up their..."

"I get it. So, why doesn't she like me? She's lovely, I figured you would try to put us together."

Mom frowned. "She's used to be with this guy Chuck. He's a real piece of garbage. He left her a few weeks ago. Got another girl pregnant and ran off to be with her."

"How long has she lived here? I take it Nicky isn't Chuck's kid."

She shook her head. "About a year. Nicky's dad was never in the picture. She doesn't like to talk about it. As for me not trying to set you two up; Sonny, what do you think you're doing here tonight? It's just gonna be a slow burn though. She doesn't think too highly of the male gender right now."

I laughed. "Okay, Mom. Try to convince her to let me look at her car on Saturday though. We've still got dad's diagnostic equipment in the garage. It'll work on her car, and I can see what's wrong with the engine. Hopefully, it's just a cheap sensor."

Mom kissed my cheek and I asked, "She doesn't know that much about me, does she?"

She laughed, "No, I didn't tell her you're obscenely rich yet still work too hard to visit your mom once a week."

"Funny. How did you convince her to take your money if you didn't tell her I was wealthy?"

"Believe me, it was her last choice. The foreclosure notice scared her enough to take the money from me."

"Foreclosure? Mom, where will she go?"

She shrugged her shoulders and said, "She doesn't have anywhere to go. That's why she took the money. She can get the mortgage current now."

"Jesus. I can't let that kid live on the street, Mom. Let me know if I can help more."

She kissed my cheek and said, "Come on. I made extra and saved a little bit of leftovers for you."

*****

I was barely thirty and I was one of the wealthiest people in our area. When I was in college, I hung out with some computer geek buddies. In 2015 they were bragging about making money in bitcoin. I got curious, so I spent some time researching it and learning from them. They made thousands of dollars, but I wanted to make millions.

I was already working as a financial advisor and making decent money, so I decided to do some research and before I knew it, I found myself on the wave of crypto. I started with bitcoin and spent five grand. That was at a low point in the wave, and I got a little over 20 bitcoins when it was less than $300 a coin. I left it alone and watched it and it was doing okay. Then, I got my first break. In 2017, it exploded, peaking at over $14k for a bitcoin. That put me over $300k total.

Crypto was all over the news. It was an exciting time, but then tragedy struck, my dad died. When I found out he didn't have any life insurance, I moved all of my crypto money into conventional accounts. My mom was okay for retirement income, but they still had a small mortgage balance. I paid it off for her, bought her a car and a bunch of other stuff and made sure she was going to be okay.

My dad dying was a fortuitous moment in terms of my wealth building efforts. Crypto began to slump, but I was already out. I stayed away from it for a while but continued to watch it. When it started to go back up to where it was, I put everything I had into bitcoin again. When it doubled, I borrowed as much as I could and put it all into the new wave. When all was said and done, it increased over 500% and I was a multi-millionaire.

While that was going on, I left the brokerage I was working for and began day trading. I was making a killing in the conventional markets and expanded my operation from just me to an assistant, a real estate agent to handle property investment, and a lawyer to do whatever he did.

Within two years, the money coming in was insane and I expanded to over fifty employees. I was working my butt off and so were my employees. My company expanded into acquisitions, wealth management, commercial and residential real estate, and I had five people just working on my personal investments.

I just wished my wife Kelly was still there to share in it.

*****

The following Saturday, I was making coffee when my phone rang. I didn't recognize the number and I always let those calls go to voicemail. A moment later, I got a text. "It's Lisa Hendrix. Please call me."

I sighed and called her. "What can I do for you Miss Hendrix?"

I need your help with my car. It's doing something funny, and your mom said you can help."