It weighed 54 pounds. We were later told that a fish that big could be as much as sixty years old. The fish was stressed out, so after I got my picture, we put it back in the water. Paul hung onto the tail and waited until it decided it was ready to go back to the wild. I was glad everyone was there to see it.
◊◊◊
“I think David won the largest fish prize today,” Greg announced.
We’d all put five dollars into a coffee mug, and the winner got the money. Sweet! I was $25 richer.
That night, we broke out the cards and played some poker. Phil had some serious beginner’s luck and won ten dollars. It was either that or the fact that Dad had limited Phil’s drinking to one beer.
All in all, a good day.
◊◊◊
Chapter 19 – Bitch, Please — It’s Your Birthday Friday July 1
We were sitting in Winnipeg, and everyone was checking their electronic devices because there was a flood of messages. I was a little embarrassed at the number of emails, text messages, and voicemails I received in a week.
Phil came over and sat next to me.
“I had a good time. Thanks for making me feel welcome.”
“I hope we didn’t give you too hard of a time,” I ventured.
Everyone had pulled pranks during the vacation. Greg and Phil got us with fake orange juice. If you mix the powder that’s in discount mac-and-cheese into water, it makes an orange drink that looks like OJ. It’s quite disgusting. One night, Uncle John short-sheeted our beds. Dad shoved me off the dock into the freezing lake. Okay, that wasn’t a prank, but he was walking like an old man when I returned the favor. Paul even got into the fun and rigged a poker hand so we all thought we had huge winning cards, only to have Paul catch a miracle card to win.
“No. It was all in good fun. I’m glad you’re my brother.”
I smiled at him. After our week together, I’d gotten to know him better, and he was a good kid. A little naïve, but a good kid.
Dad had us rotate boats each day so that Phil spent a day with everyone. I’d gotten him for a morning and then a full day.
Dad told us we had to work it out when Phil tattled on me for calling him out about trying to get a car out of Dad. Greg apparently had sat him down and taken him to task too, so it wasn’t just me.
On our day, he’d caught a ton of fish, with Paul’s help. It was fun to watch the joy on his face when he would hook a nice one.
I came to understand what it meant to be a big brother. That day was a turning point for me as I accepted him. Up until that point, he’d seemed more of a pest than anything else. That, and I’d seen how it hurt my mom when she’d learned how he’d been conceived. That wasn’t his fault, but I’d put some of the blame on him just the same.
I looked over at him as he leaned back on his baggage.
“I am too. When I get back from Japan, we’ll have to hang out,” I said.
“Really?”
“Really.”
◊◊◊
Once we arrived in Chicago, we immediately got our suitcases from baggage claim. The flight to Japan left in two hours, so we took the parking shuttle to the car and dropped off our gear. Paul and I had packed separate bags for Japan, which we grabbed. Paul looked at his phone.
“They’re here,” he said, letting me know that everyone going to Japan had been dropped off.
I gave my family hugs.
“I loved this guys’ week. Can’t wait to see what you plan to top it next year,” I said.
“We could go to the nudist place,” Greg ventured.
“I don’t think he should be allowed to plan anything,” Phil quipped.
Once Phil had gotten over being nervous around us, we’d found he had a wicked sense of humor.
“I love you guys,” I said and followed Paul to where we needed to drop our bags off.
Before we checked them, I made sure I had my passport and new cell phone. That phone would save me a ton of money on calls back to the US. I kept my carry-on and checked everything else. The plan was to go to LA and, from there, start our journey to Tokyo.
We found everyone at the gate. I suddenly realized that I might have overdone it a bit. Waiting for us were Cassidy and Brook, who were sitting with my interpreter, Hana Yamamura. I’d also promised Megan Crowley that she could come as a reward for clueing me in about Brandon Rigby. She was our finance, research, and technology person in the office. Finally, my newest employee, Kent Crain, was sitting next to Megan. I shook my head when I realized there were six people with me. It would only get worse when we arrived in Tokyo because Saul was joining us there.
◊◊◊
I wasn’t looking forward to our thirteen-hour flight to Tokyo. Caryn had shopped around and found us business-class seats that were better than most first-class seats I was used to. The seats could be turned into beds, and I took full advantage since we’d had to get up ridiculously early to make it to Chicago in time for the flight. Between all the various connecting flights, I was literally in an airline seat for almost 24 hours by the time we landed in Tokyo.
