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CHAPTER FOURTEEN

GARRET

This morning we discovered we had no milk for breakfast. I knew we needed some when we left last night, but after I got Jade all worked up at the park we were in a hurry to get home. We hadn’t done it for almost a week, so yeah, stopping for milk wasn’t exactly on our minds.

We woke up at nine and I showered quick, then went to the store to get the milk. I also bought some strawberries and bananas in my continued attempt to get Jade to eat better.

My phone rings as I’m leaving the grocery store. I assume it’s Jade calling, asking me to pick something up.

“Let me guess,” I say when I answer. “You want donuts?”

“Garret?” I hear a deep voice on the other end of the phone.

“Who is this?”

“It’s your grandfather.”

I freeze, right in the middle of the parking lot. Someone honks at me and I get out of the way.

“Where are you?” He barks it at me. He was never in the military but you’d think he’d been a drill sergeant with his short abrupt speech pattern. He only talks that way when he’s angry or annoyed, and it sounds like he’s both of those things right now.

“I’m at the grocery store.” I click the car remote to open the trunk.

“I’ll call back later.”

“No, wait!” If he hangs up, he’ll never call back. “I can talk. Hold on a minute.” I toss the bags in the trunk and get in the car. “Okay, go ahead.”

“Is she there?”

“Who?” I can’t think. He’s making me nervous. My own grandfather makes me nervous. How fucked up is that?

“That girl.”

“What girl? Jade?”

“The one you live with.”

“Jade is my wife, Grandfather. You should know her name.” I feel my anger rising, but I need to keep my temper under control. If he’s actually calling me, we might have a chance to repair this relationship and I don’t want to screw that up. “Jade’s not here. She’s at home.”

“Have you spoken to your father recently?”

“Yes, just the other day.”

“I assume he informed you of your summer job at the company.”

So that’s why my grandfather’s calling me? To tell me what to do?

“I’m not working there. You know I don’t want to take over the company.”

“You’re not taking it over, at least not right away. Your father is doing an adequate job with Kensington Chemical and he’ll be in charge for at least the next 10 years, maybe 15.”

Adequate job? My father’s tripled the company’s profits since he took it over. He’s opened five new plants, doubled the workforce, been featured in tons of magazines. He’s a huge success. And yet his father says he’s done an ‘adequate job.’ My anger’s ramping up again.

I take a breath and speak calmly. “Dad has done more than an adequate job. He works his ass off for the company and he’s made it into one of the most successful companies in the world. You’re way better off having him in charge than me.”

“Your father won’t be around forever. A succession plan needs to begin now. There’s a lot to learn and you need to start learning it. I had your father working there when he was 16. You’re 20. You’re already behind.”

“I don’t think you understand. I’m not working at the company. Not this summer. Not 10 years from now.”

“No, Garret. You’re the one who does not understand.” The volume of his voice goes up just enough to let me know he’s angry, but not so much that it shows a lack of composure. He’s all about control and not allowing others to dictate his emotions. “You were born into this family with certain obligations. Your father has indulged your juvenile behavior long enough. It’s time to grow up and be a man. Accept the responsibilities that come with being a Kensington.”

“It’s just a name. It doesn’t mean anything.” As soon as I say it, I regret it. I try to take it back but it’s too late.

“How dare you!” Now he’s angry and he’s not hiding it. “That name is a legacy! Most people would kill to trade places with you!”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say that. What I meant was—”

“I don’t want to hear your explanation.” The phone goes silent. I think he might’ve hung up, but then I hear him say, “Garret, I’m extremely disappointed in you.”

Fuck. That hurts.

And it shouldn’t. I shouldn’t care what he thinks of me. But I do.

“You had so much potential. You had opportunities handed to you that only a select few have ever been offered.” He’s referring to my being chosen to be president someday, which he considered to be a huge honor. “And you just threw it all away.”

“It wasn’t right for me. I didn’t want—”

“Exactly. It’s all about you, isn’t it, Garret? It’s always about what you want, instead of what’s best for you and this family. You’re a spoiled child. You don’t deserve what you’ve been given. I blame your father for that. And the years you spent under the care of that woman who nearly destroyed your father’s life.”

I grip the steering wheel and force myself to breathe before I completely lose it. “Don’t talk about my mother.”

“I’m willing to give you another chance. You’re young, which means you’re naive and impulsive. And you’re confused, due to a lack of proper discipline. Your father has failed you. But I will not allow him to continue to do so.”

“What do you mean?”

“You will work at Kensington Chemical. You will accept your responsibilities and be grateful to have them. You will stop being a child and start being a man. You will leave—”

“Just stop!” My patience is used up. I can’t listen to this. In this short conversation, he’s managed to insult Jade, put down my dad, put down me, say bad things about my mother, and order me around like I’m one of his employees. “For the last time, I’m not taking over the company. I’m not working there. Not this summer. Not ever. I’m an adult. I have my own life now. And it’s not yours to control.”

The phone goes silent again. My heart’s pounding hard in my chest. I’ve never talked that way to my grandfather. The silence continues. Then I hear him again.

“I will break you, Garret.” His voice is eerily calm. It gives me chills. “I will break you, just like I broke Pearce. You, yourself, said he was a success. That was all because of me. He’d be nothing if I hadn’t taken control and forced him to get his life on track. I had to break him, then build him back up. And I will do the same to you.”

“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. What does that even mean?”

“Someday you’ll thank me. Goodbye, Garret.”

He hangs up. I’m still sitting in the car in the grocery store parking lot. I set the phone down and take some deep breaths, my head hung over the steering wheel where my arms are resting.

Someone taps on my window. I look over and see a woman with two kids and a grocery cart.

“Are you okay?” she asks. “Do you need medical help?”

I open the car door. “No, I’m fine. Thanks.”

She nods, then walks to her car.

I need to get home, but I don’t think I should drive right now. I’m boiling over with rage and my head is spinning, trying to figure out what the hell my grandfather meant.

I call my dad. “I need to talk to you.”

“What’s wrong? You don’t sound like yourself.”

“It’s Grandfather. He just called me and I think he threatened me. I’m not exactly sure but it sounded like a threat.”

“What did he say?”

I replay the conversation for my dad, word-for-word, because those words are now cemented in my brain. It’s a conversation I’ll never forget.

My dad lets out a heavy sigh. “I’ll talk to him.”

“No. Don’t. I don’t want him thinking I need you to fight my battles for me. I just need some advice on how to handle this.”

“You have to cut him out of your life, Garret. I’m sorry to have to say that, but there’s no other solution. If you let him in your life, he takes over. After last spring, I thought he’d given up on you. I didn’t think he’d want you anywhere near the company given your negative public image. But I guess he figures in a few years all of that will be forgotten.”

“So if I ignore him and don’t speak to him, he’ll let this go?”

“My father doesn’t let anything go. If he wants something, he doesn’t give up. But what’s he going to do? He can’t force you to work at the company.”

“Why did you listen to him? I mean, when you were younger, why did you let him control you?”

I’ve never asked my dad that question. Our relationship in the past was so strained that we were never at a point where we could have an honest conversation. But now we are, and I’ve always wanted to ask him that.

“My father and I have a long history. He knows how to get in my head. He knows the right words to use and he knows my weaknesses. And his best weapon is that he fights on a psychological level. He rarely raises his voice. Rarely shows emotion. Yet he gets in your head.”

“So that’s what he meant when he said he’d break me?”

“My father had horses when he was growing up. That’s why he uses that analogy. Once you break a horse he’ll follow commands. He’ll be loyal and won’t step out of bounds. My father broke me years ago. I fought against him, but after your mother died, I had nothing left. And now I’m at the point where I’ve accepted my life and I try to get along with my father the best I can for my mother’s sake.”

I notice another call coming in. It’s probably Jade wondering why I’m taking so long.

“Garret, I wish I could do something about my father, but he is who he is. He’s always been this way. I can’t change him. And after what happened today, I think it’s best if you don’t have a relationship with him.”

“Then I guess I won’t be coming home for Christmas.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Of course you’re coming home.”

“But what about Grandfather?”

“He’s no longer invited. It will upset my mother, and Lilly will be disappointed, but you’re my son and I want you home for Christmas. I’m not letting my father interfere with that. You and Jade are coming here and you’re spending the week with us, just like you planned. Nothing’s changed.”

“Have you told Katherine yet?”

“Yes, she knows you’re coming. She keeps saying she’s going to spend Christmas with her parents and take Lilly with her, but that’s not going to happen. I’ll make sure of it.”

“Why does she keep trying to keep me away from Lilly? She never wants me to talk to Lilly on the phone. And now she doesn’t want me to see her?”

He laughs a little. “Katherine has noticed that Lilly is becoming more and more like you every day. She swims constantly and the other day Katherine caught her in the game room playing that video game you used to play all the time. The race car one. And then she found Lilly in the gym trying to shoot baskets like you taught her. Katherine’s upset because she thinks her little princess is turning into a tomboy.”

“That’s hilarious.”

“I told her she’s overreacting. Lilly still has her tea parties and plays with her dolls and wears pink all the time. It’s just that now she prefers swimming to ballet. And she does those other things because they remind her of you. She still misses you a lot.”

“Yeah, she tells me that all the time.” I start the car. “I need to go. I’m at the grocery store.”

“Let me know if you have any more trouble with my father.”

“I will. I’ll call you later this week.”

When I get home, Jade’s on the couch folding laundry. “What took you so long? I was getting worried.”

“I got an unexpected phone call.” I take the groceries to the kitchen and put the milk in the fridge. “When I was in the parking lot at the grocery store, my grandfather called.”

She drops the shirt she was folding. “Seriously? What did he say?” She races over to where I’m standing.

“He told me I had to work at the company this summer, like I had no choice in the matter.”

“That’s it? He wasn’t calling to make up? Did he say he’s sorry for how he treated you?”

“Yeah, like that would ever happen.”

“What did you tell him?”

“I told him I wouldn’t do it. Then he lectured me about how it’s my responsibility as a Kensington to take over the company, making sure to tell me what a disappointment I am to him.”

Jade puts her arms around me. “I’m sorry, Garret.”

I hug her back. “It’s okay. If he’s going to be that way, I don’t want him in my life.”

“Really?” She pulls back. “So you’re not going to talk to him anymore?”

“I have nothing to say to him. He doesn’t like my choices. He’ll never accept me unless I do what he says, and I’m not going to do that. I’m not taking orders from him.”

“You should tell your dad about this.”

“I already did. I called him and told him what happened and he said I need to cut my grandfather out of my life. Otherwise, he’ll keep trying to control me.”

“What about your grandmother? Can you still talk to her?”

“I could, but it’ll be awkward. She’s loyal to my grandfather even if she doesn’t agree with him.” I let Jade go and open the fridge. “I don’t want to talk about them. What do you want to eat?”

“I thought we’d have cereal since you got the milk.”

“I need more than cereal. I’ll make eggs. And I got us some fruit.” I take the carton of eggs from the fridge, then get the skillet from under the counter.

“Garret.” Jade stands next to me at the stove. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine. I never expected him to come around.”

She nods, but I know she doesn’t believe me.

So maybe I did think he’d come around, but he didn’t, and I can’t change his mind. Now we’ll never speak again. He lost his only grandson. And the sad thing is, I don’t think he even cares.