foyer, wearing an expensive tailored suit, which had been custom-made for him by an Italian designer from Milan. “Maria,” he asked, “have you seen my son?”
“Here I am, Dad,” Charles Jr. shouted as he jumped from the staircase down to the foyer. “The limo’s here. I heard the horn, Dad. I know that you have to leave.” Charles Jr. reached down and grabbed a suitcase with one hand and his father’s arm with the other hand. He attempted to rush them both out of the house as fast as he could.
To his surprise and disappointment his father would not budge. He refused to allow himself to be coerced out the door.
“Look, son,” said Charles Sr., “I am not in a hurry, and I am not running late. So you can forget this attempt of yours to try and rush me out of this house. I am going to be out of the country for at least three weeks. You might as well slow down because I’m going to set a few rules to make sure that you understand what I expect from you while I’m gone.
“First of all, I want it perfectly understood that Maria is in charge while I’m gone.”
“The maid?” Charles asked, the surprise evident in his voice.
“That’s right,” responded his father. “Maria is fully capable of taking care of things while I’m gone.”
“But, Dad, I’m old enough to take care of myself,” Charles protested. “It’s not like it’s the first time that you’ve gone out of town before.”
“It’s different this time, son,” replied Charles Senior. “I am not just going on an overnight business trip. I will be out of the country for at least three weeks. There is no way that I am going to leave a sixteen-year-old kid here to fend for himself without adult supervision.
“Besides, I’m really giving you the benefit of the doubt by trusting you to be here under Maria’s supervision alone. I could call your mother and have you stay with her while I am gone.”
“No!” The words blurted out of Charles’s mouth. “No, Dad, that won’t be necessary. I love Mom, but, whew, she’s too strict.”
“Well, see that you don’t make me regret that decision,” said his father.”
“I won’t dad,” he said. “Oh, Dad, what about—”
“Money?” replied Charles Sr. “I have arranged for my bank to transfer three hundred dollars into your savings account every Friday until I return. That should cover any recreational needs that may come up.
“Secondly, I don’t want you in my room going through any of my drawers trying to find and use my credit cards. I paid off the balance on your student Visa card. You should have approximately five hundred dollars available on it.”
“Thanks, Dad!”
“Not so fast, son. The Visa card is only to be used in the case of an emergency. Is that understood?”
“Yeah, I get you, Dad,” Charles said, “but what do you constitute as an emergency?”
“Nothing that involves you purchasing any ridiculous electronic equipment,” replied Charles Senior. “And last but not least, under no circumstances are you to drive nor touch my Ferrari.”
“But, Dad!” Charles said pleadingly. “What am I supposed to drive?”
“The Ford.”
“That old thing?” responded Charles. “I’ll look like an old man driving that old car. Why can’t you trust me enough to let me drive the Ferrari?”
“Because not only are you sixteen years old, you are a new driver as well,” said Charles Sr. “Adding you onto the Ford’s insurance policy was the only way that I could keep my insurance premium down to an acceptable rate.”
“But I won’t be able to pick up any girls in that old car.”
“My heart goes out to you, son, but it’s either the Ford or the bus,” he said sternly. “I’d advise you to decide quickly before I make the decision for you.”
“I guess I have no choice,” Charles said reluctantly. “I’ll have to drive the Ford.”
“One more thing, son. I don’t want you hanging around East Palo Alto while I’m gone.”
“Why?” asked Charles, unable to understand the reasoning behind this request.
“Well, basically because of the kinds of trouble that I know that you can get yourself into,” responded his father. “Son, those kids over in East Palo Alto are very rough and are street smart. I know that you think that you are tough from all the martial arts training that you have. But believe me, son, you don’t know what it is like to grow up on that side of the tracks in a rough neighborhood. I do because I grew up in Chicago. So I know that restricting you from hanging out over there while I’m gone will be the best thing for you.”
There was a moment of silence. Charles Sr. could see the disappointment in his son’s eyes. “Oh, by the way,” he said, “I have informed Maria that Dale and Douglas have my permission to stay here with you while I’m gone. I trust both of those young men, and I know that they will make sure that you get to school on time.”
“Thanks, Dad. At least that turned out cool.”
“Okay, son. Then I will see you in about three weeks.”
“See ya, Dad,” he said, shaking his father’s hand.
Charles watched as his father walked out of the house and enter the limousine. Seconds later, the limousine pulled out from the driveway.
“Señor Junior,” Maria called out. “Tu Quiere Desayuno? Would you like some breakfast?” she asked in Spanish?
“No, quiero [No, thank you,” responded Charles. “I need to get to school early.”
Charles ran up the stairs. Upon reaching the top of the stairs, he could hear the telephone ringing in his bedroom. “Hello,” he said, picking up the telephone.
“What’s up, man?” replied the voice on the other end of the telephone. “It’s Dennis.”
“What’s up, Dennis?”
“Are we still cool for this weekend?” Dennis asked.
“This weekend?” asked Charles.
“Yeah, this weekend,” replied Dennis.
Charles thought to himself for a moment. Then it hit him. Dollar night on the Boardwalk at the Santa Cruz Beach. “Man, I don’t know how I could have forgotten.”
“Man, I don’t see how you could forget,” said Dennis. “Do you know how many beautiful females are going to be there on the beach tonight?” The excitement in his voice registering loudly over the telephone. “I’ll bet we’re going to be so busy chasing women all night long that we probably will be so tired that we won’t get up until it’s time to go to the party tomorrow night.”
“What party?” asked Charles.
“Man, have you been drinking or what?” Dennis asked playfully. “The party tomorrow night at the rec center in East Palo Alto. We’ve been planning this thing for over two weeks. I know that you are not going to fake out on me now, are you?”
“No, no. It’s not that. I’m not trying to fake out on you,” said Charles. “A few things have happened since we made these plans. First off, my father left out of town on a business trip.”
“That’s cool,” said Dennis. “That means that we have the house to ourselves this weekend. So, if we play it right, we could both end up bringing a couple of fine little honeys home with us tonight.”
“Yeah, under any other circumstance that would be cool,” said Charles, “but my father left explicit instructions that I couldn’t have anyone stay over here while he was gone, except for Dale and Doug.”