Forever Yours
31
Jambalaya
THE TWO WEEKS leading up to final exams went by in a flash. Twice, Henry and Lisa decided to forgo planning a date out and just slept together. Henry loved sex with Lisa, but felt they were short-changing their relationship and decided to plan a special outing after their last final.
Each of the six exams he took brought him a step closer to the end of this stage of his life. He had to smile at the thought that he would not be taking classes over the summer and would have a lighter load in the fall. On Friday, when the last exam was completed, he and Lisa walked to the curb where Chastity met them in Henry’s car. She drove them straight to the airport and kissed them both goodbye.
“You know, I could really get used to Chastity’s kisses,” Lisa sighed as they made their way to the two o’clock flight to New Orleans.
“Yeah. Even with her ‘no tongue’ rule, she’s pretty hard to resist,” Henry agreed, wrapping his arm around Lisa.
“What ‘no tongue’ rule?” Lisa asked.
Henry looked at her in astonishment, but Lisa was serious.
“Oh. It’s… just something between Chastity and me,” he said, wondering if Lisa was truly exempt or just hadn’t progressed that far.
The flight landed in Atlanta and they changed planes for New Orleans, but it was a short layover and they landed in New Orleans a little after six. Lisa’s mother was waiting at the exit for them. Henry hung back a little to let Lisa greet her mother first.
“You said you were bringing your boyfriend,” Mrs. Hartwell said, looking past Henry without recognizing him.
“Mom, this is my boyfriend, Henry Pascal. Henry, my mom, Jacqueline Hartwell.”
“Henry? You said he wasn’t your boyfriend!”
“That was then. This is now,” Lisa said.
“Well! Welcome, Henry,” she said reaching out to him.
“Thank you, Mrs. Hartwell.”
“Oh, no. That was fine when you were her landlord. Her boyfriend gets to call me Jackie. Are you living together, then?”
“Not exactly, Mom. Henry is still my landlord and we have our private suites. But he gets to visit sometimes,” Lisa laughed.
“I will never understand you!” Jackie said. She led the way to her car and they drove up to Baton Rouge where Lisa’s father, Bill, was checking on the grill to be sure it was ready.
“You won’t believe this, Bill!” Jackie called as they walked into the house. “Lisa’s boyfriend is her boss and landlord! It’s Henry Pascal!”
“Now that’s welcome news,” Bill said, giving his daughter a hug and turning to shake Henry’s hand. “Something tells me we have a lot of catching up to do.”
“I can tell you’ve got something on your mind,” Bill said when he and Henry were alone after dinner. Lisa and Jackie had gone to Lisa’s room to settle and chat.
“You’re very perceptive,” Henry chuckled. “Mostly, I just wanted to do something nice for Lisa after our term ended. The past few weeks have been good, but really stressful with finals and all.”
“Are you trying to tell me that you and Lisa are getting serious or that you are breaking up?” Bill asked bluntly.
“Um… neither, really,” Henry said. “I like Lisa a lot. Maybe we’ll find out more about where the relationship goes this summer. I’m hopeful. But that isn’t the subject I wanted to talk about. It’s more business related.”
“Oh,” Bill said. He sounded a little disappointed, but brightened quickly. “Tell me what’s up.”
“Well, we got a substantial investment in March. It’s not the kind of investment that people put into a part-time effort. I was wondering how it was when you got started. I’m feeling unsure about whether or how I can continue school and handle the business full time.”
“Wow! That was not what I was expecting,” Bill said. He dropped his head in puzzlement for a moment. “You are a few steps ahead of where I was at your age. I had investment dollars waiting for me when I graduated, but everything I’d done before that was strictly on my own in a basement apartment with substandard computers. I didn’t have money that I could spend to take my girlfriend to see her parents.”
“Part of the investment was a substantial personal payment as well,” Henry hedged.
“Well, the reason we live in Baton Rouge is that it was a condition of the investment that Jackie’s father made in my business. They live just a couple of miles from here and you’ll meet them tomorrow. EZ Daze is still a fraction of the size of his shipping empire. But he and I are both pleased with the company we’ve built. It was good to have a savvy business partner when I made my first hire.”
“Unfortunately, our investment didn’t come with any wisdom on how to get it done. I have three partners and we have two contractors who work with us. I made my first full time hire and he’ll start the first of June. We’re moving into an office space on the first of July,” Henry said. “Uh… In case you didn’t know, Lisa is one of our contractors. She’s been doing some great stuff with our UI.”
“So, your investment left you with full control of the business?”
“My partners and I were equal participants in the founding, but I’ve got a few more shares of the company because of the transfer of patents and other IP.”
“Hmm. So, you and your partners are all about the same age and trying to complete college while you get the business up and profitable?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Let’s chew on this a while. When you meet Lisa’s grandparents tomorrow, you might want to let Beau in on the questions. The man is truly a management genius. Might even be a future source of funding. Don’t go at it from that perspective, though. Test out the waters and see what you think of him. He taught me a lot, but he might not have the same style as you.”
“I’m always interested in advice that is more dependable than Pythia,” Henry laughed.
“Who’s that?”
“Well, it’s an app we’re testing. Here. Let me show you Lisa’s interface,” Henry said.
He booted his tablet and directed the browser to Pythia Speaks. Bill took it and immediately understood the concept of asking a question. ‘What does our business future look like?’ he typed. A few seconds later the answer popped up.
“Business is a meeting of minds. Its future depends on the minds involved.”
“Well, I can’t contradict that,” Bill said. “At the same time, I see why you would like more dependable advice. What’s behind this?”
“It’s an artificial narrow intelligence. The wall it was trained on was restricted to classical philosophy and oracular sayings. I’m surprised it understood the word business, but it’s learning from people’s questions. We’re getting over 1,500 hits on it a day.”
“And how will you make money with it?”
“Pythia is a testbed for an AI trained to know and understand a person’s life, independent of the complete body of human knowledge. General AI is being trained on as much data as possible. I’m trying to train an AI that will be able to respond as a specific person. Specialization, if you will. It takes far less power to train and is more dependable within the realm of that person’s life.”
“And that is why Lisa has asked Jackie and me to record our life stories,” Bill said. “The Singularity.”
“Yes, more or less. The development of AI has been focused on capturing the human capacity to think and respond as a generalist. Our development is focused on a specialist. No one knows your life better than you do. We learn a lot from general AI development, but humans have specialized. If we want our cars repaired, we take them to a mechanic. Few people these days have the knowledge or interest in fixing their own vehicles. So, we go to a specialist.”
“Fascinating,” Bill said, absently entering another question. “What do you need?”
“Well, I need to go to work in the company full time as soon as we get back from this little vacation. We have two applications in the market now and initial sales are good, but we need to keep developing both those applications and new ones. I’ve got ideas I can’t implement on my own and the investment capital is there to get some other smart people working on them. But I don’t think I can just hire other people and walk away. I think I need to quit school.”
“First decide the difference between what you want and what you need,” Bill said.
“Um…”
“I’m just quoting Pythia,” Bill laughed, showing Henry the screen. “But it’s a good bit of advice. Do you need to quit school, or is that what you want to do? Do you see the business as a shortcut to your goals? Are you cutting corners you will later regret? I realize I’m not giving advice that’s any more than what you can get from your little oracle here. But it is a good conversation starter.”
Henry and Bill talked for over an hour, continuing the conversation when Lisa and Jackie rejoined them.
“I’m having fun recording stories,” Jackie said. “I was just telling Lisa she should get her grandparents in on the game. Dad loves this kind of thing. You might want a video recording from the time you meet him. He’s full of stories.”
“We could do that, couldn’t we, Henry? I mean invite him to participate, not record him as soon as you meet,” Lisa said.
“I think it’s a great idea. I wish my grandparents were still around. I’d love to get to know them,” Henry said.
“You lost them?” Bill asked.
“My dad’s parents were kind of old when he was born. He was a surprise and was an orphan by the time he was a teenager. Mom’s parents were killed in an airplane crash before I was born.”
“That’s sad, Henry,” Lisa said, petting his arm. “I didn’t know that.”
“Maybe it’s what interested me the most about developing the singularity app,” Henry said. “My family doesn’t have a lot of lore.”
The evening was pleasant and relaxed. Henry enjoyed getting to know Lisa’s parents better and was looking forward to meeting her grandparents.
He was also pleased that his girlfriend’s parents didn’t object to the two of them sleeping together. They enjoyed some quiet loving after they retired, giggling about being quiet so her parents ‘wouldn’t know.’
Beau and Solange Benoit arrived Saturday afternoon and were sucked into the conversation immediately.
“Record my life story?” Beau asked in a booming voice. “When am I supposed to have time to do that? I’m not retired yet. Sollie probably has time if you can get her out of the Bingo parlor.”
“Don’t pay attention to that,” Solange joined in. “He sits in that big office of his looking over the port and tells stories to anyone who comes through the door.”
“Well, that’s true,” Beau said. “It’s just part of doing business. I suppose I could do some of that. I can just record them?”
“Sure,” Henry answered. “One of the things we’re working on is assembling a video generation component so your image can say things that you didn’t necessarily record exactly.”
“Why doesn’t this Pythia thing show a video?” Beau asked.
“The concept with Pythia is to not control people’s image of it. Someone asking a question should put their own image together in their head with the oracle,” Henry explained.
“It’s too simple,” Beau said. “First of all, it’s beautiful. That’s fine. But it needs something more. There is no way to monetize it the way it is at the moment. And I’m not suggesting the initial version needs this, but there needs to be a way for people to ‘join’ or ‘subscribe’ or something. Something you can charge for. Then, paying members can maintain a record of their conversations. Even download them. Maybe talk them over with other members. Make them able to develop a more personal relationship, like they do in some of those Chat apps. She doesn’t need to have a face, but you should be able to hold her hand.”
“That’s really perceptive, Paw Paw,” Lisa said. “We’ve talked about some of those features before, but I don’t think we’ve talked about putting them in some kind of membership form. Have you, Henry?”
“Not really. I’ve been focused mainly on the AI training aspect so I can put it in the ‘ask dad’ app. We really need to find a new name for that soon,” Henry said.
“You’re a long way from needing a winning name,” Bill said. “In fact, I discovered the best name for a game often comes when it’s ready to be released. Hopefully, you aren’t locked into a name when the right name comes along.”
“So, how do we get involved in the legacy game?” Solange asked.
“Monday, I’ll get a couple of drives you can plug into your computer. I’ll download the AI and storage system, then give them to you,” Henry said. “All you need to do then is plug them in and start saving everything to that drive. The AI will take care of the rest. Don’t expect to see any great wisdom out of it if you decide to test it with a question. It takes time to train the AI and it changes based on how much you’ve input.”
“Why don’t you bring them over to the office on Tuesday,” Beau asked. “I’d like to show you around the docks.”
“Thank you. That would be interesting,” Henry said.
Sunday, of course, Henry and Lisa were pressured into attending church with Jackie and Bill. It was tolerable and afterward they were taken out to lunch. Henry had jambalaya for the first time and liked it. That evening, he and Lisa cuddled in bed talking.
“How did you get out of Louisiana without an accent?” he asked Lisa.
“Oh, I had it bad,” she drawled. “Before I left for college, Dad sent me to speech classes for three months to get rid of it. A day down here, though, and it all starts coming back.”
“I think it’s cute.”
“I think that’s why Dad wanted me to talk like a northerner. He fell in love with Mom’s accent, and didn’t want to risk me to any boy who was just drawn to the drawl,” Lisa laughed, drawing out the syllables.
“So, you’re, like half Cajun?” he asked.
“Yeah. Paw Paw and Mee Maw have roots in Louisiana that go back to the Acadian migration,” Lisa said. “I’m so glad you agreed to have them record their stories.”
“I really wish I could record my grandparents,” Henry sighed.
“Have you thought about searching for info? Asking your mom and dad for any old things they might have? You could scan everything in and probably still get a reasonable picture of them.”
“That’s a great idea. In my spare time, while I’m not developing software and managing development, I think I’ll do that.”
“Henry!”
“I know. It just seems so overwhelming at times.”
“Come to me, lover. I want to feel you moving in me.”
Henry rolled toward Lisa and she pulled him on top of her. It didn’t take long before he was hard and Lisa got a condom on him.
“You know, if it’s just going to be us, we could probably stop using a condom. I mean, I’m on birth control and I don’t think either of us have a disease.”
He slid into her before he responded, pausing to simply enjoy the feeling of their joining.
“Um… We should probably talk about…”
“Oh! I forgot. It’s okay. I’m not going to do anything to interfere with you and Chastity. In fact, I was thinking that when we get back, I’d really like to invite her to join us one night if you’re okay with that.”
“Me okay? I really didn’t think…”
“Henry, the first night we had sex, I found you with her nipple in your mouth. I could understand you being exhausted and just sucking on an available pacifier, but it wasn’t that. I saw the look of complete satisfaction on Chastity’s face. If she hadn’t known I would be home, I’m sure she would have taken you to bed,” Lisa said, thrusting her hips at Henry to get him moving. He slid slowly in and out.
“Chas has told me she would always be available to me, no matter what. I had trouble accepting that after I found out about her profession, but she’s past that and so am I. She’s just a very special person to me.”
“Who isn’t your girlfriend,” Lisa reminded him. “And your girlfriend would like to have some serious playtime with her. I don’t have the same relationship you have, but I really like Chastity and I’m sure she likes me, too. We just need to make it happen.”
“I always use a condom when I’m with Chastity. She’s always insisted.”
“Good. Then we can dispense with it when we’re having sex.”
“Lisa, you know I’m really stuck on you.”
“Stuck in me at the moment,” she giggled, doing wonderful things to his cock.
“Yeah. I’m really glad we came down this week to meet your parents and grandparents. You’ve met mine, but we haven’t spent much time with them as a couple. I’d like to change that.”
“It sounds like you’re getting serious, Henry.”
“We’re only twenty,” he breathed.
“We have plenty of time.”
They lost track of the conversation in the sensations of moving together until they both rocketed into their orgasms and held each other in bed until they finally slept.
Henry and Lisa went to Bill’s office on Monday and Henry was impressed to see that one of the most popular game developers in the country was a small company of only about twenty-five people. Lisa showed him around and they got to test the newest version of the game she’d worked on.
Then they went to an electronics store where Henry could buy three-terabyte drives for Beau and Solange. Monday afternoon, he set up the drives so he could hand them over the next day.
Tuesday, Beau showed up at the house to pick up Henry and drop off Solange for a girl’s day. It was easy to relax with Beau and soon he and Henry were engaged in a lively conversation about the shipping industry.
“Benoit Intracoastal Logistics focuses mostly on moving goods along the pathway from Florida to Texas and back,” Beau said when they’d arrived. They walked along the dock where a ship bearing the name Anais above the legend ‘Benoit Intracoastal Logistics.’ Beau was greeted by men who just kept on working, loading the ship.
“That’s a pretty big… um… ship? Is that the right term?”
“Not really. This is a barge. One of our tugs will get it into the channel later today and get it down to Texas.”
“What do you ship?”
“This load is primarily pipe and fittings for the oil fields. When it comes back, it will be loaded with cotton bales that we’ll transfer to Mississippi River traffic. The Anais mostly moves between Baton Rouge and Brownsville. Not all our cargo is pipe and cotton, though. We deal with anything a manufacturer wants moved. From here in Louisiana, we can ship north on the waterway, south out into the gulf and around Florida, all the way up to New York. Chemicals, cars, rocket parts, and even oil.”
“That’s pretty amazing.”
“Let’s go up to my office. That’s where Sollie thinks I spend all my time. Really, I spend a lot of it right down here where my people are working. Sometimes, I even roll up my sleeves and help load.”
They walked into a warehouse and Beau led Henry up a stairway to an office that overlooked the docks. From here, they could see the traffic and docks for a couple of miles. The office was comfortable, but not as luxurious as Solange’s comments would have led him to expect.
“When my granddaddy started this business, he had one old steamer he salvaged. He loaded all the cargo and piloted the boat. But he built a business out of it,” Beau said. “Now tell me, Henry, what kind of capitalization do you need for your business?”
“Oh… uh… I’m not really looking for an investment at the moment. We’re pretty well capitalized for a startup,” he answered.
“What kind of investment in your business do you have?” Beau asked.
Henry debated what to reveal, but decided he came here for advice and he would have to be straightforward about the situation to get good advice.
“We have about twenty-one million in the bank. We have two software applications released and three under development. We only have sales data for one app and one quarter at the moment, at nearly $5,000. We have nine patents. Our monthly expenses for the past few months have come in at about $9,000, so you can see we are living off capital at the moment. We’ll be moving into an actual office on July first and will have employees starting as early as June first,” he blurted out.
“Business in software development like Bill’s?” Beau asked.
“Yes.”
“You have enough to last two and a half years if you don’t grow over twenty employees,” Beau said. “Don’t try to skimp too much, but that budget doesn’t allow for waste or luxury. I wouldn’t be interested in investing until you are nearer that timeframe unless you start showing over a million a year in revenue.”
“Yes, sir. I really didn’t come here to ask for an investment,” Henry said, baffled.
“No? I must have misunderstood Bill. What is it you want? Connections?”
“Just advice on running a small business so I can make it profitable,” Henry said.
“Advice. Damn, Bill. That’s what he said.”
“I don’t get it,” Henry said.
“It’s an old and dependable premise. If you want money, ask for advice. If you want advice, ask for money. Bill said advice. I heard money,” Beau laughed. “Let’s have a cup of chicory and talk about what the real issues are.”
Please feel free to send comments to the author at devon@devonlayne.com.
