Everyone, this is long. For some reason I can't seem to write shorter stories. If you don't like long stories, please, this is not for you. There is some sex, but not a lot. There are plenty of authors on this site that do that much better than I can.
Finally, if you decide to read it, I hope you enjoy it.
FAMILY BUSINESS
Sitting at the airport this Thursday morning I wondered why I wasn't as excited as I thought I should be. Brittany was off with my Mom at Starbucks, I saw my dad wandering back to the gate where I sat. Who knows where Taylor was. It was a last minute thing that he was even here.
My dad sat down next to me and slung his arm across the back of my seat. He studied me for a moment..
"What's the problem Bub?" He asked. "You don't look like you're about to go on any vacation." He stated.
He was right. My mood was less than upbeat. Nine days at a beautiful home near Mauna Lani on the big island of Hawaii, why wasn't I in a more festive mood? I'd: seen the pictures on the website. Beautiful views, tropical vegetation, our own private infinity pool! What else could you ask for?
"Sorry Dad," I said. "I guess I'm just concerned about the business." I told him.
That statement was partially true.
And then my dad went on a long rambling explanation of why we didn't need to worry about the business. We only had two projects going right now. The big one with the deck, pergola and water feature, Albert and Roman were on. They had that under control.
The other job, the Mackenzie's, was much smaller and simpler. Just a small deck and railing job. That wasn't the problem. It was the Mackenzie's. They nit picked every little detail. If it had been up to me, I would've never agreed to take on that project. But Taylor sold it and we were stuck with it.
I gazed down the concourse and saw my beautiful wife Brittany, my mom, and my brother Taylor talking and laughing as they sipped their overpriced Starbucks beverages.
No, I thought, the business wasn't the real problem. Something was off between Brittany and me. This vacation to Hawaii started off as a getaway for just the two of us. Then my mom got wind of it and took it over. It became a family vacation.
I glanced at my big brother Taylor gliding through the airport, not a worry in the world. He was supposed to bring his latest girlfriend, but that relationship fell apart. Then he wasn't going to go. He'd stay home and manage the business, but my mom talked him into coming solo at the last minute. To be honest I can't say I was glad he was on the trip.
Deep in thought I didn't hear the latest boarding announcement.
"Tim," Brittany grabbed my arm, "we're boarding. Come on!" She pulled me up.
Walking down the jetway to board, that tickle of uneasiness remained. I couldn't quite identify the source, but somehow I knew something was not quite right.
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
School had always been difficult for me. My early memories of school were negative. Frustration and failure were the feelings I associated with school. As the other kids progressed in reading, writing and vocabulary, I was stuck. I just couldn't read. I now know that I have dyslexia, but at the time there was no diagnosis. 'Some children are just slower' my teacher had said.
I would notice the looks of disappointment from my mother after the latest parent-teacher conference. At one point they talked of putting me in special ed. By the time I realized this was for the mentally handicapped children, fortunately, that idea had been discarded.
Reading for me was slow. I ended up memorizing words. There was no way I could work anything out phonetically, so I memorized. Think about it like this: we all understand the shape and color of a stop sign. And we know what it means. That's how I would read. But as I said it was a much slower process than regular reading. Words were symbols for me. I had to really concentrate. The idea of reading for pleasure was absurd.
The backdrop to my scholastic struggles was my brother Taylor. School for him was easy. And for that matter life for Taylor seemed easy. He was the smart kid, the star athlete, the fun one to be around. My parents were proud of Taylor and praised him often. Particularly my Mom.
It was obvious to me even at an early age I was a disappointment to my mother. My dad was always fairly even keeled about me and most things, not my mother. Her children's success was the barometer that she believed she was measured by. Naturally she gravitated to Taylor.
By the time I reached high school the disparity between my brother and I was stark. He was the popular outgoing athlete and I was the introverted, sullen younger brother. Don't get me wrong, I was a pretty good athlete myself but I didn't command the same respect as my taller, charismatic older brother.
Taylor's senior year, my sophomore year, he was one of the captains of the football team. He received a scholarship to play for a small, somewhat prestigious college back east.
Meanwhile I played JV football, was on the track team, and wrestled varsity. Though my parents never missed one of Taylor's football games, my wrestling matches were rarely attended. My senior year I placed fourth at state at 156 pounds. A fairly decent accomplishment. My dad showed up for the tournament, but not my mom.
It would be hard to call Taylor and I buddies. There were times I was swept up in activities with him and the popular crowd, but it was rare that he would seek me out and invite me to participate. Within our family Taylor was unarguably the star. I was relegated to the background.
My mother was the energy in our family. She wore the pants. My easy going dad just came along for the ride. This relationship was particularly pronounced because we had a family business, Designed Outdoor Spaces. Originally it was called Frank Boucher Landscaping, and my dad had run it with a few seasonal employees.
When my Mom got involved it changed. We took on bigger projects, did more construction, hired more people and expanded the scope of the business. My mom felt we needed a name that matched the scope of our business.
And she was right. Certainly my mother had her weaknesses, but have no doubt, she was smart and driven. Though my father was nominally listed as 'president' of the company, my mom ran things.
All through high school Taylor and I worked for DOS (Designed Outdoor Spaces) on weekends, vacations, and throughout the summer. I liked the work. The challenges I had reading shaped the way I learned things. I paid close attention, extremely focused on the goal. This served me well within the family business. This was one of the few areas in which my skill surpassed Taylor's.
When Taylor and I worked together it was always a competition. Who could do things faster, who was stronger, etc. It wasn't long before I began beating Taylor at these competitions regularly. This infuriated him. His younger, smaller, brother was outdoing him.
He rationalized my superior workmanship by saying the work was 'blue collar. That he was a 'white collar' type. The work was below him, and on and on. The summer I graduated Taylor stayed back east to do an internship. I worked for the family business that summer. I have to admit I felt far less stress with Taylor not around.
My plan was to go to community college in the fall and continue to work at the family business, DOS. By the end of the summer I was running a crew by myself. My dad ran the landscaping crew, and Roman, our grouchy, long term employee, was in charge of the construction crew. My mom ran the business from the home office.
The office was in a shop on my parents' large three acre property. On the property was our newer family home, the large shop with the office at one end, and the original small older house that was now vacant on the property. The land was worth a lot of money. Prime land was valuable in Central Oregon.
Throughout high school I'd had a few girlfriends. Nothing too serious, nor long term. In high school I was always known as Taylor's little brother, so much so, I began to think of myself like that. My confidence with the opposite sex was not particularly high.
