Chapter 13

Geno couldn’t believe what had been covered tonight. He came to give me encouragement, not knowing that I had been working on the plans while holding a full-time job at the street of houses. “You aren’t going to squirt out on me before we get the street done, are you?”

“Think about it, you heard me say I wasn’t going to get involved that much for two years. Most of the heavy lifting that I can do now has already done. I expect in two years all the utilities will be installed and the roads mapped out, waiting on the final surface after the construction is done. At that time when I begin to build the single family homes, I still wish you would come into this with me. I’d like it if you would become at least a a sub-contractor, rather than you and I split the business apart. That isn’t what I really want. We work well together and you have given me a great start and I want you with me for the next ten years anyway.”

“Pete, I thought you were in this for the money and I figured you would leave me behind.”

“Some of it is about money. I’m putting what I received from the mine to work rather have it just sitting in the bank and a man can eat just so many hotdogs. I think our little business is going well and we will do better if we keep it going.”

“Gina was a little worried when she saw where you were headed.”

“I’m surprised she didn’t brace you on it”

“Pete, I wear the pants in this family.”

Gina had come up behind Geno and was listening to the conversation, “Yeah, right!”

I was late getting home. Mary was still up and the baby was sleeping in the bassinet. “How did the meeting go tonight?”

“It was unbelievable. All the work we have put it in the last weeks and months has paid off. Kenny is the one who put this together and my trips to the Planning Commission in the last few days have borne fruit. Three things that helped the most were the fact that the city was moving Sam off his property and he had purchased a place to move to. I guess he has been a thorn in the side of the city for years and they could see the end of it.

“Two, that I had taken the time to hire someone to follow the steps that were needed in what had to be done to get the whole property planned out. Also was the fact that I would donate enough land for an elementary school. The city fathers know that the city has to expand because the population is growing and here it was with a section already laid out for them including taking care of the population expansion.

“Three is the timeline to begin building. I said I wasn’t going to do much with the land for the next two years. That gives the city time to lay out the lines and roads for the utilities and the travel pattern for the roads and streets. There will be some zoning changes that will be made to comply during this time. Sam Giles was given a waiver on his property so he could build what needs to be done and still be moved in by September.

“So where does that leave us with all that is going on, you ask? That leaves me back working on the street of houses and gives me two years to complete it. Geno was there and concerned that I was going to walk away from Capparelli Construction. I told him I would never do that. Gina was there too and she thought I might, and this was why he was concerned, which didn’t make me surprised.”

“No Pete, I’m not surprised at all. I think she is a little jealous of us for some reason.”

“So Mary, the permits and changes we need will weave through the process in the next two years and it won’t need much attention from me. I can give that time to have an ordinary life of raising our family without too many distractions. PJ will be three when we can have our next child. During that time we will be cautious about being distracted by outside interests and have the loving family life that every family can wish for. That’s our dream anyway.”

“It is our dream, mine especially. I had such a bad time all through my early years before I met you.”

“I was happy until I lost my parents. It wasn’t ‘till your brother hired me to be your safety guard before I was happy again. We have had some wonderful years together. You know Mary, I think we can settle down now with our future before us. I’m in my early thirties you are still in your twenties. We have money, we have started our family and we have a lot of friends.

“What little family I have left, we are taking care of. You have a large family and they all love you,. I realize I am ambitious, but not to the point of neglecting any of them. Let’s figure what our life will be ten years from now. If we set goals forward every two years, I think we can meet them.”

“Pete, I know we can. We will begin with the family. We should have or almost have one more child by that time. And the one we have now will be walking and talking. I’d like to still be living here where we are now. I really like this house.”

“Yes, and Geno and I will have the street of houses fixed up and finished. I think they will sell fast, so most will be sold. The future will be a little iffy about where the Capparelli business stands. You and I own half of it. I’m not sure where Geno and I stand at that point, but I anticipate we will still own it together. This will be about the time I will be selling lots for single homes out west of here.

“Gina, if she sticks with selling houses will have made just on commission alone up to the amount to $84,000 on the sales. If she should buy the reality she is working for some of that money, she would be making much more, and this is a conservative estimate.

“The houses themselves will top three million or more and after the poor start we had, we should clear $100,000 profit each year plus my wages. That is some different than panhandling for eats, or what I was getting for wages at the grocery at $7.50 an hour.”

“What about our land west of where you are setting up now? You say you won’t be ready to build the houses before another two years?”

“Yes, but the small Industrial park should be full as soon as it has all the utilities the city has promised installed. Sam Giles can set up and begin work very soon after he gets moved. I’m almost positive that the commercial section will be at least half full with the stores operating. The multiple housing section, should be well along. It won’t have all the tenants two years from now, but it will by the third year.”

“How are you going to build that and the single houses too?”

“I’m not. I’m already searching for a big construction firm and I will contract them to do the building. They may be here already working on some of the other projects. I just haven’t nailed it down yet. You may have a hand in keeping track of where everything is. We will be working from progress reports, not necessarily doing the physical work.

“This is in the first two years while Geno finishes what we are doing now, I’m thinking he will do some subcontract work like roofing or doing the outside grounds after construction if we do split up. He certainly is one we can count on. He could make a living contracting just building all the garages for each house that is constructed. A lot depends on what level of competency our men and contractors have so that we end up proud of every bit of this project when it is finished.”

“You can’t do all this. It is too much. You are only one person.”

“Mary, aren’t I home with you and the baby more now than when I was working getting the Capparelli business going? Even more than when I was mixed into getting Chloe’s restaurant rehabbed? I worked at making Sam Giles hands better. Most of that I was doing was in the cellar right here at home.”

“Yes, you were.”

“I was out one evening attending that meeting so I don’t really have those complications to tend to because so much was finalized in that one evening. From now on what I have set forth are just parts and pieces that won’t take long to resolve. Am I talking enough of this over with you? Maybe I haven’t and I will try to better.”

“Pete, I’m so tied up with the baby, it must be me who hasn’t paid enough attention to you. I’ll do better, too. I don’t want any cracks to appear in our life.”

“You know when Geno and I had trouble at the beginning of going into business together before Guido showed up, Guido came and he was the one who had the most experience in carpentry. We set aside the first half hour of the workday to talk things over and we gained much in that time. I learned more about the building trade in that half hour than in reading a book. We can do that to keep our marriage life on track.”

“I’m for that. You stand and watch me change the baby and feed him the first thing in the morning. I can concentrate on both that and explain what the plan for the day is. With me and the baby, it has become automatic and I can concentrate on you at the same time.”

I laughed and used what characters on the TV said when they finished filming a scene. “That’s a wrap.”

The Capparelli business divided up its leadership roles into more certain areas. I did little demolition now because Randy had come forward and could handle any questions in that area. I was the one who did the ordering of supplies for construction so I was in the office with Geno who handled all the book work there. Guido was the one who handled the construction crews. We still held to the half hour meeting in the morning.

I did go out to where Sam Giles was getting ready to move his woodworking shop. Excavating was just about finished and footings were being prepared for pouring. This was at the end of June. Sam was going to have a lot of small sheds to house his separate items he manufactured, but I convinced him it would be more efficient to house it all under one roof.

We did end up with two large lumber sheds, but neither had any storage below ground level. I checked the progress of the condition of his hands every time I was out there. Progress was slow, but he was able to use them without as much pain. It was some different than three months ago when it was too painful to open a car door or the entrance to his work place.

Chloe was married to Guido in June. Ricky thought the world of his new father. He remembered his real father, but never talked about him. He wasn’t getting slapped or shouted at either. Ricky held both Mary and me in high regard and we saw him often. He always claimed it was me purchasing the exercise machine that got him to be able to walk without hobbling. He forgot that I didn’t buy that until immediately after the miracle had happened.

Aunt Ida and Gram still lived in one of the homes on the street of houses. Aunt Ida had a little income from watching Ricky when he got out of school. Gram and Ida were so independent. If they needed anything, they knew I was well off financially to bail them out. Chloe and John had a great business and the restaurant was doing 60 percent more business than it did on the best of days when Harrison was part owner.

Chloe told me she was going to pay me off in $5,000 increments and the first one would be before the last day of this year. “This won’t be coming from my wages either, but from my profits. John will be able to take the same.” This debt had bothered her for years and now she was able to lift the burden from her shoulders by the terrible mistake she had made.

But was it that terrible? It had given her Ricky who was well finally and that was a gift that kept on giving to me as well as to her. In a roundabout way, it had also given me Mary. In the back of my mind I asked, “Why was I so involved with the Miriam of long ago?” Maybe I had a more direct connection than I was aware of. I trusted that time would tell.

One more year and I would have everything ready to start building the single-family houses. In the evenings, I had been poring over house designs as I sat across the room where I could glance at my wife sitting in a rocking chair, rocking JP laying in the cradle on the floor just within reach of her toe.

The year sped by and I didn’t quite make it as far as I had intended. I intended to be at this point and there was two apartment building that were unfinished. There was some ground work to be done in and around the other three buildings. The parking areas were all finished except for some shrubs in the green spaces.

My plans had changed somewhat. When I put the industrial lots up for sale, there was a lot of interest. The only thing different was that some firms that wanted to build would lease rather than buy the land. I took my time setting the price and figuring ahead that at the end of my ten-year plan, with the renewal coming up every five years, the lease in essence paid for the property, and I still owned the land. There was only one street for the industrial park with Sam Giles being on the far end.

The commercial area had two lines of stores and I promoted leases as well as land purchase for this zone. There were parking garages on both ends of each street.

For the multiple housing there was parking in the basements. There were also elevators on each end. All of this was pre-planned and backed up by statistics. I used my money for twenty percent of the cost to build. Charlie’s bank financed the remainder. The plan was for me not to own these buildings when finished. A housing conglomerate had the option to buy when the occupancy reached 53%.

The first three buildings filled up almost as soon as they were completed. I knew I would reach that percent even before the last building was started. I decided that the revenue stream was such I would just go with a manager of my own on the three buildings. I had estimated the cost to build and it came in under budget. Charlie said his bank would lend me more on the completed buildings if I needed more to start the single- family home project.

As the last of the houses on the street of houses came up for the final rehabs and came into view, Geno was concerned for we had eleven competent workers who had topnotch skills. The last one of the multi- apartment house was just a shell so far. The contractor I had hired, I felt, was stringing this work out because he had contracted to build an even larger complex for the city and that wasn’t quite ready to start yet. I was disgusted with the situation and threatened a lawsuit.

“Go ahead and sue and I’ll just walk away. I have work for years contracted already ahead for our corporation. The penalty for not finishing this last building is peanuts to us. I will survive any bad publicity. Good luck trying to find someone to complete the building before the weather gets to it. In fact, I don’t want to complete your piddling little job.”

“So you are quitting?”

“The more I think about this, I am. I’ll even give you notice that I am.” He called his secretary and dictated his intentions over the phone. This was dated as of today. “I’ll have a copy of this in hand carried to your office by one this afternoon. Where do you want this delivered?”

I sat there and looked at him, shrugged and answered him with just a few words.

“I’m sorry we won’t be associated any longer. Your building company does do quality work and I have been well satisfied with the quality of it. I think you may come to regret this decision. Have your secretary give me a call and I will pick the notice up in your office.”

“Okay then, that’s it. Good luck. This is just a lesson of dealing with the big boys. That’s how we get bigger every year.”

I turned and walked out. I went directly to Sandy and asked what material had been delivered and received for storage. She told me she had all the windows for all four floors of the last building and all the interior doors including the steel entrance doors. Each apartment has a small balcony and the doors were already on hand as well. Each balcony has a steel frame that is attached to the wall and those were here, too.

“You can check Pete, and I think you will find out they have been invoiced and the building company has paid for every item under the contract agreement that I have in storage. Send me a check for storage and they will belong to you. Why, are you having trouble?”

“Yes, the head of the corporation has just walked away from the contract. I think the Capparelli Construction can complete the job. We are down to only two houses to finish on the street of houses.”

I made another call. This was to the reporter (Jackson) who had looked for a story and investigated me a couple of years ago. I explained to him about the termination of the contract. “You might find a story in this. That corporation has a contract to build new housing in the section of the city that they have been tearing down to build subsidized housing. The city might want to know a little more about this person who is head of the corporation and and look at his background a little closer.”

“Hey, Mr. Manning, thanks for the tip. How good is the quality of work they did for you up until today?”

“I like what they have done for me so far and I told him so.”

“So this was his idea to back out.”

“Yes, and I have it all recorded on my cell phone.”

“That’s good, how did you get onto this that it might happen?

“From a person who is in with the banks.”

“Oh yes, that would be Charlie Goodell of the Goodell group.”

“You do keep up, don’t you?”

“Hey, I have to make a living. I would like to interview you sometime. I know you still own a large parcel of land next to what you have done in the last two years out there. The rumor is that the city will be building a school in that area soon. It was a lot that you have donated. Is there any truth to it?”

“Let’s set up the interview and you might find out.” I terminated the call. A little free advertising for the start of building my single-family housing community coming up might be advantageous. I took the call from the secretary who had typed up the termination papers from the building contractor. There was a check included for half the penalty. There was a “Final” scrawled on the check before his signature.

I’d have Kenny write him a note that this wasn’t good enough, but I wouldn’t go to the effort to sue. I wanted to talk to Kenny anyway. Sandy had shown me what was stacked in the storage area I had rented when I had the first building started. I had paid rent on it all these many months. It also was the first building completed that Sandy has been worried about being able to make them pay.

Kenny and I went over to the unfinished building first thing in the morning. I wanted to see if the crew had been pulled off as the boss said he was going to do. All I could find was the Foreman of one four-man crew who was working on the top floor. “Where is everyone?”

“The other three guys are getting things from the cellar. We are the only four-man crew who has been working here this last week. Our boss hasn’t said why yet. I hope he doesn’t expect that a four-man crew can finish this job. It will take months. It can’t be because of a shortage of material, because the storage building is full of stuff to put in place. All the windows and doors are there. There is a million boxes of laminated flooring. In the cellar there are all the refrigerators, stoves, dishwashers and even the microwaves stored. The coin-operated laundry equipment is down there, too.”

We heard someone coming up the stairs. It turned out to be the number two line boss. I knew him well. He ignored me this morning and spoke to the man I was talking to. “You men pick up your personal tools. This project is finished as far as we are concerned. The numb nuts who is now head of the corporation is walking out on the job. I don’t know why, and I don’t care. I’m going to find me another place to work like this one once was.

“Pete, I see you have your lawyer with you. Tell us what is going on?”

“I was in yesterday and had words with the guy who said he was owner and boss. He quit on this job as of yesterday, and had his secretary type up a notice to that effect. I showed it to Kenny and we are checking things out this morning.”

“Sad to say, that isn’t the boss we have been working under. The guy you met yesterday just took over and said he was going to set the world on fire. The man who owned the corporation died and this asshole is his son. He has been sucking up to the city and somehow wrangled a contract to build some high-rise subsidized low-rent property.”

“So, Gordon, where does that leave you and your four crews that have been working here?”

“I have no idea. Probably sitting around drawing our pay and twiddling our thumbs. Hey, I’ll get together with my boss if he is still with the corporation and figure out what our future is. Give me a couple days, will you?”

“Yeah, get back to me and I may have something for you myself. I’ll talk to my partner and maybe we can work together on something to get this building finished.”

“I like the way you think. You certainly put this area on the map. Two years ago, there was nothing here except that big barn that fronts on the highway.” He turned to his workers, “Come on, men, let’s go find out what is going on.” Kenny and I watched as the men picked up their tools and left.

“What now, Pete?”

“We go talk to Geno. I’d like it if I could begin building houses earlier than expected. Maybe I can push Geno into being boss on the project of putting up these single-family houses. I haven’t got as far as choosing a firm for that yet. Maybe with all the experienced help floating around, we should consider doing it ourselves.”

“Do you and Geno know enough about handling this?”

“Maybe we can hire the person who has been in charge of putting up the apartments in these new buildings. I’m more than satisfied of the work done that he has been in charge of. I have a feeling it would be a good move.”

“Well, your feelings have certainly paid off. I can’t think of any mistakes you have made since you married my sister.”

“We’ll see how it goes. Kenny, you’ve seen what little I have for documents with the owner of the corporation backing out of this project? Am I clear to go ahead and finish the project, using what was pre-ordered and already paid for?”

“Yes, that non-complete clause you have that was in his contract and with him paying a penalty, he doesn’t have a leg to stand on if he changes his mind now. Endorse that check and I’ll deposit it for you.”

Geno was in the office not busy. “Geno, what have we got for plans after the last two houses are finished and sold?”

“Don’t know for sure. I thought we would have another rehab project, but nothing on the horizon. Have you come up with anything?”

“Maybe. For the short term, the owner of the construction firm I hired to build those apartments died, and his son has taken over. He has something big going on with the city. The foreman I talked with this morning didn’t know it had happened and came to work as usual. I had to tell him. I am very happy with the work that they did. It as good or maybe a little better than what we have turned out. That’s because this is all new construction.

“We have eleven good construction workers who I think can do a credible job finishing the project.”

Geno stopped me there, “Tell me where the project is right now?”

“This building will have eighteen apartments when finished. The framing and roof is on and complete. The two elevators are in and working. It looks like a shell because the doors and windows haven’t been installed yet. The ceilings are finished and the walls are sheet rocked but not taped yet. The corporation owner slowed everything down and walked away yesterday. I have no idea in hours how long it will take to complete the construction. I have to get all the windows and exterior doors in. If we get a heavy storm, it may ruin some of the building.”

“I’d say it would. What do you want? Plastic over the openings until you can get the doors and windows on site?”

“Yeah, if we see a big storm coming. The windows and doors are in Sandy’s storage building and paid for.”

“How are we getting paid if we use our crew to do the work? It will be complicated. You are the owner and yet you would be working on it yourself and you own half of Capparelli Construction.”

“I know it would be complicated, but Mary could figure it out.”

“Yeah, I trust her and you to be fair. Christ, I wouldn’t have anything if you weren’t my partner.”

“Whatever. I still want you to be in with me when I start building the new houses. That’s coming up and starting just as soon as this project is done.”

“How are you going to work that? We aren’t big enough to handle something like this. You always said you were going to hire to have the houses constructed and you oversee it.”

“I know, but then there may be enough workers to tackle it. The CEO from the company that built these apartments for me is pissed with the new owner and he may quit because with the new owner at the helm, he knows the whole corporation will fail. I was thinking I might get him onboard and have him marshal the project through. If I can sign him on, as many men as we need will come with him. You know, I’ll always want you with me and we do work well together.”

“Yeah, that might work. The thing of it is, these big projects encompass more than I want to do. This project we are almost done with has been profitable and we worked with inexperienced help until we had them trained. The partnership of you and I owned the houses so there was no conflict. We paid each other a decent wage and the profit is ours when we sold a house. We both took some of our profit and raised our capitalization so the partnership is now worth a hell of a lot more.”

“Yes, we did that, but if we each go out on our own, that capitalization will be cut in half. This may not come into play anyway. Would you at least work for me to finish the apartment building?”

“Sure, I know you will treat me right. Gina may hassle my ass if I do though. Have you thought of that?”

“I have. How about if I hand her the job of renting out the apartments and she gets the first month’s rent when she rents the apartments out?”

Geno laughed. “You know that just might do it.”

Mary met me at the door when I got home. “What happened with the building where you told me the builder backed out?”

“He did back out yesterday and he didn’t even pull his four-man crew off the job. They were still working when I got there. We had quite a talk. It seems he is the owner and quit because he has a bigger job for the city. The men under him were some disgusted. I also found out that almost all the material to finish this job is here in Sandy’s storage and all paid for. Kenny was with me and said it was mine.

“I talked to Geno and I’m trying to convince him to stay with me. I have him halfway convinced. I may hear from the number two guy who was bossing all four crews who were working on the building.”

“How come and why?”

“It seems as if the man who backed out was actually the son of the man who owned it. The owner has died and the son took over when his dad died. No one likes him. Anyway I talked to the crew before they left and told them what my next project was and that was to build a whole lot of single-family homes and I hadn’t hired a builder yet. I may hear from him. I also called Geno who I want to keep with me because we get on together so well.

“Geno has no idea what we were going to do after we finished the last two houses that we have been working on. That’s poor planning on both our parts. We have eleven crew members and there is sixteen who have been working there on the unfinished building. That would be enough to head right in and start building houses if I can put it together.”

“Are you worried about getting started? Why have you waited so long to begin?”

“I wanted to get the industrial park, the street of shops, and the apartment buildings finished. I wasn’t sure if I would have enough money to begin. I wanted a good cash balance in hand and I could afford to wait.”

“Pete, how much money do you need? You have millions in the bank already.”

“I might not have if the mine ran out of ore. I am over the two years I estimated to get ready to build houses. That was because of the construction company I hired slowing the work down and by pulling three of the full crews off a week ago and leaving only one crew on the job. I just wasn’t paying enough attention.

“I’m trying to get Geno to put Capparelli Construction in there to complete the apartment project. I have all the materials needed anyway. Financially we are in good shape to begin. I’m going to ask Gina if she wants the job of finding tenants when the building is completed. I’m hoping she will become the manager. My manager for the other three buildings isn’t interested in taking on the fourth one. There would be a big payout right at the start of the first month’s rent coming to the manager.

“I do have a problem that I think you can help me with.”

“And that would be?”

“How much to pay for Capparelli Construction to finish the project? I am the owner of the building and I am half owner of the Capparelli business. Where does one begin and the other leave off?”