The Photo

Samuel reached in his back pocket. He pulled out an aged photo of two girls in front of an old cathedral. One woman had beautiful long black wavy hair. It was the first time he noticed that some of her hair covered her soft lips. The woman with black hair was smiling and had her arm around a younger girl, who also had similar hair, but clearly was much younger. It was his daily reminder of everything he needed. Sam wiped his dirty forehead and put the photo back in his pocket, satisfied.

He turned to his next job, as was heading over he caught sight of a sign from his current employer - Gib Brothers Company. The sign reminded him of the day he purchased the company. On that day he was looking out of his 10th floor office with a perfect cup of coffee in his hand. He was in his lucky handmade suit and had just come back from a lunch meeting with the owners of Gib Brothers. It had been a tense meeting, but in those days he loved the argument and confrontation. The fighting was what pushed him to build his empire. He knew he had Gib Brothers in a bind and he let them know very clearly of that position. Sell it to me now or I will bury you, that was how he left lunch. Now it was a waiting game. The phone rang. He put his coffee down and clicked the button.

 “Do we have a deal?” Sam said. 

“Yes… yeah we have a deal.” the voice on the other line said. “Listen, as part of this you need to keep John on, at least for another year.”

Sam paused, most of the confrontation at lunch had been with John and he was still processing everything that had gone on.

“Maybe, I am not making any promises.” 

Sam could hear the deep sigh, “Fine, let’s get this thing done.” and he hung up.

Sam smiled, the slightly dejected voice meant he had won, it was going to be a good day, he just built his empire a little more. 

Sam continued to walk to another part of the job site, passing several crew members.  He didn’t talk to any of these guys about how he used to own the company, they wouldn’t believe him anyway. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Manuel struggling with a large piece of lumber. Before Sam reached him, Manuel stepped in a small hole and twisted his ankle and cried out in pain. Sam offered him his hand and Manuel who only spoke Spanish took his hand and Sam pulled him up. Sam asked him if he was okay, in English, and Manuel seemed to pick up on clues, raised his hand and nodded his head. Sam liked this kid and while they didn’t speak a lot he felt a bond with him. Sam was learning Spanish to talk to more of the guys, but he had a bit to go.

“Permíteme ayudarte.” Sam said slowly. He was hoping he asked him if he could help him. 

“Si” Manuel responded in his deep voice and offered a smile of graciousness. 

Manuel reminded him of John Rodriquez and as they carried the wood Sam’s mind flashed back to his first in-depth meeting with John. 

The day after he purchased Gib Brothers, Sam invited John up to his office. It was really out of respect for a defeated foe. There was a knock at his office door. 

“Come in” 

The door opened and as Sam looked up from his desk he noticed John’s silver boots. They weren’t completely silver, but had intricate detail with silver laced throughout the boots. You could tell they were a source of pride for John. 

“Ah John, how are you?” Sam said as he stood up. 

“Good, good Mr. Matrio. Thank you for taking the time to meet with me.” John said. Sam noticed that while he was nervous, he had an inner strength in him when they shook hands.

“No problem, John, I am going to get right to the point. The other day when we talked, you expressed concern about the changes that were going to happen.”

“Yes, that is true.”

“John, we need to make those changes to make this work. I was hoping you would be the guy to lead this charge”

“Mr. Matrio, what you are saying is going to leave us in a very vulnerable position. You are asking our men to work longer days and you want to source cheaper materials. It opens us up to major mistakes - maybe even collapsed buildings.”

“John, let me stop you there. I am not interested in excuses or doing things ‘as we have always done it’. We need to change our approach.”

“I understand, as I outlined the other day, we can do some things differently…”

“John, that plan is going to take too long. The whole point of this acquisition was to find ways to cover the cost of the sale and pull out additional profitability. I have had my team go over this several times and look for any building violations. I know we are good here.” 

“Mr. Matrio, with all due respect to that team. They are missing some things. Perhaps they are telling you what you want to hear?”

“What? John, be very cautious about your next words.” Sam could feel the anger boiling in himself. 

“Mr. Matrio, I would be happy to work for you and work hard for you. This isn’t going to work.”

“John this NEEDS to work, are you afraid of a challenge?”

“Mr. Matrio, I have noticed a few things over the years and when men position things like you have there is often a fear they are covering for. Maybe it is a fear of being humiliated, or a fear of being ridiculed. In any case, this fear makes them cover things up.It is this fear that can lead to damaging consequences.”

There was a long pause. 

“John, I think we are done here. Effectively immediately you no longer work for Gib Brothers.”

“Mr. Matrio, please, please reconsider. I have a family to feed.”

“John, this is not going to work out how I need it to. Goodbye.” 

Sam went behind his desk and sat down. John stood there in stunned silence, but then turned and walked out the door. 

As he grabbed the handle, he said, “Mr. Matrio, I will pray for you tonight. I pray that you get everything you want.”

Sam looked up from his desk. It had been at least 5 years ago and that was the last time he saw John Rodriquez. 

Eventually he and Manuel had reached the spot where the lumber needed to go. Manuel motioned to Sam that this was the spot and that they could drop the lumber. Sam looked at the structure they were building. It was a 6-story building that was on the outskirts of the city. As he looked up at the framework, he felt a pat on his back. It was Ronnie, a large man with a big beard. 

“Looks good huh?” Ronnie said as they looked at the structure.  

“Yeah, hey are we sure we got all the supports in place?” Sam replied. 

“Yes, yes… can you relax about that? Hey, I wanted to let you know that you need to be on your best behavior. Some of the new bosses are coming today.” Ronnie said he was the foreman on the job, but came to like Sam. 

“Oh wow, okay.” Sam replied. 

As Sam looked at the structure, it reminded him of the first project he did when he purchased Gib Brothers. In addition to buying the company, he was able to get some prime real estate in a beachfront city. Within the first year of owning Gib he built a 12-story condo that overlooked the ocean and it had all the amenities that people could want. It was a beautiful building. His thoughts turned to a conversation he had with his wife right before a trip they were taking to celebrate the opening of the new building.

“Baby, I will meet you and Christina there tomorrow.” Sam said.

“Come on Sam, let go of all this work and let’s enjoy the opening of your new building.” she said. 

He was packing his suitcase to go on another trip and she was packing hers. 

“If I can meet with this group tomorrow, I can close the deal and take the next flight and meet you at our Brand. New. Building.” Sam tried to put on a little showmanship to get a smile. She responded accordingly. 

“But that means you won’t meet up with us for at least 24 hours… and that assumes no flight delays.” 

“Babe, I have to do this. This will be a key acquisition for my company and…” She stopped him by putting her hand up. Her tone changed quickly. 

“Sam, you don’t have to do this. You want to do this.” 

“You’re right, but this acquisition is the key one to completing our profile. It will put the company into the top 3.” 

“Sam, this isn’t about being a key acquisition, or top three. This is about you being afraid to fail…I know what this is.”

“But babe.. “ he started to say and realized how right she was. She knew him so well. She put her hand up. 

“Do what you need to do, I just want you to find peace.” She kissed him on the cheek and left the room. 

Sam didn’t know it at the time, but those were the last meaningful words he ever had with his wife. In the middle of his flight to meet up with his family the news started come in. He couldn’t fully process everything he was hearing and seeing. There was some rogue wave and the way it hit the building caused it to crumble. At least 22 dead and more missing. When he landed he immediately headed over to the site of where once stood his beautiful 12-story building. Now it was just rubble. First responders and commotion were everywhere. He was finally able to talk to someone once they realized who he was and helped get information about the building. The information was needed to speed up rescue efforts. Sam was asking about his family when a black man with glasses tapped him on his shoulder. 

“Are you Sam Matrio?” He asked. 

“Yes” 

“Come with me.” and he walked Sam to another area that was blocked off from the activity. His heart dropped when he saw the bags laying on the ground. 

“No, No No!” Sam cried. 

“I know this is tough Mr. Matrio but can you please help us identify some of these souls?” 

Through his tears he identified both people most dear to him. 

After a few minutes he had to get out of there. As he headed out he walked by an office door that had a ‘Do Not Enter’. He wasn’t sure why or how, but somehow he caught a glimpse of that photo on a counter. He knew wasn’t supposed to go in there, but he quickly pushed the door open, grabbed the photo and walked out. 

Over the next several months it was revealed that the cost saving measures he had put in place, had some guys cut some corners so they could meet the deadlines and budgets they were under. It was not what he had intended and he was never held criminally liable, he was still sued. Sam started to drink more and more. The alcohol covered the pain and isolation he felt. It wasn’t long before the board took a vote and had him removed as CEO. Between the lawsuits and other mishaps, his wealth began to dissipate. He became more and more numb through isolation and alcohol. His empire was falling. 

Those events seemed like a lifetime ago and he wasn’t sure why he was reliving all these memories so vividly today. Sam decided he was going to grab his lunch and eat with his crew under a tree. When we walked up he noticed the one the younger guys, Traquon,  didn’t have anything to eat or drink. Sam gave him half of his lunch and drink and Traquon thanked him. He was in a much different place now and started to reflect on another part of his journey. 

His mind jumped back to when he first came to the town. He thought heading back to his wife’s hometown would get him peace. It only seemed to stir up more anger and drinking. He stayed, because he was out of money and was living in his car. One day while walking around intoxicated he was getting hungry and stumbled upon a soup kitchen. He got his food and sat at a table by himself. Over the past couple years his life had been turned upside down.  He wasn’t sure why, but he pulled out the photograph he had taken out of the room and the emotion overtook him. One of the staff, a kind woman came by and put her hand on his shoulder. 

“Are you okay honey?” She said.

“Yeah, I am fine.” Sam responded, looking away to keep her from seeing his tears. 

“Are they in front of the Basicillia? That is a beautiful Church” 

“Basilica?’ Sam started to re-evaluate the picture. All of this time he hadn’t really noticed the background. He couldn’t remember being at a Basilica with his wife or daughter, maybe they went when he was out of town?

“Yeah, that is St. Peter’s… that is right down the road from here. Probably 3 or 4 blocks down on 7th Ave.”

Sam got up and headed out. The city was still new to him and it felt very foreign to him. He finally arrived at the Basilica. He pulled out the picture and matched the fading gray pillars up. This was the right spot. He wasn’t sure why, but felt like he was being pushed to go inside. He hadn’t been inside a church since he was in the 8th grade. He felt some trepidation but decided to follow the instinct and head inside. 

It was empty inside and Sam looked around at the beautiful design and architecture inside. It amazed him and he appreciated the craftsmanship that went into the building. He walked up to the front benches and sat down and looked at the huge crucifix. He started to unload everything. Why did he lose his family? Why did he lose his business? His friends? What did he do to piss off God? Why was he cursed?  Sam went on and on and at times shouting. After he was done and had let everything out, he sat down and just remembered saying “Please, please help me.” It was at that time there was a strange sense of calm that Sam had never known that came over him. He started to fall asleep. 

Sam wasn’t sure how long he had been there, and heard people coming into the Church. He got up and left. He saw the priest and asked him if he could come back tomorrow and the priest said of course. He came the next day and the day after that. The routine was the same, he would let out his anger and frustrations . He also started talking to the priest more and asking him questions and the priest was providing some additional things to consider. After a couple months of doing this routine at one point Sam just came in and sat down, he had nothing to say. He took several deep breaths and was about to leave when he heard a voice say “Take courage and build”. He looked around and there was nobody around. He looked at the altar and said “What does that mean, you are going to have to show me.” he sat in silence the rest of the time. As he opened the door he heard the voice again and saw out front a public transportation bus and on the side of the bus he saw a sign that said “Gib Brothers - Come Build with Us - Now Hiring”. 

At the job site he was at, Sam finished up his lunch. He smiled thinking about that bus and how it got him cleaned up and on the path he was today. He was about to head out to another job on the site, when Ronnie came by. 

“Sam, I need you to come with me. The bosses want to meet with you, "he said.

As they reached the management trailer, he noticed two black sedans. Sam was a little nervous, hoping he didn’t recognize anyone. Being incognito and just working on this job was good for his soul and it helped him understand what he should be focused on in life. When the door opened he instantly recognized the boots with the silver in them. 

John strolled up to Sam, there was no denying that he knew who he was. 

“Mr. Matrio a pleasure to see you.” John extended his hand. 

“And you as well” 

“Sam, I am going to get right to the point. When I realized you were at this site my first instinct was to fire you. But then I had some of my trusted colleagues come and tell me how you have shown courage and strength - helping your crew, feeding others.”

“Yeah, well, things are a little different since we last met.”

“I know you have had a tough road, but I am glad things are different. Sam, I might need your help on some future projects, are you open to that?”

“Yeah, I am open to that.” 

“Great, I’ll be in touch soon.”

They shook hands again, and John turned around and jumped back into the sedan.