Unusual Inheritance

By Tony Pay

The story starts begins with a young man and the sad situations he went through as a young child. He works hard to become an architect. In time a well-known firm hired him and he eventually proved to be a top asset to the company. Years pass and this young man became very experienced in designing homes, office buildings or anything that needed building. He enjoyed his career designing for various high-profile customers and companies. He is almost at the height of his career when a lady from England explains that he has an inheritance. That inheritance now puts a big demand on this young man affecting his career. The time comes when he has no other choice but to make some changes in his life. These changes become obstacles that he has to overcome. In time he finds a new way to be respected and loved. He also find that he needed to learn some crucial things about life from his unusual inheritance.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: May 9, 2014
• ISBN: 9781312177512

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Unusual Inheritance

Unusual Inheritance

By Tony Vincent Pay

Unusual Inheritance

First Edition eBook

Copyright © 2014 Tony Vincent Pay

All rights reserved.

ISBN 978-1-312-17751-2

www.TonyPay.com

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Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported

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Dedication / Acknowledgments

To my beautiful wife Charlotte who encouraged me in writing this novel.

To my daughter Colleen for the tremendous help she has been during our physical challenges and the enjoyment we have had with her in Hawaii.

Chapter 1

The Beginning

It was a rainy day one Saturday afternoon in the town of Santa Cruz California. Adam Hawkins a five-year-old boy is sitting in the living room with a suit and tie on staring at a picture hanging on the wall. His baby sitter Mrs. Clara Foster came in and said,  Come on, Adam, it is time for us to go.

They were going to his mother’s funeral at one of the cemeteries. A week ago his mother was killed in a car accident as she was coming home from work driving over highway seventeen. A few years ago his father also had a fatal accident while working on the high-powered electric lines for the electric company. It had been several years ago before Adam was born his parents emigrated from England to settle in America because they thought it was a land of opportunity. While Adam was standing next to Mrs. Foster listening to the ceremony he noticed a little dog walking through the graveyard. Mrs. Foster saw Adam turning his head looking at the dog and was not paying any attention, so she bent down and whispered for him to listen to the preacher. Many friends of Adam’s mother were there and started to cry because of the loss, but Adam kept a straight face and waited for the service to be over. Mrs. Foster took Adam back to her home and when they got there Mrs. Foster asked Adam to go upstairs and change. Then Mr. Foster said, How did it go? That poor little guy not having any parents anymore, it must be hard on the kid.

He did not shed any tears at his mother's funeral but kept looking at a dog running around.

He is still very young and probably doesn’t even know his mother no longer is alive.

Don’t be silly, of course he knows what has happened to his mother. That is why he is with us.

I still feel sorry for the little guy. By the way, where is he going to live?

I thought perhaps that he could live with us until the courts decide what to do with him.

I don’t see any reason why he can’t.  After all we have had him for a long time, especially when his mother went on business trips and was gone for a couple of weeks, and that was several times a year.

I had better notify the authorities letting them know that Adam is staying with us.

Two weeks had gone by and a representative for the Children’s Care Center came to Mr. and Mrs. Foster’s home.  The representative explained that Adam would have to go either to an orphanage or be placed where parents would look after him, because he had no living relatives. She also pointed out that if Mr. and Mrs. Foster were willing, and they passed the requirements from the state board of childcare they could keep Adam, raising him and taking care of him during his school years, and the state would send  monthly support until he became the age of eighteen. However, it was a heavy responsibility, and it was up to Mr. and Mrs. Foster to decide. Ever since Adam was a baby they had looked after him while his mother was working and he is used to them. He might feel more comfortable being with Mr. and Mrs. Foster. They thanked the representative from the childcare center and Mrs. Foster said that she and her husband needed to discuss this before making a commitment. The lady left her card and asked Mrs. Foster to call as soon as they have made their decision. Within the next few days after talking things over both Mr. and Mrs. Foster decided to keep Adam and notified the lady at the Childcare Center.  When Adam went to kindergarten he would just sit and look at the other kids playing. He was a very shy boy and did not mix in with others but usually sat by himself just watching. When he got home he would usually go upstairs and lie on his bed and look at pictures in one of his books. Mr. and Mrs. Foster were downstairs in the kitchen and Mr. Foster was having a cup of coffee while Mrs. Foster was preparing a meal. Then Mr. Foster said, Clara, I wonder when Adam will get out of being so shy. He stays in his room all the time and only comes down when you call him.

I don’t know, Bill, but who knows what is going through that little brain of his. How would you feel if you were five years old and lived with strangers?

We aren’t strangers, Clara, we have had Adam ever since he was a baby, so we are more like an aunt and uncle to the little guy.

I suppose you are right, so what should we ask him to call us, since we will be bringing him up?

How about auntie Clara and uncle Bill?

That’s a good idea, and it might make Adam feel more at ease.

Maybe it will open him up more, and he will talk to us instead of just sitting there listening and looking.

Mrs. Foster did talk to Adam and asked him how he felt about calling Mr. Foster Uncle Bill and Mrs. Foster Auntie Clara. Adam put a smile on his face and nodded his head. The next few days at school Miss Colson tried to encourage Adam to play with the other children and he tried, but after awhile he went back to just watching them. Then one day when Mrs. Foster and Mr. Foster and Adam were having their evening meal Adam said, Uncle Bill, where do you work?

Looking a little surprised Mr. Foster said, I am in charge of keeping the greens cut at a golf course which is called Pasatempo Golf Club.

Does that mean you cut the grass, uncle Bill?

No, since I am in charge, I make sure other people do that, and I check to see if it is done properly.

Is it a hard job?

It can be, but most of the time things run pretty smoothly.

Do you like working at the golf course?

It is a job, Adam, and today we have to be thankful we have a job because there are many people that don’t.

Why don’t they have jobs, uncle Bill?

Well, for one thing, there is not that much work in this small town of Santa Cruz, and there are other reasons why people do not have jobs.

Will I have to get a job when I grow up?

Yes, you will, Adam, nearly everyone has to find a job so they can earn money and support a wife and family.

Adam looked a little puzzled when Mr. Foster said that, and then Mrs. Foster said, Finish you dinner, Adam.

Two years have passed and Adam’s shyness has improved a little and he is talking more and more. He was still a very quiet person compared to the normal school children and keeps to himself most of the time. He loved looking at pictures of animals and would try and copy them on a separate piece of paper.  He liked school and doing the things the teacher asked him to do. He catches the bus, and three other kids get off at the same stop he does, and then they walk down the street. Adam walks by himself until he reaches his uncle Bill’s and auntie Clara’s home. He likes to look at the different yards as some have flowers and bushes and a walkway to the front door while others have hardly anything at all but mostly weeds. When he gets home there is a white picket fence with a front gate. On either side of the walkway to the house is a bed of flowers and beyond those two small lawns and in the middle of the lawns is a nice big tree. Around the front of the house are neatly trimmed bushes as uncle Bill and auntie Clara liked to keep their front yard looking nice. After having the evening meal, uncle Bill said,  Adam, how would you like to come with me to the boardwalk and maybe you would like to go on some rides?

I would really like that, uncle Bill, are you coming aunt Clara?

No Adam , I need to clean up the kitchen and do a few other things around the house. Maybe some other time I will come with you.

When Adam and uncle Bill walked down the boardwalk Adam was fascinated at the different games and rides. He leaned over a fence watching small cars bumping into each other, and after awhile uncle Bill took Adam in one of those bumper car rides.  Adam was a happy young boy and enjoying watching other people have fun. Then, on the way home he pointed to a building and said, Uncle Bill, who lives in that big house?

That is not a house, Adam, it is a hotel where lots of people come for the weekend to visit Santa Cruz and stay in one of those hotels.

As Adam looked up at the big building he saw people looking out of the windows at the ocean and boardwalk. He wondered what it is like inside and how small the rooms are. When they got home auntie Clara had made a nice apple pie, and Adam liked his auntie's deserts. As they were eating auntie Clara said, Adam, do you have any friends at school you would like to ask if they could come home with you and the both of you could play some games?

No, I don’t have any friends that I would like to bring home, auntie Clara, but I do like Connie. She is very nice.

I am glad you like Connie, but I was thinking of other boys your age that are in your class.

Well, there is Kevin and Ivan, but sometimes they make fun of me, so I don’t want to bring them home to play games with me.

What do you mean they make fun of you, Adam?

I don’t know, but I can see them looking at me and laughing.

What are you doing when they laugh at you?

Just sitting by myself and looking through a book.

Don’t take any notice of them, Adam, boys do things like that sometimes.

I am used to it, uncle Bill, it does not bother me anymore.

One Monday afternoon after school was out Adam was walking down the street and he saw men working on an empty lot next to a nice home. He just stood there and watched. One man would hold some wood up in the air while another nailed it so it stayed there by itself. One of the men had a yellow hat on. He was directing what the other men should do. Then, seeing Adam watching, he came over and said, What are you looking at, sonny?

What are you doing in this empty field?

The man unrolled some papers and showed Adam a picture of a beautiful house. Do you see that, sonny? Well, that is what we are building on this lot, and when we are finished, it will look like that.

Adam looked so surprised and said, How long will it be before you make it like that picture?

About two to three months and it should start to take shape.

Adam just stood there in amazement, and after awhile he walked home and told his uncle and auntie all about the new house being built down the street. However, uncle Bill and auntie Clara did not seem as excited as Adam was. Every day after school he would walk down the road and look at the workmen working away, and the building was beginning to look like a house without any windows or door, and Adam could see right through the walls.  After a couple of weeks the foreman saw the little boy looking and went over to him and said, Well, what do you think, is it looking more like a house now?

Yes, it does look more like a house, but what are those men doing over there?

They are building a brick fireplace, and it has to be built before we put the siding on.

Adam did not understand, but kept looking at different things that were being done on the house. As he was sitting at the kitchen table he began to think about the picture the man building the house showed him. He got a piece of paper and pencil and started to draw what he could remember. His auntie was getting ready to set the table and stopped and looked at what Adam drew and she said, Adam, that is pretty good where did you get that idea from?

The man who is building the house down the street. He showed me a picture, and this is all I can remember.

Well, you remembered quite a lot, Adam, because it looks like a really nice house.

Adam felt proud of what he had done, and now his auntie liked it, and that meant something to him. As the weeks went by Adam watched the house, and now could remember what the drawing looked like. It was a nice house with a nice entranceway and large windows. It was two stories, and when most of the inside had been completed, the foreman went over to Adam who was watching said, Would you like to come inside and see what the house looks like inside?

Oh, yes sir, I would really like that, and the outside is like the picture you showed me, but you never showed me pictures of the inside.

The foreman took hold of Adam’s hand as there was still some lumber lying around that needed to be cleaned up, and then he showed Adam each room and then the upstairs. Adam was amazed at what the men had built and how nice everything was. The foreman explained that he and his men are now finished, and the people will come and do the landscaping around the outside of the house. Adam thanked the foreman and went home. He started to draw what some of the inside of the house looked like, but could not remember what the upstairs looked like. Then Adam would walk down after school to see if the men were working on the outside of the house, but no one was there and everything was locked up.  A few weeks went by and then Adam saw big trucks outside that house and, sure enough, men came to work on the landscaping. He could not believe what he saw as the crane lifted a big tree out of the truck and it was planted in the middle of the front yard and another one on the opposite side. Then they put in small trees all around along with shrubbery. Once the big trees had been planted they almost covered the house, and Adam could not see as much of the house as he used to. Then sidewalks went in and flowers with smaller shrubs along with different plants. He never knew that a home with a front yard like that could be built so quickly.  Adam became so fascinated, that he wanted to see another one being built. So when he got home he said, Uncle Bill, where can I go and see another home being built like the one down the street?

The reason they built that home, Adam, was because it had an empty lot, and there are no more empty lots around, so there will not be any more building going up on this street. Why, Adam? What is it you want?

I'd like to look at new homes and how they are built with different windows and doors and landscaping.

They have plenty of books in the library at school that have homes and buildings. Why don’t you check it out?

And that is what Adam did, and he found some very interesting books on many different types of buildings all different sizes. After doing his homework he would spend the rest of his time going through the books from the school library and, as he looked at some of the designs, he wanted to change it to make it look even better. So he got his pad and pencil and drew part of the one home and then added another part from another drawing he saw. His uncle Bill sitting in his chair looking at Adam had a smile on his face because he was so fascinated in what he was doing and said,  Let me see what you are doing, Adam?

Adam handed his uncle the drawing and his uncle said,  Adam, this is really good, where did you learn to draw like that?

I just like drawing uncle Bill and no one showed me.

Well, one of these days you will become a good architect, Adam, and design all kinds of buildings, and you will become famous.

How does one become an architect, uncle Bill?

First of all, after you have finished school, then you would go to another special school that teaches architecture, but you have another eight years to go before you get out of high school.

Adam did not quite understand what his uncle meant, so he went back to looking at buildings and changing them the way he liked them. He is now fourteen years old and in the eighth grade. He loves school and enjoys the classes except for history. He is still a little shy but not as bad as he used to be, and he does spend a lot of time in the school library looking at building designs. His auntie had found an old drafting board at a garage sale and got it for him. That drafting board really got Adam going in designing. He read a lot of books on how to design and the pros and cons of a good designer. He would design homes from memory and create his own thoughts as to what the home should look like. One day his auntie Clara came in his room and said,  Adam, what are you going to do with all these rolls of paper you have stacked up?

Actually, auntie Clara, they can go in the garbage, because all they are is drawings of houses.

I know you like your drafting board, Adam, but I believe that you could do the same thing on a computer.

I wish I had one of those computers, auntie Clara, but, first of all, they cost a lot of money, and then I would need the special printer to print out the design on large sheets of paper, and then I would have to learn what is called the 3D programming system in order to design like I do on the drafting board. So, at the moment, I am content with this drafting table you got for me.

I am glad you are happy with it, Adam. I have asked you this before, but don’t you have any friends at school you would like to invite here for a meal or even to do things with? It is not good for you to be by yourself all the time.

I am with friends all day at school, auntie Clara, and then all of us have homework when we get home so the only time I have to myself is to enjoy drawing, and I can’t do that if someone else is here.

Aren’t you interested in any of the girls at school, Adam, because you are becoming the age when those things start to happen?

There is only one girl I like, and I have liked her from when we started school, and that is because she has a nice personality and is always polite and kind to all the kids.

A few years had passed and Adam remembered when auntie Clara was in his bedroom and she talked about a computer that is used for designing. He began to think about how nice it would be to have one of those big computers, and that evening while having their evening meal he asked uncle Bill where he could get a part- time job.

You could probably find a part-time job in the newspaper, but you do have to make sure your homework is done first. But why do you want a part-time job, Adam?

Auntie Clara was talking about a computer that is used for designing homes, and if I find a job I can start to save for one.

I know the ones your auntie Clara is talking about, but they are very expensive, Adam, and it would take you years to purchase one.

Well, I can at least try can’t I?

You sure can. I was just letting you know those computers cost thousands of dollars.

Oh, well, if I start saving as soon as I get a part-time job it will help later when I really need to buy one.

Adam looked and looked in the local newspaper to see if he could find a part-time job, but the only one he could find was baby-sitting and he did not want to do that. Each day when he came home from school he would look through the newspaper and was disappointed when he could not find something he could do. After a few weeks he gave up hopes until one day auntie Clare said,  How would you like working at a grocery store, Adam?

What would I do at a grocery store, auntie Clara?

Mr. Hartford, the owner of the grocery store down the road, said he is looking for a young person to bag groceries for customers, so I thought of you.

Thank you, auntie Clara, I will go and talk to Mr. Hartford right away.

Adam got the job, and after school he would go to the grocery store and bag groceries for customers. When things were a little slow he would walk down the aisles and straighten out items of food on the shelves and restock them if necessary. He came to the area where all the magazines were and some customers had glanced through them and put them back in the wrong place. While he was reorganizing the magazines he saw one that showed custom homes and how they were built. He could not help but look through the pages at the different homes when Mr. Hartford said,  Adam, I did not hire you to read magazines.

Sorry, Mr. Hartford, I was just fascinated with one of them.

Read it on your own time and get back to work.

As Adam was putting groceries in a bag for a customer the cashier said,  I see Mr. Hartford talked to you, Adam.

Yes, it was my fault. I was looking through one of those magazines when I should have been working.

Mr. Hartford is really a nice person, and he only is trying to help you see that any employer expects his employees to work hard.

And he is right, because if I was the employer I would want the same thing from those working for me. It was just something in one of those magazines that caught my attention.

What was it that you liked in the magazine?

I like to design homes and make them really nice for people to live in.

Boy, Adam, you are young for that kind of thing, but I know that at the college they have night classes on things like that.

They do? Do you know if they have drafting classes?

No, I don’t, but you could go and find out. Sometimes they have a booklet on the classes they offer, so if you go there you might see if you can pick one up.

The next day Adam asked his uncle if he would drive him to the college, and, sure enough, there were booklets in one of the stands. He took one home and started to go through it and found that a drafting class for architects would begin during the summer months.  On the way home Adam said,  Uncle Bill, is there any way I can go to some night classes this summer at the college?

Next year you will be sixteen, and you can get a permit to drive, and once you have passed the driving test then you can borrow my car.

That is very kind of you, uncle Bill, but that won’t be until next year. I was thinking of this year.

I can’t take you, Adam, and pick you up, because it would be too late as I have to be up early in the morning.

Yes, I know, but maybe there is someone else that can.

What we can do is to go to the college and ask if they know of anyone that will be attending night classes and lives close to where we live.

That is a great idea, uncle Bill, let's do that.

A week before the college classes began, uncle Bill and Adam went to the main office and asked about anyone that would be going to night classes that lived near where uncle Bill and auntie Clara lived. The lady looked at the various lists of names and addresses and said,  There is a Jimmy Watkins that will be attending contractors' classes and he lives a few door from you.

Are the classes for contractors at the same time as the architect classes?

As a matter of fact, they are, Mr. Foster, will you be attending the architect classes?

No, but Adam will.

How old are you, Adam?

Nearly sixteen, but all my grades at school are A’s and I want to get started in designing.

Do you have any computer skills, or experience on specific computers that are used for designing?

No, not yet, but I am saving to get one in a few years.

Well, I am afraid that all the equipment used in the architect classes are computers.

Don’t some use drafting boards?

They used to, but a few years ago they replaced them with computers, because that is what architects use these days.

Adam’s head dropped as he was looking forward to learning more about designing homes and other buildings. The lady behind the desk could see the disappointment in Adam’s face and said,  They do have classes on how to use the new 3D cad systems on computers for designing. It is the same length as the other classes because it takes time to learn.

Okay, I will sign up for that. It will at least get me used to using those computers even if I don’t have one.

Uncle Bill and Adam drove home after Adam signed up for the computer classes and then they stopped at Jimmy Watkins home and asked if he would be willing to take Adam to the night classes which start and finish the same time that Jimmy’s