Julio – The Growing Years

 by: Miguel Sanchez

© 2006-2008 by the author

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...

I finished getting dressed then put my wallet and keys in my pants pockets. “I would love that too son. Now come on guys, I’m starved.”

Chapter 31 

The kids grabbed their jackets and we were out the door. Jay showed me to a place that’s open just for breakfast and lunch and despite its rough looking exterior, the food was very good. We all put away a good amount of food then Jay wanted to know if we were ready to see the Duke campus.

I paid the bill then we headed back out to the car. I still remembered my way around Durham and managed to get us to the campus. “Take the second left Dad then the first right, that’s where my dorm is. I’d like everyone to meet a couple of people I live with.”

Ronnie looked at Jay when he finished his statement. I thought he was going to say something but he just smiled at his lover. “Wow Jay, this place looks bigger than UVA.”

Jay seemed a little confused at Marco’s comment. “I think if you took the various campuses of both schools and put them together, they’d be comparable son. This place is just a little more spread out.”

I made the right hand turn and started looking around. I quickly got my bearings and remembered which dorm was Jay’s. I pulled into the parking lot and everyone got out and allowed Jay to lead the way. I was fortunate I managed to get him a room on the first floor that he would share with one other person. Jay opened the door and looked around. “Humm, I wonder where he could be?”

We followed Jay as he went around the dorm talking with friends and introducing us to them. We then headed towards the day room and there were about half a dozen guys sitting there talking. “Jay, what are you doing here? I thought you were going to be in town all weekend?”

“I am dude,” Jay responded to his friend who was coming over to great him. “I wanted to give my family here a tour of the campus although my Dad doesn’t really need one. Dad, this is my roommate Doug. He’s one of the best friends I have here on campus.”

Doug quickly gave me a firm hand shake. “It’s nice to meet you Dr. Sanchez. You have quite a family here Jay.”

I looked quickly at Jay as he said my name calling me Doctor. “Jay, have you been talking about me again son?”

“Oh no Sir,” Doug jumped in saying. “You’re very well known here. Several of my professors talk about you a lot. Your philanthropy is well known here.”

I had to blush when I heard that. Jay turned and looked at the others. “Doug, these are my brothers Ronnie, Steven and Marco. Now behave yourself dude. This is my sister Angel, she’s married to Steven.”

I saw the look that came across Doug’s face when Jay referred to Angel as his sister. “Ah Doug, Angel was my foster daughter and I didn’t formally adopt her. It sounds unusual but it’s not really. So Doug, what is your major?”

Doug’s expression changed when I explained about Angel. “I’m going Pre Med like Jay. I hope to go into Vascular Surgery or maybe Cardio-Thoracic Surgery. I have a professor who’d love to meet you Dr. Sanchez, if you don’t mind?”

Jay was confused at that remark. “Which one Doug?”

“Professor McMichaels,” Doug replied. “He’s my physics professor.”

I lit up when I heard that name. He was a teaching assistant when I was in Med School. “Is this Alex McMichaels?”

“Yes sir,” Doug replied with wide eyes. “Do you know him?”

“I sure do,” I laughed. “He was a teaching assistant when I was in Med School. After I graduated and started my internship here, I didn’t see that much of him. When I left here then started my Residency Program in Pediatrics, we totally lost touch.”

Just then, Jay walked over and playfully slapped Doug on the back of the head. “You doofus. Why didn’t you tell me about this? I could have told Dad about him?”

“I just didn’t think of it Jay,” Doug said. “He’s the hardest teacher I have so I kinda had other things on my mind.”

I went over and wrapped my arms around both boys. “Relax guys, it’s no big deal. Maybe I can see him later if he’s on campus.”

Doug smiled when he heard that. “He should be sir. He’s usually there for another hour then he leaves for the day.”

We all headed out to the Blazer and Doug led us over to Alex’s office. We followed him into the building and down a long hall of classrooms and offices. “Wait here and give me a couple of minutes.”

Doug knocked on the door then opened it stepping inside. He left the door cracked so we could hear what was going on. “What is it Mr. Cruthers?”

Doug seemed at a loss for words when Alex spoke to him. “Umm, well sir, I was wondering if you had a couple of minutes. There is something I would like to discuss with you.”

I stepped a little closer to the door so I could hear better. “I’m quite busy Cruthers. You should make an appointment with my assistant.”

I pushed the door open then stuck my head in so I could see my old friend. “Are you too busy for me Alex?”

His head snapped around when he heard my voice. “Miguel how the hell are you and where have you been?”

He came over and we hugged. “I’ve been around. Doug has told me you’ve mentioned me to him on several occasions.”

It was a little tight in his small office so I backed out into the hall. Doug and Alex followed me the Jay walked over to his friend. “What are all you students doing hanging around in here?”

I walked over and put my arms around Jay. “This student here is mine Alex, as are those 4.”

“This is your son?”

I made the introductions. “Alex this is my oldest son Jay. He’s a junior here and will be going on to the medical school. This is my next oldest son Ronnie. He’s in his final year at Johnson and Wales Culinary School. This is my youngest son Steven. He’s in his first year at Va. Tech where he wants to become a Vet. Now this beauty is Angel. Steven is the lucky one as she is married to him. She is also my right hand girl as she helps me with the Foundation with its holdings and investment. This guy here is like my son too. This is Marco Cortez and he will be starting at UCLA Medical School in the fall.”

Alex was shaking his head as I was telling him about each of the kids. “My God Miguel how did you and your wife, raise them?”

I shook my head no at his question. “First off Alex, I never married. I adopted Jay, Ronnie and Steven. I rescued them in Brazil. I rescued Marco in Brazil too and got him in with a wonderful man who raised him. Angel was my foster daughter.”

“Miguel, I’m amazed. Here you are a single man who runs a Foundation and still adopts 3 boys, rescues another and places him and becomes a foster parent to a lovely girl.”

Angel stepped up at that point. “Don’t forget, he’s still a practicing physician also.”

“How did you do it Miguel?” Alex asked.

I smiled at him when he asked. “It was pretty easy Alex although I did have some help from my uncle Luiz until he passed away. The biggest thing was love. They knew I loved them and it just seemed to all work out.”

Jay looked at his watch then put his hand on my shoulder. “Dad, I don’t mean to interrupt but we need to get going.”

I looked at my watch and couldn’t believe the time. “You’re right son. I want to meet with the owner of the restaurant and see which things are his and what belongs to the hotel.”

Alex smiled when he heard that. “Are you looking to buy that place? It’s been a landmark here for the past several years until the food started going down hill.”

Ronnie smiled saying, “I hope I can keep them happy when I take over. I think his biggest problem is his stock and how his chef prepares it.”

Alex was nodding his head. “I think you’re right Ronnie. I know you all have to get going. Miguel, I would sure like to see you again.”

We all started heading for the parking lot. Doug patted Jay on the back saying, “Hey man, I’ll see you on Monday. It was real nice meeting your family. I hope to see you guys again.”

Doug got into his car and left as Alex and I were talking. “Miguel, I’d love it if you and your family can come over to my house tonight for dinner.”

I was moved by his generosity but was worried about him cooking for the 6 of us. “Alex, are you sure? How about we go out to a nice restaurant then maybe go over to your place for desert.”

I saw Alex writing something on a piece of paper. “Here is my address and phone number Miguel. Call me when you have the arrangements made. I’ll get something for all of us for desert.”

I started the Blazer and got ready to pull out. “I’ll call you later this afternoon. It will be somewhere around 5.”

I backed out of the parking space as Alex stood there waving to us. I headed back to the hotel in hopes of meeting the owner of the restaurant. When we arrived, I looked to see if they were open and they were. Ronnie came up beside me as we walked into the place. “Do you think he’ll let me see the kitchen?”

A waitress came over then showed us to our seats. “I don’t know son, they are open for business.”

A few minutes later the waitress came over and asked if we were ready to order. We gave her our drink order then I asked, “Is the owner here by chance?”

I saw her writing our drinks down on her pad. “Yes sir, he’s here today. I’ll send him over to see you.”

The waitress brought our drinks then took our food order then a middle aged man came over to the table. “I’m the owner sir. The waitress said you’d like to talk with me?”

Ronnie was sitting beside me so the he could be included in our conversation. “Yes I did. I understand you’re closing down in a couple of weeks.”

The owner dropped his head as if he was embarrassed that I’d brought the subject up. “Yes I am sir. I’m afraid I can no longer keep the place running. I’m Darrel Hawkins, the owner.”

I introduced myself then had him pull up a chair as he told me a little of his background and how he came about to open the place. As we talked, I was really beginning to wonder why his patronage started dwindling down to the point he had to close. I could see Ronnie intently listening to the man as he spoke. “How long ago did things start dropping off?”

The man sat there and thought for several minutes before answering. “About six months ago.”

Ronnie was still thinking. “What happened then? Did you change vendors?”

Mr. Hawkins shook his head no. “I didn’t change vendors, I hired a new chef.”

Ronnie shook his head. He knew a chef could make or break any restaurant and it looked like one had broken one here. “Why didn’t you fire him and bring your old one back? Better yet, why did your old one leave you?”

“My old chef took a better position at a 5 star establishment,” Darrel started saying. “I couldn’t ask him not to leave as he was a very fine chef. I’ve tried looking for another chef but good ones are hard to find. I did manage to find one just out of school. I’ve been hoping with time things would improve but such was not the case.”

Ronnie knew what schools would be graduating chefs in a few weeks so he understood why the people weren’t out there looking for work just then. “I’m graduating in about 6

weeks and this is why we’re looking into possibly buying this place. My brother goes to Duke and he and his friends loved coming here.”

“Do you all live here in Durham?”

Ronnie shook his head as he sipped his soda. “No sir, we live in Virginia Beach. I’ll probably work it for a year or so and then hire a decent chef to run it. We have another project underway that will require my attention.”

Just then the waitress came out with our lunch. We’d all ordered burgers and I looked at mine and wasn’t thrilled from what I saw. Ronnie cut his in half and the meat was almost black, it was that over cooked. Darrel stormed back to the kitchen and I could tell there was about to be some yelling. Thank goodness there weren’t any other diners in the place. “What in the hell are you doing? Don’t you know how to cook a simple hamburger?”

I saw him come back out with another young man hot on his heels. He grabbed Ronnie's plate and handed it to the chef. Ronnie looked over at him and shook his head. “What are you doing here?”

Mr. Hawkins’ head snapped up and looked at his chef. “Do you two know each other?”

Ronnie wasn’t about to answer and Mr. Hawkins was now glaring at the chef. “I asked you a question.”

The chef knew he was in a no win situation. “He goes to the same school I went to.”

Ronnie was shaking his head. He knew there was more to it than just what he said. “That’s right Derek; I go to the same school you flunked out of.”

Darrel looked at Derek and he wasn’t happy. “You flunked out of that school? You told me you graduated. You even put that on your application. Why did you lie?”

“I needed the job,” Derek said sarcastically. “I had student loans to pay back. I knew I could do this job. I’m a first class chef.”

“First class chef?” Ronnie spat. “The ability is there if you’d bothered to develop it. I’ve tasted your dishes. The smoked salmon was under cooked and over smoked. The steaks were tough and lacked any seasoning. The only thing that was decent was the stuffed flounder.”

Derek was standing there with his mouth open. “What the hell are you talking about? I use top grade meats and fish. I cut my meats myself.”

Ronnie was giggling when Derek said that. “You cut your own steaks? What do you do, bring in the whole cow?”

Darrel had heard enough. “No Ronnie, he orders the meat in bulk then cuts the steaks.”

“That’s his problem sir,” Ronnie said. “I’ll lay you odds he’s cutting the steaks wrong, that’s why they’re tough. If he had stayed in school and not acted like a know it all, he could have learned something.”

I could tell Darrel was steamed. “Now what do I do? I still have two weeks and a chef who doesn’t seem to know what the hell he’s doing.”

Ronnie and I looked at each other and I could see the wheels turning in his head. “He has enough basics down that he should be able to handle things for the next two weeks. I can show him a few things to help him, provided he listens. I can also show him how to cut the steaks so they come out tender.”

Derek was getting an attitude as Ronnie was talking to Darrel. “You have to be such a show off don’t ya Sanchez. It’s just like in school, always thinking you’re so much better than everyone.”

“Oh knock it off Derek,” Ronnie snapped at him. “The professors were trying to teach you. Hell, I was trying to teach you. Yeah, I know how to cook. I learned when I was quite young. My mom taught me. But my Uncle taught me what it was to be a chef. He taught me the real love for food.

He taught me it was much more than cooking it, it was preparing it for cooking. Had you stayed and not been such a wise ass, you’d have learned that too.”

Darrel looked at me then asked, “Do you think you could show him some things tomorrow Ronnie? I know it is asking a lot of you.”

It was getting late and none of us hadn’t had anything to eat since breakfast. Dad was taking all of us and Alex out to dinner so we could really stuff ourselves then. “I can show him some things tomorrow after breakfast. Would 10:30 be alright?”

Derek had a look on his face like I was kidding about the time. Darrel looked at him as if to say you better be here. “10:30 will be fine. Thank you for giving your time up for us.”

Ronnie and I shook Darrel’s hand then left the restaurant. “Well that went well,” Jay said visibly upset as we were standing by the elevator. “We’re still hungry and it’s still several hours before we eat. I don’t know about anyone else, I’m heading to get a burger.”

For some reason, I wasn’t hungry. “Here Jay, you all go and get yourselves something to eat. Please don’t fill up too much since we are going out for a nice dinner.”

I handed Jay the keys then went up to the room. I had a good nights sleep but I was little tired. I reheated a cup of coffee in the microwave and while that was getting done, I got comfortable. I sat at the table and went through the events of the day in my mind. I couldn’t believe my luck to have seen Alex again after all these years. I’d noticed there wasn’t a ring on his left hand so that told me he hadn’t found that special someone.

The afternoon was another surprise in that the restaurant could have survived nicely if Darrel had hired a decent chef. I’m not sure how he managed to survive if the patrons never said anything about the food. Tomorrow while Ronnie is working with Derek, I’ll talk more with Darrel about the restaurant and the hotel about the lease.

I finished my coffee then stretched out on the bed. I was still running things through my head as I felt myself getting drowsy. The next thing I remember was hearing the voices of the kids as they came back from lunch. I yawned as I tried to clear the cobwebs from my head.

To be continued...

Posted: 07/04/08