Date: Thu, 08 Feb 2007 18:13:48 -0500
From: Miguel Sanchez <miguel_sanchez55@hotmail.com>
Subject: Julio - The Growing Years Ch 31

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction and that of love. Any resemblance to
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This story may contain erotic and/or sexually explicit behavior between
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I hope you enjoy this story.
Miguel Sanchez

Copyright Miguel Sanchez 2006


Julio -- The Growing Years

Chapter 31


I finished getting dressed then put my wallet and keys in my pants pockets.
"I would love that too son. Now come on guys, I'm starved."

The kids grabbed their jackets and we were out the door. Jay showed me to a
place that's open just for breakfast and lunch and despite its rough looking
exterior, the food was very good. We all put away a good amount of food then
Jay wanted to know if we were ready to see the Duke campus.

I paid the bill then we headed back out to the car. I still remembered my
way around Durham and managed to get us to the campus. "Take the second left
Dad then the first right, that's where my dorm is. I'd like everyone to meet
a couple of people I live with."

Ronnie looked at Jay when he finished his statement. I thought he was going
to say something but he just smiled at his lover. "Wow Jay, this place looks
bigger than UVA."

Jay seemed a little confused at Marco's comment. "I think if you took the
various campuses of both schools and put them together, they'd be comparable
son. This place is just a little more spread out."

I made the right hand turn and started looking around. I quickly got my
bearings and remembered which dorm was Jay's. I pulled into the parking lot
and everyone got out and allowed Jay to lead the way. I was fortunate I
managed to get him a room on the first floor that he would share with one
other person. Jay opened the door and looked around. "Humm, I wonder where
he could be?"

We followed Jay as he went around the dorm talking with friends and
introducing us to them. We then headed towards the day room and there were
about half a dozen guys sitting there talking. "Jay, what are you doing
here? I thought you were going to be in town all weekend?"

"I am dude," Jay responded to his friend who was coming over to great him.
"I wanted to give my family here a tour of the campus although my Dad
doesn't really need one. Dad, this is my roommate Doug. He's one of the best
friends I have here on campus."

Doug quickly gave me a firm hand shake. "It's nice to meet you Dr. Sanchez.
You have quite a family here Jay."

I looked quickly at Jay as he said my name calling me Doctor. "Jay, have you
been talking about me again son?"

"Oh no Sir," Doug jumped in saying. "You're very well known here. Several of
my professors talk about you a lot. Your philanthropy is well known here."

I had to blush when I heard that. Jay turned and looked at the others.
"Doug, these are my brothers Ronnie, Steven and Marco. Now behave yourself
dude. This is my sister Angel, she's married to Steven."

I saw the look that came across Doug's face when Jay referred to Angel as
his sister. "Ah Doug, Angel was my foster daughter and I didn't formally
adopt her. It sounds unusual but it's not really. So Doug, what is your
major?"

Doug's expression changed when I explained about Angel. "I'm going Pre Med
like Jay. I hope to go into Vascular Surgery or maybe Cardio-Thoracic
Surgery. I have a professor who'd love to meet you Dr. Sanchez, if you don't
mind?"

Jay was confused at that remark. "Which one Doug?"

"Professor McMichaels," Doug replied. "He's my physics professor."

I lit up when I heard that name. He was a teaching assistant when I was in
Med School. "Is this Alex McMichaels?"

"Yes sir," Doug replied with wide eyes. "Do you know him?"

"I sure do," I laughed. "He was a teaching assistant when I was in Med
School. After I graduated and started my internship here, I didn't see that
much of him. When I left here then started my Residency Program in
Pediatrics, we totally lost touch."

Just then, Jay walked over and playfully slapped Doug on the back of the
head. "You doofus. Why didn't you tell me about this? I could have told Dad
about him?"

"I just didn't think of it Jay," Doug said. "He's the hardest teacher I have
so I kinda had other things on my mind."

I went over and wrapped my arms around both boys. "Relax guys, it's no big
deal. Maybe I can see him later if he's on campus."

Doug smiled when he heard that. "He should be sir. He's usually there for
another hour then he leaves for the day."

We all headed out to the Blazer and Doug led us over to Alex's office. We
followed him into the building and down a long hall of classrooms and
offices. "Wait here and give me a couple of minutes."

Doug knocked on the door then opened it stepping inside. He left the door
cracked so we could hear what was going on. "What is it Mr. Cruthers?"

Doug seemed at a loss for words when Alex spoke to him. "Umm, well sir, I
was wondering if you had a couple of minutes. There is something I would
like to discuss with you."

I stepped a little closer to the door so I could hear better. "I'm quite
busy Cruthers. You should make an appointment with my assistant."

I pushed the door open then stuck my head in so I could see my old friend.
"Are you too busy for me Alex?"

His head snapped around when he heard my voice. "Miguel how the hell are you
and where have you been?"

He came over and we hugged. "I've been around. Doug has told me you've
mentioned me to him on several occasions."

It was a little tight in his small office so I backed out into the hall.
Doug and Alex followed me the Jay walked over to his friend. "What are all
you students doing hanging around in here?"

I walked over and put my arms around Jay. "This student here is mine Alex,
as are those 4."

"This is your son?"

I made the introductions. "Alex this is my oldest son Jay. He's a junior
here and will be going on to the medical school. This is my next oldest son
Ronnie. He's in his final year at Johnson and Wales Culinary School. This is
my youngest son Steven. He's in his first year at Va. Tech where he wants to
become a Vet. Now this beauty is Angel. Steven is the lucky one as she is
married to him. She is also my right hand girl as she helps me with the
Foundation with its holdings and investment. This guy here is like my son
too. This is Marco Cortez and he will be starting at UCLA Medical School in
the fall."

Alex was shaking his head as I was telling him about each of the kids. "My
God Miguel how did you and your wife, raise them?"

I shook my head no at his question. "First off Alex, I never married. I
adopted Jay, Ronnie and Steven. I rescued them in Brazil. I rescued Marco in
Brazil too and got him in with a wonderful man who raised him. Angel was my
foster daughter."

"Miguel, I'm amazed. Here you are a single man who runs a Foundation and
still adopts 3 boys, rescues another and places him and becomes a foster
parent to a lovely girl."

Angel stepped up at that point. "Don't forget, he's still a practicing
physician also."

"How did you do it Miguel?" Alex asked.

I smiled at him when he asked. "It was pretty easy Alex although I did have
some help from my uncle Luiz until he passed away. The biggest thing was
love. They knew I loved them and it just seemed to all work out."

Jay looked at his watch then put his hand on my shoulder. "Dad, I don't mean
to interrupt but we need to get going."

I looked at my watch and couldn't believe the time. "You're right son. I
want to meet with the owner of the restaurant and see which things are his
and what belongs to the hotel."

Alex smiled when he heard that. "Are you looking to buy that place? It's
been a landmark here for the past several years until the food started going
down hill."

Ronnie smiled saying, "I hope I can keep them happy when I take over. I
think his biggest problem is his stock and how his chef prepares it."

Alex was nodding his head. "I think you're right Ronnie. I know you all have
to get going. Miguel, I would sure like to see you again."

We all started heading for the parking lot. Doug patted Jay on the back
saying, "Hey man, I'll see you on Monday. It was real nice meeting your
family. I hope to see you guys again."

Doug got into his car and left as Alex and I were talking. "Miguel, I'd love
it if you and your family can come over to my house tonight for dinner."

I was moved by his generosity but was worried about him cooking for the 6 of
us. "Alex, are you sure? How about we go out to a nice restaurant then maybe
go over to your place for desert."

I saw Alex writing something on a piece of paper. "Here is my address and
phone number Miguel. Call me when you have the arrangements made. I'll get
something for all of us for desert."

I started the Blazer and got ready to pull out. "I'll call you later this
afternoon. It will be somewhere around 5."

I backed out of the parking space as Alex stood there waving to us. I headed
back to the hotel in hopes of meeting the owner of the restaurant. When we
arrived, I looked to see if they were open and they were. Ronnie came up
beside me as we walked into the place. "Do you think he'll let me see the
kitchen?"

A waitress came over then showed us to our seats. "I don't know son, they
are open for business."

A few minutes later the waitress came over and asked if we were ready to
order. We gave her our drink order then I asked, "Is the owner here by
chance?"

I saw her writing our drinks down on her pad. "Yes sir, he's here today.
I'll send him over to see you."

The waitress brought our drinks then took our food order then a middle aged
man came over to the table. "I'm the owner sir. The waitress said you'd like
to talk with me?"

Ronnie was sitting beside me so the he could be included in our
conversation. "Yes I did. I understand you're closing down in a couple of
weeks."

The owner dropped his head as if he was embarrassed that I'd brought the
subject up. "Yes I am sir. I'm afraid I can no longer keep the place
running. I'm Darrel Hawkins, the owner."

I introduced myself then had him pull up a chair as he told me a little of
his background and how he came about to open the place. As we talked, I was
really beginning to wonder why his patronage started dwindling down to the
point he had to close. I could see Ronnie intently listening to the man as
he spoke. "How long ago did things start dropping off?"

The man sat there and thought for several minutes before answering. "About
six months ago."

Ronnie was still thinking. "What happened then? Did you change vendors?"

Mr. Hawkins shook his head no. "I didn't change vendors, I hired a new
chef."

Ronnie shook his head. He knew a chef could make or break any restaurant and
it looked like one had broken one here. "Why didn't you fire him and bring
your old one back? Better yet, why did your old one leave you?"

"My old chef took a better position at a 5 star establishment," Darrel
started saying. "I couldn't ask him not to leave as he was a very fine chef.
I've tried looking for another chef but good ones are hard to find. I did
manage to find one just out of school. I've been hoping with time things
would improve but such was not the case."

Ronnie knew what schools would be graduating chefs in a few weeks so he
understood why the people weren't out there looking for work just then. "I'm
graduating in about 6
weeks and this is why we're looking into possibly buying this place. My
brother goes to Duke and he and his friends loved coming here."

"Do you all live here in Durham?"

Ronnie shook his head as he sipped his soda. "No sir, we live in Virginia
Beach. I'll probably work it for a year or so and then hire a decent chef to
run it. We have another project underway that will require my attention."

Just then the waitress came out with our lunch. We'd all ordered burgers and
I looked at mine and wasn't thrilled from what I saw. Ronnie cut his in half
and the meat was almost black, it was that over cooked. Darrel stormed back
to the kitchen and I could tell there was about to be some yelling. Thank
goodness there weren't any other diners in the place. "What in the hell are
you doing? Don't you know how to cook a simple hamburger?"

I saw him come back out with another young man hot on his heels. He grabbed
Ronnie's plate and handed it to the chef. Ronnie looked over at him and
shook his head. "What are you doing here?"

Mr. Hawkins' head snapped up and looked at his chef. "Do you two know each
other?"

Ronnie wasn't about to answer and Mr. Hawkins was now glaring at the chef.
"I asked you a question."

The chef knew he was in a no win situation. "He goes to the same school I
went to."

Ronnie was shaking his head. He knew there was more to it than just what he
said. "That's right Derek; I go to the same school you flunked out of."

Darrel looked at Derek and he wasn't happy. "You flunked out of that school?
You told me you graduated. You even put that on your application. Why did
you lie?"

"I needed the job," Derek said sarcastically. "I had student loans to pay
back. I knew I could do this job. I'm a first class chef."

"First class chef?" Ronnie spat. "The ability is there if you'd bothered to
develop it. I've tasted your dishes. The smoked salmon was under cooked and
over smoked. The steaks were tough and lacked any seasoning. The only thing
that was decent was the stuffed flounder."

Derek was standing there with his mouth open. "What the hell are you talking
about? I use top grade meats and fish. I cut my meats myself."

Ronnie was giggling when Derek said that. "You cut your own steaks? What do
you do, bring in the whole cow?"

Darrel had heard enough. "No Ronnie, he orders the meat in bulk then cuts
the steaks."

"That's his problem sir," Ronnie said. "I'll lay you odds he's cutting the
steaks wrong, that's why they're tough. If he had stayed in school and not
acted like a know it all, he could have learned something."

I could tell Darrel was steamed. "Now what do I do? I still have two weeks
and a chef who doesn't seem to know what the hell he's doing."

Ronnie and I looked at each other and I could see the wheels turning in his
head. "He has enough basics down that he should be able to handle things for
the next two weeks. I can show him a few things to help him, provided he
listens. I can also show him how to cut the steaks so they come out tender."

Derek was getting an attitude as Ronnie was talking to Darrel. "You have to
be such a show off don't ya Sanchez. It's just like in school, always
thinking you're so much better than everyone."

"Oh knock it off Derek," Ronnie snapped at him. "The professors were trying
to teach you. Hell, I was trying to teach you. Yeah, I know how to cook. I
learned when I was quite young. My mom taught me. But my Uncle taught me
what it was to be a chef. He taught me the real love for food.
He taught me it was much more than cooking it, it was preparing it for
cooking. Had you stayed and not been such a wise ass, you'd have learned
that too."

Darrel looked at me then asked, "Do you think you could show him some things
tomorrow Ronnie? I know it is asking a lot of you."

It was getting late and none of us hadn't had anything to eat since
breakfast. Dad was taking all of us and Alex out to dinner so we could
really stuff ourselves then. "I can show him some things tomorrow after
breakfast. Would 10:30 be alright?"

Derek had a look on his face like I was kidding about the time. Darrel
looked at him as if to say you better be here. "10:30 will be fine. Thank
you for giving your time up for us."

Ronnie and I shook Darrel's hand then left the restaurant. "Well that went
well," Jay said visibly upset as we were standing by the elevator. "We're
still hungry and it's still several hours before we eat. I don't know about
anyone else, I'm heading to get a burger."

For some reason, I wasn't hungry. "Here Jay, you all go and get yourselves
something to eat. Please don't fill up too much since we are going out for a
nice dinner."

I handed Jay the keys then went up to the room. I had a good nights sleep
but I was little tired. I reheated a cup of coffee in the microwave and
while that was getting done, I got comfortable. I sat at the table and went
through the events of the day in my mind. I couldn't believe my luck to have
seen Alex again after all these years. I'd noticed there wasn't a ring on
his left hand so that told me he hadn't found that special someone.

The afternoon was another surprise in that the restaurant could have
survived nicely if Darrel had hired a decent chef. I'm not sure how he
managed to survive if the patrons never said anything about the food.
Tomorrow while Ronnie is working with Derek, I'll talk more with Darrel
about the restaurant and the hotel about the lease.

I finished my coffee then stretched out on the bed. I was still running
things through my head as I felt myself getting drowsy. The next thing I
remember was hearing the voices of the kids as they came back from lunch. I
yawned as I tried to clear the cobwebs from my head.

To be continued



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