“I appreciate that, Mag. Anyway, let me know if you think of anyone.”
“I will, Bro. I hope you’re staying away from George and Bobby Abbott.”
“I went to see a movie last week and when I came out I ran into them on the street. They wanted to go to a bar for a drink, but I refused. They seemed a bit pissed off. They have no beef with me, though. I didn’t squeal on them and they know it.”
“After they left you holding the bag, you would think they’d be ashamed to show their faces around you. They’re walking the streets because you took the rap for them. I don’t know how they have avoided doing time all these years.”
“Me neither. I guess they know the right people. Anyway, I promised you that I wouldn’t have anything to do with them when I got out and I’ve kept that promise.”
“I’m proud of you, Wil. It would have been so easy to slip back into that life again, especially with society making it difficult for you to return to the mainstream.”
“It matters what you think of me. You were my closest friend when we were growing up. Richard never cared about me, except as a punching bag, but you I could always depend on. Sometimes I wish we could go back to those days. I know that things would have ended better for me if only I had listened to your warnings about the Abbotts.”
“I think a lot about those days too. I didn’t have a lot of friends or do a lot of dating, so the hours we spent together, smoking cigarettes, drinking beer, and practicing dancing and kissing meant a lot to me.”
“Oh, my god, I almost forgot about that.” He raised his eyebrows and gave her a lascivious look. “As I remember, you were the one who taught me to French kiss.”
Her face turned crimson. “As I remember, you were a quick learner. It’s a wonder that we didn’t land up in bed together.”
“Well, we almost did. Don’t you remember that one day when we were practicing kissing and I got caught up in the emotion of the situation and felt your breast? Of course, nothing happened because Mom and Dad came home just then.”
Maggie looked shocked. “I certainly hope that you don’t think that was the only reason we stopped. Don’t flatter yourself, lover boy. I wouldn’t have let it go any further. Give me credit for having some restraint. That would have ruined everything between us.” She shook her head. “You guys get so full of yourselves when you’re in puberty. From the sound of you now, it looks as if it doesn’t end there.”
“It’s all those raging hormones. Anyway, you’re right, that would have ruined everything.”
They walked back to the house, arm in arm. Richard and Theresa were standing by the front steps when they reached the house.
“We’re going to be leaving now,” Richard said.
Theresa hugged Maggie and Wilson. “I’m glad we finally met. I hope we can get together again before the wedding.”
“I’d like that,” Maggie replied.
Richard reached out his hand to Wilson. “No hard feelings, I hope.”
“None as far as I’m concerned,” Wil answered, as he shook Richard’s hand.
“I’m glad. I know that I go overboard sometimes and still try to bully my kid brother. Anyway, I am truly sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it, Bro. We’re good.”
Richard and Theresa waved as their car pulled out of the driveway.
Maggie started up the stairs. “We better get inside and see if Mom and Dad need any help cleaning up.”
As they came in the front door they were greeted by their mother and father. “You just missed Richard and Theresa. They had to leave early.”
“We met them on their way out,” Maggie said.
Marilyn smiled. “I’m so glad you did. I think they delayed leaving for a while so they could say good-bye to you. I sensed that Richard was feeling some remorse for some of the things he said at dinner. Theresa is such a lovely girl, isn’t she? I’m pretty sure that in spite of ourselves, we made a good impression on her. What do you think?”
“Oh, I’m sure we did,” Maggie answered. “I didn’t sense any discomfort on her part whatsoever. You can tell when a person is uncomfortable. Actually, I would say this was one of the better Symington Thanksgiving dinners on record.”
Marilyn looked relieved. “Well, I’m happy that you feel that way. Are you two going to stick around for a while? I can set out some coffee and leftover desserts on the porch.”
Wilson looked at Maggie and saw approval. “That would be great, Mom. That walk sort of worked off the dinner for me. If I didn’t say so before, everything was delicious.”
“I’m so glad you liked it. Thanks to Maggie’s help, everything came out fine.”
Maggie just smiled. There was no sense stating the obvious; that all she had been allowed to do was peel a few fruits and vegetables, prepare the pie crusts, and heat up the croissants. Although her mother had earlier given her the credit for the sweet potato soufflé, all she had to do was heat it up for thirty minutes. As usual, Marilyn had already done the brunt of the work.
Marilyn headed off to the kitchen to get things ready and Ron put his arms around his children’s shoulders and led them to the porch. “In the meantime, we can watch some of the second game if you’d like.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Maggie said, as she picked up the remote. “What channel is it on?”
***
Several hours later, when they were finally alone, Ron and Lynn were in bed, watching an old movie. Both were naked, having made love the minute they hit the sheets. All the tension of the day finally and noisily dissipated as both came quickly.
“That was wonderful, Ron. I don’t think I could have waited another minute. All the time that Maggie and Wilson were watching TV, I was willing them to say goodnight.”
“You must have been reading my mind, Lynn. Another ten minutes and I would have taken you by the hand, told them to lock up when they left, and dragged you off to the bedroom.”
“My, aren’t you the big strong cave-man.”
“I can be when I have to be.”
She rolled over and kissed him. “Well, go easy on the hair when you drag me into your cave.”
“Not to change the subject, but today went well. I mean given our record.”
“I agree. There was just that spat at the table and another when we were out on the porch. Richard tried to start in again, but I managed to step in before it got out of hand. As Maggie pointed out, it was one of our better Thanksgiving dinners.”
“I’m so glad of that, especially with Theresa joining us. Richard has a keeper, there. She’s a very lovely girl.”
“Yes, she seems to be. I didn’t get much time to talk with her, but she seems very nice.”
“She’ll be good for him. We had a nice chat while you guys were watching the game. She’s very level headed and wants to have at least two children. I know that many women look at becoming a grandmother as something awful; a sign of aging, but I can’t wait till I have some little ones calling me granny.”
“Well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves, Lynn. Let’s get them married first.”
Chapter 9
Growing up in the Symington House was pretty much a classic example of sibling behaviorism. Birth order, at least according to many experts, is considered more of a determiner of success in life than parental influences, per se.
Richard was the firstborn of the Symington family. As new parents, Ron and Lynn were forced to experiment with their offspring, going through a period of trial and error. Unsure of just what to do, they pampered Richard. Firstborns tend to become leaders, more than likely because of the role they accede to as the eldest sibling.
It is also not too difficult to understand how the firstborn ultimately becomes controlling. They have an undeniable position as the eldest sibling. Parents look to them for help with the second and subsequent additions to the family. Growing up in this position of unfettered support, firstborns are prone to becoming leaders at school and eventually become very successful at
their chosen profession.
Middle children are inclined to be what their name implies; siblings stuck in between an older and a younger brother or sister. Their lives often reflect this position; quite often they are over-active, rebellious, and crowd pleasers.
Wilson’s life mirrored this classic definition of the middle child. His older brother Richard bullied him for most of their life together. Being caught betwixt-and-between for most of his childhood, the only respite he had was the birth of his baby sister Margaret. He immediately identified with Margaret as an opportunity to be superior to someone or something.
As soon as she could walk, Margaret, the lastborn, found life to be freer than her predecessors. Her parents assumed that raising the first two made them savvy. They expected the older siblings to play a moderate role in raising the child. In reality, Richard, the eldest, resented the unwanted role as babysitter and did everything in his power to sidestep the responsibility; usually by passing it on to Wilson, who readily accepted it as an opportunity to bond with the newcomer and give his life some meaning in the familial structure. The support of Wilson served to strengthen her position in the family.
Margaret played her role as lastborn with alacrity and a bit of impishness. Early on she was aware of the extra attention Wilson paid her and that, combined with being Daddy’s little girl, was all she needed to feel at home in the Symington household.
Maggie was popular in school and a good student. She was part of the right crowd and was active in school programs. She volunteered for neighborhood, political, and church activities, where she could be the center of attention.
Chapter 10
Monday at the Symington Medical Center—8:45 a.m.
“Are you sure about these figures, Pete?” he asked as he went through the numbers.
“As sure as I can be. I can certify the October numbers and the estimates for November for most of the practices. Their billings are mostly tied to private and government insurance payments which, even though they have a built-in delay, come in like clockwork. Family Medicine and Podiatry both have their private payment plans and they tell me many of their patients are behind in their payments and are asking for more time to pay.”
The Symington Medical Center occupied a three story building in the center of town. The twelve medical disciplines represented included Cardiology, Family Medicine, Gastroenterology, Internal Medicine, Neurology, ENT, Obstetrics & Gynecology, Oncology & Hematology, Pediatrics, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Pulmonology, and Rheumatology. They represented a group of highly qualified, Board-certified medical physicians and specialists, each recognized in their area of expertise. Most offered same day appointments, evening, and Saturday hours.
On the first day of a calendar quarter, each of the practices paid a percentage of their revenues to Symington Medical Center, Inc. The upcoming payment deadline, January 1, was the subject of this meeting being held between Dr. Ronald Symington and Dr. Peter Mickelson, a pediatrician by trade, Ron’s original partner, and the Center’s accountant and general manager.
“It looks like the fourth quarter revenues that will be reported on January 3rd will be off about ten percent year-to-year. The fiscal year will be up about four percent.”
“The shareholders will never stand for that. We’ve had forty-one consecutive quarters of increases since we incorporated. Our yearly growth trend has averaged over nine percent. There’ll be a lot of questions, especially from John Baker over at the Harvest Investment Fund. We represent a large part of their portfolio.”
“I tried moving things around every which way, but no matter how I worked the numbers I couldn’t change the bottom line. I have to be very careful; too many footnotes send up flags for discerning analysts.”
Ron sat quietly for a few minutes to let the full impact of the problem sink in. Finally he leaned forward and asked, “What if the figures somehow included estimated revenues from the in-house drug dispensary and the physical rehab center?”
“I can’t use those figures. Those two companies haven’t even been approved by the New Business Committee. Sure, the estimated revenues would be more than enough to offset any revenue reduction, but even if they were approved before year end, we wouldn’t see any income until the end of the first quarter of next year. It would be unethical to include those figures in our current financial report. I could use them as fluff in my outlook for next year, though.”
“I always thought of you as inventive, Pete. The biggest corporations in the world practice creative accounting. Hell, many of them have billions in revenue and don’t pay any corporate income taxes. I’m not asking you to lie, just to be a little resourceful.”
“That’s easy for you to say. I’m the one in the spotlight.”
“I have to sign the reports too. Anyway, all we have to do is get the addition of Mitchum’s Pharmacy and St. Stephen’s Rehabilitation Center approved by the New Business Committee. John’s had the applications for two months already. I’ll go talk to him. In my opinion you can carry this due diligence thing too far. He’s had more than enough time to do whatever vetting is required by his committee.”
Dr. John Hazleton, head of the Cardiology Group, was chairman of the New Business Committee. The committee was responsible for investigating and approving any enterprise seeking to join the Symington Medical Center, Inc. group. Dr. Hazleton ruled the committee with an iron fist. He resented anyone trying to circumvent the stringent procedures that he established upon taking on this responsibility. He was especially bitter because Ron took advantage of his absence the previous year to ramrod the approval of a new business. Ron waited until John was off on a vacation cruise to call the New Business Committee together and pressure them into approval of the Wallington Sleep Disorder Clinic. John Hazleton wasn’t a man to forget, or to easily forgive.
“I wish you luck, Ron. I’m concerned that the bad blood between you two is going to be a potential road-block for approval of the two new companies. Don’t forget that I can’t do anything until you secure those signatures. Even then, I still have a queasy feeling about this. We have a catch twenty-two with this whole thing that may come back to bite us in the ass.”
“You don’t have to remind me. I’ll just have to make him understand how important it is that we sign those two up by year end. Hell, I don’t even care if the leases are only three years instead of five. We need to do whatever it takes.”
“Remember that this only gets us off the hook for our last quarter. In light of what will still be a flat finish for this year, the stockholders are going to be expecting a bright forecast for next year. The way things seem to be trending, even with the addition of these two lucrative businesses, I don’t see any super fireworks for next year.”
“You worry too much, Pete. First things first. After we get by the year-end report, I’ll work with you on the forecasts for next year.”
Chapter 11
Monday at the Symington Medical Center—9:20 a.m.
Ron felt uncomfortable sitting at the small conference table in Dr. John Hazleton’s office. It was the most expensively decorated office in the building, being furnished out of the doctor’s personal funds rather than from the construction budget. John’s taste leaned toward the flashy and didn’t seem to adhere to one style or another. He had a mixture of Oriental, Mediterranean, American Indian and African artifacts, wall coverings, antiquities, carpets, furniture, and sculptures placed around the office in no particular order, as far as Ron could tell. That was Dr. John Hazleton; renegade in his personal style and in his business practices.
John was chosen as chairman of the New Business Committee for two reasons. First, because he wasn’t on any other committee at the time, and second, because his scholastic training seemed, at the time, to support the special analytical skills that would be needed to do a thorough vetting of any candidate wanting to join the group.
The New Business Committee did an excellent job of screening new partners for the first two years. Th
en, as the open slots narrowed, John raised the standards higher than many of the other partners believed necessary. Conflict arose between some of the partners and John when the committee rejected several businesses that the partners had supported.
Dr. John Hazleton, it seemed, was more interested in new partners that would make a larger than normal contribution to the profits of the corporation or would present a prestigious aura for the Center. To him, with only two slots left, it was now or never if the partners expected a higher return from the enterprise. Most of the other partners were looking to the longer term and wanted more diversity in the disciplines represented, rather than immediate profit enhancement. Several of the partners even talked of removing John from his responsibility as chairman.
When Dr. John Hazleton entered a room, he did so with much bravado. He was a man in his late fifties, six-three, and one hundred and ninety-five pounds. He visited a salon periodically to trim and touch up his jet black hair. It was apparent that he knew the value of his magnetic persona and took advantage of every opportunity to primp and pose regardless of the gender or status of his audience.
“Good morning, Ron, so sorry to keep you waiting. Holidays always seem to mess up our schedules. I hope you and Lynn had a very nice Thanksgiving.”
“Yes, we did, John, and I hope you and Lorraine had the same.”
“We certainly did. Dorothy was home from school and Michael drove down from Rhode Island with Betty and the kids. It was nice having a houseful of family again. Dorothy stayed the weekend and left for school this morning. That’s why I’m a bit late. I wanted to give her a proper sendoff.”
“I know we were on for nine; I apologize. It’s just that I only get to see her a few times a year since she transferred to Oregon State University for her PhD. OSU has an outstanding program for New Venture Research. I don’t know exactly what that all entails, but it’s what she has her heart set on doing. I know that whatever she does, she’ll be good at it. She has a great mind and total dedication to whatever she pursues. So, Ron, what’s on your mind this morning?”
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