Burning To Live (eBook)

Chapter 1:
The Phone Call from Hell

An unexpected shock to the system can force you to see things you thought were deeply buried in the past. Suddenly you come face to face with your beliefs and question who you really are and what your Life’s all been about.

Either your Life System evolves and adapts, or it collapses.

London, February 1992

Life has its way of testing you, sometimes more than once.

Something unexpected happens, whether you’re ready or not.

You never know who you really are until you’ve been tested.

It’s called a “shock to the system”.

The shock can be from external or internal origin.

A shock of one type or another is going to happen; they always do.

They make Life interesting; but the problem is that they can also be very destructive.

Your Life will change in an instant.

You either adapt and recover or your “Life System” collapses and falls apart.

How you react will show you who you really are and what lies you’ve been telling yourself.

It all gets exposed.

And sometimes, Life likes to keep you guessing because things may not always turn out as they first appear.

“My brother wants talk to you. Something very important. I asked him explain. I don’t want you misunderstand. He speak English better. He call you few minutes. You talk to him please?”

Although I understood her, my wife’s English still needed work.

It was about 1 p.m. on a Friday afternoon. I was at my desk in the den, wrapping up my work for the weekend. The only thing I was thinking about was taking the family out for a drive to Richmond Park and then a pizza.

It’s the largest Royal Park in London and the second largest in England at about 2,300 acres.

It’s only thirty minutes or so from central London.

In 1625, to avoid the bubonic plague in London, King Charles moved to that area and put a wall around it.

He also brought in a herd of deer that, until today, are free to roam around the park without fencing.

I was just beginning to relax a bit early for a change.

We had moved to London from Toronto to be closer to my parents just over a year ago, just after Kuwait was liberated.

I had been working a lot more than usual, so I wanted some quality time with the family.

I lifted my head to look at her, and suddenly I felt the room go dark and zoom away from me.

You know how they do something called the “Dolly Zoom” in the movies?

It was first done in the Alfred Hitchcock movie called “Vertigo” in 1958.

The focus is on the person, but the background zooms in or out, as the camera is pulled on a dolly.

I always thought that was just a camera gimmick, but it happened to me right then and there.

I felt dizzy, as if I was in a tailspin and falling out of control.

Like an airplane that was climbing and suddenly its engines cut out.

It continues its climb for a few seconds, peaks, and then begins a nosedive.

I don’t know how to explain it, but I felt a deep sense of foreboding and excitement at the same time.

It was emotionally exhausting, and it put me in a sour mood.

“What’s going on, Fei?”

“He’ll call right now.”

It had been a while, but I would never forget the last time I spoke to her brother on the phone.

By this time, she and I had been married more than 16 years and had raised 3 kids together; so, I shouldn’t have had anything to worry about.

But you know the saying “once bitten, twice shy”; I expected to be hit on the head again.

I wasn’t wrong.

“What’s going on, Fei?” I repeated in a louder, angrier tone. I didn’t like surprises, like the last one he gave me. I’ll tell you about that later.

“Please wait; he’ll explain. Calm down, please; it’s nothing bad. But I need him explain. Please, it’s very important.”

Fei and I had always communicated in a mix of Japanese and English. For normal conversations, that was ok, but she didn’t know legal and business terms.

I waited for the call, all the while trying to figure out what was going on. I’ve never been known for my patience, so I was about to pick up the phone and call him myself. But I resisted that urge, telling myself that if he wanted to talk to me, then let him pay the long-distance charges.

I was doing my best to calm down; meanwhile, I became aware that my brain had subconsciously hooked onto 2 different emotions simultaneously.

I couldn’t understand why I’d be worried and excited at the same time.

It was hard to think, so I didn’t.

I let the emotions pass through me and just waited to see what would happen.

Finally, the phone rang, and I picked it up without even waiting for it to finish the first ring. I was so nervous that I didn’t even bother to say hello; I just wanted to know what news he had for me this time.

“Hi, yeah… what’s going on?”

I guess he was a bit taken aback by my abruptness.

“Uh…. Hi… so much for the pleasantries. I have something important to tell you; I think it would be a good idea for you to sit down.”

What the hell was he talking about?

I didn’t need this kind of crap in my Life.

“I’m not trying to be rude, but it’s been a long time since I’ve heard from you, and now, I hear you have something important to tell me. I haven’t forgotten the last time we spoke. Although I don’t hold it against you personally, you have to admit it wasn’t a pleasant experience.

So maybe it’s better if you just get on with it. Don’t worry about whether or not I’m sitting down. We can do the pleasantries later, assuming, of course, that what you have to tell me is going to be pleasant. Although I have to say that from the way this is all beginning, I’m already wondering about that.”

I just wanted him to get to the point so I could figure out what to do from there, how to minimize and repair whatever new damage was coming my way.

“Hey, don’t shoot me; I’m just the messenger. But I do understand where you’re coming from. Anyway, please calm down. I realize the last time you and I spoke that what I had to say wasn’t exactly good news, but I think you’ll respond differently this time.

But before I go on, the first thing I need to tell you is that my sister knew nothing about this.

I’m telling you this because I think that when you hear what I have to say, your first reaction is going to be to ask why she didn’t tell you about this herself.”

“Well, even if she didn’t know anything about what you are going to tell me beforehand, she knows about it now, so why isn’t she telling me now? Why are you the one telling me?”

“For a couple of reasons. First, because I know more details than she does, and I assume you’re going to have many questions. But, more importantly, because I can confirm to you that she knew nothing about most of what I’m about to tell you. It’s important that you keep that in mind; otherwise, you’ll probably react negatively.”

This was already beginning to sound ominous.

“Ok, ok, so let’s just get on with it, shall we?”

“As you know, our father died a few years before you guys got married. Neither of you knew that he left a very significant estate. Your wife was aware that the family home and some stocks were there, but she had no real idea of any values. No one did, not until he passed away. He kept it a complete secret.

Our mother had already passed by that time, so only the 4 of us children were left.

Although senior family members were present as witnesses, the only one of the children that attended was Eldest Sister (Fei was number three in line; there was one more sister and her younger brother).

She was the only legal adult out of all of us. So, she was appointed to act as head of the family. My Dad gave her control over the entire estate.”

To show respect, in many Chinese households, they sometimes use titles to speak about their family members, for example, Younger Brother, or Middle Sister, that kind of thing.

“Middle Sister became an adult a few years later. Then she got married and had a son, but soon after, she started having marital problems.

So Eldest Sister decided to keep control until she felt that Middle Sister had settled down.

Since I married a second-generation Chinese and my sister married you, a foreigner, Elder Sister decided to continue to control the estate even though we had all become adults and had kids. She wanted to see how our marriages would turn out.

But, since my father’s death, the estate has mushroomed in value, especially over the last 18 months or so.

The stock market has been booming in Asia, especially here in Taiwan. It’s worth a lot now, a hell of a lot. That’s all I can tell you now; I would rather not discuss this by phone. I think you need to come here urgently and see for yourself.”

“Before we talk about my going there or values, there are still a couple of questions I need to ask.”

“Go on.”

“At the time we were married, my wife was already 23-years-old; that means she was an adult. Why didn’t she get control at that time? Wasn’t she legally entitled to it, like Middle Sister? Also, we’ve been married for all this time now with no problems,...