they’d become attached to the pet, and keep it as one of their own, one more mouth to feed.
The children went to private schools, with Mindy attending an Ivy League school, with a declared degree in journalism. Since she was a beauty like her mother, she could be hired as a television reporter or news anchor at any station in the country.
Franklin Burke drove a Mercedes convertible, and liked to speed around with the top down when weather permitted. They used to own other houses, homes, properties, even a private plane, but these had been sold off and let go, probably due to “financial reverses.” They still owned their own boat, though, which was parked at the nearest marina.
Walter painted a picture of a family who got rich too quickly and spent it all as they were making it, who had acquired more than just a piece of the American dream, and were stuck trying to maintain it, if just for the sake of appearances. The Ivy League school alone cost at least $50,000 annually, and who knew what other kinds of expenses were required to keep their little girl mixing with the Greek crowd. She had probably already pledged with a sorority, which is expected if you’re to be sociable in college. That would cost her parents as well; those aren’t cheap, and you’ve got to have the right car and clothes to go along with that. What happened to kids who kept their noses to the grindstone?
The other three children were attending various different private schools, depending on their ages. The prices for these schools were high as well, and of course laptop computers weren’t provided; they were purchased by the parents. The children needed the latest model, the most costly. They were required to wear certain clothes and uniforms. The second oldest also had a convertible, and wound up driving the other two children to school and picking them up, which was probably the price of her having the car she wanted. It was painted red, like her mother’s. If they had to carry schoolbooks or equipment, it would be a crowded car.
Helen required having her hair done at least once a week; she ran a tab at Rebecca Meredith’s, the high-dollar store for clothes in the area, and when she wasn’t busy with the volunteer work in the community, attended the opera and orchestra concerts with Franklin. They took vacations whenever the seasons changed, and had traveled the country and all over the world. They booked themselves on cruises, and sometimes took the kids along in the summer, which served to expand their “world-views.”
When Walter finished, I looked at my sheet of paper. It was filled-up on both sides, and quite a mess. “How do people manage to maintain living expenses with all they own,” I wondered, “all that stuff?”
“Wish I had some of that stuff,“ Walter exclaimed. “I’d like a Caribbean cruise every now and then.”
“Walter, your whole life is a vacation,” I joked. “How did you manage to find this information?”
“Top secret, Randall-boy. If I told ya, I’d have to kill ya,” he joked back. “Anybody can find this stuff out, nowadays. Much of this is from the internet. The rest of it is… well, like I said, trade secrets.”
This didn’t stop Walter from sharing, however: “I used to have to go to the library to do research like this, and that was skimpy compared to the information age! Other info gathered is from just plain old legwork. Stake out, ‘borrowing’ their mail, remember what I told you about the television sound gun? I have one of those, too. I traded for it with an insider at a news station.”
Walter was bragging, but I guessed it wasn’t bragging if he could do it. He continued, “And I didn’t even have to go inside their home! I heard much of what they said from parking across the street. I borrowed Kim’s van and pointed my ‘gun’ in their direction.”
“I’ll bet you looked a little out-of-place in that swanky neighborhood,” I said. “With all those sports cars and Mercedes’ nearby, any van would stick out like a sore thumb.”
“That’s true what you say,” said Walter, “but a neighborhood like that has to be maintained, so they need help, like the fellows who mow their yards, vacuum their carpets, cook for them, trim their trees, clean their swimming pools; I found their pool from a satellite picture. Anyhow, I just park near and behind one of those