Inspired by the song by Bob Russell. Got bored while dealing with Covid. Still don't have an editor. Just me and my ipad. Didn't do any research. If you're looking for documentary calibre research, you will be disappointed. Hope you enjoy.
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Lee Cooper was driving home to Pleasant Valley after almost two weeks away from home. He had been in Candletop working on an elevator installation in a new hospital being constructed. At 32 years old he was instrumental to a thriving business and was making very good money. One of the reasons for his success was the worst thing that could have possibly happened to him, and he would gladly turn back the clock and be a poor country boy...with the ability to hug his mom and dad.
Lee had always been a partier. He was smart and got good grades through high school, and even worked some part time jobs, but he never really took things seriously. He knew that his mom and dad would always be there for him, and his baby sister, to fall back on.
Lee had gone to Georgia Tech and earned a masters degree in engineering. Upon graduating, his plan was to get a job near his home and kind of hang out for a while and ultimately move to a place near a beach.
One month after graduation, his mom and dad were killed by a drunk driver in a tractor-trailer. The truck was hauling goods for a certain department store chain that wanted to avoid bad publicity. There was a high seven figure payout to their estate.
Lee was 24, and was left with several million dollars, and a little sister who had been an 'oops' baby and was 14 years old.
Lee paid off his student loans and paid off the mortgage on their house, and for the next six months the two hung out and felt sorry for themselves. Because of the money they received, he didn't have to settle for the first job that came along, so he didn't do anything. Then, six months later, Lee snapped out of his funk. He was able to pull Sammi, his baby sister, back from the brink of letting her life turn to shit, and got her to take school seriously again. From that point forward, he didn't let Sammi dwell on the past. They decided they would never forget their parents, but would honor them by always doing their best, and looking out for each other.
Lee no longer had the ability to fall back on his mom and dad. He was forced to man up and take care of his sister and himself. He had always been looked out for by his parents and life had been easy. He had basically been thrust into the role of 'single dad'. The loss of his parents had forced Lee to become the responsible adult he didn't want to be.
Sammi knew about the money they had received, but didn't complain when Lee made her work for the things she wanted. She worked minimum wage jobs, just like Lee had done when he was her age. She could spend her money on whatever she wanted, as long as it wasn't things like alcohol or pot. Part of the agreement was that they would never take anything for granted, and keep the money they had as secret as possible. They would use what they needed, but never flaunt what they had.
When Lee and Sammi had made the agreement between them on how they would honor their parents, it was like a switch went off in her. She stopped doing anything that would be detrimental to her health, reputation, or education. She tried her best at everything she attempted. She studied hard and maintained an 'A' average in school. The teachers were happy to let her make up the work she missed out on when she was in her depression. She joined the Jr ROTC. She maintained an insane level of physical fitness, so Lee had a home gym installed in their house. He had a full size soccer net set up in the back yard as well as a wall to kick the ball against. He had a gun range set up that was 200 yards deep with targets at various distances.
One thing same Sammi didn't do was date. Lee never questioned her about it, he figured she was keeping herself busy with other stuff and and was just trying to keep focused. Either that, or she was gay and was keeping that to herself.
Meanwhile, Lee took a job with a company that designed and installed elevators. He took the job because he was able to stay local and took to the work easily. The owner of the small company, a man in his sixties, liked Lee and saw in him someone that the childless man could possibly pass his business on to. Lee liked the work and split his time between the work, and his baby sister.
When Sammi graduated high school, she surprised Lee by telling him she was joining the Marine Corps. Since money wasn't a problem for her, she decided to spend the next four years, at least, seeing the world and doing something she liked. She wanted to become a sniper for the USMC. She didn't tell Lee about that part though.
Lee was 28 then, and ready to get back into the dating pool. He had gone on occasional dates, but never took anything seriously as long as he had Sammi to look after. Also at this time, he started going on jobs that required him to travel more. The owner, Harry Dunn, wanted Lee to learn all aspects of the the business and that required Lee to travel, sometimes for weeks at a time.
4 months after Sammi left, Lee met Jolene Baker on one of his business trips. Jolene seemed to be everything Lee wanted in a woman, and it didn't take long for him to fall deeply in love with her. One year later, Sammi came home on leave to attend the wedding of Lee Cooper and Jolene Baker.
To say that Sammi didn't like Jolene would be an understatement. Sammi saw her as a gold digger and a cheater. Sammi was right.
"Lee, you haven't told her about your money, have you?"
"No, Sam. She doesn't know yet," he sighed.
"Lee, please. Have her sign a pre-nup. If she really loves you, she'll do it. You make plenty of money with the elevator company, don''t even tell her about the trust. Give it a five year plan. If I'm wrong, no harm done. If I'm right..."
"Sammi, Jolene isn't like that. Please try to get along with her. You are my two favorite people, I need you two to get along."
Sammi let out a big sigh. "I'll try, Lee, I'll try. Five year plan, though, If she hurts you, all bets are off."
"She's not gonna hurt me! Stop it already."
"Five year plan."
"OK, I'll think about it."
"Trust me, it's the best thing to do.. OK, I'm leaving tomorrow, hope to be back for Christmas."
"Great. Sammi, umm...what exactly do you do?"
"I could tell you," laughed Sammi, "but I'd have to kill you."
"Very funny. Whatever you're doing that you can't tell me about, please be careful." Lee had never been the confrontational type, he'd always been the easy-going guy that tried to let things slide. He wasn't afraid of confrontation, and had had his share of schoolyard scrapes, but had mellowed over time. He didn't know she was a sniper, but figured she didn't work behind a desk. Had he known, he would have constantly worried. Sammi knew that, so she didn't tell him.
Sammi enjoyed the military. She had recently finished the Marine Corps Scout Sniper school, and was looking forward to her first deployment. They had recognized her skill with rifles and had bent a few rules to admit her earlier than normal. She had posted perfect scores throughout the training, and was anxious to put her training and skills to good use.. She enjoyed being in the corps, but didn't anticipate doing more than her initial enlistment. Perhaps one more, but that would be it. She figured that would satisfy her itch and she would be ready to move on.
Her plan, at this point, was to move back home and buy a small restaurant-slash-bar, maybe Web's. John 'Web' Weber was getting older and hinting that he may sell his bar and grill and move to Florida to be with his kids and grandkids. She would move back home, get married and raise some kids of her own.
The next two years went pretty quickly for both Lee and Sammi. Lee learned the company inside and out and the owner spent less and less time actually involved with the company. He was grooming Lee to take over within the next couple years. Lee and Jolene couldn't have been happier. It would mean almost no travel for Lee, and they would start filling the house with kids.
Sammi was six weeks from the end of a deployment in Afghanistan when things went bad for her. Bad intel left her and her spotter on the wrong mountain waiting for a target that never showed up. What did show up was a sniper from the opposition who put a round into her left thigh. Her spotter, an Alabama boy named Eric, saw the flash and located him. Sammi took him out with a head shot a few minutes later at a distance of about 800 meters.
