Chapter 22

I couldn’t stop smiling. True to my word, I had almost stopped traveling completely: home every night with my wife. I still worked from the building I’d found to use as corporate headquarters. We bought it for practically nothing and renovated it completely; leasing the space we didn’t need as soon as it was available. Mom was pushing me to look at some warehouse space, hinting we would probably need it in the near future as a distribution center.

I’d had to hire administration people to help keep track of everything. Good people mostly. The law of averages said I was going to find one or two bad apples, and when I did they went away as quickly as possible.

I hooked Michael and Miguel into helping me with charity work. They became involved in neighborhood outreach programs, concentrating on middle schools. They were at that age when the world around them was coming into focus but were young enough to still be reached. I went with them a few times to see them work.

Miguel always dressed well but informally, but Michael went the full route. His standard attire was a three-piece suit, matching tie over a white shirt, his shoes gleaming. He’d developed the habit of wearing a fedora, and I had to admit he looked sharp.

They would talk about general things to warm them up before they got into the meat of their presentation. “I want you to look at us, really look. Yeah, we dress well, but underneath the clothes, despite what we’ve accomplished, we’re still just guys from the hood. Before we started this our lives were on a far different track.”