This story is by Phil Manuel and was part of our 2024 Fall Writing Contest. You can find all the writing contest stories here.
A walk in the park is rarely just that. For John, walking along the bay that day, was all about coming up with a plan around his dad’s crazy choices, to avoid the company’s collapse. The lightning was striking in the distance, but there was no rain. The sunlight could hardly get through the thickness of the clouds in the horizon. John had spent all his life preparing to take over his dad, managing the largest fishing fleet in Sydney. He had done everything his dad had asked of him over the years, working at the docks as a teenager, going out fishing for a few years, then university and finally becoming part of the board of directors. Still, his dad, Patrick, gave him little credit, especially since his divorce from John’s mother, Theresa. Patrick became fixated in bragging about being a self-made man, who had built the company alone. Recently, only three months away from retiring, he decided to sell and merge with an American company, that would start by none other than cutting jobs and getting rid of the board of directors. He wanted the money to sponsor his newfound lavish lifestyle. John was still shaken by the stories of his dad’s betrayals towards his mum that led to their divorce. Even his soft heart could not accept Patrick’s new self-centred ways.
The smell of the barbecuing meat was mouth-watering, and the smoke had created a cloud covering the whole backyard, where the noise of the children playing contrasted with the calmness of the music coming from the large speakers. John had just arrived to one of those weekly parties Patrick had decided to throw, advancing celebrations of his retirement. He grabbed a drink from the waiter’s tray and walked towards the group.
“You won’t have to hear me yelling at you every time you mess things up anymore after I retire, son”
Patrick laughed at John, looking around at the other board members at the party, silently demanding they laughed along. John smiled, ready to throw the glass of wine at his dad’s face.
Sitting at the table, ready to start their meal, Patrick was becoming louder, disinhibited by the two glasses of sparkling wine he had drank on an empty stomach.
“Oh, I was married for far too long!” Patrick stated “In fact, I should never have gotten married in the first place” he said, bursting out laughing, accompanied by his choir of subordinates.
“I grew this company from nothing and made Fish Fish Ltd the biggest fishing company in the country! Single handedly!”
Everyone laughed, this time looking to the side and avoiding eye contact. They all knew John was against the merge with the Americans. In fact, they all thought it was bad, but no one had the courage to tell Patrick. John had always been his dad’s jack of all trades. He wanted to say something. Claim his contribution. His life of dedication. His massive role in managing the human resources, cleaning up the frequent mess left behind by Patrick’s wild temper and tantrums, leaving many employees threatening to quit. His role in stabilising the finances and in revolutionising the marketing strategy. How dare he brag about being a self-made man?
Patrick kept on his ego-trip, claiming this merge would benefit everyone. But John knew everyone’s jobs were at stake. The only person benefiting was his dad, who would get paid his weight in gold. John’s watch bleeped incessantly, warning that he had now been beating at 100/min for over half an hour. “What type of exercise?” was the question on the screen. John was looking down at his watch, his face flushing, bitting his lips, when suddenly, “crack!”, John smashed his wine glass, cutting his fingers and bringing the table to a halt. He got up, looked at the top of the table and shouted
“No one benefits from this, but you!”.
“What do you now?” dad replied,
“What do I know? I know this company back to front and top to bottom, like you never did! If you sell now, we don’t stand a chance! The Americans will start by dismissing the board of directors, then cutting half the jobs and then they will take over the profits!” John argued,
“John, you wouldn’t even be here if it was not for me!” Patrick said, volume still up,
“You want me to thank you? For bringing me into existence? Thank you, father!” John said, leaving Patrick startled. “Do you know the only reason I invested so much in this company was to make you proud of me? When I start working at the docks, as a teenager, do you think I was having fun? I just wanted to be a part of this to be with you!” John explained, “But years went by, and it all became a part of me too. When you finally decided to nominate me for the board, it was long due.”
“Well, business is no place for softies! Maybe I should never have nominated you! You turned out just like your mother!” Patrick accused,
“Don’t you dare put my mother’s name in your mouth again” John raged, this time, making everyone stand up around the table, “You abused her, betrayed her and beat her… and she never took you down because of her good heart. You made a mockery of her, all your life! And now, you’re making a mockery of everyone who’s stuck with you for so many years in this company. You want to sell the company? Our company? You will have to survive tomorrow’s meeting!” John finished, threw his napkin onto the table and walked away, leaving several paralysed bodies standing around the table.
The razor cut through John’s upper lip, but he didn’t even flinch. The steam fogging up the mirror, made his reflection look like a supernatural creature, as he shaved. He felt the pain but didn’t care. He was ready to die at the board meeting later that day. The wild end to his dad’s party the night before had made things clearer. It was not about his father passing the torch, it was about him fighting for it.
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