A Taste of Respect is an erotic gay comedy about a thirty-two-year-old African American self-made multimillionaire who is coming to terms with his homosexuality. His name is Thaddeus Hanson Richards II, and he decides to pursue his dream of owning his own private school. Richards is Roman Catholic and decides to buy a Canadian Catholic boys' boarding school on the verge of closing 120 years after it opened. He also buys the counterpart girls' school. Richards gets lots of support from family, religious leaders, and parents of the students. But in the beginning, he has little support from the male students while the female students adore him. The male students play constant pranks and give Richards a very hard time, so much so he decides to fight back and initiate a few pranks of his own. Richards's pranks remind him of his youth, when he and his buddies played a prank or two on people. Both schools are predominantly white, with Richards being black, he gets quite a bit of disrespect from the Caucasian boys. While Richards struggles to earn a taste of respect from the boys, he discovers the secret one of the misbehaving boys has been keeping for years, since the age of five. Now fourteen, the boy yearns to tell the secret and trusts no one-that is, until the new owner, Richards, shows up. Unsure how to get Richards's attention, the boy begins playing very irritating pranks. When the secret comes out, it nearly gets someone killed. And now a taste of respect eventually evolves into a four course meal.

A Taste of Respect

A NOVELBy E. T. Hawks

Trafford Publishing

Copyright © 2012 E. T. Hawks
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4669-2977-7

Chapter One

August 2007

African-American self-made millionaire Thaddeus Hanson Richards II is reflecting on all his accomplishments in his life of 32 years while seated in the first class cabin of a new VAC Airways (Vancouver Airways of Canada) Boeing 777. The first class cabin is luxurious, a luxury he and his family have come to appreciate since Thad became a millionaire at the age of twenty. Thad remembers riding in cramped coach when he was a young boy. He has been riding on planes since the age of two but his fondest memory is when he was nine. His Uncle Robert, who at the time was single and a transplant surgeon just beginning his career but is now married with adult children, decided to surprise the family with a trip to Orlando, Florida. He knew it would be expensive and had been saving money for years. Uncle Robert wanted to spare no expense. Thad's uncle had begun planning and saving for the trip since just before Thad turned three and he'd been planning it with Thad's father, Thaddeus Sr. Only Uncle Robert, Thad's father and his mother, Beverly, who is now dead, knew of the trip planning. They did not want the kids in the family to be disappointed if the trip fell through, so it was kept a secret until about a week before the trip. Thad's family was not rich, but not poor either. Money was tight and his Uncle Robert had sacrificed for years to do something special for the family. The time they spent in Orlando was fun but traveling there wasn't the greatest. The plane had been grounded for two hours in St. Louis due to thunderstorms going on all day. A break in the weather had allowed the plane to finally take off and head for Orlando only to have to circle Orlando for another two hours because of storms there before diverting to Miami to refuel. The weather had been fairly clear in Miami. And by the time the plane left Miami, the weather in Orlando had cleared.

Thad enjoyed flying on the plane but he did not enjoy, at first, having to sit next to an overweight woman who kept sneezing. They had flown on an L-1011 jumbo jet and were able to get a direct flight from St. Louis where Thad and most of his family lived. His Uncle Robert lived in Chicago and had flown to St. Louis to travel with the family to Florida. But the flight had been overbooked which Thad later learned the airlines tended to do on purpose. And because there were so many traveling in Thad's family they could not all sit together. He'd had the option of sitting next to his uncle in coach where they had to sit in order for everyone who was going to Florida to be able to go because first class was too pricey. Coach had been cramped and uncomfortable, even for a small nine year old, and Thad had wanted a window seat. He loved looking out the window of a plane. But his other option was a center seat in a center row. And there was not much to see there but the person next to you on either side. The gate agent had honored his request but informed him and his parents that he would not be able to sit with them. Thad had wanted a window seat so bad he was cool with that. Had he been younger he would have wanted to sit next to mommy. But he was practically grown, as grown as a nine year old could get, and he informed mom and dad he would be okay sitting by himself. His mother had started to protest and say "no" and that she wanted the family to sit together but dad had told her, "Thad will be fine. Let him have his window seat or he will be irritable and upset all the way to Orlando."

Thad was happy at that development but did not know he would be sitting next to the "nasty fat lady" as his older brother, Paul, had said. Since there were so many kids in their group the gate agent had requested for Thad and his family to board the plane first along with the other families with kids. And there were a lot of kids on the flight being of course that it was a flight to Orlando, Florida. And every single family on the plane was visiting the same amusement park there. But since Thad and his family had boarded the plane first, even before other families, he didn't know who he'd be sitting next to. He'd hoped he would get to sit next to one of the cute blond girls his age that would also be on the plane. His hopes had been put to pasture as he saw Mrs. Georgia Crumholtz, as she had introduced herself overweight as she was, take her seat next to Thad. The cute blond girl and her family had taken seats in front of Thad. He also remembered that Mrs. Crumholtz, "Georgie" as she had requested Thad call her, had smelled very nice. Like lilac and roses or was it lilac and vanilla? Thad struggled to remember. He just remembered enjoying the wonderful scent "Georgie" radiated while Thad was next to her on the flight.

Thad had thought his mom might enjoy some perfume of that scent for Christmas. Even though "Georgie" was overweight she had been very nice, even offering some of the candy to Thad that she had brought with her to give to her grandkids. She had explained that her husband of thirty years had recently passed and that she was flying to visit her son, daughter-in-law and three grandkids in Florida. They lived in Orlando and planned to take "granny" to an amusement park because "Georgie" had never been to one before. "Georgie" had said that her son was in management at the park and that she and her son and family could get in for free at all the different attractions over the forty square miles of park. Thad had then wished that his dad worked at the park; to be able to get in free, wow, cool! Thad had explained to "Georgie" how his uncle had paid for the family to go to Orlando and that they were staying at the hotel where a monorail goes through the second story of the building.

"Georgie" had said, "Oh that is a very nice hotel. You and your family will love it. My son has told me nice things about it."

And when the plane finally arrived in Orlando, "Georgie's" son, his wife and kids had been waiting at the gate with expectant smiles on their faces. "Georgie's" grandkids had run up as soon as she had walked through the gate. Of course nowadays that is not allowed since 9-11-2001. But in 1984 there had been no terror attacks in the USA and people could still greet their families as they walked off the plane not at the baggage claim. Of course Thad and his family had no one to greet them as they exited the plane. He fondly remembered that "Georgie's" granddaughter was very cute with her long blond hair. Her name was April and he remembered that she was very nice. She was slightly older than Thad was, eleven, but still seemed to like him. Thad remembered that April smiled at him a lot and was all giddy when "Georgie" had introduced her family to his. "Georgie" had told her son how courteous Thad had been with her and that he should do something nice for Thad and his family. And "Georgie's" son did. When Thaddeus Sr. had said how much his brother Robert had spent on the trip, Danny, as "Georgie" had introduced her son, responded by giving Thad's Uncle Robert $500 worth of park currency later at the hotel which he then split up among the family. Each child had gotten $50 and had spent every dime. Danny had explained that he was high up in management and that allowed him to do things like that. After "Georgie" and her family had left the airport, Danny had immediately called his boss and told him how long Thad's uncle had saved. And it had turned out that one of Uncle Robert's patients, who he'd performed a successful surgery on, was a relative of Danny's boss. And his boss was so grateful at his relative surviving that he had allowed Danny to give Thad's family $500 worth of park currency which was good at every restaurant and shop inside the amusement park. Thad and his family had been grateful. They had even been allowed to tour behind the scenes at the park which normally was not allowed for the guests of the park to do.

Thad remembered spending almost the entire time in Orlando and at the park with "Georgie" and her family. Her son, Danny, had even invited the family to dinner at his home where they also met Danny's boss, Adam, who thanked Uncle Robert for saving his cousin's life. His cousin had had a routine kidney transplant and survived. At dinner Thad noticed that "Georgie" was not sneezing and she'd explained that her allergy medicine had not kicked in until just before the flight from St. Louis had landed in Orlando. Thad then remembered that "Georgie" had stopped sneezing at the airport in Orlando. He remembered seeing her sneezing in St. Louis and hoping he would not have to sit next to her on the plane. But of course he did and he was glad because Thad's uncle would never have gotten the park currency from "Georgie's" son, Danny.

Thad's grandmother, Deborah, had later told him, "and see, you were upset at having to sit next to a sneezing fat lady. God had that all planned. Had you sat next to your mother, you never would have met `Georgie' and her family." Deborah then added, "And that pretty granddaughter of hers that you were staring at, what was her name?"

"Granny, I was not staring," Thad had said.

"Yes you were, boy; you know you like her," Deborah said with mock irritation.

"Yeah granny, I suppose you're right," Thad said with a wry grin.

"Oh please boy, suppose nothin', you like her outright," Deborah said as she gave Thad a hug. Thad's older brother Paul, who was sixteen, had been watching this whole exchange. They were in granny's hotel room with Francena, Thad and Paul's sister. Francena was thirteen and very straight A smart. She could calculate numbers in her head like the best of any computer.

"What do you want with a white girl?" Paul asked with a smarmy tone.

"Shut up, turd-face," Thad retorted.

"Knock it off, the both of you," Deborah warned.

"Whatever," Paul shot back.

"Boy, I will jack slap you back to the stone age. Do not sass me."

"Yes ma'am, sorry. Oh by the way, when I get to the stone ages, do you want me to say `hi' to any of your `old' friends?" Paul asked with a smarmy tone. At that smartass remark Deborah gasped slightly, narrowed her eyes at Paul and opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out. And at that moment a large black hand came from nowhere and slapped Paul hard across the back of the head.

"OUCH! WHAT THE FU ...!" Paul started to say and looked up just in time to see dad's face which had a very irritated look about it. Paul knew better to stop talking and not finish the last word that almost left his lips. Had the word "fuck" gotten out, Paul would have been picking his lips, tongue, tonsils and most of his teeth off of the floor. Paul was at that age where he was getting smart mouthed with mom, dad and some of the other relatives, especially granny. He'd been smarting off since he started talking as a toddler and Thad's mom, Beverly, did not understand that since Thad was now nine and he was as sweet as could be. Thad had not gotten a spanking once in his life. Thad was always so respectful and NEVER talked back while Paul seemed to make a career out of "smack-talk" as Deborah called it. Because when Paul talked to adults he tended to get smacked upside the head. And the only person Paul NEVER smarted off to was his grandfather, Edward, or "Ed" as his friends called him. For some reason, even when Paul was just starting to talk, he'd never smarted off to Ed. But everybody else was fair game including mom and dad.

"Nigga, have you lost yo' damn mind!? WHAT. HAVE. I. TOLD. YOU ... about talking back to your elders!?" Dad asked. Paul was speechless. The room was totally quiet. Even the people in adjoining rooms in the hotel stopped talking. Dad apparently had gotten everyone's attention. You could have heard a pin drop on the moon. It was that quiet. Paul just hung his head down. "WELL!?" Dad finally said after a moment.

"Um, ah ... nothin'," Paul stammered.

"Nothin' is the best you can come up with. Shocked you didn't I? Bet ya' didn't think I would hear you talking smack back to granny."

Dad apparently had slipped back in the room when granny was engrossed in conversation with Paul and no one had been the wiser not even granny. The hand slap to Paul's head had even caught granny off guard. Dad seemed to have a special skill for slipping back into a room unnoticed. A skill that seemed to come in handy for dad and allowing him to catch the tail end of "smack-talk" conversations.

"Never mind, just go back to your room. I'll deal with you later," Dad added. Paul opened his mouth to protest but dad held up a finger and shot Paul a look that would have melted glass. At that, Paul quietly got up and left granny and granddad's hotel room. And during this whole exchange granddad had not said a word. He'd quietly slipped past and set a bag of groceries on a table in the room. Ed, dad and Uncle Robert had stepped out to the store to buy a few snacks for everyone. Granddad usually stayed out of dad's way when it came to dealing with Paul. In fact, granddad never had to discipline Paul except for one time when he was thirteen and Thad was six. And granddad had not said a word to Paul. He'd just grabbed the back of Paul's neck with his hand. The family had gone to the park to have a picnic and Paul had mouthed off to granny when she had asked him to put the plastic table cloth on the picnic table and get out the paper plates.

"Man, I ain't no maid," Paul grumbled with an attitude. But before granny could respond, granddad had quickly grabbed Paul, put the tablecloth in Paul's hand and then pointed his finger at granny. The finger pointing apparently was a hand sign that said, "apologize to your granny or else." Granddad hadn't even looked at Paul or spoke a syllable and yet everyone knew what granddad meant. And that had been the last time Paul had acted up around granddad. Dad usually got on Paul's case about his attitude but dad had left with mom to run back home and get the charcoal briquettes dad had left and to get a few more items from the store. So after that and up until now at the hotel in Orlando Paul never acted up around granddad again. And since dad was present this time granddad did not have to do a thing. Granddad was not a large man or anything or even that intimidating he just seemed to command respect. He was only about five foot ten and had a slim muscular build with medium dark brown skin and had a salt and pepper mustache. Granddad had gone into the US Army for four years and then used the money he earned to pay for college. He had studied education and taken up a career in teaching. He was now a high school principal and was due to retire in a few years. He was sixty and loved working with kids but wanted to do some traveling with granny before he got to old. Heck, even his students respected him.

"Man, that NEGRO is on my LAST nerve," Dad complained. Dad tended to only use the "N" word when he was really pissed and that had been one of those times. The rest of the trip to Orlando had gone off without a hitch. Paul had not said much more the rest of the time in Orlando or on the flight back to St. Louis. Thad and his family had said their goodbyes to "Georgie" and her family and thanked them for all the hospitality that had been shown to Thad and his family. After Thad and his family returned to St. Louis, everyone had gone their separate ways. Uncle Robert returned to Chicago where he met his wife and continued practicing medicine. He'd met Celine a month after Thad and family returned from Orlando and had been married a year after that. Uncle Robert and Aunt Celine eventually had four kids; James, Doug, Tina and Devon. James was the oldest and all four were almost exactly two years apart. But unfortunately Thad's mother, Beverly, found out she had cancer and died four years after the Orlando trip. Thad's mother never got a chance to meet the three youngest of Uncle Robert's kids. She died in 1988, six months before Doug was born. And Thad had taken his mother's death hard, harder than anyone. He'd been very close to his mom and could not handle it when Beverly had passed. She died at home and Thad was holding her hand when her heart had stopped. It was a sensation that Thad would NEVER forget. He'd felt his mom's hand pulse with those last few heartbeats. His dad had tried to pull him from the room as Thad's mom succumbed to cancer. Thad had been determined not to leave until his mother was dead. It was a day Thad would never forget.

"Come on son, maybe you should step out for a moment. Let's take a walk," Dad said.

"NO!" Thad shot back with a shaken voice.

"Excuse me?" Thad's dad then started to make a move to grab him and remove him forcibly but at that moment his granddad grabbed his dad's left arm gently and Paul, who was now twenty and in college, grabbed the right. At that, Thad's dad shot his granddad a surprised look of, "why are you stopping me?"

(Continues...)

Excerpted from A Taste of Respectby E. T. Hawks Copyright © 2012 by E. T. Hawks. Excerpted by permission of Trafford Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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