Grandma Is a Saint

By Will Kalinke

James Marten is immature, irresponsible, and newly released from prison. Set in his devil-may-care ways, he is shocked to learn of the murder of his beloved Grandma Mary. He is even more shocked to learn he has inherited her full estate and multiple international business holdings. Immaturity soon falls by the wayside as James is forced into a position of extreme responsibility.

He remembers Grandma Mary well, having always thought of her as a saint. The more James learns of his dear grandmothers past, however, the more he begins to doubt her sainthoodand the more he realizes his inheritance may be a death sentence. James is led down the path of a disturbing mystery: who would want his grandmother dead? And are the same people trying to put him in the grave as well?

Grandma Is a Saint is the retelling of the effects of one womans life and the secrets she passed onto her grandson. What occurred within the missing gaps of Grandma Marys life? What does it have to do with James? And will he be able to solve the mystery before the personal dangers attached to his inheritance bring him down? A nontraditional coming of age tale, Grandma Is a Saint will keep you guessing as James Marten grows in ways he never expected.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Jan 27, 2011
• ISBN: 9781426952494

Will Kalinke

Will Kalinke travelled with a number of runaway, homeless youth coast-to-coast in back alleys and dark streets in the eighties. He gave a presentation to the 1989 ACRES/NRSSC National Conference about his experiences on that journey, and much of what he observed has been woven into Victims and Vultures. Kalinke was a teacher for much of his life. He currently lives in Florida.

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© Copyright 2011 Will Kalinke.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

Printed in the United States of America.

isbn: 9781426952470 (sc)

isbn: 9781426952487 (hc)

isbn: 9781426952494 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2010918812

Trafford rev. 12/13/2010

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Contents

INTRODUCTION

ABOUT ME

ABOUT THE PLOT

PRELUDE TO MURDER

ONE: MYSTERIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES

TWO: GRANDSON IS SHOCKED

THREE: FLASHBACKS FOR CLUES

FOUR: A BODYGUARD

FIVE: MEMORIES

SIX: WHAT ELSE INDEED

SEVEN: TRANSFORMATION OF JAMES

EIGHT: PULLING IT TOGETHER

NINE: ED IS A HIT WITH MS. ROSE

TEN: MAGNETIC BONDING

ELEVEN: RICK ARRIVES

TWELVE: ABSOLUTE IN RELAXATION

THIRTEEN: AN OUNCE OF PREVENTION

FOURTEEN: ADDING SCOTT TO THE TEAM

FIFTEEN: BRUCE - MASTER AT DEFENSE

SIXTEEN: A SAMPLE OF PARIS

SEVENTEEN: MAXMILLAN AND SPAIN

EIGHTEEN: ITALY AND UNEXPECTED RESULTS

NINETEEN: NO TIME FOR REASONING OR UNDERSTANDING

TWENTY: A MISSION OF TRUST

AFTER THOUGHT

COMPANION BOOKS:

a summary

OTHER BOOKS IN PROGRESS:

preview of coming events

LIFE OF WILL KALINKE

a snapshot of past, present, and future

ONE OF FIVE BOOKS TO HELP YOU LEAVE A TREASURE OF MEMORIES

SENIORS/GRANDPARENTS/SIGNIFICANT OTHERS: You read Memorabilia and Memories Shared. You wrote your companion book of memories shared. You gathered family historical documents and took up the challenge in writing bits of your history as I did in Stoneboat Journey. You dabbled a bit with leaving behind a crossroad fantasyland of what your life might have been as I did in Mark and the Mystic Marble. Now you are ready to decide whether to tantalize those you leave behind with a chiller, as I’ve done in Victims and Vultures, or a murder mystery as I’ve done in Grandma is a Saint. While none of us followed the same path in life, all of us had harrowing unforgettable experiences that tested our mettle. We survived, or we wouldn’t be here to laugh or cry as we recount those tales. You can’t leave without sharing the greatest ‘chiller’ from your past. Have fun with restoring those memories. Add a little ‘sugar and spice’ as a little tease to reality. Your friends will talk about you anyway after you have gone. Make their conversation interesting! How about recounting a mysterious murder, especially one to which you were a witness? No one knew your grandmother, or great uncle, like you did. Think about it! Wasn’t there something suspicious about their past? Give your recollections a ‘twist of lemon’ to bring them alive. Share those sinister blood-curdling moments. Bring them alive. Give your friends and others you leave behind many moments of shared laughter as they talk about your past, each through a different pair of reading glasses, each from their perspective as they knew you. As you read Victims and Vultures, do you wonder about my sanity? Can you relate to the victim or the vulture? As you read about my Grandma, do you wonder about ‘gaps’ in the life story of one of your deceased relatives? Were they ‘really’ the saints they claimed? Was there something ‘shady’ that you might share? How about you - isn’t it about time that you told about … . I’ll leave that up to you to share. Be creative without restrictions – let your mind soar. A good place to start sharing is by forming or joining a caring Heritage Club with friends at your Senior Center, Retirement Complex, Café, Health Spa, Cruise, Bed & Breakfast Inn, or Camping Resort. What a legacy!

SYNOPSIS: Vicariously live with James, the immature grandson just released from prison, when an attorney notifies him of the murder of his grandma. The sudden shock and responsibility matures James rapidly and produces unexpected international drama as he claims his vast inheritance, seeks to do justice, avoids his own death, and braces for another shock, under the watchful eyes of Beatrice.

KEY DESCRIPTORS: Mystery – fiction – murder - international adventure – travel -intrigue – love – suspense - bonding – non-biased – harmony – gay - unrestrictive readership - Transformational arc from a young immature irresponsible ex-convict to a responsible respected leader of a vast international enterprise.

Order books through your local bookstore or direct from Trafford Publishing. Toll free 1.888.232.4444. www.trafford.com. [e-mail]. 1663 Liberty Drive, Bloomington Indiana 47403.

INTRODUCTION

All characters are fictitious, although by their descriptions they may appear real. The fictitious characters are not limited in residence or travel to the named places.

Tom Kalinke, Ruth Munz, William Whiting, Berryman Pillow, and Dickie Lee, you were very kind in offering your encouragement and assistance. Ellen and Marilyn, you were super with your critical observations. Thanks to students and instructors at the 2007, University of Wisconsin, School of the Arts at UW – Rhinelander, and the Division of Continuing Studies, University of Wisconsin – Madison.

I wrote this book in memory of my best friend, and spouse of many years, Connie, who lived through the historic era of Ms. Mary. Yes, Connie was born in 1919 after World War I - prior to the Great Depression and World War II. Yes, she worked in the war effort. Yes, she may have served as my primary inspiration and model for this novel. Yes, I may have written the novel with a bit of sarcasm, a bit of wit at times, and sometimes with a humorous twist of lemon, as through her eyes and her spirit. Connie had boundless energy and a will to do what was right without regard for the politics of the day. She was highly regarded even by those who may have had to back off from their positions as she was persistent and would not compromise in her goals for the benefit of others. She truly practiced Grandma’s dream world, a world in harmony, a world without bias.

Grandma is a Saint is a novel of danger, adventure, MURDER, and MYSTERY involving fortitude, fear, suspense, surprise, intrigue, and love, a true and unconditional love, a caring and a sharing type of love to move people toward a goal of a world in harmony – a world without bias; a goal held by both Connie and Grandma.

After Connie died, I booked air passage on Northwest Airlines and took to back alleys, rooming houses, dives, and dark streets across the country with shorts and backpack to experience first-hand the life of dropouts, runaways, abused, addicts, and more, both gay and straight. See ERIC Web Site #ED315208 for the background presentation from real life situations to the 1989 ACRES/NRSSC Symposium RC017 257. Most interviewees invited the use of their names in presentations and writings. However, no real names were included.

The writing of this book evolved from the experiences that preceded and followed that 1989 presentation and to the lack of challenging, appealing, dynamic, compelling novels written for all ages and all backgrounds without limitations to audience or market. Although not with an educational or instructional focus, this novel will hold the attention of multi-mix audiences of youth, retirees, professionals, inmates, parolees, parents, and extended family, whether homosexual or heterosexual, whether in the educational, criminal, political, or social justice systems. They will vicariously live and ponder the life of a young fictitious ex-convict and his grandma in fictitious circumstances with all of the above adjectives of suspense and intrigue. The language used is the language encountered by the author in old cut-off jeans on the streets, shaggy rooms/apartments, dives, and back alleys - non-violent, non-threatening, non-discriminatory, and non-sexist. While fictitious, this novel pulls from reality, and is both compelling and stimulating.

This novel is one of an enjoyable-reading collection involving dropouts, bullies, runaways, suicides, kidnapped, sexually abused, and battered through a ‘novel’ approach, including gays and straights, applying the transformational arc from principal character flaws, or limitations of immaturity, to mature accomplishments or positive adjustments, from shocking sadness to overflowing happiness. These novels start with a bang, keep rolling, and end with a bang.

Follow the transformation of James from immaturity and ex-convict, to maturity and master of an international inheritance, while finding the meaning of true happiness with Scott at his side, and the watchful eyes of Beatrice.

Criminal behaviors of youth, upper teens and early twenties, are better if prevented. However, one error need not lead to a path of crime, especially if a significant other shares trust and responsibility with high expectations and rewards. The story of James and Scott with Grandma, Beatrice, and Ms. Rose contains a moral real-life theme, subconsciously inviting the reader to other books in the novel collection. While written for pure pleasure and recreation, the novels may also benefit in other ways to readers who identify with any of the characters, scenes, or action. This invites a very wide readership (and those who would identify as writers) beyond any one niche - a potentially explosive mainstream international multi-aged market.

The often prototypic-language, action, or scenes frequently associated with niche gay novels or topics of crime, sex, or abuse, which often limits the readership or market, are absent, although at times suggestive, from these novels. You may mentally include such language, fantasies, or scenes, at your individual discretion.

ABOUT ME

Born July 28, l928, on a Wisconsin farm, I lived through the Great Depression and became a teacher in a one-room rural school in 1947 at the age of nineteen. I remained in numerous line and leadership roles in schools and colleges (the first Chairperson of the State Advisory Council on Exceptional Education) and professional organizations (elected twice as State President of the Council for Exceptional Children) in the field of organized regular and special education in Wisconsin and Minnesota until l991. My last teaching position was in a Florida prison. After retirement from schools, I bought a motel in Florida, which provided an initial base for writing novels. Ideas generated there, especially from prison parolees, along with a flow of national and international correspondence with pen pals in prisons, travels with dropouts, bums, addicts, and runaways, plus a lifetime interest in real-life mysteries, provided material for this emotional novel with suspense, intrigue, love, and conflict, which dips back to pre-World War II days.

ABOUT THE PLOT

James Allen, a young carefree ex-convict, had a grandma whose death shocked him into a ‘much needed’ reality that was beyond anything that he could imagine. For some time he wondered whether he was alone in thinking of Grandma as a saint. When he uncovered her hidden benevolent past, he discovered the vast international enterprise that she had possessed, and the personal dangers attached to his inheritance. His multiple tasks were to search for those who had murdered Grandma, to avoid his own murder, and to assume command of the vast international holdings. Just as he was beginning to recover from the events that landed him in prison, and master his new mission with Scott at his side, he received another shock, which put him in total command (or was it Beatrice).

GRANDMA IS A SAINT

As told by

WILL KALINKE

SCENES

PRELUDE TO MURDER

ONE: MYSTERIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES surrounding the death of Grandma

TWO: recovering convict GRANDSON IS SHOCKED when informed of her death

THREE: FLASHBACKS FOR CLUES from her past as he remembers

FOUR: A BODYGUARD is a consideration for protection from a killer

FIVE: grandson has MEMORIES of Grandma, then rushed to safety

SIX: WHAT ELSE INDEED could possibly happen with killers everywhere?

SEVEN: TRANSFORMATION OF JAMES from carefree youth to responsibility

EIGHT: PULLING IT TOGETHER for survival and the many tasks ahead

NINE: ED IS A HIT WITH MS. ROSE as he assists in managing teashop

TEN: MAGNETIC BONDING with hugs and kisses in facing challenges

ELEVEN: RICK ARRIVES from Miami to assist with administrative details

TWELVE: They experience ABSOLUTE IN RELAXATION in inherited gyms & spas

THIRTEEN: AN OUNCE OF PREVENTION with bodyguards and police

FOURTEEN: ADDING SCOTT TO THE TEAM fulfilled Grandma’s plan

FIFTEEN: BRUCE - MASTER AT DEFENSE security and driver as well

SIXTEEN: A SAMPLE OF PARIS future possibilities - the first leg of his journey

SEVENTEEN: MAXMILLAN AND SPAIN as he tours international holdings

EIGHTEEN: ITALY AND UNEXPECTED RESULTS discovered by Scott

NINETEEN: NO TIME FOR REASONING OR UNDERSTANDING accept love

TWENTY: A MISSION OF TRUST under the watchful eye of Grandma

AFTER THOUGHT: Beatrice and others could be watching

COMPANION BOOKS: a summary

OTHER BOOKS IN PROGRESS: preview of coming events

LIFE OF WILL KALINKE: a snapshot of past, present and future

CHARACTERS

Primary

James Allen Marten, grandson of Grandma Mary

Secondary

Grandma Mary Marten or Ms. Mary

Ms. Rose Feldman, best friend of Mary Marten

Rick Rogers, assistant to James Allen

Scott from flight attendant to partner

Supporting

Ed, bodyguard, assistant to Ms. Rose

Attorney John Henry of San Francisco

Attorney Roberta Nutter of Lakeland

Attorney Tom Howard Sangers of Miami

Attorney Janice Judy Lynn (J. J,) of Minneapolis

Four nosy ‘old biddies’

Beatrice, chief of security

Mentioned

Grandpa Paul Marten

Grandpa Jack Maloney

Amy, great with a Frisbee

Velrene, as the pilot

Bill, whiz at electronics

Pat, the dispatcher

Joan, treasurer, snowmobile club

Bob, a sexy retiree

Pete, driver and bodyguard

Bruce, driver and linguist

Miss Jane Southbee

MaxMillan of Spain

Reinaldo of Rio de Janeiro

General Eisenhower

Mussolini of Italy

Hitler of Germany

Jeffrey Dahmer, mass murderer

John Gacy, killer

PLACES VISITED

Lakeland, Florida, off I-4 between Tampa and Orlando

Greenhouse, Tearoom, Gift Shop

Sunset Motel

San Francisco, California

Fishermen’s Wharf

Miami, Florida

Minneapolis, Minnesota

The Mall of America

Tomahawk east of Minneapolis & off 39/51 north of Wausau/Madison, Wisconsin

Paris, France

Places in Spain

Places in Italy

Bank in Switzerland

PRELUDE TO MURDER

NO, NO, NO IT CAN’T BE! Dead, murdered, not my Grandma Mary! Who did it? I’ll kill them! James, age twenty-three, just out of prison, received word of his saintly Grandma Mary’s death by murder. The agonizing screams of James resonated from the Oakland Bay Bridge to the Golden Gate Bridge as he threatened to kill the perpetrators. Blood drained from his face as he dropped helplessly moaning to the pavement, unable to be at her side. His steady, firm, Rock of Gibraltar was no more.

While James was screaming in anguish at the wharf in San Francisco over the news of Grandma’s death, four nosy ‘old biddies’ were the first at the funeral home in Lakeland, Florida to give a show of importance, as they ‘beat’ the crowd to grieve and show respect at the casket.

ONE: MYSTERIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES

Grandma Mary Marten, known to others as Ms. Mary, was dead, murdered. Her body lay in a casket piled high with flowers in a local funeral home so that survivors could say farewell to the memory of this most highly respected person in this neighborhood, community, state and more, much more. People started arriving by carloads early in the afternoon. Flowers were already stacked in layers and more were still arriving. Four well-dressed women, nosy old biddies, in their mid to late fifties, stood near the casket. They were dressed in their finest church outfits including black veiled hats, black two-piece suits, black leather shoes, and large black purses with straps to hang over their shoulders, as would be most proper for a funeral of one of Lakeland’s most important citizens.

The large purses were necessary to hold plenty of colorful frilled hankies to dab at tears, which flowed freely. The funeral home was near the Sunset Motel, south off Highway I-4 in Lakeland, Florida, midway between Tampa and Orlando - a smaller, sleepy, bedroom community in the late 1990’s. The motel was a sixteen-unit one-floor 1950s ma and pa type, built primarily for snowbirds, retirees escaping the winter from states such as Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, New York, Illinois, Michigan, and Ontario. The motel still looked like it was in the fifties with no attempts at modernization.

Ms. Mary looks so nice. The old biddies started sharing the small talk so common at funerals of state.

Yes, the undertakers did such a good job. It’s perfection!

It’s almost too perfect with all the make-up.

That’s an expensive casket.

There are flowers everywhere.

Aren’t they beautiful?

Ms. Mary looks so much younger.

Yes, but Ms. Mary was always a lovely lady.

The embalmers made Ms. Mary look better than life.

Ms. Mary was lovely inside and out. She did so much for everyone. When I was down with a bad case of flu, she stopped every day with some fresh-cut flowers. She always knew how to cheer me up.

I don’t know where Ms. Mary found the time. She took in laundry, had a little gift shop and tearoom, worked in the greenhouse, and kept everything picture perfect. Her place was immaculate. She never appeared worn or hurried. She was just well organized. She was simply amazing!

I think Ms. Mary took a nap every afternoon and late evening. She always went to her room. Sometimes she wouldn’t come out on a weekend, or much of a week.

There were only a few days that I missed seeing her.

I doubt if Ms. Mary ever missed a day of work because of illness.

Ms. Mary may have taken a vacation or trip several times since I moved here but I can’t recall her having been gone for long periods.

Did Ms. Mary have a family? Maybe they ran things when she needed help or took a short break.

I never met any children or grandchildren. I don’t even know if she lived here all her life. Does anyone know if Ms. Mary was born here, or, for that matter, anywhere in Florida?

"Well, no. Earl and I were snowbirds until seven years ago when Earl felt that it wasn’t safe for him to drive that distance. We used to drive here from our summer cottage in upper Michigan and stay at the Sunset Motel about four months every winter after Earl retired. I had retired at sixty from the hospital where I was a lab assistant. Rhinelander, Wisconsin was our permanent home. We both had degrees from Nicolet College. Earl was two years older. He kept working until he was sixty-seven. He always felt he should work a little longer to build up ample retirement from the state retirement system. He was in building maintenance at Nicolet, you know. He died two years ago. That was quite unexpected. Heart failure, you know! He was active one minute and gone the next. His retirement pension was set up to go to me if he died first. Now I have ample money coming in each month, but I never did learn to drive. I was just too dependent on him. I never thought he would die first. I was always the sickly one you know."

Ida opened her purse to get a hanky and dabbed at her eyes. When she started talking about her favorite topics, it was hard to turn her off. She loved talking about Earl and anything that would bring attention to her helpless situation as a widow who didn’t drive.

Well you know some of us were faced with similar situations and forced ourselves to learn to take over. Earl just pampered you too much. You’re not as old as I am. It’s not too late to learn to drive a car if you put your mind to it. I learned while I stayed at the Sunset Motel after my honey died. You’re not helpless, Ida, my eye! You’re lazy, yes! That was the end of that topic.

I assumed that Ms. Mary had family and had lived here all her life. She just seemed like the settled-in type. The greenhouse looks like it has been here a long time. Of course, I don’t know if she started it or if she bought it.

The buildings may have been constructed at different times. I saw one part with the year 1947 painted on a sign above a door and I saw a newer addition on the house. I believe that the original part of the house may date closer to the turn of the last century.

I definitely think it pre-dates the Sunset Motel construction which was in the very early fifties.

What is presently the greenhouse may have been an early shed for cattle or a shed used in the orange groves. I heard that this area had cattle ranches at first and then along came the citrus industry. Next, it will become a bedroom community for upscale retirees, and people working at Disney in Orlando, or at Busch Gardens in Tampa.

The buildings definitely were put up before the days of regulated zoning restrictions. It seems most appropriate that some buildings housed bulls before they housed pompous guests, if you know what I mean. There could be a lot more than hot air.

Oh Ida, you can be so crude. That’s definitely more than a lot of hot air. Someone change the topic, please.

Back then there was phosphate mining all over, just south of here, off Highway 60.

There still is some.

Having exhausted that topic the old biddies went on to another challenging topic.

Ms. Mary had some lovely rings. One looked like an old, quite worn, wedding ring. Another could have been an engagement ring or another ornate wedding ring with small diamonds and rubies. She may have been married more than once or it may have been her mother’s ring. Then, there was the ring with a large emerald surrounded by twelve diamonds. That was a beauty! She never flashed the rings or any of her finer things. She didn’t have a lot of jewelry but what she had she wore well. They fit her. But you know Ms. Mary never talked about a spouse or a family.

Hum, I don’t see any signs that Ms. Mary’s rings went with her. Look at her hands. Look at those thick white gloves with lacy cuffs. Is that normal?

I don’t see Ms. Mary’s favorite necklace either. Do you remember that old one with some foreign inscription or lettering on the gold band around the stone, whatever it was? It could have been opal. It was beautiful and somewhat mysterious appearing. It might have been either her mother’s or grandmother’s necklace. The metal looked old and worn. I don’t think I ever saw her without it. That’s odd, very odd. Ida took a deep breath, let it out slowly with a sigh, and paused.

Something just doesn’t seem right. Maybe Ms. Mary wanted everything removed or maybe she didn’t want her hands showing. Perhaps her hands were injured. She may have been in an accident. Or, was she robbed?

Before or after she died? Would you like it if someone reached in and took off a ring, broach, or necklace? No, you would jump right up and bite them. And you know where!

No one responded. There were plenty of unanswered questions and no one knew her well enough or had lived here long enough to know all of the answers. Each person seemed more interested in their personal contribution to the conversation than in what others said. Each wanted to make the most profound statement. This latest revelation left them all searching. Mentally, each wondered what they would have wanted done with their favorite jewelry, not that any of them had anything comparable to that of Grandma’s collection. Although her collection was small, it was large in comparison to any of theirs.

I guess that I had better leave some instructions in my will as to the disposition of my jewelry, not that I have that much. I wouldn’t want someone reaching in to get any off my body.

Someone offered a comment, which was intended to get another to respond to the effect that she had many exquisite pieces. Nobody jumped in. Some friends they are! They don’t think that I have any exquisite pieces! Humph! Just wait until one of them wants support!

I doubt if any of us has as much jewelry as Ms. Mary had. I doubt if anyone would quarrel over the jewelry that I would leave behind. They can have it!

That’s a sure thing! That goes for me, too! It’s custom jewelry from the days of the Five and Dime Stores by Kresge and Woolworth. Now we’re up to the Dollar Store and Dollar General for cheap glass imitations.

Well, you know, I’m an import from up-state New York. Bill and I have only lived here seven years. Somehow, we got the feeling that she was a part of the permanent fixtures, a real native of Lakeland with family scattered all around. If Ms. Mary was not a native, she certainly gave the appearance of one. It seemed that she knew everyone and everyone knew her. You just don’t reach that point of assimilation overnight, or even in twenty years.

"Earl and I didn’t settle here right away when we retired. By the time that we arrived, Ms. Mary was already living here. Earl and I assumed that Ms. Mary had been here a long time. We got the impression that she was