The Third Richest Man c3

Chapter 3
" Grady, I don't think that he has long to live so you had better as soon as possible. " I promised Mr. DeLaup I would be on the next plane and hung up. DeLaup. Leblanc, and Silverman, I knew was the law firm that handled all of dad's business and had survived having Marcy as a junior partner. No easy task.
When I got to Love field in Dallas, Mr. DeLaup was waiting at the gate.
The three-piece suit with the paisley tie said "lawyer" all over him. He looked a little perturbed that the prodigal son was dressed in a pair of old cowboy boots, faded flannel shirt and a squall jacket. I had my other clean pair of jeans and tennis shoes in a duffel bag that I carried on the plane.
We rode out to Plano in relative silence in his BMW 850. I think that any other time; I would have enjoyed the pampering of the leather seats of a car that cost in excess of $100,000. I had come a long way from a dune buggie in the suburbs of Baghdad. As we drove up 75, Danielson made small talk. He told me about how my father had done this and done that. I nodded and smiled like I knew all about it, everything he had to say about it all. Truth be told, I did not have a clue as to what my father had been up to or what he had invented.
When we got to the hospital, the lawyer let me out and I walked to the front desk. I stood in the line for information and was finally able to ask what room was holding my father hostage. The elderly lady behind the desk got a whole lot more helpful when I mentioned Dr. Jack Jensen and proceeded to tell me what a saint he was. She told me that she had requested that her church pray for him and that the Lord would answer all the prayers. I thanked her but through the years, I had become immune to the attention and feelings directed to my father. He was being kept on the oncology floor in the Sam Houston Suite so I climbed into the elevator and went up.
Dad's suite was on the right at the end of the hall and I knocked lightly and opened the door. A voice inside called for me to come in.
I hadn't seen my dad since last Christmas and was not prepared for the amount of weight he had lost in his battle with cancer. The tubes in his arms and the mask on his face didn't make him look any better.
He smiled when he saw me and took off the mask.
"Damn thing doesn't do that much good anyway", he said and smiled. "Grady, God, its nice to see you. I am only sorry that it has to be under these circumstances."
"Me too, dad."
I reached down and kissed him on the forehead. He felt clammy.
A doctor stuck his head in the door, " Jack, you ok??" Dad introduced me.
"Grady, this is Dr. Kirby, the finest oncology doctor in the state of Texas."
Kirby shook my hand. "It's nice to meet you, Grady. Jack has talked about nothing but you and your sister."
And as on cue;
Marcy stuck her head in the door. "Hey you."
"Hey you back", I was able to get out before she grabbed me around the neck and gave me a vicious hug.
I had called her from the airport in Denver before I left and she told me that she would be at the hospital as well. She had been tackling some off shore drilling leases in Houston when she got the call to hurry home.
Dad smiled as Marcy let me go and when over and kissed him on the cheek. "Grady, Marcy has been a God send the past couple of days. She has listened to my bitching and whining and has screamed at more that a few nurses for me." Kirby was fidgeting and looking like he had some place better to be. Dad put him out of his misery.
"Dr. Kirby, could you give us a few minutes??" Kirby looked at his watch. "Don't overdue it and I will be back shortly. Nice to meet you Grady. Marcy, good to see you again. And he left pulling the door softly behind him.
"Grady, can you raise this bed a little. The button is there on the side." I fumbled around with the bed and was finally able to get it to come up some.
"Dr. Kirby has told me for the last six months that I am dying but this time I believe him. I am feeling tired and to tell you the truth is that for some reason facing the afterlife doesn't bother me. Fact is that I miss your mother, Grady. And Marcy's parents too. Everyone that I have ever loved is either dead or in this room. You guys are young and have your whole life before you. Maybe its time that I moved on."
Marcy started to protest but my father shushed her.
"Marcy, if you can't believe the best doctor in the country who can you believe. He doesn't think that I will make it through the week and I for one am inclined to agree with him." He turned to the window, "I'm tired. I am just so tired." There was a long moment of awkward silence.
"I've called you here because there are some things that need to be done and said. Things that should have been said a long time ago."
"Marcy, you have been my daughter. A firebrand Jewish daughter but my daughter nevertheless. I have loved you and supported you through all of your exploits. You have developed into a fine and strong beautiful young woman. Your mother and Father would be very proud of you. There is no one braver or smarter that I know and I am very proud that the good lord and your parents gave you to me".
By this time, Marcy had lost it and tears were streaming down her face.
Now my turn in the barrel had come. Dad turned to me.
"Grady, you are my son. Son, I love you. I may not have always shown it and may not have always provided you with what you thought you needed but I have loved you totally. There was never a prouder moment I have had than when you turned me down to tell me that when you turned me down to do your stint in the Navy. I always felt that a person gains strength when he has to come up the hard way making it on his own. Grady, I could have given you everything but I didn't. It was hard seeing you delivering pizzas and waiting on tables when you could be running around with your friends having a good time but you always saw it through to the end. You never complained and you never whined. You are capable of incredible acts of humanity and feeling and have fabulous people skills. You have always gone your own way and provided for yourself and in this manner, we are very much alike. These traits are going to serve you well in the coming days."
"Grady, you remember when you graduated from college, I told you that I wanted you to take over for me. Now has come that time."
"Dad...."
My time to get shushed.
"You really don't have much of a choice, son. Too many people are depending on you. I don't think that it is too much overdone to say that the fate of a good part of our country and maybe the world could rest on you."
"Over the years, I have invested wisely and spent nothing. As a result of the K3 transducer patent and subsequent inventions, I have succeeded beyond my wildest dreams. My main goal and job in life was to make money and to succeed. Your mother was gone and the Rothmans were gone and I had nothing but my work. In short, I succeeded."
"In our current holdings, we have a little over 350 companies with a total book value of almost $49 billion dollars. That is a cash figure if we were to sell everything at its current market rate. We only have approximately $9 billion in cash and liquid assets."
Dad paused to catch his breath. His voice was getting weaker with each word.
My breath was sucked out of me. "No way, Dad, no way you have that kind of money. "
He chuckled and then coughed with the effort. " Grady, I get a percentage of every dollar made on computers. Software and hardware. Network cards to peripherals. Can you imagine what all that's worth??" "And lord knows, I haven't spent anything. You guys are all that I had to worry about." "I have always wanted both of you to work for what you got. Self-suffiency is something that you cannot teach; you pretty much have to learn it for your self. You guys have done that. And done it with flying colors. You have gained my admiration and my respect. You will come to learn how much in the days to come."
Marcy had regained her breath. " Uncle Jack, What if we don't want your money?"
" Marcy, as I will explain, you unfortunately have no choice. The money is so intertwined with the economy that for you to turn it down would put hundreds and thousands of people out of work. It's in shipping, airlines, mines, cotton fields, manufacturers, department stores, TV stations. There are around 15 consortium that control various companies that are in turn controlled by me. It has been my hobby and my motivation ever since Grady's mother died. "
"You two will be the board of directors upon my passing. My wishes are that Grady and you, Marcy will do the best that you can to help humanity with the money in whatever way you see fit. I will leave it up to you to decide what that will be. As I said I have the utmost confidence in your talents and feelings."
"Please, don't feel like it has all been dumped on you. I have assembled some resources to help you. Here is videotape that should answer some of the questions that you have. This is an awesome responsibility but one that I feel sure that you can handle"
"Delaup can give you the broad outline of what you need to know but even he doesn't know the total amount of the holdings. Understand that you can trust no one but each other and an old Indian rascal named Wolf and a young woman named Willow. He will come to you upon my passing."
"Any questions?"
We were too stunned to ask questions.
"Good, now get out while I try and breathe some more oxygen. "Come back in a little while and we will talk some more".