The Balance

Victor Malcolm and Jeff Lindsay were contractors in competition. Malcolm Construction would get more jobs than Lindsay Construction because their bids were always the lowest. As the years go by, Victor would spend his money as if it came from a well. While Jeff would handle his finances as if he was experiencing a drought.

Twenty-five years later.

“How did you get in here?” Molly Spence, Mr. Lindsay’s secretary demands, covering her nose as the foul odor emitting from the man facing her, circulates with the help of the air condition. “I told you for the past four days, Mr. Lindsay cannot see you without an appointment.”

“Mr. Lindsay and I are old friends,” Victor protests.

“I am sorry, but those are his rules,” she said taking up the phone.

Victor slides past her and heads to the black door with Jeff Lindsay written on the door in golden bold letters.

It took his memory a moment to recognize the young man sitting in the huge leather padded armchair. When his memory came together, he utters, “Junior.”

Molly rushes in behind him, her right hand over her nose, apologizing, “I am sorry Sir. . .”

“It’s ok,” Mr. Lindsay said.

She retreats, closing the door.

“Mr. Malcolm,” Jeff said in recognition, rising and opening the window behind him, allowing the air in, as it meets the odor that followed Victor in, then asks, “How have you been?”

Victor sat down in one of the two chairs facing his desk, then atones, “I am so sorry to hear about your father’s death.”

“You are twenty years late, but as my father would say, as long as we are alive, we are never late,” Jeff recalls his father’s words.

Victor sighs, fighting to control his emotion.

Jeff read the pain in his eyes, then suggest, “Come on, let me get you cleaned up and give you something to eat.”

Jeff took him to a cabin he built for his father before he died. Then give him some of his father’s clothes after he showered.

“Where would you like to go to eat?” Jeff asks as he entered the living room.

“Thank you,” Victor said. “I am hungry, but not for food.”

“Then what are you hungry for?”

“A job and somewhere to live.”

“Ok,” Jeff said.

Victor was hired as a security guard for Lindsay Construction. His wife and three of his eight children came to live with him in one of the model houses Lindsay Construction built. His second week on the job, he overheard two men talking, “Don’t you recognize that old guy in the security guard uniform?”

“I heard that it’s Victor Malcolm.”

“From Malcolm Construction? I wonder why Junior hired him, after all the things he did to his father.”

“What did he do with all the money he made?”

They both laughed and walks away.

Jeff drove quickly, wondering why Victor’s wife wanted to see him. On entering the grounds, he noticed bags packed on the porch. Inside, Victor, his wife, and three of his adult children stood as if they were waiting for him. Jeff walks over to him and hands him a letter.

He took it, read who it was addressed to, then tears it open. Silence touches five pairs of eyes, as they wait. Victor turns away saying, “Your father predicted my fall from grace and his death. Why did you help me?”

“My father said you taught him a lot about kindness,” Jeff recalls. “He also said, ‘many things in life will get lost, but kindness isn’t one of them. It will always find its way back to the giver.”

Victor swung around confessing, “But I was never kind to him!" I cheated and lied to get all the contracts I got. I spread lies about him and his business dealings.”

“You still taught him something about kindness,” Jeff assures. "And he demands that I must be kind to you, no matter what you do."

“But I tried to destroy his reputation. I contributed to his death,” Mr. Malcolm admits.

“My father believes there is a price for everything and all of us will pay, ” Jeff discloses.

“And I am paying it now. I wasted millions. My company built more than three hundred buildings and homes. Yet I build none for myself,” he reveals.

“My father had a unique understanding of humanity, and he taught me that understanding is the key to surviving in a world where cruelty and greed become the norm.”

“That’s why he only had you. While I helped to bring eight children into this world who are paying for all my mistakes,” Victor Malcolm said with remorse.

“My father would say, that’s life and all of us helps to create a balance.”

Your father did all the right things, and I did all the wrong things. Yet he didn’t live long enough to enjoy the fruits of his labor.”

Turning around to face his family, he continues, “And I am alive to enjoy the wrath of mine.”

Jeff reminds him, “I was ten years old when my father lost his first bid to you. You said life is fair and humans get what they paid for. My father believes life is unfair and nobody wins. Do you still believe that?”

Victor stares at him in shock, then said, “Would you be surprised if I say both of us were right?”

Some of us do the right things and still lose the race. Others do the wrong things and win the race. But all the winners pay a hefty price for their win, and sometimes, the payment continues into the next generation.

Thank you for reading this piece. I hope you enjoyed it.