by Stan Mason
‘But how did you meet the mortgage repayments?’ he asked in bewilderment. ‘You had to make them every month. How did you do it?’
‘I found a tenant and took a month’s rent in advance. Together with some money I had in my account it was enough to buy some second-hand furniture to fit it out... just the bare minimum of a couple of beds, a dressing-table, a kitchen table and four chairs, a settee, and a cooker, and I let it out to a tenant whose rent covered the mortgage, plus a tiny bit extra.’
‘I can hardly believe it,’ he muttered. ‘And you never said a word to me in all this time. Not a word!’
‘Well, at first I wasn’t sure how it was going to work out. I could have fallen flat on my face if I had a very bad tenant who wouldn’t pay the rent, or a series of tenants who came and left regularly. In any case, you would have gone mad if you knew about it. You would have worried yourself sick about the payments and been very annoyed that I told the bank I was single.’
‘You’re darned right I would!’ he told her. ‘I would have been very unhappy.’
‘Anyway, in the second year you were not quite so lusty, which didn’t help the financial accounting at all. The amount you gave me was only four hundred and sixty pounds. Then number twenty-two came up for sale. The husband and wife separated and were suing each other for divorce so I managed to get it quite cheaply. I gave the bank the deposit and told them I was planning to move into number twenty-two, intending to sell number seventeen as soon as possible. It wasn’t true of course because I intended to keep both properties. They let me have a second mortgage rather than a bridging loan because I told them my father would continue paying the mortgage on number seventeen and they swallowed it. In fact I simply continued paying it from the rent the tenant gave me.’
Although he should have been delighted at the news of the development, Charlie felt decidedly unhappy at having been deceived by his wife for almost the whole of their married life. ‘Obviously it didn’t stop there,’ he challenged with mixed emotions. ‘What happened next?’
‘I took a month’s rent in advance from another tenant, added some of my own money, and fitted it out with second-hand furniture. It continued to be let so the mortgages of both properties were being paid for by the tenants... with just a little bit left over.’
‘It all sounds so simple,’ cut in Charlie, shaking his head slowly before sipping at his drink. ‘Go on!’
‘Well I suppose it was simple really. Not like any other businesses. I mean, I needed no stock, no overdraft, no leasing, nothing like that. There were just the tenants, the mortgages with the bank, and a few odd repairs occasionally.’
‘Who did those?’ asked her husband.
‘Well,’ replied Madge, ‘in some cases the tenants did their own repairs. I simply paid for the materials when they presented the invoices. With others, I employed Bellamy Builders in town. But repairs were few and far between I’m glad to say.’
‘Didn’t I see a new roof going up on one of them a few years back?’
‘That’s right, but I was able to claim most of the money back on the insurance.’
‘So you insured the properties as well?’
‘Of course. If one of them caught fire and burned down I would be in serious trouble if I didn’t have insurance. Anyway, in the third year after we got married, you gave me just under four hundred pounds. With the little bit left over each week from the rents I bought numbers five and twelve which came onto the market. I furnished them out and let them to more tenants. It was a bit of a struggle then because I became pregnant. After six months I had to give up my job. It meant that my wages stopped and the income from you on our bargain fell to a very low level because of the pregnancy. It got even worse the following year when we had our second baby but I still managed to put a deposit down on number two, which went up for sale, and let it out. By now there were five mortgages, plus the one on this house. It got so that I had trouble sleeping some nights in case tenants left and I couldn’t pay the mortgages. But I was very lucky. They all seemed to want to stay. By then, the bank began to twig what I was doing, but with the collateral of the property, and a substantial sum coming in each month, it was in their best interest to look the other way.’
He sipped at his drink again and looked at her admiringly. ‘And I didn’t know a thing about it. I don’t know how you could keep it a secret all to yourself for all that time. Anyhow, go on with the story. It’s fascinating!’
‘Well the economy of the country reached a period where the banks and building societies were awash with money. They did all they could to make people borrow more and advertised for more customers... especially with regard to mortgages. As a result of the easing of the economy, the house market began to move faster. Numbers eight, eleven, twenty-four and twenty-five came up for sale. I went to the bank and explained what I had been doing. At any other time they would have turned me down flat, but I had a pretty good record of mortgage repayments over the previous few years. The upshot is that they were more than delighted to let me have four more mortgages on the understanding I would find good-quality tenants who would pay rents to cover the repayments. The houses themselves were used as collateral for the mortgages. Suddenly, I was the proprietor of a big business. Money poured in each week from the tenants. I didn’t have far to go to collect it. Just across the road. The only problem was that nearly all of it had to be paid to the bank. There was very little left over. So I was forced to do the only thing I could think of to advance our situation... I mean you and me. We needed more money to allow us to establish a decent life-style. You know, a new car every five years, new kitchen appliances, foreign holidays, and so on.’
He stared hard at her face. ‘I understand that, but what did you do to make sure we could do all those things?’
‘I raised the rents by ten per cent. Within a few months we were in the money. The only sad part of the story is that your contribution, relating to our bargain, went down to a mere hundred pounds by the end of the fifth year. I had a feeling you were falling out of love with me.’
‘No, that’s not true!’ he apologised. ‘I’m sorry about that. I really am. Unfortunately, it’s a fact of life. After a number of years of marriage...’
‘It’s all right,’ she interrupted, raising her hand to stop him. ‘You don’t have to explain. In time, I carried on buying properties. You see, by then, I had quite a reputation. Anyone who wanted to sell came across the road directly to me. In that way they didn’t have to pay estate agents fees, wait around for buyers, or be troubled by time-wasters who simply wanted to nosey around their house to find out what they had inside. It was beneficial all round. In fact, by selling directly to me, vendors could make proper plans for the future, instead of hoping and waiting that the property chain in which they were involved didn’t collapse because someone changed their mind or couldn’t get a mortgage. In the end, I bought the whole twenty-five houses which are all let out to tenants.’
‘Wow!’ commented her husband in awe. ‘I have to admit that’s a real achievement! I’m annoyed that you never told me anything about it but I’m very proud of you.’
‘Now we’ve been married thirty years, I get only about thirty pounds from you each year from our bargain.’
He shrugged his shoulders aimlessly. ‘You’re right. I should pay you more attention.’ Then greed started to possess his mind and he turned to her with greater interest. ‘What’s the financial position at the present time?’
She returned his gaze sagely and smiled before taking another sip of her drink. ‘After twenty years, the first mortgage was paid off but all the rents continued. Naturally, there were changes in the tenants. Some came and left as expected. But there was always a plentiful supply of people wishing to rent property. Then, as the years passed by, most of the mortgages were paid up... none of them any longer than twenty years. There’s only four left, and
they’re down to a pretty low level.’
‘Twenty-five properties,’ he muttered. ‘My goodness! The rents must come to a fortune.’
‘Pretty much so,’ she admitted. ‘A small fortune. That’s why I told you not to worry. I’m thinking of selling all the houses within the next year or so. There’s a property developer who wants to build a large block of flats on the site. We’re negotiating at present. All twenty-five houses. I reckon we’ll get over two and a half million for them. Not bad for a side-line which started from two pounds every time we made love.’
‘You’re a genius,’ he told her. ‘A real genius! I didn’t know what I was taking on when I married you, did I? You must have had a very poor view of me... .being a milkman.’
‘Don’t be silly!’ she riposted. ‘You’re my husband, my lover, my partner... everything I want in a man. Now you can be employed dealing with the properties until we sell them. I must admit it’ll be a relief having you to help me.’
‘But I don’t know anything about property or letting to tenants.’
‘Not at the moment, but you’ll soon learn.’
‘With you beside me, I’ve no doubt. You know, your achievement is far and above that made by any other woman. Does it make you feel good?’
‘I suppose it does,’ she replied softly. ‘There’s only one thing which dismays me.’
‘What’s that?’
‘It goes back to our bargain,’ she related sadly. ‘Two pounds every time we made love. We used to make love from Monday to Saturday.’
‘That’s right. From Monday to Saturday. Every Sunday was a rest day.’
‘I know it was. That was the real problem.’
He stared at her with a quizzical expression on his face. ‘The real problem,’ he repeated. ‘What do you mean by that?’
She took his arm and led him to the window so that his face almost touched the glass. Then she pointed to the far end of the properties with her index finger to focus his attention. ‘Just look there!’
His eyes narrowed as he peered in the direction of her finger. ‘What am I supposed to be looking at?’
She glared at him for a moment. ‘What galls me is that if you hadn’t been such a lazy sod on Sundays, we would have owned that pub on the corner as well!’
He stared at the public house sadly and thought about it for a moment. ‘Not only that,’ he told her with hindsight, ‘but, if I had had the strength, I would have enjoyed it at the same time!’
Mind-Meld
In a glorious little place known as Gumbet on the West coast of Turkey, bordering on the edge of the Aegean Sea, numerous trees grow on a wide stretch of beach which extends for almost three thousand metres. This tiny tourist location is one of the truly wonderful gems of Turkey where visitors throng each summer. Gumbet is coupled with the nearby town of Bodrum which is only a few kilometres away. In fact in modern times they have become so popular the authorities have built an international airport close by to serve them both. Most visitors attracted to these interesting and beautiful places tend to drift during the day to the Gumbet beach to enjoy relaxing on the wonderful long shore-line. They appreciate the added advantage of shelter under the trees which litter the beach at random intervals, allowing them to avoid being burned by the blistering hot summer sun as they lay on their sun-beds. Quite surprisingly, numerous different kinds of trees grow on the beach. There are few places on earth where such random growth occurs but hardly anyone ever takes any notice of one particular tree located at the far northern end of the strand which has an unusual shape at its base. It was fenced off many years ago as the result of a famous legend in the locality and as such has become a protected monument, although those who visit the area know nothing at all about it. It has never been listed in any tourist brochure, nor is there a plaque on the railings which protect it to offer information to those with curious minds. The locals who know the legend will say nothing about the it for fear they will be ridiculed, humiliated, or criticised as addled-brained for believing it. Consequently, it is mentioned rarely among the Turkish people themselves and never told to any visitors from a foreign shore. In broad terms, the legend goes that a certain Turkish doctor of science in Ankara... well, perhaps it is better to relate the tale from the beginning as it actually happened.
Dr. Baris Toptaz, a professor with a high reputation at the University of Ankara, in the capital of Turkey, was a short slight man, with receding hair, a moustache and a goatee beard. After the Second World War he became known as the country’s greatest lateral thinker in a specialist element of science relating to the brain. His mind was so developed it could move beyond the boundaries inhibiting normal human-beings which was the reason for his high reputation in scientific and other circles. For thirty-five years after graduating from University he dedicated and devoted himself to a whole host of matters affecting the mind... .the consciousness residing in human-beings manifested especially in thought, perception, feeling, will, memory and imagination. He had been nominated three times for world prizes offered by benefactors and philanthropists such as the Nobel Prize, but they had always eluded him by a whisker mainly because some people were scared by his experiments with human-beings in relation to the mind. Some individuals considered him to be outstanding in his field... a person who contributed greatly to mankind; others were jealous of his success in achieving a high-level reputation... .but that was before he propounded his theory of mind-meld. At that moment, for good or for evil, he held the attention of every scientist in the world, notwithstanding some of them still disbelieve the outcome. It was a long-known fact that the doctors, psychologists and scientists regarded the human brain as desperately under-used in terms of learning, memory and recall. In most cases there were limiting factors caused by matters relating to emotional stability, mental capacity, family problems, environmental factors, difficulties concerning education and teaching and, last but not least, failure to concentrate because of a variety of other trivial diversions. If one ignored those parts involving the central nervous system energising emotion and thought, the area of the brain reserved for information and memory was judged to be utilised by about a third of its capacity. As a result, many cells in the human brain remained relatively unused, like a warehouse only half-filled with goods. On this basis, Dr. Toptaz perceived there was enough capacity for the memories of two human-beings to be housed in one under-utilised brain... .if only he could find a means of doing it. If he could determine a method by which information could be transferred from the brain of one human-being to fill the empty cells of another, and still allow the source brain to retain information and memory, there would be the opportunity to enable a subject to speak many languages fluently, to learn numerous subjects from archaeology to zoology, and to become adept in many other skills. It would establish broad-based knowledge in most people involved in a mind-meld far in excess of that currently absorbed in the normal way and avail individuals of many other advantages from a condensed development of that nature. If it could be carried out successfully the accumulated knowledge of mankind would know no bounds. Developments in practically every field would be accelerated at an enormous rate for the benefit of everyone in the world. Scientific advancement would be unstoppable. There was only one obstacle preventing it from taking place... the means of being able to establish a mind-meld... a way to develop the transferance. Experiments between two human-beings were clearly taboo because of the risks involved. It was impossible to know what would happen in a mind-meld between two people at the earliest stages of experimentation. Such practices might cause insanity or death, and it was pointless attempting to experiment with animals because of the inexactitude of the results. No animal could express the true nature of any progress.
Dr. Toptaz had great difficulty coming to task with the problem. At first, he considered taking a chance and using animals to mind-meld with each other, realising that monitoring success or fail
ure would take much longer than usual by this method. However, from experience, he recognised that many animal rights campaigners would protest very strongly against the use of animals in such experiments. As a secondary idea, he considered using people who were terminally ill, those with mental deficiencies, and perhaps volunteers willing to take part in the experiment. He hardly dared to envisage what human rights people would say if he used human-beings. It aggravated him greatly that people inhibited his progress so fiercely when in the long run his efforts were designed to assist humanity. Sometimes he wondered if it was worth all the trouble. He toyed around with numerous ideas for a while, almost giving up at one time. It was after a sleepless night that he met his colleague, Hyati Kemal, another research doctor, in the corridor of the University.
‘You look as though you could do with a good sleep in the lab. instead of another full day’s work,’ commented Kemal, staring with concern at the other doctor’s face.
‘You’re right,’ admitted Toptaz tiredly, before emitting a loud yawn. ‘For two pins I’d crawl into a cupboard and spend the day sleeping there.’
‘There’s obviously something worrying you. What’s it all about?’
‘You’ve never shown much interest in my work before,’ declared Toptaz. ‘Why now?’
‘I’m at a loose end at the moment,’ admitted Kemal. ‘The University took on so many research assistants this year I’m glad to say I’m almost redundant at present. I can see that your position is somewhat different.’
