Beyond The Gates Of Heaven
by
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Impressed by the color and panorama before him, his thoughts streamed forth. This is where little stories and big and grand stories are born and played out each second, each minute, each hour, each day, each month, every year. Here the clock ticked measured time of human effort from the early hours of dawn to the late hours of dusk, often into the night, with all the gamut of human drama that accompanied the business of living and making a mark in green gold.
This is where his grand design would be played out, one that would forever banish the haunting, tragic memories of his childhood. The painful realities of unfended young life had faded but still festered in his mind and body like leaches of time...
"I know I am an American and like to fly the American flag," he said, "... and I have a social security number. I know I am a mix, perhaps with bloodlines to Europeans, Africans, Asians, Eskimos, the Indians of India and of the Americas, even of Ethiopia's 'Lucy,' etc. Why? Because I could easily feel and act like them. If you take my blood, you would have a hard time figuring that I am a mix of white, red, yellow, brown, and black races. I would prefer being called just an earthman, to be more specific, American, to tell you the truth," he said, chuckling. A mischievous smile quickly swept his face.
Some of the men chuckled with him and the women giggled. They always thought somebody belonged to some ethnic group. They murmured among themselves, joking.
Delkegger approached a woman worker, "What's funny?"
"Manny just wanted to get to know you," said one Elena, her face almost fully covered with cloth to protect from the sun, her pair of brown eyes peering through the opening. She drew closer to him, asked, "Are you then an Anglo or an Arab?"
"No," he said, emphatic. "But I like to eat hamburgers, lumpia, taco, paella, chow mein, drink tsing tao, hot chocolate, San Miguel beer, tequila, Budweiser, anything from anywhere and everywhere. I like to learn and speak Spanish, Tagalog, or French or German , Swahili, Chinese, pure American. I can even create new language from a mix of any syllables from these, but of course you won't understand me. Although I am Catholic, I don't mind going to a Lutheran church, Seventh Day Adventist church, Mormon church, mosque, or Budhist temple if I feel the urge and one is the closest. After all, they bow and make signs to the same God. Am I making myself clear?"
"Jesus! You are a very interesting man, Fech!" she said, stepping back, modest. Others snickered.
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About the Book
A young maverick upstart crafts his way into the hearts of a hostile and possessive farming tycoon and his enigmatic daughter who are at odds with each other over a mysterious old woman and a young impostor.
Dramatic twists and turns unfold in Beyond the Gates of Heaven, showcasing agricultural scenes in the lush Salinas Valley of Monterey county in California, as the mongrel Adonis navigates his way into the farming empire caught up in the brewing conflict between the tycoon's daughter, bent on adopting the mysterious woman, and the tycoon, desperate to foil imagined intrusions into his crumbling family and the farming empire. The tycoon suspects the mysterious woman and the impostor who goes to court claiming to be his long lost son present a threat.
Pulse-pounding events unravel a poignant story of rejection, betrayal, and redemption in the lives of the characters drawn into the web of conflicting emotions as both the tycoon and the upstart struggle to forget, but not to forgive, family members involved in their past abandonment.
As the maverick upstart marries the tycoon's daughter on one foregone condition, the tycoon's son pulls a surprise during the wedding ceremony, granting the tycoon's wish to take the family name with him to his grave. Thereafter, the mysterious woman shares a secret with the upstart's wife, who is left in a quandary whether or not to share it with her husband.
As the young couple adopts the old woman, the young wife obtains a surrogate mother and her husband settles for it not knowing that the woman is truly his own mother he had villified.
About the Author
A retiree and longtime resident of Salinas, California, the author, who is a former plant scientist, agricultural biologist, and professor of horticulture, lives with his wife, Rita, a retired teacher who holds the M.S. in Education.
His first fiction, The Sea Butterfly: The Clipper Captain and the Bastard Chieftain, a romance-adventure saga, was published and released in 2004.
He holds the Ph.D. degree in horticulture and genetics from Washington State University, M.S. from the University of Rhode Island, and the B.S.A. from the University of the Philippines. He has taught at the high school, community college, and senior college levels and was a research scientist in successive assignments at the University of Rhode Island (Kingston), Washington State Universiity (Pullman), and the University of Missouri (Columbia).
He was editor-in-chief of high school and college student organs, by-lined columns and articles in local newspapers and regional and national magazines.