JC: William Redman Carter
Noble Savage
Chapter 10
By
Lazlo Zalezac
Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezac, 2005

The place they chose to eat was a standard small town high-end 
restaurant. Wooden tables covered with white table clothes and 
surrounded by heavy chairs were distributed across a red carpeted 
dinning room. Wood paneling, decorated with the paintings by a 
local artist, was intended to give it a high-class old world feel. The 
attempt failed just enough to be noticeable.

The party of five followed the waitress to the large round table that 
was predictably placed in the corner of the room. When they 
reached the table, William said, "Please allow Ken to sit in the 
corner."

Surprised by the request, Mr. Wilkins asked, "Why?"

"I'm not only his driver, but I also am his bodyguard. I need to 
watch the room," answered Ken. 

At the serious expression on Ken's face, William teasingly said, 
"Actually, the reason he is so diligent is that he's terrified that 
Momma Ling will come in and find that he isn't doing his job."

"You can say that again," Ken muttered as he took his seat.

William sat down next to Ken with Lucy on his other side. Mr. 
Wilkins sat across from William. Mrs. Wilkins sat between her 
husband and daughter with a smile on her face. She liked William. 
Looking at Lucy, she said, "You two make a cute couple."

"Thank you, Mrs. Wilkins," William said nodding in her direction. 
He wanted to say that he thought the same thing, but Lucy's father 
hadn't yet come to accept him.

"Call me Ann."

Surprising Lucy, William, in a teasing manner, said, "I think I'd 
rather call you Mrs. Wilkins until I can call you mom."

Frowning at the joke, Mr. Wilkins asked, "So you drove all the 
way down here to tell us that you are dating my little girl?"

"As much as I would like to say yes, the truth is that I came here 
for a very different reason," answered William. His voice was 
suddenly very serious and demanded their attention.

"What is that?"

"Your daughter is in caught up in a very unpleasant situation at the 
university. I would like to help correct that situation. I came here to 
get your permission to allow me to help her."

Leaning forward, Mr. Wilkins had stopped listening as soon as he 
heard William mention something about an unpleasant situation. 
He asked, "What kind of situation?"

Looking at William for a second, Lucy answered, "My roommate 
is a horrible person."

"Missy? What's wrong with her?" asked Mrs. Wilkins in surprise. 
Every time they had been on the campus, Missy had been very nice 
and well mannered.

"She's nice around you guys, but when I'm there alone," her voice 
trailed off as she searched for the right way to say what needed to 
be said. She blurted out, "She's a bitch. I didn't lose the sweater 
you gave me for Christmas, she destroyed it. She's destroyed half 
of my clothes. She borrows them without asking and then returns 
them damaged."

"What?" asked Ann, her voice rising.

Once she had started, she couldn't stop. Lucy said, "Today I came 
home and she was having sex with a man on my bed! She laughed 
at me when I yelled at her. She's been doing stuff like that ever 
since I started school."

Lucy broke down and started crying. William put his arm around 
her and hugged her. He whispered in her ear, "Don't cry. 
Everything is going to be okay."

Her father's face was purple with rage. The idea that someone 
would have sex in his little girl's bed infuriated him. He hadn't 
wanted her to go off to college because he knew something like 
that was going to happen. It was only after constant badgering by 
his wife and daughter that he had given into the whole idea. Barely 
able to keep his voice below a bellow, he asked, "Why didn't you 
tell us this earlier?"

In a calm voice, William asked, "What would you have done if she 
had told you?"

"I'd have brought her home where she'd be safe!" There was a not 
so subtle challenge in the way he said it.

"You know what, I agree that she would have been much safer at 
home," said William disarming Mr. Wilkins. He earned a very 
dirty look from Lucy and her mother. They couldn't believe that 
William would take the position that he was taking.

"So you agree with me?" asked Mr. Wilkins equally surprised.

"Yes, I do agree with you. She'd have been much safer here than 
sharing a room with Missy. I really hate to think of the kinds of 
things that could have happened to her," William said. It was clear 
to him that the roommate wanted to destroy Lucy's innocence. For 
all he knew, rape would have been the next step.

William picked up the fork and started to polish it with his napkin. 
In an off-hand voice, he said, "I know she was pretty unhappy 
about what was going on in her room, too."

"You bet she was," said Mr. Wilkins. He wondered if William had 
brought her here to convince her to return home. His respect for 
the young man rose a notch.

"You know, it makes me wonder. She must have been pretty happy 
about something to be able to put up with such a horrible situation 
for so long," William said. He put down the fork and picked up a 
spoon. After wiping it for a few seconds, he paused and looked up 
at the ceiling with thoughtful expression. He asked, "What do you 
think made her that happy?"

"Going to school, of course." A sudden silence fell upon the group 
when Mr. Wilkins understood what he had just said. He looked 
across the table at Lucy with an apologetic expression on his face. 
In a much softer tone of voice, he said, "I'm sorry, pumpkin. I 
guess I have a hard time understanding how important education is 
for you. I mean, going to school for me was a way to make a good 
living. For you, it's a passion."

"That's okay," Lucy said.

Ann was staring at William unable to believe what he had done. 
After years of talking to her husband, she had never gotten him to 
understand their daughter's need to learn. In less than two minutes, 
William had led her husband to the desired conclusion.

Nodding his head, William said, "A passion -- I like the sound of 
that. She has a passion for learning. Of course, that leaves us with a 
horrible problem."

"Yeah. How do we keep her safe?"

William put the spoon and napkin down on the table. Sitting back, 
he said, "I went to the Director of Student Housing and asked her 
essentially the same thing. We considered a couple of possibilities. 
One, was that she move in with a woman who is having emotional 
problems."

"No way," said Mr. Wilkins. The last thing he wanted was some 
crazy woman killing his daughter.

"That goes without saying, but it did make me think about her 
situation in a different light. I actually think Lucy shouldn't share a 
room with a woman who is four or five years older than she is. It 
puts her at a significant disadvantage socially," William said while 
looking at Mr. Wilkins.

Frowning, Ann said, "I hadn't thought about it, but you're right. I 
guess I hoped that her roommate would watch over her like a little 
sister."

Lucy watched as her father went into his problem-solving mode. 
Frowning, he said, "So what options do you think are left?"

"Well, you could have her move back home," said William 
opening a door that Lucy wanted closed. It earned him another 
worried look from her.

"True," said her father. One look at Lucy and he knew that solution 
was not going to be accepted. He had already fought that battle and 
lost. He said, "I don't think she would be very happy about that."

"I know they have a private room available. What do you think 
about her not having a room mate?" William asked.

Mr. Wilkins narrowed his eyes as he examined William. He was 
convinced that William was going to find some reason for her not 
to live alone and that the only solution was for her to live with him. 
That solution was not going to be an option. He thought about his 
daughter living on campus in a single room. It wasn't that bad of a 
solution. He said, "That's a possibility."

Lucy and Ann stared at him unable to believe what he had just 
said. Ann was about to say that they couldn't afford it, when Lucy 
said, "It's too expensive."

"What is too expensive is often a matter of perspective," said 
William. 

"What do you mean?"

"Mr. Wilkins, let me ask you a question. Assume for the moment 
that I make a hundred dollars a week. What would you think if I 
were to spend twenty dollars taking Lucy on a date?" William 
reached over to the sugar container and pulled out a handful of 
sugar packets. He set ten of them on the table and then pulled two 
of them off to the side.

"I guess I would have to say that is a reasonable amount of money 
to spend on a date considering today's economy," answered Mr. 
Wilkins watching William arranging the sugar packets. 

"Yeah, but that would be about twenty percent of my income for a 
week," William said pointing to the two sugar packets he had 
pulled away. Shrugging, he pointed to the other eight and said, 
"However, it still leaves me eighty percent of my income to spend 
on food, clothing, and other essentials. I could probably even save 
ten or twenty dollars if I'm careful."

"Yes."

William tore open one of the sugar packets and poured the contents 
onto the table. Pointing to the pile in an offhand manner, he said, 
"Assume for the moment that I make thirty thousand dollars a 
week. What would you think if I were to spend a thousand dollars 
to make sure that Lucy was safe?"

Mr. Wilkins stared at William and then at the pile of sugar. He 
watched as William cut out a very small amount of sugar from the 
pile. Finally, he said, "That's a lot of money."

"Yeah, but that would be about three percent of my income for a 
week," William said pointing to the sprinkling of sugar he had 
removed from the pile. Looking up at Lucy's father, William said, 
"It is all relative. I know that twenty dollars doesn't seem like much 
while a thousand seems like a lot. Yet for the guy who makes a 
hundred a week, twenty dollars is a lot of money. For someone 
with a lot of money, a thousand dollars is very little."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm willing to spend every dime I have to make sure that Lucy is 
happy and that she is safe," William answered. He could see that 
Mr. Wilkins was feeling insulted. He held up his hands palms 
outward and said, "May I say one more thing before you judge 
me?"

"Sure."

"My family measures a man's worth by his actions, not by the size 
of his wallet. None of my fathers started rich. John Carter was a 
college student who had just graduated with his doctorate when he 
invented the Fusion Well. Ed Biggers was a cowboy. Leroy was a 
college student from a poor neighborhood. Dan Biggerstaff was a 
design engineer. All of them work hard. They worked hard when 
they were young and they continue to work hard to this day.

"All of them give away the majority of money they earn. John 
Carter gave away ninety-five percent of the money he made off his 
inventions. Ed Biggers gives away about the same percentage of 
what he earns. Leroy has never made a lot of money, but he 
essentially funded the majority of research into Chronic Wasting 
Disease. Almost a tenth of the computers produced by Random 
Computers are given to schools and nonprofit organizations.

"I have worked since I was six. When I was at the Native 
American College, I worked in the library for minimum wage. I 
have been running an investment company ever since I turned 
nine. I respect people who work hard, strive to make a nice life for 
their family, and help others in whatever manner they can. My best 
friend earns a little more than eighteen thousand a year, but 
donates the majority of his time to helping his community. 

"I'll admit that I started with a good amount of money, but I've 
given away more money than I ever inherited. I give to alcohol 
rehabilitation clinics, job training centers, and hospitals. This year 
alone I've given away more than twenty million dollars," William 
said. 

The amount of money that William was describing was making his 
head spin. Mr. Wilkins couldn't believe that a kid was talking in 
terms of giving away millions of dollars. It made him feel small.

William said, "Lucy has told me that you support a little league 
baseball team through the hardware store that you own. She said 
that you donated materials for repairs to the church. Am I mistaken 
in my belief that there have been a few customers who you've 
helped to recover from some personal tragedy?"

"No, you're not mistaken," said Mr. Wilkins. 

"Speaking man to man, you have earned my respect by such 
actions. Never allow the difference in our incomes make you think 
otherwise. Do not be concerned about accepting help from me if I 
can provide it and you need it. Believe me, I will definitely call 
upon you if I think that you can help me regardless of whether you 
accept my offer."

Mr. Wilkins snorted and said, "Like I could ever help you." 

Sighing, William said, "No man is an island. Human beings need 
each other to become the best people they can be. In some cases, 
money can solve a problem. However, the percentage of problems 
that can be solved by money is very small. Most problems require 
a person on the scene. My father realized that he could do very 
little to help people as a single person. He started the Fusion 
Foundation so that his money could be used to mobilize thousands 
of people to help millions of people."

"You wonder if you can help me. I assure you that you can. You 
can participate in my job-training program in which one of my 
charities pays the salary of an employee while you train them. You 
can help me double check that I'm not wasting my money on 
construction goods when I donate to reconstruction programs. 
There are so many people who would take advantage of me that 
you wouldn't believe it. I need good people who can protect me 
from them," William said.

Mr. Wilkins was silent as he considered what William said. When 
put in terms of helping each other, the offer of money was much 
less insulting. William turned to Ken and said, "I need to use the 
restroom."

Standing, William left the table in search of a restroom. Ken sat at 
the table for a moment trying to figure out what William meant 
when he announced his need to use the bathroom. Suddenly, it 
dawned on him that William had tried to tell him they should leave 
the family alone to talk. Standing, he said, "Excuse me. I have 
bodyguard duties to attend to."

Alone at the table, the family members looked at each other. Mr. 
Wilkins was trying hard to decide what he thought about William's 
offer. He looked at Lucy and said, "I never thought that when you 
found a boy that we'd have a talk like this."

"He is a little overwhelming at times," Lucy said.

Concerned by her daughter's admission, Ann asked, "Has he tried 
to pressure you into anything?"

"Huh?"

"You know. Has he tried to get you to sleep with him?"

"He hasn't even tried to kiss me yet. This is our first date," Lucy 
said as a small smile crossed her face. She said, "I think he's afraid 
of scaring me away."

Mr. Wilkins thought about the situation. He agreed with most of 
the things that William had said about the value of a person. 
Shaking his head, he returned to the central problem. Looking at 
his wife, he asked, "Can we afford to pay for a private room?"

When she didn't answer right away, he said, "Give it to me straight 
and don't worry about hurting my feelings."

Ann looked at down at the table and answered, "Not really. Even 
with the scholarship money, we have just been covering our bills."

Biting her lower lip, Lucy looked from her father to her mother. 
She knew her future in college depended upon their decision. The 
problem was that she didn't think her father would accept financial 
help from William. She was not surprised when her father said, "I 
don't want to accept charity."

Lucy slumped in her seat. Her mother said, "So I guess you won't 
accept his offer."

"It wasn't an offer of charity that he made," said Mr. Wilkins. 
William was offering to help him with his need while asking him 
to help William with his need. Throwing up his hands, he said, "I 
need to think about it."

When William and Ken returned to the table, the waitress came 
over to take their order. The rest of the meal was of a more relaxed 
nature. William asked questions about the town and the people 
living there. His interest was genuine and his open interest was 
obvious to all at the table.

Throughout the meal, Ken thought about what William had said 
about his family. Until William had hired him, he had been so busy 
taking care of his family that he hadn't given much thought to the 
bigger picture. He had dropped change in the charity jar at the 
convenience store, but he hadn't really participated in helping 
others. 

They were returning to the Wilkins house when William 
exclaimed, "Ken, pull into the Dairy Queen."

"What?"

"Pull into the Dairy Queen. I just spotted someone I know," 
William said in a very excited tone of voice. He was pointing to a 
roach coach parked in front of the fast food place.

Ken pulled into the parking lot. William turned to the Wilkins 
family and said, "Come on. I want to introduce you to someone."

Pausing only to help Lucy out of the Hugger, William raced over 
to the truck. A disheveled man walked around the side and spotted 
William. Smiling, he said, "Hey, Half Feather. It's been a while 
since I've seen you."

Considering the kinds of nicknames that the street people could 
have given him, William always found it amusing that they had 
selected Half Feather. He answered, "I'm surprised to run into you 
here, Bottle Cap."

The Wilkins family and Ken walked over to William. Mr. Wilkins 
frowned at the sight of the homeless man talking to William. 
Noticing their arrival, William said, "Let me perform the 
introductions. This is Mr. and Mrs. Wilkins. The young lady is 
Lucy Wilkins. The guy standing over there, trying to look tough, is 
Ken Armstrong. Everyone this is Bottle Cap."

Nodding his head, Bottle Cap said, "Pleased to meet you." 

Everyone else mumbled his or her replies, rather surprised to be 
introduced to the man. William asked, "So where is Happy Harry?"

"He can't resist a cone of soft ice cream. He'll be out in a minute," 
answered Bottle Cap pointing back at that Dairy Queen.

Mr. Atkins sidled up to Ken and asked, "Do you know anything 
about this guy?"

"Nothing," answered Ken with a frown and a shake of his head.

Happy Harry stepped out from behind the truck and spotted 
William. In a loud voice, he said, "Well. If it isn't Half Feather! 
How are you doing?"

The sudden appearance of the green robed Druid captured 
everyone's attention. Looking over Harry, William said, "You're 
looking fit, Happy Harry. What are you doing here?"

"I'm taking Bottle Cap down to Pittsburgh so that he can take over 
the daily operations of the Homeless Hotel there," answered Harry. 
His words caused everyone to re-evaluate Bottle Cap.

William turned to Bottle Cap and said, "Congratulations, Bottle 
Cap. It is good to know that Pittsburgh will be in good hands from 
now on."

"Thanks. Happy Harry has been showing me the ropes."

Harry paused and looked at Lucy for a second. He handed one of 
the ice cream cones he was carrying to Bottle Cap. Walking over 
to the young woman, he said, "I see that William has finally found 
you after all these years of searching. This is glorious news indeed. 
Tell me young lady, has he sung love songs to you?"

"Uh, no," answered Lucy surprised by the question.

"Ah, poor William is totally hopeless when it comes to wooing a 
young lady. I've tried to teach him love songs, but he can't carry a 
tune to save his life. You're probably better off that he doesn't sing. 
Have patience with him for he has a feeble voice."

Lucy was laughing at the comment. Ann giggled at the idea of 
wooing by singing love songs. Harry stepped up to her and made a 
huge production out of kissing her hand. He said, "I can see where 
the light of William's life gets her beauty."

Turning to Mr. Atkins, he said, "If I were a younger man, I would 
be outside your window on bended knee, singing love songs to 
your wife in the hopes of stealing her away from you. The pity is 
that I'm old and can't kneel down. So you'll have to excuse me if I 
stand while I sing."

Looking over at Ken, Happy Harry took in the tense stance, frown, 
and narrowed eyes. Winking at William, he said, "This is clearly a 
man who has met Ling. I fear that it will take years before he can 
smile again. Never fear young man, we all recover from meeting 
Ling."

Laughing, William said, "You're impossible, Harry. Allow me to 
provide introductions. The young lady is Lucy. Her parents are Mr. 
and Mrs. Wilkins. And the gentleman who has met Ling is Ken."

Turning to everyone else, William said, "If you haven't guessed, 
this rascal is Happy Harry, last of the hoboes."

Happy Harry went over to William and hugged him. Looking 
down at the young man, he said, "It's good to see you, William 
Redman Carter."

Looking at the ice cream cone, William asked, "How is the ice 
cream here?"

Harry took a long lick of his ice cream and gave a look as if he had 
just tasted heaven. He laughed at the expression on William's face 
and said, "As much as I like your parents, I fear they did a poor job 
of introducing you to the pleasures of fast food. I invite all of you 
inside for a treat."

Putting an arm around Ann's shoulders, Harry led the Wilkins 
family into the Dairy Queen. William and Lucy raced ahead 
followed closely by Ken. As Harry walked, he spoke to Mr. 
Wilkins. "It is good that William has finally found his lady love. 
Perhaps now he'll be a little happier."

"Happier?" asked Mr. Wilkins.

"I hope that you'll show him some of the things that he's missed 
out on. I'm approaching eighty years old and there are times when I 
feel young compared to William. It's a tragedy really."

Looking at Harry, Ann asked, "Tragedy?"

"Yes. William sees the future. It has made him far older than he 
really is," said Harry with a sad shake of his head. Gesturing 
towards the young couple with his cone, he added, "He's described 
Lucy so many times in the past that I would have recognized her 
even if he hadn't been around. He's been waiting twelve years to 
meet her."

"You're kidding?" asked Mr. Wilkins amazed at what the Druid 
was saying.
 
"No, I'm not. I love him like a son. I must admit that I'm going to 
miss having him around this summer," said Harry.

"Miss him?" asked Ann. 

"Oh, William has worked with me every summer since he 
graduated from the Druid College. He's going to work through the 
summer at the college this year."

Recalling William saying that he worked, Mr. Wilkins asked, 
"What kind of job did he have for you?"

"Job? He was a volunteer, just like all the other Carter Kids."

"So what did he do?"

"Why he helped take care of the homeless, of course."

The entered the Dairy Queen in time to hear Bottle Cap tell Lucy, 
"Lucy Diamonds, if you are ever in trouble, just find one of the 
homeless and tell them who you are. They'll keep you safe, sound, 
and fed. There ain't a man out on the street that will let the 
girlfriend of Half Feather suffer."