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“You still saving the world?”
“I’m a firefighter. Yes. I do sometimes save lives. That’s part of the job. But I’m not saving the whole world by myself. That’s Superman’s job.”
My father laughed quietly. “I don’t see why you have chosen that path.”
I sighed. “Dad, we’ve been over this and over this.”
“Yeah, and you still haven’t come to your senses.”
“Just because you don’t agree with it, that doesn’t mean I should care.”
He groaned. “You don’t care at all what your own family thinks of you? Do you know what the Kellers’ kids are doing? They are working for their family’s business, making a lot of money, doing something important in the world of business and helping the economy. They aren’t off on some idealist kick where they think they are above everyone else because they have a so-called “normal job.”
“I don’t think I’m above anyone else. That’s your problem.”
“Why? Because I’m proud of being successful.”
“Success doesn’t always mean money.”
He laughed. “Yeah, that’s what poor people tell themselves.”
“Look, what was it that was so important you had to see me?” I asked. I was growing annoyed and impatient. My father was already pulling at the same thread he always did. It was painful to sit through. Every time we got together, he instantly started talking about where I was going wrong in life and how much better his friends’ kids were than me and what I should be doing with my life. I was so over it. I was tired of hearing it. I wanted to just live my life and be free from him. But I knew that would never happen, unless I disinherited myself from the family fortune. That sounded like a stupid idea.
But I had no idea that decision was about to be made for me.
“I was going to wait until after dinner,” my father said. “But since you’ve got ants in your pants, I’ll come right out with it.”
“Ok…”
“I’m writing you out of the will,” he said.
I let the words hang in the air for a moment. They circled around my head and poked at the base of my brain. I felt the air being sucked out of my lungs. Was this really happening ? This couldn’t be real.
Yet, I knew it was. In fact, I really felt that this was because I had foreseen it. That was why I had been so reluctant this time to even take this dinner with my father. As soon as my mother told me that he had something very important to discuss with me, I knew. That bastard was really going to do it. He was going to disinherit me. That prick.
“What?” I asked. “Why? Why are you doing this?”
“Because you have not proven to me that you deserve it,” he said.
I laughed. “Oh, I’ve got to hear this. And what do I need to do to prove to you that I deserve the inheritance that is rightfully mine?”
“Rightfully yours? That’s part of the problem. You are so entitled. You get money from me every single month and you do nothing to earn it. I earned every penny. You on the other hand were born into it. You just do what you want all the time. You contribute nothing to the family or the business I built.”
“So, this is all because I don’t want to run the business?” I asked.
“No. That’s just a small part. The biggest part is that I see how you are ruining your life being some playboy. You are not a child. You are nearing thirty. It’s time for you to grow up. When was the last time you had an actual, solid relationship with a woman? You think it’s fun to be some ladies’ man type your whole life? It might be fun to do when you are twenty-one, but by the time you are forty and you are alone you will start to realize how much time you’ve wasted. All the great women even close to your age are married with kids by this time. And you are alone chasing whoever will have you- and relying on the money to keep you warm at night.”
“What business is it of yours?” I asked. “Why do you care about my relationship status?”
“Because you are my son. And I love you. I don’t want to see you making mistakes like that. I want to see you having a real life. You should have a wife, and some kids. That at least would show me that you are responsible enough to not squander the money away if I did leave it to you. So, that is what I’m proposing to you.”
“What? I didn’t catch that. All I heard was bullshit.”
“Well, if you would take your head out of your ass long enough to listen then you might learn something.”
I laughed. “Wow, this is rich. I’m so close to leaving right now.”
“If you do then you will never get another cent from me. There is a way for you to claim the inheritance.”
