He thought about standing at his kitchen window watching an old man struggle with a fence post. The way he'd told himself it wasn't his business. The way something had moved in him anyway. My dad told me once, Marcus said that the bravest thing a man can do is try again after he's already failed at something that mattered. Robert looked at him.
He said, "Most men can try the first time. The first time you've got hope on your side and you don't know yet what failure feels like. The second time, Marcus paused. The second time you know exactly what you're risking and you try anyway. That's the real thing.
Robert was quiet for a long time. Smart man, he said finally. Yeah, Marcus said he was. The week before Christmas, something happened that Marcus hadn't seen coming. Gerald Patton called him.
Not about work. The Dun Woody project was going well ahead of schedule. Under budget, Daario had told him twice that this was the smoothest site he'd worked in 3 years, and Marcus had accepted that the way he was slowly learning to accept good things, which was to say with gratitude and without immediately waiting for something to go wrong. No. Gerald called him at 7:00 in the evening on a Tuesday with a different kind of proposition entirely.
I've been thinking about the Dun Woody project, Gerald said. And the one before that. Okay. Marcus said carefully. I've been thinking I could use a partner, Gerald said.
Not an employee. A partner. Someone to run the operational side while I handle the client relationships and the business development. I'm 74 years old. I don't move the way I used to.
A pause. Robert tells me you're the kind of man who builds things right the first time. I've watched you on site for 2 months and he's not wrong. Marcus sat down. He was standing in his kitchen and he sat down because suddenly his legs felt like they weren't sure about their job.
A partner, Marcus said. Equity stake, Gerald said. We'd have to negotiate the specifics. But I'm not talking about giving you a title. I'm talking about giving you ownership because the business needs someone who's going to care about it the way I do.
And hired people don't care the same way owners do. Another pause. You know I'm right about that. Marcus said, "I know that. " So Gerald said, "Think about it. Come see me after the holidays.
We'll sit down and f talk numbers. " He hung up. Marcus sat at his kitchen table for 3 minutes without moving. Nadia came in looking for a snack, took one look at him, and said, "Daddy, your face is doing a thing. " "What thing? " the thing where something happened. He looked at his daughter, 9 years old, sharp as anything. Gerald Patton wants me to be his business partner, Marcus said.