Interpretation to the Story of Lawrence Exeter

---POV of Lawrence--- “Lawry!” Come look at this one, it’s so cute!” She didn’t take her eyes off the small light blue baby shirt. She already stacked a whole bunch of clothes on my arms, but I guess one more couldn’t hurt. Besides, it’s for my son who’s coming to this world soon. “Well, Lawry? How is it?” I looked at her and slowly formed a smile. “You have good taste. You are the picker and I’m the payer.” She chuckled and took the shirt from the hanger and put it in my arms. “You forgot the carrier.” I laughed silently while pointing at her stomach. “You, too.” She gave me a cute smile and hooked her arm with mine. “I think that’s enough for now.” We walked towards the register. “That would be one hundred and forty-eight dollars and fifty cents.” My jaw dropped that it almost reached the floor. Angela looked at me. “Lawry, it’s on sale.” I stayed silent for a few seconds and brought my jaw back up. I then formed a huge sarcastic smile on my face. “Yes, yes. No problem. A check is good, right?” The cashier nodded and I sighed as I handed her the check with my signature.
--- After leaving the store---
I flipped up my cell phone and called my chauffeur. –Ring—Ring—Ring—“Yes, Sir Lawrence?” “Johnny? Where are you?” “I’ll be right over, sir.”
About a minute later, I saw Johnny’s car around the corner. My eyes followed it until it was in front of me. “Let’s go, Angela.” I opened the car door, threw in the bag of clothes, and signaled Angela to get in. I followed, and closed the door. “Going back home.” Johnny nodded as he locked the car. While the car was in motion, Angela started to move and took out the blue shirt she picked earlier. She showed a proud smile while holding it in front of her. She started to chuckle and talk in a happy proud tune. “John, John! Don’t you think that this is cute?” He looked at the front car mirror and smiled. “Of course, madam.” I started to notice that the speed of the car is a little unusual. It seems faster than usual. “John. Is something wrong with the car?” He seems to be a bit nervous and I can see beads of sweat falling from his neck. “S-sir… The brakes aren’t working properly.” As my eyes sighted the traffic light turn red, I raised my voice. “Johnny! Hit the brakes!” He hit the brakes harder and harder. “It isn’t working!” When my eyes landed on the truck in front of us, I wrapped my arms around Angela.
---In Hollywood Hospital---
I saw Angela. She was walking down the street. She didn’t stop when the light turn red. “ANGELA!!” My eyes flew open while sweat slid down my forehead. It took me a few seconds to convince myself that that was a dream. I felt my head wrapped in a bandage. Then it took me another few seconds to remember what happened. I charged out my room and a nurse stopped me. “Sir, you cannot get out of bed yet.” “Excuse me; is there a lady who came into the hospital with me?” She nodded. “Yes, she’s in a critical condition, but her baby was successfully surgically born.” I was relieved by the fact that the baby was born, but the thought of Angela’s condition got my talking quickly again. “Where is she? I have to see her.” “Okay, okay. I’ll let you see her, but only if you promise me to go back to bed after you are done.” I nodded quickly and she led me to Angela’s room. Through the glass, I saw her in a coma condition. I sighed and took a deep breath. “Can I see my son as well?” The nurse looked at me and nodded. She then led me to another room. I see a lot of babies through the glass window. She pointed at one specific baby boy. The sight of my own son brought a small smile to my face. “Are you well enough to pay the hospital bill?” My smile faded and I stared at her unbelievably. “You’re the first nurse I saw to rush patients to pay their bills.” She chuckled and laughed. “I’m just kidding, but if you can, then you should.” I blinked a few times and groan.
---1 month later---
“Dr. McCoy, Angela has no sign of waking up in a month. Does this mean she’ll never wake up?” He folded his arms. “Not exactly. We have no signs of her waking up, but it doesn’t mean that she’ll never wake up. Basically, it means that she can wake up at any time, today, tomorrow, a week, or years.” I sighed and ran my hand through my hair. “I looked everywhere for you, one of the best doctors here and this is all you can give me?” He shrugged. “I am a doctor, not a god. I can’t bring someone back from the dead.” I raised my voice and threw my fist at the desk. The doctor unfolded his arms and started to write something on paper. “Four hundred and seventy five dollars. Thank you.” I rolled my eyes and pulled out my checkbook. “Money makes the world go around… That applies to everywhere…”
---2 months later---
Angela died. Her conditions worsened for whatever reason. Today, I’m going shopping with my little junior in a toy store. I’m not a shopping person. I’m not Angela. I don’t have good taste. Everything is crappy in my eyes. I-- . . . Basically, I just grabbed a couple toys and threw them in the cart. When I went to the register, I kind of regret doing that after the cashier told me the total price. A few toys for this much? Not a good buy… “Eighty three dollars and twenty cents, sir.” I sighed and once again pulled out my checkbook.
---6 years later---
“Your son has been accepted into our school. And it seems you haven’t paid yet.” I pulled out my checkbook. “Not yet, but right now I will. How much is it?” He started to write a receipt. “Twelve hundred and fifty dollars, thank you.” I sighed and signed my signature on the check. He took it and looked at it to confirm. “Thank you. Your son can start coming to our school next week.”
---1 year later---
“Dad, I want this bike.” My son pointed at a red flame design bike. It does look pretty cool, but once I saw the price tag, I face palmed. One day, I am going to be broke like crazy. “Law, can you pick another bike?” He shook his head ferociously. “No! I want this one! It looks so cool!” I rolled my eyes and looked away. Another fifty two dollars and fifty cents out of my bank account…
---5 years later---
“Dad, I’m home.” I was making a cup of coffee in the kitchen. “Welcome home. How was school today?” He put down his bag and dropped on the sofa. “Tiring. I got accepted into Columbia Military Academy.” I took a sip of my coffee and started to walk towards the living room. “That’s not surprising. You are one of the top ten students in the school. Well? Are you planning to go there?” “Yes, I heard that there are many cute girls there.” I rolled my eyes and kicked him lightly. “Girls, girls, girls, is that the only thing you ever think about?” He stood up and took his backpack and started to head upstairs to his room. “Obviously. Don’t you have a thing for that woman? What’s her name again…? Rose? No… Daisy! Yes. Daisy Windsor.” I glared at him. “By the way, do you have to pay for the school entry fee?” He started to laugh. “Of course you do, Dad. I believe the amount is twenty one hundred and fifty.” I almost choked to death on my cup of coffee.
---6 years later---
“Happy Birthday, Law!” I punched his shoulder lightly. He folded his arms and stared at me. “Dad, my birthday was yesterday.” I chuckled silently.”I knew that, but I was busy today so I have a late birthday gift for you.” He raised an eyebrow. “Gift? What gift?” I threw him car keys. “Follow me, birthday boy.” I led him to our garage. After opening it, a new shiny Cadillac was revealed. His jaw almost dropped to the floor. “H-how much was this?” I gave it a little thought. “If I remember correctly, I think it was about thirty eight hundred and eighty five dollars.”
---A few days later--- I charged through the hospital looking for Law. “Law! Where are you?!” Then he came out of a room with a bandage wrapped around his head. “Dad, I’m here.” I went up to him and put my hands on his shoulders. “Are you alright?” He winked at me. “I’m fine, just a little accident, but the Cadillac…” I paused for a moment and glared at him. “Fine, but only once. I’ll call someone to pick it up and give it some bandages.” He quickly nodded his head. “Thank you, Daddy!” I stuck up one index finger. “On one condition, you cannot drink again while driving, or else I’ll throw you in the trash can.”
---One month later---
“Dad, I’ll be back soon. I know how to take care of myself.” I smiled and nodded. “Are you sure you want to go to Stanford University? It’s far.” He lightly punched me on the arm. “Yup. One, I can spend some more time with girls. Second, you can spend more time with Daisy.” I felt my face turning slightly warmer. “You want to joke around? Just wait until you come back. I’ll give you a huge surprise.” He formed a evil sneer on his face. “What? Like a new mother?” I quickly shoved him to aboard the plane, but on second thought, that might not be a bad idea…
---2 years later---
“May I please have an espresso and a glass of water?” The waiter nodded and walked away with our menus. Today, I invited Daisy to a restaurant. She looked beautiful as always. Her golden hair always attracts men, including me. After talking to her for a while, I found out that she loves to learn and hopes one day that she can go to college. Her family is in poverty, and she doesn’t have the money to grant her own wishes. Then I proposed to her. “If you are willing to be my wife, I can give you twenty-five thousand dollars, more than enough to go to college.” She started to think for a while, and then nodded.

---A few days later---
Daisy and I are married. We decided to go honeymooning in France. When we arrived, the view was beautiful and Daisy looks extremely excited. “Lawrence! Let’s go on that boat! It looks fun!” My stomach lurched, but I still said yes. My brain isn’t exactly compatible with boats, but since she wants to, I guess barfing is worth her smile. We paid tickets to go on board. As soon as the boat started to move, I readied a bag next to me.
---A month later---
We are almost leaving France, and Daisy keeps nagging me. “Lawrence! When can I go to college?” I patted her on the shoulder. “When we get back, I’ll send you to college. Relax, I’m a man of my word.” She seems to relax a little bit, but I know her mind is focused on my proposal. Then I went to a banquet shop and bought her a pricey flower banquet, hoping that it will calm her down before we go back.
---Some Time Later---
During these days and months, I was having a great time. I bought some jewelry for Daisy, and right now I’m hanging in Hawaii. Everything felt great. I suddenly got a phone call. “Hello?” “Hi, Dad. It’s Law.” I was a bit surprise that he called, considering he’d rather go off with girls than his own father. “Yeah. What is it?” “Well, I’m---“ I heard another voice took over. “Give me the phone you idiot. Hello? Sir Lawrence? My name is Tony and I’m your son’s friend. He’s in a money difficult situation right now, and he needs money.” I thought for a moment and started to speak again. “How much he needs?” He immediately replied without even stuttering when he said the number. “Two hundred thousand.” I took out my checkbook. “I’ll mail it to him.” “No, sir. You should come over here yourself. You don’t want that sum of money to be trusted to some strangers and mail it, right?”
---The next day---
My son told me to meet him in a hotel. This hotel is quite pricey. One night, and already twenty two hundred fifty out of my account. As I waited for him, I grabbed a cup of coffee at the station. When I saw him walking towards me, I faced him. “Dad, can I have the money?” I put down the cup of coffee and took out my checkbook. “Take the whole checkbook. I can’t always give you money by flying everywhere.” He looked shocked, but that’s nothing to be surprised about. Basically, I’m giving him all my money to spend.
---Switching POV to Jr.---
I kept thinking to myself: “What should I do with all this money…?” And it hit me, obviously to get some girls. I admit that I’m a huge flirt and I can never stay with one girl for long, so I don’t plan on getting stuck with some girl. First, I bought some small things for my girl friends and more and more came. Until one day, I was wearing my new boots out, Tony caught me and pinned me to a wall. “Lawrence, you stole my girl. How are you going to pay me back?” I didn’t know who he was talking about. “Who is your girlfriend?” He grabbed me by the collar. “Serena! You bought her all kinds of stuff! Now she always sticks with you!” I do recall knowing a girl named Serena and did buy all kinds of things, but I do that to every girl I know. “I didn’t know she was your girl!” I smacked his hand away. “What do you want from me?!” He extended one of his hands in front of me. “Money.” “How much you want?” He seems to gave it a little thought before he answered me. “A three digit number.” I pulled out my checkbook and wrote a random number and threw it at him with my signature. “One hundred and twenty six. Satisfied?” He picked up the check and nodded and walked away quietly.
A couple days later, Tony found me again and demanded money. I told myself that this will be the last time. If he comes back again, I’ll have to end the friendship between us and maybe even start using violence to shut him up. I wrote him another check with the same number on it like last time. After he got what he wanted, he left again without a word.
Later, I met a girl named Flossie Wentworth. She was a beauty and I want her as my wife. When I proposed to her, she rejected me. She said she wanted to remain free and unattached. Then I raised five of my fingers. “Become my wife and fifty thousand dollars will be yours.” She then agreed and became my wife.
But very soon, I got bored of Flossie. I wanted her to become my wife because she was a challenge at first, but when I started to give her money every day, she did everything I asked and it got boring. So later, I requested a divorce. I then met another girl, named Marie Wharton. She’s even more beautiful than Flossie, so I proposed to her. She rejected me, just as Flossie rejected me for the first time. Then I told her: “Become my wife and you get one hundred seventy five thousand.” She agreed, just like Flossie and became my new wife.
A week or two after I remarried, Tony came into my life again. He demanded money and I said no. Then he threatened me with a gun so I had to give him another check with a hundred dollars. After he left, I picked up the phone, thinking that I should call my father, but I didn’t. I felt that I’ll lose my pride by asking others for help. I’ll see how this goes…
The next day, Tony asked me for money again. “Tony, how long are you going to keep this up?” He grinned. “Today will be the last day for me. I promise.” I ripped out the check from my checkbook and raised it in front of his face. “Last time, that’s it.” He nodded, took the check and left.
“Lawrence. Wake up.” I heard my name, but when I open my eyes, I was blind folded. A pair of hands removed the fold and I sighted two men. One of them is Tony, but I don’t recognize the other one. I found my hands tied behind my back and we’re in a room with a door and a small window, enough to let a little light in. I was down on the floor. “Lawrence. My friend here, Peter is in need of money. Why don’t you do him a favor?” He took out a checkbook and a pen and threw it at my lap. I glared at him. “Sorry, Tony. No can do.” “Heh. Then I guess we have no choice.” He pulled out a handgun and aimed it at me. “Write it.” I sighed. “How can I write with hands tied?” They both looked at each other and Peter started to walk towards me and untie my arms. I started to write the check. After I was finished, Tony crouched down to get the check. I punched him and grabbed his gun and aimed it at Peter. “Don’t you move. I’m tired of all this.” Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain on my back. When I turned my head, I saw Tony holding a knife in my back. I started to faint as the pain took over my body.
---Back to POV or Lawrence Sr.---
“Law…” I looked through the glass window and saw him in bed. The doctors said that he’s in a critical condition and he might not make it. I called Dr. David McCoy. He came over and looked at my son. When he came out of the room, he just shook his head. “The wound is too deep and he lost too much blood. I’m sorry.” Then the numbers on the machine went down rapidly until it reached zero. The next day, my son was buried in the Hollywood Mortuary. And now… only one Lawrence Exeter lives.

---Cynthia Lee 828