Written by J.P.G.

{Jacob Finding His Way is partly fictional. As I am writing this story, I am above the age of 21. If you want a story with lots of sex, look elsewhere. This is a love story. Seeing as it is a love story, sex is in there, but it's in realistic balance in the characters' lives.

Any similarity to any real events, names, or life events is purely accidental. If you are underage, (according to your state laws, a minor), if this literature is offensive to you or to anyone around your viewing area, or it is illegal for you to view such content where you are reading it, stop reading the story.

This story can't be distributed in any way, shape or form without the author's expressed written consent.}

Story Written by: J.P.G.

Love Scenes Written By: Daddy Rick

Edited By: Daddy Rick

Edited By: Ed

Chapter 69

As Jacob and the guys headed out the door for school, the phone rang. Jacob walked over to the phone in the den and answered it. Thinking it was his grandfather, but it wasn't, it was Ethan on the other end. He immediately asked Jacob when he answered if he was coming down to pick him up. Trying not to laugh, he answered yes. He knew why Ethan asked, but didn't mention it.

They talked for a minute or so more before they hung up. Ethan was on the curb in front of his house when Jacob pulled up. He jumped into the truck and just looked around at the guys. Jacob could see something was up with him, what he doesn't know, but he can see that Ethan is acting way out of character.

"Um Jacob can you do me favor." Ethan leaned forward whispering in Jacob's ear. "Can you pull over in the next gas station or parking lot? I would like to talk with you and the guys outside of school. It will only take a few minutes, I promise."

"Of course Ethan I will!" He looked at Ethan through the rear view mirror as he pulled into the Skaggs parking lot. Since the store was still closed, he was able to park anywhere and any way he wanted, and he did. After putting the truck into park, he asked the guys to step out of the truck for a few minutes.

Everyone stepped out wondering what was going on. Jacob kind of figured out what he is going to say, but not a hundred percent. If he's right, it explains how why Ethan is acting the way he has been lately. The poor kid is nervous as hell because he is about to come out Jacob figures.

"Hey guys gather around me please." Everyone walked over to Jacob. "Ethan is going to say something to us, so please listen to him and wait to comment until he is done. If you have anything mean to say, don't say it. Keep it to yourself please."

The guys looked at Ethan all with mixed looks on their faces. Some of them had a look of worry and others had a look of `what's going on'. Ethan gathered his thoughts as he sized up the guys. Unable to get a read off of them, he started talking.

"Um, there is something I have been meaning to tell you guys since I became part of the group. At first I didn't know how you guys would react to this news, but after getting to know you, I think you will take it well. Jacob, Chase and his girl friend already know what I am about to say, but no one else. Um, how, um..."

"Ethan, don't worry about saying what is on your mind. I believe we all already know the big news." David looked around at the guys as they nodded their heads. "One thing we have gotten good at is reading people. At first when we met you, we didn't know, but after spending time with you, we knew. So don't worry about us, you are still part of our group and so is Derrick."

"Yeah I agree with David!" Tony jumped in. "Although I am not gay, I can see what you see in Derrick. You need to bring that hot guy around a lot more so the girls come around the table. When he turns them down, because he has you, I can step in and console those broken hearted girls."

Everyone started laughing, even Ethan. This went a lot better than he dared to hope. Ethan thought he would have to say it out loud, but the guys stopped him. They let him off the hook and he now feels good that they know. Now with them knowing, he can bring Derrick around with the group and be with him openly.

Chase was the only one that couldn't believe how the group reacted. He thought that they would have been mad at first, but he was wrong. Having no other choice, and not wanting to be found out, he joined into the conversation. Laughing when the others laughed and agreed with the majority on subjects he didn't even agree on.

They chatted a little longer in the parking lot before Jacob told them that they had to get back into the truck and go. The conversation didn't stop, it continued all the way to the school. When they arrived at the school, they changed the subject. None of them wanted other students to hear what they were talking about.

Ethan already has a hard time being a farm boy. He can't afford people finding out that he's gay. If that got around, he wouldn't have a moment's peace. The main reason is the popular kids and jocks at this school are relentless.

Even as they ate, they didn't speak again about the news, at least everyone except Chase and Patricia. Immediately after she sat down, he told her what happened on the ride to school. Just like Chase, she was stunned, but for a different reason. As he was giving her the news, she saw the only leverage she had over Ethan to join them gone. Not only did the group accept him, she couldn't believe they didn't get mad at him for not telling them the truth when they first met.

No matter how hard Patricia tried to hide her frustration, Jacob was able to see it. He let it go figuring there was nothing she could do to change what had already happened. Plus he is tired of talking to Chase and her about this subject. In his eyes, it is over and done with. She can't ever use the secret they had against him. As he got up to leave, Jacob couldn't help looking over at Patricia and smiling wryly at her.

Just like every morning, Jacob walked to the ROTC building. Teachers could set their watch by his routine. The minute he walked through the doors of the ROTC building he was called over to Colonel Pigeon's office. When he walked in, he knew it couldn't be anything good since Colonel May is standing at Colonel Pigeon's side. Whenever the DAI get involved in the meeting, the meeting normally goes south really fast.

Jacob made his way to the office, determined not let anything destroy his good mood. He had a great night with his boyfriend that is fueling his good mood right now. All he wants to do is get through the day of school and work to be with Dewayne. He wants to be with the guy that made him feel like he is the only person alive.

When Arturo Fierro walked in, Jacob snapped out of his thoughts and just looked over at him. As he stepped into the office, Colonel Pigeon asked him to close the door to the outer office and theirs. Arturo looked at Jacob with a look of worry. They both tried to see if the other knew what was going on, but neither of them knew. So they are both blind going into this meeting, something neither of them is too comfortable with.

"Gentlemen take a seat please." Colonel Pigeon pointed to the chairs in front of his desk for Jacob and Arturo to sit down. "Mr. Fierro the only reason you are here is what we are about to discuss concerns several of the battalions in the brigade." Arturo nodded his head and looked over to Jacob. "Jacob we have a problem and the only reason we are talking with you about it is because you are the one that set this program up.

Let's start with an easy one. Your company, McDonald's, hasn't paid any of the outstanding invoices. This leaves our vendors angry and refusing to do anything for any of the battalions until they are paid in full. You and your grandfather now own these restaurants. You two gave us your word that you are going to continue funding the battalions that were being sponsored by the owners you guys bought out. Have you and your grandfather changed your minds on donating to the ROTC programs?"

The way Colonel Pigeon went at Jacob, his good mood went out the window. "With all due respect Colonel Pigeon, you are asking something of me, so don't talk down to me the way you are doing. At this point I am not your student, I am the owner of a company that is donating thousands of dollars to a program I once loved, but I am really starting to hate now. Things haven't gotten better with you. In fact they have gotten worse."

Everyone in the office looked at Jacob surprised. They didn't think he would have ever stood up for himself the way he is doing right now. They can see he has had it and is ready to, once and for all, call it quits. Not like it was at Thanksgiving, the look in Jacob's face is different. It isn't hurt, it is anger and disappointment.

"Mr. Hernandez I am sorry for the tone Colonel Pigeon took." Colonel May quickly spoke up seeing that Jacob was getting angrier by the split second. "Before we even touch on what Colonel Pigeon said, why do you feel the way you do? We can't afford to have students in our program feeling angry or disappointed in our program."

"You two don't want me to even begin, because we won't stop. What I will say is, I don't have respect for those that lie to me. I know for a fact I was lied to in dealing with why I couldn't go with my teams to state. Don't forget that Major Moore works for my company now and he and I talk. So when you say something to me, and it sounds fishy, I will go and consult Major Moore."

"Okay Jacob, you were lied to as far why you weren't able to go to state. There was no more room on the bus and we would have had to rent an extra room just for you. Many of the cadets didn't want to share a room with you for the fear of what you might do when they are asleep. I know you wouldn't do anything, but they threatened to boycott the meet if you were allowed to go. All I was trying to do is not get you angry."

At this point, Jacob was already fuming. If Colonel Pigeon didn't want to get him angry, he missed the mark; no, make that totally FUCKED UP! It is taking everything in Jacob not to say what is coming to his mind right now. If he would say half of what he was thinking, he would be kicked out of the program for sure. So he took a couple of minutes to settle down before he responded.

"Major Moore would have never allowed a cadet to tell him what to do. Yes at times Major Moore was an ass, but he was right. By you allowing a cadet to influence your decisions, you lost complete control of this program. If I would run my business that way, the business would fail. That I learned from Major Moore and this program.

If the cadets feel the way they do, then let's see what they think when I pull my funding. They love taking my money and getting all the new stuff they are getting, but they don't want to respect me? I don't think so!" Colonel May snapped to attention when Jacob said pulled my funding. "I have earned that respect even if I was not giving money to the program, but I am not petty like them. I won't pull my funding."

He looked at Colonel May right in the eyes and made a decision. He reached his hand into his pocket and felt the two diamonds that he carries around with him, the two diamonds that represents his rank with in the program. Never breaking eye contact with Colonel May, he gently ran his thumb over the rank insignia that he would wear on his hat when he was in full Class A uniform. He gave himself a mental nod as he finally reached his decision on how he would handle this.

"I take back what I said before. You asked me why I feel the way I do. I'm going to tell you. First though..." he pulled his hand out of his pocket and tossed the two diamond insignia on the table. Everyone watched as they spun on the desk wide eyed, and then back up to see Jacob's expression, one of almost disgust as he watched the diamonds come to rest on the desk. When his eyes rose he continued speaking in a rather cold, quiet voice. "...I once wore those with pride, now I have found there is nothing left to respect with in this program."

The three others were too stunned to say anything, and Jacob wasn't about to let up now, if he did, he would have lost his nerve. "I have given more to this program than any other cadet here. I have done anything you asked of me, and then some. I have let this program take up so much of my time that there are days I can't even get sleep at night. Never once have I complained, never once have I said a word about it, because I loved this program.

What do I get for everything I have done?" Jacob paused to meet the eyes of the two Colonels before he answered his own question. "I get lied to, I get dishonored, and I get something that I had wanted more than anything taken away because you, Colonel Pigeon, made the decision to be a coward."

His eyes snapped to Colonel May, whose jaw was resting on the floor. Jacob has not raised his voice one bit in all of this, yet his message was getting across loud and clear. "Colonel May, you have said many times that you have plans for me. You sure have a hell of a way of making me want to stay here. Instead you have done something that I never thought possible. Between you and Colonel Pigeon, you have destroyed any respect and love I had for this program. Maybe in the army your way worked because they didn't have a choice but to take your back stabbing and lies. But I do not, nor will I. Even if you don't have any respect for me, I have respect for myself. Now, let me deal with the final issue I will."

Jacob pulled out his phone and called his office. Shirley answered the phone and transferred him to the accounts manager in charge of this stuff. As he waited for his employee to answer the phone, the colonels whispered to each other. Jacob tried to hear what they were saying, but couldn't.

"Hello Mr. Hernandez, this is Hilda, how may I help you this morning."

"Hilda I have a question for you, what is going on with our donations to the ROTC units the high schools? I am in a meeting right now with several of the colonels and they are telling me that the company hasn't followed up with their obligation. I don't like hearing that. My grandfather and I follow up with every promise we make."

Jacob could hear Hilda tossing papers around on her desk. "I am sorry about this, sir. The invoices have been on my to do list, but I haven't gotten to them yet. By the time you walk in this afternoon, I will have them on your desk to sign."

"No Hilda that isn't good enough. You will pay out those invoices immediately. Once you do that, hand the invoices to Shirley for me to sign when I walk in this afternoon. Plus I want you to set up a meeting with Shirley for this evening. This is the second time this has happened and I am not happy about it. We must discuss how many other things have fallen through the cracks."

Not letting Hilda reply, Jacob thanked her and hung up the phone. "The invoices will be paid within the hour. You can tell those that refuse to do work for us that they are getting paid. If I was you gentlemen, I would look for other companies to replace the companies to replace those refusing to do any more work for us. I bet you if you threaten that, they will never pull this stunt again. The ROTC account is too huge to lose. Now if you will excuse me, I need to go change my classes around."

Jacob did not even wait to see what was said, he simply turned and walked calmly out of the room. The thing that surprised him the most was how calm he actually was. He had always been afraid this day would come, but now that is has, it was almost anti-climactic.

Without a word to anyone, Jacob walked out of the building, and started towards the main building. He didn't make it half way across, before he heard his name being called. With a deep sigh, he stopped, but did not turn around. It wasn't long before Colonel May stopped next to him, slightly out of breath.

Jacob never turned to look at the man, and never said a word as the Colonel silently looked at him. "Walk with me." The Colonel said, and Jacob was surprised, it wasn't with what the man said, but how he said it. The tone the Colonel used made it more of a request then an order. Silently Jacob nodded and they moved off, Jacob letting Colonel May lead him towards the field rather than the building.

They both walked in silence for a few minutes, till the Colonel started speaking. "Jacob, what I am about to tell you is something I was hoping could wait till next year when you were battalion commander. But I now see I was wrong to wait that long." Jacob did not say a word, to be honest, he didn't really want to hear anything the man had to say, but he knew he had no choice.

The Colonel paused to gather his thoughts, this was going to be one of the hardest things the man ever had to do, but he knew he needed to. "When I first met, you I knew there was something about you that would take you places. As I got to know you better, I knew what that was. Simply put, your drive. No matter what happened, no matter what shit life threw at you, you would always take it, and come out the other end stronger then when you went in. I have seen very few men with that type of personality, and never have I seen it someone as young as you are." Few more moments of silence passed between the two of them. Jacob was not about to say anything, knowing if he did, he would either break down, or say something he actually would regret.

"With that said, you have one major personality flaw, and that is you simply allow others to walk all over you. I knew the second I met you, and got to know you, that you were going to go places, and do great things. I saw an opportunity to do something I never thought that I would get, and that is to help shape a young man, someone who is a natural leader, and help him grow into something more. Before I could do that though, I had to fix that one problem."

Colonel May stopped and turned to look at Jacob. The boy also stopped, but continued to look straight ahead. "I am not perfect Jacob, but I did what I thought would be the best thing I could do for you, and that was try and force you to stand up for yourself." Jacob spun and was about to say something, when the Colonel held up his hand, and with a pleading look said, "please, let me finish."

Jacob, I have never met someone like you before, and to be honest, I don't know how to handle this. Never before have I been in a position where I didn't know exactly what to do. I have made mistakes in how I handled you, and for that I can only beg for your forgiveness." Jacob felt all the anger that he was holding onto slip away, and be replaced with shock. "Please know I never meant to hurt you, or push you to this point. What I tried to do was help mold you into the man I know you can become. That huge heart of yours is something I hope you never loose, but it can sometimes cause you some serious problems if you don't learn how to say no to people.

I said I am not perfect, and I may have blown any chance of you working with the program anymore. But right now I couldn't care less. I care more about you then I do the program, and if you were to leave it, yeah we would be hurt, but maybe that was the only way to push you into learning what you need to learn. If that were the case then I could walk away with my head held high."

Finally Jacob couldn't keep quiet any longer. "What are you saying? You don't care if I quit?"

"No Jacob, that's not what I am saying. I don't want you to walk away, but if I have to choose between helping you become the man I know you can be, and the program. The program would lose. I took this position to try and help young men become everything that they can become. THAT is what I care about, nothing more, and nothing less. I will never apologize for trying to do what I have, but I will apologize for going about it the wrong way, does that make any sense?"

Jacob could only nod, not trusting himself to speak right now. "I was wrong, I pushed you too hard, and I allowed others to do things that I should not have. For that I am ashamed, and if you allow me, I would like another chance. Please Jacob; give this old soldier another chance." Colonel May held out his hand and slowly opened it up. When Jacob looked down, he saw his two diamond rank insignia lying in the palm of the man's hand.

Jacob stared at the little piece of metal for a few moments before looking up and meeting the man's eyes. "I... I can't. Colonel Pigeon..."

Colonel May cut him off. "You will not have to deal with him anymore. I will make it perfectly clear to him that he cannot touch you. He was wrong, and he will know that by the time I am done. Please come back in Jacob, and talk with us."

Jacob couldn't really say anything, so he simply nodded. Colonel May handed back the rank insignia, and Jacob smiled as he rubbed the diamonds with his thumb. Ever since Jacob got them, every time that he faced something that he didn't think he could do, he rubbed the insignia and knew he could do anything.

Moments later, they were back in the office and neither Colonel Pigeon nor Arturo had left the room. Before Colonel Pigeon could say anything, Colonel may spoke. "Colonel Pigeon, there was another issue you wanted to talk with Jacob about."

Colonel Pigeon put together his thoughts this time before opening his mouth. "The sponsor you got for our battalion pulled back what was left of funds that he gave to us this year. When we tried to contact him, we got the run around. You have a good relationship with him. So Colonel May and I are wondering if you could take us down there this morning and introduce me. Colonel May already knows him, but not as good as you do. Once the introductions are done, I can handle it from that point on."

Jacob had no problem taking them both down to meet Mr. Dick. He agrees that once the introduction is done, it will be in Colonel Pigeon's court to deal with his own sponsor. It's not like he doesn't have enough problems on his own dealing with the battalions his company is sponsoring.

Arturo and Jacob got up and walked out of the office. They didn't say anything to each other. Although Arturo wanted to let Jacob know he respected him for standing up, but didn't want the instructors to hear him. He still has to make it through the rest of the year, and seeing what they are doing to Jacob; Arturo doesn't want any part of it. He never knew how hard Jacob worked behind the scenes and then he gets crapped on by the instructors.

A few minutes later the Colonel walked out of the ROTC building. Jacob asked Colonel Pigeon if he and Arturo could go in his truck, but the Colonel said no. He explained to Jacob that he couldn't let him drive to another location in his private vehicle while he is at school. So they piled in Colonel Pigeon's van and headed out.

The entire way to the central part of town, no one said a word. Colonel May wanted to talk with Jacob about his feelings of the program, but he thought it was best to let things cool down. Once he sees him back to his normal self, joking and laughing, he will approach the issue again with him.

As soon as they drove up to the JD Auto main office, Jacob got out and walked in, followed but the others. The secretary recognized Jacob and greeted him as if they were old friends. Jacob could see she wanted to say something to him, but didn't. Just as he was about to ask what was wrong, someone tapped him on the shoulder. When he turned around, he didn't recognize the older guy in suit standing behind him.

"Good morning, my name is Gilbert, Jimmy Dick's private attorney." He extended his hand for Jacob to shake. "I feel I already know you Mr. Hernandez. Jimmy talked so much about you whenever we had lunch or dealt with business. By the sounds of it, you brighten up his day whenever you came around."

Jacob just looked at the guy, trying to figure out what is going on. Why in the world is Mr. Dick's private attorney meeting him in the lobby. If Mr. Dick doesn't want to be a sponsor anymore, he should just come out and say so. Then it hit Jacob on what Gilbert said, he is talking about Mr. Dick in the past tense.

"If you don't mind Mr. Hernandez, can we talk upstairs in a conference room, off the sales floor?" Jacob agreed and followed the attorney up the stairs. "You saved me a trip down to your office and speaking with you. I have been meaning to set up an appointment with you, but you work odd hours. I understand why."

Gilbert opened the door to the conference room to let Jacob in. He asked one of the salesmen to make the Jacob's friends comfortable while they talk before walking in. As he walked in, Gilbert closed the door and offered Jacob a drink. Jacob asked for a Pepsi and Gilbert got one for him as he sat down at the conference table.

"Mr. Dick came to me several months ago and changed his will. At first I thought he was crazy, but after hearing him out, I knew that he knew what he was doing. So I did what he wanted, which didn't make his family happy at all. Like I said, he looked forward to your visits. You made him feel good inside."

Gilbert walked out of the conference room not saying where he was going, but returned a few minutes later with his briefcase. He placed his briefcase on the table, opened it and pulled out a folder. As he sat down, he opened the folder and pulled out several documents. Jacob tired to see what the documents were, but the printing was too small.

"Mr. Dick suffered a massive heart attack almost two weeks ago." Jacob's couldn't believe what he was just told. The last time he saw Mr. Dick, he looked healthy and alive. "He passed away a day later in the hospital. None of the family knew about you and by the time I knew what was going on, they already had his funeral.

His son assumed he was the one that was going to get the business. Immediately after his father died, he took the reins. When the family came to my office and showed me the death certificate. I pulled out his will and read it. Boy let me tell you when Jimmy's son found out that he was taken out of the will. He blew a gasket in my office and as he stormed out, he promised to fight the will in court. It's pointless; he won't win.

Jim changed his will and left his entire business to you. The house, his private accounts and his private stuff was left to his family. They are very well off because Jim knew how to handle his money, unlike his son."

Jacob was about to object when Gilbert put in a tape in the VCR. "Jim recorded this tape explaining to you why he did what he did. It's good that he did that because it will show, without a doubt, he knew what he was doing when he changed his will. Please look at the tape before you say anything to me. We will talk once the tape is done."

Gilbert pushed play on the VCR before leaving the room. For a few seconds the screen was blue, and then Mr. Dick came on. "Hello, if you are watching this tape that means I am no longer among the living. I made several tapes, and if this one is playing it means Jacob, you are watching it. I am so glad that you walked into my office those many months ago and I took the meeting.

You made me feel alive again, something I hadn't felt in a very long time. I saw in you something I thought was lost for good from our youth. You showed me that there are people still out there that don't want something for free. Yes, you asked me to donate to your school program, but you gave me a lot more back than I ever gave you in money.

Jacob, you gave me a new look on life. Whenever you program won, you made sure I was one of the first to know. I know you did things for me that your instructors weren't too pleased about. For example when you brought down the trophies your program won and let me put them out on display, there is no way your instructors were happy about that. I looked at each and every one of those trophies and I know some of them were very old, passed on each year to the school that won them.

Simply put Jacob, my days were brighter when you walked in through my doors each time. Please don't let anyone or anything take that zest for life away from you. That love you have in your heart is the reason you have gotten where you are today. You know when to say no and when not to. That's something my son never learned and for that I blame myself. It was I that gave him everything and never made him earn a thing.

Anyway Jacob, I am leaving you my company because I know you will keep it going and make it even bigger than it is already. At first my family is going to fight you on it, but you will win. Don't let the fighting stop you from doing your job and that is running your car companies now. I know I don't have to say this, but I am going to say it anyway; do me proud. Thank you for your friendship and making feel alive again. I hope you never lose what makes you, you! Take care my friend!"

The video screen turned blue. All Jacob could do is sit there in silence. He never knew that he touched Mr. Dick in the way he did. All he was doing is being himself whenever he came around. Letting him display the trophies or getting a pair of the teams running suit, shirts or whatever they are making with his donations, was just simply the right thing to do.

Just then the conference door opened and Gilbert walked in. "Mr. Hernandez now that you heard from Mr. Dick himself, what do you think?" Gilbert sat down at the conference table next to Jacob.

"First call me Jacob, Gilbert since we are going to be working very closely together in the days and months ahead." Gilbert smiled as he pulled out several folders. "I know you have a lot of paperwork for me to sign, but I do have several questions for you. For starters, is this company in debt and if so how much?"

"I knew that was going to be your first question and no it isn't in debt. That is one of the main reasons Jim gave you the company. His son doesn't know how to run it and he feared that his son was going to run his company into the ground. Too many families depend on their jobs with this company, and Jim never wanted them to worry if they had a job when they walked in the doors the next day."

Gilbert slid the first document for Jacob to sign in front of him. "One of the other reasons that I hadn't met with you is because I knew you would want your company attorneys to go over these documents. Just yesterday afternoon they gave the all clear for you to sign the documents. Please call your company attorneys and confirm it."

Jacob was surprised that Gilbert went to his attorneys first before coming to him. He picked up the phone and called his attorneys. The secretary didn't hesitate, she put him right through. When his attorneys got on the line, Jacob put them on speaker phone so they could walk him through the paperwork. Within thirty minutes, Jacob signed all the paperwork and became the owner of the largest auto dealership conglomerate in El Paso. Mr. Dick started with the Chevy lot, but when he passed away, he owned a Ford, anything made by GMC, Nissan, Dodge, Jag, KIA, Mitsubishi, Rodeo and Lincoln dealerships.

"I really don't know what to say because I never thought I was going to outlive my friend Jim. But I can see he was right, you are the right person to take over for him. I really hope the family leaves it alone, but if not, I will be here every step of the way."

"Hold on a minute Gilbert. You were Mr. Dicks attorney dealing with his private affairs, I would like you stay on as the attorney of record for the dealerships. Even if the family doesn't fight me, I want someone around that knows the business. Right now this is all new to me and it will take awhile for me to get to know the business."

Without any hesitation, Gilbert agreed to stay aboard as the attorney of record for the dealerships. They talked a little more before leaving the conference room. Colonel May and Pigeon looked at Jacob with confused looks in their faces as Jacob made his way down to the sales floor. Before going over to them and letting them know what was going on, Jacob walked over to the secretary.

"I am sorry to hear about Mr. Dick. The little time I knew him, I grew very fond of him. I am glad that I met him. He was a true friend. The only thing I regret is that I was unable to attend his funeral. But I will visit his grave and pay my respects to a very great man."

The secretary held back her tears, trying to stay strong. "I am glad you are our new boss Mr. Hernandez. You haven't met Mr. Dick's son, and be thankful for that. He isn't like his father. We often teased that he was adopted because how different he was to Mr. Dick, but we knew they were blood. They look exactly the same."

"Well I hope if I do meet the gentlemen, it is not in the courtroom. Can you do me a favor when you have time?" The secretary answered of course. "Send out an inner office memo to all head managers to be at my office today at five. Gilbert here knows who I need to talk to; anyone in leadership from all departments at all the dealerships."

The secretary promised to get the memo out within the hour. Jacob left Gilbert with the secretary in order for them to get the right people informed about the meeting. As he walked over to Colonel Pigeon and May, he put his thoughts together about what he is going to tell them. Now he owns another company that is donating money to their programs.

"Colonel Pigeon you won't be able to meet Mr. Dick today." Jacob started whispering to the colonels. "He passed away two weeks ago and that is why you were getting the run around. That kind of information isn't given over the phone."

Colonel Pigeon didn't want to seem heartless, but he wanted to know what is going to happen to his program as far as the donations. If the new owner has no plans to continue donating to his program, he'll have no other choice but to try and find another company to pick up where this company left off.

"Jacob it is sad that the owner passed away, but I am wondering..."

"Don't worry Colonel Pigeon. The company is going to continue to be the sponsor of your battalion. Give it a couple of days and the funds should be back in the program's account. Until then let those that the program owes know what is going on."

"That is very good news to hear, but are you sure this is going to happen? After all they just lost their founder. They have to be lost right now as they transfer over to the new ownership. Hopefully it is a son or daughter because if it doesn't stay in the family, the changeover will take even more time."

Jacob fought with himself if he should tell them who the new owner is. "Colonel Pigeon and Colonel May there is nothing to worry about as far as this sponsor. Mr. Dick left the company to me, not his son. It was his son that stopped sponsoring the program. Of course I have no plans on doing that. So let's leave at that and set up a meeting sometime in the next week or so to make sure funding won't be a problem again."

Both of the colonels agreed to set up a meeting and dropped the subject. Just like the ride up, the ride back no one talked. The van was completely silent, which got Arturo and Colonel May nervous. When they arrived back at the school, third period just started. Jacob started to walk to the main building when Colonel May called him back over.

As Jacob walked back to Colonel May, Arturo passed him and wished him luck. Jacob couldn't help but chuckle. Colonel May saw the smile on Jacob's face and knew he could talk with him right now about what he said this morning.

"The way things were handled this morning was wrong and I am sorry. I am also sorry about the real reason why you were unable to go to state with your teams. It is said we have kids that are blinded with hatred and unable to see what a good person you are. It's not just because what you did this morning or what you have done for this program. You are generally a very good, big hearted person.

Until people are correctly educated on homosexuality, this hatred and anger will always be there. I don't even think educating them will really change years of being told that homosexuality is wrong. It is going to take the younger generation to teach their kids right and the older generation to fade away.

So much has happened to you in this program, but yet you have stuck around. Don't quit now after all you have been through. Major Moore, Colonel Pigeon and I have made many mistakes these last couple of years, but we are learning. You and Joey were the first cadets that came out and stayed in the program.

Let us learn how to do things right when it comes down to you and Joey. That way the next kids that come out don't have to go through what you have gone through. Trust me we are going to keep making mistakes along the way, but we are learning from those mistakes. That is thanks to you not throwing in the towel."

"Colonel May all I am asking is to be treated like every other cadet in the program. For example when I go in front of your brigade board next year, you forget that I own companies that are donating to the program. Just treat me like every other cadet in that is in front of the board. That way if I earn brigade, I earned it for all the right reasons. If I don't earn it, I won't act like a kid and pull the funding. Those are two totally different things." Jacob smiled as he extended his hand for Colonel May to shake.

Colonel May agreed with Jacob as he shook his hand. When the two went their different directions, they both felt good about their conversation. Colonel May said his peace and felt good on the outcome. Jacob also cleared the air and got what he wanted. Both of them were able to walk off with a feeling that they took a positive step forward.

For the first time as he walked down the main hall, he saw his posters. He stopped and took a look at each of them. They had the same slogans, but were drawn up differently. He loved them and couldn't believe that Zach and Michael were able to get them up so quickly and on top of that, to change the slogan to the new one.

Jacob was in his own little world, he didn't hear Zach walking up behind him. So when Zach tapped Jacob on the shoulder, he jumped a couple of feet. Right away Zach apologized for scaring Jacob and waited for Jacob to catch his breath. Once he did, he went into his prepared speech.

"Jacob you did something that no other student has done here. You are actually making the run for all positions into an actual campaign." Jacob looked at Zach very confused by what he is saying. "Look Jacob, after your speech yesterday and then not backing from the popular kids and jocks, they had no other choice but to actually care about this."

"Okay I kind of see where you are coming from Zach, but not quite there yet. What are the other guys doing that they weren't doing before?" Jacob turned and looked at the posters as he talked to Zach.

"Well first, they are actually putting up posters like we did, something they had no intention on doing. Secondly, several of them jumped on the table in the cafeteria this morning and made a better speech than they did the day before. I am surprised you didn't see that since you eat breakfast here at the school every morning."

"Yeah I eat breakfast in the cafeteria every morning, but I don't stick around for a long time. Normally I am in and out within thirty minutes. How many made a speech this morning and are they going to continue doing it every morning?"

"I don't know if they plan to continue doing it, but it did grab everyone's attention that was in there this morning. Three of the ones running for student council position, one of which is running for student council president, spoke. The only thing they all agreed on is bashing you over and over again in their speeches."

"They are basically teaming up on me and trying to pull me down." Jacob chuckled as he tried to imagine them making their speeches earlier this morning. "It looks like I hit a nerve, just like I wanted to. If they are already coming after me, and as a group, I need to respond and respond fast. If we don't respond soon, we will lose."

Zach agreed with Jacob, but didn't want Jacob to get on top of a table like they others did this morning. It will look like he is following their lead, and that will hand them the victory. When they respond, it has to be different. It has to be out of the cafeteria and with a different background. But it has to be somewhere they can reach a lot of the students all at once.

"Jacob whatever we do, we need to plan it right. Why don't we see if anyone makes any speeches today at lunch and then go from there?"

"Already three students have come after me. Those speeches can't stay out there unanswered because if they do, the students will think I am afraid. If they think that, I can't move them from the status quo that has been in place for years. If you are not part of the popular groups or a student athlete, you can't run for student body positions.

You talk it over with Mitchell and I will figure out how I am going to respond. I have a few friends that I can call on to help me out here. These are friends that they can't call on, but they are popular in their own right here at this school."

Zach had no idea what Jacob has planned, but he agreed and walked off. Just as they headed off in different directions, the bell rang for lunch. Jacob turned right around and headed to the cafeteria. He grabbed his lunch and walked to his normal table. When he reached the table, he was surprised to see Alex and Matt already sitting there.

Before Jacob could open his mouth and ask if they were in the cafeteria this morning when the speeches were being made, Alex beat him to the punch. He went into more detail than Zach as far as what was said about him. They actually pulled the gay card out and played it, which didn't surprise Jacob at all.

When the other guys arrived, they started talking about the speeches. One after another asked Jacob if he plans to fight back, and each time they asked, he said not right away. That answer threw them through a loop, but before they could ask Jacob when he plans to respond and how, one of the guys running for student council president jumped on a table. Jacob and the others at the table quieted down to hear what the guy is saying."

"As you all know I am running for student council president. There are two other students that are asking you for your votes for this position, but many of you know me and know I am the right person for the job. The only thing I know how to do is winning and that is what I am going to do for you. I will make sure that every program that is popular gets what they need in order to win next year if you give me the chance."

The guy pointed over at Jacob. "That guy sitting over at that table is also running for the same position I am. Do you really want someone like him leading our school for entire year? Come on, we all know what people like him are all about, and that's nothing good. If he gets this office, he won't do what he said he would do yesterday. Instead he will take our school down the road of making regular people like you and me the minority and the gay kids the majority. He will turn everything at this school gay. Is that what you want, a school of fairies?

I surely don't want my school colors to change to pink. I don't want our football program dismantled because the sport is too hard and rough for people like him. I don't want to go to a school that will be the first school that is led by a fairy. Look down inside yourselves and you will see what I am saying is true, that he is going to take our school down the wrong track, a track we don't want to go down. By giving me your vote, it will ensure things will stay as is. The programs, the status of each group and more importantly our school colors won't change."

As the kid got off the table, the students started to clap. That blew Jacob's mind that they are actually cheering a hatred speech like that. Before the students could settle down, another student got on the table and another and then another. Each of them asked for the students votes and told them what they are going to do if they get a chance to lead. They also bashed Jacob, but nowhere near as bad as the first student did.

By the time the fifth student got o the table, Jacob walked out of the cafeteria. He had enough, but he also needed to get down to the ROTC building. For the first time in a long time, students looked at Jacob as he passed them. They looked at him like he was carrying some kind of disease. He thought those looks were long gone, but he can see he was wrong thinking that.

The rest of the day pretty much went the same way for Jacob as it did during lunch, students just staring at him, but not saying a word. Jacob started to notice the stares were changing. They weren't stares like at lunch, but they were of anger. But again the anger was not at Jacob, but at the others. At least that was what several of the students said to him when they spoke up as he passed them in the hall between fifth and sixth period.

When the final bell rang, Jacob had planned out how and when he plans to make his own speech. There is only one problem, he needs to go to a friend and ask for a favor. Instead of going to his locker, Jacob walked over to Josh's locker. As he walked up to Josh's locker, his security detail stooped him.

"My name is Jacob Hernandez, my grandfather works for the Governor. Josh and I are friends and I wish to talk with him if that is possible."

The security detail looked over to one guy who was looking at a list. It looked like to Jacob it was a list of names, more than likely names of people allowed to be around Josh. Before the guy could say anything, Josh pushed through his security detail. He smiled at Jacob as he extended his hand.

"I was wondering when you were going to come to me. I can't believe the crap that is being said about you Jacob." The boys shook hands. "Whatever you need, just ask and I will try and deliver. I really do believe if we come together as one, we can hurt them more than they can hurt us."

"I agree with you Josh, I really do. You know me and know I wouldn't ask you for help if I really didn't need it. I need to show that we are no different than the jocks and the popular kids. Look at you, breaking all those records on the swim team. A gay guy not crying that the sport is too hard like they said we do."

"Don't forget yourself Jacob. A week doesn't go by that I don't hear how you broke all those records on the track and field team. Plus Joey, your ex, the records he broke on our football team. Neither of you complained the sports you were in were too hard. Put all that aside, you are the highest ranking officer in our schools ROTC program. You got there your junior year, which has never been done before."

Jacob talked with Josh about his plans for tomorrow. Josh loved the plan and agreed to help Jacob out. Before they parted, they agreed to meet at lunch tomorrow to put the plan into action. As Jacob walked out to his truck, he felt renewed with Josh now aboard with his campaign. Tomorrow they are going to give those students that are running against him a blow that they won't be able to recover from.

When he got to his truck, Jacob noticed Ethan's feet hanging out of the bed of the truck. He walked up quietly, but not quiet enough because Ethan popped up scaring Jacob. Not meaning to, Ethan started to laugh as he jumped out of the bed to the side of the truck. Jacob started to laugh as well once he got control of his nerves.

On the way to office, Jacob talked with Ethan about how things are going to be different now that he is out to the guys. At first Ethan didn't understand, he thought things were going to stay the same. Jacob saw that Ethan was concerned and reconfirmed to him that things were going to be the same, but with a few adjustments.

Mainly Ethan can now come around with Derrick and not have to hide their true feelings around the group. Ethan of course liked that idea. He didn't want to hide the guy he is falling for. The only concern Ethan had, and he asked Jacob about, is if the guys are the type they gossip about stuff they found out.

"They are a lot smarter than you think they are Ethan. I think I know where you are going with this and let me make it as clear as I can. While they are at work, they are not going to talk about your personal life. They know your father is now working down in the print shop. There is no way they are going to out you to him. It will always be up to you when you tell your father and family your secret."

"Thank you Jacob! That is what I needed to know. I know the guys are cool and they won't do anything to hurt me on purpose. It's just they might talk about I while they work and either my father or my brothers over hear them. If that would to happen, I will be taken out to the wood shed for a good talking-to by them."

Knowing the guys the way Jacob knows them, he once again told Ethan he will be okay. Ethan believed Jacob and dropped the subject. The last few minutes of the drive to work they didn't say a word while they listened to the radio. As Jacob parked the truck, he debated if he should tell Ethan about what happened this morning. No one knows yet that he has inherited several car lots, not even his grandfather. Just as he decided if he should or shouldn't tell Ethan, his cell phone rang.

It was Shirley on the other end trying to figure out who all the people are that are showing up. Jacob told her that he will explain everything when he gets up there in a few minutes and then hung up the phone. Ethan looked at Jacob, but didn't ask him what Shirley wanted. He figured that he will find out soon enough.

When Jacob stepped off the elevator, he couldn't believe that his waiting area was packed with new faces. He looked around for Gilbert, but didn't see him anywhere. The few faces he did recognize were of those people that normally give him his briefings every evening. Knowing that he had to take those meetings, he quickly walked up to Shirley.

"Okay Shirley I need to cram my normal briefings into an hour. So I will take back the first one and you tell the others to just have bullet points ready for their meeting with me. Unless there is a major issue that has come up since yesterday. There is no need for a drawn out meeting this afternoon. You do understand what I mean when I say a major issue right?" Shirley nodded her head as Jacob walked to the back with his first meeting.

Lucky for Jacob, nothing changed from the meeting of the day before to this meeting. He had each department leave him a detailed report of the daily earnings before they left. That is the thing that normally drags out these meetings. They take him through the report line by line. Now after a week of these meetings, he can read the reports without them having to spend that kind of time they have spent with him these last couple of days.

Once he got through his final normal meeting, he was only fifteen minutes behind the time he asked the managers to show up at his office. He called Shirley and asked her if they had a big enough conference room to fit everyone in. She informed him no, leaving him with only one choice and that is to take them down to an empty floor.

He walked up front and asked everyone to take the elevators down to the sixth floor and wait for him there. As they all got up and walked to the elevators, Jacob asked Shirley and Ethan to join them as well. He leaned over the counter and called down to Ana's office and then Joe's office and asked them as well to join him on the sixth floor.

After hanging up with them, he got on the elevator and headed down. When he got off, he saw that Shirley had already unlocked the main doors and let the group into the empty office area. Since there is no furniture or cubicles set up, everyone was able to fit without being on top of one another.

As Jacob looked around he couldn't believe that there were these many managers in Mr. Dick's organization. He had thought it was a car dealership, there can't be that many managers, but boy, was he wrong! Reality hit him a like a ton of bricks as he stood there looking around. There is so much he is going to have learn about this company, he might have bitten off more than he can chew this time.

Just then he heard the elevator doors open and his mother's voice. He looked and saw his mother, Ana, Joe, Dewayne and Tony walking off the elevator. They walked over to Jacob's side and looked around the room. Joe was the first to break the silence.

"What is going on here Jacob? Who are all these people?"

"Something happened this morning that I haven't even been able to wrap my head around yet. I am now thinking I should have not called this meeting until I had a chance to talk with you all and my grandfather about what happened to me this morning." Joe and the others just looked at Jacob. "Joe and maybe you Dewayne know about the car lots that were donating money to El Paso High School ROTC program. Well as of this morning those car dealerships are mine." Their facial expression changed from confused to surprise.

Trying to not take up to much time, Jacob tried to give those he asked to join him some info on what was going on. He told them who these people are and why he asked them to come down here this afternoon. He also told them what he plans to say. Joe, Ana and even Gloria gave him a couple of other things he should go over that he wasn't planning to.

"I will go into more details with you guys later when I get my grandfather on the line. For now I need to run this meeting. What I need from you guys is simple, stand by my side. If I would run this meeting by myself, they will just see a kid standing before them. By having all of you here, they will see adults in leadership positions of this company."

Jacob pushed his way into the crowd, followed by those he asked to join him. Joe had enough of the disorder and started to whistle really loud. His whistle echoed through the empty floor, which grabbed everyone's attention.

"Ladies and gentlemen quiet down and listen up. I know there is nowhere to sit and that there's a lot of you here. The owner had to have this meeting somewhere, but our conference rooms are not big enough to fit you all in. So we have to have this meeting here on one of our empty floors. That doesn't mean it has to be disorganized.

No one talks unless you are pointed to. Let the owner speak and then he will answer any questions that he can. Those questions that he can't answer, someone from this group will get back with you about as soon as we get an answer. So why don't we all just move over some and let us stand in front." Joe pushed the managers over where Jacob and the others were standing by the windows looking out to them.

"Hello everyone, my name is Jacob Hernandez. Some of you have seen me around the Lincoln Dealership talking with the late Jimmy Dick. Although I didn't know him as long as most of you, I can say with certainty that he is going to be missed. Mr. Dick and I got to know each other really well and I will really miss him.

Before I let you know a little about the company you are now part of, let me introduce the people with me." Jacob went down the line and introduced everyone. "There are a couple people that are not here, but will meet them soon. One of which is my grandfather, Alfred Serna. He is part owner of this company as well he is one of the top advisors to the Governor of Texas. That is where he is right now, with the Governor.

Now a little bit about my company. It is new, not even a year old yet, but it is big. We own all the McDonald's in El Paso, a lot of land and office buildings, part owners of all the Seven-Elevens in El Paso and a print shop. So as you can see there is no chance of the car dealerships that are now part of this company to ever go under. It is now part of a huger family that will help it out if it ever gets into trouble.

There is going to be changes in the weeks and months ahead. For example the main office will be moved down to this building as soon as possible. My grandfather and I like to have all of our main offices in one area. That way we can talk with those people we put in charge of managing the departments whenever we need to. But is doesn't mean the higher leadership won't be out at the dealerships, because they will. That includes myself, anyone up here and my grandfather when he comes back into town.

The other changes you will see is the bank you will be using. Right now the dealerships are still going to use the bank where the accounts are currently at, but once again as soon as possible every account will be switched over to the bank we use. I like to use a local bank because I believe in keeping local business money in our local community. Talking about banks, payroll won't change in any way, shape or form, for now.

Your positions as of now won't change. Once my staff has a chance to evaluate your employee files and we see how your area has been producing, I will look at your positions. I am not saying anyone is going to lose their position, but I need you all to be aware that you need to produce in your areas. Mainly because the type of job you are in is all about selling. If nothing gets moved out of inventory, the company doesn't make money. If the company doesn't make money, you don't make money."

"Sir my name is Lonny and I am general manager of the Ford Dealership. There are things you don't know yet and you should learn them before you come out here and makes speeches. Those that are in charge of dealerships have a contract with the company in which we can't get fired until the end of those contracts. We know our job and most of the employees we employee get paid on commission basis. Every dealership under Mr. Dick's ownership moves out more vehicles than any other dealership in this city."

"Since you are the first to speak up, let me ask you a question. What do you see in me? What I mean is what you think of me now being your owner."

"I think you are just kid that doesn't know anything about running a business. We shouldn't have been called down here until your grandfather was back into town. He is the true owner of this company, not you. You are just playing boss after school while your grandfather is away."

"First whenever you talk about my grandfather you don't say grandfather, you respect the man and call him Mr. Serna. Second the car dealership was given to me by Mr. Dick, not me and my grandfather. That means I am the sole owner. With that said, what I own, my grandfather owns, because we both own this company.

Now as far me playing boss, let show you what power I have." Jacob walked right up to Lonny's face. "You work in a state that is an at-will employment state. Even if you have a contract, that contract isn't with my company. In other words that contract isn't worth the paper it is written on since now the company you work for is owned by a new company. All contracts will be redone, if there will be contracts.

But for you sir, you are longer in charge of my Ford Dealership since you see a kid playing boss. Go back to your office, pack up your things and never walk back into my dealerships again." Jacob started to walk away when he remembered something and turned around. "Oh one more thing, please hand me your keys to the dealership. If you need a key to get into your office, you will have set up an appointment with my office."

Jacob walked back over to Lonny and extended his hand. Lonny looked around, not sure what he should do. Jacob asked him for the keys once again, and still he didn't do anything. Gilbert walked up to Lonny and told him that he had no other choice but to hand over the keys. That did it. Lonny pulled out his keys and gave them to Jacob.

As Lonny walked out, all the other managers looked at Jacob. "I am not going to put up with any of that disrespect. In your eyes I may be just a kid that might not know what he is doing, but rest assured when I tell you, you are wrong. I may not know the exact ins and outs of running a dealership, but I know how to run a company. Does anyone else have a concern about my age, what I said here or where we are going to go in the days ahead?"

No one said a word. They just shook their heads no. "Since there are no questions and I have said what I needed to say, you all can go. Make sure you have your employees fill out their employment package or they won't be employed by this company. I would like all employee applications and employment packages in my office by close of business Friday. You all have a great evening."

All the managers filed out of the empty office, while Jacob and his staff stayed back talking with Gilbert. Ana pulled Jacob to the side and offered her help to move the new company over to the main office, which Jacob accepted. At that point Jacob felt that she could work a little closer with the move since he is in school all day.

Both Jacob and Ana asked Gilbert for a list of who is running the dealerships. Then a list of how the managers rank in the company. Gilbert promised to have that list in Ana's hands by mid morning tomorrow, with their employee files. Neither Ana nor Jacob had a problem with that and thanked Gilbert for his help.

Before letting Gilbert go, Jacob reconfirmed with him that he is going to stay on board with the company under the new ownership. He put Jacob at ease when he promised him that the only way he is going anywhere is if Jacob or his grandfather lets him go. Other than that, he is in this for the long haul. It is the least he can do for his friend Jimmy.

When Jacob made it upstairs, he found Hilda sitting in the waiting room with her purse between her legs. He could see in her face that she has been crying. Jacob completely forgot about asking her to meet with him this evening. His morning, well his whole day, has been one huge rollercoaster ride.

Jacob walked over to Hilda and sat down in the chair next to her. "Hilda I am sorry that you had to wait this long to speak with me. One thing after another has come up on me today, and I know that is not your fault. I had for gotten that I asked to meet with you."

"No problem sir, I know you are very busy and more so with Al gone."

"Thank you for understanding. Now let's talk about what happened this morning. I will be the first to admit that our company is not as small as it was when you came aboard in your position. It just got even bigger today, and that is not fair to you. So this is what I am going to do for you to make sure things don't fall through the cracks again.

I am going to hire you a staff so things don't fall through the cracks again. You and your staff will have your offices on the training floor of this office building. I think it makes more sense there than here, since you are in charge of employee files and everything that comes with that. The only other people that will have offices on that floor will be the trainers for each part of this company. What do you think about that Hilda?"

"I think it will help me a lot to have a few more people working alongside me. Thank you, Jacob. I promise you with the new staff, nothing, I mean nothing will fall through the cracks again. If anything does, I will step down."

"No need for that Hilda, no need. I want you to stay with this company until you are ready to retire. So you don't worry about ever not having a job with us. Without a doubt, you are doing a great job. I know once you get a staff, you will run a very tight ship, after all, you will be the boss of that office."

Hilda couldn't help herself. She hugged Jacob and kept thanking him for his trust. When they broke the hug, Jacob walked her to the elevator and wished her a good evening. On his way back to his office, Shirley let Jacob know he did the right thing. She couldn't believe that Jacob is able to see things the way he sees things at his age. With what she has witnessed this week, Jacob knows how to deal with his staff and run the company.

When Jacob got home, all he wanted to do is go to bed and call it a day. Neither Dewayne nor Tony told the others guys that Jacob is now the owner of several car dealerships. They figured it was up to Jacob to say something.

They next morning was a lot better than the last. The few students that jumped on the table to give a speech didn't bash Jacob like the others did the day before. In fact they didn't even mention Jacob's name. Jacob figured that they probably didn't mention his name because they weren't running against him or anywhere near his position.

Things seemed different to Jacob when he walked into the ROTC building. Cadets that never gave him the time of day were saying good morning to him. By the fifth good morning from a cadet that never said it to him before, Jacob knew something was up. He put one and one together and figured either Colonel Pigeon or Arturo said something.

Colonel Pigeon informed Jacob that the money was back in the program's account and as well in the other schools' accounts. He thanked Jacob for getting it done as quickly as he did. Plus he informed Jacob that they took his suggestions on telling the companies that refused to do anything until they got paid that they were going to look for someone else.

When Jacob asked the colonel what their response was, the colonel replied; "Just what you figured they were going to say and do. They back tracked, apologized several times and begged the program not to pull their business from their company. Since they got a discount for the next job with them, they promised not to pull the business."

Jacob couldn't help but laugh on what those companies did. All this could have been avoided if they just trusted that they were going to get paid. Just looking at their track record they would have seen they always got paid. That is what confused Jacob. All they had to do is see that they always got paid. Now they are losing a few dollars.

After leaving Colonel Pigeon's office, Jacob checked in with his staff and then headed to the main building. All through his morning classes, Jacob couldn't stop thinking about the plan he and Josh made the day before. He tried to write a speech, but he didn't get very far. After the eighth try, Jacob gave up. He decided to speak from his heart like he did on Wednesday. When he did that, Jacob felt he reached more students.

By the time lunch rolled around, Jacob was more nervous than he was his first speech. This speech means more because the others running for the position he is running for have gone on the attack. They are attacking him and don't care what they said to hurt him. So this speech needs to answer their attacks, but as well Jacob doesn't want to attack them.

The others tried to pump Jacob up, but decided to leave him alone. It looked like the more they tried to pump him up, the more they made him nervous. As they finished eating, they talked about everything under the stars, except the pending speech. When they walked out to the stadium, they saw more students standing there than normal. That told Jacob that Zach and Mitchell got the word out as far as the speech.

Right away Jacob saw Josh standing on the bottom of the staircase waiting for him. When he reached Josh, they went over their plan. As they talked, they made their way to where the microphone was set up by Zach. Zach greeted both Josh and Jacob as he handed Josh the microphone. Josh hit the tip of the microphone a couple of times not only to get the students attention, but to try and quiet them down.

"Hello, many of you know who I am, those that don't my name is Joshua Lopez, yes the son of the Governor. I am also on the swim team and the Show Chorus. And this piece of

news shouldn't be a shocker to anyone, I am gay as well. I am a gay student athlete that doesn't complain that the sport I am in is to hard or I am afraid I am going to break a nail like some of the students running against my friend here say we gay students would say if we joined a team. They are straight out lying to you guys.

In am not the only gay student involved on our school sports and hasn't complained about it. There were at one time two gay students on the football team. One of which broke several of our school records. Put that aside Jacob here was on our track and field team this year and well broke several records this year.

The reason I am saying this is because of the lies being spread about my friend in the last couple of days. The students that are running against him for student body president truly don't know how to rum the position. So instead of running on what they are going to do, they decided to run a campaign of slander. They are hoping that all of you are as stupid as they are and listen to their lies. I know many of you and I know you won't fall for these kinds of tricks.

I will be voting for Jacob for student body president and I hope you guys will as well. I am not doing it because he is gay, but because he is the best person for the job. Under him a lot will get done. Every program will get funded without us having to go door to door selling chocolates. I am honored to stand by my friend's side and introduce him here today. Please give it up for my friend, and I hope the next student council president, Jacob Hernandez!" Every started to clap as Josh handed Jacob the microphone.

As Jacob looked out, he noticed for the first time not only the guys that are running against him are there but Colonel Pigeon, Colonel May and the drill teams. Seeing them there actually made Jacob feel stronger. The program he has been part of and supported for the last couple of years, is now out here supporting him.

"In the last couple of days the students that are running against me for student council president had decided to run a campaign of slander. A campaign I won't run because we all must stay above that in our student elections. We must show that we are better than the politicians that we are supposed look up to. We have to show them we won't get down in the mud and get dirty. Instead we will run a clean campaign on the topics that touch us all.

You all already heard what I am going to do if you elect me as your next student council president, so I won't bore you on going over the same things. What I am going to say here today is going to be very simple. We regular students; the nerds, the non popular groups; the students that are not involved in school sports or part of the popular crowd, if that bands us together we can elect our own to the offices of the student council and class presidents. Those positions don't belong to the popular students or the `in' crowd.

We can no longer stay on the sidelines and hope that our friend at our side does what you really want to do. If we keep putting that off to our fellow students or to next class, we will never get anywhere in this school. Who knows what tomorrow brings us, but today we know we have a chance to change things for the better. Change things for every student, not just for the groups I keep naming.

So get off the sideline; stop sitting on that fence and lets band together to make a better tomorrow for our school. Stop letting the jocks and popular kids tell you who you should vote for and how you should be. It is our time to run things. Let's show them we are not afraid of them and take the positions we can by elections. Vote for the person you truly believe will do what is right for every student on Election Day; not for the same-ole same-ole that doesn't do a thing for every student in this school."

The students started to cheer as Jacob handed the microphone back over to Josh. The band that plays the music for the Show Chorus walked out and started to play We're Not Gonna Take It, by Twisted Sister. That got the students yelling even more. Josh pulled Jacob over to him as he started to sing. It didn't take long for entire stadium to join in with Josh.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MotNtq41NDw]

Principal Michaels made his way down to where Josh and Jacob were. Not to stop them, but to ensure that the students know that he gave permission for this speech unlike the ones that have been going on in the cafeteria the last couple days. As he watched the students really get into the song Josh was singing, Principal Michaels hoped Jacob would win the election because if he did, things will actually get done next year.

Once the song came to an end, the students started to chant both Jacob's and Josh's name at the same time. As they made their way to the staircase, Jacob didn't see the other students that are running against him anymore. He had no idea when they left, but they were gone. Jacob thought to himself that maybe the others that are running will stop the mud slinging now and get down to actual campaigning.

TO BE CONTINUED...

I have a home page for you to see what the characters look like or what the places look like. If you want to walk in their shoes, please go to: http://jacobmillertex.com/

WRITER'S CORNER:

{Welcome back to another filled chapter of Jacob Finding His Way. I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. A lot happened in a short period of time. But let me warn you that a lot was set up in this chapter for future plots. Not only for this story, but for "Shadow of My Father" and "Beneath the Mask". I hope you can see where I am going with the new plots I started in this chapter, if not, you will have to wait and see.

Okay let's start with the beginning of the chapter. You all knew what was coming from how the last chapter ended. I don't expect the reactions within the group to Ethan's news were any surprise along with how the group handled the news. Ethan is part of a very laid-back group that isn't judgmental. They don't push anyone to do things that they aren't ready for or comfortable with. So with that in mind I am not surprised on how they reacted.

Well everyone reacted well except Patricia. Chase is really sitting on the fence because of the feelings he has for Ethan. Keep that in mind as you see Chase react to certain things involving Ethan. He doesn't react out of malice, but out of being hurt. His heart is hurting when he sees that Ethan is moving on and leaving him behind.

Just today as I was writing out this chapter, my proof reader was proofing chapter sixty four of this story. He sent me an email not understanding why Jacob reacted the way he reacted when he was told he couldn't go to state. I told him it was a set up for a future chapter, and here it is.

If I was in Jacob's shoes, I wouldn't have been so nice. Wait a minute I was in Jacob's shoes and I was nice about it! LOL. Jacob was wondering why he couldn't go, but he didn't want to make a big scene out of it. That is why he talked with Major Moore about it. Even after finding out he was lied to, he didn't say a word. Well he found out in this chapter that the real reason he couldn't go to state was because the other students didn't want to share a room with a guy that is openly gay.

Jacob handled the situation well and kept his temper in check. He said his peace, but didn't react on it. Instead he was a better person and didn't pull the funding. Instead he made sure the funds were put into the accounts of the ROTC programs. If that doesn't show the colonels what kind of person Jacob is, nothing will.

Wow, I mean Wow! Jacob was given something he never expected to get and that is all the car dealerships. It is sad to find out that Mr. Dick had passed away, but Jacob got something he never knew he was line for. How Jacob is going to run the businesses I don't know. Knowing Jacob, he will figure it out and make the business grow.

I really like the way he handled the meeting. He said the right things and did the right things. When the main manager of the Ford Dealership stood up and voiced his opinions in front of the other managers, Jacob had to cut his dick off. He stood up and basically told Jacob he wasn't a man, not like him, so he wasn't going to listen to him. If Jacob didn't fire him right then and there, he would have lost complete control of the car dealerships before he even had a chance to run them.

Hilda made some mistakes, but Jacob saw it wasn't all her fault. Once again Jacob showed his heart and put Hilda's worries to rest. Not only he told her that she never has to worry about her job, except if she robs the company, but she gets to choose when she leaves the job. I love seeing that side of Jacob when it comes out.

What can I say about the race for student council president except what the hell is going on. Jacob lit the fire to have a real campaign in the last chapter, but not mudslinging. At least they warned Jacob and told him that they were going to do the things they did. But I think it has back fired on them even before Jacob did his speech. Remember when Jacob was going to sixth period class on Thursday and how his fellow students were looking at him. He saw they had changed their way of thinking, which went his direction.

I loved when Jacob went to Josh for his support and help. Not only did he give a little speech of his own, but he sang at the end. He has the respect of the students because of what he has done on the Show Chorus and swim team. It brought both them front and center to help Jacob. I loved it when Josh said hold your horses, not only there are gay students in their school teams, but they have broken records.

As always I can go on and on about the open plots in the story! If I do that, I can actually write several more chapters. There are so many plots that can take a turn at anytime. You might think it is going to go one way, but is lands up going another. Don't miss out on anything, or you will be kicking yourself for it.

There is a so much to answer in the chapters to come. Stick around and keep reading the future chapters, and enjoy! Please email me and let me know how I am doing at jacobmillertex@aol.com, Thanks!}

EDITOR'S CORNER:

Ethan came out to the group! The devil didn't rise up and consume him as he feared. Yes, the bulk of the group was supportive, but there's the two little storm clouds, Chase and Patricia, that will still cause some stormy scenes, I'm afraid. Ethan has the stones to stand up to them as he has in the past.

Speaking of stones, Jacob standing up to the colonels when they crossed the line with him was amazing. Jacob knew the two roles he is in with ROTC; one as a student and officer, the other as a business owner and donor. Colonel Pigeon could have really made a huge mess of things had Jacob not been the bigger person. I'm not so sure if I were in Jacob's shoes that I'd have not gone for some serious punitive action for the Colonel's serious breach of protocol.

When Jacob agreed to accompany the colonels to see Mr. Dick, he had no clue what he was about to walk into. Mr. Dick passing away was a total shock and then Jacob was blindsided by being the heir to the string of auto dealerships. The question was raised about Jacob being able to handle the added load. The way he handled the initial meeting with the management personnel from the dealerships shows he's going to do just fine.
I totally agree that had he not fired the skeptic and vocal general manager from the Ford dealership on the spot, he'd never have gained truly effective management control. The little bit of "spilled blood" in that meeting prevented a severe and possibly terminal hemorrhage later. On one hand, I feel badly for the fired manager, on the other, he got paid appropriately for his arrogance and narrow-mindedness. Karma didn't hesitate in that situation, not for a moment.

I am anxious to see the power of the ordinary students rise to unseat the hierarchy in the schools social and political arenas. What is unfolding in the story is wonderful and also underscores that these stories are, as advertized, fully fiction! I know the power of the average is there in schools, but to mobilize it and focus it in reality would be all but impossible, in my guesstimation.

The alliance Jacob is forming with Josh is going to be a power to behold as time goes on. It has always been interesting to me that only now are the two dynamic boys finding a reason to form an alliance. It should be interesting to see what forces will come into play.

Until next time,
"Daddy" Rick