CHAPTER THREE

The next few weeks were the worst in my young life. My entire family did die that night for no reason other than some idiot decided to have a few drinks then get behind the wheel of a thirty-five-thousand-pound truck. He claimed he was running late and trying to make up time, but he was arrested and charged with felony manslaughter.

The company he drove for, Global Logistics had already contacted me and offered to help in any way. My mother had a brother who was an attorney and he contacted me right away and told me not to make any decision concerning the accident with anyone.

I had to purchase a tomb and because of the horrific crash viewing the bodies was not an option. I decided on a cremation and buried each member in my family in the tomb in separate urns.

Since my dad had put me on his checking account for the business, I was able to pay for everything. I was shocked that my dad had over eight hundred thousand dollars in his checking account for the company. My uncle called me, and we set up a meeting which he would come down from north of the state and meet with me.

After the initial meeting, my uncle went over most of the family paperwork that was in the safe. He had secured all six death certificates and filed them with the state. Both my mother and father had life insurance policies on each other for two hundred and fifty thousand dollars each. Then each one of my sisters had a policy which my parents bought for fifty thousand each. My uncle accompanied me to the bank, and we sorted through all of my parents accounts and liabilities.

Everything my parents owned was paid for in full. The only debts they had were utilities, insurance and whatever else was needed. My parents had accumulated quite a large sum of money through the years not that it really mattered. All the bills were changed into my name and would still be sent to the house.

Some nights I laid in my bed and wondered if perhaps in some way I was responsible for what had happened. Was this perhaps fate getting back at me for what I had done with my sisters. In some way, I did blame myself for what I had done with my sisters but that was a secret no one would ever discover.

The crew my dad employed stepped up and was close to finishing both projects that been going on when my dad was alive. I had not taken any other jobs and was discussing selling the business to the foreman of the crew. For some reason I could not find any peace with myself. I would just go on and on about what happened and why it happened to me.

I found myself going to the gym more and more every day. The only time my mind would be clear is when I was pushing weights around. After a few months of being a “regular” as they called it, I began to understand how some of these guys got so big. They all had one thing in common, performance enhancing substances. They would allow the body to recover faster from a workout, so you were able to work each body part several more times a week.

Every gym has the one guy who can get whatever you need. After a while, I took the bait as well and started going on cycles of six to eight weeks. It was amazing how quickly you added weight to each exercise and how your body reacted. In less than a year, I had put on twenty-eight pounds but hardly any body fat. I was right at two hundred twenty-five pounds but still maintaining a thirty-inch waist.

At the close of my parent’s succession, I sat down with my uncle as he explained my current finances. I had a check for five hundred thousand dollars for the life insurance on my parents. And another check for two hundred thousand for my four sisters. My parent’s had over three hundred thousand in their personal checking account and my dad still had four hundred thousand in his company account when the houses were finished. That left me at one million four hundred thousand in cash and possession of my parent’s home and the house my dad had bought for me.

The trucking company, Global Logistics had made my uncle an offer of three million dollars to settle the case. My uncle knew that once the driver was convicted, we were in the driver’s seat. Honestly, I didn’t care about the money, I just wanted my family back.

The trial lasted all of six days before the jury came with six counts of involuntary manslaughter. That was the lowest charge of murder that you could get. Once the verdict came in the freight company started calling my uncle daily.

The driver was sentenced to twenty years without the possibility of parole. It seemed odd that six people lost their lives and it was only worth twenty years. Once that was out of the way my uncle retained a well-known lawyer in town to help him with the case. My uncle was a civil attorney and did not have much experience in a wrongful death suit.

The back and forth went on for almost three months before Global Logistics and their insurance company settled for twenty-six million dollars. My uncle and the second attorney charged three million dollars for their representation in the suit.

My uncle then set me up with a financial advisor who helped me invest the money wisely. I bought fifteen one-million-dollar annuities with earned me thirty-five thousand dollars a month. He then set up some certificates of deposits and a stock plan.

I still had the family account with over a million dollars in it as well as the two homes. I decided to sell the family home on a sleepless night. There were just too many memories there for me to live there permanently. I sold the home for seven hundred and ten thousand dollars through a local agent.

The crew had finished the home my father had bought me, and I sold that as well for a little over four hundred thousand. I then decided to find me a new home in the north part of town. It took me over four months, but I finally found the right home. It was all stone and glass ultra-modern look. The house was six thousand seven hundred and twenty-two square feet in a high security gated subdivision. It had four bedrooms, four bathrooms, a gym, home theatre room and a huge living area.

The home was equipped with a huge gourmet kitchen and massive dining room. The master bathroom as large as our old family room. There was a huge soaking tub and a shower that four people could use at once. It had a state-of-the-art security system with twenty-one cameras around the house. There was a huge pool in the back along with a small cabana to change in that also had a bath with a shower. There was a large glass room on the back of the home as well for entertaining. I was able to buy the home for one million two hundred and seven five thousand dollars.

I spent close to three months with a woman who owned Wilson Luxury Furnishings in town. She was in her mid-thirties and loved modern furniture like I did. After close to three hundred thousand later, I had finished furnishing my home. I moved in and tried to get my life back on track and move forward. I know that is what my mother and father would want but somehow, I felt so alone.

I started relandscaping the property with the local nursery providing me what I wanted. The lawn was huge, so I bought a fifty-inch zero turn mower with a bagging option to keep the lawn cut. I was out front on a Saturday morning cutting the grass when a small girl came walking from the house next door. She waved to me, so I stopped the mower and got off.

“How are you?”, I asked.

“I’m fine……… my name is Jennifer, but you can call me Jen if you want.”, she said very sure of herself.

“Well ok then Jen. My name is Jace Johnson.”, I replied, shaking her small hand.

“Why do you have all of those muscles, Jace?”, she asked.

“Uh, you don’t have to answer that. That’s not very nice Jen.”, a beautiful blonde woman interrupted.

Obviously, this was the little girl’s mother, and they were my next-door neighbors whom I had never met. The woman who could not have been more than twenty-five walked right up to me.

“Please excuse my daughter. She is very precocious for five going on eighteen. At least that is what she thinks. By the way, I’m Shelby Phillips.”, she said, extending her hand.

“Nice to meet you ma’am. I’m Jace Johnson.”, I replied taking her hand in mine.

“Ma’am, how old do you think I am.”, Shelby giggled.

“I’m not sure ma’am but being raised with five women I was taught there are some things you don’t talk about. Age is one of them.”, I replied.

“Fair enough, Jace. But I’m only twenty-three.”, she said, winking at me.

“So why do you have all those muscles?”, Jennifer asked again.

“Well, that is because I lift weights every day. It took a lot of years to get this big.”, I replied.

“Is that your job…… to lift weights?”, Jen asked.

“No, it’s not my job. I just like to do it.”, I laughed.

Just about that time a tall slender man came out the garage and turned towards us. He appeared to be somewhat annoyed and placed his hands on his hips.

“What the fuck are you doing Shelby?”, he growled.

“Just meeting our new neighbor Tim.”, she replied, grabbing her daughter by the shoulder.

“Well, get the fuck back over here.”, he commanded.

“I better go, nice to meet you Jace.”, she replied, acting extremely nervous.

She walked back towards her house and when she got close to him, he grabbed her on the back of her neck with his left hand pulling her close to him. He began to talk to her in a low tone, but I could not hear a word he said. I almost said something but decided maybe they were just having a bad day. He took one look back to see if I was still watching him. I was.

I finished the yard and showered then went to a restaurant to eat. I got home early Saturday evening and there was a sticky note on my door. It was from the neighbor across the street who was inviting me to a small get together for people on the block. I decided to go for a lack of anything better to do. I had a wine cellar in the house, so I grabbed a bottle of white wine and a bottle of red to take with me.

I walked across the street to the address that was wrote on the yellow note and rang the bell. A woman in her forties answer the door dressed casually.

“Hi, I’m uh……… Jace Johnson from across the street. You left a note on my door.”, I stammered.

“Oh yes, I’m Rose McGowan. Please come in, Jace.”, she offered, opening the door.

I followed her to the back of the house where at least eight couples were seated talking among themselves. She cleared her throat to gain the attention of the room.

“This is Jace Johnson, our new neighbor from across the street.’, she announced.

“Oh boy Jace, are you going to be a hit on this block. I’m Ted McGowan when my wife allows me to be.”, he laughed extending his hand.

“Thank you, sir, it’s nice to meet you.”, I replied, shaking his hand.

“Sir, he has manners too. We will break you of that.”, he laughed once again.

“My mother and father insisted on it, or you paid the price.”, I replied.

In the next few hours, I learned the names of close to twenty of my new neighbors and what they did for a living. The men all had executive type positions or owned their own business. The women by their own admission just spent their husband’s money except for Rose who was a vice president at a bank.

I in turn shared my story on how I landed in the middle of their block. All in all, I put a damper on the party for a while discussing my family’s death, but everyone bounced back soon after. Rose pulled me on the side and leaned over to me.

“Have you met Shelby and Tim Phillips your next-door neighbors?”, she asked.

“Actually yes, I have. I talked to Shelby and Jennifer for a few moments this morning until her husband came out.”, I replied.

“Be careful with Tim. He is a ruthless bastard that knocks the shit out of her when he gets pissed. He is very possessive of her and gets jealous easy. I’m surprised he didn’t tell you something. But then again, you’re three times his size.”, Rose Laughed.

“He appeared to be mad this morning with the way he grabbed her neck. I will keep that in mind.”, I answered.

“I feel bad for her, I really do. No one will talk to her because we are afraid, he will take it out on her. So, we keep our distance for her safety.”, Rose informed me.

“Why don’t she get rid of him?”, I asked.

“Honestly, I just don’t know.”, Rose said, sighing.

Most of the people on the block were in their thirties or forties. It seemed that Shelby and I were the youngest people on the block. Most of the guests had no children as well which I found odd, but the men were professionally driven as I could gather by their conversation. I left about eleven thirty and walked back home with the promise of many more get togethers with my new neighbors.

During the next six months or so I began training in Muay Thai which is also called Thai kickboxing to some. This martial arts discipline is called the art of eight limbs. It represents the idea of using elbows and knees to strike an opponent just as much as using fists and feet. For some reason I learned very quickly sometimes taking two classes a day.