Page 2 of Undeniable

"So how did he get the new nickname, Hard-Core?"

"Patience. I’m getting to that!"

"Did he go hardcore on them and fuck those pussies like the dawg we know he is?"

Someone chanted. "Who let the dawg out?" So, everyone barked.

"Naw man! He mows them down! It was brutal, I tell you!" He hung his head then shook it. "He told them. 'Look! I’m not into you and I'm not getting "in" to you.'"

"Ahhhh!" They all moaned.

"That’s a hardcore rejection right there."

I laugh.It’ll be good to see ole Sam I am again.The first time I laid eyes on Dirk Sam, we were asked to stand at the Hail and Farewell party and were introduced as the only two bachelors in Green Flight. Sitting at opposite ends of the same table, we stood locking eyes and sizing each other up. We were both athletic specimens at 6’ tall and around 220 pounds, but I was wearing a J-Crew shirt with khakis and he faded distressed jeans with a t-shirt that read Loose Cannon. I’m blonde and with a beach tan. He’s a dark brunette with olive skin.

To everyone there we looked like opposites, but not to me. He had the same look in his eye.

"Aurelius is the youngest candidate too."

All eyes turned to the dark haired, dark eyed young man, and the moment Dirk realized their eyes were on him instead of me, the blonde buck with the crooked grin, he quickly set the record straight, calling the crowd out with a wise-guy grin of his own. "I hope you ladies and gentlemen did not just profile this dark meat as the Mafioso because I’m Dirk Sam. He’s Aurelius Moore."

Dirk was enjoying the hell out of pushing their politically correct buttons and I knew we would be brothers. I gave him a heads-up man salute and simply said to the crowd. "Ciao."

From that point on, the practical jokes and the antics were nonstop. If we weren’t pushing each other’s buttons, we were teaming up to push everyone else’s.

I lean over the balcony railing and spit. Then a crooked grin slides on at the fond memory that simple action conjures.The seed spitting contest was one of the best. Vodka filled watermelons produced quite a show.First place was hard to earn, but Hard-Core and Sam I am prevailed.

I stand, then stretch. Sam and I were made from the same mold, just handed two different lives. Sam told me during one late night of drinking while we were closing down the local bar. "I joined the military because I had nowhere else to go. My mother died a week after I graduated from high school." He hung his head and I listened quietly, knowing it was difficult for him to share. "At 18, I was homeless. Going through her stuff, I came across newspaper clippings of this British politician that looked like a real prick. Part of me wondered what the hell she had these for, but the other part knew. He was my sperm donor." He looked up at me and smirked. "I took the last money I had and bought a plane ticket to London. 'Blimey Bastard'" He looked down the bar for a long time into his distant past. I could tell something had happened that he wasn’t going to share. When he looked back at me, he had pushed the memory down deep inside. "I almost got myself killed. I hightailed it back to the States, and joined the Army to fly this badass bird." He grinned and downed the beer. That was the last he spoke of his hardships and he never mentioned London again until the other day.I wonder what happened to send him back to London? And now he’s married and to a crazy British bitch? Can’t wait to hear that wild tale.

I enlisted not because I had to, but rather because I wanted to. Flying Apache helicopters just appealed to me. When my dad retired from the military, he moved us back home close to his parents in rural Alabama. I fell in love with the warbirds flying overhead. The sound their blades make as they chop the air overhead. Nothing else like it. But I did rush into enlisting when I was featured on the cover of an Italian tabloid. "Maximus Moore, Rising Star on the Italian Social Scene. Perhaps we should consider this young American, inline to inherit the Liotine Fortune, as the most eligible young bachelor in Italy. We will definitely be keeping a watchful eye on him." That comment sent me straight to the recruiter without thinking twice and without telling a soul. I signed away 6 years of my life determined to be who I am, not who someone else portrayed me to be.

I drop my head and smirk.Man did that announcement cause an uproar.

We were all at the family villa in Italy, on spring break, when Grandpa Al said to me. "Maximus, I would like for you to come to Italy when you finish high school to discuss your future."

I raised my head then turned my eyes to his. "This is as good a time as any, I reckon, to tell y’all." Pushing my chair back, I stood to face him and the rest of them, proudly announcing my decision. "I’ve enlisted in the Army. I’ll be leaving the day after graduation for basic training. I’m going to fly Apaches."

The air seemed to have been sucked out of the room. Grandpa Al was the first to speak. "Maximus, what have you done?"

"I’ve done what I wanted to do. I want to serve my country and I want to fly helicopters. Grandpa, I’m not university material. I don’t think I can stomach four more years of school to earn a boring degree, doing something I will loathe. I can go through Warrant Officer Candidate School then flight school in less than a year and come out a helicopter pilot."

Grandpa looked right at my mom and said. "Zita, you and Bob should have told him."

"Should have told me what?" I asked her. She sighed, didn’t answer, and looked at my dad. He simply shrugged his shoulders, then spoke for them. "Son, when you were young your Grandpa here established a trust fund in your name. We didn’t want you to grow up using it as a crutch. We wanted to make you an independent thinker. We were going to tell you after you graduated."

"That’s dope!" I beamed at everyone. "Thanks, Grandpa!" His stern face made me falter and I looked at my mom and dad for more information.

"It transferred when you turned 18," Bob answered my unasked question.

I turned back to Grandpa Al. He told me. "There is a million-dollars in it."

"Whoa," was all I could say.

If I had known, I wouldn’t have enlisted and my life would certainly not have become the big complicated collection of secrets it is.

Grandpa spent every waking moment with me those two weeks, giving me a crash course in business management and investing. "Maximus, use your talents. You have a good head on your shoulders. Begin buying other businesses and learn from them. Hire go-getters. Treat them with respect. Pay them well. Reward good effort. Do not hesitate to use the talents of your employees. Remember your family loves you. They will be loyal to you and want you to succeed. Be loyal to your employees in return, but allow no one to mind your business but yourself."

As it turns out, Grandpa was right. My personality, coupled with a logical mind and the concise communication skills I learned in the military has made me a keen observer and an excellent venture capitalist. I’ve managed to turn that million-dollar trust fund into Maximus Enterprises, a multimillion-dollar conglomeration of successful business ventures worth multi-millions.

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