Chapter 18 - The Table
Thomas held the family meeting on a Sunday morning before the restaurant opened.
Only five people sat at the round table in the private dining room.
Thomas.
Claire.
Evelyn.
Grant.
Daniel Cho.
Grant’s attorney, Rebecca Sloan, sat slightly behind him.
Grant looked thinner.
Evelyn looked ill.
Thomas placed no food on the table.
Only documents.
Daniel spoke first.
“This is not a negotiation regarding criminal liability. Any such matters are separate. Today concerns company governance, ownership, employment, repayment, and preservation of records.”
Grant leaned back.
“Sounds friendly.”
No one responded.
Thomas looked at his nephew.
“Before we start, I want one thing answered.”
Grant’s attorney touched his arm.
“Don’t.”
Grant ignored her.
“What?”
“Why Eli?”
Grant frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“Why thirty dollars?”
Silence.
“You were already taking far more elsewhere. Why risk everything over fifty dollars?”
Grant looked away.
Thomas waited.
Finally Grant said, “Because he’d accept it.”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
Claire stared at him.
Grant continued, perhaps because once the sentence escaped, stopping became harder.
“He was extra help. Cash shift. No paperwork. He wouldn’t know how the system worked.”
Thomas’s voice was almost a whisper.
“He knew exactly how it worked.”
“I know that now.”
“No.”
Eli’s voice came from the doorway.
Everyone turned.
Grant shot to his feet.
“What is he doing here?”
Claire remained calm.
“I asked him whether he wanted to give a statement directly.”
Daniel nodded.
“This portion is voluntary.”
Eli stepped inside with Anna.
He wore his gray shirt.
The same one he had worn the night Grant paid him thirty dollars.
Grant stared.
Eli sat across from him.
Anna remained beside the door.
Eli placed a printed page on the table.
His notes.
Dates.
Hours.
Promised amounts.
Paid amounts.
Grant’s attorney whispered something.
Grant shook his head.
Eli spoke.
“You said I wouldn’t know.”
Grant stared at the table.
“I knew every time.”
No one moved.
“You paid me wrong four times.”
Grant finally looked at him.
“I made mistakes.”
“You told me eighty is for normal people.”
Grant’s jaw tightened.
“I already apologized.”
“No.”
Grant frowned.
“You emailed me.”
“That was an apology.”
Eli shook his head.
“You said I got pulled into a family fight.”
Grant looked toward his attorney.
Eli continued.
“You didn’t say what you did.”
Thomas felt his throat tighten.
Grant’s face reddened.
“What do you want me to say?”
Eli answered immediately.
“The truth.”
The room went silent.
Grant laughed nervously.
“You think this is simple.”
“For me it is.”
Eli pointed to the page.
“You said eighty. You gave thirty.”
Then he pointed toward Thomas.
“He heard what you said.”
Then Claire.
“She found the papers.”
Then Evelyn.
“Your mom knew about selling.”
Evelyn flinched.
Eli returned his eyes to Grant.
“You keep saying everybody else made it happen.”
Grant’s mouth opened.
Nothing came out.
Eli stood.
“I’m done.”
He turned toward the door.
Grant suddenly said, “You think they care about you?”
Eli stopped.
Grant’s attorney whispered sharply, “Grant.”
He ignored her.
“You think Claire brought you here because you matter? You’re useful evidence.”
Anna took a step forward.
Eli turned around.
His face showed hurt.
But not confusion.
“You used me too.”
Grant said nothing.
“The difference is they asked.”
Eli left.
Anna followed.
Thomas looked at his nephew.
Grant’s expression was no longer angry.
It was exposed.
Daniel slid a document across the table.
“Whitaker Family Restaurant LLC is terminating your employment for cause.”
Evelyn gasped softly.
Grant looked at Thomas.
“You’re firing me.”
“Yes.”
“You promised Dad you’d take care of us.”
“My brother never asked me to protect you from stealing.”
Grant stood.
“You don’t know what my father asked.”
Thomas froze.
Grant smiled bitterly.
“There it is.”
“What?”
“The family secret nobody wants to talk about.”
Evelyn’s face changed.
“Grant, no.”
Claire looked between them.
“What secret?”
Grant stared at Thomas.
“You think my father just abandoned us?”
Thomas’s pulse quickened.
“He left.”
Grant shook his head.
“Ask Mom why.”
Evelyn whispered, “Stop.”
Grant’s eyes stayed on Thomas.
May you like
“Ask her what your father paid him to disappear.”
And suddenly even Daniel Cho stopped moving.
