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{"id":1058,"date":"2019-02-02T23:17:24","date_gmt":"2019-02-03T05:17:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/frankdeleon.com\/?p=1058"},"modified":"2019-02-02T23:18:35","modified_gmt":"2019-02-03T05:18:35","slug":"new-horizons-part-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/frankdeleon.com\/?p=1058","title":{"rendered":"New Horizons &#8211; Part Six"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The End of Training and The End of a Life<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Although I had been\nworking on my own for several months now, on Sunday, July 9, 1972, I was promoted\nto a GS-13, FPL (Full Performance Level) ATCS (Air Traffic Control\nSpecialist).&nbsp; As a new journeyman I was\nnow making a little less than $19,000 per year\u2014quite a jump from the measly $7K\nthat I was earning when I was first hired, and four times my salary as an Air\nForce Staff Sergeant and a shoe salesman.&nbsp;\nA few days later I began my transition from crew seven to crew four. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">My new supervisor was\nan affable gentleman named Robert (Bob) Wold.&nbsp;\nHe was a large man in his early fifties\u2014probably six-and-a-half feet\ntall\u2014and without a doubt tipped the scales at well over two-hundred and fifty\npounds.&nbsp; A healthy head of snow-white\nhair sat over a fair, freckled, and red-cheeked face\u2014and although he strained\nto be soft-spoken, his deep baritone voice, scorched dry by the twenty to\nthirty unfiltered cigarettes he inhaled each day, tended to boom over the constant\nchatter of the eighteen to twenty controllers in our area.&nbsp; Like Tom Moore, he\u2019d been a long-time\ncontroller at the old San Antonio Center before being transferred and promoted\nto the newly-built Houston ARTCC.&nbsp; Unlike\nTom, he had a reputation for being fair, level-headed, and extremely competent\nwhen working the radar position to meet his monthly position currency\nrequirements. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">My first full day as\na member of crew four happened to fall on a 2PM to 10PM shift, and our first\nhour was set aside for a weekly team briefing.&nbsp;\nBob took the first few minutes to introduce me to the rest of the\ncrewmembers before he got around to briefing us on ATC matters.&nbsp; Because of the way our staffing schedule ran\nI had worked a day or two a week with most of the guys on this crew, but since\nI\u2019d been in training during that time with Hillary, no one had bothered to get\nto know me very well.&nbsp; Now it seemed everyone\nwanted to know all about me\u2014where I\u2019d been stationed in the Air Force, if I was\nmarried, had any kids\u2014but mostly, did I like to fish or water ski.&nbsp; Since most of them lived in Conroe, about\ntwelve miles north of the Center on Interstate 45, and had lake homes, fishing\nand boating were big weekend activities.&nbsp;\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I told them that because\nI was still working on earning my commercial pilot license, my weekend days\nwere usually spent at David Wayne Hooks Airport.&nbsp; Also, during this time of our lives Kaz and I\nwere still childless so when I was not busy flying, we spent our time together\ngoing to movies and restaurants, and shopping for new furniture.&nbsp; We had recently moved from our apartment in\nSpring Branch after buying a small home much closer to the center, but well\nsouth of Conroe.&nbsp; So now, instead of a forty-minute\ncommute to work from Houston\u2019s west side, I drove a leisurely twelve minutes to\nget to work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After the team\nbriefing broke up, and some of the controllers hurried to the cafeteria to\nrefill their coffee cups, I strolled slowly into the control room to get my\nsector assignment for the evening.&nbsp; My\nold crew was not on duty, so I took my time unraveling my headset and checking\nthe schedule on the supervisors\u2019 desk while waiting for my new crew mates to\narrive.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As I stood there, I\nthought of what Kaz might be doing back at our new house.&nbsp; The last time I worked an evening shift I had\ngotten home at half-past eleven to find the entire front room\u2019s furniture\nrearranged.&nbsp; She\u2019d even moved our\nrecently purchased piano from one side of the room to the other.&nbsp; I fondly recalled that when I opened the door\nthat night and took a few steps in, I instantly thought I\u2019d walked into the\nwrong house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Reminiscing deeper, my\nmind raced back to the day we had decided that it was time to move out of our\napartment and into a house.&nbsp; Now that I\nwas earning more money, we could easily afford a house payment, and with the GI\nBill we didn\u2019t have to worry about a hefty down payment.&nbsp; Further, I was getting awful tired of serving\nas assistant manager for the apartment complex\u2014a position which, when we first\nmoved in, was very desirable considering the fact that it knocked fifty percent\noff our monthly rent.&nbsp; The reduced rent\nwas nice but getting calls from helpless tenants at all hours asking to have\ntheir sinks unstopped, doors unlocked, and heaters or air conditioners reset quickly\ngot old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As things turned out,\nwe ended up not using the GI Bill to buy our little three-bedroom ranch when\nanother source of financing was unexpectedly made available.&nbsp; That source had come to us as the result of a\ntragic and horrific event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">My quickly-darkening thoughts\nwere thankfully interrupted when Bob called my name and motioned me to relieve\nthe radar controller working the Daisetta Arrival radar sector.&nbsp; I pushed all non-ATC thoughts from my mind,\nplugged my headset into the radio plug, and prepared myself to receive the\nrelief briefing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align:center\">***<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In early February of\n1970, my brother Ricky called me to proudly announce that he had just gotten\nmarried.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhat?\u201d I asked,\nshocked at the news.&nbsp; \u201cWhat do you mean,\nyou got married?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYup, we did it\nyesterday.&nbsp; We went to the courthouse and\ngot it done.&nbsp; Cool, huh?\u201d he said,\nhappily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cTell me you\u2019re\njoking,\u201d I said, not believing for a second what he\u2019d just told me.&nbsp; It had to be a joke because to my knowledge\nhe didn\u2019t have a girlfriend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cNo, really.&nbsp; I\u2019m a married man!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBullshit!&nbsp; You broke up with\u2026whatever her name was, a\ncouple of months ago, and you told me you weren\u2019t seeing anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAh\u2026you may be my\nsmart and rich older brother, but I don\u2019t tell you everything, you know.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cStop calling me\nthat!&nbsp; You\u2019re such a bullshitter!&nbsp; No way you\u2019re married.&nbsp; Who\u2019d have your ugly ass anyway?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHey honey\u2026\u201d he said,\nhis voice slightly muffled as he covered the receiver.&nbsp; \u201cMy brother says no one would marry me \u2018cause\nI\u2019m too ugly.&nbsp; That ain\u2019t the truth, is\nit?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cNo\u2026\u201d I heard a\nfaraway female voice say.&nbsp; \u201cYou\u2019re my\nhandsome man!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSee?\u201d he said\nloudly.&nbsp; \u201cI\u2019m her handsome man.&nbsp; So, what do you know?\u201d he asked, laughing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I chuckled but really\ndidn\u2019t know what to say.&nbsp; Ricky had dated\nvery few girls, and those that he had dated seemed to just be along for a very\nshort ride. &nbsp;Kaz and I had often\ndiscussed how Ricky didn\u2019t seem to have much luck with the girls\u2014often being\ndumped after just a few dates.&nbsp; We\nthought that maybe he just came on too strong\u2014desperate really\u2014to those girls who\nfinally accepted his offer to go to the movies or go out to eat.&nbsp; It was always the same: after a couple of\ndates, and after he showered them with unexpected gifts and badgered them with\ncountless phone calls, the girl would suddenly be busy, or wouldn\u2019t answer the\nphone, or\u2026use just about any excuse she could think of to never see him again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOK, so you say\nyou\u2019re married\u2026all right I\u2019ll play your game.&nbsp;\nWhat\u2019s her name?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSylvia Reyes!&nbsp; Oh, I mean, Sylvia DeLeon!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSylvia?&nbsp; You never mentioned anyone named Sylvia.&nbsp; When did you guys meet?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOh, maybe a couple\nof months ago.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cA couple of\nmonths!!&nbsp; That\u2019s it?&nbsp; And, you married her?&nbsp; Are you kidding me?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cNot kidding.&nbsp; We knew right away that we wanted to get\nmarried!&nbsp; But her mother didn\u2019t want us\nto.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWell\u2026no, I guess\nnot!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cActually, it worked\nout good because she was thinking of leaving home anyway.&nbsp; Her parents were giving her a lot of\ncrap.&nbsp; So, I told her that she could just\ncome live with me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSo, because she and\nher parents were having trouble, you married her?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWell\u2026no.&nbsp; I mean we love each other, and all that.&nbsp; But it\u2019ll be OK.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSo now you guys are\nliving in that little apartment you have?\u201d I asked incredulously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHey, it\u2019s big enough\nfor the two of us.&nbsp; We don\u2019t need much.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align:center\">***<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ricky graduated from high\nschool in May of 1969, while I was at the Aeronautical Academy in Oklahoma\nCity.&nbsp; Lucky for him and unlike me, my\nparents let him attend his graduation and actually receive his diploma.&nbsp; Because he\u2019d been held back a year in\nelementary school due to illness, he was just a couple of months shy of his\nnineteenth birthday when he graduated.&nbsp; After\nabout six months of jumping from one minimum wage job to another, he landed a\nfairly good job with a company named Merchants Fast Freight as a dock worker.&nbsp; In short, he was part of a crew who loaded\nfreight onto large tractor trailers from a loading dock.&nbsp; It was hard work, but it paid well and had\ngreat benefits.&nbsp; Because he was a new\nhire, he was assigned to work the four to midnight shift.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">My brother had always\nbeen a big boy.&nbsp; While I tipped the\nscales at a little over six pounds at birth, Ricky rumbled in on July 7<sup>th<\/sup>,\n1950, at a thundering eight pounds, six ounces, complete with a full head of\nwavy black hair.&nbsp; Because my mom had\nrequested to have her tubes tied after losing yet another baby after my birth,\nshe was shocked when she became pregnant seven years later.&nbsp; So shocked in fact that when she stopped menstruating\nand began to develop a noticeable bump in her belly in late 1949, she truly\nbelieved it was a cancerous stomach tumor.&nbsp;\nA quick trip to her doctor confirmed that she was indeed pregnant and\nnot on the way to her death bed.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Even so, she remained\nin complete denial for several months\u2014telling anyone who would listen that the\ndoctor misdiagnosed her condition and so she would soon be dead.&nbsp; My dad\u2019s refusal to allow her to seek a\nsecond opinion, saying that they\u2019d already spent enough money on the first\ndiagnosis, sent her into a deep depression and she spent a couple of months\ncrying and staring out the window awaiting her eventual demise.&nbsp; I recall her putting me on her lap, and\nbetween sobs telling me that when she died it would become my responsibility to\nmake sure my dad didn\u2019t drink himself to death.&nbsp;\nEven at the clueless age of eight I knew that no one, short of God,\ncould accomplish that enormous task.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She finally began to\naccept the obvious when one day she felt the baby move.&nbsp; At first, she assumed that the culprit was a\npocket of gas working its way around the tumor, but when my brother delivered a\nforceful kick, she began to suspect that maybe the growth in her belly could\nmaybe be a viable human being instead of a lifeless cancerous mass.&nbsp; Her last hint was when she felt that first spasm\nof what would turn out to be a long and violent labor in the maternity ward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I was left home alone\nfor a couple of days after my father drove my screaming mother to the hospital,\nbut since I was on summer vacation from school I didn\u2019t mind too much.&nbsp; I basically knew how to fend for\nmyself\u2014scouring the cabinets for tins of Vienna sausages and potted meat to put\non slightly stale white bread.&nbsp; And when\nI decided that I should treat myself to dessert I made a trip to Henry\u2019s store\nnext door to buy cookies and a small bottle of milk.&nbsp; Since I had no money, I just asked Henry to\nput it on my parents\u2019 tab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">About a week or so later,\nmy father drove my mother home with my brother still wrapped in blankets with\n\u201cHermann Memorial Hospital\u201d proudly emblazoned on their borders.&nbsp; She asked me to take a peek at my new brother\nand as I bent over the small bassinet, I saw a dark-skinned lump of a child,\nwildly kicking, flailing, and gurgling contentedly.&nbsp; As I drew close to get a better look, Richard\nMarcus DeLeon, delivered a healthy right cross to my nose accompanied by a\nripping and very wet sounding fart.&nbsp; That\nevent would mark the beginning of our slightly contentious and mostly distant\nsibling relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Having been an only\nchild for almost eight years, it was difficult for me to understand, and to\nhave to learn to share what little I had.&nbsp;\nNo amount of complaining to my parents, or Jerry\u2014my make-believe and\ninvisible friend\u2014could change the fact that the few precious toys which I had\nconsidered mine were now community property.&nbsp;\nAs the years went by, I was forced to accept that when Ricky wanted something,\nit was my duty to give it to him.&nbsp; My\nimmature mind could also not comprehend why Ricky was casually allowed to\ncommit the very same transgressions for which I had been severely punished for\nin the past.&nbsp; The eight-year age\ndifference didn\u2019t help, and as things worked out, the older I got, the further we\ngrew away from each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It would not be until\nmany years later that our relationship would begin to be more like what it\nshould\u2019ve been all along.&nbsp; By then, I was\na twice married adult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align:center\">***<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After getting off the\nphone with my brother, I quickly filled Kaz in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhy he get\nmarried?&nbsp; Is girl pregnant?\u201d she asked\ninnocently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cNo, I don\u2019t think\nso.&nbsp; They haven\u2019t known each other that\nlong!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOh\u2026then I don\u2019t\nunderstand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cMe neither.&nbsp; But I\u2019m wondering if my parents know.&nbsp; I\u2019d better call them now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It turned out that\nRicky had already called them and let them know.&nbsp; The only reason that they hadn\u2019t called me\nback was because after his call they were busy getting into a huge argument\ncentering on whose fault it was that he had gone and gotten married.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cMom, do you know\nthis girl?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cMe?&nbsp; No, I don\u2019t think so.&nbsp; Well\u2026I mean, yes I met her once, but I don\u2019t\nknow her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cDo you know how old\nshe is?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cRicky said she was a\nyear younger than him, so she must be eighteen or so.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAll right, I\u2019ll call\nhim back and get a few more details.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOk, mijito.&nbsp; I just don\u2019t know why he would do this\nwithout telling us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWell Mom, you of all\npeople shouldn\u2019t be surprised.&nbsp; He\u2019s\nalways done anything he wanted and always got away with it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After a few minutes I\ncalled Ricky back and we had a longer and more fruitful conversation.&nbsp; He had first seen Sylvia one day while\nshopping at a Foley\u2019s Department store.&nbsp;\nShe was working in the cosmetics department and her specialty was\npiercing ears.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After overcoming an\ninitial wave of fear and shyness, he walked up to her and asked her if she\nwanted to have lunch.&nbsp; To his surprise,\nshe accepted, and they had their first \u201cdate\u201d eating at the Foley\u2019s\ncafeteria.&nbsp; The rest, as they say, was\nhistory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A week later, we all\ngot together at our parents\u2019 home for a family dinner.&nbsp; Thankfully, my mother didn\u2019t cook because my\nfather decided to make a trip to Lockwood Boulevard in the old Crisol\nneighborhood and bring home a load of barbecue with all the fixings.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sylvia turned out to\nbe pretty much what I had expected: eighteen, Mexican-American, dark olive\nskin, black hair, full lips, and large expressive dark brown eyes.&nbsp; About five-foot-five, she was a tad heavy in\nthe hips but carried herself well enough.&nbsp;\nNaturally attractive, she would\u2019ve looked better without the heavy Foley\u2019s\ncosmetics counter make-over, but I assumed her intention was to impress.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Quiet at first, once\nshe warmed to the group, she carried on a bit too much about how she was glad\nto be out of her house and on her own.&nbsp;\nHer sisters were greedy, her mom was oppressive, and her dad was a lout.&nbsp; That pretty much summed it up\nfamily-wise.&nbsp; She never mentioned if she\neven loved Ricky.&nbsp; We all parted amicably,\nbut on the way home, both Kaz and I came away with the sense that Sylvia might\nbe using Ricky as a means of escape.&nbsp; I\nhoped that not to be the case, but I just couldn\u2019t shake the feeling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align:center\">***<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In early June, a\nmonth before Ricky\u2019s twenty-first birthday, he called me.&nbsp; \u201cHey big brother!&nbsp; How\u2019re you doing?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cFine Rick.&nbsp; Just getting ready to go to work.&nbsp; How about you?&nbsp; How\u2019s Sylvia?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOh, we\u2019re OK\u2026you\nknow\u2026married life sometimes sucks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cTell me about\nit.&nbsp; Everything OK?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWell yeah, but you\nknow she just wants this and that all the time.&nbsp;\nAnd I keep trying to tell her I don\u2019t make the kind of money my rich\nbrother does.&nbsp; Seems like that\u2019s all we\never fight about\u2014money.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cStop that!&nbsp; I don\u2019t make that much.&nbsp; And besides, you don\u2019t want or need the\nstress that goes along with being a controller.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYeah, I guess that\u2019s\ntrue.&nbsp; Anyway, hey, I\u2019m calling to ask\nyou a favor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSure, what\u2019s up?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWell, you know that\nlittle car you sold me a couple of months ago?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOf course, my little\nred Toyota Sports 800.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYeah.&nbsp; Well, since Sylvia\u2019s working at Foleys, she\ndrives it all the time and I\u2019ve been getting rides to and from work from a guy\nwho lives close to us and works my shift.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYeah?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAnyway, he\u2019s\nquitting next week and that means I\u2019ll be out of a ride.&nbsp; So, I checked with the credit union at my\nwork and I can qualify for a loan to get a second vehicle, but it has to be a\ncar.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOK, so what\u2019s the\nproblem?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWell, I don\u2019t want\nto get a car.&nbsp; I want a motorcycle.&nbsp; For a motorcycle loan, they require a\nco-signer for the loan \u2018cause I\u2019m not twenty-one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYou\u2019re thinking of\ngetting a motorcycle?&nbsp; You don\u2019t even\nhave a license, do you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cNo, but I\u2019ll get one\nafter I get the motorcycle.&nbsp; I just need\nto practice on it to pass the test.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWait, wait.&nbsp; Instead of getting a car loan you want to get\na loan for a motorcycle?&nbsp; Without a\nlicense?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYeah, so I already\nchecked and picked out what I want, and the dealer doesn\u2019t care about me not\nhaving a license or me not being twenty-one.&nbsp;\nBut the credit union won\u2019t approve a loan until I\u2019m twenty-one.&nbsp; So, I\u2019m calling to ask if you\u2019ll co-sign the\nloan for me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOK Rick, wait just a\nminute.&nbsp; Have you asked dad about this?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWell\u2026yeah.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYou talked to him\nabout getting a bike or about co-signing for a loan?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBoth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAnd what did he\nsay?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHe won\u2019t\nco-sign.&nbsp; He says I shouldn\u2019t have a bike\nbecause I\u2019m too crazy and bound to kill myself.&nbsp;\nHe\u2019s never liked the way I drive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSo, because he won\u2019t\nsign you thought to ask me?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYup.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cCan\u2019t do it\nRick.&nbsp; Sorry.&nbsp; First off, I don\u2019t think co-signing a loan\nfor anyone is good business.&nbsp; Too\nrisky.&nbsp; But now you\u2019re asking me to\noverride Dad and go against his wishes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cNo!&nbsp; I mean\u2026you know.&nbsp; He just doesn\u2019t trust me. No one does.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOK, listen.&nbsp; I trust you just fine.&nbsp; It\u2019s just that I won\u2019t go over his head when\nhe\u2019s already refused to co-sign for you.&nbsp;\nI just won\u2019t do it.&nbsp; Sorry.&nbsp; I will help you out by lending you some\nmoney, but I won\u2019t co-sign.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cFine, just forget\nit!\u201d he responded angrily.&nbsp; \u201cI\u2019ll just ride\nthe bus for the next few weeks and wait until next month when I turn twenty-one\nand do this by myself!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cLook Rick!&nbsp; Don\u2019t get all pissed about this.&nbsp; It\u2019s just not a good idea all the way\naround.&nbsp; Won\u2019t you just consider getting\na car instead?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cNope!&nbsp; My mind\u2019s made up!&nbsp; Thanks for nothing!\u201d&nbsp; The phone clicked off loudly and I was left\nstaring at the receiver. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On July 8, 1971,\nRicky pulled up to our apartment in a brand-new Honda six-cylinder\ncruiser.&nbsp; He was wearing red-white and\nblue leathers and an American flag helmet.&nbsp;\nI had to admit that the bike was certainly a fine piece of machinery,\nbut I couldn\u2019t get over the lump of dread weighing heavily in the pit of my\nstomach.&nbsp; He offered to take me on a\nshort ride and I hesitatingly accepted.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pulling back into the\nparking lot, I breathed a sigh of relief because the fifteen-minute drive had\nbeen terrifying.&nbsp; Exceeding ninety miles\nper hour on Interstate 10, I couldn\u2019t wait to get off the bike.&nbsp; As we roared off earlier, I was almost thrown\noff the passenger seat when Ricky tried to do a wheelie with the more than\neight-hundred-pound bike.&nbsp; He leaned the\nbike sharply, cutting in and out of traffic barely missing front and rear\nbumpers, and finally cutting across four lanes of traffic to exit the freeway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I asked him if this\nwas the way he planned to drive to and from work.&nbsp; He laughed and said he was only trying to\nscare me.&nbsp; He knew how to drive safely,\nhe said.&nbsp; I insisted that he apply for\nhis license as soon as possible, and he assured me he would.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">My last view of him\nwas as he roared away, waving to me with his left hand.&nbsp; The back of his leather jacket said, \u201cBorn to\nRide\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align:center\">***<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">November 30, 1971, 12:30AM.&nbsp; I worked a four to midnight shift and got\nhome around twelve-thirty.&nbsp; Kaz was\nalready in bed, but as per her recent habit, she was still awake, her head\nburied in the \u201cGetting Your American Citizenship\u201d booklet she\u2019d purchased.&nbsp; After I washed up and dressed in my PJs, I\ndropped into bed, dead tired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHow was work?\u201d Kaz\nasked softly, putting the book down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOh my God, it was so\nbusy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYou did OK, right?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOh yeah, I did\nfine.&nbsp; Piece of cake.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOK, good.&nbsp; Goodnight.\u201d&nbsp;\nShe reached for the bedside lamp and turned it off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cGoodnight.\u201d&nbsp; I rolled over and fell instantly asleep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At 2:30AM, we were\nawakened by the shrill sound of the phone ringing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHello\u2026\u201d I struggled\nto mouth the word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHi Frank?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYes?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHey, this is Sylvia.&nbsp; I\u2019m sorry to call so late, but I was\nwondering if you\u2019d heard from Ricky?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cRicky?&nbsp; No, no I haven\u2019t.&nbsp; Isn\u2019t he home?\u201d&nbsp; I glanced at the clock, struggling to\nremember that he got off at midnight and should\u2019ve been home over an hour ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cNo, he isn\u2019t.&nbsp; I\u2019m a little worried.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYou mean you don\u2019t\nknow where he is?&nbsp; He didn\u2019t call or\nanything before he got off work?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWell, maybe he went\nout with some guys for a beer or something.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cNo, he never does\nthat.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOh, OK.\u201d&nbsp; I thought for a couple of seconds, then dared\nto ask.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cDid you guys have a\nfight?&nbsp; I mean like an argument or\nsomething like that before he went to work?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWell\u2026\u201d&nbsp; A long pause.&nbsp;\n\u201cWell, yeah.&nbsp; We kinda had a\nlittle argument.&nbsp; You know.&nbsp; But I thought we\u2019d try to work it out when he\ngot home tonight.&nbsp; But I just haven\u2019t\nheard anything.&nbsp; I\u2019m just worried.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I sat up slowly in\nbed, hoping that Kaz was still sleeping.&nbsp;\n\u201cLook, here\u2019s what probably happened.&nbsp;\nHe\u2019s still pissed, and he decided to make you worry by maybe going out\nwith a couple of guys for a couple of hours.&nbsp;\nI\u2019m sure he\u2019ll be home before you know it.&nbsp; Besides, there\u2019s not much I can do\nanyway.&nbsp; I don\u2019t know who he hangs out\nwith so I wouldn\u2019t know who to call.&nbsp; So,\nmy advice is, just go back to bed and he\u2019ll be home before you know it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOK, I guess you\u2019re\nright.&nbsp; Sorry to bother you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cNo problem.&nbsp; If he\u2019s not home in let\u2019s say a couple of\nhours call me back.&nbsp; I\u2019ll get dressed and\ncome over.&nbsp; We\u2019ll figure something out.&nbsp; OK?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOK, thanks.&nbsp; Bye.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBye.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kaz softly asked, \u201cIs\nRicky not home?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cNo, but you know how\nthey always fight.&nbsp; They got into an\nargument before he went to work, and I\u2019ll bet he\u2019s still pissed.&nbsp; He\u2019s probably going to spend the night with a\nfriend and come home when it\u2019s light.&nbsp;\nHe\u2019s just trying to scare her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI hope so.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019m sure.&nbsp; Let\u2019s go back to sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOK, goodnight.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">November 30, 1971,\n6:47AM.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I heard the phone\nringing, but it was so far away.&nbsp; Ring,\nring, ring.&nbsp; Then an elbow in my\nback.&nbsp; \u201cHoney, get the phone!\u201d&nbsp; Kaz\u2019s voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHuh?&nbsp; Oh, yeah.\u201d&nbsp;\nAs I rolled to my left I reached for the phone and looked at the clock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As I brought the\nreceiver towards me, and before I could say a word\u2026a loud and lingering scream\ncut the air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHE\u2019S DEAD!&nbsp; OH MY GOD FRANK, RICKY\u2019S DEAD!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align:center\">***<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the end of his\nshift, and after a brief conversation with one of his co-workers, Ricky mounted\nhis powerful new Honda cruiser and left work at 12:10AM.&nbsp; He turned left onto Elysian Street and\npointed the bike southbound towards his little apartment on Winkler Avenue,\nabout nine miles away.&nbsp; A mile or so down\nthe road he\u2019d cross Lorraine Street and quickly merge left onto Hardy\nAvenue\u2014and with little or no traffic, or law enforcement to slow him down, should\nmake it home in less than ten minutes.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A little after 6AM,\nlater that morning, a middle-aged black man, walking north to the bus stop at\nthe corner of Elysian and Lorraine, looked to his left into the large open\nfield between Elysian and Hardy Avenue, and spotted an odd and misplaced shiny\npiece of chrome, glistening brightly through the weeds in the early morning dawning\nsunshine.&nbsp; His curiosity got the better\nof him, and since he was a few minutes early anyway, decided to turn off the\nsidewalk and walk into the knee-high weeds to inspect the mysterious object\nthat he was sure hadn\u2019t been there the day before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As he walked slowly\nthrough the dew-laden foliage he noticed that the closer he got, the more the shimmering\npiece of metal seemed to resemble some kind of fender.&nbsp; <em>But, <\/em>he\nthought, <em>what would a chrome fender be\ndoing out here in the middle of this field?&nbsp;\n<\/em>Moreover, his confusion was heightened when he spotted a small tree\nlying prone on the ground about ten feet in front of him\u2014its slender trunk\nsheared off about a foot off the ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His preoccupation\nwith the tree and the gleaming chrome object was suddenly interrupted as a\nsplash of bright colors caught his eye just off to his left.&nbsp; He turned his head quickly and squinted\ntrying to make sense of what it was that had caught his attention.&nbsp; As his mind struggled to comprehend the\nhorrific carnage that his eyes were seeing, a strong odor of raw gasoline\noverwhelmed his senses and he fought to suppress a rapidly rising wave of\nnausea. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Questions and the Aftermath<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sylvia\u2019s phone call\nearly that morning was confusing and unsettling, and because of her hysterical\nmental state she was only able to answer a few of my many questions.&nbsp; What she was able to tell me clearly was that\nshe had just received a call from someone at the Houston Police Department\ninforming her that they had received information of the discovery of a body\nwith her husband\u2019s driver\u2019s license and other identifying documents.&nbsp; She had also been told that there was a\nwrecked motorcycle near the body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The officer also\ninformed her that officers at the scene had found papers stored in the saddle\nbags of the motorcycle containing a home address and this phone number.&nbsp; He had been asked by the officers at the\nscene to call that number to determine if a certain Richard M. DeLeon was\npresently at home and if he owned a motorcycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWell Sylvia,\u201d I\nsaid, trying to sound as calm as I could.&nbsp;\n\u201cIt doesn\u2019t mean that that\u2019s Ricky, right?&nbsp; I mean, he could\u2019ve lent the bike to one of\nhis friends, don\u2019t you think?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cNooooo!\u201d she\nscreamed back at me.&nbsp; \u201cThe policeman told\nme that the person was wearing a red, white and blue leather jacket, and that\nthat the helmet, or what was left of it, was in the design of the American\nflag.&nbsp; OH MY GOD!!\u201d&nbsp; And she broke down into a series of screams and\nsobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSylvia,\nSylvia\u2026listen to me.&nbsp; Did the officer\ngive you a phone number for you to call back?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cNO!!&nbsp; I just hung up right away and called your\nmom!!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOh God!&nbsp; You called my mom already?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYes!&nbsp; But I had to hang up because I think she\nfainted.&nbsp; I heard the phone hit the floor\nand she wouldn\u2019t answer me anymore.&nbsp; So,\nthen I called you!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOh Jesus!\u201d I\ngasped.&nbsp; \u201cOK, let me make a few phone\ncalls.&nbsp; I need to get in touch with the\npolice department and get to the bottom of this.&nbsp; They shouldn\u2019t have called you requesting\ninformation on somebody they found hurt.&nbsp;\nI\u2019ll call you back as soon as I get some more information.\u201d&nbsp; The phone went dead before I was able to\nfinish the sentence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I turned and saw Kaz\nwearing a look of terror\u2014her hands on each side of her face.&nbsp; \u201cIs your bro\u2026Ricky, dead?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cLord, I don\u2019t know\nfor sure.&nbsp; I\u2019ve got to call mom first and\nsee if she\u2019s OK.&nbsp; Sylvia said she thought\nshe fainted.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOh no\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I dialed mom\u2019s\nnumber, but the line was busy.&nbsp; \u201cWell,\nshe\u2019s not answering.&nbsp; I\u2019m gonna try to\ncall the police department.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOK,\u201d Kaz said.&nbsp; \u201cWant me to get you something?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cNo\u2026well, yes.&nbsp; Do you know where the phone book is?&nbsp; I need to find the number for the cops.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSure, I get it for\nyou.\u201d&nbsp; She jumped out of bed and ran into\nthe kitchen.&nbsp; Just then, the phone\nrang.&nbsp; It was mom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She was almost as\nhysterical as Sylvia, and my main concern was her present welfare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cMom!&nbsp; First of all, we don\u2019t know that it\u2019s Ricky\nthat\u2019s been hurt, OK?&nbsp; I need to call the\npolice to get more information.&nbsp; But for\nnow, I need to know if you\u2019re OK!&nbsp; Sylvia\nthought you may have fainted.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Between sobs and praying\nto Jesus, she told me that when she heard Sylvia telling her Ricky was dead,\nshe\u2019d dropped the phone.&nbsp; From then on,\nshe\u2019d been trying to call me.&nbsp; \u201cI know\nmom, I was on the phone with Sylvia when you were probably trying to call.&nbsp; Are you sure you\u2019re OK?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSi, mijito.&nbsp; Please ask God not to let it be my\nRicky.&nbsp; Please, please pray to\nJesus.&nbsp; I know He wouldn\u2019t take my son\naway from me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSure mom, but for\nnow please just try to calm yourself a little bit.&nbsp; I\u2019m calling the police right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOK, mijito.&nbsp; Ay Dios m\u00edo!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI love you,\nmom.&nbsp; And, as soon as I know anything,\nI\u2019ll let you know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Within a few minutes\nI had called the Houston Police Department and verified that it had indeed been\nRicky whose body they\u2019d found.&nbsp; I didn\u2019t\nhave the heart to call my mother back.&nbsp; I\njust needed some time to gather myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align:center\">***<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Over the next thirty-six\nhours I had gathered all the information that I needed.&nbsp; Although Sylvia had been re-contacted by the\nmedical examiner and asked to go to the morgue to identify Ricky, I asked to\naccompany her.&nbsp; Since she was legally\nRicky\u2019s next of kin, she was escorted into the room where his body lay.&nbsp; As she entered the room, I was approached by\none of the medical examiner\u2019s assistants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI understand he\u2019s\nyour brother,\u201d the young red-haired man in a crisp white lab coat whispered as\nhe softly shook my hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYes,\u201d I answered,\ntrying to control my emotions.&nbsp; \u201cIt was\njust us two.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cMy sincere condolences\non your loss.\u201d He said, quietly.&nbsp; \u201cIf you\nwant to go in to view the body, I can escort you in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Before I had a chance\nto answer, he quickly said, \u201cBut really, you don\u2019t want to see your brother in\nthat condition.&nbsp; It\u2019s bad enough that his\nwife has to make the ID.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOh?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cLook, we were\nrequired to do an autopsy due to the circumstances, and although I just\nassisted, Doctor Cullen said that he\u2019d never seen such damage to a body.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOh God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cLook, it might help\nif I tell you, he never knew what hit him.&nbsp;\nHe must\u2019ve been going over a hundred miles an hour when he lost control\nof his bike\u2014and quite frankly, it was over for him in half a second.&nbsp; His chest and stomach contacted the\nhandlebars while at the same time his head hit a metal sign pole.&nbsp; Besides a fractured skull, his entire\nmid-section was instantly crushed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cLord.&nbsp; How could he lose control?&nbsp; Wasn\u2019t he going straight on the street?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHe was in the center\nlane of Elysian\u2014it\u2019s a three-lane one-way street.&nbsp; Just as he crossed Lorraine Street, Elysian\nmakes a sharp left curve to rejoin Hardy Avenue.&nbsp; He was just going too fast to make the curve\nand it looks like after he applied the brake the bike just slid full speed and\nstraight into the curb.&nbsp; When the bike\u2019s\nfront wheel hit the curb, the front section of the bike folded up as his body\nwent forward.&nbsp; At that point his head\ncontacted a \u201cNo Parking\u201d sign and his helmet failed.&nbsp; He and the bike tumbled into a vacant lot and\nhe came to rest after about three hundred feet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I felt woozy and\nthought I might want to throw up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019m sorry\u2026here, let\nme get you a chair,\u201d he said, as he gently guided me to a small metal chair in\nthe darkened waiting room.&nbsp; \u201cThere you\ngo.&nbsp; Want some water?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cNo, I think I\u2019m\nOK.&nbsp; It\u2019s just\u2026a bit much to hear right\nnow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019m sorry.&nbsp; I just thought someone should know how he\ndied.&nbsp; We normally don\u2019t tell the wife or\nmother details, and later on they usually call to ask if their loved one\nsuffered, or things like that.&nbsp; Someone\nfrom the family should know so they can share what they feel they need to at a\nlater date.&nbsp; Helps with closure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI understand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I heard a loud scream\ncoming from the closed door with the sign that said, \u201cViewing Room\u201d, and knew\nSylvia had just seen my brother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align:center\">***<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">My brother was buried\nat Forest Park Cemetery, on the second of December 1971.&nbsp; The burial service was held at Iglesia\nBethel, in the Magnolia Gardens neighborhood of Houston, where Ricky\u2019s casket\nremained closed.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">My parents were devastated,\nbut I was especially concerned with my mother\u2019s mental state. &nbsp;She was inconsolable and told anyone who would\nlisten that Ricky had already appeared to her several times and told her that\nhe was now living in Heaven and walking with Jesus.&nbsp; \u201cHe told me he would be there waiting for me.&nbsp; So, I know I will be dying very soon and\njoining my son.\u201d&nbsp; She would then swoon\nand go to her knees.&nbsp; In my grief, I was\nworried sick about her and the condition she was in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sylvia, on the other\nhand\u2014after an initial show of bitter grief at the funeral\u2014perked up\nremarkably.&nbsp; Within a couple of days of\nthe burial she called me, telling me she wanted to meet and discuss the\nintricacies of the life insurance policy they\u2019d taken out on each other\u2019s lives\nafter they were married.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBasically, I need to\nknow what this \u2018double-indemnity\u2019 clause is,\u201d she asked me, over a cup of\ncoffee at our apartment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After reading over\nthe document I said, \u201cWell, the policy is written for thirty thousand dollars,\nbut the double indemnity clause means that if death occurs due to an accident,\nthe payout doubles.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThat\u2019s what my\nfather told me too.&nbsp; But I didn\u2019t believe\nhim because he\u2019s not too smart.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWell, he was right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSo then, I\u2019m gonna\nget sixty thousand dollars instead of thirty?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI would verify that\nwith the insurance agent you bought the policy from, but usually that\u2019s what it\nmeans.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOh!&nbsp; Then I can do whatever I want with the\nmoney?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI would assume\nso.&nbsp; But you\u2019ll have to pay the Crespo\nFuneral Home what it cost for the funeral, don\u2019t you?&nbsp; I\u2019m assuming they extended their services\npending the insurance payout.&nbsp; Did they\nask you about life insurance?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYes, and they wanted\na copy of the policy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOK, so after those\nexpenses, what\u2019s left is yours.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOh, good.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align:center\">***<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Over the next few\nweeks Sylvia stayed in close contact with me asking advice on several issues\nconcerning the insurance payout.&nbsp; I\nthought her behavior was coarse and insulting but tried to give her the best\nadvice I could.&nbsp; For example, I suggested\nthat maybe she should take the majority of the payout and invest it for the\nfuture\u2014going so far as to make inquiries for her of several investment\ncounselors in the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mostly, she\nsidestepped my advice and instead peppered me with questions about what kind of\ncar she should buy.&nbsp; I told her the\nlittle Toyota I\u2019d sold to them was still pretty good transportation, and she\nwas quick to tell me she was planning to get rid of the car because it was too\nsmall and didn\u2019t have enough power.&nbsp; I\noffered to buy it back, but she insisted she was going to give it to one of her\nbrothers instead.&nbsp; I suggested that a\nlittle Volkswagen Beetle might serve her needs at this time\u2014plus it was inexpensive\nto buy and operate and should last her a long time.&nbsp; She huffed and said she had some other cars\nin mind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Within two months she\npurchased a brand new 1971 Mercury Cougar and furnished her apartment with new\nfurniture.&nbsp; She invited Kaz and me to\ndinner one evening to show off her new purchases, and we were more shocked than\nimpressed when we walked into the little apartment on Winkler Avenue.&nbsp; The whole one-bedroom apartment was no bigger\nthan five-hundred square feet, but into that space she had managed to stuff an\ninordinate amount of gaudy oversized furniture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the front room,\nnot bigger than twelve by fifteen feet she had managed to shoe-horn in a gaudy\npurple faux leather couch and a humungous oval coffee table whose thick glass\ntop was supported by a heavy, shiny gold-tone Arabian-themed metal base.&nbsp; One had to sit sideways on the couch because\nof the lack of legroom between the couch and table.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Almost completely\ncovering the entire wall behind the couch, from the ceiling down to the\nbackrest hung a giant brass-framed painting of a squirming Elvis Presley brush-painted\non thick black velvet.&nbsp; I was sure when\nthe two gaudy black and pearl five-foot-tall floor lamps, wedged into the two\navailable corners of the living room were turned off for night, Elvis and his\nwhite suit and silver guitar would glow on in lifelike iridescence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The bedroom was\nequally terrifying: a California king-sized bed\u2014complete with canopy and\nfootboard\u2014was jammed into the tiny room, leaving scant room to even walk around\nbetween it and the wall.&nbsp; If one left the\nbathroom door open it would be most convenient to just roll off one side of the\nbed and sit up on the commode.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSo, what do you guys\nthink?&nbsp; I got this stuff at Finger\u2019s\nFurniture Center last week.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Luckily, Kaz managed\nto summon a few Oh\u2019s and Ah\u2019s, because all I could come up with was,\n\u201cInteresting\u2026I mean it\u2019s nice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After we left, I\ncomplained to Kaz that the way things were going Sylvia would probably burn\nthrough the insurance money in less than a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYeah,\u201d she\nsaid.&nbsp; \u201cI wish there was something we\ncould do to help her not spend money like that.\u201d&nbsp; As we pulled into the parking area of our\napartment and walked up the squeaky stairs to our door, an idea popped into my\nhead.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYou know, since she\nwon\u2019t take any advice on investing the money in stocks or bonds, maybe I can\nsuggest a more personal way for her to invest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHow?\u201d Kaz asked\nquizzically. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align:center\">***<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;It took a bit of convincing, but with the help\nof a real estate attorney, a title company, and a little arm-twisting, I\nconvinced Sylvia that if she invested twenty thousand dollars of my brother\u2019s\ninsurance money into a twenty-thee-hundred-foot, three bedroom house, in a cozy\nlittle neighborhood just south of the Intercontinental Airport (now George Bush\nInternational), she would be guaranteed a steady monthly income for twenty\nyears.&nbsp; And who better to make sure that\nthe investment was not only safe, but would be sure to grow in value?&nbsp; None other than her brother-in-law and his\nwife? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So, in early 1972,\nKaz and I moved into that little home secure in the thought that at least one-third\nof my brother\u2019s insurance proceeds would not just disappear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To be continued\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The End of Training and The End of a Life Although I had been working on my own for several months now, on Sunday, July 9, 1972, I was promoted to a GS-13, FPL (Full Performance Level) ATCS (Air Traffic Control Specialist).&nbsp; As a new journeyman I was now making a little less than $19,000 &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/frankdeleon.com\/?p=1058\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">New Horizons &#8211; Part Six<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/frankdeleon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/frankdeleon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/frankdeleon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frankdeleon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frankdeleon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1058"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/frankdeleon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1058\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1060,"href":"https:\/\/frankdeleon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1058\/revisions\/1060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/frankdeleon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frankdeleon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frankdeleon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}