Fiction: Jaudon – An American Family (a novel) [39]

Click image for more of the saga

Chapter 39. Time Flies

The oil fields kept coming, one after the other. In 1907 Piedras Pintas came in, then, at last, oil was hit in the Goose Lake fields. In 1908, Henry Ford’s first car, the “Model T,” came off his new assembly line. The gasoline engine was on the way to becoming king of the road. Almost overnight the streets of Houston had to contend with the honking of car horns. It would drive the price of oil even higher.

    Then 1911 found Ricardo’s father-in-law, whose farm was in Electra, Texas, rolling in oil himself. After that, in 1913, oil was found in Somerset, Texas; in 1915, in Thrall and Darmon Mound, Texas; in 1917, in Ranger, Texas; in 1918, in Burkburnett, Texas; and the 1920s promised to be bigger than anything before.

    1920 would also bring changes into the life of the Jaudons. At age 71, James got on a horse and rode out across his land – something he hadn’t done since his fall. He went up the hill past the treeline and at the top and turned to look out over his land. He stepped into his past life and saw the day that cattle roamed as far as the eye could see. And then he fell from his saddle. They found him the next morning in the same spot he had landed.
    The children of James Jaudon were no longer the next generation. They were the generation. Claude III was 27 when his grandfather died. He had married a girl from Mexico City, where he had formed a partnership with the Mexican government to drill for oil. He was working under the investor group Texaco Oil and Gas. His wife’s name was Yolanda, and she was seven years younger than he. They had one son, born on October 1, 1918. His name was James F. Jaudon II.
    Most of Texas and all of the family showed up for the funeral. Claude at 54 was now the head of the Jaudon clan. His daughter Donna married a lawyer in Claude’s company by the name of Robert Tate. They had an 11-year-old daughter named Dominique. Claude III and his wife and son came to the funeral also.
    Jésus’ widow, Carmen, now 45 years old, came with her son, Juan Martinez, age 28, who came with his wife, Mary Ann Windell, and their son, Martin, age 5.
    José, age 44 now, brought his family down from Chicago: his wife, Sara, along with their daughter, Maria, who was unmarried at the age of 22.

    Rafael’s widow, Maria, now 71, came to say good-bye to the man she had met on the trail close to the Sabine River back in 1866. She had known James Jaudon longer than anyone at the funeral. James’ sister Sara couldn’t come because she had suffered a stroke three months earlier. After the funeral, Maria would go visit her friend Sara – the road was getting short for both of them.
    Recardo, now 54, came with his wife, Sadie, and their 28-year-old twins: Sonia Ann was married to Doctor Walter Hill, and Rafael Ricardo was married to Jane Wyatt. Neither had children.
    Lastly, Clara Davis, 65, came with her and James’ daughter, Sophie, 34, who was married to Robert Baker, a realtor in San Antonio. Their only child died two days after its birth.
    James was one of the last giants of the Old West. He had lived and made the history that would be studied in books for years to come. The Governor of Texas came down from Austin and the Mayor of San Antonio came. A large number of sitting Senators and retired lawmakers were on hand as well, not to mention ranchers from across Texas. James was buried next to his wife, Juana, in the family cemetery.
    Claude II, Ricardo, José, Juan Martinez, Claude III, and Rafael Ricardo were pallbearers.
    The three gathered in James’ office after the funeral. Claude poured a glass of James’ whiskey for each of them and placed a full glass on the desk in front of the chair James had sat in for years.
    Claude held up his glass. “Raise your glasses, gentlemen. We drink to a man! Love or hate him, never shall another like him pass this way.”
    After the toast, everybody went their own way. There were bars and food in the living room and on the big porch. Claude caught Ricardo’s arm and pulled him to the side. “I know we haven’t spoken for a long time, but I wanted you to hear this from me. Texaco is buying out my company and they’ll be contacting you about your twenty-five percent. I’ll be working for them on overseas projects, along with my son. I can make as much money on the stocks from Texaco as from drilling all over hell’s half-acre. I’ll also be closing my business account with your bank.”
    Ricardo had been blindsided. “You’re pulling all your money out?”
    “I’ll be moving to Dallas. Texaco has set up a corporate office there. Most of the oil companies are doing the same. You might think about moving your bank. Dallas will become the hub of the oil business before too long.”
    Ricardo was fighting to find the words. “We’ve had a very good arrangement for a lot of years, Claude. For you to pull your money out could start a run on my bank.”
    “I don’t want to do that, but I also don’t want to live one place and bank in another. Like I said, move to Dallas, because the other companies may feel the same as I do.”
    “It doesn’t look like I have a choice. If the money will be in Dallas, then that is where I need to be.”
    Claude patted him on the arm and headed outside. “Good, then I’ll leave everything like it is – but don’t take too long to make the move.”

    Ricardo watched Claude walk away and felt nothing but hatred. He had been in negotiations for a couple of months to buy a building in Dallas and move his main branch there. But to have it shoved down his throat like this was a hard pill to swallow. With J.F. dead, he could make his move and set his plan in place at long last.
    He waved his son Rafael to come over. “Son, I need you to go to Dallas in the morning and close the deal on that building. We’ll be opening the Dallas bank sooner than I thought.”
    “You said you wanted to ease into it so there would be no panic.”
    “I’ve decided to keep the Bank in Houston open. No one will see any outside change in the way we do business. You’ll be running it and managing the one in Beaumont, and I’ll run the bank in Dallas. Instead of being the main branch, Houston will just be a branch bank like Beaumont.”
    “If you transfer all the oil money out of Houston, it’s going to tie my hands, we have very few small investors.”
    Ricardo leaned closer. “You’ll need to expand our base with other enterprises. Oil is still coming through East Texas, and there will always be a need for support industries. Move our money into that; it’s where the safe money is. And once we own the pipeline, Claude Jaudon and his oil buddies can kiss our asses. If you can’t get your oil to market, what is it worth?”
    He smiled, patted his son on the back, and went in search of his mother, Maria. He found her in a rocker on the porch. Martinez was close by talking to some Senators from Austin about the fruit industry in the Valley.
    Ricardo knelt and kissed Maria on the cheek. “Mami, how have you been? I’m sorry this is the first I could find time to speak to you.”
    She patted his hand. “I know you are a busy man, son.”

    “How are things on the ranch? I see Martinez has grown into a strong young man.”
    She smiled looking at her handsome grandson. “He works too hard. Sunup till sundown he is in his groves.”
    “Is he making any money?”
    “He is doing very well. Better than we did with the cattle.”
    Ricardo stood up from kneeling. “I have a plan, so soon he shouldn’t have to work as hard anymore. If my plan works out, he will have the silver spoon that should always have been his.”
    She gripped his hand. “I don’t like it when you speak like that. We are doing fine. Don’t do anything loco.”
    Ricardo kissed her on the cheek again. “I’ll see you before you go. I have to talk to José.”

Copyright © 2020 by Ed Rogers