The Family Business

A Fork in Legacy's Road

Long after dinner, the family had gone to bed, and Antonio stood in the living room alone, staring at the photographs on the wall. All Antonio could do was ponder on them as if to relive the moment in the time that each was taken, reliving memory's past, reliving the building up of his fragment of the legacy.

"Antonio?" a voice called out from behind.

He turned and saw Margaret standing a few feet from him. She stepped closer to him and took him by the hand.

"Come to bed. Don't worry about this right now," she pleaded.

"Worry? You think I am worried? I don't worry. I wonder. I wonder where I went wrong. Andrew shows no interest in the family business, and Laila spends more money than she makes. Atlas must be the only one who wants to be part of this," Antonio replied as he let go of her hand and walked back toward the wall of photos.

"Why is this important to you?"

"Family is everything to me, Margaret! All my grandfather had before he had O Marinos Gyros was his family. Everything he built, everything my father built was for the family," Antonio's voice carried throughout the house.

"Keep your voice down! They're trying to sleep."

They can sleep just fine. I can't sleep! I work for this family and everything this family has built. I keep it going, and now it's all falling apart!" Antonio exclaimed as he waved his arms around in a fit of frustration. As he did so, the balance scale was knocked to one side. Antonio saw the scale and remembered Timon's patience. He remembered how his grandfather was slow to lose his temper, something Antonio had never learned to master. At that, however, Antonio calmed himself.

"It's not falling apart. Just come to bed. Why worry what you cannot understand right now?" Margaret asked.

Hearing her words, he agreed, and the two went up to bed.