Salvation - 47. Chapter 46

I was surprised that the boys were up so early in the morning. I wanted to get an early start at the office so I could come home earlier. Walking into the kitchen, Alex was begging for an extra piece of bacon. David was telling him he had to wait.

“Good morning, Peter, Alex, let’s go. We can get breakfast in the City.” I said hello to the boys who were up and left for the City.

Arriving, I took them to one of the City’s many cafes that serve breakfast. I had my coffee, took my bagel, and headed to my office. I gave Alex enough money to pay for his and Peter’s breakfast and to cover the cost of books. Their assignment was to gather up books that I could read to the children.

Judy was surprised to see me so early. My 10 o’clock appointment showed up on time. She had with her a man who she presented as the Reverend Boise. He explained he was the minister at the church Mrs. Levi attends.

I gave her the letter from Moses. She opened it, and I could see she became more agitated as she read. She handed the letter to Reverend Boise.

“So you were not able to bring him back. I guess his father made a demand he stayed with him.”

“No, Mr. Levi left the decision to Moses.”

“His name is Lawrence.”

“He told me his name is Moses. In a private conversation I had with him, he said he wanted to stay. I do not know what is in that letter he gave me for you, but I suspect he has told you why he wants to stay with his father in Israel.”

“This is not right. He’s still a boy and needs to be with his mother.”

“In two months, he becomes a man under Jewish religious practices. I found him to be very mature for a boy of his age. His father said that you could go there to visit, but if Moses wants to stay, then he’ll stay.”

“But he is underage. He can’t make that decision on his own.”

“In two months, he can. Under Jewish law, he’s a man.”

“But certainly you can understand that the boy needs to be raised as a Christian in our faith.”

“His arguments are sound, the Christian religion has its roots in Judaism, Christ followed the Jewish religion, and even yourself Reverend probably reference the Old Testament during your sermon.”

“Well, I am very disappointed in you not being able to convince him to come home. I thought, as a lawyer, you would know what to say. If you send your bill to my home, I’ll make arrangements to pay you.”

“My invoice was paid by your husband. Mrs. Levi, if I were you, I’d plan on a trip to Israel.”

Peter called and said Alex was hungry. I looked at my watch, and it was close to 12. I told Judy I was going to lunch and then probably home, and if she needed anything to give me a call.

I met Peter and Alex in front of my office building. “I’m ready to go home and have lunch there, or would you rather have lunch here in the City?”

I watched Alex’s expression when I said that, he was funny. There was no way he would wait for the one hour drive home. Laughing, I led the way to a Jewish deli.

Alex ordered two pastrami sandwiches. If you have ever eaten in a Jewish deli, one sandwich is a lot of food. He ordered two, ate everything. I offered him some of the meat from my corned beef sandwich. He ate that, took my dill pickle, and was eyeing Peter’s pickle when the waitress came to our table. I ordered three pieces of cheesecake. I gave mine to Alex when she brought them.

On the way home, I called Dr. James and set an appointment to examine three men and four boys. Alex looked at me, but there was something wrong. He needed to see a doctor.

The boys were excited when they saw the boxes of books. “We went to that big Library uptown, told them what we planned on doing, and asked for suggestions. They said they had a lot of books that needed covers repaired that they would give to us for a donation. Alex used your card, and I think he said a thousand dollars, so we got two cartons there. They directed us to a used b book store, and we bought enough for three additional boxes and then on the way to your office. We stopped and picked up a few. I think you have enough books to last a year.”

I walked into the Library. The boys were going through the books. You heard, I like this one, this one sounds exciting. There would be a big push to have me read them all.

I went to my office and started to organize my files. Maria brought in a cup of coffee and saw what I was doing. “You should hire a part-time secretary to set up your files.”

With the right help, I probably could do all of my business from my home office. I would need a place to meet with clients. I couldn’t do that in my home.

Going to work, I mention to Peter about getting some part-time help for my office at home. “You should think about moving your business to your home. Your secretary lives closer to your home than the office.”

“If I did that, I’d need to expand my office.”

“I think the architect is still around. He said you wanted him to design a movie theater. Maybe he could design something for an office.”

I thought about what Peter said. The design would have to be within my home’s overall architect and not look like an orphan to the main building.

At the office, I sounded Judy out about working from my home. She thought it was a good idea.

That evening I talked with the architect. We looked at the layout of the house on the grounds. He suggested we could build a small office building on the right side of the gate. It would restrict people from walking around the property and still provide a separately controlled space for your office.

I asked him to draw up the plans. I checked when my lease was up on my New York office, and it had three more months to go. I relayed this information to the architect, his reply, two months tops from when you say go.