Cans of Heat

By Tim Reynolds

Come and enjoy Sam, a young man trying to perfect a science experiment while avoiding the government with some luck and help from his very good friends, along with his beautiful girlfriend, Emily, a local waitress at a diner. After finding a huge gold nugget and map, they finally uncover the long-lost mine. With time jumps to the past and newfound wealth comes respect and being able to help the ones that need it the most, combined with extreme recycling and all the challenges that come with life's lessons. Love blooms in the mountaintop, at a leprechaun mine, and Sam helps everyone that deserves it through the benefits from his science experiment, the cans of heat.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Oct 24, 2019
• ISBN: 9781646280346

Book preview

Chapter 1

Another Day, Another Dollar

The sawdust, fine as flour, was raining down on to Sam’s work goggles amid the scream of the skill saw winding down and the sound of a board hitting the floor with a thud. Sam waited, hesitating. He waited for the saw to stop. Then he blew out a breath of relief and yelled down, The last hole is finally done!

From below, the old man Jess yelled up at Sam, You are hurting my floor again! You make sure you get all the old stuff out of the floor space.

Sam said, Okay. He wiped the dust from his work goggles so he could see then took one more step up the ladder, which allowed him to see in the hole, where there were piles of old yellowed newspapers. What he saw looked like they had used them for insulation in the 1930s in the floors and ceilings.

Jess had gotten this house for a song and a dance a few years ago in a shady deal that left an old widow with nothing to live on and having to pay all the taxes in the end.

The holes would allow airflow from downstairs to the upstairs through the winter months, because the heater only heated the downstairs. Inside was forest-green paint and a huckleberry-wine trim that looked purple. It was a two-story, three-bedroom house, and Jess had no kids for this huge house.

The smell of something dead lingered from the hole and changed to an old moldy smell as Sam pulled a large trash bag from his belt. He reached in with his arm and pulled out a wad of paper and shoved it into the bag. Then he yelled down at Jess, It smells like something dead up here!

Looking back in there, he saw more paper. Then reaching deep, Sam put his arm in up to his armpit and grabbed the wad of paper. It felt solid under the pile. Pulling on the paper, he felt it crumble in his hand. Then pulling on what he could get a hold of, Sam lunged in to the hole harder than before to pull it out. Sliding it a few inches, he thought it might be some old window weights left on the floor. He grabbed the bundle and pulled it free from the nails on the bottom. Pulling the wad free caused Sam to get a scratch on the back of his arm.

Damn, Sam said with a mad tone, pulling the wad to the hole’s edge. Stopping to look at his arm, he pulled up his sleeve to reveal a three-inch scratch, which was beginning to bleed in lines down his arm. Climbing down the ladder, he walked into the other room to wash up in the sink.

Jess was looking out the window. He turned to say, Are you done making a mess all over my house? He continued looking out the window, to where the next-door neighbor’s daughter, in her midtwenties, was bent over, pulling weeds out of the flower beds. She was wearing a red striped two-piece bikini.

Jess still had not seen Sam’s arm that was bleeding off his elbow in a stream of red water running down the drain. Sam sucked air and hissed as the water hit the wound.

Looking over, Jess said, Did you get blood on my floor and make a bigger mess than before? He stomped away and went through the back door, muttering under his breath something about Got your shit as the door closed behind him. Returning in a few minutes, he burst through the back door, calling like he was calling a dog, or it seemed like it, Sammy! Here, Sammy, I got something for you. He was dragging a big red shop vacuum, pulling on its cord. He dragged it on to the side, pulling on it like a dog on a leash or a stubborn mule. Here, this will help you with that dirt and the cleanup of the floor space, Jess explained.

Sam said, Hey, Jess, I found something up there.

What, a dead cat or bird? Jess asked.

No some newspapers from 1931, older than you—if that is possible—and falling apart like you to. Sam handed Jess the crumbling yellowed newsprint.

Jess looked at the date and started to wad up the bone-dry paper. It crumbled and fell through his fingers like it was sand, falling onto the floor in a mess. We have much more to do still. Are you done bleeding all over the floor, or do you need a bandage before you go back to work?

Sam replied, It’s going to be fine. It stopped bleeding. It’s just a scratch. He picked up more trash bags and stuffed them under his belt. They hung off his belt but looked like a horse’s tail. There sure is a lot of stuff in the floor spaces still to pull out. Sam picked up the vacuum and headed upstairs to get it all out.

Jess yelled from the other room, It is all garbage! Then he went back to watching the girl next door through the kitchen window, drinking on a cup of cold coffee that had dust on top of it.

Sam continued to fill the bags with old newsprint, some curled wallpaper in olive green with gold-colored leafing. After filling a bag, he then tied it in a knot at the top, left the full bag at the top of the stairs, and then turned to go into the next room to get it done. He had not picked up or pulled out all the paper from these holes yet. Pulling handfuls of paper, the window weights were now in his hands. Pulling the wad up through the hole from above, he felt that it was definitely heavy. Working it through the hole, he got it free and began to unwrap the layers of paper to reveal burlap wrapped around something heavy.

From downstairs, Jess yelled, You’re making a big mess down here! Then he walked back into the other room to watch the girl next door again.

Sam kicked more dirt through the hole to make it fall downstairs. He said under his breath, That’s for you, dirty old man. He stood up and walked to the window then pulled the curtain back with his elbow. A shine of gold came through a crack in the burlap, stopping Sam. Frozen, he pulled at the crack, revealing a gold nugget wrapped in burlap and a piece of cloth almost canvaslike in feeling. Stopping, he paused to gaze at the gold, thinking of what he should do about this. Jess’s words kept echoing in his head: Garbage! It is all garbage!

Sam slid the whole thing into the trash bag. It must be time to take out the trash. He put some more newsprint on the top and then tied the top. Grabbing it firmly, he picked up the first bag from the top of the stairs as he went down, not stopping. Sam went straight out the back door, closed it behind him, and went out to the back, where he stashed the bag behind a half sheet of plywood used to cover the garbage cans in the winter.

Walking back in, Sam said, Well, it’s time to suck up the dirt. He ran back up the stairs, skipping them two at a time. He turned on the big red shop vacuum. The dirt being blown from the exhaust made a huge cloud of dust blowing down the stairs.

Jess yelled, You are blowing all of that dust down here and just making a bigger mess!

Closing the door to stop the dirt from blowing down the stairs, Sam worked the hose into the hole and around and under the floorboards as he worked. He just wanted to get this job done so that he could get a better look at the gold he found. The hours flew by as Sam cleaned out all the other holes with the vac. As he cleaned out the remaining holes in the other rooms, Sam’s thoughts wandered to all the things he could do with all that gold.

Running down with the remaining bags and vacuum in hand, Sam took out the bags to the alley. After making sure the bag was still there, he gave it a shove with his foot back farther in behind the board and out of sight completely. Then he returned to the house.

Jess asked, Are you hungry, Sam? Why don’t we go have some lunch down at the diner with your girlfriend?

Sam replied, That sounds good. Let me get cleaned up a little. Walking outside, he took his shirt off and shook and snapped it in the air to remove the dust. Walking to the hose outside, he turned the water nozzle on and ran the water over his head. He shook his head to get rid of any extra water, using his shirt to wipe his face free of dirt. The sun glistened off his rippling muscles as the water ran down his six-pack abs.

The girl next door turned to watch him wash off his upper body and head. As she watched, her nipples grew to fully erect. With a whistle, she reached out like she was grabbing his ass. With a Hi, Sam! and a wave, she bent over, legs straight, all the way over until she was looking back between her legs at Sam, wiggling her butt up and down. She looked at him then smacked herself on her own ass with a pop, then she ran her hands down the back of her legs.

Sam waved goodbye and returned to the house, walking back through the kitchen to where Jess was. Putting on his shirt, he said, I am ready.

Jess said, Go back out there. I was about to get off on her show of all that prime ass and legs. You could have that right now.

Sam replied, I have a great girl who loves me. Why would I mess that up for a fling like that? He walked to the front door. Off we go then. There is a big double-meat burger waiting for me, along with the love of my life.

Loading up in Jess’s old rusty Ford truck, they headed out to the diner. Pulling in and parking, they moseyed in, talking about the neighbor girl and how she could be so good-looking when her mom and dad both looked so bad.

Sam told Jess as they walked into the diner, It is how looks sometimes skip a generation. You may think the looks of the family is fixed. Then out of nowhere, something happens. Look! It’s my amazing girl.

Emily had worked in the diner since she was a freshman in high school. Everyone just called her Em. She had known Sam most of her life. They’d grown up together all the way through school. They had started dating as sophomores in high school and had been a couple for a few years now and were deeply in love with each other. They had talked about marriage in the up and coming years but were not ready to go out on their own yet. Spending nights fishing by themselves had given their love a chance to bloom and become stronger.

Running to Sam, Em wrapped her arms around him and kissed him intensely. Sam said to Em, Things are about to get really good for us. Can you come over tonight? I need to see you tonight after work.

Em said, Okay, my love. I am all yours tonight. Are we going fishing tonight or just hanging out and watching a movie? I can sleep over at your house if your mom and dad are okay with it. My parents have no problems with you, Sam. They like you more than their own daughter, and they think you are the best.

Sam sat down at a table in the middle of the diner, followed by Jess.

Sitting down on Sam’s lap and pulling out her order book, Em said, So what do you guys want for lunch today? We have the special—a hamburger patty with mashed potatoes, gravy, and a salad—for eight dollars.

Jess said, That sounds good for me, with blue cheese on the salad.

And for you, my love? Em asked.

I want a double-cheese burger with fries and root beer float, Sam said with a wink.

Writing on her pad, which was in a big heart shape, she put on the ticket book D cheese HB with fries RB float 12.50. Then jumped up and danced off toward the kitchen like she was ice-skating. She returned with their drinks in hand, along with straws. Em went to check on the rest of her customers, refilling their water and coffee cups.

Swinging over to Sam for a kiss as she came by, she said, So what are you two up to?

Sam thought about the huge gold nugget he had found and said, I am just making a massive mess in Jess’s house.

Jess blurted out, That is an understatement! He has destroyed my whole house and has to still clean it all up tonight before he leaves or there will be hell to pay.

Speaking of pay, you said that you would pay me for the work I did for you two weeks ago, but still there’s nothing in my hand from all the hours I already did, Sam snapped at Jess.

Jess snapped back at Sam, You want to be paid after the mess you made at the house today?

Sam replied, Yes, and not feel like I am being blackmailed for work I already did weeks ago and never got paid for, not even part of it.

Jess, in a mad tone in his voice, said, Don’t get mouthy with me. You’re still not being paid.

Em came up to the table and said, Now, boys, no fighting in the diner. She set their lunch down and pulled ketchup and mustard from her apron, setting them down on Sam’s side of the table.

Jess pushed the lunches back to Em, saying, We need these to-go. We still have so much to do today to be sitting here, eating lunch, and wasting my time.

Sam looked over at Jess and said, You can leave if you want to, but I am going to sit here and eat my lunch not feeling like I am being strong-armed to eat fast so that you can go home and sit on your ass and watch the neighbor’s daughter as she works on the yard in her bikini.

Jess, madder now, said, Can I get this to-go or not? He pushed the plate at Em again.

As Em picked up his plate and walked back to the kitchen again, glaring at Jess as she walked away. She returned with Jess’s lunch in a foam box and a bill made out to J ass for nine dollars.

Jess picked up his food and, as he was walking to the door, turned and said, When you get done wasting my time, you come finish that tonight or else.

Sam jumped up from the table and said, Or what, Jess? What you going to do? Not pay me for two more weeks? Hell, let’s just make it a month. You still owe me for the last work from two weeks ago anyways.

Giving everyone the middle finger in the air, Jess got in his truck and drove way in a cloud of smoke from his exhaust pipe.

Em walked up and said, And what is up his butt?

Sam replied, I am so done with him—not paying me for work I have already done. Unless I go work for him, I will never ever get paid, so I am getting out while I am ahead.

Em put her arms around Sam. I love you, and you do what is best for you. Never ever have to work for him again if you don’t want to. He is real ass.

Sam continued to eat his burger and fries while drinking his float. He added more ketchup on his fries as he ate them one at a time with a faraway look in his eyes. When he had finished the meal and drink, he gave Em fifteen dollars and said, Keep the tip. After giving her some long kisses, he walked back an hour later to the back of Jess’s house after finishing his lunch. Sam walked to the back door and knocked hard on it.

What! yelled Jess with a still-mad tone in his voice as he pulled open the door fast.

I am here to finish this job and get my pay for the work I did for you two weeks ago. I maybe have a way to get most of the dust out really quick, or I can leave, never to darken your world again ever. But I am tired from being blackmailed by you for work I already did.

Jess, with a much-lower tone, said, I know I owe you for a few weeks ago, and I have it for you here. He reached for his wallet and pulled out $150 in three $50 bills. He said, Here. Another $100 for today’s work.

Sam said, That is better. Now let me see if this is going to work. He headed for the shop vacuum and returned with an armful of stuff. He walked back in and headed upstairs then set up a fan pointing it out the window from a few feet away. Plugging in the leaf blower, Sam pointed it at the other side of the room, starting to circle. Then he stepped through the eye of the dust twister in its side and turned the leaf blower toward the fan, which sucked up all the dust and fine paper pieces then spit them outside in a huge dust cloud. He used a broom to loosen the dust in all corners and the cobwebs that were hanging tight. Working his way to the other rooms, he did the same, shutting the doors when he was done. He then worked his way down the stairs and out the front door, the fans sucking all the dust out. He worked the leaf blower into a very tight tornado that was two feet wide and sucked all the dust out of the room then shot it out into the street, where it was blown away by the wind, disappearing into the sky. With a broom in one hand and a leaf blower in the other, Sam went out through the kitchen and right out the back door with the mini tornado laid out in front of him and all the dust in the kitchen blowing around him. Shutting off the leaf blower, he went back for the fans, his mind on that gold out back and on getting out of there.

The cords, fans, and blower are put away, Jess, Sam said. I will see you later then.

Jess was still sitting out on the front porch, watching the girl next door, who was now mowing the yard. She was still wearing the bikini but now had a see-through top so that you could see her full breasts and nipples. With the sun shining through, it was completely see-through, like she was wearing nothing at all.

Sam paused for a moment to admirer the beauty of the neighbor’s lawn mower and the smoothness of her cuts and curves. Then he said, I am out of here, Jess. He then walked back through the house to the back, where he had parked. He grabbed the bag out from behind the plywood board, which now felt even heavier than it had felt earlier this morning, and sat it on the middle bar of his bike. Then he went home. Pulling up to the driveway, Sam let his mind wander to exotic places and sandy beaches, drinking drinks in pineapple cups with little umbrellas. Sitting in the driveway, he wondered if he should see if it was real gold or a painted piece of lead. Pulling the burlap and the canvas cover with the gold wrapped inside, he put it in his coat, rolled it up, and tucked the bundle under his arm. He headed in and went straight upstairs to his room, where he laid the coat out and slowly unwrapped the burlap and canvas cover.

Now as the gold nugget lay there in his hands, he said out loud, This is going to change my life. He turned the Z-shaped nugget that looked like an S from the other side. "Must be mine. It is an S for Sam. He tossed it up and let it land on the bed. As it bounced back up, he caught it, pulled it to his chest, and said, This is what dreams are made from."

Chapter 2

S or Z

As Sam looked at the marks, he took out his knife and put the blade on the side then cut a leaf a half inch wide, a quarter of an inch long, and about a sixteenth of an inch thick. Looking at the cut face on the nugget inside, he now saw it was all gold. But why was it in there, where did this gold come from, and how long had it been there? Wrapping the leaf-size piece in a gum wrapper, that he had in the drawer of his nightstand, he then put it in his wallet like a dollar bill and then smashed the wallet in his hands before putting it back into his pocket.

From downstairs came the voice of Autumn, Sam’s sister, yelling, Sam, you need to get your clothes out of the drier because Mom needs the drier right now!

Snapping his fingers, he said, I really need to hide this from her. Sam slid the gold into his pillowcase. As he moved it there, he saw some marks on the canvas, like they had been made on purpose. It looked like some kind of map. To what, though, the gold’s source maybe?

Again Autumn’s voice rang through the house for Sam. I am going to throw your clothes on the floor if you don’t get them right now!

I am coming, sis! Sam yelled down, pulling his shirt off. He knew it bothered her to see his bare chest all sweaty and with his six-pack and the rest of his muscles sticking out everywhere. It made her yell at him.

Autumn said, You put on a shirt, or I’m going to tell Mom that you’re half nude in front of me.

It always made him laugh and flex his arm and chest at her, which made her turn red in the face and run to tell Mom and Dad. They said to him, She is just weird and may be gay. Sam was still unsure about her. Pulling his clothes from the drier, he laid them over his arm and went back upstairs to his room and put his clothes in his dresser. Laying out the map under the light, he could make out some marks that looked like a river, with a one-rail train track running up beside it. There was what looked like a bloody thumbprint up on what looked like a hill or mountain with elk horns drawn in and something black up by the thumbprint. There was an X and a Z beside the marks that looked like elk horns.

Downstairs, the phone rang, and Papa T answered it. Hello. Yes, I think so. I will get him. He yelled up, Sam, it’s the phone for you. It is Em.

Clomp, clomp. Sam came downstairs. Thanks, Dad. He put the phone to his ear. How is my beautiful, lovely girl?

Em said she was unsure about calling. After you and Jess had it out at the diner; you didn’t seem like yourself earlier today.

Sam replied, Well, that was for a good reason. I was a person with everything to live for and a secret too that will blow your mind. Our lives are about to get so very good—I mean, like nothing we have ever seen before.

Em asking, We still going fishing this weekend and staying all night under the stars in a sleeping bag? Hope the bugs aren’t like they were that one time when we had to sleep in the car. The gnats were so bad that trip, but we sure got a lot of big fish that trip.

Sam said, I ready need to see you tonight, Em. It may be the most important thing in our lives. We will be leaving at 5:00 a.m. like we usually do and going to the same place we regularly go to. I think that my friends may go. They haven’t called me back yet. See you at 6:00 p.m. tonight. Come down the back, and I will let you in the back gate and blow your mind. I love you. As he hung up the phone, his mind was in a spin with all the things that would be possible now.

Running back up the stairs. he went into his bedroom, where he had laid out the map on his bed. He had covered it with his blankets when he’d left the room; now he pulled the covers back again and dropped to his knees to look at the map. He reached into the pillowcase under the pillow to feel for the nugget just to make share it was still there. Pulling it out with a sigh, he felt like it was going to vanish in a puff of smoke while he wasn’t looking. Running his fingers over the smooth side, he pushed it back down under the pillow. He looked at the clock; he had to have time to work on his house chores before Em came over tonight.

Going over the map and redrawing it on paper, Sam tried to make the same mark as the original, working his way from a middle line out and putting them as close as he could without a scale, more like a reference to where the mountains were to the X or to the one-line track and the river running alongside them for a while and where the bridge that crossed the river was. He filled in the elk horns at the top of the hill next to the X. Sam realized it was really close to the time he had said for Em to meet him at the back gate. He covered all the maps under the blankets then went to the gate to unlock it. Em said she had just gotten there. As she came through the back gate, Sam embraced her, their deep and affectionate kiss lasting minutes.

Em reached around and grabbed Sam’s butt, squeezing it. Then she pulled up on it, hanging on with both hands and not turning loose. Em said, Is that the mind-blowing thing you mentioned?

No. He turned with Em’s hand in his, and they ran back to the house. They headed to the back door and went straight upstairs to Sam’s bedroom. Going in, they locked the door behind them. He led her to the bed, and she started to undress.

He said, There will be time for that in a bit. I want to show you this. He pulled back the quilt to reveal the two maps—the original and his copy that he just made. Kneeling beside the bed, he pulled Em down beside him onto the floor.

Is this a treasure hunting map? And is that blood on the thumbprint on that map? She pointed at the spot on the canvas. Are those elk horns?

I wouldn’t have thought as much about it, but then I found this inside of it. He reached under his pillow and pulled at the gold nugget like it was stuck. Then he slid it out onto the sheet in front of her.

Looking down, Em’s eyes stared at the gold nugget. Her face had that look of complete disbelief. Is that real? And where did it come from, Sam?

Sam told her, "Yes, it is gold, and where I think the X is up by the horns is a mine where this gold came from. I also think this is a treasure map to a lost mine, if we can find where it is at. We may have a real gold mine for us to claim as ours. That’s right. You and me as partners for life—this will get us a good start in life." He gave the gold nugget to her so she could feel the real weight of it in her hands.

Em put her hands under it and lifted the whole weight in her hands. How much do you think it is worth at the prices of today, $100,000 or more? Maybe half a million! That would be so great!

Sam said, I’m going to see Ray at the pawnshop to see if he can check it for purity of the gold. The better it is, the more it is worth in our pockets. Or if he wants to buy some of it from us, I can cut these two spots off—he pointed at the places where he had sliced off the side to have the pieces tested—to sell, if Ray will deal with us as miners. He laughed. A little pun in there. Sam pushed the gold against her bare breasts.

Arching her back, Em breathed in as the cold gold slid down over her nipples.

Sam lifted her left breast up with the nugget, pulling it up. As her nipple cleared her blouse, Sam lowered his head to meet it. His tongue came out and accepted it, sucking it in and then out of his mouth then back in until his whole mouth was full of her breast. He worked it around in his mouth, making her nipples hard as he worked its pea-sized nipple to an elongated shape. He lowered the nugget so that her breast was stuck in his mouth, hanging from there. He was humming like he was eating something really good.

Em lay back on the bed and undid the rest of the buttons on her blouse along with the bra latch in the front, letting her breast slide out until it was hanging. By just the nipple, she pulled it free so that her right breast came out for his affections. Now pulling at his pants, Em was extremely excited. Pulling at his belt buckle, she unlatched it.

Em leaned in and said, I want you right now. She reached into his pants to find he was just as excited as she was about having a long lovemaking session on his bed upstairs as his parents and sister were downstairs, watching a movie in the living room.

Em was getting her pants and panties off, and Sam was pulling off his shirt, revealing his six-pack and muscles to her, when there was a very hard and loud knock on his bedroom door. It was his sister, yelling, Dinner is done! You need to set the table!

Sam sprang off Em and covered her with a blanket quickly. Then landing on the floor hard, he walked to his door, unlocking it and opening it so that just his sweaty chest was sticking out from the open door. I’m working out, I’ll be right there.

She said as she walked away, You stink of sweat, Sam.

Turning as he locked the door, he put up his hands, palms out, and said, Are you going to stay for dinner and for the night?

I have to work in the morning. Em reminded Sam about her morning shifts this week.

I won’t keep you up all night. I promise to make sure you are showered and clean for work. If you need to wash your clothes for work, I can do them for you too.

Do you think your mom and dad are going to be okay with me staying the night in your bed with you?

We do spend lots of nights by ourselves in a sleeping bag on the riverbank. How many times in the past two years of knowing you have we done it? Ten or more great times? Your uncle Mike was there with Pepper, his longtime girlfriend, most of those times way late at night while they slept. We tried to stay quiet as much as we could, though wanting the whole time to cut loose and get loud with loving moans at the top of our lungs, Sam said.

Going downstairs after getting dressed, both had a glow about them. Walking in behind Sam, Em said, Hi, Mom! She walked up and hugged her from behind, wrapping her in a tight squeeze.

Hi, Em! I didn’t know you were here, Sam’s mom said to Em.

Sam replied, She has been here since about six tonight, helping me with my workout.

Is that what you call it, working out? Autumn said, entering. She came into the kitchen, interrupting the conversation that was going on between Em and Mom.

Yes, and making love as we do push-ups and sit-ups, which you have never done in your life, Autumn, either for fun or fitness.

After dinner was done, Em decided to go home because Autumn made a big fit at dinner over Em and Sam sleeping together or that they were allowed to sleep on the river all night by themselves alone.

The next morning, Sam was jumping on the bed with the nugget wrapped up in the original map in his hands. Reaching the top, he tossed it up into a hidey-hole he had found years before when he was bouncing a rubber ball and it had gone up there into a cubbyhole at the peak of the roof. A great hiding spot. Sam walked downstairs with the gold slice in his wallet wrapped up in a gum wrapper. Getting on his bicycle, he headed for pawnshop. As Sam rode his bike, his mind wandered off, thinking about the thermal reaction formula and how to combine the three ingredients together without causing a reaction in the first two by combining them. Sam had been in a dilemma over this problem. Arriving at the pawnshop, he came through the door, and Sam was drawn to a case full of gold nuggets and rings. The sun streaming through the window made an arc of rainbows on the wall.

The moment of silence was broken as Ray, the owner, greeted Sam. Hi, I am Ray. What can I help you with today? Anything special you’re looking for? I don’t buy or deal in baseball cards. Maybe a ring for that one girl in your life who needs a ring on her finger?

Hi, I am Sam. Yes, I was looking for someone to test some gold for purity. Do you buy gold that is not in jewelry form?

Ray pointed at the nuggets in the case and said, Are they like these?

Reaching back for his wallet, Sam pulled out the gold in gum wrapper and slowly dropped the wrapped gold out of his hand, letting one drop a few inches from the table; it made a distinct thud on the counter.

Ray looked down fast at the heavy-sounding object. He unfolded the silver gum wrapper. Sunrays streamed through the window, bouncing off the gold like a ray of sunshine.

Damn, that is petty. Ray pushed it from the paper on to the glass countertop.

Sam asked, Is there enough to test? And do you buy gold in this form? Also, how much is it worth?

First, yes, there is plenty to test. I will buy gold in this form. It does matter if the quality is good, and the price will be high. As soft as this is, it has not been cut with anything to make it harder for jewelry. Ray asked, Do you want to watch the test done on your gold, son?

Yes, please, Sam explained. I have never seen this done before.

Walking to the back room, Ray stopped at a set of digital scales for a moment. He set down the leaf of gold on top of it then, jotted a number on the back of his hand with an ink pen, and then proceeded to a counter in the back corner. Ray laid the gold in a pan, cut off a small piece of the gold leaf, and put it in a glass dish, where he also put a drop of acid on top of it. With very little smoke, the small piece of gold was still there in the glass dish. He picked up the small chunk with some tweezers, rinsed it off in water, and laid it on the other larger piece of gold.

Ray turned and said, That is pure gold, the likes of which I have never seen or have had a chance to buy. This is damn high-grade gold.

So what is it worth on the market today? As Sam asked, he looked around at the walls, which were covered in all kinds of neat old things, some that looked so old that they might have been from the 1900s.

I will have to call on the market price to know for sure what it is worth—around about $1,000 an ounce minus the 10 percent handling flee. A few rules: no gold amounts over $1,500, or we have to involve the IRS and taxes on anything over that. Also, I want to be the sole buyer of any future sales you want to make. Where did you get this gold from?

It came from my mine, and there is a lot more of it for sale, pounds and pounds of super high grade just like this. How much is this piece worth today? Sam asked him.

Ray replied, It is worth around $1,300 at yesterday’s prices. Do you want to sell it right now?

Sam replied, That sounds like a good deal to me, if you have that much money on hand.

I got you covered, Sam. No problem. Ray turned to grab a money bag from under the counter. He unzipped it, revealing a stack of $100 bills. He counted out thirteen of the $100 bills on to the counter in front of Sam, all fanned out.

Sam picked them up and put them all in his wallet.

Ray filled out a receipt for the gold and money, leaving the price open. Writing his home phone number on the bottom of the receipt, Ray said, Call me if you want to sell more than $1,500 worth so I can bring more money with me to the shop.

Sam walked out and got on his bike. As he was riding toward the end of the street, the smell of french fries in the wind made his stomach growl. He realized he had not eaten breakfast before he left home this morning. Pedaling seemed so much easier with all that money in his pocket. Sam went to the diner, parking his bike in the bushes outside. After he went in, Em jumped up and down with excitement. They embraced, kissed, then talked in a whisper so that no one could hear.

Ray said that our gold is the highest grade of gold he has ever seen in all his years at the pawnshop. We got top dollar for our gold.

Em asked, How much was that little slice off the side worth to us? Did Ray want to buy it?

Yes, and Ray wants all the gold we have to sell and exclusive rights to our gold sales at top-dollar prices. That little slice off the side was worth $1,300!

Em, with disbelief in her voice, said out loud, Really? That much?

Yes, that little bitty slice was worth that much. Then what is the whole thing worth? A lot more than we need right at this time! We are rich, baby, beyond our wildest dreams!

Are you going to eat lunch, love? Em pushed Sam down into a booth seat and laid a kiss on his lips. Do you want your regular cheeseburger and fries with a chocolate shake?

You know me well, Em. Sam licked his lips with anticipation.

Em questioned Sam, Are you going to work on the vents at Jess’s house today again?

I hadn’t planned on going over there anymore. He can do the rest of the vent work alone. I’m not his slave to be told what to do every time I go to work for him. He is so disrespectful to me. I want to leave, and now I can. No more working for Jess at all ever again, and that is that. I am done with him. If he asks you, tell him I got a job working somewhere. You don’t have to even tell him where.

Em walked away to send Sam’s order to the cook. She put it on the clip and spun the wheel back around to the cook’s side. Then she got Sam’s chocolate shake with a straw and then returned to him. Em said, Just how you like it, rich and smooth, like a gold nugget on your chest. They both laughed out loud. Only they knew how true her statement was. Are you going to stay at my house tonight? My mom and dad have no hang-ups with us sleeping together in my bed all night long. They love you and think of you as their son-in-law already. They know that we have had sex many times and are still without a baby, so Mom is sure that we are being safe when we play together. That is okay for now, but she still wants grandkids from me later. After we get our own place, they think it will be okay by then. Mom said if they didn’t want us to have sex, we would just try harder to do it behind their backs anyway. They said that we should be safe, and they love you a lot and said you will never leave me for someone else. They love you, Sam, like I do.

After Sam finished his lunch, he asked Em, When do you get off work, and what time do you want me to come over tonight? About 5:00 p.m.?

Later, as Sam pulled up in the driveway, he was organizing the wad of $100 bills before putting them in his wallet. He looked up through the kitchen window to see Autumn watching him with all that money.

She started in on Sam as he walked through the door. Hey, little brother, how about a loan, Mister Money Bag?

I am saving up money to fix my car, and I work for my money. Sam ran up to his bedroom then closed the door behind himself. He went to his bed stand, pulled out a big old-looking book from the bottom drawer of his dresser, lay the book on his bed, and then opened to the middle where there was pages cut out in the middle, making an opening inside the book. There in the cutout hole was a ring for Em and some money he had been saving up for the chemicals to use for the thermal reaction experiment. Now it seemed more achievable than before. Pulling his wallet out and gathering all the money from his wallet, he rolled it up and slid the roll of $100 bills into the ring then returned it to the book and put the book back in the drawer.

Out in the hall, Sam’s sister, walking by, stopped to knock on Sam’s door.

Sam yelled out, No, no, no! You can’t have my money. Get a job, sis. I am not your bank.

She yelled back, Fine, you’re a prick, Sam. Then she stomped off down the hall.

Sam continued returning to work on the problem of how to keep the chemicals from mixing and activating before it was time to use them. As Sam tried to think of the concepts that might work, he had an epiphany of a time and place where he