My Cousin Janie Ch. 02

I spoke with Rick that later night. I had received a package from his friend that had been watching the wells for us and I wanted to make sure I was up to speed. I also told him briefly about my conversation with Steve.

"Hell, son, we'll see. If he's hard headed and isn't afraid to speak his mind, he'll probably fit in just fine. I've been calling around, the professors all say he's smart as hell and say he's a hard worker."

"Yeah, Rick. We'll see. I'll know more tomorrow."

"All right, son. Don't make an ass of yourself."

"Ha, I tried today. I'll do better Rick. Promise. Bye."

"All right, son. Bye."

I spoke with Janie that night as well. It was a good thing that she was coming back, because Rick was going to kill us for the phone bill. We had probably talked a minimum of two hours a day since she got back to school, but I was willing to take that chance just to hear her voice. I was telling her about my conversation with Steve.

"Baby, he didn't know," she tried to calm me down.

"Yeah, I know, but it still pissed me off."

"All right, all right. You can go in there tomorrow and tell him how goddamn smart you are, ok?" She was laughing.

"Okay. Point taken. Sorry."

"It's all right. Not everyone starts their oilfield career in the third grade. You were lucky."

"Yeah. I guess I was. We better get off here. Your dad is going to kill us."

"No he won't. But I guess we should. I love you and I miss you more now than ever."

"Yes. I know sweetie. I love you too. A little over two weeks baby."

"Yes. Not as long thankfully. Bye."

"Bye."

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The next day, I was sitting in the lobby of Frank's. I had a table reserved, but I thought I'd wait in the lobby for Steve. At 11:30 sharp, a guy with short cropped hair and a blue suit walked in. He took his sunglasses off and looked around the lobby. He casually walked up to the hostess and said, "I'm meeting Brad Smith."

The hostess pointed to me in the corner. He got a big smile on his face and walked towards me.

"Brad, I'm Steve Grimes."

"Nice to meet you Steve. I have a table right over here." He looked pretty clean cut. He was almost my height, but I probably had 40 pounds on him. He was built like a runner. It was time to see what he knew about the oil business.

We took our seats and began talking. I asked him where he was from, why he got into geology and what he wanted to do in his career. He had good answers to nearly everything. I think he was a bit taken back by my manner. I think he finally realized I wasn't just an average 18-year-old punk kid. I began to feel a little better about him. I explained the history of our company and that we were looking for a young geologist to step in to help us. He got a strange look on his face. I looked at him closely.

"Brad, I just now put it all together. I heard some of the professors talking about it. You lost your parents last week, didn't you?"

"Yeah, that's right." I nodded.

"Oh, geez man, I'm so sorry."

"Thanks, Steve. I appreciate that."

"Damn, I feel really bad, especially after the way I acted yesterday."

"Hey, man, you didn't know."

"Yeah, but I feel like this huge asshole now."

"Hey. Really it's ok. Besides, I would have felt the same way in your position."

"Really?"

"Yeah, really. Let's forget about yesterday," I offered.

"Okay." He nodded.

We talked for a little while longer and then our lunch arrived. We both selected Frank's special filet.

"You know, I've been in school here for 4 years and I've never eaten here."

"No shit? I've been coming here forever. My Dad and Rick went to high school with Frank."

"No kidding? Well about the job, I mean if you guys pick me, when could I start?"

"I need to talk to Rick, but honestly, I think you could start immediately. I've got more than I can handle with school and everything."

"I'm certainly interested. Would the position be in the city?"

"Eventually it would be, but I've been thinking about renting some space here in town to set up shop. The area we're working is just outside town. I have all of my stuff in my dorm room right now."

"That's cool. I wouldn't mind living here for a while longer." Just then two beautiful co-eds walked by our table. "The scenery is always appealing." He laughed.

"That's true." I agreed. "You can't beat the scenery!"

We talked a little bit more about the company and then he wanted to know about what I did daily. I explained my situation of trying to eat, sleep, study and work out of my dorm room.

"I can imagine it gets cramped." He allowed. "They couldn't have gotten bigger the last couple years."

"No they haven't. It's going to take me three days to move out at the end of the semester."

"So, you're going to move off campus too?"

"Yeah, my cousin is starting school here in the spring. I'm going to find us a house to rent."

"Is this Rick's son?"

"No, his daughter. Janie. You'll meet her soon enough if you come to work with us."

He smiled at me. "Well, man, I'm definitely interested in the position. I've interviewed with several of the major oil companies, but I just don't see that I'm a fit for them."

"I'm sure it would be different than our company."

"I could see myself fitting in with you all pretty well, be a great chance to learn the business."

"I can promise you a chance to learn the business. I think you could fit it in with us too. You're not afraid to say what you think," I laughed.

He laughed as well. "No, I guess I'm not. Sorry again about that."

"Hey man, it's ok. I couldn't resist giving you one more jab." I reached my hand across the table and he shook it.

"When do you think you'll have a decision?"

"Pretty soon. If you can, I'd like to go to the city this week so you can talk with Rick."

"Sure. Friday or Saturday would work for me."

"Ok. I'll talk to Rick tonight. I'll give you a call and let you know what will be best for him."

"That's fine with me."

I paid our check and we walked to the door. He reached out his hand.

"It was very nice to meet with you, Mr. Smith."

"Ha, it was nice to meet with you as well, Mr. Grimes. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Ok, that will be great." I walked him to the door. I had one other thing to take care of.

I walked back to the bar where Frank was sitting. Frank had been a Marine and had served in the same company as my Uncle Roy. They had fought together during the Battle of Hue during the Tet Offensive, where Roy had been killed. Frank was lucky enough to make it back home. He married his high school sweetheart Lucy. They opened a restaurant in this little college town. My Dad and Uncle Rick were in school at the time after they had rotated home and pitched in to help get the place going. It had become a bit of institution that was always closely associated with the university.

"Brad! How are you, my boy?" He stood up to give me a hug. He was taking a break after the lunch rush.

"I'm doing ok, Frank. I wanted to thank you and Lucy for the flowers and the food."

"Brad, don't mention it. Your dad was like a brother to me. Rick too."

"Yes sir, I know."

"Who was Mr. Clean that you were with?"

I laughed. "A guy we're thinking about hiring."

"Oh, I see." He nodded at me.

"Yeah. It's weird. We've just got too much going on right now for Rick and I. We probably had too much before too."

"Yeah," Frank nodded. "That's the way that business is. That's why I stayed out of it."

"Ha, yeah. I didn't have much of a choice."

"Nope, you didn't. Hey, you want a drink?"

"I'm a Smith aren't I?" I smiled.

"You sure as hell are. Roni, would you be a dear and pour us a glass?" He nodded to the beautiful brunette behind the bar. She smiled and grabbed a pair of glasses. She poured us each a small portion of scotch.

Frank raised his glass, "To your parents. Thankfully, we had them as long as we did."

"Yeah." Our glasses clinked together. I sat there at the bar with Frank talking for a while. He was telling stories about my dad and Rick, as well as my uncles, Tim and Roy.

"It's too bad you never got to know them. The four of them were something else when they were together. They were all so full of piss and vinegar," he laughed.

"I can imagine so. I don't know how grandma survived raising them."

"Me either. I don't know how she put up with your granddad as long as she did. He was a handful."

"Yeah. He sure was."

"He was a good man too, Brad. Damn he was a good man. I wish he could have been around longer so you could have known him better. I never met anyone like him. I'll tell you a story about him. I never even told your Dad or Rick this. When I got back from 'Nam, I didn't know what the hell I was going to do with myself. Only thing I knew, was that I going to marry Lucy and always take care of her. I had this crazy dream of starting this place, but nobody wanted to give a loan to a couple of kids like Lucy and I to start a restaurant. Anyway, I was at your grandparents one night for dinner after I rotated home. Your granddad asked me what I was going to do with myself and offered me a job. I told him thanks, but that I had an idea that I wanted to give a shot first. He asked me what it was and I told him. Then, I told him we were having trouble getting the money together. Your granddad just smiled and walked me back to his study. He wrote me a check for $20,000 that night, on the spot. I was absolutely speechless. He just told me 'You're a brother Marine, pay me back when you can'. We shook hands and that was it. He didn't even write it down."

I smiled and shook my head. "That's something."

"Yeah, it was. I knew I was going to work hard starting this place, but after that I damn near worked myself to death to make sure it worked so I could pay him back. Your Dad and Rick were in here damn near every day working with me. They never would let me pay them." He shook his head. "You know, I still can't believe your Dad and Mama are gone. I guess I thought when we made it home from 'Nam, we'd all live forever. They had a good life though. You don't how proud your daddy was of you."

I nodded and felt myself beginning to tear up. Frank sensed what I was feeling.

"Aww, hell. Enough of that talk, how's little Janie doing back east? I didn't get to talk to her at the funeral," he asked.

"She's doing well, but she'll be here next semester." I smiled.

He grinned. "Damn, I'm glad to hear that. I bet her mama and daddy are happy."

"Yeah. They are."

"It'll be good. You bring her in here when she gets back. It's all on the house."

"You don't have to do that, Frank."

"Naw, I don't. But I'm damn sure going to."

We talked for a little while longer before I shook his hand and told him goodbye. I headed back to the dorms to study. I called Rick about 5 that afternoon to let him know how things had gone.

"Hell, son, if you have a good feeling about him, put his ass to work. We can finalize everything this weekend."

"You're sure?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure. It's your call. You're going to be working with him more than I am."

"Okay. I'll call him tomorrow. I've got some more studying to do before I call Jim for the evening report."

"Sounds good. Talk to you in the morning."

"Sure, Rick. Bye."

So the next day, I called Steve and told him we had decided. He seemed pretty excited. I told him if he was free he could start immediately. He was at my dorm room in about 30 minutes.

When he walked in, he slowly looked around the room. I had well logs and maps hanging everywhere I had free space. He shook his head.

"I can see why you need some extra space."

"Yeah." I laughed.

We chatted for a couple minutes before I went to work showing him the various well logs and samples we had obtained from the previous wells. I could sense that he was a little flustered by everything so I slowed down and went back over some of the high points again. I had a moment of self-satisfaction after the freshman comment earlier in the week.

"Sorry, this is just a lot all at once," he allowed.

"Hey, don't worry about it."

"I feel stupid. It's like I didn't learn anything the last four years!"

"Steve, seriously. You're going to be fine. I didn't pick this up overnight."

He looked at me and grinned. "I guess you started looking at well logs when you were in diapers."

I laughed, "Not quite, but close. Now, look at this curve on the well log."

"Okay."

"What's this tell you?"

"There's water there."

"What type of water?"

"Salt water."

"Exactly. Now how about rock type?"

"It's a sandstone."

"Perfect." I allowed.

We worked for another couple hours before I had to go to class. I told him I would be back in an hour or so and we could call the mud logger together for the evening report.

"This is actually pretty exciting."

"Yeah. Wait until they tell you that they found something."

"I can imagine. I'll go get a bite to eat, and I'll meet you back here," he said.

"Okay. That sounds good."

"Thanks for helping me," he stuck his hand out.

"It's no problem. You'll have it all down soon."

"Goddamn, I hope so." He said walking out the door.

Later that night we were sitting in my room. He had brought a six pack of beer back with him. The evening call with the mud logger was promising. They were drilling pay zone and everything looked to be good. The cuttings showed lots of oil and very little water. I thought we'd make another good well. I told Steve I was excited as I got, with my clothes on.

"It looks that good, huh?"

"Well, they've cut twice as much pay zone as the first two wells. The first two came in at over 3000 barrels a day and it looked like it was more water-wet than oil-wet. I think we may have a money maker on our hands and we haven't even got to drilling the part of the play where my dad thought would be the best."

"Wow. Seriously??? This is crazy to think about. That's a lot of dollar signs!"

"Yeah it is. And you're part of it now. My Dad, Rick and my granddad worked on this idea for a long time. They always thought that no one had drilled deep enough. You look at the cross-section and it shows a smooth surface at depth. They always said that it couldn't be smooth because there was this buried river channel and that's where the oil was. Lucky for us, everyone thought it was a waste and moved on!!"

"This is just crazy. You guys are going to get rich!!"

"Well yeah, that's the idea, but you're in it now. The next wells you'll have a share of. It's kind of crazy!!"

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, of course. At the end of the year we all get a percentage of what we made that year. Some years are better, some are worse. I got my first cut when I was 16."

"Wow, I can't believe I just walked into this and my big mouth could have cost me."

"I told you to forget about that." I gave him a playful slug in the shoulder.

"All right, all right. I will. You know I feel kind of dumb asking this now, but you have any idea what the salary will be for the job?"

"Ha, yeah, you might have asked that before you came to work for us! Honestly, I have no idea. I've never had an actual paycheck, just my percentage checks. I'm sure Rick will take care of you."

"Yeah, I'm sure he will."

We were just chatting a bit and getting to know one another better.

"So, are you dating anyone," he asked.

"Nope. Single here."

"Just playing the field, huh? Smart man. You've got plenty of college ahead of you." He grinned.

"Thanks, man," I laughed. "To be honest, I've been too busy this semester. I haven't been out much to meet anyone." I noticed he was looking at the picture frame beside my bed.

"Who's this little hottie, then?" He was pointing at it.

"That's my cousin, Janie."

"Oh, geez man. I'm sorry. I promise I don't stick my foot in my mouth constantly."

"It's ok, man. I understand. Shit happens." I shook my head at him and smiled.

"Well, she's really beautiful. You and her are really close, huh?"

"Yes. She's the little sister I never had."

"Oh, that's cool. So, she didn't like her school back east?"

"No, not really. She moved out there for a guy too. It didn't work out."

"That's too bad. I can imagine it was hard to be that far away from her family as well."

"Yeah." I knew how hard it had been for me.

"You okay," he asked. I realized I was staring at the floor while I thought about her. I looked back up.

"Yeah, why?"

"You just kind of zoned out there."

"Sorry, man. I'm just tired. How about you? Are you seeing anyone?"

"Nah. I'm single. I broke up with a girl I had been with for a couple years this summer."

"Damn. Sorry to hear that."

"It was for the best. She's going to law school in California. It wouldn't have worked out. I'm enjoying being single again though," he laughed.

"I understand that." I said with a grin.

We chatted a little bit more and then gradually conversation got back to work. I was telling him about all the work that had went into this.

He smiled and shook his head. "You don't act like any 18 or 19 year old I've ever met."

I smiled back, "Why is that?"

"You just have all of your shit together. Most guys your age are drunk off their asses and chasing tail. You're already doing something with yourself."

"Ha, thanks."

"I meant it as a compliment." He laughed.

"I know you did. You did have me pretty pissed the other day with your crack about being a freshman."

"I know. That was really a dick thing to say."

"It's okay. Like I said, no hard feelings."

"Good. So what else do we need to do tonight?"

"That's pretty much it for tonight. Jim will call if they run into any problems."

"All right. I think I may go home then." He drained his beer and put it in the trash can, before standing from his chair.

"Sure. You want to come over in the morning when I call Jim?"

"Yeah. What time?"

"5"

"5? You don't sleep much do you?" He grinned.

"No, not too much."

"I guess I better get used to it. I'll be here."

"Okay. We'll get you a phone this weekend too. We can alternate calling him when you feel you're ready."

"Sounds good." He walked over to where I was standing and we slapped hands. "Thanks again, man."

"Hey no problem. I hope I'm a good teacher."

"You are. See you in a few hours." He walked to the door.

"Night, man."

We worked together practically non-stop the next few days. Despite his initial apprehension, he soon had a grasp of most everything. He was getting comfortable with the lingo and was quickly joking with Jim on our daily report calls. I began to feel really good about his future with us.

We had planned to go to the city and meet with Rick on Saturday. We had hit total depth on the third well late Friday afternoon. As we already knew, the sandstone formation we were targeting had been significantly thicker than in the first two wells. I began to think that my Dad and grandpa's hunch was right. We were all pretty excited about our prospects.

Steve and I drove down Saturday morning. We had a good long talk about ourselves. He liked to ask questions, but it was good to get to know one another better. As I suspected, he had actually came to State on a track scholarship. He had developed severe tendinitis in his knee and had to give up running after his 2nd year. He said that it had been hard to quit, but it had allowed him to focus more on school as well as having fun. He said he had wanted to get back in the weight room and we agreed to start training with one another.

Rick and Roxanne were already in the office when we got there. After introductions, we all sat down in the conference room. Without thinking, I sat where Roxanne and I had our little moment that night in August. Roxanne sat down across the table from me and gave me a wink and one of her little smiles. I smiled back and we looked at one another for a bit. I glanced out of the corner of my eye and could see Steve looking at me with interest. Roxanne picked up on this and gave me another little wink, before we returned to normal. I turned to Steve who was looking at me with a very curious expression.