orphan's home. But my father's will disclosed the fact that he had
left me a substantial sum of money and I was self-reliant. The
welfare people never came around and I was left in the somewhat
bizarre role as the sole tenant of my own house at thirteen. I paid
the mortgage out of the bank account and tried to stretch a dollar as
far as possible.
By the time I was eighteen and was out of school, the money was
low, but I wanted to go to college. I sold the house for $10,000.00
through a real estate buyer. In early September, the roof fell in. I
received a very nice letter from Erwin, Erwin and Bradstreet,
attorneys at law. To put it in layman's language, it said that the
department store at which my father had been employed had just
got around to a general audit of their books. It seemed that there
was $15,000.00 missing and that they had proof that my father had
stolen it. The rest of the letter merely stated that if I didn't pay up
the $15,000.00 we'd got to court and they would try to get double
the amount.
It shook me up and a few questions that should have stood out in
my mind just didn't register as a result. Why didn't they uncover
the error earlier? Why were they offering to settle out of court?
I went down to the office of Erwin, Erwin, & Bradstreet and talked
the matter over. To make a long story short, I paid the sum there
were asking, I had no more money.
The next day I looked up the firm of Erwin, Erwin & Bradstreet in
the phone book. It wasn't listed. I went down to their office and
found a For Rent sign on the door. It was then that I realized that I
had been conned like gullible kid which, I reflected miserably
was what I was.
I bluffed my way through the first for months of college but finally
they discovered that I hadn't been properly registered.
That same day I met Rankin at a bar. It was my first experience in
a tavern. I had a forged driver's license and I bough enough
whiskey to get drunk. I figured that it would take about two
straight whiskeys since I had never had anything but a bottle of
beer now and then prior to that night.
One felt good, two made my trouble seem rather inconsequential. I
was nursing my third when Rankin entered the bar.
He sat on the stool next to me and looked attentively at me.
'You got troubles?' I asked rudely.
Rankin smiled. 'Yes, I'm out to find a helper.'
'Oh, yeah?' I asked, becoming interested. 'You mean you want to
hire somebody?'
'Yes.'
''Well, I'm your man.'
He started to say something and then changed his mind.
'Let's go over to a booth and talk it over, shall we?'
We walked over to a booth and I realized that I was listing slightly.
Rankin pulled the curtain.
'That's better. Now, you want a job?'
I nodded.
