***

The Monday after our meeting, Mr Capstan called to tell my dad what the lawyer had learned, and to make Dad and Danny an offer. Like the Lawyer expected, the idea wasn’t patentable, but it was probably eligible for something called a “design patent”. Design patents were new, and they had a reputation for being easy to get around, but they were something.

The Lawyer was Mr Capstan’s cousin, and his firm wasn’t busy at the moment, and he had a really good patent guy, so they were willing to do the work so long as Capstan owned the patent. My dad would get a free machine each year for every ten of Capstan’s customers that opted for to use the new option, and five free machines right-away for signing the deal. Also, Danny would be listed as sole-inventor on the patent.

“You gonna take the deal?” Asked my mom.

“Danny wants to.” Said my dad. “But Mr Capstan said that if I want to file the patent myself, I would do it with his good graces… And he would even be the first one to license the invention from me.”

“Well that was nice of him. Maybe you and Danny could both get rich. Fortune favors the bold.”

“I don’t know Helen. Does fortune favor people who go swimmin’ with sharks? And it’s not just the legal stuff. There’s the design work too.”

“Can’t Danny do that?”

“Helen, Danny’s not even a real machinist. He uses some of the machines, but he ain’t gonna design no remote bypass controller. I’m gonna follow Danny on this one. It’s his invention anyway.”

“Yeah. That’s probably the smart thing to do.”

“Yeah. Plus five free machines for a year is worth almost a thousand bucks… I’m just gonna make one extra request: That Danny gets a framed copy to hang on his wall.”

***1979***

 “How come uncle Danny comes over to our house, and we hardly ever go to his place?”

“I don’t know Tommie. It’s just kind of tough to see how he lives. I mean he don’t even clean up for guests.” We were driving by the rail yard, which meant we were close. “Maybe I just don’t like goin back to Ogdenville.”

“So why are we going now?”

“Since we went to Ohio it seems like he’s takin’ care of himself a little better. Maybe he’s takin’ care of his place too.” We drove by the place where my uncle worked, which meant we were almost there.

“Does he know we’re bringing the patent application?”

“I wanted to surprise him. He thinks we’re just bringin the produce from your Mom.

My dad carried the cooler up the stairs, and I carried the tube with the patent application in it. My dad brushed at the dried-up grass sticking out of the window-box and then knocked on the door.

Danny had on the Yankee sweater that he always wore. My dad asked him not to wear it when we were visiting customers, because most of them were Red Sox fans. My family were Yankees fans, but the sweater was actually from Yankee Community Technical College. My parents had paid for a night class in technical drawing for uncle Danny, but he never took any other classes like they hoped.

I hadn’t been inside for over a year, but the living room looked the same. Jesus was on one wall, and St Francis on another. Most of the people in the paintings had gold halos around their heads. The wall by the door was full of family photos.

Dad put the cooler on the kitchen table, and uncle Danny started taking out the fruits and vegetables. “Don’t Helen ever get Potatoes?” Danny asked. My mom said it was real hard to gain weight eating vegetables, but one way to do it was with potatoes. My dad said it was probably because potatoes last a long time, so the market holds on to them.

Danny asked my Dad if he could help move something, so we went to his room. When Danny wasn’t looking, my Dad put his finger to his lips and then pointed at the tube I was carrying. I figured he wanted to see how long it would take before he noticed.

“You still sleepin in our old room? Why don’t you take the big room?

“You mean where Mom and Dad slept? Anyways I got other plans for that. I’m gonna make it my design studio, which is why I want you to help move my drafting table.” Along with Danny’s sport coat, the drafting table was the other big thing he had bought with the bonus his work gave him when the patent for his invention came through. The table had a complicated metal arm attached to it, and it was probably the fanciest thing in the house.

“Jesus Danny, you coulda at least took the clothes off it before we got here. You should clean up for guests. Even if it is just us.”

“I did clean up Donny.”

“I mean more than just picking the underwear off the floor.”

“Sorry Donnie. I figured you guys don’t mind.”

When they got to the other room, it turned out that Danny hadn’t cleared any room for the table, so they asked me to help. I put the tube on top of a dresser and started moving boxes. Danny still didn’t notice it.

“You hung your old patent back up?” My dad said.

“Yeah. I’m real glad I didn’t throw it out when it got overturned, like I almost did.” I grabbed the tube off the dresser while they pushed the table against the wall.

“If the new one comes through, they’ll look good together.”

“I sure hope it works. Does Mr Capstan know yet how long it’s gonna take?”

“Just what they said before. Within two years… But like I told you, they’re gonna send us a copy of the application.”

“Do you know when?” I was sitting on a suitcase, with the tube on my knee.

“Beats me. There’s draftsmen and engineers and lawyers involved, and that’s gotta take time. You know the more I hear about it, the more glad I am that we didn’t try to do this ourselves. You made the right call Danny… even if it end’s up makin Arthur rich.”

“You callin him by his first name now?”

“Yeah… I keep wantin to call him Artie and I gotta stop myself.”

The tube I was holding looked real official, but Danny was never going to notice, so my dad pointed out how tall I had gotten.

“He’s taller than his mom now.” My dad said, motioning me to stand up. Uncle Danny looked at me a second. Then he went ape.

***

That Saturday was the first day that uncle Danny agreed to drive the van with just him and me in it. Tax season was soon, so Mom and Dad had to start getting the papers together.