Chapter 1
“knock, knock, knock.”
Excuse me, ma’am. Is this your son? A neighbor woman asked.
Yes, is there something wrong?
Yeah, your boy not only bullied my son but also broke apart his new bike, and you should honestly be ashamed as a mother, the neighbor woman said, pushing him inside as she slammed the door in her face.
While the mother stood in shock, the boy quietly tried to sneak away.
Leo, get your butt to the living room. Your father and I wanna have a long talk with you, ” Leo’s mother told her son as he fearfully walked back to her.
Leonardo Angela Johnson, would you like to explain your behavior, or do I have to force it out of you? His father said, gripping a belt firmly.
Okay, chill. Don’t beat me, look, I went out riding on the new bike that you got me from the store, and the neighbor boy appeared riding on his clearly used bike, being all annoying about how much he liked it, and I may have shown him how used and cheap it was by “accidentally” pulling it apart.
Leo, you know what, I’ll show you what it’s like to pull something apart when I pull your ass apart! His father said angrily.
Boy, don’t you know what happens to bad people....Honey wait! Don’t hit him. I have a better idea, Leo’s mother said as she adjusted the living room curtains to frame the view of a statue in the front yard.
Abel, honey, would you mind cutting off the lights? I need to get the mood right so I can tell him about “Great uncle John”.
I thought we would wait until he was older to tell him, but if you think he’s ready, I’ll get the candles for the added ambiance, “Leo’s father replied as he fetched and lit them.
Hey Mom, whose “Great uncle John”? Leo wondered.
You see that statue in our front yard, a statue of our “Great Uncle John,” the most humble man you could meet in 1920s America, who started as a lowly potato farmer and grew it into a multi-million-dollar family business. But some say the most important thing to him was his “humility.” To make sure it was never forgotten, it was said he cast his living body in molten iron, so his soul would forever remain on earth, frozen in a statue, never to move unless the family lost their way, and then he would come alive and punish them. Everything about “Great Uncle John” was just a supposed “fable” until the night of our wedding, the same time I was pregnant with you, when we visited your father’s family estate.
14 years ago....
