“Winging It”

By: Pee Jay
(© 2010-2011 by the author)

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

Epilogue
 

Turner-Felstow Aviation became a force to reckon with throughout the Midwest, South, and beyond. Adam and John expanded their business to several states from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico and east to the Mid-Atlantic States. John avoided expansion into major metropolitan areas not wanting to go head on with well-capitalized competitors, while Adam reminded him that they were as deep pocketed as any. The only exception John made was an FBO at Midway that became available through a divorce case. It was very nearly run into the ground so they picked it up for cents on the dollar paying cash.

Whenever they announced an acquisition, the competition shuddered. They never closed on a deal until they identified the strengths and weaknesses of their target and the avenues available to grow the business. It was a sure-fire, cautious approach and it drove Adam crazy on more than one account; yet John was determined to never touch Adam's personal funds. If the acquisition couldn't stand on its perceived merit, then it was set aside; killed by John for some other sucker to pick up on.

They bought a midsize jet, a Cessna Citation CJ2, primarily for their use in visiting their operations. It was certified for one pilot and fast enough to get them home the same day. On those occasions, when only one of them could make the trip, it was usually John. He came to be respected, if not feared, by the managers at the various locations. It wasn't that he was mean or heavy-handed; it was his curt, straightforward, no nonsense approach that intimidated managers. He couldn't be hoodwinked and most of them knew it.

For those that tried, they soon had an exit package in hand. John could accept lack-luster performance when buttressed with legitimate reasoning or honesty. What he could not accept was laziness, lying, or brown-nosing unless the latter were supported by solid results. For those managers that got it right, they were generously compensated with bonuses and profit sharing.

For the most part, their lives were rich and full and they never lost the desire to be together, or wanting to be and always were, but for the rare occasion. John never tired of loving his boy, wanting him any time he could have him and it never occurred to Adam that his feelings would be otherwise for John. There were spats along the way, usually concerning the business, yet always amicably resolved. They victimized anybody they could with their pranks, employees included; and suffered their fair share of reprisal good-naturedly with grins and kudos to those that were especially creative at the art.

At the untimely age of fifty-eight, Adam suffered a stroke and it devastated John and Elaine who was alive and going strong at eighty two years of age. John cried like a baby when it happened and wouldn't leave the hospital or Adam's side. He had Adam moved to a private room with two beds and stayed with him until his discharge. After lights out, John would climb into Adam's bed so they could spend the night in each other's arms, warm and secure, needing nothing more than the pleasure of each other's company.

When John brought Adam home from the hospital, he would not entertain getting a nurse for Adam and tended to his every need. Adam was able to hobble around the house with a walker yet when they left home; he was forced to use a wheel chair for practical purposes. John bought a dog for Adam, a Jack Russell terrier, shortly after his discharge from the hospital and Adam loved the dog. He named him Ricky and the name seemed to fit the dog's personality.[DPA1] 

Eventually they settled into a routine though things weren’t the same. They went to work every day but it was evident things had changed. Adam tired easily and needed a nap to get through the day. The mood at work was noticeably different, too. Adam was loved and held in high regard by the employees as much as John inspired apprehension, which was the very formula that made them such a formidable team.

John had their Citation reconfigured to accommodate Adam's wheel chair so he could accompany John on business trips; he took care to make Adam's presence acknowledged and his opinion valued. Adam always had Ricky with him on those trips and the dog seemed to love flying; if for no other reason than to be with Adam, and John understood that implicitly.

After his stroke, Adam made it nearly two years then suffered another fatal one in his sleep. It left John devastated; in the depths of depression and despair. In his grief, John decided life wasn't worth living. The business didn't hold the allure that it once did when they both laughed and joked, and argued some. It wasn't the same; the fizz was gone and so was Adam. Somehow, it didn't seem to matter or make a difference; John's life had become hollow and meaningless.

Jim and Dave did what they could to draw John out of his self imposed isolation but nothing seemed to work. He didn't want to date or meet anyone new; he became irritated when they invited a potential suitor to dinner on one occasion. The harder they tried, the more John withdrew and eventually they gave up having exhausted every avenue they could think of.

John got into the habit of carrying a handkerchief out of necessity and would often times break down spontaneously then excuse himself until he could quell the emptiness and loss that overwhelmed him.

He bought an impressive monument for Adam's grave and would visit it every Sunday and very often on his way home with Ricky. He would talk to his boy, his dead partner, reminding him of this time or that time and sometimes smile at a memory recalled through his tears.

John tormented himself over Adam’s passing recalling all they had together, the way they fit so perfectly in each other's arms, the promises to one another, and the endearment that bound and held them so close. And there was the one that went something like, “You were made for me,” that struck a pang so deep inside John that it made him sob.

It made him feel lonely and alone, pointless, and unwilling to go on. In the end, he would reluctantly leave Adam's grave unable to console himself wanting nothing more than the presence of his boy, his reason for being, everything he held near and dear to him in his arms one more time. To see him smile and laugh again, to put an arm around him or kiss and hold him, to run his fingers through his hair one more time, just one more time; was it too much to ask?

John took to drinking in an effort to wash away his loss, numbing himself up to the sorrow, trying to forget but never able to let the memory of his boy go. He had a brief affair with a kid that held a striking resemblance to Adam when they first met some thirty-six short years ago but it wasn't the same. John was about to turn sixty and the kid was in his early twenties and the thought of it made his anguish that much deeper. He put an end to it when the kid ripped him off.

A year after Adam’s passing, Elaine followed and John took it nearly as hard as if she were his mother. He truly was alone sinking in an abyss with death lurking it seemed, at every corner. Since he met Adam, he and Elaine were his family and he had no one; nothing but memories to remind him of the way it was. And as good as it was, it was that bad for him.

He was a wealthy though poor in his own estimation; all the money in the world couldn't fill the void inside. Elaine had changed Adam's trust to make John the sole beneficiary and trustee. He didn't care; it wasn't important. He had no use for more money. He had everything he needed except his companion; his spouse that left him alone to fend for himself.

He already had several million and the only equity stake in Turner-Felstow Aviation and four beautiful homes. John put the business up for sale at a hefty price and waited for someone to demonstrate interest. While the business was up for sale, he sat down with the officials at the University in town. He wanted to create a scholarship fund for students in the aviation program and insisted it be called The Adam Felstow Aviation Scholarship Fund and they agreed.

John was happy, the memory of his boy would endure in perpetuity, never to be lost or forgotten by future generations; Adam's name and his legacy would live on.

The price for the business proved to be too high so John took it off the market. He called his former employer and they, along with some whores as John called them, took the business public and he was wealthy beyond any stretch of his imagination.

He retained a forty percent stake in the public company and placed his shares in Adam's scholarship fund. He transferred Elaine's preferred shares of the drug company that her grandfather founded from his trust to the scholarship fund in Adam's name. The balance of his assets, which amounted to a few million and four residences; he bequeathed to Jim and Dave with the stipulation that they care and provide for Ricky.

Three years after Adam’s passing, John left the office for home one Friday night. He stopped at the cemetery to see his boy, to say hello, and tell him how much he was missed; how much he was loved and not forgotten. When he finished he blew him a kiss and waved goodbye with teary eyes, saying aloud, "I love you and always will.”

At home, John put food and water out for Ricky then made his way to the living room. He began popping pills and vodka martinis alternately until he could sit upright no longer. As he slumped over, the last thought he had was of Adam and himself, laughing in the Vermont sun, happy and in love, together, until in death they did part.

Posted: 11/04/11