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Clark Story #27 - Clark a Youngster Again

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
Clark Story # 27 - Clark a Youngster Again

This is my 2nd attempt at sci fi – you have been warned because it gets silly sometimes.

Clark could not believe it – last night he went to bed as a 78 year old man on his death bed just waiting to die – His medical problems were off the chart so he did not think about them anymore - If the nurse did not come twice a day to help him change his diaper he would have just rotted away. He could still barely get around with a walker but that was seldom - he just laid there watching the TV but mostly pitying himself and wondering why his body had failed him so miserably.

When he woke up he was in a bedroom that had been gone for 40 years since they tore the house down when he was about 38 – There was just no doubt about this room he remembered it clearly. He looked at his wee wee which was visible and it did not have those old blue veins on it and oh my goodness it had shrunk – He thought he was having a flashback dream. He then looked at his hands they did not have those old peoples’ veins on them and were not old people wrinkled like they were yesterday – Uh Oh he thought this cannot be real. He did not put his feet slowly on the floor to keep from passing out like he normally would from rising to fast. He actually leaped out of bed and ran to where he knew the old bathroom was. He made it and peed for what seemed like 2 minutes with a strong stream which he had not had for 25 years. In the mirror he knew it had to be a drug induced dream because he looked to be 13 or 14 years old.

He looked at his stupid calendar with a picture of a dog on the wall that he always marked the days off and saw it was Saturday the middle of June 1954 – That would make him a freshman in the coming fall in the immediate future – he laughed about that thought the future. He had skipped one grade because he was just a little bit smarter then the people he was in class with – Probably could have skipped 2 or 3 more grades but he was smart enough to realize he would miss some neat things as a kid if he did that. So he held back a little on his studies just making A’s and B’s but not enough to grab the attention of any wanna get ahead teacher by identifying him. Clark was not a genius just super smart and he knew it. He had read and halfway memorized the current encyclopedias, dictionary and any class books from people who were in a year or more advanced grades – It did not take him long to skim though those books so he secretly returned them on a Monday when classes began again.

Clark was smart as has already been mentioned and really quick on the uptake. He had no earthly idea about what had happened but he was going to take advantage of it as soon as he got over the shock of the event. He heard his mom and dad talking in the kitchen and knew this was a great opportunity to show how much he loved them. They had been dead as far as he knew for over 30 years and he had really missed them.

His brother had been dead for in this time 2 years from Polio and he was now an only child. He dressed in what was laying on the floor from where he had thrown his clothes last night and saw they were not dirty so he could get by this morning in his re-acquaintance with his dearly formerly departed parents. He thought not many people get a 2nd chance like this if anyone has he had not read about it in the future. And he was going to show his appreciation to his parents but he was going to do it subtly. He laughed because he was a stock market dabbler man and had paid attention to the dips and rises from 1965 to 2015 and knew he could make a fortune quickly without going back to the 4 year grind of college. He could now make some shrewd investments on stocks that he so dearly wished he had in the late 60’s through the 90’s. Grinning widely about the stock market tech bubble crash in the 90’s that he was going to make a super killing on.

He had had no fun in college it was just a slow study of books and he did not meet any women that cared much for him so he would by pass that this time around. He also knew who was going to win the baseball world series and the foot ball championship games for the next 60 some years because they were the 2 sports he had started following faithfully since he was 9 years old and he had a peculiar memory that memorized those playoff games. If nothing had changed this was the year the Cleveland browns (his favorite team) would beat the Detroit Lions in the NFL championship game by about 50 points, the term super bowl had not yet been invented, and the underdog NY Giants would beat the Cleveland Indians in 4 straight games in the baseball world series. Ah yes the #1 issue of the superman comic book if I can find a bunch of good copies – should get the 1st 10 issues about 10 of each and put some flea powder on them and store them in a cedar chest probably Capt Marvel and 1st issue of Batman and Green Lantern – I will have to look some more because I was not much of a comic book person but I sure remember them selling the #1 issue of Superman for a million bucks.

In 18 years silver would go to 50 bucks an ounce for a week or more - so he had time to make 2 million bucks on 40000 bucks of common date silver dollars, 50 cent pieces and quarters and it would be tax free. He had 10 years to gather that much silver before the government quit using silver in circulated coins. But in the mean time he was going to enjoy himself as a young teenager as he never did before. He would keep 20000 dollars of silver quarters and maybe some half dollars for his grand kids because silver would again reach 50 bucks an ounce in 2011.

The conversation at breakfast was minimal because his parents knew he did not care about the local or national news. He surprised them by reading the newspaper as his dad lay each segment down as he finished with it. He just said I should pay more attention to what is going on in the world.

He went out and rode his bicycle around the small community they lived in and thought really hard. If he went to college he would get drafted in Nov 1962 but if he joined the Air Force in 1958 he would be out before the Viet Nam war started getting cranked up in the summer of 1962 and he would not have to be running through the jungle as a lieutenant in late 1964 and early 1965 as he had the first go around and would not get shot in the butt with an AK 47 round that crippled his right hip.

His mind made up he went home and decided to look for the 2 friends he had as a pre- teen and teenager who he knew would both die in a drunken car crash in 1958 the day they both finished high school. He would be friendless then but he figured there would be new friends and women to meet in the coming years. He knew one thing he was going to be a rich person and his parents would also be rich and live in a nice place for a long time before they died of old age. He knew there would be no nuclear attacks or any attacks on the US before 9-11 and knew there was no need for him to prepare for major disastrous events except for hurricanes on the coasts, tornados in the mid west and Mt St Helens erupting. He would just make sure where he lived until 2018 when he was rejuvenated was not in any of those areas. So far the mountainous area in the middle of WV where he now lived was looking like a real safe spot. He also decided to take better care of his body so it would not be in such bad shape when he reached his 70’s this time around. Again he thought keeping an extreme low profile of his future knowledge would be in his best interests.
 
Discussion starter · #10 ·
Part 2.

He went back home after not being able to track his 2 friends down. He did not remember how much allowance and summer work money he had left and he almost forgot he and his brother always buried their money behind the big tree in the 6 foot tall cedar fence surrounded back yard in a glass mason jar with a glass screw on lid. They never left paper money in the jar just silver coins but it was a gallon jug and was almost full. The paper money was under the liner of the top shelf in the back of his closet. The 2 brothers always shared their money but he had not taken any money out of or put any in the Mason jar since his brother died. He would count the paper money in the closet after he ate lunch. He vaguely remembered cashing the coins in from the Mason jar when he left for college. The half full quart mason jar of pennies was on his dresser. They used to get silver coins for those pennies when the penny jar was full and put the silver in the gallon Mason jar. Today he thought that was silly but he was a young teen then and did not know any better. Another thought hit him about how valuable some of those key uncirculated coins would be in the future. He made himself a note to give himself another job. He had not been much of a coin collector in later years but he knew some of the valuable coins and would get the information from a book or the US mint on how many of each coin were minted and he could extrapolate from the low mintage on what would be some of the most valuable coins of which the price would dramatically rise in the late 60’s and onward. Gold would become available again in the 70’s and it would be cheap so he would stash a lot away when it became available. He also would buy platinum when it was 200 bucks an ounce and make another killing in the 90’s when the price of it exploded.

There were other things he could put away like that 2 million dollar baseball card of Honus Wagner – he wondered if there were any still available since he knew it was the 1909 card from he thought a cigarette package. There was of course the Mickey Mantle card that was available now, Joe DiMaggio, Ty Cobb, Willie Mays, Babe Ruth and he would look up some more players that would probably jog his memory before the big collector rage started in the late 60’s. He would stockpile some of those pristine cards for the future. That got him to thinking about football and basketball cards. He would look up those players and cards also.

The next day he thought the coming future was going to be very interesting. He would be a 78 year old high school freshman student in a 14 year old body with 64 years of life experience and a quality university college science degree.

His mom and dad had left him 2 ham sandwiches in the fridge so he ate those and made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for dessert and washed it all down with the milk in a glass bottle you had to shake to get the cream to mix in the milk. He had forgotten how good things tasted. While he was thinking of food he made a note to get the recipe for the hot dog chili that he had eaten all through the 50’s in the hot dog joints. He had tried to recreate that taste for 25 years and was never successful. Another recipe was the semi-sweet BBQ sauce on the shredded pork and slaw sandwiches they served at the Gold Dome drive in on the boulevard close to Charleston WV he never could get that sauce right either.

There was 173 dollars in paper money he and his brother had saved by cutting grass and doing chores for the neighbors over the years. He looked at the back of some of the paper money and it said silver certificate. Another reason to start his quest to get 40 or so thousand dollars in silver coin to make the big killing profit in the 70’s - He went out to the tree and dug the mason jar up. It was heavy as he carried it to the garden hose for a wash off and then to his bedroom to count and look for valuable coins. He remembered the coin collecting rage did not begin till 64 or 65 when they took the silver out of the coins so he had a 10 year head start. He would check the pennies tomorrow to have something to do. He turned the radio on and heard a baseball game being announced. He was not interested in the current games he had heard them 60 some years ago all he would be interested in was the football championship and baseball world series where he would somehow coerce his dad to make some good sized bets for him to get started on a plan he had not yet fully fleshed out.

His friends got him up early Sunday morning to go swimming in the ole swimming creek hole. They wasted 3 hours of the morning there and then another 3 hours playing some sand lot baseball with a bunch of other kids. He went home in amazement never remembering to have had that much energy he had expended this day. He went through the pennies that night setting off to the side several of what he knew to be expensive coins 30 years from now. He made a list of what he knew were valuable coins and would buy them after he won some baseball and football money. He was always interested in the Indian head pennies and knew of 6 that would be extremely valuable in the near future. He made his list and went to bed. He just wished he knew when the double die 1955 penny would hit the streets he wanted 2 or 300 of them in brilliant uncirculated condition to store away.

The next day was a repeat of Sunday morning except he went to the library in the afternoon to find some books on coins. No luck so he went home and composed a nice letter to the bureau of mints – he had to go back to the library to get the address of the mint. He laughed when he went to his desk to turn his not yet invented computer on.

The next evening he started to use his persuasion on his dad to make some bets for him on the World Series and the NFL football championship. He knew his dad went to the beer joint that took bets on the games on weekend nights to watch the Gillette Blue Blade sponsored Friday and Saturday night fights. He subtly brought up he had been looking at the stock market and wondered about making some small investments for his future. That one really got his dad’s attention.

He cut a few neighbors grass and made the princely sum of 1 dollar which wasn’t bad wages for 2 hours of work for a young teen in 1954. He opened the big city phone book for coin shops – what a bummer there were none - he found stamp collectible stores but no coins – He was going to have to use some brain power now because he knew there were shops somewhere in the country that specialized in coin sales. He also wanted a price list on the prices of the coins he had written down he would think on that a little bit.

Thursday he talked his dad into buying him a wall street journal at the news paper shop in the city because the library did not carry it yet in his small town. He primarily wanted the paper to look in the classified ads for coin shop stores or sales. He would look at the stocks but he did not know about 1954 stocks the future stock knowledge he knew about would not become available to him for 10 more years.

In the meantime he went to the local drug store that had a huge comic book rack of old and new comics and asked the owner if he knew where he could find some old issues of Superman. The owner grinned and said I have all of them from the 1st one and I bought 15 of the #1 issue and put them away. Gee that is nice I wish I could get my hands on a good copy of the 1st issue that isn’t all torn up for my collection. They are expensive now about 3 dollars and 50 cents for a good #1 issue. I have saved my grass cutting money and I sure would like to buy 1 and a couple more for trading. He said I will sell you 5 of my new copies I keep in my dark room in a metal cabinet for 25 dollars. Clark said I have that much saved I will be back later. The man grinned thinking he had just made 24 dollars and fifty cents. Because he only paid a dime for each copy and he had 50 copies he had picked up 14 years ago just waiting to make a good profit. The drug store and the owner’s house would burn down in less than a year and he would lose all the other copies. But Clark had his 5 copies and 3 copies of Batman #1 and Batman #2 and 3 copies each of Captain Marvel #1 and #2 and 3 copies of the last edition of Captain Marvel published in 1953 from the drug store owner. But Clark had to pay 25 dollars for the Superman comic originals and 35 dollars for the Captain Marvel editions and 30 dollars for the Batman copies in pristine stored new condition just like the 5 Superman originals. He could not think of anymore future expensive old comic books but he would ponder on it. He took a page from his future knowledge and sprinkled each comic book with inert 20 Mule Team Borax that everyone used in the 50’s. And as an extra precaution placed each book in its own Manila envelope with the sticky flap cut off with a little more Borax to insure there would be no bugs eating the paper. Since he was going to store these items for a long time he would ask his mom to go to a Tupperware party and buy some flat storage plastic containers to keep the comics and the rest of his soon to be acquired baseball and other cards and in the bottom of the Tupperware plastic box he was going to add some cat or dog flea powder as another bug insurance policy.
 
#12 ·
Thanks for the new start. Health ain't bad and I joined USAF in 1956. Came back home in early 1960's and comic books, baseball cards and such were all gone. Mom and younger brother didn't remember what happened to them. Oh well, a change of pace and a lot of fun thinking about what we could of done as we blindly went to work and raised a family over the last 50 years. I love your imagination and look forward to a view of what a little knowledge of the future could of gotten us. I know that anything would be better than a 1 % return on what is left of my 401K after losing 50 % of it under the expert management of the company required mutual fund. I love your stories and this one is really close to my heart. Now I am really looking forward to how you are going to work a boat or a cave or a mine into it. Maybe he will own the mine this time. Thank you very much for all your time and effort.
 
#13 ·
I actually had the first issue of green lantern (and sevderal following issues I think 8-9) as well as justice league and the combo flash and green arrow. also the combo aquaman and 'the atom'
my mother threw them out while I was in service, she never liked my late-nite reading if burrouighs and sci-fi.
they wera all well sealed and had a old sock with sevin dust in the package. most still in the original plastic sleeve
unreal what they would bring now.
 
#14 ·
Havent had a day off in weeks doing a start-up, embarrassed the h3ll out of myself by falling asleep during a meeting yesterday, and now wake up to this?
Many thanks for the greatest way to wake up and face an otherwise sh1tty
day! If I could just be 35 again:(.................
 
Discussion starter · #15 ·
Part 3.

That Sunday evening his dad handed him the 5 pound newspaper from New York. He ran to his bedroom and lay sideways on his bed perusing it. It finally hit him the word he was looking for was numismatics. He found several numismatic magazines for sale in the paper and they were 25 cents a week with 3 cents postage. Ah ha he gloated now I am getting somewhere. He had his dad write him two 28 cent checks and mailed the letters off with a note telling the publisher to send the most current magazine as soon as the check clears the bank. That was a mistake because wholesale mail fraud would not start for another 20 years. But 10 days later he got 2 current coin magazines and fell through the floor – He could buy just about everything he wanted with the little money he had left. As he scanned through the magazines he noted a 1937D 3 legged buffalo in uncirculated and no scratch condition was 7 dollars – He was sure that coin would eventually sell for 2 thousand dollars – he marked the page because it said large quantity available. He did not think the prices would change much in the next 6 months so he set that purchase plan aside.

He did not want to wait on some of his slowly developing plan to obtain a lot of money. He needed a lot more then the 2 or 3 dollars a week he could make in the neighborhood. That only left baseball gambling which may be a little risky because he could not be sure of any single game but he would put his prodigious memory to work to see if he could come up with some 60 year old winners.

For the next week he did what any 1954 teenager did he went swimming, rode his bike, went fishing, sneaked in the circus, poured carbide in a bottle with a little water screwed the lid on quickly and watched it explode, climbed through the forests around the community, played chase and catch or you are it on the block as it got dark, sneaked into the neighbors yard and stole peaches and just a variety of things that he had forgotten about as he got old. As he was falling asleep that night tired from the days play he said to himself - ain’t life grand.

He finally remembered a baseball game that the pitcher got his arm hurt on a ball batted back at him and the 2nd main pitcher was sickly from something or the other. He did not know it then or for a long time that his dad would make 2 and 5 dollar winning bets on his sports prognostication knowledge input at the pool rooms. He told his dad I have a great feeling on this game tomorrow and I want to make a bet. His dad said OK give me the dollar and I will add one more to it. Clark said No dad I really have a great feeling about this game and I want to bet 50 dollars because the team he was betting on was a 7 to 1 underdog. His dad just stared at him for 2 minutes without saying a word – Clark was beginning to think his dad had had a stroke and was frozen in that position. His dad finally shut his mouth and said that is a lot of money. Clark said if I lose I won’t bother you again till the football championship and the World Series. Clark’s dad did not know if the bookie at the pool rooms would take that big of a bet so he decided to split it up with a 20 dollar bet at 3 different places. That way if Clark lost he personally would only be out 10 bucks.

Monday night he handed Clark 350 bucks plus the original 50 he had used to make the bet with and said the next time you get a feeling like that make sure you let me know. I will dad because I got a good idea who is going to win the World Series and the NFL championship. Clark never did remember any more baseball games but he thought he was absolutely sure of one football game in November but that was a long time from now.

Summertime play finally ended the first week of September and he like all the rest of the freshman stood in line to get a locker and he was amazed it was the one he had 60 some years ago that he had for 4 straight years. He had already steeled himself to set in a classroom for the next 4 years 6 hours a day. There was just no way he could figure out how to get out of it till he was at least 16. He was not yet rich enough to be home tutored and he wasn’t even sure if it was allowed in 1954. He thought about testing out on a lot of classes and again he wasn’t even sure about that. He also knew there was nothing for a 14 or 15 year old to do if he was not going to school. He knew he would have to be at least 18 to travel around the country on his own and he would still be in the Air Force when he turned 21 and that was the minimum age he could legally place bets in Las Vegas. He was just stuck so he would just try to make the best of this young age situation. Everyone in his age group knew there was a slight change in Clark but they could not put their finger on what it was. He was more confident and did not put up with any bullying. Clark did not have movie star good looks he was just average in that department but he did have a winning smile and could talk about most things intelligently. When inquisitive people asked him how he knew so much he just asked have you not yet read the encyclopedias - I thought everyone going to high school had done that. That shut up the inquisitors. He managed to keep his grades in the B’s and A area just to keep a low profile amongst the teachers as a normal bright person. He always laughed when some of the teachers said if he just studied a little more he would be an A honor student. Of course there was a girl but he knew she would dump him for 15 or more different guys so he was not heart broke this time around. He did do something this time around because of his confidence. He dated a lot of pretty girls and had lots of romances but he had decided he would wait till he was well established and in his late 20’s before he started seriously looking for a mate. In his previous life his wife divorced him after 6 months and he spent the rest of his life alone or with one night stands. Even the people he went to high school with could not remember his name and he knew no one in college remembered him. This time around it would be different.

September the 15th rolled around and Clark asked his dad if he was ready to make a lot of money on the World Series coming up in 2 weeks. His dad asked him what kind of feeling he had about the series. Clark said the underdog giants will win it in 4 straight games and the papers are saying they are 5 to 1 underdogs. His dad said I was going to bet on Cleveland. Clark told him that was fine with him but he wanted all his money on the Giants. Clark said it is a shame we don’t have a lot of money to make a trip to Las Vegas and make a big bet. Clark’s dad asked what kind of bet are you talking about - Clark just said I would bet the farm and the neighbors’ barn. Clark’s dad laughed and said you are that confident are you? Clark said yep. His dad said talk to me tomorrow I have some vacation time I have to use before the year is over.

The next day his dad said I have 7000 dollars we can lose and not hurt us too much. Clark said I was only joking about going to Las Vegas. His dad said having 2nd thoughts and Clark said no I know the Giants will win in 4 and beat the point spread on every game. Don’t ask me how I know but it is like an angel told me and you can take that to the bank. Clark said I want to bet my 450 dollars on the best odds bet which would probably be the Giants winning the series in 4 straight those odds will be on the order of 9 or more to one. Clark’s dad said your mom and me are going to fly out there on the 27th and stay 8 days. Clark said can I give you some advice dad because I have been reading a lot about those casino sports betting centers. Sure son I am a little out of my league betting big money like this. Go to 5 or 6 different sports betting places or any of the big casinos that will take your bet. Make a lot of your bets on the day before the series starts. You better get a pencil and paper to write this down. You say you have 7000 dollars plus my 450 to bet. Well I will have about 6200 after the plane tickets and the hotel room, taxis, and food is paid and I will have a round trip ticket in case we go bust. OK bet a 1000 dollars in 2 casinos on the Giants winning in 4 before the odds go down on that bet. Bet 1000 dollars on the Giants winning each of 4 games. Take the 4 or 5000 dollars you win from the first game and try to find different casinos to bet on the 2nd game of the giants winning. Take only 4000 dollars of the 15000 or 20000 dollars you win on the 2nd game and go to Fremont Street in downtown and see if there are any casinos taking bets on the series there should be 3 or 4. Only bet 500 dollars at each of these casinos. Go to the wallet shop here in the city and buy a cloth money belt for you and mom. You will be bringing back a lot of non taxable cash. Do not bet any more money other then the 4000 dollars you take to Fremont Street - keep the 15 or so thousand dollars in your money belts. We can do this again Dec 26th on the NFL championship only in Reno instead of Las Vegas. I’m thinking the odds won’t be as good for us on the NFL game but you should be able to pick up 15000 or more. The point spread will be humongous but unless it is more then 46 bet on Detroit if it is 46 do not bet. I will go over it again and write it down before you take another 4 or 5 days vacation. Clark laughed at his dad’s expression when he saw that look.
 
Discussion starter · #19 ·
Part 4.

Clark did nothing stupid while his parents were gone and no one even knew he was home alone while they were gone.

He heard the car pull into the driveway and knew they were home. His mom came in first and said if you ever get another feeling like that please tell us. Clark told his mom I already have one and maybe you and dad can fly to Reno a few days before Christmas – Heck I may even go with you since school will be out for Christmas break.

Clark never did ask his dad how much they made. Later on that evening his dad handed him 10 one thousand dollar bundles of 100 dollar bills. Clark said thank you dad now let me give you and mom one more piece of advice – never tell anyone you won money or the tax man will come and take it all away. His mom said I never thought of that and I am glad you told us because I was just going to call your aunt and tell her we won some money. Clark left them in the living room and took his bills and stacked them under the top covering in his closet. He said to himself I can now get started on some of my early plans but not too many.

Clark and his 2 friends played sand lot touch football with other kids for 2 evenings before the other 2 told Clark their homework was piling up on them. One of them said we should go carp fishing in the river this Saturday. Clark remembered that fishing trip well because every time he thought of it he started laughing. He always wished he had a picture of that and by Jove now he would have. His dad had bought one of those super 8 movie cameras and Clark was going to take it with him because this was just too great of an opportunity to pass up. It would be one of those Kodak moments. Clark knew he would not catch any fish so he sat there about 5 feet from Jerry just waiting. He saw the tug on Jerry’s line and the camera was rolling. Jerry snatched his pole with both hands while he was leaning over towards the river. He had a firm grip on his pole and the next instant Jerry was flying through the air hanging onto his pole as a giant carp or catfish pulled him 25 feet straight out into the river. It seems at times Jerry was being pulled so fast out into the river that he wasn’t touching the water. He finally let go of the pole and swam back to the bank. It was cold so that ended the fishing trip. Clark had this priceless moment on film. Clark told him that the camera would not turn on so that eliminated Jerry saying he would kill him if he showed the film to anyone. That was the first of many great future Kodak moments to come.

The middle of November Clark told his dad it would be a smart move if he bought a good sturdy 1000 pound or heavier safe to keep his money in while they were away from the house. Clark’s dad told him those things are expensive almost 700 dollars for a big safe. It will be delivered at dark Friday evening because I told the salesman I did not want anyone to know I had a safe. He next said the safe is 30 inches wide and 5 feet tall and will fit through our 36 inch doors and the 36 inch walkway into the basement. They are going to bring 2X12’s to lay on the basement steps to make it easy for them to get it down there. Clark decided to put half his money in the safe and bury 3000 dollars behind the tree in a glass screw on lidded quart jar inside a glass screw on lidded gallon jar to eliminate any moisture. Saran wrap and plastic trash bags had not yet been invented so he used wax paper on the screw on threads to make doubly sure no moisture got in the jars. He thought about melting some of those bars of candle wax his mom had in the cabinet on the threads but thought that was overkill for short term storage.

There was nothing spectacular about the Christmas trip to Reno. Clark made 7000 dollars and his dad and mom made 12000 dollars. His parents enjoyed the night life - he was stuck in the hotel room but the place did have an indoor pool that he used a lot. He told his dad unless he remembered something specific about a baseball or foot ball game their gambling was over till the playoffs at the end of the year. Clark now had close to 17000 dollars and would order some new numismatic magazines to make 2 or 3000 dollars worth of purchases in the coming months.

Sometime in late January 1955 Clark heard a song on the radio and just said out loud – OH YES. The 1950’s rock and roll era is beginning and I get to live through it again. The song was Earth Angel by the Crew Cuts. Elvis would soon make his appearance center stage and change the music world forever. He made a big note and hung it under his calendar – Go to these live performances because you did not the first time around. See these people before they get old – make sure you take pictures and put a date on them and he laughed about that get old thought. Another thought hit him – When I get out of the military I will be over 21 and I will definitely go to Las Vegas and see every one of the stars shows and he grinned because he would have a front row seat at the Les Folies Bergere - the all female French dancing show. He liked Dean Martin did not care too much for old big band sound Sinatra (his dad and mom liked Sinatra) but he would actually get to touch shoulders with the Rat Pack in the Sands Hotel on the strip. I will have a little money by then and can really enjoy my 2nd life. Well enough day dreaming the Las Vegas happenings are about 8 years from now so get back to reality he told himself.

The 2nd half of his freshman year rolled along smoothly and a few things of note happened. It was a typical year in 1955 for an old/young high school freshman. His 3500 dollar purchase of future valuable coins started coming in and he carefully used a soft cotton cloth and wiped them gently and wrapped them in a new cotton T-Shirt that had been washed twice in hot water to remove any foreign material or chemicals. He stored them in super clean quart Mason jars with a glass screw lid that he did melt wax on the threads. He figured the small amount of oxygen remaining in the jar would perfectly age and tone the coins in the next 30 to 40 years before he started discretely selling them. In June of 1955 he ordered another coin magazine and found out the 1955 doubled die struck pennies were out and uncirculated ones were selling for 2 to 5 dollars. He spent another 1200 dollars and bought 300 perfect sparkly shiny uncirculated ones and stored them the same as he had the future super expensive ones he had previously purchased.

The end Saturday in June of 1955 Clark and his parents arrived in Shreveport LA. Elvis was still not a big time national figure but he was playing at the Louisiana Hayride on Saturday nights. Clark had bought a pricey camera with a little telephoto lens and his dad had the super 8 movie camera. Clark was finally going to personally see the young future King of Rock and Roll in his early years. They stayed for both of his 4 song shows. Clark’s dad just said that boy will never be a star and I did not care too much for his music and hip gyrations. Clark asked his mom what she thought of Elvis. She said he has something but I don’t know what it is. Clark saw that his mom had been attracted to the animal sexy magnetism Elvis projected. Clark just told his dad I think in the future you will really like this guy. They made 2 more trips to Louisiana that summer and that satisfied Clark because he actually spoke to Elvis for about 45 seconds and shook his hand. He turned around and asked his dad if he had got it on his movie camera and his dad said yes and his mom said I got 3 pictures of you standing beside him shaking his hand and talking to him. Clark just thought another priceless Kodak moment in time.

The middle of September Clark said OK dad we will be just about independently wealthy after this World Series. You need to take a 9 day vacation from September 27 to October 5. He had not told his dad who was going to win. His dad said so you think we can win money on the Yankees. Clark said the Yankees ain’t gonna win. His dad only paused for 30 seconds this time with his mouth open. His dad said no way. Clark reached into his future mind and grabbed the response he was looking for and said – Yes Way. Brooklyn in 7 is the first bet I want you to make for me and the odds will probably be really good. I want you to bet 7000 dollars for me and if I was you I would bet even more spread out over the betting parlors on that bet. Yanks win first game but the point spread if it is 1 will make the game a tie so you cannot bet on the first game. If the bookies give Brooklyn a point and a half or 2 take Brooklyn. I have it all wrote down – Yanks win 2nd game but odds will probably be even so only bet 3000 bucks at each betting place on that game – the 3rd 4th and 5th game Brooklyn wins with them having a point or 2 spot and odds will be 2 or 3 to 1 - I want you to bet 4000 dollars or more on each of those games – NY wins the 6th game by 5 points probably even money bet but bet 6000 dollars on NY – last game bet the farm or as much money as you feel comfortable betting on Brooklyn. Oh and dad when you make these bets try to make them with a different person in the betting parlors and different time of day so you will keep kind of a low profile.

Dad on this trip in addition to your money belt I want you and mom to take a small carry on briefcase with you. Clark’s dad asked why. Clark said I don’t think you can get 250000 dollars in your money belts. His dad actually sat down and his mom gasped. She said that is unreal. Clark said I know and we still have the NFL game coming up on Dec 26. You will need to take 6 or 7 days off for that because you will fly to Las Vegas make bets leave me and then fly to Reno to make our bets and after the game collect in Reno – fly back to Las Vegas, collect the money and me then fly home and guess what - I am going to stay in the Las Vegas hotel till you get back 3 days later from Reno. Mom don’t say anything I will be 16 next year and am fully capable of buying food in the hotel restaurant and flirting with the young girls at the pool. I am probably better able to take care of myself then the both of you and then he laughed and said ha ha I gotcha on that one. But if the truth was known Clark was capable of killing if necessary and he was really in that super good shape active teenagers are in and he still had that trained Army combat memory. He had just not reached his full growth yet.

Again one evening after school he heard the car pull into the driveway. His mom entered first with a real nice expensive looking dress on with a new hair do and just said hello son. She laid her black briefcase on the coffee table and said keep an eye on that while I freshen up and change clothes. His dad came in next lugging a couple of suit cases and another black briefcase. He laid it on the other briefcase and said I have a few more suit cases. He noticed his dad’s clothes on the 2nd trip and he had on an expensive looking suit of clothes. Clark grinned at his dad and said I hope you all didn’t spend all our winnings on clothes. His dad said not even close my boy. An hour later the suitcases and contents put away and his parents in lounging clothes sat down and had a cup of hot tea. Clark just waited and sat there grinning. His dad said we did a little better then you expected and made a good bit of extra money on that first game. You did better then you expected on that 7 game bet. The odds were 12 to 1 and you cleared 84000 plus your 7000 and we added 9000 dollars to it to make it an even 100000 dollars. Clark said good now we can really clean up before the IRS starts making the casinos fill out tax pay out forms which I am pretty sure will happen in 6 more years. His dad looked at him funny and Clark said I heard the economics teacher talking about the revenue that was being lost on gambling talking about it. He did ask his dad how much they made. His mom said we cleared after expenditures 311000 dollars and spent 1200 dollars on clothes. Clark laughed and said good - looks like we are on our way to becoming slightly wealthy and do not have to pay the government all those taxes which I do believe is about 90%. His mom said that is ridiculous to pay the government all that money. Clark just smiled because in the future when they became legitimate and really wealthy they would pay far more in taxes then what they had in those 2 briefcases and those money belts.
 
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