Chapter 2 Dad
The many moments of our life are simply the pieces of a
puzzle that make up who we are. Only after our death do we look upon the
masterpiece of the life that we have created. To many people those pieces never
change or are altered in any way. But to those like my dad whose pieces were
destroys and/or damaged beyond repair are forever hollow and a void of a true
life. That is until new pieces can take their place.
Dad was the middle child of three. Pressed like a flower in
a book as dad puts it. His older brother Markus was the image of rich snobbery.
If he wasn’t bossing the house staff he was getting the girl of the week
pregnant. He understood the business my father had been growing over the years
to the point to make sure there was enough money to go on his monthly ski or
beach trip.
His baby sister Kelly was forever lost to the dark side. She
shops, parties and was a member of the drug of the week program. If she wasn’t
in the hospital for her monthly abortions she was getting cleaned out to make
more room for her pill addiction. If she wasn’t running up a bill on her dad’s
credit card for new cloths and jewelry it was used to pay off lawyers and
judges to get her out of jail. She understood the family business that it
created a lifestyle for her to find a husband to continue her way of life.
Dad was the oddball of the three. He partied like his
brother and sister. Had his fill of women at every oportunity. He did dabble a
bit into drugs until one night when his doped up brother nearly killed them in
a car wreck. He was a quick learner of many skills for at age six while his
father was attending a meeting; the chauffeur taught him the art on betting on
horses. Dad was so good at picking the winner that his father gave the
chauffeur a huge raise.
By ten dad could read a business contract with such ease
that granddad would have him attend meetings and plan out different things for
the many companies granddad controlled. Dad attended the best Universities and
had countless tutors constantly drilling him on how to be a business man. It
was one of those tutors that dad lost his virginity to when he was just fourteen
years old. A gift from his father.
But dad had no heart in it. No desire or will to be a part
of the family business. He and his dad would have huge arguments that ended
with them not speaking for days. It was more of a master/servant relationship
than as father and son between the two of them. Dad did escape from time to
time much like his brother and sister to parties and trips but his dad would
always find and drag him back to work.
Grandfather or Markus the 3rd, as dad called him,
was a man lost in his work. Shrewd and cutthroat to getting what he wanted at
all cost. A man who made Ebenezer
Scrooge look like a Saint. To him his family was props to be used when needed
for his own end. He didn’t care what his wife and kids did just so long as they
did their part. If that meant marrying his kids off to other rich families or
have his trophy wife be fucked by a judge, congressman, potential business
partners or all three then so be it as long as the end justified his means.
Grandmother Stephanie was a lady at one time. Born into a
rich family, she never knew what it was like to be poor. Dad said that one time
she called 911 for help because she didn’t know what a refrigerator was and
needed help locating it in the kitchen. A gorgeous woman who’s main job was to
be a breeder for her husband and a play toy for the men my grandfather needed
to control. She did all the parties and social events needed but mostly she
could be found shopping for clothing and jewelry, with her boy toy or taking expensive
trips to who knows where.
Dad and granddad would have their little bonding talks from
time to time. One such time dad asked him if they were really related. Granddad
replied that he has all the evidence of who is or isn’t and left it at that.
But as the years passed dad became more involved in the family business as he
realized that it kept him from being around his own family. In time his dad was
making the company more profitable and a bigger success than by the way
granddad was running business. A talent that sealed his fate.
When dad was twenty six years old, he married the daughter
of a TV tycoon. Dad didn’t have a say in the matter. Their marriage would unite
both companies and by-pass dozen of laws to make both of the couple’s parents
even more richer. He knew his wife Jenny from school and was dreading the fact
of being married to a woman who didn’t know how to shut up. She would make
racial comments of all types as her God complex knew no limits. Others refused
to correct her out of fear of reprisals from her father.
In public they presented themselves as a loving couple. In
private she acted as if she owned everything; always ordering everyone around her
like a slave owner. My dad put his foot down and simply ignored her needs. Jenny
looked to my dad as a stepping stone to an endless array of alimony husbands
and my granddad and dad knew this. But this marriage was planned out by my
grandfather for something that would cause my dad endless heartache and grief
for years that would eventually lead him to my mother.
My grandfather had put together a huge family trip to
Verbier, Switzerland. Dad’s entire family was going as well as Jenny and her
entire family. They traveled in the family’s custom 767 jet plane. Everyone was
there for the trip except for my dad. As dad was in control of much of the
daily business, he had to stay behind to close a business deal. He was to join them a few days later but the
plane carrying his entire family had crashed into the Atlantic ocean.
The FAA ruled it as accident due to poor maintenance but the
real shock came with the reading of the will from his and Jenny’s parents.
Basically, everything went to dad. He became a billionaire in control of many
companies. The responsibility was mind blowing for him but he dove into it as
best he could. Once he got the feel of running these companies it became easier
for him. But the pressure was slowly growing.
Less than a week after his parents’ death he received a
letter from his father. In it his father opened up to him. He expressed his
love for dad and a few more things that shocked dad. His dad was dying of
cancer with maybe another year at best to live. With the choice of who was to
run the company was a no-brainer. But in-fighting within the family would cause
a huge problem. Plus there was the matter of dad’s current wife who was the
poster child of a gold digger that even though my granddad hated her, he used
her and dad to get her parents company through their marriage.
Dad was also shock to realize that the plane crash was intentional.
An FAA official was heavily bribed into making sure there was no mentioning of
a bomb explosion. Granddad also left video records of grandma’s sleeping
escapades along with DNA evidence confirming who dad and his brother and sister
real fathers were. Granddad couldn’t have kids due to a skiing accident. He never
told anyone, not even his own wife about it. But if dad was going to look for
his real father, it was too late. He was a judge whom years earlier was killed
by a gunman while he sat in the park having lunch.
Over time he felt himself emotionally slipping away. With a
huge workload there was little time for him to relax. So many people were
counting on him to solve all their problems. He did find a few escapes. He fell
in love with the movie “Man of La Mancha” when he saw the house staff watching
it one night. Dad says that he envied Alonso Quijana for being able to escape
his true reality. But the biggest inspiration to him came one morning on his
way to work.
Stuck in a huge traffic backup dad was too bored to sleep
and with nothing on the radio of interest, he asks the chauffer if he had
anything to read. The driver produced a book called “The Edge of Tomorrow” by
Howard Fast. My dad still keeps it in his office to this day. In it was a short
story called “The Cold Cold Box” that inspired my dad to redesign the entire
company structure.
It took a few years and countless lawyers but the
restructuring was complete and a new board of directors was put in place to run
the newly formed company. And just like in the story, there would be a
President who was voted in by the other Board members with term limits and a
cap on all of their pay. Dad would still remain the owner of the company with
the power to overrule the Board of Directors if he so chooses. Plus dad would still
attend important meetings and handle business dealings if needed. But for the
most part he became a part time employee of his own company.
It took a few more years to tweak things into place but in
time the company was growing and he could now take some time off to finally
find himself. What he found was that he hated himself, his family and the super
rich. One of the first things he did was clear out his families’ possessions.
He let the entire house staff have first pick on all the clothing, jewelry and
other possessions in his parents and siblings room. Anything left went to the
Salvation Army. Dad even gave away much of his own possessions as well.
He never felt that he had a family. They were just props for
his dad when needed. The most meaningful conversation was with the chauffer and
the house staff. Everyone else talked business or how to make and spend loads
of money. He realized that he had a long way to go before he could find his
true self. But by now he was feeling completely empty inside. An empty man in an
expensive suit.
He then redid his will. Making sure the staff and chauffer
were well taken care of. Then one early morning he got into his personnel car
and drove away. On the open road while the sky was still dark he turned on the radio
and while listened to the song “Is This Love” by Whitesnake, drove the car off
a nearby ravine. He didn’t count on that he would survive. Nor his OnStar
service calling paramedics as they quickly got dad to a hospital.
After many surgeries he was in a room all by himself. When
he did wake up, he was surrounded by the hospital staff trying to suck up
favors from him. That is until mom entered his room. Mom was trying to be funny
at first to ease his troubles as she smiled at dad and asked him who he was
today. It was really painful but dad said it was the best laugh he ever had.
Mom changed his bandages and gave him a complete wash. She even shaved him and
combed his hair for him.
Dad said that she wouldn’t shut up talking and by the
content of their discussions nor did he want her to. He was getting to know
someone without his fame and fortune getting in the way. But what really
impressed him was that mom had no problem talking back to him. For as far back
as dad could remember, no one dared talked down to him or tried in any way to
prevent him from getting what he wanted. Even the doctors and nurses were
cautious around dad.
At times mom threatened to have him tied down if he wouldn’t
stay in bed. Forced him to eat and one time slapped him across the face when he
made an improper comment. Mom said he was high on medication at the time. Dad
said it was the last time he ever acted that way and quickly apologized to mom as
soon as he woke up from the slap. Dad was in love and beginning to understand
that he needed to change. And he put all of his hope into mom as the one who
was going to help him to change.
The chauffer and a few house servants would visit and bring
things for him to relax. But as dad was nearing time to return home he set in
motion to win mom over by the only way he knew how; money. He had people
looking into moms past. Then he basically bought the hospital. Meeting with
hospital officials he had them present a job offer to mom in giving her a
chance of a lifetime to become a fully registered nurse.
At home one early morning he held a meeting with an
architect about redesigning the interior of the estate. Afterwards he rested in
the living room and waited for her to arrive to begin helping in his physical
and hopefully his mental rehabilitation. At the sound of the doorbell he was
all happy and giddy. But he kept his composure the best he could as she entered
into the room.
They smiled at each other as their courtship had now just begun.
They each liked one another as in time they would come to love one other. They
will each take their tragic past and set out in building a new life together. Creating
new puzzle pieces that in time will produce a masterpiece.
