JC: William Redman Carter Noble Savage Chapter 2 By Lazlo Zalezac Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezac, 2005 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.