idioms...sayings understood by native speakers part ninety=the conclusion

John, A.J., Martin and Aaron Christopher Matthews sat in a row facing the Attorney General, the district attorney of Lansing County, two federal prosecuting attorneys, and the state police Captain. Guards were standing about the room ready to spring into action if the need would arise.

"Your attorney, Brett Zebrowsky, came to us with a deal." Allison stated.

Three of the brothers nodded. Christopher was there but not in spirit.

"You three will plead guilty and go straight to sentencing if Chris goes to a minimal security psychiatric institution. Am I correct in that statement?"

The three brothers nodded.

"I need more." Allison crossed her arms. "I want to know the names of every one that you used as "donors". Understand?"

John nodded. "Did you bring a yellow legal pad?"

Allison reached into her briefcase. "Will this do?"

John nodded. He looked over at Chris who was staring at the cieling.John shook his head.

"Chris?" He cleared his throat. "Chris!"

The man looked at his brother.

"Yes, John?"

"I need to do an inventory."

"Sure."

"Write down the names of everyone that were donors since we started our business."

"Really? You told me to forget those names."

"But you did not do that, did you?"

Chris looked at him. "No. I would be a poor businessman indeed if I did not know the inventory."

"Do you have several sharp pencils?" John asked of Allison, who reached in her jacket pocket and produced several sharp #2 pencils. Then he glanced at his brother, saying, "Chris, write down everyone's name and the details."

Chris nodded. "I should start with Allan."

"Yes. All of them. Right from the very beginning." John stated.

Chris picked up the pencil and began to write.

John leaned back and crossed his arms.

"You might need another pad."

Allison was shocked as she saw the one known as Aaron Christopher was already on the fourth page... and showed no signs of slowing down.

Martin cleared his throat.

"We have our deal, don't we?"

Allison looked dumbfounded at the man and nodded. The one doing all the writing seemed oblivious to the proceedings, but appeared to be taking great pains to make sure the lists were accurate down to the spelling of each name. Whatever monsters these men were, this one truly seemed the most naive one of the bunch. That they would protect him, seemed absurd to Allison. She thought to herself that even these monsters were showing a strange brotherly love to this man.

Christopher stopped writing after an hour.

"You are not done, are you?" A.J. asked.

"I need another pencil." As he stared down at the six dulled pencils, and the almost full legal pad.

Stanley cleared his throat and pulled out two more sharp pencils and another pad.

Christopher kept writing.

___

Rick and Carl sat in the board room with their Uncle in laws and the proxies that were given to them by their uncles. Carl had his father's shares, given to him by his mother, and his Uncle Christopher's shares. He held a small box that had shown up on his desk when he had gotten to the office this afternoon. . Rick had John's and Martin's shares. It was five o'clock. The meeting was about to get started when suddenly, the door opened and the old man in a wheelchair rolled in.

"You dare to call an emergency board meeting without me?" The elder Matthews stated. The room filled with silence.

Rick cleared his throat, when Carl interrupted.

"Grandfather. The company is grave trouble. Wouldn't you agree?"

The old man glared at him.

"Your sons have brought a great shame to the name of Matthews. This whole town is ready to string up what is left of this family. Don't you think we should be trying to figure out what to do next?"

"I have the majority of this stock." The old man stated evenly. Glaring into the eyes of his ungrateful family, he adjusted himself to sit taller in the chair.

"So? Our stocks are worthless." Rick stated quietly.

Carl picked up the small box in his hand. HIs uncle Chris had told him this was important. As he started to unwrap the brown paper, he was surprised at the contents, not sure of the meaning.

"Carl? What have you got there?" The grandfather brought his chair closer to his grandson.

Carl held up a ring. Gold with at least a carot size diamond in the center with a sixteen point cut. The old man caught his breath.

"What the hell? Where did you get that?"

"Uncle Chris sent it to me."

"Give me that." The old man went to grab at the box, not the ring....

"No." He looked further in the box and pulled out a very old paper. As he opened the yellowed page worn with age, so fragile, it appeared it might tear if opened quickly, Rick watched the man in the wheel chair shrink in size, almost whithering with each unfolding of the paper, staring at it in fear.

Carl read it and looked at the old man.

"You bastard." He muttered under his breath.

"You never did own any of the stocks of this company. This is grandmother's will and testament. How in the hell did you keep this silent all of these years?"

"Carl... Carl, listen to me. Her will was never found. Besides, I was her husband. Everything she had was rightfully mine." The old man's voice raised in desperation as he attempted to convince his grandson.

Carl felt his whole body go tense as all the pieces came together in his mind. He shook with anger as he attempted to keep control of his voice.

"She wanted her shares to go to her children equally. Grandfather.... you never really had any stocks. This company was founded in grandmaother's name."

Rick's look of surprise mirrored everyone's at the table.

"Read it, Carl."

Carl shook his head to try and get his bearings.

"I, Elizabeth Anne Barringer Matthews, being of sound mind and body, wish to be queath the following sum total of fifty one percent of the stocks of Matthews Toy Company to be equally divided amongst my four sons. The Company now known at Matthews Toy Company, originally belonged to my father, Kurt Barringer. To my husband, the acting C.O., I leave nothing. I pray God will forgive me one day for not being strong enough in life to overcome his tyranny. I beg forgiveness from my children and from their children if this man's legacy of abuse and dictatorship continues to the next generation. Sincerely, Elizabeh Anne Barringer Matthews."

"This is an outrage!!!!" Grandfather Matthews cried out.

"You are right, sir." Rick stated. He pressed a button and four securtiy guards walked in.

"Please escort Mr. Matthews out. He no longer has anything to do with this company."

The shares were counted. Rick and Carl were equal in number save one that fell to Carl.

"This meeting will now come to order."

---

Larry and Joey washed and dusted the Watering Hole until it sparkled. The doors opened at eight. Food lay out like a buffet. A three teired cake rested in the center of the table. Deshaun and Dejuan arrived. Followed by Scott and his boss from Washington. Jenny had sprung Lynn out for the night. Dr. Clark and his wife also showed up along with Savatore Basso. Oscar, his wife Millie and the other Uncle in laws and their perspective wives showed up along with other well wishers and friends of the proud owners.

"A toast." Yelled out Deshaun.

Rick stood up and said, "May the wind always be at your back."

Glasses clinked.

Carl walked over to Jenny, and smiled. "I want to tell everyone in this bar that I am going to marry this girl, if she will have me."

Cheers and Congratualtions abounded throughout the crowd.

Rick pushed his way towards Lynn sitting in a wheel chair smiling like crazy over Carl and Jenny's news. He leaned over and whispered...She nodded.

"Folks, I think we shall have a double wedding."

Squeals and hugs ran through the crowd.

Ten years later...............

Charlie sat on the other side of the table with a checkerboard in front of him.

Christopher sighed. "Charlie, make your move."

"Charlie doesn't remember. Am I black or red?"

"Red, Charlie."

He reached over and moved a single red checker piece backwards towards him.

Christopher sighed. "That is cheating."

"But I don't want to lose my piece."

Christopher leaned back. "So you want to protect your pieces?"

"Always." Charlie looked at the older man.

Christopher gave a rueful laugh. "When did you get so smart?"

Charlie grinned. "When Charlie became an Uncle."

Christopher now laughed.

Rick and Lynn sat on a park bench watching their seven year old daughter and their five year old son playing on the swings. They would pick up Charlie and take him back to the group home where he worked and lived at. Rick took each day with a blessing and kept every good memory he could in his heart. Lynn smiled up at him and said, "I heard from Jenny. She and Carl will be coming back soon."

"Good thing. I need him to take his turn at being C.O. for a while."

The house on the hill was now a home for special needs children. Oscar ran it with Jerome. Millie had passed away some three years back. Katie worked there too as an art therapist, having graduated from art school with her masters. Everything that had once belonged to the Matthews was liquidated. The profits were distributed to the five hundred families that had been affected by their terrible business. The old toy factory had been torn down, Mr. Greenbaum of the national bank had provided loans, and a new one now stood. The name seemed a little long, but no one cared. The tall sign could be seen from anywhere in town. THE RICHARDSON-BARRINGER TOY COMPANY.

This was my first attempt at writing a work such as this. To those who accompanied me on this journey, I am deeply grateful... the plan? To edit it, make more concise and take care of the some of the logic and timeline mistakes. So, until inspiration strikes again.... take care.