THE HOUSE OF CHEN Chapter 3

Two Outfits to wear, one each day!
courtesy photobucket.com

It was early in the morning when Lo Mei woke Cheri and told her to quickly bathe and put on her clean clothes.

After her bath she was told to wash her dirty clothes and dry them for tomorrow.  Cheri couldn’t believe that people washed so often.  She seldom had taken a full bath; she only did what you might call a sponge bath.

She knew there was the absence of the smell of the docks in this home and it was different, even pleasant.

None of the smell of rotting fish, and other offensive smells she was used to.

She went to the kitchen and the cook looked her up and down with a scowl on her face and told her this was her domain and for her to respect it as so.

Cheri politely agreed to do as she wished, at the same time she wondered if the cook’s scowl was permanently fixed of her face or was something she reserved for people she looked down upon.

Lo Mei came in and explained who Cheri was and how she was to be respected and treated.

After that the house-cook, Jia softened her tone toward Cheri.

It was going to be a couple of hours before Martha would begin to get up so after breakfast Lo Mei began to show Cheri the house and explain what each room was used for.

Lo Mei then told Cheri to spend time in each room acquainting her self with the furnishings and décor after which she was to ask what everything was for and why it was there.  

After breakfast Cheri was to be presented to Martha and Lord Malborne.

Courtesy
photobucket

Lo Mei brought Cheri in where she made the appropriate bows and kept her eyes down.  Lord Malborne looked up from his paper and cast a glance toward her then went back to his paper.

Martha called her over and asked her some questions that would test her intellect and her grasp of the English language.

She dismissed her and gave her evaluation of Cheri to Lo Mei.  

She then gave Lo Mei a list of things that needed to be worked on.  

She said for a while she must be tutored by the man that taught you to fit in our society.  She must be able to move among us without being noticed.

Her one flaw is; she is much too pretty and doesn’t look like a full bloodied Chinese.  

Lo Mei said her mother earned some extra money when they were starving by being friendly with a ships captain which might explain it.

“Then she is Eurasian and not full Chinese?”

Lo Mei said, “That is possible.”

Martha said, “No matter she will either work out or it will be back to the docks for her.”

Later in the afternoon she summoned Cheri to her sitting room and had her sit while she observed her.  With very little conversation they began to get acquainted.  

The thing Martha wanted the most was a comforting feeling that someone was near whom she cared for and someone who respected and cared for her as a person.  

She realized they were a long way from being there but over time - - perhaps.  Their first time together went well though neither said much.

The one thing that came out of that was they were able to figure out when Cheri’s birthday was and how old she was.  

She wasn’t quite ten years old as of yet.

Over the next few weeks Cheri’s time was spent being taught the right protocol for living in the home of a Lord and Lady.

Much of that was laid aside when Cheri was alone with Martha.

Martha envisioned Cheri becoming her personal secretary and her training was directed toward that end.

There were times when communicating with Chinese society women using Chinese instead of English would be more intimate and personal.

Over and again she thought “What a bright child” and how quickly she learns."

Cheri had now put aside her first wardrobe and now was dressed in upscale dress for Chinese ladies.

Martha didn’t want her to look like she was trying to be an English lady.

A year passed and now when Martha went out she was accompanied with Lo Mei and Cheri where before it was only Lo Mei.

There was no conflict between them for each knew their place and kept to it.

More than once at tea time someone would mention how beautiful Cheri was and where could they could find such a refined companion.

Martha would remark, “I don’t know for they don’t grow on trees.”

To be Continued

 

THE HOUSE OF CHEN Chapter 2

Asian Child
courtesy photobucket.com

 

After working out an agreement with the grandmother; the house maid returned to the house of Lady Malborne and told her of her progress.

Martha (Lady Malborne) was beginning to question her reasons for bringing Cheri into her home.  After telling the maid of her uncertainty about the decision the maid assured it would be all right.  

The maid suggested they would treat her as a house cleaner, and if she didn’t please Martha they would send her back to the streets.

This relieved Martha’s mind and told her maid to proceed, but she didn’t want to be involved with the girl until she had proven to be acceptable.

The maid went down to the waters edge and found Cheri and told her to say goodbye to her mother and father.  She bowed before them briefly but was clinging to her grandmother.  

The Maid Lo Mei pulled her away from the grandmother and said, “Stop your crying or I will leave you with her.”  

 

With that Cheri began to control her self and according to Martha’s instructions she took Cheri to the bath house and bathed her and checked her for lice.

She had bought two outfits for her to wear that would look acceptable in the house where she was going.  

The last stop was to the doctor who after a complete checkup said she was healthy except for some parasites that some medicine would clean up in a few days.

All this had taken most of the day and the maid with Cheri hurried home. She still had to get Cheri settled in her room and report to Martha.

Martha said you have done better with her than I expected for I figured she would have to be isolated for awhile until she was given a clean bill of health.  

Lo Mei said, “There is one other thing and that is she speaks English better than I do.

 

She has been dealing with English speaking people on the docks since early childhood, and has learned how to communicate at least with the common language of the docks.”       

Martha said, “She sounds like a jewel.  How did you find her?”

Lo Mei said. “It wasn’t easy for you wouldn’t have allowed most of the straggly street urchins near this house.  

Martha said, “If she is what you say she is, I may want to see her tomorrow, but for now get her fed and put to bed.  I don’t want a stranger wandering around the house at night.”

Lo Mei went to Cheri’s room and took her to the kitchen where she said, “Can you cook?”  

Cheri said she could, so she was told to cook some food for the two of them. The house cook had left for the night so they were on their own.

Cheri had never seen so much food, and there were things she had only seen in the better stores.  Lo Mei laid out some vegetables and chicken, and Cheri quickly cooked their meal.

While Cheri wasn’t used to the kind of foodstuffs Lo Mei laid out, as far as Cheri was concerned, cooking was cooking.  After their meal Cheri quickly cleaned up for Lo Mei said the cook would be angry if they left a mess.

Lo-Mei then showed her where the helps toilet was and asked her if she knew how to use it.

She said that she did, so then Lo Mei said. “Now go to bed and tomorrow I will show you the rest of the house, and go over all the rules you must obey.

Cheri went to her room and she couldn’t believe all that had happened.  She had never seen such luxury and her room was unbelievable.  Living all her years on the Sampan and now the contrast of where she was now was breath taking.

Tomorrow, tomorrow! 

 

It was going to be the time she would meet the lady of the house and she didn’t know what to expect, but her days on the docks had taught her to adapt to the situation, and she thought her skills would see her through no matter what was ahead.      

 

To be Continued

 

 

The House of Chen Chapter 1

Today begins a new continued story: The adventures of a poor Chinese Girl sold into the care of a rich English lady and the terrors that were waiting for the young girl there.  To not miss any of the coming chapters - - sign up to follow by e-mail in the side bar box.

A Sampan
Courtesy Google Search

It was during the control of Hong Kong by the British that this story occurred.

Going back several years The House of Chen were honored merchants with several Junks that plied their trade in the ports of China.  The elder Chen had inherited much wealth but with each generation it was diminished due to the distribution of the wealth among the children.

The last of the Chen family with money was Cheng Chao Chen, but as he aged his sons wasted the last of their estate.  Cheng was left with what amounted to a couple of Sampans anchored at Hong Kong.

Along with the loss of wealth was the loss of social standing.  The once proud clan was now just another poor family trying to survive.

The family consisted of the aged grandmother, Cheng and his wife along with four boys.  He was lucky to only have boys for they were able to earn a little money to help the family survive.

Then the last thing they wanted to happen occurred.  A baby girl was born to the House of Chen.  She was a fine looking child but Cheng said when she gets older she will eat too much and we won’t have enough food for us all.  

Cheng told his wife to let it slip overboard into the water like so many others were doing.   His wife put it off saying she would nurse the child and it wouldn’t cost anything to feed it but after two years the father caught the mother giving the child a little rice and demanded she do as he had said.

The mother wrapped the child in a piece of linen and was preparing to release the child into the Hong Kong bay at night for that was the practice, when the grandmother grabbed the child away from the mother and retreated back to where she stayed on the Sampan.

The mother was frantic for her husband had threatened her if she didn’t obey and she tried to wrestle the child from the grandmother, but when she was stuck with a small knife by the grandmother she withdrew leaving the child with the grandmother.  Then she went and told her husband what had happened.

He went over to the Sampan and was going to rip the child from his aged mother.  When he saw the knife she had and the menacing motions she was making toward him, he retreated and made some threats which she ignored.

From that time on the grandmother shared her food with the child and named her Cheri Leng Chen.  There were no further threats to Cheri but her grandmother never let her out of her sight.

Perhaps it was just because Cheri was intelligent or because her grandmother taught her all the wisdom of their ancestors she possessed; but Cheri was exceptionally gifted, and had to temper her smarts with wisdom so as not to put down her brothers.

One by one the brothers left the home of their father and sought something better for them-selves.  

Cheri’s grandmother was ailing and she didn’t have many days left on earth so now it was Cheri’s turn to protect her grandmother.  

With the boys gone they only needed one Sampan to live on so the Cheng sold one of them and this bought enough rice for their remaining years.

A series of events were going to transpire that would change the fortunes of the girl Cheri.

One of the British officials who had been posted there had two sons and one daughter and it was time for them to return to England for their education.

The English mother had some difficulty in letting her daughter go for her studies, but finally consented to allow it.  The house was quiet and lonely for the mother without her children.  The father was too busy to notice his wife’s sadness because he was often away on the state’s business.

The mother decided that maybe having another child from among the local castoffs might give her some relief from her solitude.  

She gave strict instructions to the head house maid as to what she wanted and warned her not to bring anything else for they would never do.

            
The first day the maid went out looking brought no results, but later in the week she spied Cheri selling some goods she had acquired by bartering.

The maid inquired as to who she might be, and talked to several store keepers about her.  As it turned out she decided Cheri might just do.

She went aboard the Sampan and started to explain what she had in mind when the father deferred to the grandmother.

After four hours of explaining that Cheri would be living in a grand house and she would be perfectly safe the grandmother agreed and put her knife away.

To be Continued

THE RACER Chapter 37 Final

Sold
courtesy photobucket.com

 

Lucas found a contractor who had gone bankrupt during the war and ended up working for the government at a supply depot.  Once again he was out of a job and that was his situation when Lucas found him.

Lucas asked him, “How is it that you went broke during some of the most prosperous times in history?”

The man, Raymond answered, “It does seem strange, but I had many projects going, but all at once I couldn’t get materials to finish them, and the bank foreclosed on them causing me to lose everything.  I couldn’t even bid on government projects for I had no money for the required Bonds and no credit.  I took the supply job so my family could eat.”

That answer told Lucas what he needed to know about his past.  He now wanted to talk about the future.  Lucas asked Raymond, from his view point what the future held for builders.  

Raymond said, “This is all I have thought about the last few years and I concluded that the only way to make any money will be to do it all.”

Lucas said, “What do you mean by do it all.”

Raymond said, “Find property adjacent to cities that you plan to develop and then build houses on a grand scale.  You will starve trying to build one house at a time.”

Lucas said, “How many do you have in mind to build at a time?”

He said, “As many as the area will support.  With all the servicemen coming home and starting families there will be a great demand for houses especially new one with modern connivances.”

After spending a week with Raymond, Lucas could see the potential for being in the main stream of “what’s happening now” and he wanted to be a part of it.

Raymond suggested that they talk to Abel about subdividing the land he had which was twenty acres at present, and build a small tract of homes.  Able could keep a couple of acres for himself or take one of the new homes.

                        

Ray as Lucas started calling Raymond said, “At present, or within the year about ten houses would be about all this area could absorb.  Then later they could finish the project but the main thing was they wouldn’t have to lay out the money for a land purchase.”

It took six months to get ready to start the first house, but after that they would build three at a time.  Before they were finished the homes were sold. Ray was out scouting for property in and around the larger cities.

Lucas sold the property he bought from Marley for that race business was behind him.  He wasn’t interested in race cars anymore.  He kept a few cars down at the race track for local interest but rarely went to the track himself.

Sammie, as Lucas decided to call his son was growing and was nearing his fourth birthday.  He spent a lot of time at Abel’s and his cousins and his auntie’s place.  

Abel had retired from repairing autos except for the hard luck stories that showed up at his doorstep.  Just to help them out he would relent and repair their vehicle.  Then he would swear not to get sucked in again for he always lost money on the deal.  Seems people were always broke and couldn’t pay for the parts.

After two years the construction business was booming for Lucas and Ray.  They had the formula figured out for putting a package together that would make a lot of money.

Leslie never went to work for she was very happy being a home maker which was something Lucas needed more than an extra paycheck.

Then it happened. - -  Something neither Lucas nor Leslie wanted.

Sammie having reached the grand old age of five came in one evening and looked to be deep in thought.  

 

Then Sammie said, “I’m a racer” and I want you and Uncle Abel to build me a car for I need to get started on my career.

THE END   

Postscript:  Once you get to know the people and their lives it is hard to leave them for their future is still ahead of them, but the time comes when we must move on and meet some new friends.  Robert

New continued story friends will be here soon !!

 

THE RACER Chapter 36

Washer
courtesy photobucket.com

Bella Mae was almost three years old and was keeping her mother busy.

Lucas finally managed to get a new washing machine.  

The guy that had it kept it unused in the basement of his house, after his wife left him for another man.  He wanted more for it than it should have been, but Lucas said he would trade him a set of tires for the washer.

The man tried to get more, but Lucas held firm, because he knew the man needed those tires.  Bella was out of diapers but with the new baby coming it was going to be a god send.

All of the old scrap metal had been turned in to the smelters, and there was a lot of old parts still around if anyone needed them.  Lucas knew some other dealers who were doing the same thing as he was, and he decided to put all of his parts up for sale in four lots.

He knew that the whole inventory was more than one dealer could handle. Having broken the inventory down into four groups, he had more buyers than he needed.  

After a month everything was removed from Abel’s place and it looked empty and in a much needed cleanup.  He told Lucas it was nice having all that junk gone and not having to look at it each day.  Lucas had to agree for it had been an eye sore for the last five years.

Everyone associated with Lucas had made a lot of money.  He himself was rich beyond anything he could have imagined.  Abel was what you might say borderline rich, and even Charlie was very well off.

Mason had enough money put away for the rest of his days, and the high school kids all had money in their pocket to spend, but times were changing.

Lucas realized that the war would soon be over and the next money maker would be in construction.

He already had his car dealerships but construction would be the thing to be in.  How to get started was the question he had to answer.

When in doubt the place to go is to people who know the answer.  

        
He went and talked to a retired builder and had several conversations with him and began to get a feel for how to be successful in the construction game.

Lucas began to set up the Marley buildings for his construction office.  He hired an architect to begin to draw some plans for cheap houses that were more modern than anything in town.

The builder he had consulted with suggested that he also buy up any houses that were for sale and clean them up and rent them.  This would give him some business experience in dealing in the real estate market.

There were a number of houses for sale, but not many renters at present. The thing was they were for sale and not that expensive.  Leslie asked Lucas what he was going to do with all the houses he was buying. 

He said, “Do you remember when I bought all those cars?  This is the same thing. There is coming a time when people will pay a good price for these homes.”

She said, “I sure hope so for we don’t need but one to live in.”

Courtesy
photobucket

The days went by and it was time for Leslie to give birth again.  Shortly after she went into the hospital she presented Lucas with a fine looking boy.

She told him since it is a boy you get to name him.  He said, “I always hoped to have a son and name him Jackson Samuel.”

She said, “What will you call him?”

He said, “I will call him ‘son’ for a time and then decide whether it will be Jack or Sam.”

She said, “Okay, but I was hoping it would be Lucas Jr.”

He said, “One Lucas is enough in this family.”

Then it happened almost as fast as it began!  The war was over as we entered the age of the atom.     

 

To be Continued

 

 

WHEN LEVIS WERE KING

 

This is an extra post as it will be entered at my Wife's Tell me a Story site.

image courtesy photobucket.com

 

Levis were first made in the 1800s; they were tough, stylish, and functional. Since I wasn't born then, I had to wait until the 30’s and 40’s to realize their impact on my school peers.

There were several things that made Levis special.  The copper rivet, placed at the stress points, (they had to finally remove the one in the crotch for obvious reasons,) the toughness of the material, the special stitching on the pockets, the button up fly, the leather logo patch, and the red Levi patch on the pocket.  All this and more made the Levi jeans, the pants of choice for most of the boys in school. The girls found out that they looked good in jeans and then they began to wear them also.

It was a tradition that before school started each year the boys would get a new pair of Levis, and then began the preparation of them.  It was a ritual that when buying Levis you bought them with the legs about 8 inches too long so you could fold them up inside the pant leg and then fold them back again on the outside of the leg to make a cuff.  In order for the cuff to stay in that position, paper clips were placed on them, after awhile they could be taken off and the cuffs would stay in position.

It also was a tradition that the Levis were to be worn the whole year without being washed.  Since the boys used a greasy hair crème on their hair, the grease would get on their hands, which they promptly wiped on their pants.  By the end of the school year those pants would reek from sweat and grease, and they also would be pretty stiff by this time.  I remember being told by one boy, “When I take my pants off I want them to stand up in the corner by themselves.”

There were other additions to their attire; argyle socks, and knitted wool sweaters with designs on them such as a deer.

One other item, that was a must, was wing tipped shoes that were dyed with cordovan dye. The dye had a pungent odor that drove some adults to distraction. The awful smell affected the manager of the local theater so dreadfully that he often kicked some kids out of the show.

What I have addressed so far is what the cool kids wore.

My attire was somewhat different.  

 

My mother would not buy me Levis, due to the high cost of them.  They were made by American women instead of the cheaper Chinese labor that other Jean makers were using.  I had to wear these low-cost jeans which eliminated me from being a part of the cool set.

Not only that, but my jeans were washed each week. While I didn't have the “in” sweater, I did have the wing tips and I dyed them with the cordovan dye myself, so all was not lost.  

One final note, when you washed Levis the leather patch on the back would shrivel and wrinkle. One of my friends was very upset, because his mother had finally got fed up with his nasty pants and washed them. He was really beside himself; it was as if his whole image was now destroyed.

It’s a good thing I wasn't very style conscious for I would have been miserable, because I never had a pair of Levis, until I could buy them myself!

This post is shared at: Tell Me a Story

Click HERE to enjoy more awesome Blogs via the T.G.I.F Link up Party

 

THE RACER Chapter 35

Moving a House
courtesy photobucket.com

 

One thing Lucas had not figured on was the attack that ushered the USA into the war. He had planned on it taking a longer period of time.

The next day after the attack, even before the President declared war against the enemies Lucas placed a large order for new cars.  He managed to get a commitment from the manufacturers before the announcement that all future vehicles would be made for the government.

The announcement caused the cars to be worth almost twice as much than before.

Then the office of the O.P.A and the associated services stepped in and put price controls on almost everything including tires, automobiles, shoes, nylon, sugar, gasoline, fuel oil, coffee, meats and processed foods.

This cut down on the profit Lucas could have made, but regardless, he still made a good profit.

The used cars he was selling brought in more profit than the new cars.

He was selling all the cars as soon as they were finished.  Little by little his lot was empting out and the supply of cars had dwindled down to no more than one or two a week.  His new car dealerships were out of new cars and the used ones never made it to the lots.

Lucas now had to depend mostly on selling parts for cars.  The one thing he had was a mountain of used casing and with the advent of synthetic rubber the retreading of tires business exploded.

He made a deal with a retreading company for the lowest price available.

One by one he had a crew inspect the casings and separate them into groups. They were divided by the ones that were perfect and those that could be repaired and the ones that were sold for making different useable items.

It seemed that even though sale of cars had all but stopped, people would bring in their old tires they had laying around and sell them to him for cash.

The dealership’s stock of parts was running low and Lucas couldn’t replace    

what he sold, so he combined everything that was left into one big lot and sold it to another dealer.  He kept one maintenance man on for both dealerships.

In order to keep his franchise he placed an order for the next new cars to be built after the war.  This assured him of not losing them due to no activity.

Leslie had another announcement and Lucas had an idea what that was going to be. “We are going to have a new baby in about five months so that means we have to move or build on to our house.”

This presented a real problem for building materials were hard to come by. Usually you could wave some extra money in front of people and you got what you wanted but because of the government controls you could end up in jail for breaking the law.

Then it occurred to Lucas he knew where there was a practically new house that the owners had left and went to the west coast to work in the ship yards. It took some time but he located them and bought the house because they had no intention of returning.

Lucas spent the better part of a week studying the house, and finally put his engineering skills to work and came home to tell Leslie he had got it all figured out.

He thought to himself, "All I have to do is to get the material for the foundation and the rest will be just a matter of hard work."

 

He said, "Both houses will fit together if we take off the back room of this house and the side room on the new house.  We will save all the materials to use for other projects."  He continued, "I have it all drawn out for you to see."

“How are you going to get it moved?” she asked?  

He said, “There is a house mover who has been trying to get some tires and other parts from me and I have made a deal with him.  He said he will start raising the house tomorrow and by the weeks end it will be here. 

 

I have to get a crew over there and remove the side room and come here and remove the back room.  When we get finished our house will be almost twice as big as now.”          

 

To be Continued

 

 

THE RACER Chapter 34

Lucas' Used Car Lot
courtesy photobucket.com

Lucas sat down and told Leslie about what happened today regarding Marley’s shop, and said they had to make some plans for the future.

Getting the property from Marley was going to change everything,

As they talked he said, “I’m going to make some contacts in Washington and try to find out what is really going on.  I will be back in a few days. It is important that I talk face to face with these people for they won’t tell me anything over the phone.”

While in Washington he made the rounds and found that everyone was tight lipped and it took a lot of coercion on his part to get any information.

After he began to piece together what each had told him, he began to see the bigger picture for the future.

When he returned he said, “It would be better if I don’t go into what I have learned, but I think I know which direction to go.  

Some of the stuff I learned I shouldn’t have been told to me but I managed to weasel it out of them after they had one too many cocktails and most of it I won’t repeat or tell anyone, not even you.”

That didn’t set to well with Leslie and as her lip began to curl.

 

He said, “I can tell you this; it looks like we will be drawn into the War conflict and that means there will be some things in short supply.  What we do will be risky but will be based on what I discovered.”

The next day Leslie had settled down, and she wanted to know what Lucas had in mind, because much of their future would depend on what they did in the next few months.

Lucas told her, “We are going into the auto business.”

She said, “What do you mean the auto business?”

He said, “Come on go with me and I will show you.”  

 
They pulled up in front of the Ford dealership and an hour later they had purchased the cars, parts and everything else.

The same thing happened with the Chevy dealership. The agreement was with both, that the prior owners would stay on and run them for a year.

After that they went over to Abel’s and while the two sisters talked about babies Lucas and Abel went outside and discussed plans that involved Abel.

Lucas said, “I want to buy every car in the area whether running or not.  We want them for as little as we can get them.”

Abel said, “Where is the money going to come from to buy all the cars?”

Lucas said, “I have the money, and if we need more I can get it from the bank.”

Then he told Able that he had bought the Ford and Chevy dealerships and they both had wrecker trucks and Abel could use them for picking up anything that didn’t run.  

“We will strip them down at your place and rebuild them at the old Marley buildings. “

Leslie said to Lucas, “I hope you know what you are doing because if not we are going to own more cars than anyone has ever owned.”

Lucas said, “It is possible that I may be on the wrong track but if not we are going to be rich.”

A couple of months later Abel said, “My place if full and the only way to buy any more is for me to buy the land next to me.”

Lucas said, ‘Go ahead and buy the five acres next to you and I have bought a large tent to work under when the weather changes.”

Abel said; “that will be nice” with no emotion displayed at all.

          
Lucas said, “Maybe it is time to start to fix some of these cars and move them to my dealerships and offer them for sale.”

Abel said, “I think that might be a good idea although I don’t know who will buy them for money is very scarce.”

Lucas bought many barrels of black paint and told Abel, “We will paint these cars before we try to sell them and once we are through they will look almost like new.”

Abel said, “Who is going to do all this work for it will drive the price up if we hire professional workers.”

Lucas said, “We will hire the high school kids to work after school and that way we will get it done for very little.  There are many kids that have no way to earn any money and they will be glad to have a job even though it is low paying.”

Lucas hired a couple of the mechanics that were out of work since Marley closed his shop; and one of the painters that was looking for something to do.

Some of the cars would run and some wouldn’t.  There were times it took three cars to make one good one.  Before long a small army was working on Lucas’s project and the cars were piling up with very few being bought even though Lucas would finance them.

Lucas was thrilled with the system for it was working really well.  The high school kids soon learned the whole restoration system, and there were a lot of girls as well as boys working.  

There were some jobs the girls could do better than the boys.  They could get the cars ready to be sprayed, and detail the insides better than the guys could.  Boys did not seem to be as detailed minded as were the girls.  

Abel’s car lots were full of the cars and he was still buying more and then it happened. 

 

To be Continued

 

 

ULTIMATE TEST

Today is a Rant, but my continued story will follow soon.

Courtesy Google Search

 

Here in America we find a group of individuals who protest any and everything Christian.

They ignorantly proclaim “There is no God.”

Due to the fact most Christians are peaceful, as much as the present culture of this country will allow, Christians are not physically opposed.

My thought is that if these “Un-Believers” are sincere in their unbelief, I challenge them to prove their unbelief by going to some of the Islamic countries and parade up and down the streets declaring “There is no Allah.”

Until they are willing to prove their faith en masse by doing so, they can’t possibly know if what they proclaim (there is no God) to be right or wrong.

It is time for the ultimate test for their anti-God stance.  Christians are dying every day for their belief in these Islamic lands; so it is only fair for the anti-Christ believers to go forth and show and proclaim their faith in the Islamic countries.

Until they demonstrate by proclaiming their doctrine in these lands, they show that they don’t truly believe in Atheism. 

It is just a way to draw attention to them-selves.  

 

I don’t need for someone to argue with me about this; It is “Show me time.”

 

 

 

THE RACER Chapter 33

Army Boots for Lucas ??
courtesy photobucket.com

 

The European conflict had drawn this country into to war, and after they had finished with Lucas’ house renovation they returned to their apartment.

Lucas had taken on a look of seriousness, and wanted to talk about their future.

Leslie said, “Alright but one thing you should know is there is another consideration. We will have to plan for three instead of two because we are going to be parents.”

Lucas almost said, “How did that happen?” but caught himself for he knew how it happened.

Even though he was usually restrained, he couldn’t contain himself at that news.  He said, “Maybe we should move back to our house since it is just like new and that would be a good place to raise our family.  With your sister nearby she would be a great help.”

She agreed and said, “Yes our furniture would fit right in and we wouldn’t need anything else except for the baby.”

Lucas said, “Then it’s settled.”

During the next week they were planning to move when Lucas received greetings from Uncle Sam.  He was being inducted into to army.

Lucas said, “This doesn’t have to interfere with our plans to move so let’s finish packing.”

By the end of the week they had all of their furniture in place in the house and had an extra bedroom being built on for the baby when it came.

Lucas was summoned by the army to come and take his physical, but was found to have flat feet, which disqualified him for service.

This changed things again for he wasn’t planning to have to seek employment any time soon.

Due to his connections in the design department of the new army motorcycle he heard over the grape vine, there was some fear we would be joining Britain in the war against Germany.

During the last war there had been shortages of most everything and he was guessing that the same thing would happen again should America decided to join in with Britain.

Lucas drove by Marley’s old shop and there was a sign on it for sale.  He contacted the person whose phone number was on the sign and asked how much they were asking for it and when the man told him Lucas said he would like to see inside.

He met the man and when he got inside it was just as they left it with all the equipment still in place.  Nothing had been touched in the offices.  Even the hand tools were there, the welders, paint equipment, and everything.

He told the man he thought the price was a little high, but he made an offer on it.

The man said the owner was out of the country but he could reach him by phone.  Lucas said that would be alright for he was in no hurry.  

When he told Leslie what he had done she asked, “What are you planning to do with that.”

He said, “I don’t know but I will figure it out.”  

A couple of days later the agent met with Lucas and told him he had contacted the owner and told him who the buyer was and he countered your offer.  

Lucas said, “I don’t know, I think my offer is as much as I will pay.”

The agent said, “I think you will be pleased with the price he wants.  He said he knew you and were friends and the price to you will be one dollar.”

Lucas said, “You must be mistaken or didn’t hear you right.”

“No, no I got it right, and he told me to use my power of attorney and sign off on the deeds as soon as I received the dollar.”

An hour later the paper work was finished and Lucas was still shaking his head in unbelief.  

Then the man said, “Marley said to tell Lucas, that he hoped this would makeup for being pushed out of the business, and was sorry he couldn’t explain everything because of security.”

As Lucas went home he felt much better about what had happened in the last year for he didn’t understand why Marley had dumped him until now.

He thought, “I have some serious thinking to do for it seems there are some dark days ahead.”

A few months later Leslie presented Lucas with a girl baby.  He could hardly contain himself.

At the hospital they wanted to know what name to put on the birth certificate and Lucas said, “I thought Samuel was the name I wanted but considering the circumstances I think Leslie had better choose.”

She said, “I name you Bella Mae,” and Lucas said, “Bella Mae it is.”

To be Continued

THE RACER Chapter 32

  



BMW Military Motorcycle

Lucas finished the dismantling the cycle and he asked, “Who made this machine?” 

Marley said, “It is made by a German company named B.M.W.”

“How did we get it? asked Lucas. 

Marley said, “It was stolen piece by piece by a person who worked in their plant and two of them were sold to the English and assembled there.  They sent one to America and we have it.”

Lucas said, “I know we said we could build a better bike, but their technology is farther advanced than anything I have ever seen.  The OHV engine and being shaft driven is a great advance in technology.”

Lucas continued, “I have mixed feelings about this whole thing.  

I suggest we do minor redesign work on our machine and fulfill our contract and then turn this new technology development over to a company that has the resources to build a bike similar to the German machine.  

We should do the preliminary design and then try to get a percentage of the profit from their sales.  The long and short of it is we are going to be in over our heads.”

This didn’t please Marley very much, but after giving it some thought he could see the logic of what Lucas had said.  After some obvious redesign work Marley approached one of the major motorcycle companies and what happened after that was kept secret.

In the midst of everything that happened Lucas had a wedding to prepare for.  His bride to be was just as busy as Lucas for she was finishing her finals so that left little time for the two of them together.

They started assembling the bikes they had contracted for and Lucas was left out of the events that followed the next few years.  He seldom saw Marley for he was never around anymore.

Upon completion of their contract Lucas was given a large check and a notice of dismissal.  

He also was receiving a monthly check as his part of the work he had done on the development of their cycle.

A couple of days before the wedding they both had some free time and managed to get reacquainted as it were.  Every one of their friends was invited and it was a lively event.

Lucas was disappointed that Marley didn’t make it but his wife did and explained Marley wasn’t in the country.  It was years later before Marley met him again and explained what happened and that what had occurred was dictated by the defense department. 

Lucas felt a little better about things with the explanation for he had no inkling of what went down.  Even though he was well rewarded he felt left out and somewhat perturbed. 

With no obligations Lucas and Leslie spent a month in Hawaii just getting to know each other.  During this time their love for one another increased daily, and what started out as an intelligent life time choice had turned into a passionate love affair.  

When they returned several decisions had to be made.  Lucas wasn’t employed and Leslie had to decide what she wanted to do.  Her original intent was to teach but she was weighing her options as of now.  A lot of what she would do now depended upon what Lucas decided to do.  

He tried to find his mother, but they had moved from his house without telling anyone.  It seems the law might have been on her husband’s trail.  Lucas never saw or heard from them again. 

Abel had locked the house up so no one had been in it since they had left it that night. 

 

When Lucas arrived to look over the damage to his house; it was even worse than he had imagined.  

Lucas had a cleanup crew come in and remove everything in it and then had it fumigated.  With repairs completed, new floors, and new paint the place looked livable or sellable which ever they decided to do with it.   

To be Continued