Chapter 8
My third year of college started off fairly well. I was amused at all the 'political activists' who were trying to get students organized for rallies, and registered to vote. Ok, I admit it. I didn't really follow politics too seriously. While I did know who the president was, his particular politics were a mystery to me.
This is not to say I was apathetic! Far from it. I was into my own local politics, intensely. But national politics were an animal of a different sort. It was during this period that I met my girlfriend.
The only reason I started getting interested in politics, was because of her. She was with a group trying to get out the student vote for the current sitting president. He had always struck me as a weenie, to tell you the truth. He did everything he could to dodge the draft when he was younger, but expected people to obey his orders.
I was registered, as the law required. But I had no plans to join the military, unless they called me up. The law did NOT require active military service at this time. If the draft was activated, I planned on joining right away. A draft meant the nation might be in serious trouble, and I loved the United States.
Local politics were pretty much a simple thing. But the higher you went in the political world, the more complicated and convoluted it became. Eventually, you reached the international political level, which was where the executive branch of governments plays their deadly little games.
While the House and the Senate might rear their ugly heads occasionally, it was really the president who set policy for the country. I was looking at a flyer that had been posted on the bulletin board outside the library. It was extolling the virtues of a particular candidate.
"Are you registered to vote?" I heard from behind me.
I turned around to answer, and was stunned. The most lovely vision of femaleness stood and waited for my an answer. She had a wholesomeness and a quiet beauty that while hard to define, was 'in your face'.
"Uh..." I answered wittily.
She grinned at me. It lit her face and it made you want to be around her forever.
"It was a simple question. Are you registered to vote? They are doing a voter's registration drive in the student union right now, if you aren't," she said in a voice that fitted her perfectly.
I still had not answered. She lost her smile. It was replaced with a frown that was almost as cute as her smile. Still, I did not want her frowning at ME!
"Uh, yeah... I mean... yes, I am registered, thank you. I already know who is going to win, though," I answered, opening my mouth and inserting my foot.
She raised her eyebrows at this statement. "And how would you know that?" she asked.
"Simple. I ran a model of all known facts: the polls, past voting results, the economy, etc. Then I plugged in a percentage for the 'unknown' factor, and input it to my computer. The results were that the current seated president will win," I told her.
She shook her head. "If only it were that easy," she said with a heavy sigh.
I took a risk and told her what the result of the election was going to be. I even told her what my computer model had said the final numbers would be. She just looked at me scornfully. At that time, a small group came and swept her up into itself. She was gone, just that quickly!
I sighed. Everything about her had been perfect: blond hair escaping out of her cap, her cheeks and nose red from the cold, her blue eyes, her smile... even her frown had been perfect.
Levy and John had worked on a mathematical model for predicting events. Since I was a programmer (or learning to be one, at least), they gave me their model to work on. The result was a program that gave you the shivers, with its accuracy.
We each had a copy of the result of that collaboration. Levy and John were absolute geniuses when it came to math. While I was no slouch, I could never have come up with what these two gave me to program.
I kept an eye open, hoping I would run into 'my' mystery girl again. I had to see her, but I was not going to allow thoughts of her to interfere with my classes, or my life... or so I thought.
For the next week I could not get her out of my mind. I finally caved on Saturday. I bundled up and went out into the very cold morning. I walked back to where I had met my mystery girl. I 'back timed it', until I found her. I started following her. It took several hours. My hands and feet, as well as my face and ears were numb; but I found out where she lived!
The place was several blocks off campus, in a residential area with new apartments. It had gone up a couple years ago. They were out of most college kid's league, but this is where she lived. I was glad to stop 'back timing' it, while walking around in the 'now'. It was tiring, and I had a tendency to run into people.
I had turned to walk back to the campus, when I spotted a coffee shop tucked between two apartment buildings, a little further down the block. I headed for it and went in. It was an older one-story building that had been there a long, long time. It reminded me of some older movies I had seen about the 50's and 60's. Booths lined one side along the left wall as you entered. Tables were in the middle, and on the right. A long counter, with stools that spun, was at the back in front of the kitchen. Very old fashioned, indeed.
I went to the counter and sat down, picking a menu out of the condiment holder in front of me. There was nothing old fashioned about the prices! I took off my gloves and coat, and lay them on the seat beside me, along with my hat.
An elderly lady came over and asked me what I wanted. I was about to ask for coffee when I saw the cocoa advertisement. I ordered that, plus a hamburger with the works. Fries and a coke would be served with my meal. In the meantime, I wanted that hot cocoa, and lots of it.
Twenty minutes later I pushed my plate and coke glass away and motioned for a refill of cocoa. While it was not the busiest place I had been too, it was doing all right. It had averaged about 15 customers while I was there, but could hold many more, easily. I asked the waitress about level of business.
She said that Friday and Saturday evenings were the busiest, and that every morning produced a good breakfast rush. They were closed on Sundays. I nodded. It sounded as though they were lucky. But then, she said this diner had been here since the late 50's.
I decided then and there that this was going to be a nice spot to hang out at. It was invaded every weekend by college kids and local residents. I knew, because I went 'back timed it'. This place was busy, and it looked to be a good place to mingle.
The election came and went, and Clinton was re-elected. What a surprise. My model had said he would be. I was within a couple hundred thousand votes of the official vote count, too. I was also getting tired of the winter. I decided a little trip to the past was in order, preferably to when it was warm!
This time I was going back to do a little business. I had come across a coin catalog, and decided I was going to 'come into' some very rare, and very valuable coins. I went home for Christmas, and dug out a couple of my gold nuggets, as well as a couple ounces of gold dust. While I would not get as much for it in the past, I was going to exchange it for some specific coins. Coins that, in my time, were going to be worth some serious money!
I again outfitted myself from the Gentleman's Emporium, and also from a little costume shop that was local. While the shop was more expensive, they had the late 1700's 'period costumes' on hand that I needed. I was going to be a well dressed but slightly out of style young man. Nothing to really draw attention.
It went off like clockwork. The only thing that took any real time, was the traveling between sites I wanted go to, to deal for specific coins. I then brought everything home with me. I now had the following coins, which I was going to bury on our property in the past, and discover in the now: three 1794 Flowing Hair Dollars (these were 1 ounce of silver, dollars), five 1804 Draped Bust Dollars (These were also silver. I got them from the mint that made them as proofs), five 1825 gold eagles from my 'time dive' into the past, a few silver dollars from varying years, some quarters and dimes, and five 1856 Flying Eagle one-cent pieces. To allay suspicions, I mixed in many other coins of little or no value to collectors.
That completed the little treasure I was going to 'discover' on our property, sometime soon. I also purchased an old, small, metal cookie box. I was going to put the coins in it. I took the precaution of individually wrapping the coins in 'period' oilcloth, to protect them in the event of a leak in the box, or if the box rotted before I could recover them.
In the past, it was not uncommon for people to bury their money, instead of banking it. Who was to say one of my 'great greats' didn't do the same? There was no way anyone could guess that I had done the burying. I took everything out to the old oak tree, which had been on our farm since before it was founded. I went back to the year before my great grandfather came and established the farm, and buried the cookie box a couple feet down. After covering it up, I then returned to my own time, with my shovel still in my hand. I sighed and started digging, where I had 'just' buried the box.
I contacted a reputable coin broker, and explained how I had 'come into' the coins. He got very excited when he saw them. I had a few extra coins left over that I had not included, but those were for a future sale.
I was a hit in the numismatic circles! While the actual face value of the coins I had found was only a little over a hundred dollars, the coins I was selling were worth millions to collectors!
Mom was thrilled, and I did not mind sharing my newfound fortune with her. I sold the coins to a single collector who wanted them all, and had outbid everyone else. The box I buried had rusted through on one side, and something (insects or rats, most likely) had eaten away at the oilcloth. Some of the coins were no longer in mint condition. Still, after all was said and done, Mom and I were millionaires.
This did not happen all at once, of course. We listed the coins on the internet in January, with the bogus story I had readied. There were photos of the old box I had supposedly "found" the coins in. There was also at least one picture of each coin with a listing of its condition on the site.
In March, the sale of my coins was finalized. That was when we became millionaires, even after the taxes! Sheesh! You would have thought the government had personally had something to do with the discovery, considering how much in taxes they took from us! I discovered I was not a fan of 'big government' and its taxes. I noticed that while it had taken a huge amount of money from me, the services provided by the government remained the same. Not very equitable.
In most businesses, I had noticed a marked improvement in services or products with the infusion of cash. Except with our government. The more you made, the more they took, yet the service rendered to you was static, and the same for all.
By the end of April, I had approached my mystery girl. I started dating her. She was fun to be with, and I was proud to be seen with her. She was a political science major. She had wanted to know how I had been able to predict the election so closely. I told her of the program that had been made, and said it was pretty accurate. For the next two months we were almost inseparable.
During the third week we were dating, was the first time we had sex. After that, we were having sex as often as new lovers could manage it! She was a true blond. Her breasts were a compact 34, but were perfect on her smallish frame. Her red nipples were very responsive to the touch, as was she. I enjoyed giving her pleasure, and took pleasure in watching her orgasms. She was very vocal about them, too.
The only thing that ruined it for us, was the end of the school year. She and her parents were heading to Greece for the summer, while I was going home to spend time with Mom. She had gotten sick, and was having a hard time recovering. She had gotten a lung infection, and it had gotten worse and worse, until she had to be hospitalized on the 7th of July.
She was dead three days later, from respiratory failure. Mom died on July 10th, 1997. I had her buried with Dad, but felt empty. The farm was now a painful place to be. She was sixty-four years old when she died.
I was now on my own, with no family except my stepsister, whom I still had not yet met.
Edited By TeNderLoin