William Redman

Chapter 2

Posted: September 20, 2005 - 11:37:17 pm

Wearing western garb, William sat on a bench soaking up the sun in front

of the Morgenstern building housing the Department of Economics within

the School of Business. Classes would be starting in three days and the

current crop of undergraduates were busy moving into their dorms.

He watched the parents and their children wandering around the campus

with a frown. The sons and daughters wanted to declare their

independence despite fears of the great unknown. The parents wanted to

keep their sons and daughters from growing any faster than necessary.

The resulting conflict was demonstrated with sharp words, sullen

gestures, and foul language. He hated the damage they were doing to each

other, but he was just one person.

His thoughts were interrupted when a young man stopped in front of him

and asked, "Hey, kid. Did you lose your parents?"

The young man was clad in a yellow T-shirt with 'Student Aide' printed

across it. Pasted to the chest was a paper with his name and the logo of

the university. The nametag identified him as Doug, with no last name

given. William answered, "No, Doug."

"They shouldn't leave you out here like this," Doug said initially

wondering how the kid knew his name and then recalling his nametag. He

was worried about a kid sitting alone like that. He knew that folks got

lost while going to the bathroom and it could take an hour before they

found their way back to the bench. There was no telling what could

happen during an hour.

Holding up a sheet of paper, William said, "I'm a student here. Just

finished paying my tuition for the semester."

"Oh, sorry. You look kind of young for your age," Doug said revising his

impression of the situation. He thought that it must be tough for the

guy to get a date looking that young. He couldn't imagine any of the

women on campus wanting to go out with someone who looked fifteen.

Smiling at statement, William replied, "I look my age."

"Sorry dude, I hate to tell you this, but you look like you're fifteen."

Chuckling at the comment, William said, "I am fifteen. Like I said, I

look my age."

"Wow. So you're like a child prodigy or something?"

"I'm probably the or something," answered William.

Doug laughed at the joke and shook his head in appreciation of the sense

of humor displayed by the kid. He figured the guy probably had it pretty

rough from other kids his age. Deciding that even a prodigy could get

lost on campus, he asked, "So have you found your dorm?"

"I have a place off campus," answered William.

"So you're all settled. That's great," Doug said satisfied that he

didn't have to make a detour to take care of the kid.

A limousine pulled up to the curb near where William was seated. Seeing

it, William said, "My ride is here. It's been a pleasure meeting you."

"Right," said Doug staring at the black car. He watched as the kid

entered the back and the car drove away. Shaking his head, he said,

"Seemed like a nice enough guy for a rich kid."

Settled into the back of the limousine, William considered what he was

to do next. Leaning forward, he told the driver, "Take me somewhere that

I can get something to eat."

The driver turned around and looked at William. He'd been driving the

kid to and from the college for a week. It seemed strange to him that a

kid who wasn't old enough to drive was going to college. He asked, "What

would you like?"

"Someplace with a variety of food," answered William thinking about how

Daddy Ed would have answered the question. His father would have asked

for a restaurant that served good food.

"There's a Chinese buffet not too far from here," suggested the driver.

"That's fine," William said looking out the window at the students. Here

were so many young men and women about to have their first experiences

with unsupervised life. He knew that some would fail the test and live

lives of quiet desperation. Others would rise to the challenge and

become leaders. Most would plug along and learn from their experiences.

The sight of the limousine passing through the campus gave rise to a

wide number of reactions from those who observed it. Some of the women

wondered if it contained a worthwhile catch. Some of the men wondered if

the individual within represented a competitor for the women on campus.

Students from poor families stared at it in envy at the easy life that

the limousine represented. Rich kids figured Daddy was new rich and

didn't have any class.

It was a five-minute drive to the restaurant. Upon arriving, the driver

opened the door for him. Stepping out of the car, William asked, "Henry,

would you like to come in and eat?"

"No. The wife will have dinner ready for me," answered the driver with a

smile. Every evening the kid had invited him to have dinner with him and

each time he had refused. Although he appreciated the offer, he felt it

wasn't right for the hired help to dine with the boss.

"I'll be about forty-five minutes. I can take longer if you want to go

somewhere," William said.

"No problem. I've got my book," said Henry as he pointed to a paperback

on the front seat.

"Okay," said William. He headed towards the door of the restaurant

taking his time. A man, about thirty years old, and his wife, a few

years younger, entered the buffet restaurant a few steps in front of

him. The man looked angry and the wife looked worried.

When the hostess had finished seating the first couple, she turned to

William and asked, "One?"

Answering in Mandarin, William answered, "Yes. I would like a seat where

I can watch people."

Surprised, the hostess continued the conversation in Mandarin. "You

speak Mandarin well. You have a good accent, too."

"One of my mothers taught me Mandarin," William answered. He knew that

it might look to some like he was showing off, but the fact of the

matter was that he was pleased to have a chance to practice his Chinese.

The hostess asked, "Would that corner table be good?"

"Very good," answered William seeing that he would be able to observe

everyone in the room. He followed her to the table she had pointed out.

The hostess, wanting to make a special effort for a young man who spoke

her language, asked, "Would you like me to ask the chef to prepare

something special for you?"

"No thank you. What you have out should be fine," answered William with

a slight bow in recognition of the honor she had done him.

The waitress approached and stood next to the hostess. Hearing the

exchange in Mandarin, the waitress continued the conversation in

Mandarin when she asked, "What can I get you to drink?"

"Tea, thank you."

"I shall bring your tea. Why don't you help yourself to the buffet?"

"Thank you," William said. As he headed to the buffet, he overheard the

hostess say that he spoke like someone whose first language was Chinese.

The waitress expressed surprise that an occidental could speak so well

and did so in such a polite manner. William smiled at the comments and

started loading his plate with food.

While he ate, William watched the other customers eat their meals. The

couple who had entered the restaurant in front of him captured the

majority of his attention. The man continued to look angry, but it was

clear that the subject of his anger wasn't the woman who accompanied

him. The woman looked worried, although it wasn't the kind of worry

associated with fearing the man.

The couple was having a very serious discussion. The gestures of the man

suggested that he was frustrated and didn't know what to do, but was

afraid to let his fears be known. The woman acted in an understanding

manner, but her gestures undermined the man's confidence. After some

time, the man stood up and marched to the restroom.

William rose and went to the table where the man had been seated. He

examined the woman for half a minute. She was an attractive woman, but

not in a fashion model sense. Lines of worry had already begun to etch

themselves in her face.

Noticing the attention, the woman looked at him confused by his

behavior. Finally, William declared, "You have children."

Off balance by his comment, she cautiously said, "Yes."

"How many?"

"One. An eight year old boy."

"Do you own your house?"

"No, we rent an apartment. Why are you asking?" Worried by the unusual

questions, she examined the young man wondering what he was asking the

questions. She glanced in the direction of the bathroom wishing her

husband would return.

William nodded and then turned away. He marched to the rest room. Upon

entering it, he stood in front of the door and waited while the man

washed his face. Seeing that his temporary refuge had been invaded, the

man dried his face with a paper towel. Going to the door, he expected

the young man to get out of his way. He was surprised when the kid didn't

In a voice that suggested the man was acting like a jerk, William asked,

"What is your problem?"

"What?" asked the man confused by the question and the tone of voice used.

"I asked you - what is your problem?"

"I don't have a problem," said the man finding that his anger was

returning. He tried to push William out of the way and found the kid

didn't move. It was like pushing against a stone statue. He backed up in

surprise.

Ignoring the attempt to move him, William said, "I've been watching you.

You're so upset that you left an attractive woman sitting alone at a

table. Where do you go? You hide in the bathroom. So I ask again, what

is your problem?"

Irritated, the man answered, "My boss died a couple of weeks ago and his

son, the fucking little bastard, is shutting down the station where I work."

"So find another job."

"Kid, getting a job is not that easy," answered the man. He didn't know

what he was going to do about finding a job. There were now specialty

shops that fixed brakes, windows, and replaced Fusion Cells. Most of

them were staffed with part-time kids who worked for nothing. With a

wife and child depending on him bringing in a paycheck, he needed to

make a good wage. The last thing he needed was some smart-ass kid

telling him how to run his life.

"Why?"

"This is a college town. Good paying jobs aren't that easy to find when

you've got thousands of kids that will work cheap," retorted the man.

That was the crux of his problem.

William said, "You are wrong. I have two job openings. I need a handyman

who can also drive me around. I need a housekeeper who can take care of

the house and cook."

The idea that a kid was interviewing him for a job in a bathroom was too

surreal to be believed. The man looked around as if expecting to find a

camera recording the encounter. Not finding one, he looked at William.

Shaking his head, he said, "Look kid. This is a serious matter."

"I've very serious," said William. He pulled out his wallet and took out

a card. Turning it over, he wrote his address on the back. The man

watched William curious as to what he was doing.

William handed him the card and said, "I expect you to come to this

address at eight tonight to discuss working for me. Bring your wife and

child."

Without further comment, William turned and left the restroom leaving

behind a stunned man. Returning to the table, William decided that his

appetite had been sated. Grabbing the check, he went to the counter. In

Mandarin, he said, "Everything was perfect."

"I am glad you enjoyed it," said the hostess as she rang up the sale.

William paid the check and left the restaurant hoping that the man was

smart enough to come by the house later that evening. The couple at the

table watched as he entered the limousine. Once the limousine had driven

off, the woman said, "Strange kid."

"He offered me a job. I think maybe he offered both of us jobs," said

the man staring out the window of the buffet restaurant. He looked down

at the card and read the name aloud, "William Redman Carter."

"He's a strange kid."

The man flipped over the card and looked at the address on the back. It

was in an expensive part of town. It was out where the houses were big

and the lots were even bigger. He frowned while he thought about it. He

didn't have anything to lose. Shrugging his shoulders, he said, "It

wouldn't hurt to check it out."

It was approaching eight and William was seated in his favorite red

leather chair reading a book on game theory. Looking up from the book,

he gave voice to his thoughts, "The problem with the idea of a theory of

decision making that assumes rationality is that people are not rational."

Looking back down at the book, William considered the theory as

presented within it. He decided to test the theory against the breakfast

problem. This was a problem he had invented years ago to test the

validity of various theories concerning human decision- making. It had

come to him one morning at the Druid college when one of the students

made the statement that logic was the foundation for human reasoning. He

had immediately tried to construct a logical argument that would help

him select breakfast. Realizing that logic didn't allow him to select a

breakfast, he realized that it was a very powerful test of a theory of

decision making. He extended the problem as a means of testing if a

theory allowed people to chose different breakfasts on different days.

He closed the book and thought about the material within it. He came to

the conclusion that game theory failed the breakfast test. There was

nothing to explain why choosing eggs for breakfast today would be

consistent with choosing cereal tomorrow. In game theory, the rational

decision to choose eggs today would dictate that one would choose eggs

tomorrow.

The main problem was that life wasn't a finite game like chess, but an

infinite game in which the rules changed as time progressed. What was

valuable one day was meaningless the next. The dynamics of life required

the parameters within the equations of game theory to evolve, but there

was nothing in the theory to explain how they had to change.

His thoughts were interrupted by a timid knock on the door. Glancing

over at the clock, he saw that it was a few minutes before eight.

Smiling at the fact that his guests had shown up early, he went to the

door and opened it. Standing at the door was the man and woman from the

restaurant along with their child. William gestured for them to enter

the house while he said, "Come in."

The man stepped through the door and looked around for a couple of

seconds before gesturing for his wife to follow. Holding the child by

the hand, the wife entered the house and stood behind her husband. She

peeked around him to examine William. She sidled out of the way when he

moved to close the door behind them.

The man said, "You mentioned two jobs."

"Yes," William said while returning to his chair. He gestured to a sofa

and said, "Please have a seat. I'm expecting a call."

The trio made their way to the sofa and sat down. The child sat in his

mother's lap and looked around nervously. He'd never seen his parents

act in such an intimidated manner before and he was worried. Rather than

make a fuss, he settled down and watched William sit down in the chair.

"I fear that we haven't introduced ourselves. I am William Redman Carter."

"I'm Ken Armstrong and this is my wife, Lisa. The little fellow on her

lap is Tim."

William studied Tim for a second and then said, "If I'm not mistaken,

you're about two years younger than my little brother. That makes you

old enough to play with one of the big toys. I think I have a radio

controlled truck here. Would you like to play with that while your

parents and I talk?"

Eyes growing big at the idea of playing with a radio controlled truck,

the boy said, "Really? I can play with one of those?"

"Yes," said William. He rose and went to the closet of the living room.

Within it were the radio-controlled cars and other toys he had brought

for those occasions when his brother visited. He pulled out the truck

and a controller. He turned the truck on and set it on the floor.

Pushing the lever, the truck rolled across the floor. Satisfied that it

still functioned, he replaced the box in the closet and closed the door.

He handed the controller over to the boy and said, "Why don't you take

it to the other side of the room and play with it there?"

The boy climbed out of his mother's lap and ran over to the truck. In

the tone of voice that only mothers can adopt, Lisa asked, "What do you

say?"

The boy, having forgotten his manners, stopped and said, "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Looking at the expensive toy, the father said, "Don't break it."

Smiling at the comment, William said, "Toys are meant to be played with

and sometimes they break. That's the life of a toy. Don't worry about it."

The parents stared at William as if he were from the moon. Tim carried

the truck over to the far end of the room and set it on the floor. Ken

said, "I'd feel bad if he broke it."

"I'm sorry, but that would be like feeling bad because a fly landed on a

leaf. I've broken a lot of those radio-controlled cars. So have my

brothers, sisters, and fathers." William chuckled at a particularly

funny memory. He said, "Daddy Dan once put a little gasoline in one

because he wanted to recreate a car explosion from one of the movies we

had watched. My sister Beth warned him not to do it, but he didn't

listen. When it exploded, it really exploded and parts of it are still

stuck in the ceiling of the playroom. At least Daddy Ed was there with a

fire extinguisher."

Surprised, Lisa wondered if his father was in a gay relationship. That

would explain why the kid acted so weird. She asked, "You have more than

one father?"

"Yes. I have three fathers and four mothers. They are still looking for

a fourth husband," answered William. Judging by their reactions, he knew

they didn't understand. He said, "I'm sure you've heard of my family. It

is the Carter Clan."

Lisa looked at William as she thought about the implications of what he

said. She'd heard that the kids were all super-geniuses. Knowing that

William was one of them, she said, "Oh. I see. That explains a lot."

Ken said, "You mentioned something about jobs."

"We'll wait until the call comes before we discuss that," said William

glancing at the clock. It was a minute later when he reached over for

the telephone a second before it rang. Pushing the speakerphone button,

he said, "Hello, Momma Ling."

"Hello William. Did you have any problems registering?"

"None. I got in line and paid my money. It seems they don't care how old

you are when it comes to using a credit card. I've got company here and

I'm on speakerphone."

There was a moment of silence before Ling said, "Everything is alright,

isn't it?"

"Of course. I just need to talk with Daddy Ed for a few minutes," said

William. It amazed him how much Ling worried about his safety. He knew

that if she had her way, she'd do an in-depth background check on

everyone within a mile of him.

"Okay. He's in the pool so it will be a second before he can get to the

phone."

"I miss you too," said William.

"Stop doing that! You've got to give me the chance to say it," said Ling

frustrated that he never gave her a chance to tell him how much she

missed him.

"If I stop doing that, you'll think I'm sick or something," said

William. He winked at Lisa and Ken to let them know that it was casual

banter between parent and child.

"Of course, then I'd know you are in trouble," said Ling. Switching to

Mandarin, she asked, "Are you sure that everything is okay?"

"I'm fine," he answered in Mandarin.

"Here's Ed. I'll talk to you later. I love you," said Ling.

"I love you too."

"William, how are you doing?" asked Ed.

"I am doing fine, dad," said William.

"Ling is worried about you."

"Let her know that everything is fine. I'm here with a couple that I'm

interviewing as caretaker and housekeeper. Would you mind talking with

them for a minute?" asked William knowing exactly how his father would

answer.

"Sure."

William turned to the couple and said, "My father, Ed Biggers, is on the

phone. Would you mind introducing yourself to him?"

"I'm Ken Armstrong and I'm here with my wife, Lisa."

For the next five minutes, Ed questioned Ken and Lisa. He slowly probed

their character using his truth sense. The questions were designed to

make sure that they didn't have drinking problems, use drugs, or were

predisposed to violence. After Ed had hung up, William turned to the

couple and said, "My father is satisfied that you are good people."

"He's rather intense."

"Yes, he is. I can tell you about the jobs now," William said. He looked

at the couple to make sure he had their attention and then said, "First

of all, I'm too young to drive in this state. I can't even get a

hardship license even though I live ten miles from the campus, so I have

to get a driver. It is not exactly a full-time job, so I would also

expect the person to do odd jobs around the house. I was thinking you

could take care of the lawn, fix any appliances that happen to break,

and run errands."

"It doesn't sound difficult. Do you have a car?"

"We can pick one up tomorrow," answered William, "but in the meantime,

you might want to think about what kind of car you'd like to drive. I

definitely don't want a limousine. A lot of the people in my family like

Huggers, so you might consider one of those."

"Okay," said Ken surprised that he would pick out the car. Mentioning

the Hugger had given him an idea of how much he could spend.

"Second, I'm a full time student and I run a business on the side. I can

cook, but I'd really rather spend my time on my research. I'm not as

particular about food as Daddy Ed, but I do like wholesome meals. You

know what I mean, all of the basic food groups in proper proportions."

Lisa looked over at her son playing on the other side of the room and

said, "I know exactly what you mean."

"Again, a cook isn't a full time job. I'd like to see you do a little

light housekeeping. Vacuuming, dusting, and straightening up around the

house. It is time consuming, but nothing too strenuous. I expect to have

a lot of visitors, so that might be a problem."

"Visitors are no problem."

William looked at the couple and said, "I would expect you to live here.

I've got a suite with two bedrooms, a sitting area and a bath upstairs

reserved for that purpose."

"Would we have to pay rent?" asked Ken wondering how that worked.

"No. That would be part of your compensation," said William.

"Oh."

The hardest part of the interview was about to come. Taking a deep

breath, he said, "There are some rules that you should probably

understand before you consider accepting the job. If you can't abide by

the rules, then I can't hire you."

"What kind of rules?" asked Ken.

"If it harms none, then do it. Protect the weak from the strong."

Shrugging his shoulders, Ken said, "Doesn't sound too bad. Any others?"

Thinking about how the first year students suffered while trying to

learn to live by those two rules, William chuckled. He said, "I don't

think you understand the rules. They allow you to do anything so long as

no one is harmed and the weak are protected from the strong."

"Anything?"

"Yes. That includes walking around the house nude. I've got to warn you

that this is a clothing optional house."

The idea of a horny fifteen-year old boy trying to get glimpses of his

naked wife bothered Ken. He frowned and said, "You're talking about

walking around the house nude. Is this some sort of ploy to see my wife

naked?"

"Not at all," answered William. He looked Ken in the eye and said, "I

can't take advantage of you since that violates the both rules."

"So what, you're the boss. You can violate your own rules," said Ken.

He'd seen double standards in the workplace far too many times.

Recognizing the damage of society on another individual, William said,

"Sure. I can violate the rules, but I won't. In a couple of years, I

will enter the Carter Glade and begin my service to the Two- Sided One."

The one thing that everyone agreed upon was that those who served the

Two-Side One were the scariest of the Druids. Lisa was not an exception

to holding that belief and, upon hearing that William expected to serve

that particular deity, she said, "You can't be serious."

"I'm very serious. I've known that since the day I was born," answered

William. His voice conveyed a calm certainty. It was the only thing

about his future service to the Gods and Goddesses that he knew with any

certainty. He didn't have a clue when it would happen or what his

service would entail.