Randolph Bessemer - 1st draft

This is the 1st short story I wrote for my ENG207 class this semester. It is strictly fiction but based around some of the facts of my brother's life (and death).


Randolph Bessemer was a rich and powerful man. Perhaps not as powerful as he once was, but definitely richer. His increased wealth was due, not to his own labor, but to those around him, particularly his consort, Will Rand, who now lay dying of brain cancer in a Fort Lauderdale hospital.

Randolph Bessemer, or R.B., as he like to be called, had been the band director at Louisville Boys Collegiate High School since the music department had been formed in the late ‘30’s. He had lead the LBCHS marching band to seven consecutive state championships and ten championships overall. They had marched in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, the Orange Bowl parade and the Rose Bowl parade. Closer to home, they marched in the Derby Parade every year and was the only high school band ever invited to play My Old Kentucky Home at the Derby. They were the most recognized high school marching band in the region.

All this gave R.B. power at LBCHS and in the community, unprecedented for a high school band director. It was also due, no doubt, to his family’s status as one of Louisville’s wealthiest, old-money families. Because of his and his family’s status, R.B. was used to having his way and obtaining what he wanted. He had rarely been turned down for anything in his life.

Rarely, that is, until he had tried to adopt Will Rand away from his family. Not only was he refused in no uncertain terms, he briefly feared Will Rand, Sr. was going to get up from his easy chair and bodily throw him out of his house. Mrs. Rand just looked like she was going to burst into tears. R.B. quickly backed down and attempted to sooth the old man’s ruffled feathers.

“Well now, I’m sorry, Mr. Rand. I didn’t mean no offense. I just think the world of young Will and would like to be able to provide him with as many opportunities as possible. I see now it was presumptuous of me to assume you would allow another man to become your son’s father. Will you instead allow me to take care of some of Will’s expenses? I’d like him to attend my music school, for instance. He has a wonderful, raw talent that I think our instructors could help refine and improve.”

Will, Sr. who also wanted the best for his only son, grudgingly relented. And so began R.B.’s long association with and explotation of the Rand family.

R.B. met young Will when Will walked into band class the fall of Will’s first year at LBCHS. R.B. had always had an eye for the young boys that came through his classroom, but he had never been so completely taken by any of them until he saw Will.

Will wasn’t extraordinarily good-looking by conventional standards, but his dark wavy hair, his deep blue eyes and his smooth pale complexion went together in such a way that it made you notice him. Then when he smiled, his slightly crooked grin made his whole face glow with an inner radiance that made him look angelic yet, at the same time, roguish. And his nature was as sweet as his looks. Will quickly became a leader in the band.

R.B. spent Will’s sophomore year captivated by his young percussionist and found any excuse he could think of to have him near. He offered Will extra lessons in percussion. He found out Will was interested in the new hi-fidelity record players and electronic kits and bought him a hi-fi kit to put together. Of course, he didn’t let Will know he bought it for him.

“Oh, Will,” R.B. said after band practice one day, “You know, I bought one of those hi-fi do-it-yourself kits a few weeks ago.”

“Oh, you did, Mr. Bessemer?” Will replied, “Those are so cool! I’d like to get one someday and see if I could put it together.”

“Well, that’s why I thought of you,” R.B. said innocently. “I got it all out and looked at it and I just don’t think I’ve got the time nor the patience to put it together. I was wondering if you might be interested in having it?”

Will’s face lit up the way R.B. loved and he exclaimed, “Oh, boy! Would I? That would be great. Oh!” and his face fell, “Those are expensive. I don’t think I can afford it, Mr. Bessemer.”

“No, no. Think of it as just my little gift to you for all the hard work you’ve done this year in band. You’ve really improved, Will. I’m very proud of you.”

“Oh, wow! Are you sure? That’s fantastic, Mr. Bessemer. Thank you so much!” With that, Will gave Mr. Bessemer a hug and started out the door. R.B. remembered that hug for days.

“Oh, Will?”

“Yes, Mr. Bessemer?”

“Let’s keep this our little secret, shall we? I wouldn’t want the other boys in the band getting jealous and giving you a hard time.”

“Oh, sure enough, Mr. Bessemer. Thanks again. See you tomorrow.”

By the end of Will’s junior year, he had become Mr. Bessemer’s student assistant during Will’s study hall. Will was flattered to have this worldly, older man’s attention; a man that had the same deep interest in music and performance as Will did. Will was comfortable enough with Mr. Bessemer, he thought nothing of the head caresses R.B. would give him as Will sat in his chair doing his homework or the hugs R.B. would give him when Will would leave to go to his next class. Will’s own parents were not demonstrative toward their children and, altho’ he didn’t realize it, Will craved this attention.

It was during the summer of Will’s junior year that R.B. had the conversation about adopting Will. After that, he realized if he became friendly with the Rands, then he could have all the access to Will he wanted. He started stopping by now and again with beer to share with Will, Sr. Will, Sr. worked swing shifts and Mrs. Rand, whose name was Marge, didn’t drive. So, sometimes he would call when he knew Will, Sr. was at work and see if Marge needed to go anywhere. Occasionally, he would offer to take the whole family out to dinner at Hasenour’s, which was a fine dining establishment in the Highlands at Oak and Barrett. The Hasenour family knew the Bessemers and R.B. could tell the Rands were impressed when Ray Hasenour stopped by their table to see if everything was all right.

After that, Will started spending more and more time with R.B. R.B. hired Will to mow his grass and do other minor chores around the house. He got to know all of R.B. family. R.B. still lived in the family home on Cherokee Parkway with his mother and his polio stricken sister, Adele. Adele wore a very heavy brace on one leg and walked with a pronounced limp. Will liked her a lot and would help her around the house and sit and talk with her for long periods. He found her to be extremely intelligent and he like that she had never treated him as a kid, but more like an equal.

After graduating in 1952, Will decided not to go to college, partly because his family couldn’t afford to send him and even though R.B. offered to pay for it, Will didn’t think he was too interested in all the other courses besides music he’d have to take to get a degree. It wasn’t like he needed the degree in order to get a good job. It was pretty easy to find lots of places that would hire a motivated, hard-working, young man right out of high school. All Will had to decide was what he wanted to pursue. Finally, after weeks of looking at the want ads and not finding anything that appealed to him, Will Sr. suggested he go talk to R.B. and see if he would hire him at his music school.

Will went to see Mr. Bessemer the next afternoon and was hired immediately as a sheet music and instrument salesman. Will still wasn’t sure this was what he wanted to do for the rest of his life, but for now it would do.

After a few years of working at the music school, R.B. got Will a job working with him as an assistant band director at LCBHS. It was around this time that R.B. presented his plan to Will. He wanted to establish a summer camp for high school marching bands. No one was doing anything like this at the time and the kids in marching band forgot a lot over the summer of what they learned. It would give band directors a chance to work on field routines for the next fall and give all the band students a head start on next season’s half-time shows.
R.B. proposed to Will that he would put the money up for the land and building materials and for a half interest Will could manage the project and help build the main structures and clear the land for the practice fields they would need initially.

Will was excited about the idea of a music camp and the idea they would be doing something that had never been tried before. He readily agreed even though he knew little about construction. He knew right where he could get help though. His father knew all about building, electrical and water systems from his time in the SeeBees during WWII. He went home that night and asked Will Sr. if he would be willing to help and give advice as he needed it.

It would take a lot of work. This was September. R.B. had already found 200 acres in the next county he wanted to buy. The deal went through quickly and Will worked constantly and hard through the fall and winter with his father’s help and invaluable knowledge in order to be able to have their first bands start the following summer.

No one in either family ever knew exactly when R.B. began his relationship with Will, a relationship that would last over twenty years. At first, they covered their tracks. They were seen out together at popular night spots but always with stylish women and Will never stayed overnight at the house on Cherokee. Nor did R.B. ever come to Will’s parent’s house unless he came to visit with both Will and his parents.

After the band camp was up and running, however, Will and R.B. moved out to the property. For a while they lived in a mobile home, while they worked on the camp. Dropping all pretense, yet never speaking of it, they shared the mobile home’s only large bedroom. After the main camp buildings were done, the next thing they built was a penthouse over one of the camp’s dorm buildings. If anyone in either family had any doubts about their relationship before this, they would have been erased with the construction of their huge master bedroom with the king size bed and the magnificent view of the surrounding hills and farmland. It was plainly obvious that R.B. and Will had become lovers somewhere along the way. Yet, no one in either family ever spoke of or even alluded to their relationship.

The next twenty years were extremely successful for R.B. and Will and the camp. At it’s height, the camp moved 800 band students through a week- running double meal sessions in order to seat them all. Will continued to work hard every day adding to, fixing and improving the infrastructure of the camp. Will, Sr. could often be found there, too, at his son’s side, helping with the latest project. R.B. continued to stay on Will, Sr.’s good side, buying the old man his first console color TV one year for Christmas.

Other family members from both the Bessemer and Rand sides were pressed into duty to help run the camp. Marge and Miss Mary, R.B.’s older sister, ran the kitchen, initially doing the bulk of the cooking, but eventually managing a staff. Will’s sisters and R.B.’s nieces worked as kitchen help and canteen servers. R.B.’s nephews also worked in the kitchen when needed and as field hands to prep the football fields, lifeguards for the pool and as general laborers. It was sun-up to midnight work and because it was family, R.B. felt he could get away with paying a pittance. The kids were given a small allowance each week, but no one got their entire pay until and unless they made it through the entire summer.

R.B. had other ideas, as well. He strongly encouraged his younger nephew, Ray, when he turned 16, to start dating Will’s sister, Chloe, who was the same age. He imagined marrying them off in order to start a Bessemer dynasty and strongly hinted at this to the young couple after they had gone out on a few dates. But Chloe had no intention of being railroaded into an arranged marriage and, besides, she thought of Ray more like a brother than a lover, since they had practically grown up together working at the camp. Once again, R.B. had his plans thwarted by a member of the Rand family.

The camp did so well, R.B. and Will bought a winter home in Fort Lauderdale, where they retreated each fall after camp closed. They stayed there the entire winter, coming back only for Christmas. One year R.B. sent word back shortly before Christmas; they wouldn’t be coming back to Kentucky that year.

Marge, now a widow, was upset. “Will would never do that. He’s never not spent Christmas with his family. Something’s wrong.”

And indeed there was. Will had had several blackouts over the previous summer. Fortunately, he had never been driving or operating heavy machinery, but consequently, because he hadn’t been hurt and he was always alone when they occurred, he never told anyone. Until they got to Florida and he had a blackout and a seizure in front of R.B. no one had any idea anything had been happening.

R.B. rushed Will to the hospital where they learned he had inoperable brain cancer and only a few months to live. The hospital admitted him in order to try and get the seizures under control and this was where his mother found him when she came to visit after Christmas. She was stunned. Not only by the fact her only son was hospitalized and dying, but by the fact that R.B. had decided not to tell her until he picked her up at the airport and asked where Will was.

Marge spent her entire three weeks at Will’s bedside, going back to the house only to sleep, eat a little and change her clothes. R.B. didn’t spend anywhere near that amount of time there, saying he had business that needed attended to. Fortunately, R.B.’s sister, Adele, was there to keep Marge company and to help Will. Adele had taken to spending the winters in Fl. with R.B. and Will because her bad leg had become more painful in the cold as she had aged.

One afternoon, shortly before Marge was to leave Ft. Lauderdale and return home, she was alone with Will in his room. He called her close, “I’m going to leave my share of the camp to you, Mom. My part belonged to Dad as much as me, anyway, as much work as he did there. I wanted to share it with him before he died, but R.B. said no. I want to make sure you’re not cut out of my share. R.B.’s having the lawyer draw up my will. That’s what I told him I wanted. It’s less than half now that we incorporated in order to let Ray come into the business. I think I own around 39 shares. I. . .I. .don’t. . exactly remember anymore.” He layed back drained from the conversation.

“Shh, now. Don’t you worry about that. I don’t care about any of it, Will. I’d give up everything I had, if it’d make you better. I just want you to get better.”

But Will didn’t hear his mom. He fallen asleep, exhausted from talking and the effects of the pain medication.

Marge never mentioned the conversation to R.B. Perhaps if she had let him know she was aware of what Will had wanted, things might have turned out differently.

R.B. never brought the papers Will was expecting. Instead in the weeks before he died, R.B. showed up with a different paper for Will to sign. Instead of leaving his shares to his mother, and ultimately to his two sisters, R.B. made him sign a paper stating that his claim to the camp consisted of only seven shares. Will weakly tried to protest but R.B. cut him off harshly, “Listen, you’ll do what I say, if you want me to continue to cover your medical bills. Otherwise, I’ll walk away and your family can find the money to cover this. You don’t have any insurance, you know. I’ll take care of you until the end, Will, and I’ll make sure your mom is taken care of, but you’re not giving your family any part of my band camp. It’s not going to happen. Sign the paper or I’m walking out and you’ll never see me again. You can die here alone and without a dime, for all I care. I’ll leave them here and let you think about it for a couple of days. Don’t try to die on me without signing them. I’ll make things very ugly for Marge, if you do.”

Will was stricken. He’d thought R.B. had truly loved him all these years but he realized in that moment that R.B. really only thought about R.B. and what he could get from the people around him. He may have cared for him in some fashion, but he had used him and his family to get what he wanted and now he was willing to walk away from him. Leave him to die alone if Will refused him.

What choice did he have? He had neither the time, strength nor money to fight him. He hoped his mom would question what had happened when this came out. He asked Adele to try and get her on the phone, but when she tried from his hospital room, the operator told her that the long-distance service had been requested turned off. Will signed the papers. He gave them to Adele to take home to R.B. and told her to tell R.B. not to come back to the hospital. Adele, however, still came every day and sat with him. Will was grateful to her and glad he didn’t have to be alone. R.B. stayed away until Will slipped into a coma three days before he died. Then he came back and sat by his bed holding his hand, playing the stricken friend.

R.B. did make good on one promise. He paid for everything. All the medical bills were taken care of. R.B. bought the most expensive casket the funeral home had. He had a one day visitation in Ft. Lauderdale for their Florida friends. He had Will’s body flown back to Louisville, where there was a three day visitation before the funeral. He bought the vault space in Evergreen Cemetery where Will was interred.

When the estate, such as it was, was probated and it came out there was no will and Marge was getting only seven shares in the band camp, Will’s sisters were outraged.

“Mom! You’ve got to do something!” Chloe raged. “R.B. is screwing you over. You and I both know Will had a bigger share of the camp then seven shares. Let’s go talk to a lawyer.”

But Marge just sighed, “No, Chloe. I don’t want to make waves with the Bessemers. They’ve been like family to us. I don’t want to lose R.B. and his sisters as friends and that’s what would happen if I do something like that. I don’t care about any of that. Just let it go. Will’s gone and he’s all I wanted.”

Even though Chloe and her sister raged about the injustice they knew had been committed, their mom refused to budge and there was nothing to be done.
Karma has it’s way of exacting justice, however. Not so many years later, R.B. became the first in his family to succumb to Alzheimer’s disease. Out of a large family of long, lived, vital till the end people, he alone lost his mind.