All for Acceptance

By: Rod
(© 2010 by the author)

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

Chapter 1

“Mrs. Jackson is Billy still there or has he left for work?”  asked Travis Wainman, owner and operator of TC’s.

“He took off with his buddies for the weekend leaving this morning? …..  He’s spending the weekend just north of Dellwood near White Bear Lake?  Did he forget he was to be here to work the Forsyth wedding with me this evening? ….. I realize you can’t control what he does since he is out of school, but I am afraid that since this is the third time in the last two months he hasn’t shown up when scheduled I’m afraid I have to let him go.  I can’t depend on him and this is my livelihood.  I need to get someone more responsible.   You can let him know he needs to turn in his uniform if he wants his last check and he shouldn’t rely on being able to get any reference that would help.  I wish him the best, if he could only grow up a little and start taking some responsibility…… Yes I know you have tried, but it’s on his head, not yours…. Yes, Mrs. Jackson, I understand, but with him not here to help I really have got to get going.  It’s a wedding for two hundred and fifty guests and I’m running behind as it is, I really have to go.  Good bye Mrs. Jackson.”

“Damn it! Wouldn’t you know, just when I need him the most he takes off again!  Well that’s the last time he’ll do that here, he’s history now.  I just need to get this job done, too many expecting everything to be just perfect and of all things it’s a wedding, it has to be right!  The only decent advertising is at the end of the fork and if the last party can’t speak highly enough of you then you need to make some changes fast or get the hell out of the business!” Travis ranted out loud as he headed from his office to the kitchen to get things loaded.

His kitchen staff had gotten everything prepared as usual with his normal leadership.  All hot items were in their respective hot carriers color coded per his standards.  Cold items were still in the cooler, but all ready in foam lined containers that would maintain temps for the proper time frame needed.  Service ware and other non temperature sensitive items were in their proper places ready to be loaded into the truck and taken to the hall.  It would be a twenty minute drive or so from his commissary near the business district in Minneapolis not far from Columbia Heights to the hall in St. Paul not far from Maplewood on rt. 64.  It was a new hall that had recently opened and he was glad that he could be granted the rights to come in and serve.  He was only concerned with the food for the function.  The hall took care of the room setup and the bar.  They even offered, and the client had opted for the hall to provide full linens, tableware etc. as well as a couple of waitresses to serve coffee to the tables and buss off their china at the conclusion of the meal.  He only needed to set up the buffet, see that it remained stocked, and then cut the wedding cake that he had spent a half a day creating for just this event.

The cake was a new design that he had recently developed involving bridges, fountains, heart shaped tiers and per the bridal couple’s request, made with three different flavors of cake with a total of six different fillings.  It would indeed be a bear to cut, allowing the guests to have a full choice of the offerings but he always basked in the praise received from one and all of how beautiful his creations were and how absolutely fabulous they tasted. 

His problem now though was to get everything loaded in the truck, safely and secure so that all would arrive in the same condition at the hall.  Once there he needed to get everything in and set up.  He could have used two extra people besides himself but only one was supposedly available and then that one had the nerve not to show up… AGAIN!

Loading took a little longer than he hoped but then it was more important to arrive with everything intact rather than right on time and things in shambles in the back of the truck, no amount of time at the hall would help him make things right there.  Everything had to arrive in peak condition. His reputation depended on it and no matter what the difficulties involved, ever since that day five years ago when he opened his own business that was exactly how things were done. 

He had been fortunate at the early age of 22, just out of college with his degree in Business Management and his minor in culinary arts he had found his boss quite willing to pull up stakes and retire, allowing him to buy the business assets, property, equipment etc. but he had to change the name.  This suited him well as he really didn’t want to continue as just the newbie in an old business.  Customers grew to expect a business to conduct business in the same way they had for years and he wanted to put forth a new image, create a new business, his business, his way.  The five years had only served to encourage his vision.  He was making a name for himself and become respected among his peers.  The local media numerous times, reported on the quality and freshness of his services, requested by some of the best of society the Twin Cities had to offer. Yet, he had maintained the humility and respect due the common man allowing many blue collared families to have the ability to brag for he had served a function for them, from the daughters wedding to the funeral for the respected matriarch grandmother of the family.  He always said his goal was to present the best he could and maintain the reputation that the common man could have a function he could be very proud of even if his host’s bosses attended, and yet still not end up going into debt for a ridiculous period of time.

Now with the truck loaded he was on his way, he needed to pay full attention to his driving, nothing was more important than putting aside his frustration over Billy and arriving safely at his destination.  He turned on the CD player, not too loud, just at a volume that would help to soothe his nervousness but not take his attention away from traffic.

As he expected it was exactly twenty minutes to get to the hall and he now had the task of getting everything unloaded and the cake set up before anyone else arrived.  It would not take too long for the buffet to be set with equipment; he had met with the couple and the bridal party the early evening before to get the hall set up just before they were going to the church for the rehearsal.  In so doing the appropriate tables for the Bridal Party at the Head Table, the Buffet, and the Cake Table had all been skirted after covering with linen.  He need only reconstruct the elaborate wedding cake on the cake table before setting out the chafers, utensils, and candelabrums on the buffet table.  The florist had been there and the floral pieces were in place on the Head Table and the Buffet Table while the package of greenery was left as instructed in it’s wrapping near the Cake Table.

Since the cake was always the last thing loaded and placed in a position well guarded so that it couldn’t move or have anything fall on it, it was the first to be taken into the room.

Carefully he made the numerous trips needed to get each part of the cake into position.  He had learned long ago if he loaded it properly he could place each tier where it needed to go as he brought it in, having first brought in the miscellaneous items needed to put everything together, and in so doing once he brought in the last tier he only had to place the top ornament to complete his masterpiece.  Each delicate flower and border had traveled well and appeared no different than it had before he began the delicate disassembly of the cake in his shop at the work table on which he had originally built it.

The cake assembled, he now faced the task of getting everything else off the truck and into the venue.  He knew he was running a little late and there wasn’t as much time as he would have preferred remaining to get everything stowed away before the guests would start to arrive.  Beads of perspiration covered his forehead as he labored intently to move each and every item into the building.  Fortunately he didn’t have a long way to carry but there were a few steps involved and with them he couldn’t just load everything onto a cart and roll it in as he did at most of the venues.  Even so, this place was special, it was the newest to open and the owners had spent a lot on getting it open, enough that they couldn’t afford to set up a cooking staff as well.  This had been the fortuitous event that allowed him to be able to serve here rather than it just ending up another place where his prospective business could elude him by being forced to use the services of the facility rather than an off premise caterer.  His property wasn’t large enough to allow for a serving facility to be added and he, though successful thus far, was not at a point where he could afford to find another suitable place.  After all, in his grand scheme of things he figured it would be at least another five years before he could possible address that addition to his business.

“Hey, buddy, are you all alone trying to get all that stuff in?” inquired a young man as he approached the truck.

“Afraid so, my help up and decided he wanted to play on the lake with his buddies instead of showing up for work and that left me all by my lonesome,” replied Travis as he picked up yet another box to carry up the stairs into the caterers kitchen.

“Could you use some help?  I’d be more than happy to give you a hand if you’d consider giving me a little assistance later,” stated the seemingly well-built, clean-cut intruder.

“I guess that would depend on just what assistance you would need later but, I could certainly use some help,” said Travis.

“Don’t worry nothing illegal, demeaning, deviate, or embarrassing just some food to eat and a shoulder to cry on.”

“In this day and age I can understand the request for some food, I see people willing to work for food all the time with their signs along the intersections and highways but none as clean and presentable as you, I wouldn’t have suspected you to be in that category, as far as a shoulder to cry on, by the time I get finished with this job tonight if I don’t have some help, I’ll be the one who will need a shoulder to cry on and maybe a massage to get the stiffness of overwork out of these muscles after the tension and exercise I expect to get through the evening.”

“Well, give me a chance and I’ll see how I can help you now and maybe later if you are willing. “

“Buddy, you’re on.  Grab what you can. One container at a time, keep it level and follow me.  Don’t’ try to carry more than one, they can be pretty heavy, you don’t know what is inside each one and they may have some liquid so you don’t want to spill.” 

As Travis picked up another container and headed into the building the young man quickly grabbed the next one and discovering just how heavy it was, carefully he did his best to follow.  All the while there was a smile spreading from ear to ear.  He could not have been happier.  For the first time in the last few months he had hope that things would indeed work out as he hoped.

As soon as both men had placed their loads on the counter and Travis had instructed that as things were brought in they should be stacked according to the containers colors the newest helper turned and headed for the truck to grab the next item.  He seemed over zealous to make a good impression and had grabbed the next box and was heading for the building before Travis was able to pick up his.  Knowing where they were taking things the young man headed up the stairs and towards the caterers kitchen.  As Travis turned with a hotbox in hand he looked forward to see the young man on the stairs in front of him.  What captured his attention was the fact that there in front of him extending from one of the pants legs was a wooden peg instead of a shoe on a foot.  Travis stood for a moment trying to regain his senses as he realized that as young as this guy was he was presumably an amp.  Deep down, he had always been fascinated by amps.

Twelve Years Prior-

Travis and his best buddy Phillip, Phillip Samuelson the Third, to be exact, where heading to Phillip’s home after school.  Each afternoon following school they headed there, stopping by the kitchen where the cook, who had practically raised Phillip, always had some type of snack ready for the boys.  Mabel, who Phillip always referred to as Mammy, had always been there for him, even after his real mother had left him at the tender age of two.  It seems that she could not stand the fact that her one and only son had been born with a birth defect.  He was missing his right arm right about the elbow.  His father was unfazed by the event although it pained him greatly that his son would have to face the cruel world with a strike against him before he ever left the cradle.  In his endeavor to see to it that his son, Phillip the Third would have everything in life possible Phillip the Second had, when his wife deserted him, buried himself in his work, not to get away from the boy, but to see to it that everything possible would be available to him.  Little did he realize that his son longed for his companionship more than any earthly goods he could provide. 

Mammy the cook and Earnest her husband, and general commander of the troops who maintained the house, fell in easily in as surrogate parents for the darling child.  He never cried too much as a baby, always had a smile on his face, whether it was just gas as some wives tales say, or actually just the fact that he was a very happy baby.  His mother had ignored him and Mammy or Mabel, should we say, couldn’t pay him enough attention.  She kept her duties taken care of, but it wasn’t uncommon for little Phillip’s cradle to be in the kitchen where she could constantly fuss over him.   When he left the cradle it was the playpen, and then just his presence that kept them together.  Earnest would as Phillip got a little older, become an important figure in Phillip’s life, he would include him whenever possible in what ever task he was involved in.    Phillip traveled with Earnest whenever possible, whether it be to a department store to pick up something requested by Phillips father or groceries for Mammy, or to the lumber yard, local Home Depot, or nursery to order or pick up anything needed to make the house, or should it be said mansion, and it’s gardens, worthy of the latest magazine coverage. Lacking was the time spent at home by his father.  When his father was there he was as attentive as possible to his son, the problem was he just wasn’t there most of the time.  His business had developed into an international scope and took him all over the world. Of course Phillip III had a bedroom filled with exotic gifts brought back to him by his father from places only identifiable by checking out the internet to see where the country was and anything about it.  More geography was learnt by the two boys from these gifts then any school teacher could have hoped to accomplish.  It was not unusual in the more recent years as Travis and Phillip had become so close for Phillip’s father to bring things back to Travis as well. 

Travis respected his friend’s father as Phillip II always treated him with the same respect and love, however infrequent, that he bestowed upon his own son. Phillip II was glad for the friendship between the two boys but was not around to completely understand just what the depth of their relationship was.  Mammy and Earnest understood and being very broad minded felt that so long as the boys were safe and no one was being hurt there was no reason for anyone to be made the wiser and things would be as they would be.  Eventually the boys would find themselves either hopelessly in love for the rest of their life or discover the opposite sex and grow up to be what everyone else considered normal.

After their snacks they would traipse off to Phillip’s room and though they did do their homework first, by assisting each other, since they had different academic strength and weaknesses they would always find a little or a lot depending on a few other things, of time to further explore and excite each other’s bodies.  It was a game they had played for several years and now at the age of fifteen it was becoming even more serious.  Each loved the other and found genuine happiness and pleasure in seeing just how much they could please their partner.  It was a good thing the house was a mansion and Phillip had a room in an otherwise unused wing because if anyone were near they might be quite surprised at the noise as well as the dialogue that transpired between the teens.

Travis spent the afternoons with his love without problem as his parents were both of the working class and not at home.  So long as he was home before they arrived, which was always after six in the evening, there wasn’t any problem.  The two had spent their afternoons together for several years now without problem.  In the summers they had been able to spend even more time together without school taking up the morning and early afternoon.

As school had gotten out for the year they had planned a day to go to a nearby lake and just enjoy the day and each others company.  In the Twin Cities they had long ago learnt the bus routes to be able to get around and go most places they might wish to go.   On this particular day they had met at a predetermined spot and headed to one of the parks close to St Louis Park on the near west side of Minneapolis.  They had a fun day enjoying the sun and the water until Travis stepped on a rather sharp rock and cut himself.  Since they were actually much closer to Travis’s home they decided that perhaps they should go there to take care of the needed treatment to Travis’s foot.  It didn’t take long for them to get there and soon they had his foot all taken care of, the bleeding had stopped, it didn’t look like it would need stitches, they had used plenty of disinfectant and then even some cream Travis’s mother always swore would help to heal anything and was constantly utilized by her whenever she needed to provide first aid.  The only problem was, in the process they had gotten blood all over their clothes.  Obviously they needed to get them cleaned right away so the blood wouldn’t set.  They proceeded to disrobe and throw everything in the washer. They got it started and took off for Travis’s room to spend some fun time while waiting for the washer to complete its cycle so they could put things over in the dryer and then Phillip would need to head for home.

As was the custom once they found themselves alone together in a bedroom they began to arouse each others interest.  A few particular things began to grow and in an attempt to satisfy certain urges they quickly got into a 69 and began pleasuring each other as they always did.  Little did they realize the hour, and though still somewhat early the noise of their coupling kept them from hearing any other noises in the house.  Suddenly the door to Travis’s bedroom burst open and there stood his father.  Upon seeing his son on his bed with another boy, one he knew but not that well since they spent their time at Phillip’s, not normally at Travis’s, in the position they were in, each with the others privates hidden deeply within their mouth and throat, and to top it all off his own son Travis was rubbing and massaging tenderly the stub on Phillip’s shorter arm.

Jamison Wainman could not believe what he was seeing; it was hard enough for him to see at all considering the condition he was in. His eyes were bloodshot from all the alcohol he consumed at the local bar this afternoon after being told when he went in to work that morning that he was one of a hundred and fifty people at his company being given the pink slip.  No warning, only a weeks severance and kicked out the door.  He had promptly gone to the neighborhood watering hole with a number of his buddies and commiserated until he was sure it was time he drag himself home and figure out just what he was going to tell his wife.

Then, entering the house he heard the commotion from upstairs emanating from his son’s bedroom and couldn’t believe what he was hearing.  The sight in front of him caused him to lose any sense of humanity as he stormed into the room.  Coming first to Phillip he grabbed him by the neck and threw him off of the bed yelling every epithet he could muster including several about his lack of part of his extremity.  Phillip had never been treated in such a manner and was terrified, having no idea how to react or what to say.  Having no clothes on he was thrown out of the room and told to get the f**k**g hell out of his house by Mr. Wainman.  Not realizing who’s was what or anything else about the situation Mr. Wainman did at least grab a pair of pants and shirt lying on the floor and tossed them out after Phillip.  Phillip grabbed the clothing and hastily put them on as he ran down the stairs and out the door.

Fortunately he had grabbed his cell phone and called Earnest who promptly came to a nearby corner and picked him up.  Earnest wanted to go back to the house and set Mr.  Wainman straight on a few things but Phillip through his tears asked him not to but instead take him home.  Earnest cared so much for the boy that he couldn’t fathom someone hurting him so, and over Phillip’s protests turned the car around and headed towards the Wainman home.  He no sooner pulled into the drive when he saw Travis running out the side door, still naked but with a bundle of clothes held closely to his chest.  There were marks all over his body where he had been struck repeatedly by his father. 

He was only lucky that when his father decided to end things and went to get his rifle Travis had been able to run from his room and the onslaught of a beating he had been receiving, through the laundry room, grabbed what clothes he could and headed out the door.  He could hear the shouting of his father as he was coming out of his own room searching for Travis, loading the rifle in his hands and announcing that no son of his was going to be a faggot and he would see that such a faggot wouldn’t live to see another day.

Just as Travis heard the door slam behind him as he ran out, he heard the blast of a gun and then a thud.  It would later be determined that his father had slipped as he tried to come down the stairs in such a hurry and had fallen causing the gun to discharge and kill him immediately.

Earnest had gotten a hold of Travis before the boy could realize what had happened and held him tight against him trying to calm him after such terrorizing experience.  He had then rushed him to the car and sped away with both boys in the back seat crying in each others arms.

Julie Wainman had arrived at home to find the area filled with police, yellow tape around the house and her entrance barred until she was able to convince a policeman of her identity.  She was then lead into the house to see her husband  at the foot of the stairs, rifle still in hand with a wound to his head, blood was pooling around his body soaking into the carpet  as she shrieked in horror at the sight before her.  One of the officers began asking her various questions, very few of which she was able to answer.  Soon the coroner came and allowed the body to be moved.  As an assistant to the coroner went through her husbands pockets finding the pink slip and after reading it handed it to the officer questioning Julie upon which she was asked if she knew anything about the loss of his job.  Of course she didn’t, but then realizing she hadn’t seen Travis asked if the officer had seen her fifteen year old son, He stood about 5’10”  weighed about 140 lbs. had dark hair like his fathers and blue eyes. The officer said they had not seen them but as he was telling her this another officer came in and pulled him aside.  It seemed that just after the shot was heard and was being reported by a neighbor there was a car that pulled out of the driveway containing a man and two boys, one of them being Travis the decedent’s son.    Some one else had seen the license plate and soon the desk sergeant was running the plate number for an id. Needless to say it came up with Phillip Samuelson II and an address.  When Julie was asked if she knew who this was she replied that yes Phillip III was a friend of Travis and presumably that was his father’s car.

Within a short period of time a detective’s car pulled onto the Samuelson’s estate and at the gate requested entrance.  Earnest having answered the call opened the gate and invited the detective up to the house.  The boys were now dressed but holding on to each other for dear life in the kitchen while Mammy was trying her best to calm them in whatever way she could.  All the while Earnest had been dissertating to himself what he would like to have done to Travis’s father for treating the two boys the way he had.  It would only be but moments before they would all learn of the demise of Jamison Wainman.

As the officer entered the kitchen and was seated he saw the two boys and the emotional state they were in.  He could only surmise what was going on.  Fortunately for the boys this detective had been around a bit and had a very good mentor who had taught him to hold judgment until he could ask each and every question imaginable then based on his gut feeling and the answers he could begin to draw some possible conclusions.  But, ask first, don’t just jump, your career could depend on being able to keep things in control instead of jumping to conclusions and making yourself an ass in front of everyone, especially those down at headquarters.  It was for this reason he was one of the most successful and respected men on the force.  He also had enough sensitivity to care about people and hold off on treating any one roughly until it was warranted.

At first the questions seemed accusatory but once it was realized just what was going on and Travis removed his shirt and began to remove his remaining clothing the detective gasped as he realized just what had happened.   Unbeknownst to anyone else there the detective had himself been thrown out of his home at an early age by an old fashioned bible-thumping so-called father that swore he would rot in hell for his sins.  Tears came to the detective’s eyes as he felt the pain Travis and Phillip had endured at the hands of Travis’s father.  The situation seen at the scene supported the story given by both of the boys and Earnest.  The detective felt that if any punishment for the commission of a crime was due the judgment had been made and the sentence carried out.  The real criminal was on the way to the morgue as they spoke.  With a sincere apology for questioning the three, the detective bid his leave and had decided just how he was going to write up his report.  In his mind the death, though accidental, was completely the fault of the decedent and his reaction to the situation, not that the alcohol he had consumed hadn’t been part of the problem, but the father’s reaction was too far overboard to be in any way considered acceptable.   It wouldn’t take any arm twisting to close this case without the DA being involved.  Justice had been served no matter how harsh.

Over the next few days Julie had learnt what had happened and though she could not forgive her husband for what he had done, every time she looked at Travis she saw her deceased husband, then recounting the sins of the son, she found that she could no longer associate with Travis.  They soon became as two zombies attempting to co-exist in the same house. 

Travis clung even closer to Phillip as time passed and eventually a proposition was offered that Travis could move into Phillip’s home, removing him from the situation in his own home that was now just a place he slept, when he could sleep, a place where his mother was slowly and undeniably approaching insanity.  Her job performance was faltering and there was a dire chance that she, too, could lose her job leaving them penniless and even causing them to lose their home.  The offer for Travis to move to Phillip’s was understood as a pathway to better things for Travis, allow his mother to either come out of it or go completely insane.  In either case, Travis would not be in a position to suffer the consequences any longer; enough damage had been done.  It was time for him to heal and get on with his life.  With Phillip at his side he felt he would have at least some chance.  Before his mother could be judged incompetent, they were able to get her to sign over whatever parental rights needed to Earnest and Mammy so he could be taken care of in the Samuelson household.  It was felt by the attorney’s that this would be the better arrangement so as to not cause possible future problems with the Samuelson estate.  Phillip III could be the only heir.  If Phillip II adopted Travis, problems could come to bear.  In any case Phillip II would provide for Travis as if he was his own son, seeing to it that whatever he needed would be provided.  Mammy and Earnest would just be the conduit through which Travis would be cared for directly within the next few years before he was ready to go off to college, which would also be assured.

This arrangement worked well and both of the boys flourished in the love and care provided for them in the years before college.  Phillip II always treated both boys as sons and never raised dissent concerning their relationship.  If it were known, he as a teen also had loved another, that being his own brother just a few years younger.   His father Phillip I, too, had been accepting, but had always emphasized that someday he would need to produce an heir.  As the oldest, Phillip II was expected, no matter what his proclivities were, to procreate and bring a male child into the family to carry on.  It was with great sorrow that day when they learnt that Phillip II’s younger brother had been involved in a skiing accident and lost his life.  Phillip II having just graduated from high school and working with his father before leaving for college had not been able to spend the day with his brother.  He always felt that if he had been there nothing would have happened to him and they would have still had each other.  Instead he mourned his brother’s death and dug into his studies to keep his mind off of his loss.  By the time he reached his senior year in college he had met a young lady from a very well known and social family.  His father was overjoyed and the only event that outshone their marriage was the birth of his first grandson.  The grandfather was able to accept the birth defect as did his son and they both reveled in the joy of the birth.  They were really of the same cloth and didn’t let things such as Phillip III’s lack of his lower arm influence or diminish their love for this, their new heir. As mentioned before, the mother and her family being of such social status could not cope, eventually inducing the departure of Phillip III’s mother at his early age.

All too soon it was time for the boys to attend college.  Travis had really taken to Mammy and could often be found assisting her in whatever her endeavor, busily whistling about the kitchen as they daily engaged in a convivial competition to outdo each other in their culinary creations.  In all fairness, at first Mammy did tilt things just a little to encourage Travis, but it was all too soon when he really came into his own and could honestly better his mentor.  This of course laid the seeds that would bloom into the caterer most wanted in the Twin Cities area.

College only encouraged them both, though in different area of study, Phillip decided to follow law as it was felt that the family business could use a good lawyer to wield a sturdy hand over the helm of the business, even to the point that once having passed the bar, he could begin to have a great influence, while his father still lead the firm with his creativity.  Phillip III would just be in a position to insure that the family wealth legally stayed within the family and not go out to others.

At the same time Travis decided, with the coaching of all in the household, that he should pursue his love of the culinary arts, but with his desire to become a caterer he should have some business background.  So, by necessity, he actually completed a double course of study.  He flourished in the culinary arts and did exceptionally well in business, with the constant coaching of his lover and pair of fathers supporting him in his current home.

The two couldn’t look happier as the reception was winding down after their graduation reception at the University.  Travis had been instrumental in the planning of the food and beverage to be served and had done several ice sculptures to be displayed at the function.  He had worked for the last two years, not because he financially needed to, but because he felt it was the proper apprenticeship for his career.  His boss had reveled in his ideas and suggestions.  Many of the newer clientele had liked Travis’s proposal’s much more that the standard fare his boss had offered for the last forty years through his well established catering firm.  It was with little need for reconsideration that his boss decided it was time to hang up his apron and spend more time with his grandchildren, so he gladly offered to sell Travis the business but, with the caveat that the youngster would have to rename it.  He would receive the assets of the firm, but not the name or any debts.  The previous owner would keep them.  The name of the firm, after all, had been that of the owner and it didn’t contain the word Travis. Any debt, the man felt was his responsibility to take care of.  He knew that in his heart the business under a new name and leadership would take off.  It would be a credit to his legacy to anyone who knew the real story.  His business would not die, it would just transform into something greater.

A matter of a few weeks later Phillip III sat for his bar exam.  It had been a grueling time and only a certain number of recent graduates succeeded in passing the bar the first time.  Besides, he had accelerated his course of studies to be in a position to sit the bar exam just after the same time that Travis graduated with his degree and could really start to get down to business.  There was a good bit more required of a prospective attorney than just a bachelor’s degree; one had to have a Juris Doctor. Phillip had achieved all of that in a very short period of time and, with a lot of sleepless nights and frustrations of not being able to just let things go and enjoy certain times with Travis, he had succeeded.  The following Wednesday he would sit his bar exam.

That morning he got up and made his usual abolitions.  All too soon he was in the kitchen with Mammy imploring him to sit down and eat the breakfast she had prepared for him.  His only comment as he grabbed a cup of coffee and piece of toast was that he was too nervous to eat and would certainly make up for it later at dinner.  Right now he needed to head for the exam and would let her know just as soon as he could how things went, or at least as far as he knew, because he knew it would take at least several days at best to get the official results.

With fond recollection of the note he found left by his pillow, his mind wandered momentarily as he got into his car thinking of the wishes for an easy time with the exam from Travis.  Travis was busy setting up some details with the taking over of the catering firm this morning and had to leave quite early, as before the meeting they had to prepare deliver and serve a breakfast to a major political party that was visiting the Mall of America.  It seems that the governor (the famous ex-wrestler), who was the center of attraction for this gathering, had heard of Travis and his fame and specifically requested that he be the one to provide the service.   Needless to say this was just the type of feather in his cap that could go a long way toward establishing this new and coming caterer.

Travis had a very busy but satisfying day enjoying the ability to return to the mansion and the welcoming of Mammy and Earnest.  He was on pins and needles as he waited for Phillip to return from his bar exam.  Mammy readily agreed that dinner would be held till Phillip III would return home.  His father was off again and would not be back until Friday afternoon.  The clock kept ticking away and nervousness was reaching newer levels as everyone wondered what could be taking so long.  So far as they knew the exam was to over by 4:30 at the latest.  No one sitting for the exam could take longer that the allotted time and it was up by then.   When the clock finally chimed 7:30 all was not well and a feeling of foreboding was all too prevalent.  Within a matter of minutes the phone rang startling everyone but raising the hope that it was Phillip about to apologize for making everyone worry but he had somehow once again come to the rescue of someone and would soon be home.

To be continued...

A special thanks to Jesse Mercer for editing.

Posted: 08/20/10