Craig Tigere boarded the flight to Hawaii and looked for his reserved seat. It was a window seat in the back of the plane and the overhead storage for carry on baggage was full. He needed a space to store his laptop computer.

Craig realized he should have bordered among the first. Seats were reserved for passengers, but not the storage area above their heads. He had to walk back up the aisle nearly two dozen rows before he found a place to store his laptop computer. He came back to his seat to find a woman sitting in his window seat. She probably should be in the aisle seat. She was looking out the window.

Craig politely said, “I think you’re sitting in my seat?”

The woman looked to be in her middle forties and was plump. She smiled. “Do you mind? I have to sit by the window or I throw up. Have every time. I’m supposed to have the seat beside me. You can sit there. I’d be so embarrassed if I upchucked all over you.”

Craig smiled as he lowered into the aisle seat. He appreciated the minor cons of others. People used little cons to gain their way and more elaborate cons to gain money. They both buckled up when instructed and the plane took off flying over the ocean from the LAX airport.

Craig Tigere had faxed his week’s business column to the newspaper before he left. His columns on Health had been sent yesterday. The letters in his is suitcase he’d answered from Hawaii. He had procrastinated this flight too many years. He had to find her.

The drone of the engines caused Craig to reminisce. It was a Christmas gift of a computer that changed his life. He was different than his father who had been anemic when young and then matured into a strong tall man. Craig Tigere knew he was lucky to be a good sized boy and star in high school sports. When he passed puberty and saw his sister change into a beautiful young woman and he fell in love with her. They were both fourteen and their parents didn’t have to guess how he felt about Gwendolyn. He saw they both approved his infatuation without saying so. But Wendy though fond of him didn’t return his romantic adoration.

Wendy teased him when their parents weren’t home. She’d maliciously swim naked in their backyard pool and scold. “Craig, you’re my brother. We don’t have to wear swimsuits when our parents aren’t home.”

“Wendy, were not blood related. You’re my stepsister.”

“Last year you didn’t care. Alone we never wore suits.”

“Last year I was a boy. And you suddenly turned beautiful. You’re the most attractive girl in school. I want to marry you when we grow up.”

Wendy laughed. “You’ll meet some one when we go to college. But I’ll always be fond of you, Craig. You are nice.”

Wendy was getting high grades and was sure to obtain a tuition helping scholarship. He had developed a compelling interest in electronics that took time away from other subjects. But, thanks to a tenacious memory he read enough to obtain Cs and Bs on tests. He became a ‘ham’ operator and built receivers and transmitters. The joy of his life was the Christmas gift of a computer. His life changed.
He had impulsively devoted every spar moment to studying computers. He landed a summer job with an electronics store whose owner recognized talent. Craig knew more about the electronics the store sold than he did. They were both ‘hams’. The store sold more computers when he let Craig wait on the customer. When a buyer’s computer ‘crashed’ he fixed it. His boss gave him a raise. The store’s sale of hard and soft ware increased. Craig could install everything the store sold when desired.

In junior college after classes Craig was earning the money some men supported their families on. It amused Craig to repair the personal computers of teachers and professors of local schools. The computers usually ‘crashed’ from something wrong they tried. Few people were aware he often could go back to read what they thought they had deleted. He never revealed their secrets, but he learned the highly educated also had human weaknesses.

Wendy won her scholarship to a university. He decided he better study home courses to stay her intellectual equal. He signed for a health course, and used his computer to find answers for questions. The same held true for the mail business course he chose. The mail course instructor phoned. “I’m Jon McLaskey your business course grader. Where are you getting your information on stocks? Everything you recommend goes up. Everything you advise sell, goes down. Are you buying and selling stocks with real money.”

“Mr. McLaskey, I research with my computer. And, yes. I buy and sell stocks, but I’m not infallible. Unforeseen things occur making me wrong eight percent of the time.”

“I’m the friend of the editor of your local paper. Would you like to write a column for him on business?”

The woman sitting next to him said, “I’m Erma Stocker. I write a Hawaiian gossip column. Know anything juicy?”

Craig Tigere returned to the present and said, “I’m Craig Tigere. I live a sheltered life” He considered, with her a Hawaiian society writer, she might prove a help to solve why he was flying to Hawaii.

She asked, “You live in Hawaii?”

“No. Long Beach.”

“You flying on business or pleasure?”

“Just a whimsical search.” He figured if he aroused her curiosity he could subtly learn if she could be of help.

Erma nodded. “You checking on a former wife? People are always curious who a former mate hooks up with.”

“I’ve never been married.”

“You’re a dark hair, big, handsome man nearing thirty. If you’re not meeting an ex-wife or businessman, you must be meeting a woman. Is it romance?”