Chapter 18

"Wonka Finds His Heir to the Throne"

Returning home from the factory, Grandpa Joe and Charlie continued to absorb the tirade that Wonka had inflicted on them. Grandpa Joe in particular was angered, but at the same time confused as to why Charlie would just give him the Everlasting Gobstopper.

"I can't understand it," he sighed, looking over towards Charlie's other grandparents. "Why would Wonka do such a thing to Charlie? All we did was try some fizzy lifting drinks for ourselves. We weren't trying to steal them from him."

"Nothing more than a harmless act of curiosity, Joe," remarked his wife, Grandma Josephine. "Charlie's only a boy. And all this time, I thought things were going to be better for him."

"Getting a lifetime supply of chocolate? Ha! Why did we even get selected to go in the first place?"

"Dad, all that matters was that Charlie got to meet Mr. Wonka. At the end of the day when all is said and done, Chocolate is just something that doesn't matter. It's just a thing. What's more important is our souls and each other."

However, Charlie sat in his room and looking up at the ceiling, wondered if everything that had transpired had a purpose. It didn't matter if he had chocolate, but rather, the lifetime supply of chocolate was merely just bait.

Sure enough, at that moment, we landed the Wonkavator with a loud thud in front of the Bucket residence and made our way up to the door. The sounds of us landing startled the Bucket's who couldn't figure out what had just happened.

"What was that?!" cried Mrs. Bucket, nearly falling over in surprise.

"Must have been an explosion," added Grandpa George, Charlie's paternal grandfather. "Has Hitler returned from the dead?"

"George!"

A tense silence filled the house and all of a sudden, there was a knock at the door. Mrs. Bucket got up and answered it, although she couldn't help but wonder what was going on. Charlie peeked out from behind his bedroom door as he mother opened the door, letting out a sharp gasp at us as Wona stood in the doorway.

"Is this the home of Charlie Bucket?" Wonka asked as Grandpa Joe got up to confront him.

"What are you doing here, Mr. Wonka?" Grandpa Joe demanded angrily. "Come to berate us more, I suppose?"

"No sir, I'm not," Wonka replied, putting his hand out to stop Grandpa Joe from taking another step. "I've…I've come to apologize for my behavior back at the factory."

But Grandpa Joe still wasn't convinced.

"It's going to take a lot more than an apology for denying Charlie the lifetime supply of chocolate. Do you even realize of how much emotional damage you inflicted on Charlie?"

"Mr. Wonka?" Charlie asked as he stepped forward to look up at him. "What…what's going on?"

"Charlie," Wonka said, his shocked look suddenly turning into a smile as he hugged and swung Charlie around in excitement. "My boy! YOU'VE WON! YOU DID IT! I KNEW YOU WOULD, CHARLIE! I JUST KNEW YOU WOULD! Oh, Charlie! Forgive me for putting you through it!"

The rest of the Bucket's were shocked and confused at what was happening, but I knew then on that Wonka had finally let go of his ill feelings from three years ago.

"Come here, Mr. Wilkinson," he said, motioning for me to come into the house. "Charlie? Meet Mr. Wilkinson."

"Pleasure," I replied, smiling at Charlie and giving him a thumbs up.

"Slugworth!' Charlie cried, thinking that I was Slugworth.

"NO! NO! NO!" chuckled Wonka. "That's not Slugworth, He works for me!"

"Second in command, to be precise," I added.

"I had to test you, Charlie! And you passed the test! You've won!"

"Won what?" asked Grandpa Joe.

"The chocolate? Oh, Yes! The chocolate! But's just the beginning. We have so much time and so little to do."

"The beginning?" Mrs. Bucket wondered as I watched Wonka gather the family in a huddle in the center of the living room. "What do you mean the beginning, Mr. Wonka?"

With everyone gathered, Wonka sat down on an armchair in front of Charlie.

"How did you like the chocolate factory, Charlie?" he asked.

"I think it's the most wonderful place in the whole world!" Charlie answered, excitedly.

Of course, no one was prepared for what Wonka said next.

"I'm very pleased to hear you say that," he replied. "Because I'm giving it to you."

A series of gasps befell amongst the Bucket family upon what had just been said.

"You're giving Charlie the...?" Grandpa Joe gasped.

"I can't go on forever, and I don't really want to try," Wonka explained to Charlie. "So who can I trust to run the factory when I retire and take care of the Oompa Loompas for me? Not a grown up. A grown up would want to do everything his own way, not mine. So that's why I decided a long time ago that I had to find a child. A very honest, loving child, to whom I could tell all my most precious candy making secrets."

Right away, with each word spoken, Charlie realized what Wonka had been doing the entire time.

"So that's why you sent out the golden tickets!" Charlie guessed.

That's right. So the factory is yours, Charlie. You can move in immediately."

"And me?" Grandpa Joe asked.

"Absolutely," Wonka answered.

"But, what happens to…?" Charlie asked, wondering about the rest of the family.

"The whole family," Wonka finished. "I want you to bring them all."

As Wonka and Charlie embraced, the rest of the Bucket's were touched by the gesture we had imposed and I saw Mrs. Bucket fall down on her knees and silently prayed for thanks while she silently cried. The other grandparents were astonished by this gesture. They were being given a second chance, all of them.

"And Charlie?" Wonka reminded as they broke from their embrace. "Don't forget what happened to the man who suddenly got everything he always wanted?"

"What happened?"

"He lived happily ever after."

…

But as Wonka said this was only the beginning of what was to come for Charlie Bucket. For there was the next part of Charlie's life that was about to begin as the heir apparent to the Wonka candy empire.

…

NOT THE END QUITE YET