Prologue: (Mother sometimes likes to roll down the back windows of her Cadillac XTS when autumn is at its’ peak in Louisville, Kentucky. The loss of hearing, the momentary loss of balance when your eardrums do not know what to make of the increase in pressure. The cool wind issuing a challenge to your lungs to heat the air quickly as it enters your nose. Now run through today’s schedule as you block out all exterior stimuli. Justus will give me a report on the “Playboy” at 0845. Nicole will give me a first review of her advertising plan for the “Playboy” at 1000. I have a council meeting at 1100 in the Brookes Slave Ship room. Lastly I have a working lunch from 1300 until done that is being catered.
Mother smiles at these little games she plays with herself. Inside she knows they are not games, but sound techniques to keep her mentality sharp at all times. Enough for now, roll the windows up and prepare for arrival.)
Mother Sayer: (Greets all her people with genuine fondness and joy as she is always happy to see them back to work on Monday morning). Good morning Sarah.
Sarah W. Certainty: Good morning, Mother.
Mother Sayer: How was your vacation?
Sarah W. Certainty: It was wonderful. Thaddeus and the kids had a blast as we all did. The National Museum of the American Indian in Washington D.C. was humbling and informative to our mind and our soul.
Mother Sayer: Good. I am glad you took my recommendation to take a few extra days on your way back from New York to visit the museum. Well in any case, let’s pause the retelling of your trip for later. (In her goodbye, Mother does to Sarah as she always does. Touches her cheek. Her love for her is special and only she and Mother know the backstory.) (Mother steps into the elevator and pushes the button for the 35th floor.)
Mother Sayer: (Mother walks the short distance to her office in the middle of the room.) Good morning Wilma. How are you doing this fine morning?
Wilma B.T.M. Will (2nd of 3): Good morning Mother. All is well. How are you this morning?
Mother Sayer: I am ready to go. Who do we have first?
Wilma B.T.M. Will (2nd of 3): Justus is up first. He will call in at 0845. Nicole will be here at 1000, and you have the council meeting at 1100 in the Brookes Ship Room.
Mother Sayer: (Mother smiles as she knew the lineup already, but wanted to hear her trusted assistant repeat it aloud for audio confirmation.) Good Wilma. I will be in my office.
Mother Sayer: (The call comes in and after she finishes the pleasantries with her son, Justus. The update begins on the “Playboy”.) Are we ready to begin sales of this product.
Justus I. Order: Yes Mother. After 1,000 computer simulations and 3 water drops simulating an in air explosion we have concluded that the data says we are on sound footing with this product.
Mother Sayer: Good, what does finance and accounting say about the price points we can get?
Justus I. Order: The price is $1,350,000. It includes data streaming that activates when a triggering event is detected. The signal is transmitted to our satellite network and we forward that information to the FAA and the NTSB.
Mother Sayer: (This is the progress my father spoke to me about that only comes when you put your mind to something. “Human energy applied to sound plans immersed in disciplined effort leads to expected results”). You’ve done well Justus. Tell your team I will come for a visit soon. Do keep ahold of yourself. You may come at any time and use my council chambers.
Justus I. Order: (I hope Mother didn’t pick up on my frightening reaction as I allowed her words to provoke a response physically.) Ah, thank you for the offer Mother. I need a few more years before I’m ready to go before your council.
Mother Sayer: My my Justus, you shouldn’t believe everything your sources tell you. Very well. Make sure you establish a direct connection with Nicole and her team from now until rollout. I will work my government contacts and the halls of the Federal Government.
Justus I. Order: Understood Mother. It will be done as you wish.
Mother Sayer: Before we sign off today. What other ideas and projects can I expect to bring me more excitement from your division?
Justus I. Order: We have a new software application that is promising. It helps merge available apprenticeships and trade programs with students that are gifted with their hands. Also an application that can be downloaded to cellphones that can help guide residents and newcomers to a city to all that’s available to them. Things like government services, employment that is matched to their skills, housing and so on.
Mother Sayer: Good good that’s enough. (Mother smiles as she now truly knows she made the right decision when she sent her son to make his own way in the world away from her.) I look forward to our next meeting. Goodbye for now my son.
Justus I. Order: Goodbye Mother. (As the video feed goes dark, he knows his Mother only calls him her son when he has pleased her. He knows she had to send him out into the world, but the truth is that she thoroughly prepared him. More importantly he knows that if he did not reach his full potential, she would remove him from his post. My Mother is fair he thinks. The one thing she hates more than anything is to see talent and training squandered.
What did she tell me (drill in me is more appropriate) every chance she got. Watch a professional football game and observe all those talented guys run all over the field. What do you see she would ask? I would answer I see a lot of those players faking the funk. They aren’t playing like the team actually pays them millions of dollars to be accountable when they walk out on the field.
She would emphatically agree and add that it is useless to believe that your physical body is your strongest asset! The mind is your strongest asset! Deploy your mind in unison with your body and it will bring you the success you deserve she would say.) It will be a good day as Mother has always taught me to just do what I know I need to do and all will be okay.
Mother Sayer: (In the meantime as she waits for Nicole to arrive for their 1000 meeting. She relishes in the moments she has had with Justus and the success he has generated at his division. She dismisses any doubt about her toughness on him and she knows it wasn’t in the form of a dictator. It was always done to bring out the man she knew was hiding inside that lovely boy she carried for 9 months.) Wilma?
Wilma B.T.M. Will (2nd of 3): Yes Mother.
Mother Sayer: Inform me of Nicole’s arrival and then have her wait 5 minutes precisely before you send her in.
Wilma B.T.M. Will (2nd of 3): Yes Mother, 5 minutes precisely as ordered.
Mother Sayer: (As ordered the last 5 minutes occurred. Mother greets Nicole and starts their face to face with sharp questions.) Are you finished with the advertising plan and the way you want it to be presented to the government? To the airline industry? To the public?
Nicole: (Wow Mother is not wasting time this morning.) The government and the public viewpoints are done. The airline industry is where my team is having the most difficulties.
Mother Sayer: Would the reason be that one of your team members decided to pillow talk with a flight attendant when he landed in D.C.? What was his name, Terence Dohey?
Nicole: Oh, I didn’t know you knew that. It was straightened out and he apologized for his error in judgment.
Mother Sayer: Did he now? Then why is there a sudden rumbling within the airlines about rumors of a new disaster system about to hit the market?
Nicole: (Suddenly Nicole realizes this is more serious that she thought. What admonishments did she warn me about would happen.) I I don’t I didn’t know the extent of his mistake. I’m so sorry Mother.
Mother Sayer: (Mother looks at Nicole with no expression to read and sighs heavily.) Nicole, do you know the old saying “loose lips sink ships”?
Nicole: Not that exact quote but I know where you’re going with this. The Arc Inc. survives and runs on corporate secrets just as any other company.
Mother Sayer: (Mother cuts her off.) Exactly and secrets take money and time to develop. In this instance, no other company can match our design and production schedule and we have a patent application already in the works at the Federal Patent Office. I can’t stand stupidity Nicole. I can’t understand why every employee under contract to the Arc not know how we operate.
Nicole: Do you want me to kick him off the team? (Nicole knows only Mother has the authority to fire any member of the Arc.)
Mother Sayer: Cast him out! Send him back to his job working in plans and management. I will deal with him further if he disappoints me again. Do you understand?
Nicole: Rest assured Mother, this will be contained. The responsibility for this offense is mine and mine alone. I understand if you want to replace me as lead on this project, but I with respect for my error ask you to graciously give me a chance to correct the mistake.
Mother Sayer: (This isn’t a time for change at the top, but I must be resolute in my displeasure of this incident with her). No Nicole. I will not remove you as head of this team. I am just disappointed. Do better, please.
Nicole: Thank you Mother. I will manage the entire team in the way that you have shown me to do it.
Mother Sayer: (I hope I heard her right, but let me make sure as there can be no more discrepancies in the implementation of my code at the ARC, Inc.) Do you mean that a more engaging air will prevail on this project?
Nicole: Yes Mother, that is exactly what I mean.
Mother Sayer: Good. Do not allow any negative emotions to invade your team or distract them from creating the best advertising program for the ‘PLAYBOY’. “All hardships are the burden of the leader”. Do you understand?
Nicole: (For the first time in her dealings with Mother Sayer, Nicole finally begins to understand how this woman governs her business, her company. It is not because she acts like a man. It is because she is diligent and her intolerance for anyone that works for her to have a slack hand when they are on her time. When you are working on a project for her, work on the project. Mother gives us plenty of time for breaks, lunch, time off for family and medical issues.) Yes Mother. This project will not experience another issue.
Mother Sayer: Very well, Nicole. We will meet again from this point on an indefinite schedule as the ‘PLAYBOY’ becomes fully operational. I will keep you in the loop, as will Justus, when the rollout is planned.
Nicole: Excellent. I will keep you informed. Good day, Mother.
Mother Sayer: Good day Nicole.
Mother Sayer: (Mother sits down in her chair and her thoughts wonder back to a time where her father, Mr. Sayer, took her with him everywhere he went. Mr. Sayer owned a diesel mechanic shop where his employees worked on 18-wheelers, farm tractors, Earthmovers and every form of huge motor invented by man. There was one employee I thought he cherished as an indispensible piece of priceless jewelry. My uncle from my mother’s side, Bartholomew Douglas, was not a ‘go-getter’ like my father.
Bartholomew Douglas had some misperceptions about how life should line up according to his wishes. He was a slacker in school living off the fortune of his good looks. He only obeyed his parents because both of them had to work and were often not home to look after him and his sister. He routinely pushed the limits of what he could get away with in every area of his life.
Bartholomew did come to his senses around 31 when my father made a generous offer to pay for him to learn to work on trucks. Bartholomew didn’t make the decision to accept my father’s offer because he knew it was the best chance to have something in life. He made it because he had a pregnant girlfriend to add to another child he fathered with another woman.
Regardless of these financial realities besetting his conscience, Bartholomew made the right choice to accept my father’s offer to become a mechanic. In spite of his mentality and ever present player tendencies, he excelled in bringing new business to the company by telling all the truckers if they liked the service they received to tell all their friends. With Bartholomew’s good looks and charisma, he was an instant hit in the shop.
Soon, my father had more business than he could handle. My father soon expanded to two locations across Louisville and put my Uncle in charge of one location near 31W close to Pleasure Ridge Park.
That’s when the trouble started. My father chose not to tell me he was having trouble with my uncle. Mr. Sayer didn’t operate that way. My father chose to do as I stated before. He took me with him everywhere after school. I did the rest of my homework in the shop that I couldn’t finish in school.
My father also made it a point to visit my uncle’s location more frequently than he did the ‘legacy’ location he had. I took notice of his every move. I was 16 at the time and eager to learn all I could from him. That is when a force I’ve never felt before began to rise and blanket the shop.
Sure, my father and mother had arguments, but they didn’t feel like the ones occurring fairly often during this period. My father, mother and all his children often ate dinner every Friday night with my Uncle and his family to give thanks to God and celebrate the family’s good fortune.
My father would often ask Bartholomew how things at the PRP location were going? Did we capture every new client on the books and add their totals to the corporate bottom line? Bartholomew would tell him he did and that all records are up to date. My father would sigh and smile acknowledging his answer and change the subject to the children. What they were going to be doing during summer break?
That is when it hit me. My father didn’t give a dam about leisure activities. He felt he had had all the fun a man was due in life. His focus was on leaving a legacy for his children, as death would eventually claim him at a time unbeknownst to him.
My father hated stupidity! My father was a fiercely loyal man. He could have cut loose my mother for all her actions that showed she was not devoted to him. Alas, my father didn’t leave my mother because he felt betrayal was worse than stealing. He could not betray his children. When my father makes a vow, he keeps it. The children still needed him and he would not let them down, period!
It was on a bright and breezy Monday morning in late October. My father was cooking bacon, egg whites, wheat toast with fresh apples and oranges cut up for breakfast. He told me he would be picking me up from school this afternoon. Until then, let’s have a good meal to start our day off right.
My mind was racing even as I smiled back to my father and complimented him on a nice spread he’d made. I waved to my father as I boarded the bus and began my day heading for school.
At 3:15 pm my father was waiting for me in the school parking lot and as I was approaching he got out of the car and hugged me. We exchanged pleasantries and off he told me we were headed to my Uncle’s mechanic and body shop location. I didn’t know what to expect so I talked to my dad about the teacher’s at school and how my friends were behaving.
My father smiled and told me to continue to tell him about my day at school. We soon arrived at the shop and my father told me to pay attention. I was surprised to see my Uncle’s wife there. It really surprised me to see my mother there too.
What’s going on father? He didn’t answer me as we walked into the office. Bartholomew was laughing with a co-worker as he came into the office. My father’s accountant, secretary and lawyer were present. My father asked everyone not invited to please excuse us for a minute.
My father first asked Bartholomew why the books at corporate showed a five hundred thousand dollar shortage? Bartholomew said, “Your records must be off brother-in-law”.
My father turned and asked Timothy to answer that. Timothy answered, “My records show that parts, labor, space and usage of this facility indicated that more work has been done here than has been recorded in the ledger for this location”.)
My father asked Bartholomew again. “Can you explain to me why the records do not match up”?
Bartholomew: I can explain Bro; these are just a few figures that we haven’t reconciled to the company figures yet, that’s all.
Mr. Sayer: Are you sure Bro? Because if it is only an unreported oversight, then what explains the rumors I hear about you gathering clients, my clients I might add, to open your own shop two blocks down from my shop?
(At that moment Shondra, my mother, jumps in asking.)
Shondra: What are you saying? Are you saying my brother has been going behind your back stealing clients and cooking the books here?
Mr. Sayer: That’s exactly what I am saying.
Shondra: (I am going to have it out with my husband when we get home, but for now I am going to set aside the fact why hasn’t he told me what was going on with Bartholomew.) Bartholomew? Is it true?
Bartholomew: (My Brother-In-Law is not as stupid as I have told myself that he is.) It is true. I thank Bro for giving me an opportunity, but I believe it is time for me to be in charge.
Shondra: Bartholomew! You.
Mr. Sayer: Stop Shondra. Bartholomew, by the words of you own mouth you have declared these actions to be your own. I’m not going to waste time expressing to you what a great betrayal this is. You wouldn’t understand anyway. I’ve made my decision and I’m ready to reveal it.
Mr. Sayer: Bartholomew. I cast you out of this company and from all relationships you’ve had or will have in the future! Security, escort this man off the premises.
Mr. Sayer: (Turns to the lawyer). Are we ready to change all the locks and all the access codes to every sensitive corporate secret to this company?
Lawyer: Yes we are Mr. Sayer. Just give the word and it is done.
Mr. Sayer: Do it.
Mother Sayer: (Being a witness to this matter left me with more answers than I had time to process right in that moment. The heartache my father must have endured before he came to the decision of what needed to be done. My mother’s brother was ‘cast out’ into utter darkness that day. Do I really need to say what I think you all should already know what happened with Bartholomew and his business venture?
That’s right Bartholomew fell on his face 3 months later. He couldn’t fund the purchase of parts for the work on the trucks he promised to fix. He couldn’t afford a record keeper, as his wife, being a nurse, certainly wouldn’t quit her job to help him run his experiment. The phone was shut off. The lights were turned off. His mechanic, singular, left because he couldn’t pay his bills not knowing whether his paycheck would bounce again.
All those clients he stole from my father came crawling back begging forgiveness and promising never to take their business to anyone else ever.
My mind, my growth was like Southeast Asian bamboo just by being exposed to an unpleasant part of life. I knew then the intricacies of human relationships were what I needed to master in order to adjudicate my life in those fierce moments of trial. I needed to be educated, period.
That is why I went to college to study nursing. It was partly from being around my auntie, but it also would provide background for me to enter the most diverse arena that would test my learning and abilities. The United States Army. I would be an officer.)
Mother Sayer: (Alright, alright enough for now. I must prepare for my session with ‘The Council’. There is not a day goes by that I do not practice my faith and also thank God for the Earthly father he bestowed to me.)
Epilogue:
Mother S. Sayer: (My father drilled into my soul this message every so often. He told me no one is meant to teach ‘for every occurrence in everyday in every part of a life you haven’t lived yet’, you must and you will develop your own ‘maxims’ that will come to represent you quickly for any behavior or actions you will take upon in life.
Make sure you put some thought into them because that is what you will share with other people verbally and non-verbally.)