Chapter 3

I had just come home from putting in several more applications when my mother told me Ms. Gardener had passed away. The ambulance had just been there and removed her body. I would miss Mrs. Gardener and her wisdom which she shared with me many times. I had gotten a call back from one of the auto dealerships and they wanted to interview me for a parts clerk. It wasn’t a great job, but it was a start.

I went to the interview and think I did well, but they told me they would call me back later. I had just arrived back home when the mailman pulled up to my mailbox. I walked over to him, and he handed me a stack of mail and I went into the house setting the mail on the table.

I took a shower and was watching television when my mother arrived from work. Even though it sometimes still seemed weird my relationship with my mother was never better. We barely went two days without one of our marathon sex sessions. My mother came from the back and started going through the mail. She walked into the living room handing me an envelope.

“Here this is for you.” she stated, still fanning the rest out.

I took the envelope from her and looked at the return address. It was from a law firm in town called Miller, Miller, and Talbot. I opened the envelope and pulled out the single one-page letter and started reading it. I finished the letter and it basically stated that Mrs. Gardener had included me in her will. This was something I never expected and was very kind of her to think of me. I handed the letter to my mother which she read quickly.

“See baby, thoughtful actions don’t go unnoticed.” she said, smiling at me.

Several weeks later, I took the bus downtown to the law office of Miller, Miller, and Talbot for the reading of the will. I arrived a few minutes early and a very pretty receptionist led me to the conference room where the will would be read.

About twenty minutes later, a catholic priest and a man in a suit walked in and sat across from me. Several minutes later, another man and a woman came in and sat at the head of the table. The man started in immediately.

“As you all know, we are here for the reading of Margaret Gardener’s last will and testament. I assuming you are Father McClendon from the Holy Spirit Church of Christ?” he asked, looking at the priest.

“Yes, I am, and this is Bill King our lay administrator.” he replied.

“Good and you must be Chris Williams, correct?” he asked, looking over his glasses.

“Yes sir, I am”, I replied.

“How did you know Mrs. Gardener?” he asked.

“She was my next-door neighbor for as long as I can remember. When her husband died, I started cutting her grass and going to the market for her several times a week. Whatever she needed either my mother or I tried to help.” I answered.

“Fair enough.” he replied.

He explained that this will was irrefutable and ironclad there for he would read it explaining anything that we did not understand. I had never heard a will being read before, so it was kind of odd to me. The will explained that Mrs. Gardener was leaving her house, the contents and five hundred thousand dollars to the church that Father McClendon represented. I was shocked to find out that Mrs. Gardener had five hundred thousand dollars in the bank. She lived a very simple life at least from what I saw.

He continued reading several small amounts she had donated to the SPCA, the American Legion and the American Cancer Society in memory of her only daughter.

“The remainder of my estate, I bequeath to Chris Anthony Williams, my next-door neighbor of many years. Chris, as this is read to you, I cannot begin to thank you enough for everything that you did for me for so many years. Your mother should be proud because she raised a fine young man. I was just an old lady who had no one and you made me feel like family. Oh, by the way, I hope you saved your quarters. I love you.” he finished.

“Save your quarters?” he chuckled.

I told him that I wouldn’t take any money for helping her out, but she refused. So, I told him we compromised of four quarters for cutting the grass and two quarters for a trip to the market. He nodded his head saying that sounded like Mrs. Gardener.

He handed Father McClendon a packet of papers he had to fill out to get the house transferred into the church’s name. He could then sell the house and use to money to help his church. He also handed him a promissory note for half a million dollars. I couldn’t even fathom that much money.

He finished up with Father McClendon and the two left thanking him for his help. As they exited, he then turned to me.

“Mr. Williams do you have bank accounts anywhere?” he asked, smiling.

“Yes sir, my mother works at the First Bank and Trust on Jefferson Street.” I replied.

“Good, then this packet is for you. My advice would be for your mother to get someone at the bank to advise you on this matter.” he said, handing me the packet.

“Yes sir, I will give this to mother.” I replied.

“Don’t you want to know what she left you?” he asked.

“Oh, yes I guess so.” I replied.

“When it’s not set in stone yet because of a few slight tax issues we have to settle but ... when it’s all said and done it should be a little over seven million dollars.” he advised.

I sat there stunned, I mean a lawyer would not joke about something like this, or would he? How in the hell had Mrs. Gardener accumulated that much money? This could not be for real, no way.

“Seven million dollars?” I asked.

“Give or take a few thousand.” he replied.

I walked out of the office in a daze and walked to the corner bus stop. I rode the bus home with my head spinning a hundred miles an hour. I was just over nineteen years of age and I had seven million dollars. This had to be a dream that I was going to wake up from any minute. Since the bank was on the route that took me home, I decided to get off and explain this to my mother. I got off the bus a half block from the bank and walked to the front door. I went in and immediately began to draw stares from the women inside the bank. My upper body was big, and my arms were my best feature. Most of my clothes looked like I was poured into them, but I still had a twenty-eight-inch waist which made me look even bigger than I was.

I noticed my mother at the last window near the back of the bank and she had four people in line. I took a seat in the middle of the bank and would wait until she was free. A minute later, a young woman walked up to and asked if she could help me.

“No ma’am, I am waiting until my mother is free.” I replied.

“Your mother?” she asked, confused.

I suddenly realized that this was my first time inside this bank, and no one had ever met me before.

“Oh, I’m sorry ... Stacey Williams is my mother.” I replied.

“No way, Stacey is your mother.” she laughed.

“Yes ma’am, she is.” I answered.

The woman appeared dumbfounded but turned and headed in my mother’s direction. When she got there, she switched spots with my mother. My mother headed my way and soon sat down on the chair next to me.

“What’s the matter, Chris?” she asked.

I handed her the package that I was given at the law firm, and she opened it up and pulled out the papers. She scanned through the pages one at a time and stopped on the last paper. Her eyes got wide, and she put her hand over her mouth.

“Oh my God ... is this for real?” she asked, excited.

“Mom, she left us seven million dollars.” I replied quietly.

“No son, she left you seven million dollars.” she said, correcting me.

“No mom ... us”, I answered, grabbing her hand.

My mother broke down in tears and grabbed me hugging me tightly. Everyone in the bank was looking at us and a man in a business suit came walking towards us.

“Stacey is everything ok?” he asked.

“Yes Tony, everything is wonderful.” she smiled back.

Both my mom and I were completely stunned by Mrs. Gardener’s gift to us. My mother consulted the executive board at the bank where she worked about how to manage this amount of money. The put her in touch with one of the bank’s financial advisors who told her he would walk her through all the investments needed.

We discussed everything for close to a month on how we wanted to move forward. We found a house across town that had come on the market recently that was nice. It was only two years old and had about three thousand square feet under roof. It had a large patio and in-ground pool in the back along with a twelve hundred square foot guest house that had not been finished.

We purchased the home and bought all new furniture moving in about two months later. My mom picked out some really nice things for the home. We also bought an eighty-inch flat screen tv which was bolted to the wall. We bought some patio furniture and did a few repairs on the pool. My mom suggested I finished the guest house off and use it as a man cave so to speak. So, we hired a contractor who installed a small kitchen and bathroom in the guest house. Then I left one large room that would house a bed, small dresser, IMAC computer and large flat screen tv with two lounge chairs. About forty-five days later the guest room was finished completely and ready to use.

My mom decided to keep working at the bank because she enjoyed seeing people every day. Even though I had put in several applications, I decided to spend the rest of the year training at the gym.

I was working out early in the morning with weights then going home around ten thirty or eleven in the morning then go home, eat, and take a nap. I would then go back at two o’clock in the afternoon and work with Master Garcia for three hours straight then help him for two more hours with the classes. Master Garcia was a no-nonsense man. He spoke, you listened. There was only one way to train, his way. I would work with him one on one for hours and he would never take it easy on me. I can’t count the number of times I would tap out to him daily. I had advanced rapidly and was now a blue belt, but I had so far to go.

As I arrived home one day and got out of the car, I noticed a young girl next door that I did not recognize. I had met the Wilkerson couple that lived there but they had never mentioned any children. I had on my blue scrub pants and a tight-fitting t-shirt. I walked around the car to the back, opened the trunk and took out my bag. As I started to walk towards the house, she called out to me.

“You live there?” she asked.

“Yes, I do. I’m Chris...” I replied.

“Yea, I know. The muscle head...” she laughed.

“Not sure what you mean but it was nice to meet you.” I answered, turning around.

“Aw, did I hurt your little bitty feelings?” she giggled.

I turned around just in time to see Mrs. Wilkerson come out of the front door. I thought for a moment but said fuck it.

“Is there a problem? I have no clue who you are but trust me you can’t hurt my feelings or anything else for that matter.” I said, calmly.

“So, I see you met Cassie.” Mrs. Wilkerson stated.

“Yes ma’am, in more ways than one.” answered.

“Cassie is my daughter home from school for a while. She can be quite overbearing.” her mother advised.

“No mom not overbearing ... Just truthful. Sorry most people can’t handle it.” she replied.

“Well, I let you two sort that out. Nice to meet you, Cassie.” I waved and turned walking inside.

Several weeks later, Master Garcia brought in someone from out of town to go head-to-head with me. We were both told to go all out and never stopped until an injury or a tap out. My opponent was taller than me but only weighed maybe one hundred seventy-five pounds.