Relentless to Succeed: Prelude to the Business World Book 1 of 2

By Lawrence Wilson

A boy born in southwest Ohio, his nature being shy, bashful, and cowardly, was transformed into reality with a couple of unforeseen events prior to being drafted into the army during the Korean conflict. He was challenged to be the top soldier in his airborne infantry basic training, and he met the challenge and was relentless. He was challenged in combat and was relentless. He was challenged in business college since he didn’t take college prep courses in high school and was relentless. He was challenged in the workforce and was relentless. His goal was to reach the pinnacle of the business world, and through hard work and relentless energy, through trials and tribulations over the years, and through complete unadulterated dedication, he finally was satisfied and reached his goal successfully. He was now ready for his final challenge—'to give back’.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Dec 13, 2020
• ISBN: 9781664146037

Lawrence Wilson

Lawrence Wilson attended classes at the University of Cincinnati in English composition, business writing, literature, and other electives to broaden his scope that were not in his major of engineering. The skills he learned along with personal experiences and a vivid imagination emboldened him to tell an interesting story, albeit fiction combined with facts in most cases. He is the author of other books: Ole Buford, Crack of the Whip, and Chopper Chaplain. He is a widower and a veteran living in southwest Ohio.

Book preview

Copyright © 2020 by Lawrence Wilson.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 12/11/2020

Xlibris

844-714-8691

www.Xlibris.com

810222

CONTENTS

Dedication

Author’s Note

Preface

1 Introduce Price Thomas Walker—Main Character

2 Tommy Gets Draft Notice for the Army and Prepares to Leave

3 Tommy Is Sworn In and Is Now a Soldier

4 Training Begins in Earnest

5 They Get Their First Weekend Pass, but Tommy Stays on Base

6 Basic Winds Down

7 War Is for Real

8 Tommy and Robbie Go on a Mission

9 Tommy Assassinates the Mayor of a Town

10 Tommy Is Questioned about Killing the Mayor and Saves the Colonel

11 Tommy and Robbie Leave Korea

12 Tommy Starts the Meditation Process and Meets a Friend

13 Tommy and Romero Go to a Sunday School Picnic

14 Tommy Goes Home and Buys a Car

15 Tommy and Friend Lane Enroll at USC

16 Tommy Meets Cheerleaders

17 Tommy Takes Summer Classes and Meets Elderly Ladies

18 Tommy Meets the Griffin Brothers

19 Tommy Buys His Apartment House

20 Tommy Buys Second Apartment House

21 Tommy Buys and Refurbishes Foreclosure Houses

22 Tommy Sells Foreclosure Houses

23 Housing Market Accelerated

24 Tommy Goes to Work

25 Tommy Starts New Job in San Diego

26 Tommy Settles in Nicely in New Job

27 Tommy Looks to Buy a Toy and Sporting Goods Factories

28 Tommy Buys Sporting Goods Building

29 Tommy Buys a House for Lorna

30 Tommy Wants to Buy Munitions Plant

31 Tommy Goes to New York and Negotiates Munitions Plant

32 Tommy Takes Control of the Munitions Plant

33 Tommy Addresses the Workers

34 Tommy Inspires the Workers

35 Tommy Spots Ex-Korean POWs in His Plant

36 Details of the Spies Surface

37 Things Get Back to Normal

38 Business Picks Up

39 Contracts Accelerate; Build New Building

40 Tommy Is Attacked

41 Vacation and Painting and A/C

42 Tommy Hires Security and Goes to Birthday Party

43 Minor Trouble at the Plant; Union Rears Its Ugly Head

44 Tommy Considers Selling the Company because of the Union

45 Tommy Finalizes the Sale

46 Tommy Makes His Exit Speech

47 The Journey to California

DEDICATION

I dedicate this book to all the successful people that started from meager beginnings and, through hard work and determination, generated a prosperous life through honest efforts.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

There are countless numbers of people that started with absolutely nothing and became phenomenally successful. Take for example our good friend Abraham Lincoln, who started from mere beginnings. He was born in a remote small cabin in the wilds of Kentucky that had no electric and no plumbing. He was determined to learn, and he read and studied by the light of a candle or coal-oil lamp. He made honest efforts in all his endeavors throughout his life to overcome his stand and with diligence rose to be the most powerful man in the world, the president of the United States. There are many that have become wealthy and powerful by hook or by crook and crushed a lot of the little people along the way, but these are not honorable people, and these are not what this book is about; they are not worthy of being mentioned here. Quoting from the Bible, People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction.

PREFACE

This story is generally fiction, and any names and places used may or may not be coincidental. It features a boy born into a large poor family and in his early years is shy, bashful, and cowardly, but because of a rude awakening becomes determined to improve his situation and, through various circumstances, devotes his time and energy to prosper. He is challenged or challenges himself to reach goals of all levels and works tirelessly and diligently to reach those goals and is determined that nothing or nobody is going to stop him. It contains action, drama, suspense, smart business decisions, and romantic situations to add life to the story. So, what does the future hold for our hero, Price Thomas Walker? The world awaits!

Whip Wilson

Maineville, Ohio

CHAPTER 1

Price Thomas Walker was born into a poor family in the early 1930s; he was the fourth of seven children. Kindergarten was not offered in those days, and only the children from families of means that could afford to pay for it attended. He went by the name Tommy and was instructed by his older siblings to learn the alphabet and numbers; they had the benefit of an early reading book for children called ‘The Primer’, and above all other things, he learned to tie his shoes, and when he entered the first grade, he was equal to all the kids in his class; he was smart.

He had one big problem: he was extremely shy and bashful, and he never outgrew it all throughout school, and when other boys wanted to start a fight, he would cowardly turn away. At one point, his mother became disgusted with him and stated that she didn’t know she raised a ‘jellyfish’. As he grew, he would do anything to make a little money, like mowing lawns, shoveling snow, selling magazines door to door, or pulling his little red wagon around the neighborhood and collecting old papers and magazines to sell at the junkyard; he was a good worker and earned his money. He had a lot of friends and was well respected by his neighbors and anybody that made his acquaintance.

In the sixth grade, the principal of his elementary school, knowing the problems of the family, referred him to a job helping the janitor sweep out the classrooms and the hallways each night after school and working Saturdays till noon for a whopping $1.25 a week. He would work full time the month before school started the ensuing year, getting the building ready, and he was paid twenty dollars for the month. He continued working when he entered junior high school, and in the seventh grade, his father died, leaving the family in a worse financial situation. Later that year, he was informed that the law said a child that age was not allowed to work, so, he was let go. He couldn’t afford to eat much for lunch in the cafeteria, but he could get four slices of bread with gravy poured over it for a nickel, and that filled him up, while the other kids were eating good lunches.

He was in the top of his classes, and in the ninth grade, he was asked to be in the National Junior Honor Society by maintaining high grades, where he went on his first date for their Honor Society dance. His date was a terrific girl, but she was slightly overweight, and he took quite a ribbing over that, but it was more embarrassing for her. After the dance, they went to a restaurant where he bought her a fountain Coke for a nickel, last of the big spenders.

In the tenth grade, he was informed by a senior acquaintance that there was a job opportunity at a shoe store for a stock boy. He applied and was hired for thirty-five cents per hour working after school and on Saturdays stocking shelves and sorting incoming shipments of new shoes. It was a family-owned store, and they thought highly of him and considered him part of the family; they appreciated his dedication to hard work. One of the good perks about the job was he could get a 10-percent discount on all the shoes he bought, and they offered him the opportunity to pay for them on an installment plan, taking a little out of his pay each week. He kept his mom and siblings supplied with the latest styles of shoes. The following year, he got a raise to forty-five cents per hour. They offered him an opportunity to sell shoes and serve customers, but he was too shy to deal with it and remained stocking shelves.

One of the owners had a new house built on a wooded lot and asked Tommy if he would like to work on the lot on Saturdays cleaning up the area, which he accepted readily for the opportunity to work outside, provided the weather was favorable. If it wasn’t, his wife would generate work for him inside because she and their young son became attached to him for his gentle and kindly nature.

The high school offered for juniors and seniors vocational training in automotive and machine shop at a remote training facility. Knowing that it was without a doubt an impossibility that he would go to college, he selected the machine shop. In addition to training on machine tools, they had classes in math and associated subjects, but the state required that they complete a formal course in history and English, which was held at the high school. So, at the end of each day, they would go to the high school in his junior year to study English, and in the senior year study history. In his senior year, in the second semester, he was offered the opportunity to co-op, working in a factory for three weeks and attend school for three weeks, which paid more money and allowed him to quit the shoe store.

When he graduated, now with some factory experience, he went directly into the factory full time, making $1.36 per hour, ten cents more than any other new hire because of his training. The bad part of the deal was he was low man on the seniority list, and they put him on the third shift, working the hours of 11:30 p.m. to 7:00 a.m., which was terrible because he had a problem sleeping in the daytime. Each workday, at about 8:00 p.m., he would try to catch a little sleep on the couch at home before he went to work but being deprived of sleep proved to be an awfully long night.

He was assigned his own machine in his department, which he caught on to easily because of his training. The department consisted of half women and half men, all about the ages of upper thirties and into the forties, old enough to be his parents. To him, they appeared old; they looked old and acted old; they even dressed like old people and were not sociable and rarely talked to him. Tommy concluded that they had lived through the Great Depression and World War ll, which were extremely difficult times in our history, and that aged them before their time and also made them thankful to have a job.

CHAPTER 2

Tommy worked at the factory for over a year, and at the age of nineteen, he received a letter from the draft board informing him he was being drafted into the army with the Korean War in full swing, so he gave his supervisor, Andy, notice that he would be leaving. There was one coworker, Willie, who was a navy veteran that he talked to quite a bit, who was talking to him on Monday, his final week at the factory. He never mentioned to anyone that he was leaving for the army, but he had to ask Willie why everybody in the department shunned him the entire time he worked there when he tried to be friendly.

Willie responded, Because they despise you!

What? Why? he exclaimed, shocked. I’ve never done anything to any of them. I even took a few of the women home at the end of our shift when they asked.

They say you act like you are above them, Willie answered.

That almost makes me laugh, Tommy remarked. I’m just a dirt-poor kid without a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of. How could I possibly feel like I am above them, or anybody else for that matter? I have many friends and neighbors, and I know of none of them that feels that way.

You came straight from school and was hired to do the same job we have been doing for years, Willie added.

I’m in no way a threat to any of them. We talk a lot, and I thought we were friends. Do you feel the same way they do? Tommy questioned.

Yes, I feel the same as they do, Willie continued. Sure, we talk a lot, but we are not friends.

Willie, you sure know how to kick a guy in the balls, Tommy remarked bitterly. I’ll be out of your hair soon. This is my last week here. I already gave Andy notice, so Friday night is my last night.

What? Where are you going? What are you going to do? Willie asked inquisitively.

Now, Willie, be honest for the first time in your life. You don’t give a damn where I am going or what I’m going to do, right? Tommy answered.

No, I really don’t! Willie confessed.

This was quite a shock to this gentle, shy young man, and he seethed and was hurt and angered the remainder of the week. On Wednesday, one of the ladies asked him for a lift home after their shift, and he bluntly replied, No, sorry, I have things to do and I must go straight home! He proceeded to ignore them all completely and never gave any of them the satisfaction of a nod or a smile. In all sincerity, this was the beginning of the end for the old shy, bashful, and congenial Tommy Walker, and the beginning of the new calloused and bold Tommy Walker.

Friday night, at their break, Andy approached him and said, Here is your final pay for the week. You are paid up and can leave anytime. I hate to see you go, Tommy. You are a good worker and have never missed any time. Let me give you some advice: you don’t want to work in a place like this for the next forty-five years. You are smart, and if all works out well after the Korean War, find something else to do with your life.

Thanks, Andy, you have been a good supervisor, but let me ask you a simple question. What is this animosity that all the people hold against me in our department? Tommy asked.

I’ve heard about it, and I don’t really know, Andy commented. My job is to get production out on time, and I don’t get involved in any of that kind of stuff. Good luck to ya and be safe.

He extended his hand for a shake, and Tommy asked, Would you mind if I borrow a wheeled cart to take my toolbox to my car?

Andy replied, Of course not. Just leave it outside the door, and I’ll get it later.

As he was pushing the cart down the aisle toward the door, one of the ladies, whom he always willingly rode home regularly, stepped out and said, Tommy, we heard you were leaving, so we took up a collection and bought you a going-away present. It was a neatly wrapped little package with a colored ribbon around it.

Unlike the old nice-guy Tommy, he remarked sharply, No thanks! I don’t need it. Give it to somebody else. When he got to the door, he looked back, and she was still standing there looking bewildered, and he muttered, Stick it up your ass, you hypocrite bitch. He felt good taking a tough stand where he normally would not have. He felt bitterness and anger as he drove home, and when he arrived, he went straight to bed.

He slept in till late morning, and when he got up, he began fixing something to eat for breakfast. His mom asked, Well, did they give you a nice sendoff at work last night?

He ate quietly as most of the family stood and waited for his answer, "No, they didn’t because they all despise me. They said I acted like I was above them, and I took that as a kick in the balls. You have seen the last of the old shy and bashful Tommy, and now there is going to be a new strong and determined Tommy, just like you always wanted, not a ‘jellyfish’ like you called me because I wouldn’t go out and fight the boys on the street. You wanted me to be like your drunken old man, spending half his time in jail. Well, that is not going to happen. There is a new dawn, and things are going to be different from now on. I don’t know what is going to happen when I leave for the army on Tuesday. I don’t know if I will come back in one piece or not at all, but I can tell you that they will know that Tommy Walker had been there."

His mom had tears in her eyes and said sheepishly, "I don’t remember calling you a ‘jellyfish’. Why are you acting this way?"

I remember it, and I will never forget it, he continued. "And my older brothers teased me and made fun of me all my life when they could have advised me to make the right decisions, but, no, that wouldn’t have been funny, and you laughed with them. You raised me like I was, but no more. No more nice guy. From now on, it’s ‘Asshole Tommy’."

He stormed out the door and got into his car and drove to Betty’s house. Betty was a member of the little group of friends he hung out with through their teen years. Her car was in the driveway, so he knew she was home. Her dad, who is a builder, bought her a candy-apple-red convertible when she graduated, the year after he graduated. He walked around the house to the back, and she was lying on her stomach on a chaise soaking up some sun. He lay down beside her and ran his hand up under her skirt and in between her thighs, and she remarked, I don’t know who that is, but I’ll give you twenty minutes to stop. She looked up and remarked, Tommy, I was just thinking about you. When are you leaving?

Early Tuesday morning, he answered.

Well, come on, I want to give you a going-away present, she insisted. She led him up to her bedroom and started undressing.

Betty, what are you doing? You were always a tease whenever I tried to make out with ya, he remarked.

Well, I’m not teasing now! she commented. She always wore nice clothes, and they displayed her great body, which he admired and made him want to bang her but never was able to get her serious. Tommy was never shy and bashful with the girls while growing up. When the word spread this little guy was blessed with big equipment and the know-how to use it, most of the girls came around offering to play Mommy and Daddy, and he would send them away happy.

He had been banging Betty for a couple of hours, and they heard a noise downstairs. Betty said, That’s just my mom, and she doesn’t care.

Her mom appeared at the bedroom door and said, Betty, you shouldn’t be doing that. You are engaged to be married.

I know, Mom, she remarked, but he doesn’t satisfy me like Tommy does.

I don’t understand, Tommy said. Your mom and dad never would give me the time of day. Why did they change?

It wasn’t you necessarily, she answered. They were afraid I would end up with a factory worker or a laborer or a ditch digger, but now that I am engaged to a college man whom they think has a bright future, they have relaxed . . . Keep bangin’!

When they had enough, they spent the rest of the day visiting their friends for him to say his final good-byes. Then Sunday, he continued visiting more friends to say good-bye. Monday morning, he went back to Betty’s house, and her dad met him at the door and invited him in to drink some coffee and visit, and that was unusually strange.

When are you leaving? Betty’s dad asked.

First thing in the morning, he answered.

So, what are you going to do for the rest of the day? the dad continued to question.

One thing I have to do is sell my car. I don’t need it anymore, and I don’t want it to just sit for the next two years. I’ll take it to a used car lot about closing time, and I know I won’t get out of it what it’s worth, he responded.

Mama walked in as the dad was getting the last of the coffee, and while he had his back turned, she flipped open the flap of her bathrobe and flashed her beaver at him. Tommy’s eyes bugged out, and he thought, "What the heck was that?"

The dad said, Well, I got to get to work. You be safe and come back to see us when you come home.

They heard his car leave the driveway and pull out on the street, and mama said, You’ve had enough coffee. Betty is at work, and we have the entire house to ourselves. Let’s go upstairs. She took him to her bedroom and dropped off her bathrobe, and commented, Betty has talked enough about that hard boner, and now I want it.

What about your husband? Tommy asked.

She remarked, He’s older than me and has a hard time getting it up anymore, but I am still young enough that I am not ready to quit. They lay on the bed, and he banged the mama until she had enough, and then they went back to the kitchen, and she fixed a little lunch.

I got to get going. I got things I have to do, he said. She hugged him and kissed him hard on the mouth, and he walked out and got into his car and thought, "Wow, I don’t know what just happened. I should have announced I was leaving weeks ago when I first got my draft notice."

He drove to Gordon’s Used Cars lot, and Gordon came out, all smiles, like used car dealers do. Gordon had been a friend of Tommy’s eldest brother for years, so they knew each other.

Gordon, I want to sell you my car, Tommy began.

Why? What’s wrong with it? Gordon asked.

Nothing! Tommy exclaimed. It has good tires and good brakes and doesn’t burn oil and runs good, and I just waxed it three-weeks ago. I’m leaving in the morning for the army, and I don’t need it. I figure it’s worth $500.

I’ll give ya $100 for it, Gordon responded.

Come on, Gordon, you trying to stick it to an old friend? You don’t have to put anything into it, and you probably can get $600 out of it, easy. If that’s the best you can offer, I’ll take it down to Honest Al’s car lot, Tommy replied.

I’ll split with ya and give you $250, and that’s the best I can do. You got the title with ya? We can go into the office, and I’ll give ya cash on the barrel head, and we can sign it over to me, Gordon insisted.

OK, Gordon, you would never have stolen it from me that cheap if I wasn’t leaving. Take my tags off, and then you have to take me home, Tommy concluded.

While he was removing the tags, a customer drove in and asked, Hey, Gordon, what ya take for that shiny nice car?

I am asking $800 for it, Gordon answered. You won’t have to do anything to it. It has good brakes and good tires and doesn’t burn oil. Tommy never said anything, but just smiled because he knew from experience how used car dealers operate.

I’ll give you my old clunker and $600 cash, but I need to test drive it first, the man offered.

This boy doesn’t have a ride, so drive him home, and he can tell you all about the car, Gordon responded. First let me put my dealer tags on it.

Tommy told the guy to drop him off at Ms. Smith’s house across the street from his house and got out of Gordon’s car and spotted Ginny sitting on her mother’s porch. So he walked up the steps to tell her he was leaving and wanted to say good-bye. Ginny was four years older than him, and they knew each other since they were young.

Haven’t seen you since you got married—been over a year now? Tommy asked.

Yeah, a year and two months, she replied.

Being forward and nosey, he asked, You always said you were saving yourself until you got married. How’s that going?

I’m not sure, she answered openly.

I take that as he is not satisfying you. Have you ever had an orgasm? Tommy proceeded to pry.

I don’t know, she responded. I don’t know what that is. He sticks it in and gets done in a hurry and pulls it out and goes to sleep.

That’s criminal. Come on, Ginny, I am going to give you some lessons on lovemaking, Tommy offered. He took her to the bedroom and lit her up. She had three strong O’s and would have had more, but she had to leave to go to her in-laws for dinner. Go home and teach your husband how to make love, he instructed.

As she was leaving, her mother, Ms. Smith, came home. You two been having sex? she asked.

Tommy answered, scolding, Yeah, how’s come you didn’t teach her about orgasms? She has been married over a year and didn’t know what they were. She knows now!

I thought she would get more enjoyment out of it if she found out on her own, Ms. Smith responded. Speaking of which, I haven’t had one myself for a long time. How about a going-away present? So, he banged Ms. Smith till the wee hours of the morning.

He went home hoping to get a little sleep after he did some last-minute packing, and his elder sister, Beth, was waiting up for him, knowing he was pretty upset all weekend. He threw the money on the table that he had gotten for selling his car.

What did you do all day? she asked. I’ll help you pack. They were always close growing up, and she understood all that was troubling him.

I went to Betty’s house, and her dad invited me in for coffee and then he went to work, and I banged her mom, he explained.

What? You banged Betty’s mom? she asked, surprised, laughing.

Well, she asked for it. The old Tommy would never have considered such a thing, he answered. Then I went to Gordon’s Car Lot and sold my car, and when a guy brought me home, I saw Ginny sitting on her mom’s porch, so I went over to tell her good-bye and asked her how married life was going, and she admitted she had never had an orgasm.

I’ll bet you solved that problem, his sister joked.

Yeah, and then her mom came home and said she hadn’t had one in a long time, so I banged her for a couple of hours. She said I was like a wild animal, and I wore her out, he answered.

They are going to miss the super stud of the neighborhood. You are probably leaving at a good time because all the family is pretty burned up over your outburst, Beth remarked.

It was long overdue! he remarked.

CHAPTER 3

He didn’t get a lot of sleep, so when he got up, he grabbed his bag and a piece of bread and started out the door. His mom spotted the money on the table and asked, What’s this money for?

Beth said, That’s what Tommy got for his car. His mom snarled her lip, picked it up, and threw it on the floor.

His elder brother offered to take him to the induction center, and Tommy said it didn’t matter, that he could walk. His brother said, Come on! It doesn’t make much sense to walk. On the way, his brother commented, You shouldn’t have talked to our mom like that! He never replied or said a word.

When they arrived, he got out of the car and said, See ya!

The photographer from the local newspaper had all the draftees pose for a group picture to go into the daily paper. They boarded a bus, and he napped all