“I know, Dad. I try to set a good example.”
“Then why did I pick up the newspaper this morning and read a story about you flying to Dubai with the wife of an Atlanta Braves player?”
I cringed.
I had hoped that story wouldn’t get published, and even had tried to bribe the tabloid not to write it. But knowing that it had been published in the Herald meant that more than just the tabloids had pictures from that trip.
“In my defense, I didn’t know she was married.”
“Chase, she has her wedding ring on in the photo.”
“Hmmm, that’s a wedding ring?”
“Don’t give me that bullshit. You spend your nights out with married women, and you’re drinking and partying all the time. I’ve just about had it with you. Life isn’t all about fun and games. When are you going to settle down? When are you going to get over this wild phase?”
“I’ll come to work today. Will that make you feel better?”
“Don’t mock me, Chase. Either you want a job at Foster Industries or you don’t.”
“Dad, give me a fucking break. You’re not going to fire me. I’m your son.”
“That’s it. I’m done with this. I thought closing our joint account was enough, but apparently it isn’t. As of today, I will no longer carry your loans, pay your debts, or provide you any financial assistance. You want to be a grown up, then I need to see you start acting like one. Settle down, find a nice girl, maybe even show up for work.”
“Are you seriously saying you’re not even going to pay for my house until I settle down?”
I saw my father think about everything for a moment. I knew he wanted me to calm down my lifestyle, and I had felt the money pinch when he stopped paying for most of my things. But cutting me off entirely meant I would have no money at all.
“I planned to hand this company over to you at the stockholders’ meeting. Now, I can’t see that as an option. I’m going to start looking for a suitable replacement.”
“Seriously, Dad? You’re going to fucking leave me with nothing?”
“You have until the shareholders’ meeting to get your life together. I don’t know exactly how you’re going to do that in only a few short months. But if you don’t, I’ll hand the company over to someone else. I would suggest you start by showing up to work every day!”
He turned and walked out of my room. The look on his face showed me that he was one hundred percent serious. I had seen that look before, and there was no way I could fight him on that. I had seen the same look in his eyes when he had told all four of my brothers they either needed to commit to working with him or leave.
I had seen that look in his eyes when I was in high school and continually fucked
around and got bad grades. My father had always allowed us to make a reasonable amount of mistakes on our own, but at some point, he would snap and put his foot down. He got tired of the messing around and forced my brothers and me to make a decision about what it was we really wanted out of life.
My brothers had all tried to work with Dad, but he was too difficult for them to get along with. The job itself was a great job. The company was a great company. The problem always came back to working with Dad. He was stubborn and stuck in the past. Any kind of innovation was difficult for him, unless it was specific to the parts we made and the costs to make them. He seemed to totally miss the idea that social media, websites, and other changes could really bring in a lot of money or save a lot of money.
But I had to try. I couldn’t let him push me out of the company as he had my brothers. I wasn’t really good at anything else. I had to make it work with my father.
All four of my brothers had business degrees and other passions they wanted to pursue. I didn’t have anything else I wanted to do. I loved working at my father’s company. I just needed to fix things and bring him into the future. The constraint of showing up to the office day after day wasn’t really my thing, either. I liked it much more when he sent me off to check on our vendors or factories. But, I also needed to build up my persona so people actually took me seriously. I couldn’t make any changes if everyone just thought I was my father’s fuck-up of a son.
I jumped up and ran after my dad.
“Dad, don’t leave like this. Let’s sit down and talk about this. Stay. Have some breakfast.”
He paused at my front door and looked at me as if he was going to just leave.
“Make me some eggs and we can talk. But I’m not changing my mind. You need to show some kind of stability or I can’t give you the company. Stockholders need someone they can trust, and they aren’t about to trust you after all the publicity I’ve seen about you and your women lately.”
“I know, Dad.”
“What happened? You used to be so invested in the company. Is it all the women?”
I had to laugh. My father talking about me and my women was pretty damn funny. He was the king of affairs and secret rendezvous. Admittedly, that was all in his past. It was still hard for me to talk about leading a moral and upstanding life with a man who had cheated on my mother at least a dozen times while I was young.