Smartystan

Go peered at his screen. He profited forty million dollars in a day. He cracked a smile. His skateboard led him to his destination: his mom’s house. It was a minimansion he had purchased for her when he made his first million dollars. Anna Go looked severe when Go kissed her cheek. She spoke in Japanese and English.

“When are you going to get a real job, like your father and brothers?”

“Mom, you know I create wealth right?”

“Yes, yes, with all your little projects on that idiot device you have in your hand. I know. Why don’t you go back to school and get your bachelors and masters? Maybe you can become a doctor with the skills you have.”

“Ma….”

“I’m serious. You should be focused on earning your advanced degrees. So you have a little placard from that community college. So you have some money. That’s not what this is about. Money will only carry you so far, my son.”

“I hear you talking, Ma.”

“Listen!”

“I’ve got it.”

“I want you to realize that you’re wasting your potential with that ‘Smartyland’ nonsense. Never in my life have I heard of such foolishness. You want to have real merit ruling the land, go into the field of physics. See what that’s like.”

Go didn’t roll his eyes or shake his head. He stood there and took in all his mother’s words. They flowed through the conduit in his mind. With each of the sounds that reverberated in his head, he could see her grow ever more exasperated. It was like watching a flower wilt yet still remain just as bright and springy as ever.

“Ma, I’ve been with the blockchain––”

“Yes, that silly numbers game….”

“It’s provided me with more than I’ve ever wanted. The Delaseer corporation is called a nonprofit, but I profit with my partners spiritually as we founded something that we can call our own.”

Ann shrugged. “Okay, but I want grandkids. Can you manage that? When was your last girlfriend? That floozy from New Jersey? Is that it?”

“Ma, you’re shredding me right now. I have options in that department, but I’m not rushing anything.”

“Alright. Yeah, yeah. I just want you to listen to someone who is older and wiser than you. Your mother knows. I can tell you what street to go down and look up instead of down on that dumb phone.”

“I get it, I get it. You know the doctors and Belinda.”

“Of course, every time you turn on the idiot cube, they're blathering about how this new country-state or whatever is going to revolutionize the rest of the country. Maybe the world. I’m not seeing it.”

“We talk to the rest of the public to inform everyone about the status of the place. Our press runs can be long and arduous, so some encouragement would be appreciated.”

“Tuh. You come in here with all your fairy tale billions that could evaporate like that,” she snapped her fingers. “It doesn’t take much for a fortune to dwindle and be erased. You should be concerned about that crypto mumbo jumbo. I know that you’ve studied and made an enormous fortune off of a numbers game, but that’s just it…it’s a game.”

Go sighed. “I know what you’re saying, but it isn’t true.”

“You stand in my kitchen and you say I’m a liar.”

“I’m not saying that, Ma.”

“It certainly sounds like it. You said what I’m saying, ‘isn't true.’ What other way is there to call someone a liar?”

“I just mean you’ve been misinformed. You have some understanding of the workings of the crypto trade, but not enough to solidify a case for or as you have pointed out, against it.”

Ann scoffed. “You’re my youngest. My baby boy, don’t you understand that I’m proud of you. Don’t you see why it’s important for you to discover real work and to continue to be the powerhouse you were in school. I didn’t care if you went to community college. It was actually a good school. Your Uncle Jim took night courses and graduated from FSCC. When our family arrived in Delaware all those years ago, we had money but not the kind you need to survive in America. I get why you’re a billionaire now. But what about when this house of cards collapses?”

“It will never collapse. I’ve got too much money involved in other projects for my entire world to go under in such dramatic fashion.” They paused for a moment and it was like breath had resumed in the space of time where the tea kettle screamed. Ann hushed its noise. She poured a cup of green tea for Go and herself. When she applied plates to the tops of the cups, she looked up at her son.

“I just want you to be everything I never was,” she said. I know your brothers are physicians or physics professors but I wanted you to do whatever you wanted. I guess it’s my fault. You’ve got enough cash stashed away, but I am dubious in thinking that that is your main draw, this crypto stuff. I can open a magazine and read that my son is one of the world’s richest men. You bought me this house. I have synths that cut the grass and clean the linens and silverware right on time. I thank you for that, Vestin.”

“It’s nothing, Ma really––”

“Promise me this one thing….”

“You know I don’t make promises. Only commitments.”

“Well, commit yourself to this. Always remember to keep God in your life and he will guide your path,” Ann said smiling, her head nodding quickly.

“You know I don’t believe in God,” Go answered.

“I know what you’re saying but you’re not saying what you mean. You mean to say you believe in God with all your heart and strength.”

“I remember when I was five and said there was no God and how you and Pop put me through rigorous faith-based training. I didn’t believe then, I don’t believe now, and I never will.”

Ann gasped and had to sit down at hearing this once again from the lips of her offspring.

“Alright. So, you’re lost and confused.”

“No, I’m found and confident, actually.”

“Don’t talk back to me in this house.”

Go continued to head to the door. He stopped and kissed his mother goodbye and then exited from the house.