The Ten of Them – Chapter 2: A New Home

Mr. Edwards smiles thinking and then slowly speaks. “JJ you helped when my sons couldn’t even be bothered to help me. If you don’t want anyone to know about that, well I’ll just forget it.”

Kathryn slips her hand into mine before saying. “I didn’t see a thing.”

Mr. Edwards asked. “JJ before I forget. How in the world did you come up with an idea that pays you like that?”

While we drink our lemonade I explained it all to them. How I went to school. How I was treated and hated it. I started homeschool and need tutors. How my first Internet Company helped kids like me locate competent tutors for them, and provided online tutoring for a monthly fee. I got the idea watching an auction how some people seem to enjoy bidding more than just buying the item. I decided to create a website where items were auctioned. I decided against a monthly fee in favor of a per bid fee. That turned out to be the best idea I have had to that point.

Mr. Edwards interrupts and ask. “Why was it such a good idea for a per bid fee?”

So I continued my explanation. “On the site I sold high-end electronics and several automobiles per month. A car costing around $30,000 would auction off at between 12,000 and 18,000 dollars. With each bid only raising the price one sent, I collected $.50 fee per bid.”

Kathryn is definitely a smart person. She begins to giggle realizing how much each car made. “You mean you sold a $30,000 car for $12,000 but made $600,000 off the bids.”

“I made up the difference in the price of the car but I always made a profit off every car. And we sold anywhere between eighteen and twenty-nine cars a month. Second-year running the site I got at dealerships license for my Corporation so we made more profit.”

Mr. Edwards looks at me, calculating the math one more time he shakes his head yes before he asked the obvious question. “Why would you give up a company that made money like that?”

I explained this to Mr. Edwards. “Well at one moment my server glitch and I sold four cars for between $7000 and $10,000 I didn’t make a lot of profit on them. That’s when I knew my equipment couldn’t handle the traffic load, I checked with having one of the major companies host my site but none would even entertain my offer. Yahoo offered more money to buy it than I could refuse so I sold it to them.”

He smiled and says. “At least you knew when to get out of the game when you were on top.”

“Yep one more bad crash similar to that, and I would’ve got that price out of Yahoo, and deftly not got a percentage.”

Kathryn still holding my hand says brightly. “Your Mom deftly is right you are a smart one.”

Mr. Edwards asks. “JJ just how old are you?”

I smile and tell him. “I just turned fourteen last week.”

Mr. Edwards a little shocked but recovers quickly and says. “Guess you can call me Coach. I coach the football team at Foxmoore high school it is the unified County high school. I expect you will be trying out for football right?”

I started to blurt out I had already finished high school, hell I had three Associates degrees already. I never thought about it going to home schooling I had one goal that was to complete it. Now I could spend my time trying to make a lot more money but already had plenty of that. I think I might try school after all this is a different place and I will not have the same problem I had in California. It might be more fun to be a student in high school; the work could not be that hard. Besides, I’ll never get to meet a girl my age if I don’t. All the girls around here my age go to high school. “What about homeschool, I did that for a while when I was in California.”

Coach says it gently. “I hope that doesn’t cause a problem because here the County does not recognize homeschooling from out-of-state.”

Well that settles it; I’ll be attending high school in the fall. “I’ll have to ask my mother for permission to start practice, but I’d like to join the football team.”

Coach smiles saying. “Judging from you bringing in those parts and running back and forth without being winded you may be in the best shape of all the freshman starting practice.”

I smiled telling him. “Just got these longer legs they help a lot.”

He laughs saying. “You’re at that age when everything goes crazy, with your hormones going wild.”

Why does everyone keep saying that? I know it is hard being this age. A girl bending over will give me a hard cock, before she can touch her shoe. But isn’t that normal? I just smile and nod.

Kathryn folds the papers back up slides them into the envelope and folds it over, places them in my shirt pocket for me. “Don’t leave that lying around for everyone to see.”

I smiled warmly saying to her. “Thank you Kathryn.”

Coach Edwards smiles and asks. “Would you like to have lunch with us? I kind of like to pay you back for helping me.”

“I would like that Coach.”

Kathryn grins at me. “Maybe you can get my brothers to stop calling me Katie Cat, like you did Uncle Steve.”

I’m joking so I give the coach a wink. “I bet I could but I’ll need to get rough with them.”

Kathryn smiles at me and says. “Good they need to be taken down a notch.”

I asked the coach the question to change the topic. “Coach does the high school have a martial arts team that I may join.”

He shakes his head no. “I wish we could get the money for something like that. There are more than a few girls that could use some training in self-defense.”

“Well I happen to know a wealthy benefactor who would like to help with that. How would one go about something of that nature?”

The coach chuckles saying. “I wouldn’t have you do that. Your secret would be out very quickly.”

“Well I have heard of money being donated anonymously.”

The coach smiles as he is replying. “If you insist I could help with that, but we would need an instructor in at least one discipline.”

I give him a quick boul. “I have a third Dan in tae kwon do and a second Dan jujitsu.”

The coach raises an eyebrow. “You have to forgive me but I’m not familiar with those terms.”

I explained. “A Dan is commonly known as a black belt.”

Kathryn is grinning from ear to ear; she rubs her hands together with a devilish smile she asks. “How rough are you going to let JJ get Daddy?”

Coach grins and asks. “That means you’re good enough to put them in the dirt without really hurting them right?”

I reply. “Every day of the week and twice on Sunday if need be.”

“It’s about time someone come along that could do that, those boys of mine, I love them but they gotten too big for their britches.”

“Okay I can put them in their place for you. I won’t hit them but I want to be sure they land on something soft.”

The coach laughs and says. “Just take them into the backyard the grass is high enough to break their fall.”

His oldest daughter calls from the porch as were nearly halfway there. “Hurry up, Dad lunch is on the table.”

Coach shouts back to her. “Set one more place we got company.” She disappears into the house without calling back.

Kathryn changes the subject. “You said your birthday was last week. I wish I had known you then I would have given you something for your birthday.”

“That’s nice of you. Thank you Kathryn.” I think what Joan gave me. It is a handmade birthday card. I have it stored away safely, once I have mine room set up I’ll display it.

Kathryn informs me. “My birthday is tomorrow I’ll be ten.”

Smiling I tell her. “That makes me four years and one week older than you.”

At this point she acts like normal 10-year-old and sticks her tongue out at me. Then she giggles and runs ahead of us. I start the chase her but the coach puts a hand on my shoulder. I turned to him as he begins. “You know she’s getting a crush on you.”

I hadn’t even thought of that. I had a crush on one of my tutors when I was just a little older than her. I know how painful they can be. That stopped me dead in my tracks. “Coach I don’t want to hurt her, what can I do?”

He gives me the wisdom of a father who has been through it with his daughters before. “There’s not much you can do, just be her friend and it will all work out.” The coach says. “By the way we got her an iPod she’s been asking for. You could get her something small if you wanted to.”

“I am going into town today you have any suggestions something nice, but don’t send the wrong message.”

Coach thanks for second. “Get her brothers to stop calling her Katie cat, and tell her that’s her birthday present.”

“I think I can do that for her.”

The coach slaps me on the shoulder as we step onto the porch. “I think you’re going to work out as a good neighbor.”

I notice he is pulling off his shoes, and do the same. I follow him in and go to a downstairs bathroom to wash our hands before we eat. It’s a real meal, not something I expected for lunch. I was thinking soup and a sandwich. But the menu is Salisbury steaks with mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, fresh green beans, and Apple pie for dessert.

Then after we are seated the Coach introduces me to his children. The older two are twins and do resemble him and their mother. First the twins a boy seventeen years old is named Michael Junior and his sister is Michelle, a sixteen-year-old boy named Mark closely resembles his father’s appearance. There forth child a daughter name Maria fifteen years old.

Their fifth child a son named Edward, called Eddie is fourteen years old. Their sixth child Kara a girl of thirteen closely resembles her mother, the seventh child Krystal a twelve-year-old girl with strawberry blonde hair and hazel eyes she looks a lot like her sister. The eighth child is Kathryn who also has strawberry blond hair and hazel eyes. That’s a total of eight children three boys and five girls.

Their mother’s name is Helen; she has blue eyes and blonde hair and is a very attractive woman for having eight children. She stands about five feet six with probably the 34 B-cup breasts a slim waist and probably a 34 or 36 inch hip. Her oldest daughter is slightly slimmer probably 32 B-cup and probably 32 hips. The fifteen-year-old daughter has the darkest hair of the girls with medium brown hair and deep Hazel eyes. She appears to have 34 C-cup breast with 34 inch hips, she’s only about 5 foot one.