The Beginning (5 page)

At the end of the tour Frankie and I thanked Jerome. I handed him the bill I tried to give him earlier and he accepted it. Then we slowly walked back to my car. Slowly, because Frankie kept stopping to take pictures and tap on the screen of his phone.

Once we were in the car I looked at Frankie and said, “What the hell were you up to?”

“We’re going to buy it,” he said.

I looked at him, “Buy what?”

“The park.”

“Adventure Planet? This park?”

He just looked at me and nodded his head, “Yeah.”

“What, are you insane?”

“No, I’m a genius.”

“There’s a fine line, kiddo.”

“Mom, don’t yell at me. I have a plan. We’re coming back tomorrow with a couple of friends of mine and they’re going to take a look at the park. They’re already on their way to the airport or in their cars.”

“Oh, my God, Frankie.” I was panicking. Had my son lost his sanity?

“It’ll be ok, Mom. Let’s go have dinner.”

In the restaurant, I couldn’t focus. My head was spinning. What the hell was he thinking? Buy the park? And do what with it? Demolish it? Blow it up? It’s a huge mess. It’s falling apart. Frankie meanwhile just remained calm and tapped at his phone while he ate his dinner.

Once again I was listening to conversations at the same restaurant as last night. My attention was focused on the conversation at the table next to me.

“Listen, to me George, you’re my lawyer, you do what I say. I need to sell the place now. I can’t do it anymore.”

“Adolf, if you sell the place now, her family gets half. Besides it’s not worth much”

Was this Adolf Neuspech, the owner of Adventure Planet? Did he want to sell? My ears perked up.

“She doesn’t legally own the park.”

“No, but as your wife she is entitled to half.”

“They don’t deserve it, she doesn’t deserve it. I can’t believe they think I killed that cheating little bitch.”

“So you can’t sell. Let it run itself in to the ground. It will become worthless, you can declare bankruptcy, get a tax right off, and her family gets nothing,” George said.

And all those people will be out of a job, was my thought.

“But I want out now. I want to get out of here. Her memory is everywhere. I have to go I can’t live like this anymore,” Adolf whined.

I was starting to feel sorry for the man. He was clearly upset.

“Well, I don’t see another way,” lawyer George said.

“You hear all the time about people selling valuable things for one dollar just to piss off their ex. Why can’t I do that?”

“Those are urban legends, Adolf, people don’t really do that,” George said.

“I will.” Adolf stood up and announced, “I am willing to sell Adventure Planet right now to the first person who puts a one dollar bill in my hand.”

Frankie had the bill in his had before the man finished is sentence. I didn’t even know he was listening.

“He didn’t mean it”, lawyer George said to Frankie. George tried to take the bill from Adolf and give it back to Frankie but Adolf was gripping it too tightly.

“Yes, I did. And all these people here are my witnesses,” Adolf said.

Frankie held up his phone. “And I’m streaming it live as well as recording it,” he said smiling.

Adolf pulled a notebook out of his briefcase. Then he announced, “everyone who would like to be a witness to this sale, please line up and sign here. “

              “What’s your name?” he said turning to Frankie. Adolf waved at the camera.

“Frank Summer Jr. Add the name Misty Summer too. She’s the co-owner.”

“Frankie!” No, no, no, was all I could think.

“It’s ok, Mom. Trust me.” He touched my hand and I felt a little better. He was smart, I should trust him. But, still…

Adolf wrote a few lines on the top of the sheet of paper in the notebook. It said:

I, Adolf Neuspech, herby sell Adventure Planet and all of its lands and assets to Frank Summer Junior and Misty Summer for the sum of one dollar on this date...

Adolf signed it. Frankie signed it. I signed it. George refused to sign. He kept trying to protest and Adolf kept telling him to shut up. George looked surprised; I guess Adolf never talked back to him before.

And then the line began. Every patron in that restaurant signed it. In fact it seemed to me that some people may have called their friends so they could come and sign it. After everyone signed, the restaurant manager made photocopies for us. Frankie photographed it and sent a copy to someone. Then he and Adolf shook hands and set up an appointment to meet at George’s office the following morning.

I watched it all as if in a blur. What was Frankie thinking? What was I thinking? I was excited. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on that park. I must be losing my sanity. I’m supposed to go to Orlando. I’m supposed to work in a theme park, not own one.

This isn’t what was supposed to happen, was all I could think all night. This isn’t what was supposed to happen.

Morning took way, way too long to arrive. After dinner Frankie and I went to our separate rooms and I did not see or hear from him all night. I was excited; I liked the idea of fixing up Adventure Planet. It had been years since I’d had a major challenge. I really liked the idea of restoring the park to its former glory. It would never be up to the standards of the famous Florida theme parks, but it could still be a great family destination. And yet all I could think was; this wasn’t supposed to happen.

I dreamed a lot that night. I dreamed of employees in their clean, neat uniforms putting happy families on safe, attractive rides. I saw blue skies, fluffy white clouds, and green grass. Children were running with balloons in their hands. Parents were laughing and running after them on their way to their next ride or show. There was a six-foot teddy bear walking around. The children loved him.

Then there was the other half of the night. The half where the rides were falling apart and people were running away screaming. Where people were getting sick from food poisoning. Where the carousel horses were falling to pieces. Where the guests were pounding on my office door demanding their money back.

Wait. Someone really was pounding on my door. I opened my eyes. Well, maybe it wasn’t pounding so much as knocking.

“Mom, are you up yet? We gotta go soon. It’s a big day,” the pounder yelled through the door.

Oh, it was just Frankie. And he wasn’t demanding his money back. I looked at my clock. Six am. Was he insane? There was no way we were meeting with the lawyer this early. I got up and let him in to check his sanity.

“You could have used your key,” I said.

“Yeah, but I didn’t know if you wore pajamas and I didn’t want to be embarrassed.”

I just shook my head. “What do you mean we have to go, it’s only six?” I said.

“Oh, didn’t I tell you.”

I looked at him and took a deep breath. “Didn’t you tell me what?”

“I’ve got a couple of business associates who are going to the park with us before it opens. Jerome is going to meet us there and let us in so we can really inspect the place before the meeting.”

A couple of business associates. In Frankie’s world a couple usually meant anywhere between one and one hundred. Wait, did he say Jerome was letting us in?

“Frankie, when did you talk to Jerome? How did you get his number?”

“I got his number during one of your many trips to the bathroom. He really knows his stuff, Mom. Anyway, he can’t wait to help us. Especially because he wants to save the park as much as we do. So get dressed and I’ll meet you in the lobby in fifteen minutes.”

“Fifteen minutes?”

“Yes, fifteen minutes. Now get moving.”

With that he left. I just stared at the door. I never get dressed in fifteen minutes. What was he thinking? Well, I’d try, because really, I knew better than to question him. Even though I usually did anyway. Once in a while I just had to remind him who’s the parent and who’s the kid.

I knew from almost the beginning that my son was some kind of genius. He was reading the financial section of the paper as soon as he could read, and he could read at age three. He was giving his father and I accurate stock advice not too long after that. He graduated high school at age fifteen and business school at eighteen.  People from all over the world asked him for his financial advice. He’s had job offers from all over the world too. He could have worked anywhere he wanted too. And yet, he stayed in Pennsylvania. I always wondered why he never left. I’m sure I would have.

When I met Frankie in the lobby, he was sitting and talking to about six people. Six very important looking people. I wondered if they spent the night here and if they did how much of a shock it was to their systems. They all stopped talking and looked my way. I just smiled and said hello.

“Mom, I’m glad you’re ready. Let me introduce you. Everyone, this is my mother. Mother, this is Don Haskle. He owns a construction company. He’s built a lot of buildings that you’ve heard of.”

Really, I thought, because I’d never heard of him.

“This is Frank Driscole. Frank is a city planner from you know where.”

I didn’t know but I didn’t want to insult the man.

“This is Donald MacGilvey. He is a real estate investor.”

Never heard of him either.

“This is Chef Michael LaGivens. He owns several restaurants you’ve heard of. He also has a TV series.”

Ok, I think I’ve seen him on TV.

“This is Emeril Fontaine. He designs thrill rides for theme parks and amusement parks worldwide.”

Never heard of him, but it didn’t sound like I should have either.

“And finally this is Rosemary Thyme. She is a very famous botanist. She also designs some beautiful gardens all over the world.”

Nope, never heard of her either, but I thought the name was great. One out of six isn’t bad, is it?

I shook hand with everyone and we exchanged the “nice to meet you’s”. I hadn’t heard of most of them, but that was ok. I was still very impresses by my son’s ability to gather them all up at a moment’s notice.

“Where’s Pete?” I asked Frankie. Pete was Frankie’s lawyer. Somehow he was the only one I was expecting to see today.

“Pete’s meeting us at Adolph’s lawyer, George’s office. He’s preparing al the legal stuff before the meeting. Our agenda is to tour the park and get a realistic picture of what is wrong with it. And how much it will cost to fix as well as how long it will take.”

A man in a blue jacket walked in to the lobby. “I’m looking for Mr. Summer,” he told the clerk. Frankie went over and talked to him. They shook hands and the man left. Frankie walked back toward us.

“The van has arrived,” he announced.

Frankie had rented a very nice van for our trip to the park this morning. In fact I would have almost called it a limo. Except the only thing I knew about limos was what I saw on TV.  This one had no rope style lighting or bottles of alcohol in it. We all got in and the man in the blue jacket drove us to Adventure Planet.

On the way there I learned more about my son. Theses well known and even famous people were telling me how wonderful he was. Frankie had given each of them investing advice and almost never steered them wrong. So when he called requesting an urgent favor they all jumped on planes or in their cars and got here as fast as they could so they could help him in time. There were a couple of people who could not make it, Frankie said, but they had promised to come down after the sale was finalized. Others, including some in the van, promised financial backing in the form of loans. Frankie, they said was dead set against selling shares of stock in the park. They seemed to feel this was smart. “Keep it in the family,” one of them said.

When we arrived at the park, we all piled out of the van. I heard exclamations of “Oh my”, “Dear God”, and even just some whistles. I think they all wore the same expression on their faces that Frankie and I had yesterday morning.

Jerome walked over to the van and met us. “Good morning ma’am, sir,” he said to Frankie and I.

We said good morning to Jerome and shook his hand. Then Frankie introduced him to everyone as the man who was going to be our head engineer. Jerome’s mouth dropped open and stayed there as he was introduced to everyone. He looked like he recognized more of the names than I did.

Frankie turned to the group. “Ok, Jerome here has opened everything up for us. You have two hours to do any preliminary inspections. You have full access to everything, including the back areas.”

“Just don’t climb over any fences or go anywhere where there are danger or warning signs,” Jerome said.

“Good point,” Frankie said. “Jerome is handing out radios and park maps that he personally drew for us last night. If you need anything call him over the radio and he will assist you. My mother and I will be in the center area called the Sun. There is a gift shop there. In the back of the gift shop is an office. We’ll be back there looking through records and gathering as much information as we can.”

Everyone said ok, took their radios and whatever else they brought with them and went on their way. Jerome followed them, eager to assist as needed. Frankie and I walked down the main path way to the Sun.

“How in the hell, did you arrange this so quickly?” I asked him.

“Mother, I have made a lot of people very rich. You make a lot of friends and build a lot of clout that way. I have earned a lot of favors from people and I’m simply starting to call them in.”

“It’s all legal right. I mean none of these people are going to do anything illegal are they?”

Frankie just laughed, “Mother you watched too much TV.”

“In that case, I’m very impressed.”

“You always taught me that I can do whatever I wanted to no matter what anyone else thought and I did.”

“We tried.”

He stopped and looked at me.

“No, you don’t understand. Dad wanted me to follow the rules, stick to what he knew, and not take chances. You taught me to constantly take chances. To live my dream, to follow my heart’s desire. You should have been a nice little house wife and good police man’s wife, but you weren’t.”

“I’m sorry? Did you just insult me?”

“No. what I mean is, you were never like the other mothers. They stayed at home and baked and stuff. You were always trying something new. You always wanted to learn something. You went to college while raising us. You didn’t dress like a mom. You were cooler.”

“I was younger.”

“You weren’t afraid to try new things and take chances, the other mothers were.”

“I’m taking a huge chance now.”

“No, we are taking a huge chance.” He smiled at me. “But mother and son are in this together. I think we are an unbeatable team and we will only fail if we give up.”

We continued walking and entered the gift shop together. It was dusty and the merchandise was old and faded. Frankie went in the back to start reading through the records, or hack the computer, or something. I stayed in the shop. I had over twenty years of retail and customer service experience of one sort or another, this was my area of expertise.

My son had faith in me. He turned out to be a powerful and influential man. And a good man. The more I thought about him the prouder I became. We really did do a good job raising him. He turned out wonderfully. And for someone I hardly saw the past several years, I felt strangely close to him. He was a good kid and a good man. I loved him very much. I must make sure I tell him that today.

I inspected the merchandise offerings thoroughly while Frankie searched the computer in the back for all the records that he could find. For my part I found cheap t-shirts with faded and peeling decorations.

There was an assortment of cheap plush and toys, none of which had anything to do with the park. The mugs were cracked and chipped. There was nothing for infants or little kids anywhere. There were no snacks or disposable cameras for sale. Even our local amusement park in Pennsylvania had these. In fact, the only thing there was plenty of was empty space. Not only were there empty shelves, but the entire stockroom was empty. What was going on here? I stood and looked around in disbelief.

When it was time to go we met the others and piled back in to the van. There was almost no conversation in the van as we drove. The others were busy using tablets, laptops, and phones. I was going over the faded t-shirts, dollar store style plush and cracked mugs I found in the gift shop. In my notebook I was writing a list of the type of merchandise I felt we should have. Maybe we could donate the existing merchandise to charity. Then again, maybe they wouldn’t want it.

***

The meeting with the lawyer was short. Our experts gave a short speech telling how badly the area of the park that they examined was damaged or neglected or both. In addition, Frankie’s lawyer Pete made mincemeat out of Adolf’s lawyer, George. I got the feeling that Adolf was George’s only client, or at least the biggest one and George did not want to lose him. George did everything he could to ask for more money or to say the contract we signed at the restaurant was not valid. Every time George tried any of that, Adolf would jump in with a “No!” Every time Adolf said no, George looked like someone punched him in the face.

We were willing to pay more money, but Adolf did not want it. He just wanted out and even more so, he did not want his estranged wife Barbara to have any possibility of benefitting. It seemed to me that George tried his best to stop Adolf from selling. It finally got to the point where Adolf said to George, “sell it or you’re fired.” We all just smiled at George as he gave in.

George and Pete drew up a new contract. Just a formality, they said. They told us they would send it to the hotel for our signatures later. We told them we’d be there later this afternoon.