Mr. C+

By Jack A. D'Angelo

James Clavin II is just an average man leading a routine life. Motivated by the justice systems inability to properly deal with violent acts against those he cares for, he can no longer stand on the sidelines; he must step out of his comfort zone. Doing so, though, without arousing suspicion from both the police and his family is his challenge. Planning and completing his mission while maintaining a family life and modest career becomes his obsession that is only revealed after his death. Does his family give him a passing grade?

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jul 16, 2014
• ISBN: 9781496922151

Book preview

PROLOGUE

The pace of one’s life often out strips one’s personal growth. We realize at some point that the who we are becoming or the who we have already become is not the who we want to be. We play the what if game repeating over and over, What if I had done this? or What if I had gone there instead?"

Then one day something triggers a reaction within you. You decide to change the game from What if? to How can I? You don’t change your course; you simply switch to a multi-lane highway giving you more options and the chance to proceed at a faster speed. Such is the story of one James Clavin II who wanted to be more than just an average man. Sometimes being ordinary just isn’t good enough.

CHAPTER 1

The turnout for the funeral was a modest but respectable tribute to the man. While many people still died in their fifties and sixties, Jim had hoped to make it beyond the seventy-seven years he had achieved. He had heard that your seventies were the new fifties and set his goal at ninety. Typical of his entire life, he had done better than many others but again fell short of exceeding his potential. Prostate cancer had taken another life.

Gina’s worst fear had materialized; her husband of fifty-two years had predeceased her. Even though she didn’t understand how her husband had amassed their retirement nest egg, she knew that, financially, she would be comfortable. They had weathered the financial chaos of the late first and early second decade of twenty-first century. Playing his investments conservatively, he hadn’t made a lot of money in the market and consequently didn’t lose as much either. Working until he was seventy helped their retirement nest egg as well. By that time, Social Security was a thing of the past.

Since two thousand eighteen, only those who were already receiving would continue to collect.

Emotionally, though, Gina was not prepared to be alone. The truth was that she and Jim had grown old together so well that neither wanted to be left without the other. In their own eyes, their marriage had come to be the major success of their lives. Despite the normal ups and downs over the years, the union of James Clavin and Gina Monteleone was viewed by family and friends a model for a successful union. Of course, to those others who measured success in more monetary terms; the Clavins, that everyone knew, did not quite rate very high on that scale.

While their children were saddened by their father’s passing, they had grown up in a time that did not believe in prolonged wakes and funeral arrangements. All three tried to convince their mother to have a one day visitation and then have the burial the following day. They argued that the strain would be too much on her. Gina, to the contrary, was raised when a full three day wake was the norm. She had never liked the cultural change. Everything had to be faster; a death was an inconvenience and it seemed that people were just anxious to move on as quickly as possible.

The weekend, made a compromise possible where visiting hours would be during afternoon and evening sessions on Saturday and Sunday with the funeral on Monday. Jim had died on Thursday but it took Friday for the undertaker to get Jim’s body ready and make all the necessary arrangements including a mass at the Church of the Holy Ghost and the cemetery preparations at Holy Sepulchre in their hometown of Rochester, New York. Besides, Jim’s brother, Robert, needed the time to make the trip from New Jersey.

Jim and Gina had long ago purchased a plot when Jim’s mother, Dorothy, passed away in nineteen eighty-five. Now it was only a matter of digging yet another hole. There was room for four interments all on one level due to the rocky terrain. Jim’s Mom was placed on the left and seven years later, Jim’s Dad, affectionately known as Big Jim, joined her. Now, Jim himself would fittingly be placed next to his father. Eventually Gina would join them but that would not be for some time to come. Robert had declined the offer of a fifth and sixth plot since his own wife’s family had plots in New Jersey.

The pre-planning had comforted Gina and eliminated the burden to take care of such matters under more trying times. What was left to plan was the post funeral reception. This was another custom that had undergone some change. In days gone by, friends of the family would prepare food and have it ready for the returning mourners between the afternoon and evening sessions and then after the funeral. Those returning were generally the immediate family and a small group of other close relatives and out-of-towners.

Over time, an invitation began to be extended to all those who participated in the graveside farewell. Soon the event took on almost a party-like atmosphere. To many, including Gina, the indignity was made worse by the latest development where the family chose a restaurant and invited everyone to join them. The invitation was usually conveyed by the graveside representative of the funeral director.

Gina was emphatic that she would have nothing to do with a restaurant. Knowing people had to be fed, however, she opted for food to be brought in from the local deli and mingled with the food that neighbors had already supplied each day of the wake. There was to be absolutely no alcohol; hard or otherwise.

The three children, all grown by now, simply went along with whatever Gina wanted. They knew better than to press on any other opinion. Despite her grief, Gina was determined to maintain control of the situation.

The young Jim now fort-nine, had none of his father’s features and actually resembled Gina’s dad; especially his six foot two inch frame and thinning hair. Anna, who was three years younger than her brother, was clearly her mother’s daughter in appearance and mannerisms. They both had jet black hair and olive complexions with large dark blue eyes. Of course, Gina had taken to dyeing her hair for several years now. There was no mistaking their Mediterranean heritage. Christine, their third child was, however, all Jim. If Jim’s baby pictures weren’t tattered and in black and white, you could pass them off as Christine’s. Christine was yet three years younger than Anna and was, the truth be told, a complete surprise to her Mom and Dad. The age difference between Jim and Christine did not make for a close relationship growing up. That changed though when they all hit their stride in their thirties.

Anna and Christine had gone through the typical teenage rough patches when the little sister was looked upon as a real pain. Christine looked up to her sister and tried to imitate her in every way. Anna’s clothes were constantly relocated to Christine’s closet.

The girls had remained relatively close, distance wise, to their parents’ house. Both lived within an hour’s drive; close enough for emergencies and celebrations but far enough for all families to avoid overstaying their welcome.

The oldest, officially James III, took a job in another state putting some distance between both his father and grandfather, whose names he bore and whose constant advice smothered him. The strained relationship, fortunately, was only temporary. In fact, the three actually did grow closer over time; they just needed that distance between them. When Big Jim passed, both Jim II and III provided the mutual support needed by each other.

CHAPTER 2

After the funeral, both girls returned home to tend to their husbands and kids and resume their normal lives. Jim stayed behind at the request of Gina. He had all the tools with him necessary to conduct his business. Between his laptop and I-Phone, he could survive for at least a week away from his investment firm’s office.

On the day following the funeral, the doorbell rang about ten thirty in the morning. Gina knew who it was since Bob Thorton had requested the meeting last night as he offered his condolences to Gina. Gina called her son out from the kitchen and introduced him to the attorney who had drawn up her husband’s will along with her own. Young Jim knew the attorney’s name but had never met the man before last night. Jim appeared a little puzzled by the urgency for such a meeting.

Gina was aware of the will’s basic design and that her husband and she had left each other everything in the event one of them died. She also knew that James III was named as the executor of the will. What she didn’t know was that the meeting wasn’t really about the estate; that was pretty straight forward. What she and her son were about to find out would turn their world upside down.

They had lived in this house for all but five years of their married life. It had suited them just fine all these years. It was modest in size now that the children were grown. Gina had no desire to move elsewhere and settled for room by room remodeling and refurnishing as the years passed by. It was like an old shoe that was just comfortable to them. The three children seemed to like coming back to their old house too. They could also visit some of their old friends who still referred to Gina and Jim as Mr. & Mrs. C.

The three migrated to the dining room with its spacious table. All took their seats with Gina and Jim sitting side by side opposite the distinguished looking and ever so serious Robert Thorton, Esq.

Mr. Thorton, is there a problem? I’m just surprised that we have to do this so soon.

Oh no, Jim, there’s no problem. I just wanted to get together with you as soon as possible while you were in town. You do know you are the executor of Mr. Clavin’s, your father’s will, don’t you?

Jim answered in the negative as he looked left at his mother for a reaction. She told him she knew but felt no need to let him know until it was necessary because she expected no difficulties. That didn’t mean, however, that she knew what Mr. Thorton was about to reveal. Gina noticed an unfamiliar leather bound book as Mr. Thorton emptied his briefcase.

CHAPTER 3

Ever since he could remember, Jim II always felt that he didn’t quite belong to a group. It didn’t matter whether it was the popular side or the outcasts among his schoolmates. He always seemed to be somewhere in the middle where the one group either put up with him or he tolerated the other end of the social ladder. It was that way in his childhood and remained that way even into his golden years. Life was bearable but often times frustrating and complicated. Choices typically had to be made, yet at other times the situation took control and molded him and made him what he turned out to be.

His first recollection of who he was started around the age of eight. He was a chubby little blond headed Irish kid who looked more German than Irish. He had the blue eyes to match all attributed to his mother’s side of the family.

Then there was his weight. At four feet eight inches and close to 130 lbs., he was the slow Cub Scout who couldn’t win a relay race if the other boys ran in quicksand. By the time he went to summer camp as a Boy Scout, he still couldn’t swim. He did manage to win the carry the ping pong ball on a spoon across the water race by crawling on his knees in shallow water. He was more embarrassed than proud.

Big Jim did not give his son any hassle over his lack of athleticism despite the fact that he himself was on the swim team in his high school days. The gene must have skipped a generation because James III would win several trophies of his own in swimming and track.

What he lacked physically was offset with other more cerebral oriented skills that would serve him from time to time but fail him at others. His pre-high school period included great academic achievements with almost no effort involved. He got along well with his classmates both male and female but never had a close relationship with any individual. The girls never thought of him in any romantic way. He was just the nice chubby boy in school who could be a lot of fun. He relied more on the children in his neighborhood as playmates. There weren’t that many children on his street so often Jim had to amuse himself. By the time he reached high school nothing had changed much. Most of the kids went to public school, but Jim’s parents enrolled him in a parochial high school on the other side of town. He lost real contact with the public school kids and the fact that the students at McQuaid Jesuit came from all over the city, made it difficult for Jim to have any close friends outside of the school day. He didn’t play any sports and his attempt to make it on the school newspaper was a short lived disappointment. He did okay academically but wasn’t near the top of his class as he had been in elementary school.

The long bus ride to and from school was used to either read or get a jump on his homework. He was friendly enough to his fellow students that they didn’t bother him on the bus or in the hallways of the school. Jim could wisecrack with the best of them and did manage to get into some trouble with a teacher or two. This helped establish his credentials as a not so nerdy kid. The school had almost a thousand students but they were all boys. Big Jim wanted no distractions for his son and girls would definitely be that. Perhaps Big Jim was drawing on his own experience. Once home, Jim usually hung out in his room. Only occasionally did he meet any of his former buddies on the block and chat for a while. During the summer, he rode his bike, took long walks or went to the movies or the library. A few times, though, a classmate threw a party and invited Jim. His parents would encourage him to go as Jim waivered wondering why he had even mentioned it to them. When he went, he had a decent time but was always concerned about who he would hang with for the night. Often, he’d walk in looking for a friendly face only to wander around the house awkwardly looking for a place to sit. He’d fumble with some books he’d come across and then would finally slither out the door unnoticed but having spent sufficient time so that his host knew he was there and his parents didn’t think it was too early to be back home. That often meant stopping on the way home for a burger and a malt to kill more time.

The lack of female students at McQuaid drove the faculty and staff to implement a common phenomenon in Catholic schools; the inter-school Friday night dance. Another parochial school in the city, Nazareth, was a likely choice for a sister school since it was an all-girls college preparatory institution.

Jim did like music and had managed to learn to dance decently from his girl cousins. So, when some of the guys in his class talked about going, he agreed. He still felt at ease with girls although he hadn’t dated anyone yet.

The first dance was an awkward experience. The underclassmen guys hung out on one side of the gym acting goofy and making crude remarks about some of the girls. The girls tended to cluster together as well, primping their hair and giggling whenever a cute boy walked by their group. Except for the juniors and seniors, there was very little dancing going on. Then, a few of the younger girls heard a fast song they liked and gather on the floor in a group. The song ended and the girls returned to their former spots on the sidelines. The chaperones had seen this before and knew what they had to do which amounted to some direct threats to the boys. With a wave to the DJ, a slow record started to play. Starred down by their phys-ed teacher, the boys slowly crossed the gym floor selecting an appropriate girl to ask and hoping she said yes. Otherwise, the walk back across the gym would be a killer.

Jim had grown some and his weight was now more evenly distributed. He didn’t quite make the category of cute enough to get the girls to giggle but he dressed well. His popularity would improve when the girls learned that he could dance. He danced several times that night but limited himself to only the slow ones. Conversation with his dance partners was limited to the exchange of names, grade level, comments on the gym decorations and then the polite thank you as they retreated to their corners. All in all, he danced with five different girls a few of which he