Chapter 6
"Candidate Concerns"
Two candidates were selected.
Three still needed to be selected.
But the publicity we were receiving for the hunt for the golden tickets was beyond anything we were expecting. Even the Queen of England was in on the action, bidding for a shipment of Wonka bars even though Veruca Salt was already nominated.
Still, Wonka wasn't satisfied with the kinds of nominations he was getting and to this end, he held a meeting the morning after I got back from England. There was something about Augustus and Veruca that made him feel sort of uncomfortable, to an extent, of course.
"There is something very strange about the first two candidates," he explained to myself and a group of board members at the meeting, which was held in a meeting room overlooking the chocolate room. "I don't know what is going on, but why do I wonder that these two candidates aren't the kind of people we are looking for?"
"Well, they are children," said a board member who bore a striking resemblance to one of Wonka's competitors, Prodnose. "You are going to get all kinds of candidates, sir. Especially if they are children."
"I agree with Peter," said another board member in Ficklegrubber's likeliness. "These are probably just two candidates that probably won't end up being your heirs to the throne. Then again, maybe they can change if they do set foot in here."
Still, no matter what the board members were trying to tell him, Wonka still had his feelings. He walked over to the window overlooking the chocolate river and sighed heavily.
"You should at least give them a chance, sir," suggested the Prodnose lookalike. "They got the tickets and now you should let them come here. Besides, didn't you say that you didn't want ten candidates."
"I did, Peter. But this is different," Wonka said as he turned away from the window and back towards us. "The candidate we need must be a candidate that is qualified and willing to learn everything about how this business runs. These two candidates are more than likely to run the business into the ground with their eating habits and their spoiled attitudes."
He then proceeded to pick up one of two newspapers that sat in front of him that had pictures of Gloop and Salt on the cover.
"Just keep in mind sir," said the Ficklegrubber counterpart. "That Veruca Salt's father just so happens to run a business of his own. Being the daughter of a businessman is…"
"Do you think that matters, Francis?" interrupted Wonka, throwing the paper down to him. "Just because you are the daughter of a businessman doesn't make you any less different than you are. Veruca, to me, will just use her spoiled attitude to turn this factory into her kingdom and worse, buy me out of everything I have ever worked for."
Francis said nothing after that.
"And look at this, Peter," he continued, throwing the newspaper with Augustus' picture on the cover. "Fortune in fudge, my foot. Augustus will eat all the product before we put it in the markets. Soon, he'll be unhealthy to the point where he will die of overeating. That's not what I want and I am sure that is something you don't want either."
"Well," replied Peter, looking at the picture of Augustus. "He is from Germany and chocolate is quite popular over there. Rest assured, sir, that we have all seen far worse children and adults for that matter, in the past. Mind you that if there is anything we have seen from this kid is sympathy."
"Keep in mind also that he will be producing chocolate of his own, from his other end," advised Wonka. "The place where the sun never shines."
An awkward silence fell upon the meeting, even though we knew just exactly what Wonka was talking about. But, before any of us could respond, a knock was heard on the door and one of Wonka's secretaries came in with important news.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, Mr. Wonka," she said. "But, I wanted to you to know that the third golden ticket has been found."
"Where?"
"In America, sir. A small town called Miles City, Montana."
"Thank you, Millicent."
Once she left the room, Wonka turned all of his attention back to the rest of us, particularly to me.
"Well, I am hoping that we produce better candidates than what we have. Let us hope that we have more qualified candidates. Is that clear?"
With those words, the meeting adjourned and all the board members left, except for me. Part of me, I will admit, was shocked at how Wonka would behave so irrationally.
"Mr. Wonka, I can't really blame you for being hesitant about Veruca and Augustus," I remarked. "But, do you think outright saying that they aren't qualified to be your heirs is going to do wonders for this company?"
"I'm just saying Arthur," sighed Wonka, slumping down in his chair. "That they are going to let their negative behaviors impact the business. You know damn well in this business, Arthur, that children are hard to please sometimes. You need to find the right child that harbors all the traits that you expect a child to have. But, let us hope for the best that the United States of America can produce possible heirs that are up to my standards."
Sure enough, once those words were said, I was on my way back to Munich Airport and on my way to the United States. On the flights to Billings via Chicago, all I could think of was hoping that American children would give Wonka a sense of relief in what we were trying to do as a team.
Meanwhile, Wonka left the factory and made his way over to a cemetery not far away. He proceeded towards a small Wonka family Mausoleum that bore the graves of two very important women in his life.
"Hello mom," he said, looking at the graves. "Hello, Wilma. I know what you are probably thinking of right now. You are both probably thinking that I am stupid for trying to pass the torch so soon. But…just hear me out, all right? Losing both of you was two of the worst periods in my life and made me think of my mortality. I'm not immortal and you both know it. Okay, okay, you can criticize what I am doing. But, the fact of the matter is, I'm doing it for the good of the factory and the good of the family. I hope you can both be proud of what I am trying to do. I love you."
Wonka placed his hand on the graves and lowered his head in deep thought, hoping that a higher would give him towards finding a possible and rightful heir to the throne…