With This Ring
By
Retta Michaels
Preface
Notes From Retta:
Dear Reader,
In a lot of my writing, I've never felt
the need to write a preface. With this story, I want you to know what to
expect. For me, the story is a mixture of a whole lot of truth and a whole lot
of fiction.
For me to explain it, I must sit and tell
you what my conceptual plans were for the novel
IN LIFE, we are not given a set list of
directions and plans how to complete it. Some people don't like the unknown, so
they don't take any foreign steps into different territories. With others, they
know no structure.
Rather than having a nameless character
out there who could sue the fuck out of me for even inferring they're a member
of the mafia, I chose to go personal and use my own name. It's a lot less messy
and a lot more friendly for my lawyer.
I am not a member of the mafia. I will
not say I do not know a lot of the family members from several cities, but I am
not a member myself.
I will state at one time I was with a man
named Gino who headed a crime family. He's since passed and this story has been
released with permission and editing done by his son who is still a dear friend
of mine. (Thanks Dave.)
The names I've used in the story besides
my own are fictitious. The names have been changed to protect everyone. Where
names weren't important, I have not used them.
I have given enough references to who the
person is so if you can read between the lines, you can see who they are. With
that said, I will not say more about the characters.
The story is made up. It is totally
fictitious. None of the incidents happened, and nothing of the sort ever
occurred. If you choose to believe it did happen, and if you choose to believe
it's true, then that's on you. I will state now if I receive an email asking me
if such and such part is true, I'll be polite and refer you to the Preface and
leave it at that.
The reason I'm writing this preface is
because I want people to know when I write, I write fiction with an air of the
style of writing used by the National Enquirer or the Sun. There's an air of
truth in there someplace, but it's actually fiction. If you choose to believe
it's truth, then do so...I've got about twenty acres of swamp land I'll sell
you and someplace on that land is a
complimentary Iphone. If you can find it, it's yours.
With that said, I'll now state the
characters of this story will probably be used time and time again. I think
I've found a niche in this style of writing. I'll tell you now, it's done in
the style of Mack Bolan “The Executioner”, James Bond, or Scarface.
“With This Ring” is the first book of the
saga. It shows how someone can go from leading a normal life wanting to lead a
normal life to being thrown into a complex cast of characters which require him
to be more and more of what he doesn't want to be.
I hope you enjoy the story.
Disclaimer:
If you are dumb enough to believe this story is
true, please stop, shut off your computer, and go to the nearest mirror to
repeatedly slap yourself back into reality. You'll thank yourself afterward, I
assure you.
IF you are below the age of 18, please don't
read the stories on here. Your presence jeopardizes those of us who do so
legally.
Personal Disclaimer:
People, places, events, and locations in this
story are fictitious. If you believe them to be true, please go to the first
paragraph up under the disclaimer section and do so thrice.
Now, please enjoy.
With This Ring
Chapter Thirteen:
“Hello”
“Rhette?”
“Yes”
“I just left their house. I walked him to the truck
and they've pulled out. I'm sorry to tell you this, but he's not laying down
his arms and he's taking those men to their deaths.”
“Ok, thank you for trying.”
“I'm sorry.”
“It wasn't your decision. Thanks again for
trying.”
I hung up and said, “He's now ran out of
options. He's on his way. When you begin to hear the shooting, you and the kids
go to the cooler. It's shut off so it should be warmer in there. Take them
things to occupy them and I'll be there when this is over.”
Robert looked at me and asked, “Can I go up?”
“Normally, I'd never deny you anything, but this
time I've got to. IF it weren't against your dad, I'd let you.”
“He's wrong. I need to stand for what's right!”
“Robert, there's time for it when we begin your
training. You'll stand for what's right and you'll know the good ways and use
them. I'm proud of you for wanting to stand up for wrong even though it's your
dad who's doing them.”
He looked appeased and I said, “I'm sorry, but
I've got to go prepare.”
I got up and dialed Alex. “They've left.”
“Ok, how long ago?”
“About two minutes. You should see the trucks
moving.”
“I'll look.”
“I'm getting off here so I can get the guys
prepared.”
My next call was to Paparik. “Hello?”
“He's left and is on his way. He's not dropping
his arms and he's kept his army.”
“Good luck”
“Thanks.”
I hung up and dialed little John. “Battle
stations. He's left.”
“Ok, I'll get the word out, you've notified the
police?”
“Yes.”
“Good. They're stopping any gas trucks, right?”
“Yeah, it won't be allowed in.”
“Let's hope they keep their word.”
“I think they will. They don't want this to be
as messy.”
He hung up and as I got to the top step, I heard
him yell for everyone to get to their stations.
I saw the maintenance man and said, “If you'd please,
go upstairs and man a fire hose.”
He nodded and said, “Good luck”
“Thanks. We'll be ok”
I heard a voice, “Rhette, up here in the
mezzanine.”
I looked up and saw a face I'd not seen in
years. Guido Salvatori otherwise known
as “Bear”.
I went upstairs and he said, “You're to be up
here. I'm to man first post aimed at those steps and you're to stand over there
and shoot anyone that makes it up them.”
“I need a weapon if I'm to shoot.”
“Fuck, they never gave you one?”
“No”
“Here, take this one and don't hit me with it.”
“If you go down, I'm not going to promise I'm
going to let you lay there in agony.”
“I hardly think I'm going down without taking
more of them motherfuckers with me than what they brought.”
I smiled and said, “Ok, then you're safe.”
“You look different. You turn anorexic on me?”
“No, it's plastic surgery.”
“I knew something was different. You should have
gotten a better plastic surgeon if that's your face so no one recognized you.”
“No, I got beat by someone and this is what I
got left with. How the hell have you been?”
“Can't say bad. Can't say good. Life's so-so.”
“What about Liz?”
“She died two years ago. It was the fucking
brain cancer.”
“Oh jeez, I'm sorry.”
“Me too. We had a lot of good years together.”
“Yeah, she was great.”
He smiled and said, “She was after you taught
her to give head.”
I smiled and said, “Hey!”
He smiled and said, “What's funny is after that,
she would tell that story and then pass along the lessons. You don't know how
many guys are beholding to you!”
“Well, those were years ago when I was a lot
more cocksure and stupid.”
He laughed and said, “I'm not so sure. You're
still here!”
“They gave me a promotion. I had to come back.”
He laughed and said, “You got a promotion
alright!”
“Well, wouldn't you?”
“Oh hell yeah!”
We stood there and talked and I said, “Forgive
me for a second. I'm going to make a phone call.”
“No problem.”
I dialed Steve and he answered. “Yeah babe.”
“We're about to go to war. I thought I'd get a
phone call into you and tell you I love you.”
“Hon, you stay safe now, you hear?”
“They've got me in a position that no one's
going to see me. If they make it this far, I'll be blowing off the back of
their head because I'm looking at them as they come off the top of some stairs.”
“You sound nervous.”
“Well, it's been a long day. I'm jittery because
I'm tired. By the way, I had to punch another cop in the mouth.”
“Huh?”
“I went outside and up to a roadblock. Some cop
thought he'd be Homer and pull a pistol on me, I told him I punched cops who
did that and then Alex put his pistol in the man's face. We had a tense moment,
but his partner recognized me and told the guy to lower his weapon. When he
did, you know what I did.”
He laughed and said, “You should have done it twice
and told him one of them was for me.”
“Believe me, the man was pissed afterwards. He
made threats and I called his boss in front of him to get him in shit.”
“Oh no”
“Yeah, but I'm going to make a call later and
get his partner promoted. The guy was a real sweetheart. I got him and Alex a
date with each other.”
“Good”
“Well, I've got to go. I wanted you to know I
love you and I'll see you later tonight. You won't believe what I spent for two
outfits!”
“I'm sure it's worth it.”
“Yeah, but sheesh, I've never worn such
expensive things in my life.”
“Get used to it.”
“Nope, even if
you were Governor you'd not make enough to keep me in clothes that
expensive.”
“How much?”
“Two outfits with shoes and purses was almost
nine grand.”
“Jesus”
“Yeah, shoes cost $575 a pair. The friggin'
purse cost $1400.”
“Well, if they're nice.”
“You gotta tell your mom Neiman Marcus doesn't
even carry black gloves here. Ask her if she can think of anyplace which
carries them and then get me a pair.”
“I'll ask June. She's out at the farm.”
“Have you talked to Andrew yet on camera?”
“Yeah, he did real good.”
“I'm glad. Anything else happened?”
“The President did a fly over in his helicopter.
He didn't land.”
“Well, it got him airplay on CNN. You'd think
he'd come down and support you.”
“That's okay, later on, I'm going to slip and
tell them I'm running for Governor if you'll have me for your husband.”
“Ok, that'll be good. Hopefully, I won't be late.”
“If you are, we'll make it.”
“NO! That's not a part of this bargain. As your
partner, I'm to be there for you. I'll give you regular updates and then, I'll
fly that bird home faster than it's built to go.”
“Be careful and know there's a time difference
here.”
“Fuck, that just lost me time.”
He chuckled and said, “Hon, I love you. Just
remember I'd rather have you safe and in one piece than to attend a funeral
where you've crashed a plane.”
“I'll fly safe. Right now, I've got to get
through this war and then, I'll be fine.”
“If you have to shoot, you breathe, aim,
breathe, shoot. It'll calm your nerves.”
“Ok, let's hope it doesn't get that far.”
“I thought you said it was a definite.”
“It's not a war until the first shot is fired.”
“You're right. Let's hope things will work out.”
I rung off and then Bear said, “Your love?”
“Yeah, he's great.”
“You sure sounded like it.”
“It's not professional to call him, but I had
to.”
“I'm not telling. I'd have done it too.”
“You looked for anyone else?”
“I'm seeing someone, but it's not real serious.”
“Why?”
“Liz and I didn't have kids. I want some.”
“I know a woman that's got a bunch of them who
is going to be a widow before the day's out.”
“Nah, that'd be tacky.”
“Look at it this way, the man she was married to is going to die. There's no
option about it. She's got nine kids, and he's lied on her, cheated on her, and
done about everything an man's not supposed to do. She's a nice Catholic girl
and she's a real sweetheart. She needs a man like you who will be a man to her
rather than an imposter.”
“Whoa, you really don't like him!”
“No, I thought I could have loved him. Then, I
found out what he was and now I want to kill him. She's so fed up she wants to
bless the fucking axe before it falls.”
“Oh man! You going to let her?”
“Hell yeah. She's got it coming.”
“You know that is something people will talk
about for years.”
“He has it coming. If his ass doesn't get killed
in this war, then I'll try him and when everyone thinks I'm going to kill him,
I'm going to try him for several more things. It'll be to the point everyone's
going to be wondering why I don't just kill him already and get it over with.
That's when I'm going to try him one more time and clear her virtue.”
“What do you mean?”
“He's lied and said she's a lesbian in an affair
and that she begged him to divorce her and he wouldn't do it.”
“She's not?”
“No, it was a lie he told so he could
proposition me and attempt to play me. He wanted me to tell him to leave her
and me to leave Steve for him.”
“You're talking about Michael, aren't you?”
“Yeah”
“Gino had me trailing him when he was up there
stalking you.”
“I know. I think you were the one who called me
and told me he was stalking me.”
“Yeah, I wasn't supposed to, but the guy was up
there all the time. It's a wonder he ever got a city ran with how much he was
gone.”
“I know, but not one time did he ever get
close.”
“If he had, I would have dropped him. Those were
my orders.”
“Well, let's be thankful you didn't.
Technically, I wasn't Gino's anymore.”
“Yeah, but you had his heart.”
“And him having you track my stalker was in a
way stalking me for him.”
He laughed and said, “You did good in school.”
“Yeah, but it took work. My heart wasn't in it.”
“I was proud of you.”
“Thanks.”
“Were you aware Micheal was registered as a
student there?”
“No. I wasn't aware of too much around me. When
I wasn't in classes, I was majoring in total alcoholism.”
“You were binge drinking hard.”
“That was after I had drank a lot in the dorm.
It was anything and everything to get my mind off of me.”
“Gino and your boy?”
“There was another in there who was a lover for
six weeks. He died in a car wreck.”
“Where?”
“In Texas. I met him in Kansas City, but he took
me back to the ranch in Texas and I lived quite happily.”
“What'd he do?”
“He was a guy in his mid 30's. His parents were
billionaires with their own oil company. He did work for a living, but it was
much like Dallas except everyone was nice.”
“Then he died?”
“In a car wreck.”
“Yeah. A freak accident.”
“You know this for a fact?”
“Yeah.”
“Ok, I'm just wondering if someone had something
to do with it.”
“I doubt it. He called before he left the
office. He drove home and on the way, he had a wreck. When he was an hour late,
I started calling the office and when he was two hours late, I went looking for
him. I saw the accident scene but didn't think anything of it because there
wasn't but a police car there and a wrecker.”
“And then what?”
“I went home and no Steve. Then, about ten
thirty, his mama called and said, “Honey, you need to come over to the big
house, they took Steve to G & T. I thought it was some friggin' private
hospital and asked for their number! Then, I got the phone book because she
kept saying, “No honey, you're not understanding. They took him to G & T.”
When I saw that G & T was a funeral home, I just went numb.”
“Oh hell.”
“They had to come and get me and then, a doctor
was called who sedated me. I'm friggin' catatonic and they sedate me!
I'd
wake up and go through motions and then, I'd get drugged and I'd go back to
sleep. They finally woke me up to get me to the visitation and then, right
afterwards, bam, I'm put back out only to get awoke again to go through with
the funeral.
His
mama was a sweet lady, but so help me, after that funeral, I told her I had to
get back to Missouri because I was afraid they were going to keep me drugged.
But, when I got back here, it was time for me to go to college, so I went and
did what was expected of me and went through the motions.”
“You poor kid.”
“What was strange was I was adrift in an ocean
and clinging to anything to anyone or anything to make me feel better. That's
why if Michael had came up to me, I'd went with him.”
“And that's what probably would have been your
downfall.”
“Hell, I wasn't far from it! I went through four
years of school in two years. I studied and unbelievably got good grades. I was
numb from drinking and not one time did I go out with anyone until Danny came
along and then, it was only because I
had known him from high school and knew he was kind.”
“What happened to him?”
“He was in his final year of college. He had
went to school to become a lawyer and messed up some credits. He was there
getting them so he could get his credits to become a lawyer. As soon as he
completed, he went to take his bar exam and then, the week he got his papers,
he was on a one way ticket to Los Angeles.
He
gave me the option to go, but I told him I wanted to stay near my family.
What's interesting is I would see my family, but wasn't close. My mom suspected
the alcoholism, but as soon as she made the comment I smelled like beer, I
switched and went over to Maui Schnapps and chewing Juicy Fruit so I could
cover. Life continued and it was one long blitz through hell.”
“Is that why you went to prison?”
“No, but I attribute the choices I made due to
it, but I ultimately made those decisions and thought I would get by with
things. I did them and I was guiltier than hell.”
“So you went to prison.”
“Yes, and I dried out. So help me God, if you've
ever dried out, it's the worst thing you'll ever go through. It was three days
at least of hallucinations, and sickness.”
“I've heard it was bad.”
“Yeah. What's interesting is I can remember most
of it. I remember the hallucinations and what I was thinking. I can remember
what I ate, got down, and how sick I was through everything.”
“You did all that and then got locked up.”
“And went through 4 more years of withdrawals
where I craved the liquor and rolled up bread into little balls and sucked on
them in my cheeks to get the yeast flavor. Waking up with the craving for that
drink to the point that Kevin was really wondering if I'd get over it. Then one
day, he said, “You realize you've not sang the Michelob, Heineken, Lowenbrau,
or Budweiser song today?
My
comment was, “Let's see if I can make it a week.” Then, one day became two, and
two became a week, and then a month and then, an amazing year.
Through
everything, Kevin was psychoanalyzing me and working with me to understand
myself. Believe me, it was some hard shit. I'd go through something and be so
pissed I'd not speak to him for several days and then, I'd be ready to talk and
he'd throw something else at me. It took about two friggin years before I could
stand in front of a mirror and say three kind things about myself.”
“What was wrong?”
“A lot. Low self esteem, low confidence, low morale, low self worth, and just plain
thoughts of blaming myself for everything from Tony, to Gino not wanting me, to
Steve dying to get away from me, and so on and so forth.”
“Jeez.”
“Yeah, we came up with what I had as the 'black widow' complex. I thought if I
got together with someone they'd die and or kill themselves to get away from
me.”
“The guy you went to prison didn't die.”
“Kevin said that to me once. My remark to him
was he was lucky he dumped me because he would have died if we'd stuck
together.”
“It sounds like you would have died.”
“Probably, but that's why I say prison saved my
life and Kevin was my savior. Without him, I'd still be in a world of hurt or
would have committed suicide.”
“It was that bad?”
“It was terrible. I found every way in the world
to blame myself for everything.”
“You know, someone told me once that “we might
think we're powerful, but we're not.”
“Gino.” I smiled. “Gino was so humble he'd come
up with things like that and he'd mean them. He's constantly make fun of
himself. One time, he couldn't get a bottle of wine to release it's cork and he
finally set it down and said, “You know, I'm a powerful man but a cork just
whipped my ass.” What was funny was the cork came up like it was in slow motion
and popped out of the bottle. We had a good laugh, but he'd do that a lot.”
“I loved that man's smile. When he was happy,
the world was happy because all we had to do was see him smile and knew life
was wonderful.”
I said, “But when his eyes turned black, watch
out!”
“I think it's because he wouldn't sleep worrying
over things.”
“Gino was an insomniac like me. We'd sleep for
two hours and either he'd get out of bed, or I would and just that movement had
the other awake. We'd make love and then, we'd shower and make love, and then,
we'd go out to an all night place called Lums and get their breakfast buffet
and then go ride the streets patrolling.”
“I remember that time and I remember Lums. You
wanna talk about greasy food!”
“Yeah, but what I remember was us two walking in
together and by the time we'd left, there'd be a whole row of tables pulled
together and a huge bunch of us visitting.”
“I remember. With him, it was because he treated
everyone like family.”
“Yes, but that's the Italian way. My
grandparents did it. My dad would do that. My aunts and uncled on my dad's
side, and then, when I was around Gino, he'd do it too.”
“It's the magnetism.”
“Yes, but what's interesting is when I got with
Kevin, I realized the reason I was drawn to him was because of that ability.
Yes, he was drop dead gorgeous and built like a brick shit house, but he'd
smile and people would flock around him.”
“Why do you think that is?”
“I know. In prison, it's so fucking sad it's like
taking a tranquilizer. Everyone's feeling guilty and they're feeling bad.
People are bitching. People are fussing and They're just so cranky it's severe
stress. Then, you have someone who has the ability to smile in a world like
that and you're drawn to them like a beacon.”
“I imagine.”
“What's interesting is this. I'm so dark
complected and when I'm out in the sun, I really get dark. One of the biggest
compliments I got was someone coming up to me and asking me what I did to my
teeth to make them so white because I was smiling all the time.”
“Wow!”
“Yeah, and then I realized Kevin had rubbed off
on me and I'd gained that ability to be happy and then I began to share it with
others.”
“Did you do anything special to your teeth?”
“Oh hell, it's a regimen I still do to this day,
but what the difference is I now add baking soda to it. In the morning, I use
Pepsodent. After lunch, I use Ultra Brite. Then, at night, I use Close up
because it's cinnamony. Once a week, I would you Pearl Drops to get that grit
to clean off the plaque.”
“Sheesh”
“Yeah, but take a look at it. All of them have
whiteners in them and my teeth are so bleached, there's not a chance they could
get bad.”
“What about cavities?”
“Ok, I'm going to get on a soap box here because
I'll tell you a huge pet peeve of mine. In prison, they have a dentist. At
Farmington, his name was Dr. Thompson. It took at least six weeks to get in to
see him and if you had a bad toothache, it was still a good week.
I
knew money was going to be tight when I got out of prison. I knew I'd have no
insurance, so I scheduled an appointment and I went in and I told him I wanted
a check up and a clean. I asked him to please be honest and fill any cavities
because I was going to be getting out and I'd not have the money to get
anything repaired.
This
man looks in my mouth and compliments me on what wonderful teeth I have and how
there's nothing wrong. All I can say is bullshit!
Kevin
and I were so close we'd do things for each other all the way down to checking in
each other's mouths. He told me he saw a bunch of cavities and when that man
said that, I was thinking Kevin didn't know what he was seeing.
When
I got out, within a year, I'm going to a dentist for an emergency extraction
because a tooth broke. It was eaten up with a cavity and that's when the
dentist found six more. The motherfucker lied and it was just because he had a
profit loss statement and wanted to make a bonus.”
“What do you mean?”
“Ok, the medical care in prison is contracted
out. They bid it and they hire doctors who go in knowing they've got a budget
and x amount of dollars to do things with. If at the end of the year that
doctor doesn't spend his allotted money, he gets a bonus and or a vacation paid
for by the corporation.”
“So they shirk necessary things to get that
dollar?.”
“Oh yeah. I've known people who needed really
serious necessary medical care and they'd be told it was all in their mind and
to please go back to their cell and think about whether, or not they need to
see a shrink. Finally the condition would
get so bad, they'd be rushed to off prison emergency surgery which is
paid for by the state because that contract care is only onsite.”
“Then what?”
“One guy I knew complained about pain forever.
Then, his stomach started getting really pillowy and he got told to go see the
fucking shrink. He did in fact go to the shrink who told him he needed to go on
a diet because he appeared pudgy.
Finally,
he started getting jaundiced and he doubled over with pain. He went to the hospital
for emergency surgery and died four days later of brain, liver, kidney, and
bone cancer. He was ate up with it and not one fucking bit of pain medication
or anything.”
“Oh my God”
“Yeah, there's a special place in hell for those
doctors and it's right next to lawyers who strike deals to get their clients to
take plea bargains.”
“What do you mean?”
“You don't know!”
“What?”
“Plea bargain. It's the legal system's way of
flipping you a giant bird and telling
you to get fucked and go peacefully to prison.”
“And? Because I've heard some people reduced
their sentences a lot.”
“Let's see. If I said, “Bear, you're guiltier
than hell, but you know and I know I'm not a good attorney. I'll go in and
represent you and we'll take our chances, what are you thinking?”
“I'm thinking I've got a chance.”
“Ok, what if I'm a public defender and I'm
sitting there telling you I've going to get you off and you're going to get my
best.”
“I'm thinking I'm going to get off.”
“Yeah, now let me tell you a secret. That public
defender has a caseload that has five hundred people on her fucking sheet.
She's got to see each person at least once an month and she's got to represent
a bunch of them in court. Now, how much time are you actually getting of hers?”
“Oh man!”
“Yeah, she's giving her your best alright. She's
selling your ass down the river and she's lying through her teeth.
What
happens is you get to the day of your trial and she starts laying out things
and one thing she casually slips over to the corner of the desk in front of you
is a plea bargain. Then, she starts listing people she's subpoenaed and people
she couldn't reach and you're finding out three people who aren't good
witnesses have responded, but everyone else who you know would stand up for you
didn't respond. You see your case sliding into the shitter and you quickly
realize this bitch hasn't done her job. What do you do? Do you let her go in
and finish the sales pitch to get you sent away for that max? OR, do you hope
there's a way to salvage this farce and get something you can deal with?”
“I'm going to snatch something less.”
“Yeah, and now, here's what I'd tell you if I
was there with you. I'd tell you to take the bitch and run with her because you
can sue her for legal malpractice and you can appeal for a reduced sentence.
You can subpoena in her number in her caseload and you can demonstrate you've
been fucked.
I'll
also tell you if you touch that plea bargain in the state of Missouri, part of
that sign off states you give up the rights to all appeals and you're perfectly
happy with the legal defense you were given which thereby nullifies any chance
of you getting anything better and or finishing that fine fucking you got
rather dry.”
“Whoa!”
“Would you go in and buy a car you couldn't take
back to be repaired? Or buy a house full of matches and only one door? Or a job
in a dynamite factory where you're only coworker smokes like a freight train?
No, so why sell yourself that when you're panicking.”
“Wow”
“Yeah, so I think there's a special place in
hell for those lawyers and I know they're right next to those doctors. I'm sure
they're fucking each other with razorblades and having a hey day.”
“You really don't like them.”
“In the world of this, I'd make them wear plaid
leisure suits with polka dotted ties with bad toupes so they'd look just like
that used car salesman who's selling you a lemon. At least one has you thinking
you know what they're about, but the other is professing to be great and not
being a fucking thing except a paycheck grabber.”
“So don't take the plea bargain.”
“Not necessarily. If you know you're guilty and
the alternative is the death penalty, then by all means grab that fifteen years
they offer. You'll do about five on it and at the most, you'll do twelve. If
you don't, then you've fucked yourself in that situation.
If
you know you've got an iffy case and there's a lot of technicalities, then
fight fight fight like the under dog at a state football tournament. The reason
being that if you have a half assed chance, you might win. IF you don't, I'll
guarantee you a prison lawyer is going to get you enough technicalities found
and enough loopholes, they'll have you in a position to get a pro bono lawyer
willing to take it up and get you off.”
“That's counting on someone wanting to give me
that defense. That's not happening.”
“Bullshit. Look at it this way. The prison
lawyers are good. Damned good. They'll do the footwork and they'll get you up
to the one yard line and inches, but they can't represent you in court. What
they can do is they can give you the names of a lot of lawyers who will do that
sort of pro bono work because A: It makes them feel good. B: They look good and
can use it to make their win loss column look damned good to those who are
paying.”
“So they use those to make themselves look
better?”
“Yeah, it's a game. If I come up to you and say,
“Bear, I've sold three thousand cars and all but one has ran four hundred
thousand miles, are you going to buy a car from me?”
“Hell yeah!”
“Now, what happens if you find out later that
car you bought is the man's 5, 998th car he's sold and of those,
someone else has sold the other 5,997 but when the deal finally happened, the
car salesman got the credit because the one selling them doesn't have a license
to sell cars.”
“Oh fuck.”
“Yeah. You got fucked bud, but you also got
taught a lesson. You look for that prison lawyer out there on the street the
next time and you get him on your side.”
“Where do you find them?”
“You don't. They usually get jobs in law firms working
as law clerks who get paid big bucks to make a partner look good.”
“How do you know so much about them?”
“Kevin's one of those prison lawyers. He's one
of the best and he's got a track record with lawsuits that has people begging
him to go to work for them.”
“Why doesn't he?”
“Because he doesn't get credit for it. He's
expected to be a part of the team doing all the footwork and bending over at
the last second to take one for the team. To him, rather than doing it, he'd
rather do something in which he can have a share of the results.”
“Man, what a waste.”
“Yeah, but I'll tell you, if he could go try for
his bar exam, he'd pass and he'd be one who you'd want to go to.
What
I do know is I'd be there happily typing away like an idiot hearing him spin
the latest way he can get someone free and get that latest dumb fuck out of
that marriage.
It
got to be so bad with divorces that if you ask me for a divorce, I can have it
typed up for you in about five minutes. That includes the pauper papers and the
dissolution statement.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, here's an example. One night, I was
talking with a dear friend and I found out the guy she was living with was
still married to another woman. They didn't have a lot of money and I told her
I'd do it for her for $50. She said she couldn't afford even that, so I told
her to get out some paper and I'd tell her what to write if she'd write it
down. She agreed, but all she could find was a box of envelopes.
What
we did was we had her write that divorce down on those envelopes with each
envelope being the next paragraph of the divorce papers. Then, I told her to go
to the library, use their computer, and then pay the fifteen cents a page they
charged to print it out.
She
did and then, she went and filed it. What's funny is she turned it in and
because Kevin's work is so well known, just from the style of the way things
were worded, the judge called her into chambers and asked her if she could talk
him into coming to work for him at his private practice. By the way, she got
her boyfriend the divorce and they're now happily married.”
“Amazing.”
“That's his reputation. He does it in such a
way, he'll get the judge's attention and when case laws are quoted, the judge
can go look them up and they'll be dead on the money with what is precedent.
The judge has no real choice in the matter because he's got a clear cut
decision in front of him.”
“What are some of them he's done.”
“You remember John Ashcroft our Attorney General
for the nation under Bush?”
“Yeah, he was also the Governor.”
“Yeah, Kevin sued the state over Kool Aid. Well,
it wasn't real Kool Aid, but a generic version which the state got by the box
full for a dollar something. Anyways, that stuff is nothing but jello with more
sugar added to it.
What
you don't know is jello is derived from animals. They process them and then
reprocess them again and it's usually horses that get the dubious honor of
being the animal.
Well,
certain religions frown big time on animals with hoofs and not eating them.
Kevin sued and said the state needed to either expose what was served and label
it clearly, or they needed to stop serving the stuff.
Let
me tell you, the state was in a hard spot because Kool Aid is the drink of
choice in a prison. Ten to one, an inmate will drink the stuff over a really
crappy tea they have.
John
Ashcroft decided to make an example because Kevin was suing so fast and furious
he thought he could have Missouri's attorney General take the case and beat
him.
What
happened is Kevin got called out and he went in and presented his case and he
beat Jay Nixon's ass. Jay Nixon appealed and it went up higher. Kevin beat him
again and then, took it to the Supremes where Kevin presented his case and beat
him and then, the Supremes laid out a penalty phase that made the state pay
those inmates professing to be that religion a set sum.”
“Oh man!”
“Yeah, but this took time. Everyone knew Kevin's
reputation and our bets were on him, so what everyone did was they wrote to
their caseworkers and switched our religion
to that one. Word got around throughout the system and suddenly 80% of the
population who wasn't Muslim got switched over. The state saw bankruptcy in
their future and rather than paying, they pulled Kool Aid and attempted to
substitute with Lemon Aid which had the legal system being sued for cruel and
inhuman punishment.
What
you don't hear when John Ashcroft snidely jokes about the inmates suing for
their Kool Aid is he damned near ordered his Attorney General to fight that
case to bankruptcy.”
“All they had to do was label the stuff!”
“Yeah, and finally, the judge told the state
that and said for them to put the stuff out and label it. We went back to
sucking up the stuff and everyone did so by honoring the Grape flavor Kevin's
Ape Juice.”
“Grape Ape?”
“Yeah, the Ape that had everyone afraid of him
because he was so big. But the one which was best was the horse meat scandal.
There
was a guy who was hijacking beef shipments and substituting the carcasses with
horses. One day, one of the guys in the butcher found hooves on the carcass and
smuggled it to us. Kevin sued and they took it to trial. Kevin said he had
witnesses and credible evidence which the state poopooed. They went to trial
and Kevin called his witnesses and one by one, he had them say they saw the
hooves.
The
state tried to rebutt them and they all said the hooves were smuggled out of
the butcher shop and given to Kevin. Kevin asked the judge to go to our cell
and get the evidence since he didn't want to be caught with contraband.
The
judge seeing opportunity, did and when the door popped, I handed them to him
and made the sound of a horse. The state was found in contempt and an
investigation ensued which found the guilty parties. The state had so much pie
upon their face, they actually went out and got us someone who made our food
better. They also contracted to get the Arby's roast beef which the government
had bought for desert storm and we ate good for several years on that.”
“Man!”
“Yeah, it doesn't take too many of those cases
for a person to get a reputation. He got it and that's what drew him to getting
lawyers telling him to send him cases he knew they could win.
What
happened was word got out and Kevin got busy. He suddenly had a lot of guys
where he could find flaws in the handling of their case and got them early
releases which compounded his reputation.
Finally,
a huge windfall happened and that was a riot happened in Missouri City Texas
where the state of Texas was building prisons to harbor inmates from Texas.
What
was happening there was inmates wouldn't have a choice of where they were sent
and usually when a new prison opens, the other prisons are asked for inmates to
be transferred. I'll tell you now, when you have a choice of getting rid of
inmates, and you're a Superintendant, what are you going to get rid of? Are you
going to get rid of the hell raisers? Or, are you going to get rid of the ones
who do their time and don't cause you grief?”
“I'll get rid of my worst.”
“Now, imagine this scenario. You've got a prsion
opening where you've got two thousand inmates. You're getting one hundred from
twenty prisons and when the buses unload, you find the worst of the worst. The
place becomes a hell hole. Guys who are enemies are stabbing each other. Hard
cases are grabbing weaker ones and pimping them. And those who have a butt load
of dope are suddenly finding either they've got a lottery winnings amount of
money, or they're being robbed and beaten for that dope.”
“Oh shit!”
“Yeah, so what they did was they did this crack
down which amounted to torture. If you got a write up, you got sat in a chair
in the middle of the gymnasium for a day. If you slumped, another day was
added. If you fell asleep or fell out of the chair, then you were beaten
severely.”
“What the hell!”
“Yeah, but get this. When the food was served,
it was cooked in another building and carried to the housing units in open 4
gallon containers past the trash cans which was swarming with flies. The flies
would get to the food and be swarming and then be served to the men. You'd get
extra protein in them thar beans, but it's something you don't want to eat.
A
lot of guys were getting fed up and they decided to start a revolt. The guards
went in with water hoses and a peaceful demonstration amounting to a sit down
strike turned into bedlam. Then, the goons came in with dogs and the dogs were
trained to attack and what happened is a full fledged riot.
What
wasn't known was amongst the guards was about ten video cameras were shooting
the action and all these civil rights were shown plain as day being broken.
The
State of Texas claimed no video was ever filmed when the guys were brought up
for trail. Then, they claimed it was used for “training purposes”. Then, they
downright refused to release it.
What
happened was a preacher by the name of Larry Rice went in with the Freedom of
Information Act and got the videos. He began to air them 24 hours a day on his
network which happened to air in all the prisons.
Kevin
and I saw it and he began to recognize faces. He then spoke with other inmates
who recognize others and so on and so forth until he had lawsuits flying on
behalf of those with their civil rights violated.
Well,
with a big story comes a lot of media attention and the same happened. All of a
sudden, those guys down there had lawyers knocking at their doors promising the
moon and the stars. What the lawyers didn't know was Kevin already had most of
them signed to him and they had full retainer forms signed.
The
inmates when smelling money signed on with the lawyers promising them millions
of dollars. The lawyers were in there not doing a thing and all the state was
doing was attempting to sweep it under the rug. What happened next is history.
Kevin
had all these retainers and he began to contact lawyers and telling them he had
signed notarized retainers and to immediately cease and desist upon any future
representation of his clients. He then immediately sued the lawyers for full
damages if they should ever see a dime from the lawsuits in which his client
was represented by them.
The
lawyers laughed. They thought Kevin wouldn't ever be able to do anything to
them and they played with us with legal motions Kevin spent time grading and
returning to them with error after
error on them.”
The
lawyers thought Kevin was deranged and all the way up to the day these trials
were beginning, it was a huge fucking joke. Then, Kevin went into court and he
threw the judges case law after case law where lawyers had sued each other on
that very issue. Each case law ruled in favor of the first one getting the
damages.”
“Oh man!”
“Yeah, but what Kevin did was he turned on the
lawyers and the inmates and he started sneaking in hidden phrases in the
documents and when the lawsuits settled, the real victory went to the dogs who
were the ones that had bitten the inmates. All of the money went to them and
they're now sitting pretty.”
“HE WHAT!”
“Kevin decided to fuck the inmates. They thought
they won, but what they won was a huge windfall for the dogs.”
“Oh shit!”
“It teaches you one lesson. If you think you're
smart enough to fuck your lawyer over, don't be so sure your lawyer can't find
a way of fucking you.
What
this amounted to though is it's prison law. Fuck them before they can fuck you.
By the time the dust settled, Kevin was the hero of every real convict in the
system.”
“That's insane!”
“Yeah, but what are you going to do with
millions of dollars when the system in which you live only will allow you to
spend $250 a month?”
“I'd save it for when I got out!”
“What if you have a life term and don't have a
clear idea when that's going to happen?”
“Oh man, that's got to suck.”
“That was Kevin. He's doing all that work and
getting that huge reputation and he was thinking he wasn't ever going to see light
of day out here in the free world. He did, but that's another story.”
“You had to be proud of him!”
“Yeah, and all that didn't matter. What mattered
was the way he treated me. What mattered was how much we were in tune with each
other to the point that we'd go out for recreation and within ten minutes, we
were locked back in our cell content upon spending our time with each other
than being out with others.”
“That's like a married couple giving up their
wild and carefree ways.”
“Yeah. For us, the love was so evident that even
the most grizzled of guards saw it. They attempted to harass us and all that
happened was Kevin would throw paperwork at them and get them removed from our
housing unit.”
“That really goes on even in there, doesn't it”
“Hate is everywhere. In there, it's not other
inmates, but the guards. They think they're coming to babysit a bunch of
freaks, but what it is, is the most primal of all environments. Men still seek
love even when there are no women and men still seek to have someone think
highly of them. We war, we play, and we all seek out that little piece of
nirvana, but without love, we're incomplete. In there, we found it and like
anywhere, there's jealousy.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean. I loved her, but
I'm lonely. I've sought comfort with someone else, but she's not my ideal. But
what you said is a mouthful.”
“My suggestion is you look for what you want. It
might be a moment away or it might not. You never know. Whatever you do, don't
give up.”
My cell phone buzzed and I answered it. “I've
got the files, we're on our way. Have guys prepared to come out and get them
when we land.”
“Ok, hurry and give me a call when you find out
where they are.”
“Ok”
I hung up and Bear looked at me expectantly.
“It's Alex. He's telling me he's got the files and he's flying back.”
“And he's going to report where Michael is out
there on his way.”
“Yeah, that'll give us an ETA.”
“You're good. I like the way we're finding
things out.”
“Plenty of practice from Gino.”
“I know that, but you've got it singing like a
fine tuned canary.”
“You just gave me an idea for the name of our
airline.”
“Canary?”
“Yeah. Bright yellow planes We'll have advertisements on the planes, but
the ones that don't can have squawk birds on them like World War II planes on
the front like Thunder Chicken, or Killer Canary, or whatever far out and
outlandish nicknames we can come up with.
We
could even have people send in nicknames they'd like to see on the planes and
give away lifetime passes to that person to fly wherever our airline goes for
life.”
“You'd lose money.”
“Bullshit. I give you a lifetime pass on first
class. You take a girl along on a trip and then you buy a first class pass to
fly her with you. How am I going to lose money. OR, let's say we give the pass
to a woman with a family. They'll all need passes and wham! We've got the
flights with that one free one booked for that row!”
“Nice thinking.”
“Yeah, all it takes is some paint and some
marketting.”
He smiled and said, “You hit the ground running.”
“I try. I've got to constantly think of how to
market things I'm buying which everyone thinks I'm going to lose my ass on.”
He laughed and said, “You make enough successes
and people will think you've got the Midas touch.”
“Let's hope it turns out that way. I sure don't
want to end up like Michael with a bankrupt city and everyone looking at him
like he's a dumbass.”
“Do you think you'll be able to turn things
around here?”
“Yeah, they're bringing in that guy from the
brewery and I'll have him coughing up some serious money.”
My cell phone rang.
“Yeah”
“They're about to the intersection of 40/61 and
Grand. It's going to be tight.”
“Land it and we'll get it off loaded. Then,
we'll go to war.”
“Ok”
I called little John. “They're at 40/61 and Grand
heading in.”
“Where's Alex.”
“In the air coming. We've got to get that
chopper offloaded fast.”
“Ok. Call the police and get them stalled.”
“Ok”
I called Paparik. “Yeah”
“We need them stalled when they get to your
roadblock for a few minutes.”
“I doubt if we can get the calls made in time.
Which way is he coming in.”
“He's at 40/61 and Grand coming in. I don't know
which way they'll take from there. Alex is in the air and going to land the
chopper to offload files. I need those files. Stop them whatever way you can.”
“He'll probably kill my officers.”
“Fuck. Don't let that happen. Let them through.
We'll risk our own men's lives before I let that happen. Even if it's a stop
and go, it'd give us some time.”
“Ok, I'll get that done. If it gets an officer
killed, then it's on Michael.”
“Ok, but I don't like the thought.”
“I can tell you're trying to get me some
goodwill with my men. I'm sorry for misjudging you.”
“I'm trying to make things win-win. Sometimes
even the best intentions don't work out that way.”
He hung up and I could hear little John yelling
for guys manning guns on windows to get ready to off load a chopper. I could
hear it, so I knew they had enough time.
The chopper landed at the intersection with a
blur of dust from God only knows where and a flutter of blowing paper and
debri. Guys ran out and grabbed boxes. The plane was stacked tall.
Little
John started yelling for men to grab boxes and get them to the conference room
as soon as the boxes entered the arcade.
Guys
grabbed boxes and come running up past me. I went to the conference room and
began looking. The first box I opened was the W's.
Beck came and said, “We've got to make sense of
this fast.”
“Put them up on the main tables and let's get a
left to right alphabetical order of them. I definitely want the one labeled
bastard.”
“Who's that?”
“The police chief. I want him to have that one
back and then, I want him to feel a sense of relief.”
“A favor?”
“Yeah, but a lot more than that to him. It's the
start of a good faith thing with him and I want it to be us paying that debt to
start it.”
“Ok, let's see. Here's the M's. Center by the
lectern.”
I grabbed a box and it was the S's. I looked and
took it to what would be my right.
The next one was another M. I imagine it had all
the Michaels in it and thought I'd have to see what he had on me, but didn't
have time to take that curiosity to fruition.”
More boxes were coming in. Guys were stacking
them and then Alex came running in.
“What can I do to help?”
“We're sorting by alphabetical order. To your
left is the end. By the lectern is M's and to your right is the beginning.
“Ok”
“We began opening and taking quick glances. We'd
get a letter and then, we'd run it to where we thought it'd need to go.”
“We got to the L's and I knew they'd have to go
to the lectern too as that'd be little David's bunch.”
In very little time, we had the boxes in a
haphazard order. I told Beck and Alex.
“Sort these and get to the M's and the L's
first. Start browsing them and pulling files for the trial. If you see anything
which you think might incriminate Michael, then get me that one pronto up on
the lectern. All the others I think are requiring attention put to a table and
set that one up to the left of the lectern in back.”
“Ok”
“Before we have this trial, we're going to have
to check everyone for weaponry. I don't care if it's in babies diapers, we're
checking everyone down to total nudity.”
“What if we have a problem with those people?”
“I'll put them up front with two guards on them
with pistols against their temples. They'll strip in front of me and be totally
clean before I let the guards pull off the weaponry. Then, I'm going to try
them real fast for failing to follow direct orders.”
“What happens to them?.”
“You know the rules Alex, but Beck doesn't. What
happens?”
“They get banished. Their credit all gets shut
off and their personal possessions which they have all are turned over to the
organization. Essentially, they're not allowed to go back home and get anything
and they're put out on the streets in some city someplace without any form of
identification whatsoever.”
“Yes, but in this case, what I'll do is I'll
take them on the plane to South Carolina and have Steve arrest them for
vagrancy. That way, we can get them watched for the next few days and hear any
plans they've got in that jail.”
“Smart move.”
“Yeah, but what they don't know is my plane is
going to fly to Figi with them on it. If they've not got a way to get money and
no identification, we'll have them away for a nice little while until they can
find a way to do something about that.”
“My advice is to get the Fijians to watch the
mail because that's how it will get them their documents if anyone so chooses
to break ban and write to them.”
I nodded. “Then, it'll be up to you to get those
people tried and out themselves, but what you do is you get those people to
Angola where they can deal with them there.”
He smiled and said, “They'll never find each
other.”
“No, and by the time they do, we'll be strong
enough to get them when they come back.”
They began sorting through the boxes as I went
back to my post.
My cell phone rang and I answered it. “They're
now leaving the stop. They're two blocks away.”
“Ok”
I yelled. “They're two blocks away. Man your
posts!”
Bear winked at me and said, “Kid, this is the
moment of truth.”
“Yeah, get me another pistol.”
“They're all taken. If I fall, I'll get you my
weaponry.”
“Fuck it, I'll go get Alex and Beck's. They're
not going to need them there.”
I ran to the conference room. They're two blocks
away. Give me your weaponry.”
“Why?”
“We're fighting a war and you're in there not
using them.”
“Alex said. “I'll give you all mine but one. IF
they make it this far, we're going to need something.”
“Ok, but Beck, I need all of yours. I'm planning
on being seen shooting. If I'm not, then the guys are going to wonder what the
hell I've done to them.”
“Ok, but don't shoot that one there.”
“Why not?”
“You see the red one? It's tear gas. I
accidentally shot one of those in my house and the whole afternoon was ruined
while I aired the house out.”
I chuckled and Alex smiled. She laughed and
said, “You only do that once.”
“I hear that!”
I got three from Alex and Beck's. I went back to
my spot and got there just as the first truck stopped. I heard guys getting out
and no shooting.
Little John went to the door and Michael came
in. “We'll burn you out and then, we'll take no prisoners.”
Little John said, “Then you'll be our first
capture. Put your weapon down, or my men will blow you to hell.”
“Michael handed him the weapon and little John
brought him up past me and to the conference room. I walked behind them.
Just
as they were entering the door, Michael shoved little John and tried running
back towards me. I shot him in the lower leg and said, “Now, get your ass back
up and you get the fuck in that room. If I shoot again, we'll have your trial
over your corpse.”
“You'll have to do it then.”
“Like you're going to run anywhere.”
He was sitting on the floor holding his leg. I
walked past him and drug him backwards into the room by his hair. His grunts of
pain were stifled when I quit pulling him.
Alex came over and lifted him
into a front seat. He said, “Beck, keep him under gunpoint. Do a clean heart
shot if he chooses to get up.”
I went up front and took aim. I shot Michael's
other leg. “That will keep him from moving.
Michael yelled. “Rhette, you're the first one
I've ordered killed.”
“I doubt that happens. But thanks for more
evidence. What I'll do is I'll save it for the reason you die. Take a look up
there at the lectern. Those are all your files from your basement. Now you know
the reason for the stop and go at that checkpoint.”
He looked shocked. “Your wife and children are
in the basement. The Cardinal gave us information as to when he left your
house. As soon as you left, Alex got them. Now you know what I've got on my
side. Let's have trial.”
I turned to Beck. “Feel free to abuse in any
manner you see fit.”
I turned to Alex. “Get the man stripped and get
him wrapped in a sheet. He's not been fully checked for weapons, so that has to
be done.”
I heard Alex say, “Off with everything from the
waste up.”
“No.”
I stepped over and hit Michael in the back of
the head with my rifle stock. He slumped and I turned to Alex. “Get him laid
out on the floor. Get him undressed, and then leave him buck assed naked with
his chair up in front of the lectern facing out. I'll be behind him and I'll
stay moving. If he tries anything, I'll blow his head off in front of the whole
room.”
Alex pulled Michael out onto the floor and said,
“I'll have to roll him to get his clothes off.”
“You got a knife? Cut them off. He's not going
to need them any longer.”
Alex began stripping him and that's when I heard
gunshots begin. Right after the first few, I heard a whole bunch of them
happening at once.
I took off running and leaned over the railing
of the mezzanine. A man was looking in a window upon someone laying upon the
floor. I took aim and did a good clean heartshot through the glass. He fell and
I began scanning again.
Over by the door, someone was attempting to make
entry. I shot and his head splattered against the other door.
Another quick scan resulted in another person
looking in the window. I shot and he fell holding his left shoulder. I took aim
again and shot. This time I knew he'd not get up as his head exploded.
A ricochet echoed off the wall to my right. I
took another scan and saw someone leaning through a broken window. I aimed and
shot just about the same time someone else did. That man's head went two
different directions in a splatter.
I looked to my right and saw Bear was on the
floor laying aiming with his pistol down the steps. I went over and he looked
up with a shock.”
“They took out all of the guys downstairs in one
full swoop I think.”
“How many have we gotten.”
“From the sound of it, they didn't run far if
they ran. I think we're cleaning up the ones who are left.”
“Ok, let's get a good report from our men in the
upstairs windows and then we'll see. Until then, lets keep doing scans and
killing anyone that attempts to enter.”
My cell phone rang. “Yeah”
“This is Eric upstairs to the front. We've got a
stack of bodies out front. I think they're all dead.”
“Do head shots to double check. We'll drag the
corpses and use the fire hoses to clean up the mess. How many are hurt
upstairs?”
“None that I know. I'll do a quick run around
and check.”
“No, do the head shots and make sure we're not
having anyone get up and run off or come running back at us.”
“Ok, you'll hear sporadic firing, but that's
doing our clean up.”
“Thanks. Get back to me when the men are done.”
“Ok”
“A machine gun burped out back.”
“Bear, get to the back. If they're coming in the
back, then we've got a problem.”
“There's no way I can get down there without
going down to the arcade.”
“There's no back stairs?”
“No”
“Ok, let me do some calls. Fuck we should have
left some pistols with the help.”
My cell phone rang. “Yeah”
“This is maintenance. I just got the
motherfucker with the burp gun. He took a hammer to his head about how I
figured.”
“I thought you were upstairs manning a fire
hose!”
“I got trapped down here.”
“Ok, get that machine gun and use it. IF anyone else makes it past, then use it
at will. Stay put and don't shoot me when I come for you.”
“You're coming!”
“I'm the only one left who you know I think.”
“They're all dead!”
“I have no clue, but a lot of people are dead.”
“Man!”
I hung up and my cell phone rang. “Yeah”
“Little John here.”
“No it's not.”
“Rhette damn it! It's me, I'm shot.”
“Ok, prove to me it's you.”
“Don't play this game. I'm dying.”
“Prove it, or I'll hang up.”
“You've got two hundred of my men in South
Carolina. You've got a huge house which is your boyfriends which should be a
fucking hotel. We're raising it and....”
“Ok, it's you. Where are you at?”
“Down behind the front desk.”
“I'll get there. Hang on.”
“Don't you do a fucking thing!”
“How can I get you out of there a different
way.”
“The elevator comes out to a hall. Go to the
right and you'll see a door real fast to the left. That's the back office
behind the wall where the front desk is located. It's a big long office and at
the other end is another door leading to a hall that doesn't go through to the
arcade, but it goes to the front deck.”
“Ok, I'll get there.”
“Rhette, send someone else.”
“Ok, I'll send Bear.”
“He still alive?”
“Yeah.”
“We took a huge loss of life here.”
“I know.
We'll reform and we'll figure out what we did wrong tactically.”
“Who's got the burp gun?”
“That maintenance man does now. He put a hammer
in the head of the guy that had it.”
“SO that means our flanks are exposed.”
“A guy upstairs is doing a body count out front. If he only had 90 men, then I
know for a fact there's 86 who are unaccounted for because I killed 4.”
“Son of a bitch!”
“I was in the conference room stripping Michael
when this shinding started.”
“The bullets came so fast.”
“That's what they're supposed to do. You're
supposed to stay out of their way.”
“I'll do that next time. Get someone down here.”
“I'll get Beck to take care of you.”
“I'd appreciate it.”
I got off the phone and said, “Bear, I need you
to get to the elevator and go to the first floor. Hustle out to the right and
in that door to the left. It'll be a long room and a door will be at the other
end. You'll need to get there and then take a quick right to get to that area
behind the main desk. Little John is down there and he's shot. Get him to the
conference room and let Beck treat him.”
“Ok”
“He agrees we took a helluva loss of life.”
“We should have left our trucks out front so
they couldn't get theirs up close. We're fucking lucky they didn't use truck
bombs.”
“We'll learn from this and never use this plan
again.”
“Rhette, you're going to have a bad time
explaining this to their families.”
“It's with the territory. We all know it could
happen.”
“They should have died for Kansas City, not in
some other city.”
“You judging me now! Where were the fucking
doubts before this God damned thing
started?”
“I'm not judging. Don't get riled.”
“Ok, it's just that I'm as sick as you. These
guys were my men....MY MEN, not some city which I didn't lose a drop of blood
for, but MY CITY! Yes I know I've got to explain it to those people, but
they've got to realize we'll do the same for Kansas City if the need arises.”
“Let's hope because we're tactically at a loss
over there now.”
“No we're not. I know we've got a lot more men.
They'll have to work harder, but we'll get this thing hashed and it'll be a
black day on our calendar.”
“I'll go get little John. Don't get yourself
killed.”
“I'll try not.”
He came over and hugged me. “I'm damned glad my
charge never died.”
“You'll be thanked when the time comes. Believe
me on that.”
“I don't want anything.”
“Hon, we do it and you know it. In order for the
new recruits to come in, the older ones have to be promoted. We'll get it
done.”
“You fall into the role of manager so easy.”
“Hon, it's a bad day. These men died for me. I'm
at fault and I've got to shoulder the burden. The way to not falling is to
never let anyone see you stumble. Believe me when I tell you I'm stumbling.
I've been head of this for less than a week and I've already gotten a lot of
men killed.
But
enough of the sentiments. I've got to get you there to save little John. IF
he's dead before you get there, get me his cell phone. That'd be a tactical
nightmare if that thing fell into the wrong hands.”
“Oh jeesh, if he dies, what happens?”
“We're in a world of shit. Someone might get in
there who isn't me and then, I'd be dead.”
“Ok, I'll get him and keep him alive.”
“Keep your head on yourself. Don't get seen.
I'll keep watch up here for people from the front, but I have no clue what's to
the rear. Apparently that flank has a whole in it.”
“That's going to be hard to defend because
they'll be in here.”
“Yeah, but we'll get it done.”
“You and who's army?”
“Didn't I say WE'LL get it done? I'll stand with
you until I fall and then, I'll die fighting to see you're safe. We've got all
our people upstairs who are still alive.”
“Thank God.”
“Now get a move on, he's losing blood.”
“Ok”
He went and then, I heard a gunshot towards the
hallway. I started to go that direction when I saw some movement to the front
of the building. I took aim and fired. The guy fell and then began to crawl out
to the street. Suddenly I heard another shot and saw the man stop moving.
The hardest part of fighting a war is realizing
you're the only one left to hold a main battle line. It's an eerie feeling.
Your senses are firing like lightning bolts and all your senses are on full
alert. Smells, colors, and sounds are telling you all sorts of things.
I
heard footsteps to my right. I whirled and saw Alex. “He's dead.”
“Ok, take a pistol and keep guard with me to the
front.”
“No one's left down there?”
“Alex, this one was a motherfucker. Even if we
manage to say we've won, we've lost a whole helluva lot of men.”
“Mine are staying put behind those lines. Yours
are dead, but we'll work on that. I know you've got a lot more.”
“Spoken like a true leader. Always remember
those weren't your men who died out there.”
“It's going to be a mess here. I fully expect
the other bunches to not come and be tried and to fight us.”
“I'm calling in reinforcements from all over.
We'll have this town by dark.”
“Who've you called in?”
“Not one call yet. Bear went down to get little
John. He's been shot, but once I get that cell phone of his, I'll be making
that call.”
“IF I were him, I'd have it in code.”
“I don't know how he has it, but I know he's got
all the numbers of the world in that thing.”
He smiled. “You will some day too.”
“IF I can make it beyond this point on letting
all those people in Kansas City know their people died.”
“It'll be hard, but that's what we live with.
Those families know that's what they live with too and trust blindly you'll get
them survivor's benefits.”
“They've got that coming.”
I looked at him and said, “Alex, date that guy
and get yourself some happiness. Work here and find someone you can trust completely
and work together with him or her to get this city over onto the right side of
things.”
“You're not dead yet.”
“No, but I'm stumbling. I'm in this fucking mess
and I don't really like it right now.”
He smiled. “Rhette, you're feeling the thoughts
all great generals think after a war. They make it and they learn from them.
Interestingly, a lot of them go through this time after time and manage to
stand.”
“They've got to be some really psycho sons a
bitches. I'm reeling after this one and all it is is a few men compared to
those losses.”
“It's because you love these guys. You might not
know them, but you love them just the same.”
“Yeah”
“Michael moved.”
“You did what you were told.”
“Beck did. He used some severe psych out on us
and told us the reason we weren't hearing shots were because we were all dead.”
“It's a wonder we weren't. They apparently
didn't have any grenades, or stun grenades because this would have been a real
mess had they.”
“I'll get our ordinances up to where they
should, but right now we've got to do a count.”
“It's being done.”
“We've still got people?”
“Upstairs. All of them down there are apparently
dead.”
“Fuck”
“Yeah, but when the count clears, we'll get them
cleaned up.”
My cell phone rang. “Eighty one.”
“Ok, can you see under the canopy?”
“No”
“Ok, come down and lets get to dragging bodies.
I think they're all gone.”
I hung up and said, “Let's get down there and
get to stacking bodies. We've got a trial yet and this is a huge problem.”
“Ok, what's left not accounted for?”
“Nine but they can't see under the canopy and
any who are out back. I know one is in the basement, so that's another. “
He looked surprised and said, “I'll go get the
freezer truck. Get the guys out front and do clean up under the canopy.”
I went down the stairs with a full sweeping
motion of doing a scan. A man at the bottom of the steps looked up at me and
said, “Don't let me die.”
“I'm not. I've got to go do a sweep and then,
we'll get medical care in.”
I went over to the side of the door where the
crow bar stood. I used it to pull up the blocks of wood we'd nailed. Then, I
opened the door to get out. I stepped over the man I'd killed and for the first
time, I saw the bodies littering the street and realized the police would
really think this was a bad war.”
When I got to the corner, I saw someone sitting
there. I did a quick shot with my pistol to his head and then, saw three more
laying under the canopy. I walked quickly to each one and put a bullet to their
head.
I
had to stop to do a quick mental add up of what I had so far. I came up with
87.”
I went to the next side door and saw two more.
That made the total eighty nine. I heard one shot at the back and knew either
it was Alex shooting or being shot. Tears came to my eyes until I saw the truck
come up around the corner.
The truck we had was a 24' bed pizza delivery
truck. It had a roll up back door with a lift on the back.
Some men came out and I said, “Ok, we're all we
got. Do the clean up of the street first and then, let's get our own inside.
Lastly, up in the conference room is Michael.”
“Ok”
The door rolled up and we began stacking bodies
on the lift. It took three men to a body and I lifted until I didn't think I
could lift anymore. Then, I lifted more.
Inside the truck, we stacked them like cord wood. The freezer was on full blast
and although the door was open wide, I had to stay close to the door in order
to not get chills.
Alex came up to me and said, “Rhette, go in and
get a porter's cart. Start getting them on that and getting those brought out.”
“Ok”
I went in and found the manager staring at all
the bodies. HE smiled at me and said, “I'm glad to see you're still here.”
“Me too. I need a porter's cart.”
“I'll get it for you. IS it alright to get my
people down to help?”
“Yeah. What do you have left?”
“No losses.”
“No, who all did you send home. We've got to do
a clean up and get a lot done.”
“Most of my people chose to stay. They're in the
upper two floors.”
“Ok, offer anyone who will help quadruple wages
for the week if they'll help. If not, then have them do a clean up and get the
business prepared to reopen.”
“All of their guys dead?”
“Yeah and all these dead here are mine.”
“Man!”
“Yeah, it's a tough loss.”
“You ok?”
“I'll be ok just as soon as I get over this loss
and then, I'll give myself a huge ass chewing and then, I'll have a lot of
remorse. After all that, I'll be fine.”
“Give me a call if you need to talk.”
“Your maintenance man down there is going to
need help. He took one out.”
“HE did!”
“Yeah, their clean up man had a machine gun. He
made it into the basement and got a hammer to the head.”
“Good guy.”
“Yeah, it would have been bad.”
He got me the porter's cart and then began
helping me load several bodies on at a time. I rolled it to the doorway where
the guys outside would take it and get it's cargo loaded onto the truck.
Amazingly
fast, the guys came on and several went upstairs to hose the street. A
few guys went to the fire hose reel and broke into it. They reeled it out and
then began hosing the side side walk
and under the canopy.
The guys who were inside were carrying bodies.
When they were through, I pointed over and said, “That man needs medical care.”
One of them looked at the other and said, “Do
you recognize him?”
“No, he's not one of ours.”
“Well, he's one of the dead then.”
I said, “Guys, we need him as a witness for the
trial. We've got to clean up and then, we're going to have a trial.”
I pulled out my cell phone and called Paparik.
“The war is over. We need a fire crew in to wash down the street again and
then, we'll be ready for our glass man.”
“Thank God you're still alive! That was the most
intense fight I've ever seen and I've been in 'nam.”
“WE took a lot of losses, but we're doing fine.”
The housekeeping crew took to cleaning up the
arcade. I saw a few splintered spots in the paneling behind the desk and
asked the manager, what are we going to
do about that?”
“In a moment, that area will be papered and will
have some photos hanging. It'll be like new.”
“I don't see many spots if any where there were
chips in the marble.”
“Me neither. We took a light toll to our
building, but your men sure took a loss.”
“That's fine, we'll regroup. Our goal now is to
get things under way.”
Beck came walking by pushing the porter's cart.
A covered sheet was on it. She looked depressed.
I went over and began pushing it with her.
“Rhette, I want out.”
“Beck, it's bad right now, but it'll get
better.”
“You're not understanding, this isn't for me.”
“OK, let's give it a rest period and then if you
decide you want out, I'll let you out. Can I have two weeks?”
“Yes if you'll not kill me to let me out.”
“You've got my word I'll retire you out and have
you so you'll never have to work again.”
“I killed him.”
“I know.”
“All he did was move and I killed him.”
“Beck, who knew what was on the man's mind. He
was a manipulator. He could do anything and use it against you.”
“I know.”
“So you did the right thing. He was ordered and
you were told to shoot if he moved. He didn't listen one more time and you
followed orders better than he.”
We got to the truck and got Michael's body into
the truck.
“Jesus Christ, this is a lot of people!”
“Yeah, but we'll get them taken care of and
sorted. The ones who get returned home are going to go. The ones that get the
unknown grave don't.”
“You act like it doesn't matter to you!”
“Hon, I've fallen apart. I'm kicking myself in
the ass mentally, but if I don't stay in control, our men will see it and I'm
an unfit leader in their eyes.”
“How many did you kill?”
“Five or six. One of them I shot and then,
someone else shot him from an upper window. Another, was sitting there at the
corner, but I don't know if he was dead previously or not. I know I definitely
killed four.”
“How do you handle it?”
“They were enemies. They had no meaning to me.
Look at Michael as an enemy and you'll
see his death has no meaning.”
“You really mean that, don't you?”
“Hon, I'm going to ask you a question and then
you'll see how I take it.
In
a stock car race, you have laps. In order to get to the finish, you have to go
around the track and get a lap done. You've got to pass people and get to the
front. Now, do you make each lap count when you do it?”
“Yes.”
“What about those people you pass? Does that lap
matter to them?”
“Yes”
“Ok, so when you're up and you're at the end of
the race in the next to the last lap and you're neck in neck with someone else,
who's going to win?”
“Me if I do my best.”
“Ok, so you do that and that guy comes in second.”
“Ok”
“Now, whose name gets put on the trophy?”
“Mine.”
“Fifty years from now, are you going to remember
the man who was in second?”
“No”
“Then look at all these people who were enemies
and Michael as those people you passed. Look at Michael as that guy who came in
second.”
“You really look at things a different way than
me.”
“I've got to. Now, we've got to prepare for
trial and get this place back to running. Did you find that file labeled
bastard?”
“Yes.”
“Ok, let me get it and then I'll get it to the
man.”
Alex came in and said, “The truck is parked back
in the spot it was. It's a lot harder backing up only using those side mirrors
than I imagined.”
“Yes, it is.”
I flipped open my phone and called little David.
“Yes”
“This is Rhette. The war's over and we've won.
What I need for you to do is get your people down here.”
“What about the Michaels?”
“If you can get them to come, then do so.”
“I've got Tammy here. Is Michael alive?”
“No”
“Ok, then she'll feel better. “
“He's still being tried. So tell her we'll need
her testimony.”
As I said this, I began walking to the basement
into the restaurant. I went to the walk in cooler and opened the door.
“I've got to get off the phone.”
“Ok, we'll be there.”
“Find a spot where everyone can meet that the
cars won't be looking suspicious to be parked. Get everyone's keys and label
them. A lot of them won't be coming back to drive them so we'll need to have
them labeled.”
“Ok”
I got off the phone and hugged Michael's wife.
“It sounded bad.”
“It was.”
“Is he alive?”
“No, but we're still going to try him.”
“Ok, that's a relief.”
Robert came over and hugged me. “Mom explained
things to me. Thank you for what you're doing.”
“Ok, but I didn't do anything.”
He smiled and said, “You're doing a lot.”
Well come upstairs and we'll get you a suite
where we can all have some time to prepare for the trial.”
I flipped open my phone and called the glass
man. “Hello?”
“This is Rhette down at the Gateway. We're
ready.”
“I'll be right there. I've got a lot of extra
help on so we won't be long.”
“You'll need a bucket truck. One of the windows
up high is broken.”
“We've got it.”
I got off the phone and called the police chief.
“Hello?”
“This is Rhette. Are you about ready?”
“Yeah. Let me tell my secretary and then I'll be
leaving.”
“Ok I'll
give you a call in a moment and tell you where to meet me.”
“I'll be waiting.”
I went to Alex and said, “How's little John?”
“Beck's treating him and he's doing fine. It
looked bad, but it went clean through.”
“He need surgery?”
“He said he's going to wait until after the
trial.”
“Ok, I need the keys to the pizza truck.”
“Why?”
“I've got to deliver a file and then what I'm
going to do is take it to the airport to get the bodies separated and loaded. I'll
need the men to fly out in the choppers. Call your men and tell them the
choppers can fly now.”
“Ok You're driving it alone?”
“Yes. I'm going to go get the police chief and
deliver some files to him. I'll need a chopper ready so we can leave the truck
with you guys and fly up over the city.”
“Ok”
I took the keys and then went to the truck. It
started and I drove up to the road block. They let me through and then I called
the police chief.
“Yes.”
“Meet me out front of the police station. I'll be driving a pizza truck.”
“Ok”
I went around and came down Market. When I got
to the front of the station, I pulled up and honked. I heard a pound on the
door and reached over to let him in.
He got in and said, “You surprised me. I was
expecting a small delivery truck, not a big refrigerator truck.”
“Behind us are all the bodies. We're going to
the airport because we've got to separate and get them on the plane which they
need to go on.”
“You and I?”
“No, the guys. They'll drive the truck back down
as we fly in one of my choppers.”
“Is it ok to open the street yet?”
“No. There will still be people dying, but it's
this afternoon when the trial happens.”
“OK”
“If we let people through, then they could be
witness to people coming in or the bodies being taken to the truck.”
“That's understandable.”
“Here is the file. I don't know if there are
more, but that's the one. The other one I'll discuss with you in a moment.”
“Ok, thanks.”
He looked inside and said, “It's amazing how
just a few papers and photos can make someone change so much.”
We drove to the airport and got out of the
truck. The guys were there and they began to unload the truck.
The police chief and I walked over to a chopper
and I got in the pilot's seat. He got in up front and I showed him how to strap
in.
“You can fly?”
“Yeah, there's not much I can't drive, fly, or
motivate.”
“That's surprising.”
“You didn't look closely at my file. That's why
they set my bond so high.”
“I never looked at it. I had a printout of your
rap sheet and that's it.”
“Ok”
“What are we doing now?”
“We're going to fly.” I took it up and then took
us out over the river. I had clearance below five thousand feet and used it.
We got to Kevin's mom's subdivision and I said,
“Down there is a woman I want harassed to the point she snaps. Then, I want
them arrested time and time again until they beg forgiveness of their son.”
“Who is he?”
“My ex Kevin.
His mom is a bitch. We bought her a house and then, when he needed her,
she wouldn't even let him stay in that house.”
“Nice digs.”
“Yeah and not a penny of theirs paid for a
thing. Now, they're going to have to get jobs and pay for things.”
“You hold a grudge.”
“Let me ask you something and then you can
understand where you'd be in this situation.”
“Ok”
“What would you do if you met your wife and her
mom wouldn't come see your wife because of a mistake your wife made a long time
ago? Then, you get up the courage to call the woman and ask her to visit your
wife and the woman comes up with every excuse in the book except an honest
choice of words which tells you she just doesn't want to come visit.
Then,
your wife gets the financial ability to buy her parents a nice home and you
agree to do so. You do it and then, one day, you split up with your wife and she
goes home only to find out her mom won't let her enter the house because she
married you.”
“Oh man.”
“Yeah. I want the bitch harassed. I want her to
know things happen to those who hurt the ones we love. I want her to know I'm
the one and I want her to have the courage to dare ask Kevin to make me stop.”
“She won't try that, will she?”
“She can try, but I'll tell Kevin the second I
see a hand written check come in from the woman for the money I invested in it,
I'll gladly take it personally and will call it off. I want the opportunity to
tell her to her face what a bitch she's been. When that day comes, no one and
not even Kevin will stop me. IF that's holding a grudge, then I'm carrying it
like a dingleberry because that's where the bitch deserves to be held.”
He chuckled and said, “You going to get me those
tapes?”
“What can you do?”
“I've spoken with the commissioner. That man is
about to retire with full benefits from the department. IF he retires out, he's
going to get a good income and have the ability to use the experience to open a
private detective service.
Should
I get those tapes and should I get the proof I need, the commissioner can use it to fire him and get him out of the
police department without any benefits and ability to claim he was anything but
a failure.”
“Ok, now I'm going to ask a favor. When that day
comes, can you promise me you'll hand him over to me personally so I can have
my guys work him over and get more things he's done out of him? And will you
promise me the ability to get an investigation done against him with criminal
prosecution when those revelations occur?”
“Yes.”
“Ok, then I'll get Kevin's testimony and the
tapes.”
“All we need are the tapes. Enough has been done to him. IF the tapes show the
abuse occurred, it's credible enough.”
“That doesn't bring closure to Kevin. Let him
have the ability to give testimony.”
“Ok”
I flipped open my phone. “Yeah hon.”
“I've got someone with me who wants to view the
tapes of your questioning. He promises to look at them and get something done.”
“Who?”
“It's the police chief. He's got the word of the
commissioner that they'll get the guy kicked off the force right before he
retires.”
“Ok, what else?”
“If you want to testify, you can. I think it
will help bring closure to that ordeal for you mentally, but he says the tapes
are proof enough.”
“I'll testify.”
“Ok, let me see when he will take your
deposition.”
I turned to the police chief and he said, “Tell
him anytime. Give him my cell number and whenever he comes in, I'll take him to
my office directly to get those statements. I'll have the commissioner there
and then we both can hear what happened.”
“Did you hear that?”
“They're not going to pull anything are they?”
“Hon, I promised that if they do that I'd pull a
howitzer up in front of the station and start blasting away until they learn a
pile of rubble isn't going to make up for a thing they do. If you feel
uncomfortable, I'll have Alex walk with you personally in there and then you'll
know nothing will happen.”
“Who's Alex?”
“He's my guard. He's now over St. Louis.”
“Huh? What happened to Michael?”
“Michael died this morning. I chose Alex to lead
the city, so he's in there.”
“You!”
“Yeah, I'm over Missouri and Florida now.”
“Rhette!”
“Too late Kevin. The days of you stopping me are
over. You love me and you worry, but I'll be fine.”
“That's insane!”
“Kevin, it's business. Leave it be and just know
I'm doing what I do.”
“What about Steve?”
“Steve and I are still together. He knows
everything and although he doesn't like it, he's supportive.”
“Oh shit!” he said sounding resigned.
“Kevin, it'll be ok.”
“You're jeopardizing everything.”
“Kevin, listen to me and you listen good. How in
the fuck do you think we'd get him in the Governor's mansion? How in the fuck
do you think we'd do everything he's promised to do without having help? How in
the fuck to you think I would dare let him get involved in anything by simply
trusting anyone's word? I got control and now, I know no one is going to call
in any favors because I'm that person.”
“What about the feds?”
“More of them are on my payroll than you know.”
“OH fuck.”
“Kevin, I didn't call about this. It's not for
you to judge. I love you, but I'm doing favors and getting favors. You testify
and you do yourself good. You get that man stopped so I can get in and get my
people to find out who all else has been hurt and abused in the name of
justice. Then, they'll prosecute him on everything.”
“Ok, I'll do it.”
“Thanks. Now I've got to go.”
“Give me a call later.”
“I'll try, but it'll have to be on the jet going
back home. His dad's visitation is tonight and I've got to be there.”
“Ok, should I go?”
“I thought you were closing on the properties?”
“I did. It's over.”
“Ok, then get there. Wear a dark suit and I'll
see you then.”
“Love you.”
“Love you back.”
I hung up and said, “He'll testify, but I don't
know when.”
“You sounded like you were in charge of the
relationship.”
“No, we were in it together, but I definitely
was in charge of the break up.”
“What happened?”
“A lot of shit. It all stems from my being
beaten in a contract hit put out by the police chief up home.”
“Oh really. That man is in my station.”
“Hmmmm, then make him fall down a few times.”
“I can't do it.”
“Let me tell you something. That man's not going
to get a slap on the wrist. If he does, I guarantee you he'll fall down the
steps of the courthouse the second a shot rings out.”
“You'll order it?”
“No, I promise to do this one personally. You
take it to the bank. Now either arrest me for the threat or just rest knowing
I'll do it and then, I'll calmly walk down the steps get into a limo and drive
off. You'll never try me and you won't have a chance to arrest me because none
of your people there will see a thing. Those who do will be guaranteed to never
make it to trial.”
“Ok, I'll make calls.”
“Sir, I've got a friend that's the Governor.
I've made calls. He was there when I was beaten and he was there for me when I
recovered. That friend also promises me the man won't walk. I'll tell you now I
don't need the man's legs broken to see he doesn't walk, but what I want is
safeguards in place so I'm not there pulling a trigger at lady liberty's
blindfold.”
“You don't trust the justice channel do you?”
“No, not one drop. A phone call got probation
ripped from me and made me do time when it was a given in a plea bargain. Since
then, I've not seen a thing which leads me to believe it's gotten better. Lawyers wear rubbers. They fuck you
and then they cash the checks from charging an exorbitant fee to defend you.
It's a game of who can take money from the poor and give it to their banker.
Well, when I'm involved, it's not a game. I don't think it's a game for
everyone else either.”
“I see it a lot.”
“And it's not fun.”
“No, but watching a guilty man walk due to a
lawyer's actions isn't good either.”
“Well, to me, it's a lot better than seeing
people raped and not doing a thing about it. I'll tell you now, there's not a
second that I'd have your job because I'd be up on the stand telling what I
know to get those people released.”
“I have to know my job isn't in regards to
that.”
“Let's see....you'll arrest an extortionist and
yet, you'll let a lawyer have a grandmother pawn her heirloom jewelry to defend
a man who will get sent up. You'll arrest me for racketeering because I collude
with others to do something, but you'll let a lawyer make a back room deal to
fuck someone over and out of their liberty, but it's out of your hands?
Excuse
me while I throw up.”
He grimaced.
“Dude, that's why I won't have your job. We made
a deal and I'll fulfill it. As for respecting you as a person. I'll do it. In
regards to the bars and uniform, don't expect a drop of respect.”
“Will you fulfill what you've said to me about
the family?”
“I'll do that. Now, what I expect from you is
for you to have a hands off attitude with Alex. I expect to be notified if the
feds come knocking on your door requesting investigations of him. If that ever
so happens, I want you to stall them and me to get him the fuck out of this
country. He's already done enough he'll never be extradited, but given today is
an immunity day, I guess it doesn't count.”
“He killed people!”
“I killed four and probably more! It was a
fucking war!”
“I didn't know.”
“They killed sixty people of mine. We killed 90
of theirs plus Michael. When I get back, I've got to try and kill more. It's
not a fun world today, but I've got to make it to the end to fulfill my
agreement with you guys.”
“You're going to kill them?”
“Listen. This up here is between you and I. This
chopper is jamming anything you've got on you and I know it's not happening.
When I go into trial, it's me who has to crush and chop off hands. It's me that
has to bring down that axe. I've done it before and I'll do it again to keep
order and civility in this organization. B
ecause
of those deaths, we don't have the bombings.
The restaurant shootings, or the gangland style hits. Those days are
over. We now take them to trial. IF there's evidence enough, the person dies. It's that simple, but as
their leader, I'm the one who has to do it.”
“Ok, I suspected so, but now I get an honest
answer.”
“If your phones were bugged with recording
devices, you didn't get a thing did you?”
“No”
“And that sir is how I keep it. If I make stupid
mistakes, then I pay the consequences. If I don't, then I live to see another
day in this life and I get to make the big deals.”
“I've got to ask. Are these deals extortion?”
“No. What they are is a business arrangement. If
you run a corporation, you've got staff which sucks you dry for a low wage and
you offer them benefits. IF I hire them, and put them under me, then it's my
staff and you pull up your profits.”
“How if I'm paying you to do the same thing?”
“Write offs. Tax abatements. Tax incentives and
just good old fashioned hiding the pickle.”
“Huh?”
“Fucking the government with green. There are
things they don't need to know which most people don't realize they don't need
to know. If I show you the things they look for and don't look for on your
taxes, then you save money by not being taxed upon them.”
“Like what?”
“Oh fuck. Let's see...if you have a business
car, you write everything off and then you hang onto the receipts. You write
off milage, depreciation, and you write off giving the personal miles to a
person who drives it.
What
the government does is they look at the number and say “Ok, that looks like a
fair number, but it's a little low so maybe the guy's only driving a Chevy
instead of a Cadillac. You see, that information never goes in to them. So,
knowing that you are holding the receipts for your three years like a faithful
taxpayer, they give you the benefit and don't audit you.”
“Ok, so what's wrong there?”
“I've said a key word there and they don't know
any difference. If you write off you're buying, and depreciating a Cadillac,
they don't know. You bump up the miles and you throw in a few extra gas
receipts from your personal stash at home. It's credited to the car and you've
wrote it off.”
“That's not honest.”
“Let's see...did the IRS call you in for an
audit? No. Did they call and ask you to show proof of the Cadillac? No. Did
they question any of the write offs? No. And that's because they hedge the fuck
out of you in knowing what you can write off and can't. I'm saying you do that
with enough cars and you're seeing a savings.”
“SO that's several thousand dollars. Where's the
rest?”
“All sorts of things. Your write them off. You
report them when you don't do them. You write off building improvements which
aren't done. You do it and do it and soon you're at several million and
climbing.”
“They catch people like that.”
“No, they hang those out and use them as
examples. Do you think Enron went under only to be suddenly found? Or do you
think Enron went under and a lot of wealthy people bitched to high heaven about
it and losing money. Don't you think it was those voices being well connected
that got their interest? Hell yeah they hang them out to dry! BUT, you don't
hear about anything happening to a lot of the other big corporations I have
under me going down and I can guarantee you they're doing it.”
“So they hire you and then you staff their
people.”
“Yeah, and what I do is I staff the high
turnover people. I take the government's money to train them and I find them
places to work if they actually want to work. I'll tell you now, there are a
lot of people out there who don't really want to work.”
“We're getting that too.”
“I'll tell you what it is and then you'll see.
Kids today have it a lot easier than you or I had it. They work their
government sanctioned hours at McDonald's and then, they think they've worked
hard. I'll tell you now, four hours standing around isn't hard work.
What
happens is you put them in a factory, and you have them work 8 hours, these kids
go into shock. Their Nintendos didn't prepare them for it and McDonald's sure
didn't make them work as hard as they will there.
BUT,
where it used to be was a lot of factories were out in the countryside of
America. They had no on time expectations and they could put out a part. Now,
the factories are expected to put out a part, have it delivered exactly on time
and those factories are moving closer to interstates and closer to the cities
which demand those parts.
In
return, the kids who know hard work on farms aren't getting hired. The workers
who do go to work from them see the money and they work because they need the
money. Those who don't won't work there.”
“I understand. These kids watch television and
think cop work is about what they see on television. They think it's all
exciting and they think it's glamorous. Then, they get the job and they realize
it's a lot of paperwork. It's boring as hell and when they are to a call, the
people aren't going to be nice to them like they expect.”
“So we need reality training in that classroom.”
“Yeah.”
“Ok, it'll be taught. I want them to know what
they're getting into. What I'll do is I'll pay people to sit in a room and fill
out applications and the paperwork for eight hours. Then, I'll have them sit a long
time in between each paper so they're bored out of their skulls.
I'll
have different people come in and speak to them differently. We'll have the bad
ass. We'll have the drunk bitch who screams. We'll have the quiet reclusive
person who looks at some of the girls suggestively. And then, we'll have an old
person who come in and is really confused.
Then,
I'll have them sit there some more and have the person over the program come in
and tell them it's what they can expect if they take the job. It will be their
choice if they want to go through with it, but they'll have an idea of how it
will be.”
He smiled and said, “You get into people's
heads. I like that.”
“It's reality. You've got me who is a normal
person thrown into an unusual world and tries to survive the best he can.
You're dealing with me and at times, I can see you're amused, but at times
you're repulsed. It's called life in this world I'm working.”
“You're choosing to be in it.”
“Yes, and I'm doing it for a reason.”
“To get someone in the Governor's office? I
thought you were friends with the Governor.”
“I am. It's not this state.”
“Oh”
“What you don't know is Steve is wanting to help
a lot of people, but doesn't know how to do it. I can get him all the jobs he
wants, but in doing so, I've got to be there or someone else will be expecting
favors.
There
are special interest groups who will donate money expecting him to sell his
soul. I'll tell you now, I'll run a full check on those and those checks will
be sent back. He doesn't need their money as he has mine.”
“Who is a huge special interest in itself.”
“Sir, I've got a quarter of a billion dollars in
my own bank account that is mine without the other income I receive. So far
this year, just off sales of a program I developed, I have nearly seventy
million dollars. If that can't get him into office, then I'm sorry, but the
cost of that office is too fucking high.
We
can do it without me being in this seat, but I'll tell you now all my money
won't get him the jobs he'll be promising but this job will.”
“So you're going to divert some of your
companies over to that state. Won't it hurt the states who have those jobs
now?”
“One of them is building a port there. The only
way it would hurt anyone here would be in increased jobs. A hundred thousand
jobs at that. That's not hurting anyone here.”
“Son of a bitch! That's a huge promise!”
“Yeah, so when he delivers the jobs, he'll be a
hero. I'll tell you now before he gets into office, I'll have several thousand
jobs there which are for companies which don't even exist right now. One is a
insurance company which will be a lot different than the others. Another is a
hospital company which buys up old hospitals and staffs them. Yes, those could
take jobs from other hospitals but it's because the employees there won't be
overworked and burned out.”
“Ok, I underestimated you. I think you can do
it.”
“I'm also buying up a lot of these bankrupt
airlines and am going to run them as one big company. I'll staff them and I'll
put some different sources of management in there which you'll see me running,
but not.”
“Do you think you'll make it work with the fuel
prices as they are?”
“Yeah because one of the things I'm doing is
investing in building some refineries. We'll build one how the Government wants
it and then, we'll build the rest identical. They sure can't find fault with
that!”
He nodded and said, “Good thinking.”
“The key to that is opening a bunch of gas
stations. I'll tell you now I'll probably buy a huge station company and use
their name. One thing I will do is I'll run them like the QT's are ran here. I
like the operation and I think it's a moneymaker all the way through, BUT, I'll
sell my gas through it and do it for twenty cents cheaper a gallon.”
“Man!”
“Even when they come down in costs, I'll go
lower. They're fucking the United States now, and I'll beat them all the way to
the bottom with them following me all the way. What I know is they've got
shareholders and I don't. They've got to give dividends and I don't. In doing
that, I'll fuck them so hard they'll fake an orgasm to see me finish. Then, I'll tell them I was faking too and
take them on into bankruptcy.”
“Why?”
“They won't sign on with us. They don't need us
and they're protected by our government. They'll try sicking the feds on us,
but the whole time, I'll be exposing them for what they are. I'll show a film
on primetime television like Ross Perot laying out their company versus mine
and I'll be honest with them about what my profits are. Then, I'll tell them
I'll shut the doors if the feds want to push me.”
“Don't”
“No, that's the way it goes. For a long time,
those in Washington haven't heard the public bitch. I think they're hearing it
now, but they'll throw a public hearing and nothing will be done. It's time people
wake up and start voting where there pocketbook is getting picked. Get the old
money grabbers from special interest out and get some in who will be honest.”
“Why don't you have your guy run?”
“Maybe I will, but for me to do so publicly
would require a lot more than I'm doing now. The public doesn't know me as I am
and that's what's hurting me.”
“What do you mean?”
“Only a few people know. What I'm not willing to
do is to share that with anyone more than I am.”
I picked up the phone and called Beck. “Yeah
hon”
“You go to that store?”
“I'm on my way back.”
“Ok, everything there?”
“Yeah, if you want, we'll try them on you.”
“If they don't fit, I'll have to fly this
chopper out there to do a return.”
She laughed and said, “You on your way back?”
“Yeah. I'll land this thing and then we'll take
it out there to get me out of the city. It'll save me some time.”
“Ok, hurry back.”
“I'll beat you there.”
I hung up and said, “I'm landing the chopper in
that intersection and using it to get to the airport. Be expecting us to use
these choppers in our jobs here.”
“Michael has had them.”
“Yes, and apparently, he's not used them to get rid of the thugs and drugs.
I'll have Alex doing it.”
“You've got a nice set up here.”
“Yes, we go the step further than you guys in
jamming. What you don't know is we can pinpoint a cell phone conversation down
there and get numbers. We can intersept those and jam them. Then, we can scan
that vehicle and see what we've got like you, but where we differ is we prepare
them for arrest and do hand overs. Michael wasn't doing that.”
“How does that go?”
“You guys can't violate civil liberties. I can.
You need a court order and I don't. You do all the preparation which gets an
alert out and you don't find anything. I've got the ability to get in, do take
downs, do searches, and then, have the stuff all laying in plain site right
next to the people responsible.”
“They'll flush it.”
“They'll be hogtied. It's that simple. You have
an officer come up and knock on a door and he sees someone laying on the floor.
Fearing for their well being, he can enter. He sees them hogtied and a large
stash of drugs right next to him. He can arrest.”
“Oh man!”
“Yeah. That's how it goes. I'll do that for you
guys.”
“SO that's how you get a city clean, huh?”
“Yeah.”
I landed in the intersection and said, “If you'd
like, you can sit in on the trial. Michael is going to be tried in absentia
since he's already been killed.”
“Why don't you let it die with him?”
“Because the man did enough to deserve that sort
of funeral.”
“You're immune from prosecution today, so I
could sit in on it, couldn't I?”
“Yeah.”
“I'll do that.”
“You want to testify against him?”
“No.”
“What if I expose a lot of things with the
police. Are you going to be pissed?”
“I'll be hurt, but I know we're dirty.”
“Ok, then come on up. If you want, you can go
down and get some lunch. They're open.”
Beck came over and said, “You brought the cops!”
“He's here because we're immune. He's wanting to
see how a trial for us goes. IF we open one up and show him, then he'll know
and we'll have his trust.”
“What if he then chooses to be a witness in the
future as an expert?”
“Let me get that promise he won't.”
“You're going to trust him?”
“Hell yeah! I'm already trusting him. He's
trusting me too. I'm not going to get into bed with the man, but I'll tell you
he'll do a lot more for us if he understands we have our own justice.”
“Ok, I'll second that.”
“You still on board?”
“Hon, it hurts like hell to kill someone.”
“Yes, but those guys I killed today I didn't
feel a thing for. Mine that died, I feel complete sorrow.”
“I can understand that.”
“Then don't look at Michael as being different.”
“Hon, it hurt because I met him and liked him. I
thought you were lucky to get him.”
“I know. I was happy but it was all mirrors and
smoke. The real Michael was underneath there somewhere and he was a real snake.
Consider him that, please.”
“Ok”
“Now, I'll go get that promise and we'll be
fine. It'll be a head trip with some of these who are coming sees he's here.
They'll think I got him to join.”
“You ought to.”
“Nope. Not happening. The man has his pride and
I've got mine. I won't lower myself down to that.”
She smiled and said, “It's a pretty big trophy.”
“So is a great white, but putting up one on the
wall would pull it down. I'm not going to do it.”
She laughed and said, “Hon, you pull this shit
out of your ass in the drop of a hat and I love it. I'll see that man and think
the fish is cuter.”
I laughed and said, “Hon, who all is coming?”
“Alex has calls and he's said everyone is
showing. The Michaels got told you were going to blow them and their house up
with them in it. Rather than have innocents killed, they're coming.”
“Holy Moly! Who told the lie?”
“I kind of did. Little John had me call them and
I spoke to them. I wasn't kind.”
I smiled and said, “Sis, that's the score of
this town!”
“Don't be nice to them. They're not expecting
you to be.”
“I've got to hand over some. What's the files
showing?”
“A lot of bad shit done by some people I
wouldn't suspect.”
“In or out?”
“Both.”
“Ok, Give the ones out to Alex and have him
cultivate those for future use. Those in, I want everything on.”
“They had the files color coded. At first, I
didn't know what the tabs meant, but then we figured them out and got the code
chart on your lectern. Rather than us having a lot of writing for you to read,
we put the files over on the side table and all you've got to do is look at the
color tabs and look on the lectern.”
“Ok, but if it's a crime committed against
someone else in this organization, I needed to know who it was so we're calling
in those people as witnesses.”
“Alex has done it. Now, you've got a meeting in
a suite upstairs with a brewery man. He's waiting.”
“Ok, I'll get on that. What room?”
“Thirty one oh nine.”
“It open?”
“No, but there's a man in the room with him and
one out. He won't jump.”
“Ok. Give the glass company a call and tell them
they did a damned fine job.”
“I'll do that.”
I went up the elevator and got to the thirty
first floor. I went to the room and the guard saw me.
“When I go in, I want you to go in with me. I
want him intimidated and thinking the world is about to end.”
I stepped into the room and said,
“Well...well....well....I hear you're good at borrowing money and not paying it
back.”
“Yeah”
“Well, starting now, I own your brewery.
Starting now, the police chief is downstairs reading a file on you. I gave him
your file and he'll prosecute all offenses including that little murder you
pulled.”
He looked sick.
“You sir, are a dumb fuck. You might have had
shit over Michael, but you don't have a thing over me. You thought because you
didn't have it in writing, you didn't have to pay. Well...a new day has dawned
and we're going to lay this down together. You'll get me the documents for the
brewery and I'll sign over ownership.”
“You can't do that!”
“Sorry, but I have. I'll tell you now, while I'm
at it that if you think your files on your family are unknown, then think
again. I'll use it against them to get their interests too. Any who want to
fight me will die. Any who think they've got room to bargain will find
themselves with the police chief. I think I just got myself a brewery.”
“I'll die first.”
“You'll be killed first. The option for you
dying is over. There's the window. Go over and jump.”
He looked at it and said, “I can't.”
“Then let me do you the favor of hearing your
future go up in smoke.”
I pulled out my cell phone and called. “Yeah”
“Hi, this is the police chief, right?”
“You know it is. Why are you talking this way?”
“I'm sitting here with one of the owners of the
brewery in room 3109. He thinks I haven't handed you his file.”
“I was just looking at it. This is some serious
stuff!”
“Yes, and he now thinks that I'm not prepared to
hand him over to you with that file for you to prosecute.”
“Do you want me too?”
“You were promised big fish today. I'm sure a
lot of these people in these buildings all heard the gunshots earlier and have
questions. Rather than it coming out it was the mafia in a war, you could use
it as a take down on this fucker.”
“That sounds like a heckuva deal.”
“Now what I want is permission to get into this
man's home with my people and get his possessions of value which I need in
return for a large loan he never repaid.”
“You've got a blanket immunity for today. Use
it.”
“Ok, thank you.”
I turned to the guys and said, “Get this
motherfucker's driver's license and go to that address. This man is going to
walk with me and go to the police chief.”
“He's here!”
“Would I joke with you? He's eating lunch in the
basement.”
“I'll give you your money. “
“Ok, where is it located. The shares and the
ownership papers. I'll hold them in case there aren't enough funds.”
“I've got a bank account with more than enough
funds.”
“I'll need those numbers.”
“I've got them memorized.”
I turned to one of the guys and said, “Go to the
arcade and get me that laptop up here. I'll do this up here.”
“Let me call down and get it. I don't feel safe
with you being alone with only one of us in here.”
“Ok, get Alex up here because he's now over the
city.”
He called and said, “Alex? Yeah, Rhette wants
you to get a laptop from the manager and bring it to 3109. Yeah, he's up here
with the man now. Ok, Bye.”
“Dude, you just made the deal for that bank
account to go to me. If it's a double cross, so be it. It won't be when your
ass goes to prison.”
I looked at one of the guys and said, “Get that
pad of paper over there and write the numbers.”
He got it and said, “Ok, go slow.”
The man gave the number and then, he gave the
passwords.
“How much is in it?”
“About four billion dollars.”
“You had that much in the bank and you borrowed
from Michael? What a dumb ass.”
“He wanted me to borrow the money. I didn't need
it but he said it'd be a huge favor for him.”
“You bankrupt our organization is a favor to
him. What was he getting in return?”
“Promises of a cut in on all of our future
distributorships.”
“And you sold it for that much?”
“It's a very lucrative operation.”
“Well, do you have other accounts?”
“Yes.”
“I'm taking this one. You can consider the loan
paid.”
There was a knock on the door and Alex entered.
“Set up the laptop and type in a bank transfer
to your account here from this account number.”
“Ok”
“ON a separate screen, go to that bank and pull
up that account. See if there are that many funds in it.”
“Why?”
“Because I want to see if it's there and then, I
want the feds to be alerted this fucker has been kidnapped which he's trying to
do.”
He looked shocked and I said, “Dude, you tell
people shit and you lie. You think I don't know the game, but I'm very wealthy
too. My bank manager explained it to me and he gave me an account just like
this. He told me to tell them I was more wealthy than I was and to give them my
bank account number. He even told me to memorize it and when in duress, I was
to give it to them. The bank account would register that much so if they did
the transfer, it'd look to be a valid transfer. He even explained to me how the
funds would go over and the feds would freeze the account. What he warned me
was if it happened and they got the funds transferred out of that account fast
enough, and I wasn't actually kidnapped, they feds would be all over my ass and
I'd be responsible for those funds still.
So,
what I'm going to do is have have Alex pull up a third account number for my
Miami account overseas which does indeed have a hundred billion in it. It'll go
in and then, I can have Alex transfer the funds out of my account back to his
and it'll look legit.”
Alex said, “I could transfer the funds directly
to your account.”
“No, because that would have them looking all
over Miami for this man.”
“You want him handed over?”
“I'm giving him to the police chief downstairs.
I fulfill my agreements and this man will find out I do keep my word.”
Alex transferred the entire account over to his
and then hit the send button on mine. It went there and I said, “Now, let's
wait a day to get the smoke to clear and I'll put it back. Ok?”
Alex smiled and said, “There's nothing in this
account?”
“No, Michael bankrupted the account to lend the
money to this man. This man will have me believe he didn't need the money, but
that's his lie. He's now owing the bank that money because he's not kidnapped.”
The guy looked sick.
“Yeah you dumb fuck. The banker is holding those
shares as collateral. I'm sure when he hears you got arrested for murder, he'll
wait for your payments and when they don't come, he'll gladly take ownership of
that brewery. Now, you want to know the laugh? That bank is under my control.
So I do think that's what is going to happen.”
The knock on the door told me the police chief
got my hint. Alex opened it and the police chief entered. “Here he is. All of
us here just got the complete confession out of him. You see he's doing fine
and wasn't roughed up any, so please call me in as a witness.”
“I didn't tell you a thing!” he yelled.
Alex smiled and I said, “Show him you've got the
file.”
The police chief held it out and he said, “I was
reading it while I had my lunch downstairs. It's some devious stuff. You
apparently tried to get away with it, but what Michael was kind enough to do
was to even give me GPS coordinates out there on your farm of where you hid the
body. Once I get out there and find the body, I'll have the proof I need.”
“It was self defense!”
“Really, it's not what you said a minute ago!” I
said.
The police chief countered. “In this file, it
said the person was bound, gagged, and standing in the grave with the trash
sacks already on them when you hit the person with the shovel in the back of
their head.
IT
says you threw the shovel in and then used a front end loader to fill in the
grave. It also said you wanted in the mafia and that's why you wanted Michael
there. It doesn't sound like self defense to me.”
“Michael made me do it!”
The police chief smiled and said, “Rhette was
kind enough to hand me the recording of the phone conversations Michael had
with you with this file.”
“They were in the file. I just handed you the
whole thing. His lawyer might ask for my fingerprints.”
“I'll see to it that doesn't happen.”
The guy made a lunge at me and I shoved him
towards the two guys guarding me. They caught him and threw him back upon the
bed.
The police chief said, “Rhette, can you get
someone to stay with him?”
“Yeah, what we'll do is lock him in a room with
someone who he can try to tell some more lies to keep them entertained.”
I turned to the guards and said, “As you were
gentlemen, we'll be up to collect him when we're finished downstairs.”
Alex took the laptop and I said, “Alex, what
I'll do is take that laptop with me so it's logging in all over the country.
The fed will know they're being played with and they'll realize the guy is
having someone do it to keep up the illusion.”
Alex smiled and said, “Rhette, thanks.”
“No problem hon.”
We all got on the elevator and I said, “Police
Chief, this is Alex. He's the man running the show for St. Louis now. You'll
like him and get complete trust in him as you have me.”
“I think I will. That fish you just threw was a
whale!”
“More coming. Now remember what you see in here
stays in here because if you ever try to testify against anyone in my
organization with your personal knowledge, I'll have you killed.”
“You have immunity.”
“No, you're not understanding me. I want
immunity for everyone on this. Should you try to testify, you will die.”
“I'll forget I was here.”
“This is for your learning experience only.
It'll show you what happens in trial and it'll show you we take care of our
own.”
“Ok”
We went into the conference room. It was packed.
Across the back wall were guards standing with automatic rifles.
“Have all these people been completely
searched?”
“Yes.”
“I haven't. Are you going to do me?”
“No.”
“Good looking out.” I smiled.
Alex chuckled and we went down the aisle. As
people saw the police chief, their intake of breath was of pure shock.
“Gentlemen and ladies, we're calling a trial in
order to prove truths. You're invited because you'll be on trial, or you'll be
a witness to our proceedings.”
Alex stepped in and said, “All rise.”
Everyone rose except little John.
Alex had them all pledge loyalty and then, we
began the proceedings. The first person tried was Michael. I told everyone
since Michael was deceased, we were trying him in absencia so we could
demonstrate the law wasn't above even those who are dead.
The
trial went on and the next person was Big Jimmy. He stood up and came forward.
I opened the file and then, I began to orate how he behaved at the trial given
to him by Gino. I gave witness and then, I called forth little David as a
witness to what his actions were. Then, Tammy was called forward and I saw she
had gained some weight. She testified and then stood down. Then, I called Kevin
who testified what he read in the letters to Big David. When that was over, I
went to the film and began showing the evidence. It completed and I stepped up
and asked Big Jimmy, “How do you plead?”
“Guilty.”
“And you expect what to be your punishment?”
“Banishment.”
“Denied. You purjered yourself in a trial under
oath and you attempted to make a mockery of our laws. You knew this the entire
time you had evidence proving you were guilty. Had you pled then, you probably
would have been banished as Gino was a kind man, but you've been allowed to
live quite well while watching Gino live in humiliation. Since I am entrusted
with his estate and his city, I'll also condemn you to death for those action
on behalf of such.”
I stepped forward and brought down the axe. He
fell and I carried the axe back to the lectern with me.
“Be it known, absolutely no one is above the law
of our families.”
The police chief sat stunned. He face revealed
his true shock and horror of the situation.
I called forth witness after witness in the
Michaels family. When the last one stood, I had condemned fourteen of them to
death and had banished sixty seven. Three were bound over to stand trial for
their actions with the police department. The police chief was handed their
files. Absolutely none of the people mentioned in the file as being witnesses
were members of our organization.
I called little David up to the stand. “Little
David, rather than even attempting to try you for your involvements, I'm going
to spare you. You are hereby promoted to head our organization's facilities in
Dayton, Ohio. Please go forth and commit yourself to the endeavor.”
The next person called up was Peter, little
David's brother. “Pete, rather than trying you for your involvements, your file
is burned. I'll insist you pledge loyalty to me and we'll put you in management
training to head the city I so choose in the nearby future.”
He smiled and I stepped forward. He pledged his
loyalty and then stood. You are now a member of my organization.
Pete turned to his family and said, “He's kept
his word!”
I called up members of that family and either
they retired, or they were banished without benefits. IF there were crimes in
the files, they were tried and they were condemned to death.
When we got to the conclusion, I called Tammy
forward. Tammy, you've demonstrated your loyalty to this organization time and
time again. You are awarded membership vicariously, and I would like to request
you kneel and give me the pledge.
She looked surprised and I stepped forward.
“Hon, for you, the suffering is over. I'll put you into management school and
you alone will serve in my organization over New York City until the time your
nephew is trained to my satisfaction.”
The intake of breath of my mentioning New York
City would be mine was a shock to everyone. The fact I'd let Tammy run it was
beyond comprehension for many.
Robert was called forward. “Robert, because of
your father's deal with me, I will let you lead our gem of all gems when the
time comes. Until then, you're going to be trained by myself and schooled in my
care. Do you agree?”
“Yes.” he said sounding so grown up.
“Please step forward and pledge your loyalty.”
He knelt and gave his pledge.
“Robert, normally, someone as young as yourself
must prove himself. You've demonstrated today the ability to be taught right
from wrong and to show honor to testify a family member of yours. You truly
know our commitment to loyalty.”
He stood up and ran forward to hug me.
I turned him around and said, “Robert here doesn't
know this, because it wasn't in the deal I made with his father. If ever there
is to be known a crown prince of this family, it is to be he. Let it be known
should there be anything which happens to me, it shall be he.”
Shock from everyone sounded forth. I turned him
around and said, “I could have loved your father had he been an honorable man.
He chose the ways he led and he's suffered the consequences our law dictates. I
will fulfill my pledge to you this very day and plan to keep it forevermore.”
Next, I called Michael's wife. “You are hereby
granted total immunity for any actions you might have done while being
Michael's wife. At your request, I have chosen to allow you membership in our
organization. You too have shown loyalty beyond measure and I will allow you
survivor's benefits although your husband was a traitor to us all. Please step
forward, kneel, and give your pledge of loyalty.”
She did and when she stood, I said, “Turn around
please.”
“Before you, you see the mother of our crown
prince. She is allowed to keep her home as a home for her children. She could
have had them stripped of her, but I am not ordering it. She's to be given
respect without measure and she's to be treated without judgement. She has
children without Michael, but due to his lies, I hereby consider her marriage
to him null and void. He lied to her to get the marriage. He lied about her in
that marriage. And, he used her mercilessly in his philandering. She's not to
be viewed in any manner other than as her own person. Am I understood?”
“YES”
“Good, now, what I suggest is you find someone
who will love you and your children equally. When that man comes along, I
suggest you allow him to adopt your kids and he be allowed to be seen as their
father. Yes, I am stripping Michael of his parental responsibilities even after
death.”
She hugged me and I said, “Hon, be happy from
here on out.”
She turned around and ran to her kids. I called
Bear forward and said, “Bear, that woman is to be your charge now. Get to know
her and if possible, love her. Your home in Kansas City will be kept for you
and should she so choose, her membership will be allowed to transfer there. It
is ordered as a part of the proceedings of this trial.”
I called Michael's father forward. “You are
banished sir. Your benefits terminated. Your home will be sold and your
possession auctioned. Go get your personal belongings out of the house and you
stand to gain nothing from anyone but your own hand. Do you hear me?”
“Yes.”
“You were to raise a son who had honor in his
being. Whether your teachings failed, or they weren't heeded, it was your
responsibility to step forward and remind him continually of his conscience.
Being his conscience if so needed. You did not.”
He nodded.
“Your family suffers the consequences. They are
hereby banished. I've kept Tammy because your family didn't act as a family to
her. At times, I've been more to her than you. Others have too. You did not do
your duty to her as a parent and those rights are stripped. She now is an orphan
and you Sir, should know wherever you go, the burden is yours. Should I hear in
the future you say anything about her, I will duly note you've not followed law
and retry you with the penalty being death to not only you, but your entire
family.
IN
banishing you and your family, you are to neither honor or deny your
grandchildren sired by Michael. They are stripped of your family tree and are
too orphaned from Patriarchal influence. Do you hear me?”
“Yes”
“GO forth and as one final insult to your name,
I'm going to insist your possessions be packed and loaded onto a moving van. It
is to leave this city and this state. You are to never set foot back in this
area or in any area controlled by me, Tammy, or Robert. That sir, means leave
this country.”
A sharp intake of breath again sounded and I
said, “Is there anyone whom would like to step forward in contest of these
findings?”
No one came forward.
“Then it so stands.”
I turned to Alex and said, “Alex, please come
forward.”
He came forward and I said, “Your personal
service, loyalty, dignity, and honor warrant a reward. You've stated I do not
need to give one to you and I feel compelled to bestow one anyway. You are
hereby granted soul privileges and honor here on out as head of this fine city
in our organization.
Should
you need assistance, turn to me. All in my power will come rushing forth. As
one of my charges, you are granted all rights and powers granted to me for this
city. Go forth and in doing so, be powerful.”
He stood up and hugged me. “Thank you.”
“It's deserved.”
I turned him around and said, “Alex is your
leader. Those who have been banished, leave. It is him who will deside your
fate should you attempt to stay. He will consider you a threat and he is hereby
ordered to carry out the sentence of death upon anyone who should so choose to
defy the sentences of this trial.”
I stepped away from the lectern and went over to
the police chief. I shook his hand and said, “Spin your own tale about what
happened here with those people. Don't incriminate anyone other, please.”
He hugged me and said, “It's been an honor. I had no idea.”
“It's our organization. We are taught all the
things, but some don't pay attention. It's us who has to see they don't stray.”
“Can I join?”
“Look to Alex. It's his city now. I'm sure if
you join, he'd appreciate it.”
I went to Michael's wife and said, “Hon, I
couldn't order you to marry Bear, but I hope you do. He's a man I know loves
deeply and he'll honor you in ways Michael couldn't. Your children will be
cherished and that's the reason I've put you as his charge.”
“You are so thoughtful.”
“I try. Now, let him get to know you. He'll be
someone you'll love.”
“Has he been married before?”
“Yes. He's a widower. I'm sure he'll tell you
all about her, but let me tell you now, she was loved.”
“You'll be good to Robert, won't you?”
“He's going to feel like he's my own. He'll be
treated with more love than he's known and more respect than he's had.”
“He's wanting it. You brought our family down,
but you pulled us up even more ways. I want you to meet my father.”
She turned and as soon as I saw him, I said,
“Dominic”
“You know of me!”
“Oh my God.”
I had to grab a chair and sit. The tears came to
my eyes and I said, “I know why now!”
He came over and knelt. “You loved him. You
served me honor today with such abundance and you gave my girl back her city.”
“Please tell me what happened.”
“Son, I married and came to this city. Gino was
the heir to the city. Because I left, my family disowned me so I could come
here.”
“Meemaw never told me a thing.”
“She couldn't. I spoke to her occasionally and
one of those times, she said he'd found someone who loved him more than she'd
ever seen him loved. She told me about you and seeing you today, I can
understand why. You loved him back.”
“He didn't love me enough.”
“He saw what happened to me. He couldn't put our
family name through it again.”
I hugged him and started crying. “You even smell
like him.”
He let me go and I turned to Michael's wife and
said, “Hon, you are blood the likes of which make me even prouder I gave the
city to Robert. A part of Gino will rule and for that, I can honestly say I've
gained more today than anyone could ever give me.”
She smiled and said, “I wanted to tell you. My
father made me promise not to tell because he was afraid he'd be banished.”
I turned to him and said, “Your mama's house is
over there. If you think anyone will keep you from living in it, you're wrong.”
“David is still alive.”
“That doesn't matter. He knows I didn't want
it.”
“I've got a home here. You've given my daughter
back the city and should she leave, give her the home.”
“I will. It'll go to Robert anyway because he's
standing to inherit this when I'm done.”
“David doesn't want it?”
“He's about to be married. He's going to be my
father in law.”
“He's found someone then!”
“Yes, she's recently widowed. She too suffered
under her husband, but she brought up a son who is just and loving.”
“You sound happy.”
“I've found happiness, yes.”
“Good.”
“You sound so much like him. I want you to not
be a stranger.”
“David is following law.”
“Then pledge and gain it back.”
“I am too old.”
“Bullshit. I need people of all ages.”
He smiled and said, “Step back. It will be an
honor.”
He knelt and gave the pledge by heart. When he
stood, I said, “You have gained so much, I'll tell you now you've gained. I've
got to go speak with David, but I want you to head Kansas City.”
He looked shocked.
“I'll speak with him, but this isn't over...this
conversation.”
He hugged me and said, “I'll do it, but I can't
live in the house. There are too many memories.”
“I understand. We'll buy another and get it
added into the chain.”
“What do you mean?”
“Between Meemaw's house and Gino's, I designed a
pool and conservatory which if you see it from the street, it's not seen.
There's a tunnel there which allowed her to come and go freely without the cold
weather hindering her progress. Then, he installed an elevator in each so she'd
still be able to come and go when she couldn't make it up the steps.”
“I'm happy to hear that.”
“Your mother was the person who taught me so
much about this organization. Yes, Gino taught me well, but she taught me more.
She also taught me Gino.”
I paused and said, “You know. There were times
she nearly said things to me, but I thought she was just excited about what she
was saying. Now, I know why. I just wonder how many of your mannerisms are the
same and carried over to Robert.”
He smiled and said, “You're going to fall in
love with this child. He's a joy and learns lessons well.”
“I'll teach him history too. You'll see our
history flourish under him.”
He smiled and said, “Rhette, you've given me so
much. I'm thankful.”
I said, “I've got to go. This has been amazing.”
I went over to Tammy and said, “You ready to go hon?”
She smiled and said, “Rhette, do you know how
much you surprised me today!”
“Yes. Do you know how many times I've thought of
you since?”
“No, why?”
“We've got to talk, but I've got to get a move
on.”
“I don't have anything packed.”
“I'll buy you everything. We'll be up here next
week, but I've got to run.”
She laughed and said, “Ok, but this is going to
be expensive.”
“Fuck, I've already got clothes in your size.
Now come on!”
We went out and down the steps of the mezzanine.
All the way, I was greeted and hugged. When we got to the chopper, I put Robert
in and then Tammy. Alex rode along up front, and then I turned to see little
John limping.”
“Rhette, I've got to go to the hospital. You've
done me proud.”
“You can be treated in South Carolina just as
well as here.”
“I can't let my guys see me like this.”
“Bullshit, get aboard.”
“I can't make the step.”
“Then Alex and I will lift you.”
“You can't.”
Alex got out and came over. Little John came
over and we put him in. “You're a strong little shit!”
“Yup, now it's my favorite Sis.”
Beck came and hopped in. “Why'd you set us this
way?”
“A full load requires weight distribution. It's
nothing against your weight because I think you're a foxy lady, but mentally, I
have to be doing math here.”
“You say that to all the girls.” she giggled.
Alex hopped in and I did too. We strapped in and
I lifted us off.
Robert said, “Cool. Will you teach me this?”
“Yeah, and a whole lot more.”
“Oh man, this is going to be fun!”
I looked at Alex and said to my microphone. He
knows nothing of the death we saw today.”
“Keep it that way.”
“Losing my men wasn't fun.”
“That man. As soon as I saw him, I about shit. I
knew you'd react and when I saw you see him, I just knew you were going to be a
basketcase.”
“Where was he during the trial? I swore I saw
everyone.”
“He wasn't a member of the organization.”
“Ok, so when you knew it was over, you got him
to her. That's fine.”
“Little John did.”
We got to the jet and I got the guards to help
little John get carried aboard. Alex gave me a hug and said, “Rhette, I love
you.”
“I love you too.”
“You've given me....”
“About as much as you've given me. Now hush up.”
HE smiled and said, “Wrong.”
“I doubt that.”
When everyone was aboard, I went forward to the
pilots. “You put this big old bitch all the way throttles forward and make her
move. This thing has to get to South Carolina pronto.”
“We'll make her scoot.”
“I need to be there fast.”
The pilot smiled and said, “Rhette, this plane
has special engines. She'll get us there.”
I nodded and said, “I didn't know.”
He laughed and said, “They were ordered put on
just as soon as we found out about David's plane getting faster engines.”
“Good. Now, I'll be back here. Do me good guys
and I'll do you better.”
I went out and stepped over to a sofa. We taxied
out and as we waited, Robert came over. He sat next to me and said, “I knew
about my dad and you. He didn't know it, but I looked in his files.”
“My files aren't there.”
“They're up in my room.”
“Why?”
“I liked reading about what my dad wrote about
you. He loved you more than he ever loved my mom.”
“He could have shown it better.”
He nodded and said, “Rhette, my dad was a weird
man. He'd give someone something and then, he'd take it back. He did that to
you.”
“Yes, now what I've got to do is go over and
speak with Tammy.”
“Ok”
I went over to Tammy and said, “You feel like
talking?”
“Yeah.”
“Let's go to the bedroom. It's got to be
private.”
“Have you changed?”
“Not yet.”
She smiled and said, “Good.”
We went rearward and I said, “Tammy, I'm going
to speak with you, but what I want from you is paramount.”
“Ok”
“You can't answer until I tell you what it is, then, I want an answer.”
“Rhette, you've given me back a life with some
respect. Do you think I'm going to deny you anything?”
“I've not asked yet, wait until I do and then
you'll see what it is.”
“Ok”
“IN South Carolina, you'll begin your training as will Robert. There's someone
there who is from your past I need you to speak with. He needs to know the
truth and you need to give it to him.”
“You're sounding strange.”
“Tammy, it's Kevin.”
“Kevin. My Kevin!”
“Yes.”
“He's in prison.”
“No, he got out of prison.”
“How do you know him?”
“I was in prison. We met. We fell in love and we
were lovers.”
She looked shocked. “He's gay!”
“Let's just say he wasn't until we met and then,
we fell in love.”
“What's he look like now?”
“He's a babe, but the reason I'm asking you to
speak with him isn't about putting you together, but what I'm doing is trying
to give him closure so he can put you out of his heart.”
“You mean I'm still in his heart!”
“Tammy, we were together. He'd talk about the
marriage service you had and that he had to find you to get divorced because he
knew it was wrong. He loved me enough he wanted to be totally free.
What
he told me was you were Michael's sister and that Big David wanted you two
married so he'd not have to testify against you and you not against him. You
two got married and then, you never came back around after he got convicted.
Now
I learned from little David you went and got a divorce before we got together,
so I don't feel like a home wrecker. BUT, until little David told me, I tried
and tried to find any registration of your marriage and couldn't find it. Now I
learn it was in St. Charles county which I didn't know.”
“Ok, I'm following you now.”
“I want him to be happy. He's got someone else
now and even though he and I aren't together, I want him to speak with you.”
“You don't know the whole story.”
“What's there to tell? His mom never visited
him. He gets married and his wife won't even visit him. How the fuck can you
explain that?
You
know as well as I do that you'd bust your ass to go see your kids but you can't
visit your husband?”
“Rhette, I was told to leave him be.”
“Not powerful enough. I'm sorry, but no one is
powerful enough to tell me that shit. I know the man and I know how deeply I
loved him. You or anyone tells me I can't see him and I'd tell you and them all
to get fucked.”
“Michael forbid me!”
“And you were what to Michael! He wasn't even
brother enough to be your pimp! Get fucking real. I'm sorry, but Michael would
have to kill me and that'd be the only way I'd let it go without him getting a
visit.”
“Rhette, I loved him.”
“Tammy, I'll save my judgements because I'd like to think you're not a liar.
Your actions proved otherwise. Ok?”
“SO is this why you want me to come to South
Carolina?”
“Haven't you heard me? Let me repeat it again. I
want you to talk with him, but I'm going to put you through management
training. It doesn't matter if you speak to him or not. He now knows you
divorced him so he's emotionally set free.”
“Rhette, I'm afraid.”
“That's probably the first honest thing I think
I've heard in this conversation. I know Kevin enough that he felt betrayed all
those years, I'd be afraid too. The man gave up hope because he thought no one
loved him. Then, because he found someone who loved him, he put up the wars he
was having and settled down.”
“How is he doing for himself.”
“He's doing fine. HE and I ran a business
together and when we split up, he bought me out and he recently sold it.”
“Why'd you break up if you loved him so much?”
“Take a look at my face. Those are scars. Two
years ago, I was beaten. While I was in the hospital, he had an affair with a
nurse. He begged forgiveness, and he received it because he told me it was a
one time thing and he had to try it. He wanted me over her.
Then,
I got out of the hospital and he started an affair with another man who
blackmailed him. It was harder, but I forgave him again. We went to
counselling, and he was really blaming. Then, last December we went to Las
Vegas and he started accusing me of having an affair with a friend of ours. For
that, he got slapped and told to go home and pack. I left and went to Hawaii
while he did so. When I got home, he hadn't packed and we argued. In that
argument, I brought up about him fucking around on me and he slugged me. That
was the final straw. For me, it was over then.”
“Then how come he's out in South Carolina?”
“I didn't say I didn't stop loving him. I moved
out there to get away from him and I met Steve, my boyfriend. Steve has a
brother named JT and as soon as I met JT, I knew they'd be right for each
other. SO, he came out and they met. Both of them like each other, so they're
going to put it together. Now, Kevin's got the business sold and he's there to
live.”
“So you want me to talk to him and tell him I
divorced him.”
“Yes.”
“I didn't stop loving him either.”
“Did you ever love him?”
“I did.”
“You had a fucked up way of showing him.”
“Who are you to accuse me of shit!”
“I'm the one that man cried upon when he'd talk
about things and wonder why no one didn't love him. That's who I am you stupid
bitch!”
I stood up and walked to the door. “Tammy, I'm
going to say it and then you take that to heart. If you hurt him, I'll kill
you. I'll rip that fucking thimble sized heart out of your body and I'll feed
it to a fucking alligator. You're to talk to him and that's it. If you give him
anything other than the truth, then you're gone. You got me!”
“Rhette, what if he wants me?”
“Then, I'll be kind to your fucking face and
I'll turn to him and banish him from my life. I'll wish him the best and let
him know he's a two timing motherfucker I shouldn't have trusted. He'll be told
to leave and then, right when he thinks he has you, I'm going to blow your
fucking head off. He is off limits to you.”
“Rhette, I'll go back to St. Louis now.”
“No, you're failing to understand me. St. Louis
is never an option for you again. If you didn't hear my sentence fall down to
your family, I banished them from this country. You were made an exception, but
what I'll do is I'll condemn you to death. You won't be a part of this
organization because I've ordered you to leave well enough alone.”
“I'm to run New York City.”
“Yes, if you play your cards right, that'll be
what happens. There's plenty of men there and you can have anyone else on this
fucking planet but Kevin and any man I've got.”
She looked at me and said, “Rhette, you're just
like Michael.”
“No, Michael didn't kill you. I will. Consider
it done.”
I walked out of the room and sat down on the
sofa. Beck said, “I heard you yelling. These walls are thin.”
“The bitch will die as soon as we land.”
“What's going on?”
“It went on. She's not loyal and I've made a
fucking mess. Now I'll clean it up.”
Robert looked at me and said, “Will you do that
to me?”
“Robert, if you blatantly disregard what I order
you to do, then believe me, I'll kill you.”
“Man, I thought doing chores sucked and getting
punished by my dad sucked.”
“Robert, listen to me. You're still a kid. I'm
training you, but there's a difference between doing your chores and leaving
someone alone. She's chosen to fuck with someone's head whom I've forbid her to
mess with. Now she's going to die.”
“She's probably on her drugs. She gets mean when
she needs her fix.”
“No, she's been off drugs for a long time.”
“She wasn't when she was babysitting us.”
“When was that?”
“When I was little.”
“Well, she is now. This is her trying to get
something she wants just like your dad.”
“Oh. He's a liar.”
“She wasn't going to lie to me. She told the
truth and now she's got to die.”
Tammy came out of the room and sat down.
“Rhette, I'm sorry.”
“Last fucking chance Tammy. As far as I'm
concerned, you ever do that again, I'll blow your head off at the alter of a
church.”
“Rhette, I did love him. Maybe you don't
understand how I could, but I did.”
“Bullshit.”
“I'm talking from my heart. I did.”
“Ok, let's assume you did. You loved him enough
to fucking never visit again because Michael forbid you too.”
“Yes.”
I turned to Beck and asked, “Beck, if I forbid
you from seeing John again, how fucked would I be in your world?”
“Oh man, I'd probably tell you there was no
fucking way and that's the end of the conversation. If you insisted, I'd tell
you to get fucked and go to John. The last you'd see of me would be a plane
flying off because that's how fast I'd be gone.”
I turned to Tammy and said, “In the future,
don't ever listen to anyone when they tell you never to see someone again. BUT,
in regards to Kevin, you tell him you were through with him because you wanted
to get married which is the truth.”
“I divorced him for that reason, but the truth
is because I was forbidden him.”
“Why?”
“Because he knew the secrets of Big David! Big
David worked for Michael on that car bombing!”
“Serves Michael right for dying then. I'm glad
the Michaels all got to see him tried and humiliated. But, you took the
evidence to Big David to convict Michael as well as Big Jimmy, so what the fuck
was that?”
“I did it because Kevin wanted me to.”
“Ok, so Kevin got you to do something, and you
crossed out your own family to do so. You went against the organization to do
so, and you went against your own family to do so. What are your loyalties now?”
“If you don't want me to have a thing to do with
him, I won't.”
“It's not that I don't want you to. It's I
forbid you to. I've ordered you not to, but you're all set to do it until I
tell your dumb ass you were dead.
Now,
I'll lay it out to you. You talk to him. You walk away and I'll go speak to him
and tell him you're going to be around
and he better find a way of being friends with you and that's it. BUT, if I
ever and I mean EVER find out you've had an affair with him, I'll do exactly
what I said in there. I'll banish Kevin from my life, wish him well and then,
right when he thinks he has you, I will blow your fucking head off in front of
him.”
“Ok, that's a deal. Don't be pissed at me.”
“I'm giving you a powerful position to run until
that boy over there gets trained well enough and already, I'm finding out you
want to do what you damned well please until I lay you out on a slab. Then
suddenly, you want to participate. It's not going to be that way. If you ever
disobey a direct command again, I promise you death.”
“What if I screw up!”
“Look at me and you listen well. There's no room
for excuses in this show. You either perform with the crew I give you, or you
fail. I'll bring in Robert who apparently already understands more than you do
about listening and I'll work with him. We'll sing a sad song over your grave
and that's it.”
“Rhette, don't put me in there.”
“Too fucking late. I ordered it in the trial and
if I go back on my word, I'm a liar. I'm sorry, but you're going to have to
swim girl because I've just cut the life preserver.”
“You're pissed.”
“Yeah. You threatened someone I love. Don't do
it again. If you do, there's not going to be a problem with what I'll do.”
Beck turned to Tammy and said, “Do you
understand what Rhette has done? He took the one person your family didn't want
and made them over the best they'd ever had hope to being.
What
you're doing is you're making them out to thinking Rhette's a fool for throwing
a hooker in to running the biggest city in our country. If you dare embarrass
him, if he can't get to you fast enough, I'll do it. That man's good to a
fault.”
“I know.”
“Then don't let him down. Never let the word
can't out of your mouth. Banish it from your vocabulary. Forbid it from
entering your thought pattern and say no to it. If you do that, you'll succeed
and make everyone in your family wonder what sort of miracle worker he is and
wonder what amazing things he has in store.”
Robert said, “Rhette, what's it like in South
Carolina?”
“It's beautiful. The house is awesome and the
grounds are huge, but what I need to tell you is to never ever go to the woods.
They're infested with rattlesnakes and I'm not joking.”
“They're scary.”
“If you see one in the yard, you stop and
freeze. Someone will come and save you and kill the thing.”
“Why don't you make is so they won't come in?”
“I have but that doesn't mean there still won't
be one.”
Beck said, “Rhette needs to go get into his
disguise.”
Robert asked,
“Why do you need a disguise?”
“Because the people in South Carolina think I'm
a woman.”
“Your boyfriend thinks you're a woman!”
“No, it's a long story, but he's running for
Governor and the people think I'm a woman. They won't elect him if I'm his
boyfriend. They will elect him if I'm his girlfriend.”
“That's stupid!”
“You and I agree on that, but for now, I've got
to be in disguise.”
Tammy said, “So you're doing drag again.”
“Yeah, that's why I've got the blond hair.”
Beck stood up and said, “Come on.”
“We went into the bedroom and I closed the
door.”
“Rhette, I pity you. That girl isn't capable of
running that city.”
“Hon, I'll tell you my intention there and then
you can slap the fuck out of me.”
“What's that?”
“I wanted little John to fall for her.”
“What!”
“Yeah, how dumb is that!”
“He'd probably do it, but her running that
city...well, any city for that matter isn't a wise choice.”
“My problem is I like her as a human being, but
when she couldn't get it through her head I meant what I said about staying
away from Kevin, I just saw her making him out to be a cheater again and I
wanted her gone.”
“IF he does, that's on him.”
“Yes, but if he does, it'll be so long time for
our friendship because I'll tell him I can't have him as any friend.”
I turned to her and asked, “Would you go in and
check on little John while I get dressed?”
“Sure.”
She left and I hurriedly got undressed and put
the pantyhose on. I put on the bra with the water inserts and then put on the
St. John's Dress. I left it unfastened in the back, and then put on the pumps.
When she got back, I had her fasten up the back.
“Man, this looks great on you!”
“Thanks. It's a near perfect fit, isn't it.”
“Hon, you make clothes look good.”
“Let's go see what they think.”
“Which purse?”
“That long one tonight and then the flap clutch
tomorrow.”
“Both purses are awesome, but so expensive.”
“Hon, we'll share accessories. That way we don't
have to spend money real excessively.”
She laughed and said, “I'm sorry, but you were
entirely right about the color black on you. You look absolutely tinier.”
“Ten year old build?”
“No, about twelve, but you do look tiny.”
“We need to get something for my shoulders. I
look too white.”
“Maybe Rose has a shawl.”
“Let's hope.”
We went into the main area of the plane. I
wouldn't call it a living area, but it was. Robert took a look at me and said,
“Man! You look hot!”
“Thanks.”
Tammy smiled and said, “IF we get to share
clothes, then that dress isn't going to fit.”
“You've put on weight. It looks good on you, but
we used to be able to share clothes.”
“You left a lot of things when you left.”
“I was so pissed when I left I didn't care.”
“Greg was an asshole.”
“Yeah, but him ruining a new television and then
telling me it was like that was the final straw.”
She smiled and said, “Hon, if I looked that good
skinny, then what do I look like now?”
“It's not you looking bad at all. What I like
about your figure now is you've got more in the right spots. Before, you were
too skinny looking more waif than you should've.”
“A lot of drugs. Now that I'm off them...”
“What happened to Everett?”
“Lost him to AIDS. We had no money for
medicine.”
“Did he have AIDS when he was around all the
time?”
“I don't know. We found out later.”
“I'm sorry hon.”
“That's ok, I've got my eye on someone, but I
don't know if you'd approve.”
“I'm sort of hoping of someone for you, but who
do you have your eye on?”
She lifted her eyes toward the back. “Do you
mind?”
“We're on the same track. He needs someone to
love. All I ask is you be your absolute best when you're with him.”
She smiled and said, “Do you think he'd have
me?”
“Hon, you're a babe. Other than that, your
personality is nice. I can't see why he won't. BUT, I'll tell you the person he
liked but can't have is Rose. IF you meet her, you'll see what he went for.”
“Why couldn't he have her?”
“Dave is engaged to her.”
“Oh. Is she nice?”
“Beck, would you describe Rose for me? If I do
it, I'll say the word love too much.”
Beck said, “Rose is a woman who is a gentile
southern woman...not lady. The difference is you can look in her eyes and know
she's been through some serious shit in her life, but she's never going to let
you see it.
What
I love about Rose is she can sit in a chair and look like she belongs there.
She knows where to put her hands at rest. When she walks, she's not in a hurry
and seems to walk like a breeze is pushing her. Her poise and grace is just
refreshing.”
Tammy said, “Oh man, I bet she's marvelous.”
“Rhette said it when he'd describe her with the
word love too much. The woman is love personified. She loves and is loved.
She's a mother who loves her kids and you can see it radiate from her. Her
fragility you just feel. It makes you want to protect her and when you do so,
she loves you for it.
What
I have no problem in knowing is when you meet her, you'll see exactly what I
mean. She'll adopt you as another of her many children and she'll begin doting
upon you as she does everyone. For Robert, she'll be the perfect grandmother.
She slips into roles so easily.”
Tammy said, “I can see why David fell for her
then.”
I said, “Did you ever get to meet Meemaw?”
“No, I wish I had, but I didn't.”
Robert said, “Was that my great grandmother?”
“Yes.”
“I never got to meet her.”
“She would have loved you.” I said going over
and hugging him. “With Meemaw, she was love personafied Italian style. What was
funny with her was she could say so much with those eyes. She'd let you know
she was upset and happy with you through them.”
Robert said, “That's my grandpa.”
“Yes, I imagine because Gino was the same way.”
I paused and said, “Robert, do you have a suit?”
“Not with me, but I have one. I got it last
year.”
“What we'll need to do is get you one. You'll
come to the funeral with me.”
“Why?”
“CNN is going to be there. If you're going to be
around me, then you're going to have to be recognized as being like my son.”
“I don't like that. I've got a mom.”
“I know, but the world is going to be watching
and if I tell them you're my nephew and you say you're Michael's son, then that
either made me married to his brother or I'm his sister.”
Tammy said, “You look more like him than me.”
“You got your mom's looks which isn't a bad
thing at all. It's just you look more American than the Italian side. Robert
looks Italian, so I thought I could explain it off as him being my son.”
Robert smiled and said, “I wouldn't mind you
being my dad.”
“Hon, it's that I have to dress in disguise in
front of the cameras.”
“Why?”
“When they first started filming me on CNN, I
was in drag. I'd just come back from Miami, so I was wearing women's clothing.
So now, everyone thinks Steve has a beautiful girlfriend instead of a
boyfriend.
The
way I met Beck's husband was because he got upset over thinking I was a woman
and then finding out I was a man. Take a look at me now and you'd understand.”
“Why can't you just tell them the truth?”
“Because if we did, it'd jeopardize his chances
at becoming Governor. I can't do it to him, nor will I.”
“Oh, that'd suck.”
“Yeah, so if you're going to be seen getting on
and off planes with me and CNN is filming, then I thought it'd look good if you
were my son. I'm sorry.”
He nodded and said, “Ok, I'll do it, but you
just don't try being my mom.”
“I'll never do that. What I do want is for you
to be able to go home often and to stay in touch with everyone. I'd really like
for you to get to know Bear.”
“He looks like a nice guy.”
“As long as I've known him, he's always been
nice. When I was around his wife and him, he showed me how loving someone was
easy. He absolutely spoiled her with goodness.”
“I hope he does that for my mom.”
“He will. It's going to be impossible for him
not. What I'm afraid of is him falling in love with her and she not feeling the
same.”
Robert got a look in his eyes and said, “I'll
talk to her.”
“No. It has to come from the heart. Love can
never be forced.”
He nodded and said, “If you think he's perfect
for her, then I imagine he is.”
“It's that I know he's capable of loving someone
so easily. I think that's what your mom needs. She needs someone who's going to
be free with his emotions and hugs.”
“Us kids need that too. Dad would do it
sometimes, but if someone was around, it was a thing where he was stricter.”
“That's wrong. It shows insecurity in the
person.”
“That's the way he was.”
“Well, one of the things I'll be doing is
teaching you how to be upfront and honest with all people. I'll be the same
with you no matter what. You'll see that.
qOne thing I'll show you is if you're that way,
people aren't going to know what to expect of you. If you're upfront, then
people know you are and will work harder for you.”
“But you're wearing a dress. That's not the way
you are normally.”
“Yes, but I'm doing it for someone I love so he
can accomplish his dream.”
“I don't think I'd ever wear a dress for someone
just because I love them.”
“Don't ever rule anything out. That's another
thing I'll teach you. You'll come up with the weirdest off the wall things and
you'll see they can work if you think them through.”
Beck said, “Robert, I've never met Steve. Just
from what Rhette says, I know he loves him. I understand why Rhette is wearing
the dress. I also understand Rhette would rather be honest, but with the world
as it is, they'll vote for Steve if they don't know he's gay.”
“That's stupid.”
“Yes, but that's the way things are. We're going
to try to change them, but people change slowly on cultures and customs.”
“We were taught you treat everyone the same in
school.”
“Yes, but not all people get treated the same
everywhere. What I'm doing is I'm changing things with the organization so we
accept women and minorities. You've never seen them in our organization, have
you?”
“Dad said it'd never happen.”
“Well, he's wrong. I'm doing it because I think
women are just as good at things as men.”
“Yes, I know that.” he said with a smile.
“That's why I'm doing it. I figure if I bring
about the change, then by the time you get up into the ranks, you'll have the
changes made and think it normal. The old guys won't like it, but I'm not
caring what they think. There are a lot of things about the way they did things
I don't like.”
Tammy asked, “How are you going to explain me to
everyone?”
“I'm not. The way it is, I'm going to get off a
plane and have Robert up front and center. When you come off the plane, you go
on over to the limo and don't pull the camera to you. People will assume you're
his governess, or teacher, but that's it. My goal is to put you in quietly and
pull you out quietly up there. The difference is with Robert, I want him to
have the media's eye because I want him seen as the future.”
Beck nodded and said, “I understand. It's like
Donald Trump does with his kids. You see them, but you don't speak to them...or
the camera doesn't.”
“His oldest daughter is speaking more, but she's
a female clone of her dad.”
Robert said, “You want me to speak to the
cameras?”
“Yeah. Start off with kid things and as you get
older, I want them to pull you in and think of you as a star they've seen grow
up. By the time you're up there doing things, you'll be so used to the camera,
you'll be able to walk up and give interviews which will make people feel more
comfortable.”
Beck nodded and said, “The good thing about that
is you'll have the public's trust because they've seen you grow up. It probably
doesn't make sense now to you, but you'll be thankful for it later.”
I sat down and crossed my legs. Beck said, “You
see the way he's setting? That's the way Rose is. You'd never see her sitting
with her legs spread and looking like she wasn't ladylike.”
“We've got to get me black gloves.”
Robert asked, “Why?”
“Down South, women wear black gloves to a
funeral. Don't ask me why, but they just do.”
“Is Steve going to be there when we land?”
“Yes. He'll be there to take me to the funeral
visitation and then afterwards, we'll be home.”
“Where am I going?”
“Do you want to go with Tammy to the house? Or,
do you want to come to the funeral visitation with Steve and I?”
“What do you want me to do?”
“I think it'd be wise if you went to the funeral
visitation with Steve and I. A lot of politicians will be there and it'd help
you later in life if you could have them remember you from that meeting.”
“What do you want me to tell people?”
“Tell them we're from Missouri and that's where
you went to school. You've moved out here but you've just got here so you don't
know if you like it, or not.”
Beck asked, “You want me to fly on to Florida?”
“Yeah, that'd be fine. You've been away from
home too long and I hate doing it to you and John.”
“I'd be here if you needed me.”
“I know. What I'm going to do is I'm going to
get David brought up here. The doctor will come as well of his staff. With
little John needing to recuperate, I think it'd be best for him to have a good
doctor.”
She nodded and said, “You ought to make those
calls to get them moved up.”
“I'm sure David's gotten them up here.”
She smiled and said, “I understand. He looks
like someone who won't stay in a hospital room up here or down there.”
“No, it's going to be hard for him to stay down
period. I do know this plane needs to fly on to Florida because of what we've
got down below.”
“You want me to handle that?”
“I'll have calls made so they move them on out.
I think it's time we got that boat loaded and taken out.”
She nodded and asked, “Have you got a boat?”
“They were working on it. I don't know if they
have or not. If they don't, then tomorrow, I'll need you to go scour grocery
store sale lists for one we can buy for cash. We don't really need one with a
trailer because that would be a waste.”
“How big?”
“I'd say at least a 40' one. One big enough to
hold up all the weight. It's not going to be light with this many on board.”
“Ok, then we'll get it loaded and out tomorrow
night.”
“Ok, that sounds like a good plan.”
She nodded and said, “It's sure efficient. I'd
have never thought of it.”
“No questions later.”
She smiled and said, “Thanks.”
“Beck, one thing I want to insist upon is you
make sure no clothing goes out on it. There can't be anything identifiable.”
“Ok”
I turned to Robert and said, “If you want a
snack, go ahead and get one because we'll be eating late.”
Tammy asked, “What's out at the house?”
“There are a lot of our guys from Kansas City
out there. A lot of little John's guys are out there too. It's set up like a
camp.”
“What's going on with all the guys?”
“We're doing take downs in town. We're getting
rid of all the drugs and dealers. Then, Steve will use that as some of his
platform.”
“What does he do?”
“He's the Sheriff of the county.”
“You're dating a Sheriff?”
“Yes.”
“Man!”
“Hon, he's a man. He happens to be hot and he's
someone who when I met him, it didn't matter who he was, I was interested.
Fortunately, he thought the same thing about me.”
“Does he know?” asked Robert
“Yes, and although he does't approve of the
violence, he's fine with it being my job.”
“Ok, I didn't want to upset him by saying the
wrong thing.”
“You won't. He's going to take to you.”
I turned to Tammy. “When you leave the plane,
there will be a helicopter waiting. He'll take you up to the plantation and
that way, you'll get there a lot faster.”
“What do you want me to do up there?”
“We'll get you a room and get you settled in.
You'll be given some guards and my advice is to use them. You won't think you
need them, but I've ended up needing mine.”
“Where are they at?”
I pointed down. “They have a room down below
which is sort of nice. It's got a table and some bench seats.”
“They going to be going with you to the funeral
home?”
“No, I've got the Sheriff with me, no one's
going to mess with me.”
She smiled and said, “That's nice.”
“He loves me. I'm not going to embarrass him.”
We flew on for about another half an hour when
we got told we'd be landing in 15 minutes.
Beck said, “That was fast!”
“This plane has the fast engines in it. Let me
go ask them how fast we've been flying.”
I went forward and opened the door. The pilots
looked back. “How fast have we been flying?”
“Almost 940.”
“Ok, we were wanting to know. When did we break
the sound barrier?”
“About five minutes after we leveled off.”
“Ok, I never felt a thing. Damned good flying.”
“Thanks.”
“You do know you're going on to Florida, right?”
“Yes.”
“Ok”
I flipped out my cell phone and called the
doctor. “Hello?”
“You still at the hospital?”
“No, we're up north now.”
“Ok, tell David I'll see him when I get in.”
“You'll probably see him. He's planning on being
there.”
“IS that safe?”
“He's physically weak, but I told him to sit
whenever he feels tired.”
“Ok, I'll keep an eye on him. He'll probably
wish he'd stayed with you.”
He laughed and said, “That's what he said.”
“Good.”
When we get there, we're having little John
flown up to the house. You're going to need to treat him.”
“What's wrong.”
“Gunshot wound.”
“Serious?”
“It went through. He's not walking good, but
he's fine.”
“Ok, why didn't he get treated there?”
“You were here.”
He chuckled and said, “Well maybe I'll have a
patient who listens.”
“Maybe the next one. I have a feeling he'll be
patched up and thinking he's bulletproof again.”
We'll be waiting.
“Ok”
I hung up and went back, “David and the doctor
is up here. David's going to be at the funeral visitation with Rose tonight.”
Beck looked alarmed. “Should he be doing that?”
“The doctor didn't get to have an opinion it
sounds like. I told him I'd keep an eye upon him.”
Robert asked, “Is he my uncle?”
“He's your mom's cousin, so that'd make him your
second cousin.”
“Ok, I'd like to meet him.”
“You will. He's a bit weak, but he's going to
love you.”
He smiled and said, “I've never gotten to meet
anyone outside of my grandpa.”
“Your grandpa's brother is David's dad.”
“Ok”
I went over and sat with Beck. “Thank you for
everything.”
“Hon, I've found strengths with you I never knew
I had.”
“It's not over. I've got to get back down there
and then start making trips to St. Louis now. Sometime, we've all got to make
our trip out to San Diego and then, we've got to get to a memorial service in
Kansas City.”
“Are those big?”
“Huge. You'll see all the families come in for
this one. You'll meet a lot of people who will be kept and some who won't.”
“What should I wear?”
“Look for something like this dress. It's
comfortable and classy.”
“They had one in my size.”
“Then order it. You can use the accessories I've
got.”
She smiled and said, “That's going to be nice.”
“You got to share yours too.”
“I don't have anything this nice.”
“You will. Why don't you go ahead and start
ordering outfits.”
“What sort?”
“Whatever you feel comfortable in which is nice
casual wear.”
“I've got a lot of those outfits.”
“That's what I wear. You see I don't dress up.”
“You look good in anything though.”
“Hon, when you go to Neiman Marcus, have a color
stylist tell you what colors look best on you. They'll tell you and then you'll
know. My advice is to get some power pant suits with jackets and blazers.”
“Why?”
“When you wear a blazer open, it gives a layered
look. What makes it look better is normal people don't wear them. It dresses up
your appearance without really making you feel dressed up. I'd get a brown
suede one and a black leather one. Both can be worn with a lot of things and
neither is going to be viewed as tacky in a few years.”
She nodded and said, “I need to lose weight.”
“Bull. What size are you now?”
“14.”
“It looks good on you. You make people think you're a lot bigger, but you're
not. If I were able to have a woman's figure I'd want yours.”
“Why?”
“You're not fat and you're not stick thin. To
me, I like curves which shows the person likes to eat and knows how to cook.”
She smiled and said, “I do both.”
“What I do want you to do is to go house
shopping with John tomorrow.”
“Ok, for who?”
“You and he. What you need is something which
can be fortified and have guards which won't look out of sort. One thing I do
want you to do is go looking in the five million and up areas.”
“Man!”
“Hon, you're head of the family there. We're not
going to have you entertaining, but we sure want you to be known to live well.”
“How expensive can I go?”
“I'm not putting limits on you. I'd not buy Mara
Lago, but something on that par is fine. One place you might want to look is in
the Dupont Registry.”
“What's that?”
“Oh hell. Let me get that laptop over there and
pull it up. It's the place where I saw my house for the first time.
I went over and got it and then booted up.
Fortunately, I got a connection. It came up and I typed it in. The pages loaded
and she said, “My God, look at that one over there!”
“IT's a hundred and fifty million up in Lake
Tahoe. It's beautiful.”
“IT's awesome.”
We did the search for Florida and went to Miami
Beach. “Man, fifty million for a house!”
“That one there for thirty two is something you
should look at. Look how easily it could be easily defended.”
“It looks like a hotel inside.”
“Yes, but what I'd do is get someone in to gold
leaf those ceilings.”
“You know that'd be beautiful. Look at that
bedroom!”
“Yes, it's a whole suite.”
“Oh man, does the furniture come with it?”
“Yeah.”
“I'm going to look at it. I'd never be able to
afford it, but jeesh.”
“Hon, if you love it, get it. Your account has a
lot in it. I'd rather you get what you want and have it than have something all
cramped up like those.”
“I'll call them and get an appointment made.”
“If they insist upon knowing anything in
particulars in order to show it to you, you politely hang up and then call me.
I'll get our lawyer on them and get you that visit.”
“Do they do that?”
“In order to see mine, I had to have bank
information and everything even though I was paying cash.
One
thing I'll insist is you go over and get a car which will be able to be
bulletproofed. You're going to be high profile, so we're going to need you
protected.”
“What about John?”
“What you'll do is you'll get your car. While
there, he'll speak to the armouring company and that's when you can ask him for
their card. With the card, you can get John a vehicle which they'll accept.”
“They won't accept anything?”
“No. The reason is there are a lot of new car
suspensions which won't hold the added weight.”
“I was thinking about a truck.”
“I know they do Chevy trucks. That would tell me
they do Cadillacs. You might look into an extended stretch Escalade limo for
down there.”
“Ok”
“Have it bulletproofed too.”
“Ok”
We began our desent and then, I felt the wheels
touch down. Everyone was jostled a bit with the fast braking, but when the
plane stopped, I said, “Well, that's a short runway for you!”
Beck laughed and said, “Hon, you've not got any
make up anyone..”
“That's ok, they're not going to really get
close. The close up will be out of this plane.”
“Ok, do you want me to get off?”
“No, go on to Florida. You could get off to meet
Steve if you want.”
“Would he come on? I'm not dressed for any
press.”
“Ok, we'll get him on. Let me call.”
I called him. “Hey babe.”
“When we get into position, would you come on?”
“Sure.”
“I'd like for you to meet Beck.”
“Ok”
“I'll see
you then.”
I turned to her and said, “He's coming on.”
She said, “What about little John?”
“We'll get him off after Steve, Robert, and I
leave.”
Tammy smiled and said, “Is this the way it
goes?”
“Not all the time, but most of the time it will
be us getting off and getting in a helicopter.”
“Ok”
I went in to see little John. He was trying to
get up. “Hon, just wait until they come get you.”
“Man, You look like a million dollars!”
“Thanks.”
“The doctor ready?”
“Yes, David's already up and insisting to go to
the funeral visitation.”
“He needs to wait and get rested.”
“You know him.”
“Yeah, but I also know I'm going to be down for
a bit.”
“You feeling bad?”
“It's this leg. It's gone stiff.”
“I knew you'd like the dress.”
“Not that leg!” he said chuckling.
I laughed and said, “Tammy has the hots for
you.”
“Really!”
“Yeah, so if she's someone you'd like, then get
closer to her.”
“How's she doing?”
“We'll be fine. I had to step off in her ass
earlier, but it's better.”
“I heard.”
“She wasn't getting what I was asking.”
“You're more patient than me.”
“Hon, she'll get used to things.”
“Ok, but it bugged me.”
“Let her dote upon you. I think we need to get
used to normal people. We're too used to getting our own way.”
“Yes, but I'll not have someone who can't
listen.”
“She's better, let's let it go.”
“Ok”
I went out into the living area and saw they
were opening the door. As soon as the door opened, Steve bounded in with his
uniform on.
He stepped over and kissed me hugely. “Oh man,
you look great.”
“Thank you. You do too.”
I turned and said, “Hon, this is Beck. She's
going to be running Miami for me. She's a wonderful person and has saved my
life already.”
She smiled and he went over and hugged her.
“Thank you.”
She blushed and said, “Oh man, you pick the hot
ones!”
I chuckled and he blushed.
“Over here is Tammy. She's going to be working
with me being trained.”
“Does Kevin know about this?”
“No.”
“He's not going to be happy.”
“He's got to have closure.”
“You're wrong there. He wants to go on with his
life and I think you just threw him an anchor.”
“She's not going to be around him. She'll speak
to him, but other than that, there's nothing.”
He turned to her and said, “Don't be around
tonight. This is going to be hard enough with one of our means of support for
my brother having his head in a bad spot.”
She said, “I'm going out to the house. I won't be seen.”
He looked at me and said, “Hon, no!”
“Ok, then what do you suggest?”
“Send her to Florida. Keep her away from him
until after this and then, we'll have him talk to her.”
“She's got to be where I am.”
“You're going to be in Florida send her there.”
I turned to Tammy and asked, “Do you mind?”
“No, I'll go on to Florida. It sure looks like
I'm not wanted here.”
“We'll do this at another time. On Wednesday,
I'll come down there and then you, Beck, and I can go out together.”
“Ok, I'm not wanting troubles.”
Steve said, “Tammy, it's not that I don't want
you here. My father died and it's going to be upsetting with you here. Kevin's flying in to support JT
and that'd be too weird.”
“Ok, I understand.”
I turned and said, “This is Robert. We're going
to be raising him as ours. I'm training him and then, when the time comes,
he'll come up for New York City.”
Steve looked at me and asked, “Did you get
guardianship papers?”
“Not yet, but all things legal will get done.”
“I can't believe this!”
“Hon, I didn't do this to make you upset. Let's
get through this and I'll get things settled. If you want me out of your life
at that time, then so be it.”
He looked at me and said, “Your way or the high
way?”
“No, what I'm saying is this is my job. Without
it, we don't have hope for your election. I'm bending, but I'm not going to be
wiped totally off the page.”
“Ok, lets discuss it later.”
“Ok, now, you, I, and Robert are going tonight.”
“Why?”
“Because if I'm raising that boy as mine, isn't
it going to look weird not taking him?”
He turned to Robert and said, “You're seeing me
get a lot of things shoved at me at once here. It's not you at all. I'm sure
you're a good kid, but Rhette's laid more on me than I was prepared to deal
with.”
“I'm sorry hon.”
“No, I'll manage, but it's just a bunch at
once.”
He turned to Tammy and said, “IF Rhette wants
you here, then you're welcome. Just stay out of Kevin's sight until this is
over.”
“I'll go to Florida and we can do it later.” she
said with finality.
“I'm sorry Tammy.”
“No problem.”
“It is, but Steve's going to be responsible for
getting a nurse for little John. I'm not.”
I walked for the door and said, “Come on
Robert.”
He came and I started to go out the door.
Steve walked over and said, “What's that
supposed to mean?”
“You want to run my job, then do it. Little John
needs a nurse and sitter, I thought she'd be fine since they apparently think
each other is someone they like, but we'll adjust to something different as
soon as you tell me what it is.”
“You're pissed.”
“I'm irked. I'm not to a good full blown piss
off yet, but we're headed there.”
“Ok, so what do you want me to do?”
“I want you to get off this plane and act like
nothing's wrong since we're getting filmed. Now, when we get home, we'll
discuss this and you'll see I was left with little choices.”
“I thought you were boss.”
“Yes, and I've thought that too until I got to
talking to you. Now, come on darling, the fucking cameraman is pointing at his
camera like the eyes of this nation are on you.”
Robert looked at me and said, “What do you want
me to do?”
“Walk down the steps slowly. The camera doesn't
like it when you look like you're in a hurry.”
“Ok”
“At the bottom, walk on my right side and we'll do a short interview.”
We went down the steps and when I got to the
bottom, the camera man eased over. “Good to see you again!”
“Glad to be back. It's nice to see Steve and be
in his arms again.”
“Who's the kid?”
“This is Robert. He's my son.”
“He looks a lot like you.”
“He's a good looking kid. I'm sure he'll be a
heart breaker when he's older.”
Robert blushed and Steve chuckled.
“Have you heard Steve's going to run?”
“We've discussed it. I'm glad he finally made a
decision. I'll be there to support him every step of the way.”
“He's hinted at popping the question. Would you
care to elaborate.”
“When he does, I'm sure I'll go with my feelings
for him. I know he'll be a wonderful husband and father to Robert. I've said it
before. Now we've got to go to the visitation they're having for his father, so
please excuse us.”
We walked over to the police cruiser and Robert
opened the door. When I got in, Steve opened the door for Robert and let him
get in the back. He shut the door and Robert said, “Man, you handled that
nice.”
“That's how you deal with the press. You're
polite and don't let them see you flinch. That man shouldn't have asked about
the proposal, but I think he wanted to build up the public.”
Steve got in and said, “Babe, I'm sorry.”
“Hon, you're entitled to having feelings as is
everyone. We knew things would change with this job, but I'll not have Tammy
around much.”
“IF little John wants her here, you know she's
going to be here.”
“Probably, but as I'm getting used to Kevin
having a new life, she's going to as well. If not, then she'll disappear.”
“That sounded ominous.”
“She's under orders to leave him alone. If she
can't follow them, then we've got problems. We've already discussed it and she
knows I'm not going to let her mess with his head.”
“Ok, I was worried.”
“I know. I was too. We couldn't discuss it in
front of her, but that's how it's going to work.”
“I probably look like an ass now.”
“Hon, Beck's bowled over by you. I'm not sure
how Robert feels, but what we're dealing with isn't even to the hard part yet.”
“What's that?”
“Robert is Gino's twin brother's grandson. That
kind of sneaked up on me.”
Steve looked back at Robert, “So you're related
to David.”
“Yes.” Robert replied.
I turned to Robert. “I apologize for nearly
calling you Rob in front of the camera.”
He smiled and said, “That's what my mom calls
me. That'd be fine.”
“Ok, but not in front of the camera. I want them
to have respect for you.”
He nodded.
Steve said, “Care to elaborate?”
“Robert is Michael's son. Michael and I made the
deal about Robert becoming trained for New York. Even though Michael couldn't
keep his word, I kept mine.”
“And his mother let it happen?”
“Hon, she sees it as an opportunity too. I've
promided he'll go home often and on holidays.”
“What if I get attached to him?”
“So be it, we'll love him as ours. There's
nothing wrong in that.”
“You're not understanding. It'll make it look
strange.”
“Sweetheart, if he has to go home for the
holidays, it's something that'd happen if we were dealing with me having an ex.
So, it'll look normal.”
He nodded and said, “I'm glad you're thinking of
these things.”
Robert said, “Steve, if you get attached, I'll
like that. My dad sure didn't get attached to any of us kids.”
Steve said, “Good, I'll treat you like you're
Rhette's and we'll get through this.”
I reached over and patted Steve's leg. He put
his hand on my hand and said, “Do you want a bit of bad news?”
“Ok, what?”
“There's a lot more press in front of the
funeral home.”
“Ok”
“It's not CNN. It's local news.”
“Do I have to speak?”
“I don't think so. I think they're wanting to
show the dignitaries who show.”
“Ok, what we'll do is you walk over to do a
comment and Robert and I will walk in together.”
“You looked damned amazing in that dress.”
“As long as nothing shows, we'll be fine. If I
look like I've got a dick in this thing, we'll all be sunk.”
Robert giggled and Steve smiled.
We went into town and I saw a lot of cars parked
by the funeral home. Steve pulled up front and parked in a no parking zone.
“Hon, they're not going to let you park here.”
“Yeah they will.”
“You're not above the law. Right now, everyone
who's had a ticket is looking at where you park and is wondering if you're
going to leave this car there.”
“Ok, I'll move it.”
“I'll ask the funeral home director to find you
a place. IF he doesn't, I'll really lose respect for him. You're family and all
these other cars aren't.”
We got out and Robert put his arm around me. I
put my arm around his shoulder. When we got inside, the man showed me the sign
in lectern. I said, “Steve's out there without a place to park. Would you find
him a place?”
“Tell him we've got parking in the rear.”
“Could you do that please?”
He looked at me and I said, “Listen, the press
are all over trying to get pictures of my son. If I go out there, then they'll
ask questions. You don't have enough insurance if he gets kidnapped.”
“Ok, I'll go tell him.”
“Tell him when those cars out front move so he
can park there. You should have saved spaces for the family.”
He looked at me and I said, “Ok, look in these
eyes. I went to school for Mortuary Science. This is my profession. You pull
shit on me and I'll expose every flaw in this motherfucker. Do you want to
play?”
“No”
“Then pay attention to the details because the
place down the street is.”
Robert giggled and said, “Mom!”
“Well!”
“Come on.”
We went into the viewing chapel. Rather than
waiting in the line, I steered Robert around them and up to the front. Rose saw
me and smiled big.
I hugged her and said, “I made it as fast as I
could.”
“Where's Steve.”
“Looking for a place to park. They weren't so
kind to save him a spot.”
“Let me talk to Butch. I'll get him a good place
to park.”
She walked over to a man and he immediately went
out the front door.
She came back and said, “So who is this?”
“This is Robert. He's my son.”
She looked at me strangely and then smiled at
Robert. “You going to be my grandma?”
“Yes son, I'll be grandma.”
“Good. I've heard a lot of nice things about
you.”
“All lies. I'm a mean old witch.”
He laughed and she said, “You'll see.” and then
she winked.
He turned to me and said, “She's nice.”
“Yes, and I love her a lot.”
She turned back around to me and hugged me.
“Thanks.”
I saw David walk in and went over to him. He smiled a big smile. “You look
wonderful.”
“I ought to, this dress cost a fortune.”
“It looks excellent.”
“Thanks, now what are you doing?”
“I'm here to support Rose.”
“Ok.”
“Who's the boy?”
“Your second cousin.”
“Huh?”
“Come with me and I'll explain.”
We went into a small area where there was a
coffee pot.
“The boy is your cousin's son.”
He looked at me and said, “How'd you find out?”
“Her dad was there. Do you want to explain it to
me? I nearly lost it after the trial because I saw him.”
“Not much to explain. He wanted to get married,
so he moved away. His name was never to be spoken in the family because of whom
he married.”
“Well, I know who she married and that's their
son. I'm going to raise him and train him for New York.”
“Ok”
“I'd like it if you would attempt to mend
fences. We're all in this together and it doesn't matter where alliances lay.”
“Ok, I wasn't prepared for it, but I'd love to
meet him and her.”
“You didn't get to be around Dominic?”
“No.”
“Oh my. You're going to have a hard time then.”
“Why?”
“He's identical to your dad.”
“Oh man. I bet you did lose it.”
“Hon, it was tough. He looks just like him and
smells just like him too. His voice is a bit different, but the mannerisms are
interesting.”
“How long did you get to speak with him?”
“Long enough...well, only about fifteen minutes,
but then, I found out enough to know his version of the story.”
“Meemaw's heart was broken.”
“I bet! She lost a son for a stupid reason. I wouldn't
have done it.”
“She had no choice.”
“Bullshit, she could have put her foot down and
called the bluff.”
“My grandpa wasn't that kind.”
“Well, I've heard that too. I just can't believe
women had to put up with those things.”
“Things are different. How's Michael's wife?”
“Doing well. I've got Bear guarding her.”
He smiled. “You're sly.”
“They're a perfect fit.”
“I'm glad.”
“Let's hope it works.”
“Let me get in there and meet him. He's sure a
cute kid.”
“Yeah looks like someone I knew when he was
younger.”
“Michael?”
“Mixed with you.”
He smiled and said, “Now I find out.”
“I saw pictures of you. Remember?”
“Yeah.”
“At that age, he resembles you.”
“His dad was a lot better looking than me.”
“Not as nice.”
He smiled and hugged me. “You're full of
compliments.”
“I'm damned glad to have you back.”
“We need to talk about that.”
“Ok”
“Not here.”
“I'm fine with that.”
We went back into the viewing chapel. Robert
came over and said, “Steve's chewing that one guy a new one outside.”
I looked out the window and saw Steve really
pointing the finger and using a lot of animated gestures.
“Let me go get him.”
I went towards the front of the building and got
to the door when Steve came storming through it.
“I was just coming to get you.”
“The man's an asshole.”
“Calm down.”
“Wanted to tell me what I was going to do and
wasn't.”
“Did the other guy get to you?”
“Yeah, he's taking my car and going to park if
for me.”
“Ok, but what we need to do is to tell JT and
Kevin heads up so they don't get into it with anyone.”
He smiled and said, “You were coming to rescue
me?”
“More like rescue that guy! I saw the way you
were.”
He chuckled and said, “The guy tried telling me
you were a bitch.”
I laughed and said, “He refused to come tell you
where you could park. I told him in a matter of fact way I probably knew his
job better than him and to not fuck with me.”
“Let's get in there.”
We walked in and Steve paused. “Would you look
at that!”
David was standing there hugging Robert from
behind.
“He's handling it well. He wants to meet his
cousin and her dad. He never got to know them.”
“I imagine that'd be hard.”
“Yes, but the reason was stupid.”
“What was it?”
“Dominic married someone they didn't want him to
marry. For that, he got banished.”
“Huh?”
“You heard me, he was treated like he was dead
by his whole family.”
“What a dumb reason.”
“I thought so. That's why I reinstated him.”
“You're good.”
“We need anyone we can get. Things weren't so
good there.”
“Bad?”
“Terrible.”
“I never got a call. I was worried.”
“I'm sorry.”
“How bad was it.”
“Almost 200 dead. Ninety one of theirs. Little
John got shot, and we had a lot more at the trial that got killed.”
“Helluva day.”
“Yeah, it'll be black on everyone's calendar.”
“Were you involved?”
“Steve, don't ask me that.”
“I worry about nightmares. You get precious
little sleep as it is.”
“I'll sleep tonight, I've not slept since I was
laying in your arms.”
“Rhette, you can't do that to yourself.”
“There was no time!”
“You've got to make time.”
“I am. Tonight. I'll sleep like a baby in your arms.”
He smiled slightly. “I'm glad you feel so
comfortable.”
“I do with you. It's not drug induced. It's
natural. And, I feel better when I'm with you.”
“We've got a problem.”
“What's that?”
“That guy called me a faggot. Do you think he
knows?”
“DO you
want to show the fucker a trick? Let's pack this thing up and move it to a
church. He'll lose the publicity he gets having it here and we'll get everyone
asking questions.”
“No, I can't do that to my mom.”
“Hang on a second.”
I went over to the funeral director. “Would you
be so polite to go get your man and bring him here to apologize to the
Sheriff.”
“What's wrong?”
“I'll tell you when the man is standing in front
of you and us.”
“What are you doing Rhette?”
“Watch this.”
The man came along with his boss. “Yes, what is
the problem?”
“Earlier, you mentioned a word which has the
Sheriff upset. I'll tell you he's not a faggot sir.”
I reached over and kissed Steve. “Now, If you
want the truth, that man is better in bed than you ever hope to be. On a scale
of one to ten, he's a twenty five.
I'm
pissed off enough at what you said I'm tempted to go in and tell my future
mother in law we'll find a church and wheel that casket down the street to it.
He
says don't cause a scene. He says I'm over reacting. Well, let's see. You get
publicity because that man is resting here. There's a news crew across the
street here to see which notables are coming and which have been here. How
about if they get a scoop and I go out there and expose you for the pompous ass
you are?”
“I'm terribly sorry.”
“You just apologized to the wrong person. You
should apologize to Steve. You should apologize to your boss. You've apologized to me whom you're insinuating I'm a
fag hag. Well sir, I'm not!”
Steve cracked a smile and said, “Babe, simmer
down.”
“Simmer down! I'm trying to raise a boy in there
to love others while you're accepting bigoted remarks from someone we're paying
a lot of money too. I'll simmer down when you get a proper apology.”
I held up my hand and held up one two three
fingers. “That sir, was three fucking seconds too long. I'll now go out to the
press.”
I went to the door and opened it. On my walk
across the yard, the cameras zoomed in on me.
“Hi guys! Do you want a good story with a lot of
juicy gossip?”
“Yeah!”
“This funeral home here. It's ran by bigots.
I
just found out while the Sheriff was out here arguing with that man, he was
called a faggot by the man who works here. I called them on the carpet over it
and neither the proprietor nor the worker would apologize to him. They
apologized to me, but not to him. What do you think of that!”
“Oh man!”
“Yeah, so here's what I'm going to do. I'm going
to get my CNN man here and I'm going to have these fuckers exposed. When your
news syndicates wonder why you've not hopped on the story, I'm going to really
be going to town over it with the fake Tammy Faye tears and mock exasperation.
Now,
do you want the story, or do I scoop you to CNN?”
“Oh man! I'll run it!”
“Ok, here's the deal. You run this story at noon
tomorrow and you do it again at five. I don't want you to do it tonight because
you'll have every motherfucker on the planet picketing this place while we're
trying to have a funeral.”
“Ok. By the way, awesome dress.”
“I paid seventeen hundred for the thing so I'd
look good here while my fiance'...oops...gets insulted by the men who run this
place.”
Steve came out. “Rhette, they apologized.”
“Damn! Well guys, do the piece on how much a
fucking dress costs at Neiman Marcus instead. Sorry for wasting your time.”
“You really his fiance'?”
“He's not popped the question yet, but when he
does, I'll say yes.”
I went back across the yard and hugged Steve.
“You really telling them to run the story?”
“Hell yeah. They were going to fun it at noon
and five. They probably will still do it, but by then, we'll be away from these
fuckers.”
He smiled. “You're hell on wheels.”
“Hon, you let a rumor like that slide without
punching them in the mouth and they'll repeat it so often it'll get built up
we'll have to face it on the campaign.”
“How'd you get the guys to do it?”
“I told them they'd be scooped by CNN and their
syndicate would be asking them why they never ran it.”
“They'll run it.”
“Good.”
“You're awesome.”
“Hon, I bet the man now knows not to fuck with
me or mine.”
“You done with it?”
“Depends how big it hits with the press.”
He laughed and said, “Hon, I love you.”
I went back in and said, “Men, you're going to
do something to appease us. When this campaign happens, I expect you to have a
huge billboard out there on the highway sponsored by you.”
“Ok”
“Thanks. Now, I'll go in here and protect my son
from the assholes in here.”
I went in and Steve came in chuckling. “Babe,
you have a slick way of calling someone an asshole while at the same time
getting a contribution.”
“I want them to know I'm pissed.”
David heard what I had to say and came over. “A
problem?”
“Not now. You'll probably see it on the news,
but Steve got called a faggot by the man who works here.”
“Oh man.”
“Yeah.”
I walked over to Robert and said, “How you doing
hon?”
“Grandma is introducing me to everyone.”
“Good. You remembering names?”
“I'm trying.”
“I'll show you how I do it. You see that man over
there? His name is Carl. He's someone who has a last letter of Y. Yaeger or
something like that. I met him briefly out there shaking hands. He's a veteran
and he was in World War II.”
“How'd you memorize that!”
“When I was shaking his hand, I thought to
myself, “Carl doesn't look like a Carl, I wonder Y. Could it be the war? Could
it be the VA? I know not Y.”
HE smiled and said, “All that went through your
mind?”
“Yeah, because I definitely want people to feel
special when they're in that voting booth. Watch this?”
I took Robert over and said, “Carl, I'd like for
you to meet my son Robert.”
Carl looked surprised. “You remembered my name!”
“Someone who's served our country definitely
needs my remembering.”
“If we had pin up girls like you in those days,
I'd remembered you.”
I chuckled and said, “Maybe when Steve gets in
the Governor's mansion, I'll send our boys a pin up or two to boost their
spirits.”
“Do that and they'll definitely turn in those
absentee ballots for him!”
“You just gave me an idea. I'll do that. How do
I get those roles?”
“You just go to the local base here and ask.
Someone as pretty as you will get all the names she wants.”
“Thanks Carl. I appreciate it. Send my love to
your wife....Meg's her name, right?”
“Yes, you remembered her too!”
“I try to remember names and occupations. I'm
sure by the end of the campaign my head will be spinning.”
He laughed and said, “You're doing great so
far.”
Robert and I walked away. “You see, that just
turned those votes over to us. I'll get that fucking pin up calendar sent out
to get those votes. You watch and see.”
“How?”
“It's not what they see or don't see, it's the
fantasy they have. The second I send those things out, we'll release it to CNN
who will run the story. Everyone will snatch the fucking things and we'll get
the images scored into more voter's minds.”
“You're something else!”
“Hon, you seize any opportunity and you run with
it. Who else's wife is sending their troops encouragement like that?”
“Cool!”
“Yeah, that man just handed us those votes. I'll
do it so Meg shouldn't have to beg for a peg leg when she's as big as a keg.”
He laughed and said, “That's funny.”
“It works. Use it and you'll remember people all
over our country.”
“You're teaching me, aren't you?”
“Isn't it working?”
“Yeah, I'm going to go stand by grandma and
memorize people's names.”
“Tomorrow, when they're at the funeral, you
shake their hand and call them by name. It'll impress the hell out of them and
you'll be amazed at how many remember you.”
“I'll do that.”
Steve came over and said, “Good kid.”
“Yep, and it's all his mother's doing.”
He laughed and said, “He's back up there with
Mom and she's eating it up.”
“Good. He likes her too.”
“How long we going to have him?”
“Probably until he's eighteen. I'm not
installing him up there until he's twenty one.”
“Why not?”
“He's got to be able to get out there and shake
hands and pat people on the backs. If he's not allowed into bars, then that's
not going to happen.”
“You're training him for something more, aren't
you?”
“I'm training him to take over the world. He's
already been given crown prince, so let's work on getting him more.”
He smiled, “Always the campaign manager.”
“Yep. I've got my position, now all I need is to
get him into position so he can take over.”
“What if he wants to go to college?”
“Then we'll do that. I've given my word and I'll
give him the best doing it.”
He laughed and said, “With a dad who's Governor,
that should work out nicely.”
“Yes.”
I stood next to Steve and shook hands. Names I
didn't know, I memorized. Names I knew, I called the person by name and got
them to talking.
Kevin and JT came in. Kevin looked like a
million bucks and JT looked absolutely breath taking. Somehow, they had
matching suits. I wonder if it was a fluke or one had bought the other the
suit.
JT directed them over to me and gave me a kiss.
“You look amazing!”
“Thanks. You two look awesome. Where'd you get
the suits?”
“Kevin knows a guy where you live who makes
them. He took my measurements and called the man.”
“Frederique.”
“Yes! You know him?”
I looked at Kevin and he blushed. “Yes, I know
him.”
“What's up with him. His face is red!”
Kevin said, “I embellished a little. Rhette
introduced me to Frederique.”
“Oh, ok!” JT said giggling.
I intervened. “You two need to meet Robert.”
“Who's that?”
“My son.”
Kevin smiled and said, “When did you give
birth?”
“About five hours ago. He's Michael's son.”
“Oh”
“Kev, we need to talk a little later.”
“Ok. What about?”
“You're not going to be happy with me.”
“Let's see. Tammy's here. She's not here for
anyone but little John and she's going to talk to me about closure.”
“You know.”
“I know.”
“You're not happy.”
“I'm laying the past in the past and going on.
Can I do that if my ex throws my ex across the railroad tracks of life?”
“I thought it'd be better for you two to talk.”
“Rhette, I appreciate things, but nothing's
going to happen there.”
“No it won't. She's been told that.'
“I heard what you told her.”
“And I meant every word of it. Now I need to go
make a call.”
“Don't do it.”
“I'm making the call. I won't have what I really
would like to see done. I will get her banished for telling all she knows.”
“Rhette, leave it be.”
I looked at him and said, “Kevin. I've got an
organization to run. Since I made the decision to keep her, I've been made to
regret it hourly it seems. Now I've got to get her the fuck away from me, or
something bad will happen.”
“Little John is lapping up her attention like
you wouldn't believe. You want him hurt?”
“That doesn't phase me.”
I walked out to the coffee room and called
little John. “Yeah”
“Do me a favor and get that bitch the fuck gone.
I've promised nothing will come of her, but I'm letting you know as soon as I
get her to trial, she'll be banished.”
“Ok, can I keep her elsewhere?”
“If you want, but as a part of mine, she's too
dangerous. Kevin knows everything which happened and just told me.”
“Oooh”
“Yeah, so get her gone and you can have her, but
as a part of mine, she's never to be again.”
“Ok”
I walked back in and said to Kevin quietly.
“Little John is taking her elsewhere. She's staying alive, but she's not a part
of my organization anymore.”
“You're pissed.”
“Kevin, she's sold out her brother. She's sold
out me. That is a character trait I can't have leading anything in my
organization.”
He nodded and said, “Rhette, I'm fine.”
“I wanted you to be. That's all I wanted.”
“I know where your heart is.”
“Thanks.”
“Nice dress.”
“Too fucking expensive.”
He smiled and said, “Should I ask?”
“Including purse, this is a five grand outfit.
The shoes were almost as much as the dress.”
“Holy shit!”
“Neiman Marcus. They've got beautiful stuff, but
man do they place a price on it.”
He chuckled and said, “You went high
maintenance.”
“You telling me!”
I went back over next to Steve and started
memorization again.
When it was time to finish for the evening,
Steve, Robert, and I took everyone out for dinner. Steve spoke with an owner of
a restaurant who said business was great that evening since he'd placed the
sign on his door stating he'd be open late.
Robert didn't sit in the booth immediately. He
went around speaking with patrons and again thanking them for their kind words.
JT leaned over and said, “That kid looks like a
politician already.”
“Let's hope.”
Rose said, “Rhette, you had a son?”
“No, he's someone's son I'm raising now.”
“Oh!”
“Yes. His dad recently passed away.”
She nodded and said, “Michael?”
“Yes.”
“I knew you were upset. How did things go?”
“Not well. We won, but the loss we took was
staggering.”
“What would you do over?”
“I would have done a box and had my guys on the
rooves of all the buildings. The result for them would have been the same, but
mine would have lived.”
Kevin looked shocked. JT said, “Jesus Christ!”
“It was bad. Let's talk about something else.”
David put his hand upon the table and said,
“Rhette, touch my hand.”
I did.
“You remember what my Dad would say when he'd
have you do that?”
“WE are but a grain of salt upon the balls of a
louse. If we don't survive until tomorrow, we'll be taken today. Upon the realm
of history, we'll not be in the books, so let's celebrate while we can our
successes and forget about our failures.”
“Hey! My grandpa says that!”
David smiled and said, “I wonder who taught
them.”
“Someone long since gone and not remembered in
any book.”
David smiled and said, “You're successful today.
Celebrate.”
“It was too heavy of a cost.” I said looking
down.
“Rhette, I've been at the hotel. Everyone told
me how it was set up and it seems you did everything right. Given the men they
had and the number you had, I'd say it was a miracle you survived. It's easy to
die in a building, but it's damned hard to lose when you're outside.”
Kevin said, “That's a tactic I've read about.”
David asked, “And what are the percentages of
failure for those in the building versus outside?”
“Terrible.”
David pressed, “What if the sides are evenly
matched?”
“Total annialation. The outside factors have too
many things on their side.”
“Yet Rhette won and they lost every man.”
Kevin looked pale and said, “Rhette, you not
having any wounds is a miracle. It sounds like the losses you took were a lot
less than you should have.”
“I have those men's lives in my power. I
shouldn't have lost any.”
David said, “You can beat yourself up again and
again, but what you should be doing is celebrating beating the odds you had.”
“I'll not make that mistake again.”
Rose said, “Let's celebrate.”
Robert said, “Rhette, today is a good day. You
freed my mama and you got my gramps back his family.”
“David, one thing I want to ask is what you
think about Dominic heading Kansas City.”
He smiled. “I think it's something which has
crossed my mind since you told me where he is.”
“I'll ask him. It's something I think would be
nice.”
“The men are going to really be awed. We'll have
to tell them the story so they know the heart you have.”
“What I'd like is to buy another house on that
row so we can make it a part of the chain.”
“Too late, they're already bought. If you'd care
to ask, you already own them.”
“Really!”
“The whole block including all the houses on it,
on the side streets on that block, and on the street behind on that block.”
“That's a bit overkill.”
“It was a dream of Dad's. When they moved onto
that block, he was told he couldn't afford a house there. He owned them all
before he was done.”
“Ok, do you care if we get him one?”
“No, I'd prefer he take Meemaw's, but if you've
got plans with it, then I'd say the next one would be fitting.”
“He said those houses have too many memories.”
“I imagine they do. Let's let him build new
ones.”
I nodded and said, “I'll get him notified.”
David smiled and said, “Robert, your eyes glow
like my Dad's when you're curious.”
I said, “As do yours. If you saw his grandpa,
you'd really be floored.”
“That much of a resemblance?”
“Near perfect match.”
David smiled and said, “I'm going to enjoy
meeting him.”
Our meals arrived and we ate heartily. When we
were done, Rose took David home and JT took Kevin. Steve drove us home and when
we pulled up in front, he asked, “How about we take the Rolls back into town
and go get an ice cream cone?”
Robert said, “Ok!”
“Hon, I'll go, but if I fall asleep with my head
upon your shoulder, Tuck me in.”
Steve said, “Ok babe”
We went back into town and went for ice cream.
It wasn't Swenson's, but it was good. On the way back, Robert asked Steve if
what I said about the woods was true. Steve told him it was and to not go in
there.
When we got home, Rose called me in and asked to
talk. I went with her and as she heated us tea, she said, “Tell me about it”
“God Rose, it was terrible. The gunshots when
they happened sounded like one great big roll of firecrackers going off at
once. By the time I got back out there, everyone was dead except a few of
theirs. I killed them and then, we had to take care of the dead.”
“Ok, you know what you'd do different, but what
would you do that same?”
“That's a hard one. Knowing the way things
turned out, I'd have to say I'd not do much the same. I'd still do it for the
reasons which happened, but I'd not do it the same.”
“You put yourself into that situation by
choosing the hotel. There was a reason you did it that way.”
“I wanted to humiliate Michael and have him
stopped where he got his start.”
“Would you get that boy the same?”
“Yes.”
“Ok, so you have one thing which you'd do the
same. You realize you were given the gift of life and that some things are
meant to be. Maybe it took this war to stop other wars. If you can save those
lives, isn't it worth it?”
“Yes.”
“Harry Truman said the same thing. He was
sickened by the loss of life when they dropped the bomb, but he also knew the
loss would have been greater had it not happened. SO count on that war as being
your bomb.”
“Thanks Rose.”
“Your eyes were haunted hon. I couldn't let you
continue to beat yourself up.”
“It's terrible though.”
“And it could have been worse. You're a leader
and you care. It's going to hurt when you lose people, but you're smart enough
to know your strengths and weaknesses. Don't let your strengths become your
weaknesses.”
“Ok”
“That boy is a blaze of smarts. To know he's
related to David has me just thanking the lucky stars I've got someone who has
his blood under my care.”
“He's got eight brothers and sisters who are
back home. I'm sure his mom would love a break.”
She laughed and said, “My God!”
“Yeah.”
“You tell that woman I want to meet her and you
let her know that boy is going to be loved so much here she'll have to come get
some herself. It's not fair for you to do all the sending at holiday times. She
can come here too.”
“Ok”
She smiled and said, “It's nice having you home.
Now my boy can get some sleep. I know he didn't sleep either.”
“Ok, I'll go get him to bed.”
“Tomorrow, I want to know why you put the spurs
in that funeral director's behind.”
“He called Steve a faggot.”
“He what!”
“Yeah, so I made him apologize and he didn't
want to do it until I went out to the press.”
“I'm hoping that man got out his little phone
call which made him think he was powerful and got told to leave you alone
because you was his boss' boss.”
“He's a member?”
“I've heard more than once he was.”
“Ok, I'll make a call and find out. If he is,
he's going to really have a huge ass chewing coming.”
She smiled and said, “You tell him the next one
came from Steve's mama.”
“Ok”
“Now get yourself to bed and thank you for
loving him enough to stepping in that man's behind over it.”
I went up and went to our room. In bed was Steve
with Robert under his arm laying beside him.”
“He didn't have a room.”
“That's got to change.”
“It will, but rather than waking anyone up, I
told him he could sleep with us.”
“Ok, let me get ready for bed and I'll be there
shortly. Could you get this clasp?”
“Yes.”
Steve got up and undid my clasp. “Seeing your
body come out of that dress is so nice.”
“Thanks. I've got to go get a shower.”
“I'll take one with you.”
Robert giggled and said, “Don't drop the soap!”
I giggled and said, “I won't be on accident!”
Steve and I took our shower, “Babe, holding you
in my arms is something I really love doing.”
“I know. Having you hold me and me hugging you
back is worth coming home.”
“I've got to tell you something else.”
“Ok”
“On Thursday, I'm going to have someone brought
home whom I will have with guardianship papers.”
“Who?”
“His name is Jeff. HE was in prison with me.
He's back on the dope, but what I want to do is to get him off the stuff.”
“And bringing him home with Robert here is going
to be smart?”
“OK, I'll take him someplace else. I do want to
help and that's because I've given my word to his dad.”
“What's your plans afterwards?”
“I want to find him a legitimate job in which
he'll do good. His dad is a newscaster and I think him being there under his
dad's shadow and able to get money is a problem.”
“What do you think he'll be best doing?”
“I don't know. What I'm thinking is getting him
in with Jimmy buying hospitals. Jimmy will leave him be and yet, will keep an
eye on him.”
“And that will be a legitimate job?”
“We're going to own the company, but a lot of
our money is going to be funneled into it so it can be above board.”
“Ok, so when it pays taxes, it's legitimate.”
“Yes.”
“Anything else?”
“I've come up with a name for the airlines.
Canary.”
“Pretty inventive.”
“Someone else gave me the idea. What I thought
of real fast was the bright yellow coloring and using the World War II fighter
plane things painted on the nose with each plane having a nickname. Dave wants
to advertise on them which I thought up, but his ideas will be sponsorships
which will pay off the airline.”
“That's good thinking.”
“Yeah, so what we're doing is seeing what we've
got to spend and doing what we can to get St. Louis out of the bind it's in.”
“What bind is it in?”
“Financially, their accounts are nearly
insolvent. Michael bankrupted it.”
“How?”
“Bad loans. Spendthrift spending, luxurious home
for a girlfriend, extravagant spending on everyone and everything else.”
“Shouldn't he have had plenty of income coming
in?”
“Yes, but when you don't go out and collect them
so you get a reputation, you don't get people to paying like they should.”
“It sounds like a headache.”
“Yeah, but Alex is in there and we worked on
getting him one of his big bad loans back.”
“How?”
“In Michael's files, we had information the guy
killed someone. Michael was there and even had GPS coordinates where the body
is located. We promised the guy we'd turn him in if he didn't pay.”
“So did he?”
“No, he tried getting the feds on me for
kidnapping him by giving me a fake account number.”
“So, you gave him to the police?”
“Yeah.”
“SO you never got money.”
“I will, but what I'm going to do is let the
news hit about the man and let his stock slide and then, I'll go in and buy up
the stock. Before this is over, I'll have them in a position they'll get me his
shares or I'll bankrupt the company.”
“That's an expensive gamble.”
“Hon, the game is based upon their fears I'll do
it. Rather than seeing the stock he owns go, they'll get it to me. Then, I've
got my loans back and covered and have made a profit on the shares I bought
up.”
“What if he lawyers up and beats it?”
“There's a tape with him confessing on it as
part of the evidence.”
“Nice.”
“The files are thorough.”
“You got them all?”
“Michael's wife got them for us. They were in
their basement out in the open.”
“A file on you?”
“The kid has it in his room. He liked reading
about his dad loving someone.”
“Interesting.”
“Michael was a stalker. He had a fantasy going
on in his mind. IF he'd came forward at one time, I would have gotten with him.
Instead, he didn't. Now it's too late.”
“Well, he's too dead now.”
“That too.”
“Where'd you put all the bodies?”
“The Kansas City men went back home. The people
from St. Louis went to Miami. They're all going to be ground up and put upon a
boat, taken out, and sunk.”
“Tidy.”
“They'll all be nude. There won't be any
clothing identifiers if someone dives the wreck.”
“You're pretty smart.”
“I have to be.”
“Rhette, why don't you get out of it?.”
“I can't. The pay off is for you to get elected
and more good things happen.”
“It's wearing you down.”
“I know, but I'm not working tomorrow and if the
Cardinal hadn't asked for me to do the favor for Jeff, I wouldn't have to go
there on Thursday.”
“The Cardinal as in Catholic, or baseball?”
“Catholic. He's relation of Michael and was a
Bishop. He's a nice guy.”
“I imagine.”
“So, I'll help Jeff get off the dope and then,
I'll get him a job which will get him something he can be proud of.”
“How you going to keep him off the stuff.”
“Good old fashioned fear. Apparently, he wants
to numb some pain instead of working on the underlying core problem. What I'll
do is I'll let him think I'm killing people who are on drugs by lacing their
drugs with something. That way, he'll be leery about using again.”
“What happens if his addiction overcomes the
fear.”
“I'll take him again and clean him up. Then,
I'll give him one of David's little pills that has a hypnotic in it and make
him think something else like water is his drug. Then, if he's using, it'll be
water.”
Steve smiled and said, “He'll have to pee a lot,
but he'll sure be a happy pisser.”
I laughed and said, “I love you.”
We began to hug and kiss and ended up making
love. When we were done, we dried off and went to the bedroom. Robert was
laying sprawled out in the middle of the bed. Steve picked him up and said,
“You spoon up on that side and I'll get in the middle. He can sleep on this
side and that way, if he gets up before us, he won't disturb.”
“What time is your move on that drug house?”
“We've got a news crew lined up for 8:30 am.
I'll have to be out of here by 8.”
“Ok, we'll have a nice breakfast and then, we'll
get you off to that.”
“What are you and Robert going to do?”
“I'm going to take him over to the other house
and then, we're going to go get him a suit.”
“Ok, that will be a good plan. What does your
dress look like for tomorrow?”
“Nicer than the one tonight. The shoes are way
cool. They're called Mary Janes and have a strap with a pointed toe. The purse
is different, it's a clutch which is a bag that has a built in handle.”
“Black hose?”
“Yeah, and a hat with a veil. I've got to get
black gloves.”
“Ask mom, she's probably got a ton of them.”
“Ok”
We spooned up facing away from Robert. By morning,
I felt an extra arm laying over me.
When I got up, I looked at the clock and saw it
was 6:15. I got up and went to the bathroom. After that, I got dressed in farm
clothes and went down to see what was for breakfast.
June was there with a few women. “Hi hon?”
“Hi, You swiched things!”
“I figure the guys liked buffet style better, so
we're going that direction.”
“Works for me.”
“This is Sue, Brenda, and Mary Irene. All of
them are dear friends of mine.”
“Hi ladies.”
All of them said hi and then I went to eat. June
came over and said, “Rhette, you have a moment?”
“Yeah.”
“Would you help me sell my business?”
“Ok, why?”
“I'm tired of it. It's not exciting anymore and
it's become a burden for me to go in and even thinking about working.”
“Ok, what if I put some money into it and buy
it. Would that be a problem?”
“No.”
“OK, now I've another question. The men who run
that funeral home, are they in Charleston?”
“Yes, how'd you know?”
“A little bird told me.”
“What's going on?”
“One of them called Steve a faggot last night.
Instead of taking an apology, I'm going to cause them some problems.”
“The owner is mouthy. He's been in for a long
time, and since he joined, he's been real loose lipped about his involvements.
I think it's hurt his business a lot.”
“Well, I'm going to set some things in motion to
where the man knows I'm his nightmare on this planet. I think he might've
gotten told to leave me the hell alone, but I'm not sure. So, what I'll do is
make him sorry he's working under me.”
“How's that?”
“I could publicly embarrass him, but rather than
that, I think I'll do a little extortion training on him.”
“How's that?”
We were interrupted with me receiving a kiss
upon the cheek. “Hi Mom!”
“Hi hon”
June's eyebrows raised.
I said, “I'm raising him now. I'm also training
him.”
“OH!”
“Yeah, so now you know who will be getting
trained.”
Robert went over and filled his plate. When he
came back, he had twice as much on his that I had upon mine.
“This is good!”
“Tell her, she and her lady friends all cooked
it.”
“IT's good!”
“Thanks hon.”
I asked, “Are they working for us now?”
“Yes.”
“Ok, I wanted to make sure.”
“That's ok, isn't it?”
“Yeah. It's fine.”
I turned to Robert, “Your dad getting up?”
“Yeah, he got embarrassed.”
“Why?”
“You weren't in bed and I had a boner against
his back.”
“Oh Lord.”
“I got out of bed and he said, “Come back to bed
babe.” and I told him you weren't in the room.”
“How'd he take that?”
“He's embarrassed.”
“I'm sorry.”
“Don't be.”
“Ok, what we need to do today is we need to drop
by my house and then, I've got to get you some funeral clothes. Remind me when
we're out, I need some black gloves.”
June said, “I've got some.”
“Thanks. Do you know Neiman Marcus and none of
the other places we looked in Missouri had them?”
“I understand. It's a southern thing.”
“Well, I've got to have my own in case we have
many more funerals.”
Steve came down and sat at the table. “I'm sorry
Sport.”
“No problem Dad.”
Robert smiled and Steve blushed. “Did he tell you what happened?”
“Yes, he thought it was humourous. Don't be
embarrassed.”
“I feel so bad.”
“Hon, you were asleep. Normally, no one is
there. Today was different. I don't blame you.”
“I should have known because he was on that
side.”
“Hon, you didn't know. You were asleep. Don't
beat yourself up over it. Get some breakfast.”
“I'll stay away from sausage links.” he said
blushing.
I chuckled and Robert just giggled.
When we were through eating, I bid him goodbye
and then, Robert and I headed into town ourselves. We got to the other house
and went in.
“Wow, nice house!”
“It was bought the day I met Steve.”
“You mean dad.”
“Yes. I don't want to confuse you, so I said
Steve.”
“Rhette, while we're here, I'm going to call you
mom and him dad. Don't worry about anything screwing up if I do that.”
“OK”
“Why are we here?”
“I'm getting some clothes.”
“Why?”
“I want to have plenty of changes at the other
house.”
“Ok”
We carried out clothes and then, we drove into
town. We went to a men's shop and I got Robert some dress clothes. His suit fit
him perfectly as did everything he was picking out. We got him some jeans and
then some tennis shoes and dress shoes.”
We went down the street and I went into a
women's wear place. I got some dresses and then, I got some black gloves. While
there, I saw a hat which had a better veil than the one I was wearing, so I got
it.
The items stacked and before I knew what I was
doing, I'd bought a lot of outfits, hats, and shoes.
We carried everything out to the trunk of the
car and then drove home. On CNN, I saw Steve speaking with the drug house
behind him. Whenever they would cut away, the announcers were looking shocked.
They
had someone come on who said the grow houses were probably in more cities than
anyone knew. They made pleas to have people call their local law enforcement
agencies if there was any houses in their areas in which they suspected.
Robert was watching and said, “Man, Dad's
famous!”
“You were on there yesterday, what are you
talking about?”
“Really!”
“Yes. That guy who was filming at the plane was
our CNN guy.”
“Cool!”
We took the dresses upstairs and I put them in
the closet. I put on my gloves and then went to little John's room. I knocked
and entered. Rose was in there.
“Hi hons.”
“Hi Grandma!”
She smiled. “How is my favorite grandson today?”
“Fine, Mom took me in to get a bunch of
clothes.”
She laughed and said, “You're really getting
into calling him mom.”
“Yeah, I do it so I don't mess up and call him
dad out in public.”
“Ok”
I said, “I was looking for little John.”
“He's in my room. It's the hospital.”
“Where's David?”
“He's got a bed in there.”
“Something happen to him?”
“He said he didn't want to sleep with me until
we had James buried.”
“Ok. I need to speak to them, so I'll go over
there.”
“Ok hon, I'll take care of him.”
I went over and walked into the room. Little
John looked paler than he looked yesterday.”
“What's going on?”
“Fucking blood poison. They say I let it go too
long. Damned lucky I didn't lose my leg.”
“Oh man, I'm sorry.”
“I wanted to get home just as bad as you. It's
not your fault.”
“I need a bedroom for Robert.”
“Ok.”
“I want a local extorted hard.”
“Ok. Who?”
“The man that runs the funeral home. What I need
are a few of those hypnotic pills. I'm going to train Robert how to do it.”
He smiled. “You asking permission or telling
me?”
“It's not my people. I'm asking.”
“This is your area. They don't know it, but the
whole fucking country is yours.”
“Ok, but I'm asking.”
David came up and kissed me. “Damn, you look
better than yesterday!”
“Thanks. This dress cost nearly three grand. I
better.”
He laughed and said, “You're blown away by the
prices women pay, aren't you!”
“Hell yeah!”
“Get used to it.”
I laughed and said, “I went to town today and
spent five grand. The clothes I bought were a closet full. I doubt if there are
many more trips to Neiman Marcus..”
He laughed and little John chuckled. “You've got
the money, don't complain.”
“Many trips like that and I'd be broke.”
Little John asked, “What the undertaker do?”
The place is ran sloppy. They didn't have a
place to park, so Steve had to look for one. The guy got lippy with him and
called him a faggot. When I called him on it, he didn't apologize, so I went
across the street to speak with the press. After I told the press the story and
asked them to run it on the local news at noon and 5, Steve came out and said
he had apologized.
The
kicker is I found out the man is a member of Charleston. Apparently, he's let
it be widely known he's a member and thinks he's a big shit for it.”
“Ok”
“So, what I would rather do than embarrass him
is to have Robert taught how to extort him and get the guy really fearful.”
“That could backfire in your face. What if he
chooses to play the part and kill the kid?”
“I doubt if he'd do that.”
“Don't ever underestimate someone like that.
Those are the kind that like to think they're more than they are.”
“What do you suggest?”
“Use the pills and then get him in some very
compromising positions with his working man. Snap photos and then, take them to
his boss. Tell the boss, the man had nerve to call Steve a faggot and you got
the photos. The boss will know the score as well as he's got you pissed. He'll
be called in and either he'll be banned, or he'll be killed.”
“I'm not wanting that. I want Robert to be
taught some lessons.”
“Teach him how to get them drugged and the
photos taken. Teach him how you deal with other bosses when you've got a
problem with their people. That will be a lesson he needs to know.”
“Ok”
Little John smiled and said, “How's it going
with the kid?”
“He's doing great. Last nights lesson was
working a crowd and learning names. He learned good.”
“Ok, it sounds like he's a quick learner.”
“I hope. Today at the funeral, he's going to
attempt to recollect names he learned.”
“Good training.”
“What did you do with Tammy?”
“She was sent to New York. She's at my mom's
learning how to cook.”
I smiled, “Do you think it'll work out?”
“She's a great candidate for a wife, but not for
a leader. She's dumb as a box of rocks.”
“She's got loose lips. She's sold out Michael
and sold out me. Be careful with her.”
“I'll not be as patient.”
“Ok, just be careful.”
“I've been warned.” he said smiling.
I went out and went to the room where I left
Robert. He was there with Rose.
“Hon, you ready?”
“Yeah.”
“Ok, let's go downstairs so your grandma can get
ready.”
Rose smiled and said, “Hon, you don't know how
happy you make me.”
“I try. Fortunately, I have good help.”
She laughed and said, “He's great.”
Robert went over to her and hugged her. “If you
have problems, you look for me and I'll be there.”
“Thank you dear.”
We went out and I put my arm around his
shoulders. “Thank you.”
“No problem, she's great.”
“Well, it does my heart good you've taken to
her.”
“I've never had a grandma who I can remember.”
“What about your dad's mom?”
“She always treated me like she had too many
other grandkids to worry about. I sat on her lap once and she sat me off her
like she'd been scalded.”
“Well, it's her loss. Wait until you meet my
mom. You'll really have her wound around your finger.”
“You think?”
“Yeah, she's a sweetheart.”
“Where does she live?”
“Missouri. My file didn't have that?”
“No, basicly it was about what my dad thought of
you and a lot of different things. There were a lot of photos of you with other
men. He even had photos of you in prison.”
“Hmmm, I wonder how he got those?”
“Some investigator there is his link.”
“OK, that's good to know.”
“When's dad going to get home?”
“Soon. He's going to change into a suit for the
funeral.”
“Ok”
“Do you have your suit ready?”
“Yeah, everything is laid out for me to put on
real fast.”
“Why don't you go put it on. That way, you'll be
prepared.”
“We taking the Rolls?”
“Yeah”
“Good, that's a sharp car.”
“We'll have to start training you how to drive
and fly soon.”
“Great!”
“Our pilot out there is the best. He'll be
patient with you and teach you all that you need to know. I'd teach you, but I
don't have a certificate to teach.”
“Ok, do I get my own chopper when I can fly?”
“You can use one of ours. The one out there with
the gray rotor is mine. Don't fly in it.”
“Ok”
“I'd let you, but it's got a special thing which
you're not going to be ready yet. It'll
get you into more trouble than you need as a beginner.”
“Ok When I learn to drive, can I get a Rolls?”
“If that's what you want.”
“I do. It's a sharp car.”
“Wait until you see the one I've got ordered.
It's a hot rod Rolls.”
“Really!”
“Oh yeah, you'll really think it's sharp.”
“Who's is that one?”
“Mine, but Steve gets that one when I get mine.
What we'll do is we'll sit down and order you one with everything you want on
yours. That way, you'll have it the way
you want it.”
“I want one that is Red.”
“Ok, what color of seats?”
“Red.”
“Top?”
“What color do they come in?”
“You can either get red, black, or white.”
“White”
“Ok, dash, do you want burl wood like that one,
chrome like the one I'm getting, or black?”
“Chrome sounds cool.”
“What we'll do is get you the aero tires like
mine. That way they won't go flat.”
“Sounds cool.”
“What we won't do is get you a motorcycle. You
can wait on one of those.”
“So you're going to get me a Rolls already?”
“No, I'm thinking ahead so when you turn
sixteen, I'll have it ready.”
“Do I get to learn to fly a plane?”
“Yeah, we'll get you a jet so you can fly.”
“That'd be neat.”
We sat there and I said, “Let's go down and get
lunch. That way, we'll have that out of the way before you get dressed.”
“Ok, what they got?”
“I don't know, but what I will tell you is a
secret.”
“What's that?”
“When you have hired help, you find out what
their names are and you talk to them all the time. They appreciate it and it
helps you keep them around. When you get something like lunch from them, you
always say Thank you.”
“Ok”
“Little things like that are what makes them
valued and always in good help. Whatever you do, don't yell at someone. It
doesn't make anyone feel good.”
He nodded.
We went down the steps and over to the buffet. The
lay out they had was very nice. I went over to June and said, “You gals have
done an amazing job.”
“Thanks dear, the guys seem to love it too.”
“You've got enough selections they can't help
but like it.”
I went back over and saw Brenda. “Brenda, you're
doing wonderful. I'd really like to Thank you.”
“You're welcome hon. Your son seems to like it
too.”
“He's sure eating isn't he!”
“Yeah, they get real hungry right before they
start a growth spurt. I bet you he'll grow taller soon.”
“Thanks. I just went out and bought him a bunch
of clothes!”
She laughed and said, “At that age, he'll grow
faster than he'll wear them out.”
“Well, it's worth it if he's as tall as his
daddy was.”
“Was?”
“Yeah, he recently passed.”
“Oh you poor dear.”
“No love lost there. He's the treasure I got
from knowing him.”
Steve came in wearing his uniform. I kissed him,
“How'd it go hon?”
“Great! CNN really ate it up.”
“We watched a little of it when we got back.”
“I see you got gloves.”
“Yeah, a major hurdle cleared. I also bought a
lot of clothes.”
“Good.”
“Robert got a bunch, but I just got told he's
probably going to grow real fast the way he's eating.”
“Probably. He's sure got a plate full. I never
knew you could stack so much on one!”
“He'll clear that and get another. He did that
at breakfast too.”
“Where does he put it all?”
“I don't know, but I'm glad he likes the food.”
“They're doing a wonderful job. The guys are all
loving it.”
“I'm glad. What's good is there are things on
there I really like to eat.”
“Fix yourself a plate and I'll be right over.”
“Ok”
I prepared my plate and got some chicken breast
and a dab of mashed potatoes and gravy. A dinner roll and I was done.
I went over and sat down and Robert looked at my
plate. “Mom, you're going to starve to death!”
“Hon, after that funeral, a bunch of nice ladies
are going to have a huge meal prepared. I've got to save room for a dab of each
there and compliment everyone on everything or they'll all think I'm some
snooty bitch.”
“So I shouldn't eat all this?”
“I'm sure by the time we eat again, you'll have
room.”
He smiled and said, “It's good!”
“I know. I'm going to ask for one thing to be
added and then, I'll be deliriously happy.”
“What's that?”
“Lattice fries. I don't eat much fried food, but
those are my weakness.”
“What are they?”
“They're a potato slice that's like crispy cut,
but it's done on both sides, so there are little holes in it. When it fries up,
it's really crisp like a potato chip, but a lot thicker.”
“Oh, waffle fries.”
“They call them that too.”
“They are good.”
“What do you use to dunk them in?”
“Ketchup.”
“Use chocolate pudding. You'll fall in love with
it.”
“Really!”
“Oh man.”
He laughed and said, “You eat dinky bits and
crave the good stuff.”
“I'll get them to get them. We'll both be in
love.”
Steve sat down and he had a huge plate full.
“Jeez hon, you're going to starve to death.”
Robert began giggling.
“Honey, you need to save room. After the
funeral, you know they have ladies that have a huge carry in and you'll want to
eat a lot so you can compliment everyone on everything.”
“I forgot.”
“Well, save some room.”
Robert smiled and said, “I'll only eat one
plate.”
“As much as you eat, that'll probably leave them
wondering where you put it all.”
He laughed and said, “I've only started eating a
lot here.”
“You'll probably have a growth spurt soon.”
“Cool!”
“If you get as tall as your dad, you'll be built
good.”
“I want to be taller.”
“You will be with my respect, but don't get too
tall!”
He smiled. Steve said, “You know, someplace in
my teen years, I was short. I'd get to eating like a horse and interestingly,
when I started to grow, I went up seven inches in one Summer!”
“Man!”
“So when you go, don't be surprised if you feel
pains in your joints, bones, or muscles from growing. Sometimes one outgrows
the other and it hurts.”
Robert nodded and said, “I've had that feeling
before.”
They ate and I got up to go thank the ladies. I
saw June and said, “Hon, lunch was wonderful. Everyone is really enjoying it
and do you see my boy eatting?”
“Yes, he's a cute kid.”
“His daddy was a doll, but his mom is someone
who is a beautiful woman. Her personality is such she's normal, but she glows
when she smiles.”
“How'd she get hooked up with him?”
“She fell in love with a beautiful man. I think
the beautiful man saw her dad was brother's with someone who ran a city and
planned on cultivating that, but probably didn't know the father was banned.
They got married and married life didn't suit Michael. So, she paid dearly for
his dissatisfaction by seeing him become a bear to live with, stalking me and
pining away, and then philandering with at least one other woman. Along the
way, she got to see him take a city and bankrupt their accounts.”
“Oh my! That's a lot of money!”
“You telling me. But, I'm getting it back for
them, and we'll be situated nicely.”
“You're training him?”
“Yeah. One day he'll run this.”
“You already think a lot of the boy.”
“I do. He's refreshing as he's so delightful,
but I sense he's holding back his true feelings.”
“That's a man.”
“He probably learned it from his dad. The
problem is with me, I hold everything open and let people see everything. I'd
like for him to be that way with me.”
“If you extend truth enough, eventually you'll
get it.”
“I hope.
Listen,
I would like to request a favorite of mine to be added to the menu.”
“Ok, what is it?”
“Lattice fries. Robert calls them waffle fries,
so you might find them under that too.”
“Ok, I know what they are.”
“When I cook them, I cook them from a thawed
state. If you cook them when they're frozen, they'll be mushy inside. I like
mine really crispy so as the outside is really dark brown.”
“Ok, I'll get some out there. I'm trying not to
have too many fried foods.”
“I see that and I love you for it. I didn't eat
a lot for lunch, but that's because we have a wake afterwards.”
“At the church. I've heard a lot of the women
talking about what they're going to bring.”
“I reminded Robert so he only is eating one
plate, but Steve's already filled a plate, so he'll eat less there. I'm saving
space so I can talk to the women and find out who made what and learn things.”
She smiled and said, “You turn things into
opportunities.”
“I discovered something last night that will
probably lock up the absentee vote for Steve.”
“What's that?”
“Our guys who are in the military out of state
will probably be getting a pinup calendar of me.”
She laughed and said, “I bet they'll really find
it shocking.”
“Yes, but if it gets him in their brains to
carry over to the ballot box, Steve will reap the profits.”
She laughed and said, “The rest of the country
will find it scandalous.”
“What I'm going to do is I'm going to be out
there promoting the thing showing the pictures as being real soft porn and
asking women if they'd do the same for their husbands. I bet women will
identify and a lot of them men over here will see it and wish they had one.
Maybe the images will hit the ballot boxes over here too.”
“You need to get him a website put up where his
position is clear.”
“I do! Oh thank you! I'll get on that so we can
get him promoted that way.”
“Put those photos on it when you put them on the
calendar and send it out. Those guys who see it on CNN will start hitting the
website and you'll get your message across again.”
“That's an excellent idea.
What
I'll have to do is someplace in this thing, I'm going to get women a shot of
him with his shirt off. They'll have that image of him to ponder.”
She laughed and said, “And gay guys too.”
“Yes, them too.”
She smiled and said, “I'll tell you Andrew
thinks both of you walk on water.”
“Good. It means we're doing right by him.”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Sure”
“When you start the campaign could you put him
in a position where he's over a campaign headquarters or something?”
“Yes, and what I'll do is I'll find him a nice
job where he will have an easy job, but one that will last him the rest of his
life with good pay.”
She smiled and said, “You're doing so much for
him.”
“He's a good kid. I think he got screwed and
only wish he'd gotten to Steve when he made that first contact with the
Sheriff's department.”
“The story still hasn't broke about those
deputies.”
“No, I think what today is going to be is Andrew
getting noticed for his reporting the drug house and then, what we'll do is
we'll run that on Thursday so they can absorb it when Steve pops the
question....oh jeez, it will have to be tomorrow because I've got something
I've got to do on Thursday.
Excuse
me, I've got to go speak to him.”
I went over and sat down. “Hon, we've got a
problem.”
“What is it?”
“Thursday, we've got the proposal and I've made
plans for St. Louis of getting Jeff.”
“Delegate your authority and get him picked up.
Send a plane and have him brought.”
“I was going to be getting some of Robert's
things then too.”
“Ok, can it be done at a different time like
earlier and you get back here?”
“Yes.”
“Ok, but I want the afternoon for that.”
“Ok, so what you can do earlier is drop the bomb
about arresting some of your deputies for Andrew and then be over at that site
on a dozer.”
“Ok, that sounds like a way to do that.”
“Would you do me a favor?”
“What?”
“When you're on that dozer, do it towards noon
where it's hot enough for you to be seen without your shirt. If you do that and
have a nice sweat going, women will eat that up.”
He smiled and said, “Always thinking.”
“Well, I'm going to put out a pin up calendar.
If you can give the women something where I can put it on the website, then
we'll have a good number of hits of them looking at you.”
“You're trying to get me thought of as the sexy
governor like Jerry Brown was.”
“Who?”
“He was a governor out in California whom women
all thought was hot looking.”
“Was he?”
“From my memory, I didn't think so.”
“Well, if we can give them a modern day
equivalent while showing you're a man doing manly work, we'll have it.”
“I'll do it, but there's a place for that and
not.”
“I know. It's that I want all angles to be
covered.”
“It's working. I'll do it because I think it's a
great idea.”
Robert smiled and said, “You want me to do
something?”
“Yeah, but we'll figure it out. Probably this
Summer, we'll get you shots taken at the swimming pool. If girls and gay boys
who are just below the voting age see you and remember you so when they're
voting age, then it'll carry into the booth too.”
Steve frowned. “I don't like that. You'll have
every perv out there hawking on my kid. I'm not down with it.”
Robert got up and came around to hug Steve.
“Thanks Dad. You've acted more like a Dad than mine ever did.”
“We'll find something for you where it's not so
risky.”
“Can I show a little flesh like this?” He said
pulling up his shirt. “I think it's better if you don't show too much.”
“We'll probably go with something more like
that. I don't want you to be too exposed.”
Robert came over to me and said, “Thanks Mom. I
want to help get him into office.”
“Ok, we'll work on getting you some shots where
we make you to be the all American perfect teenage son.”
“What if they find out I'm not yours?”
“We'll work on that. I think with guardianship
papers...which we need to get. And with you being home schooled....which I need
to hire a teacher. We'll keep your records confidential.”
“What about when I get a license? Or a pilot's
license?”
“I think we can put those through Missouri if a
Sheriff will not insist on you updating them here.”
Steve said, “You've got a legal residence in
Missouri. If you count it as your primary residence, then I can't do a thing.
With you being on the road working, that can count as your days back home.”
“Ok, I don't want you into trouble, but I don't
want him to be found as not being mine.”
“Talk to his mom to get those papers. Then, get
him a teacher hired.”
“I have no clue where to even begin looking to
hire a teacher.”
“I've got a favorite teacher who retired. He's
gay and I know he's lost his partner.”
“Ok, I'll give him a call. Let's call your mom
and get her on board with guardianship papers.”
I pulled out my cell phone and dialed her
number. “Hello?”
“Hi, this is Rhette.”
“Hi, how are things going?”
“Wonderfully. I've got a few questions to ask
and then, I'll let you speak with Robert.”
“Ok”
“Guardianship papers. I'll need you to sign
some. I never realized it until we got here and Steve mentioned them.”
“Ok, everything was so much of a blur yesterday,
I really didn't think of them either. I'll sign them.”
“Second of all. I've come to realize I don't
even know your name. It's embarrassing, but to me, you are your own person and
not Michael's wife.”
She giggled and said, “You can call me Ter. I
hate my name, but I like it shortened.”
“Ok, what I would also like if some photos so
Robert has them in his room.”
“I'll get you some. Do you want photos of
Michael too?”
“Yes, It'll be up to him where he places them,
so if you ever come out here and don't see it, then you know it was his
choice.”
“Ok, I'm welcome out there?”
“Anytime. We'll get you a jet to bring you out
and all you have to do is call and I'll get one sent for you. We'll probably
need a larger jet with all the children, but it should prove to be an excellent
learning experience for them and can be a good fun filled time since we've got
a lot to keep them occupied.”
“Great. I was worried about that.”
“Just so you know, Tammy is now up in New York
City staying. She didn't work out with me. Little John is interested in
pursuing things with her, but realizes she's not management material either.”
“I received a phone call last night from
Michael's father. It wasn't pleasant.”
“What was said?”
“He made threats to me and the children and said
if it was the last thing he ever did, he'd get you.”
“Ok, well consider your father in law deceased.
I'll get someone to take care of it. The man is banished. He's never to contact
anyone again. With his threats, he's just signed that death warrant.”
“We're not going to have to go through a trial
again, are we?”
“No, for him those times of peacefulness are
over. I'm sorry he contacted you. Do you have caller I.d.?”
“Yes.”
“Don't answer any more of their calls. Was Bear
there?”
“Yes, when he realized the call was from him, he
took the phone from me and gave him a piece of his mind.”
“Tell Bear I expect more reports than nothing.
You are my interest too.”
“He's reported it to Alex.”
“Ok, he went through the proper channels. I
imagine Alex is way ahead of me on this one.”
“Bear is a real kind and gentle man.”
“Yes, I think he's going to be wonderful for
you.”
“We sat and talked last night after we got all
the kids put down. You don't know how much of a help it was having him taking
an active role in them.”
“I imagine. He's needed it like you've needed
him.”
“I'm already feeling things for him.”
“Good. If they're right, then run with them.”
“The kids really are warmed up to him. He's got
them all acting better towards him just by him taking an interest in them.”
“Great. Another thing I need to tell you is
we'll be in tomorrow to get Robert's things. I know it's a lot real suddenly,
but he'll need them.”
“No, I'm fine with it. It sounds like he's going
to do good. Your calling me is making a huge difference.”
“I'll do that. I'll make it so he does too. I'm
going to go on to the next subject I'll need your help with.”
“Ok”
“David's all for meeting your dad. Also, tell
your dad David is fine with running Kansas City. As it turns out, I own the
whole block of houses there. I'll get him one and you and Bear one so they can
all be interconnected.
Some
day, Steve and I'll have children and hopefully, they'll know life in the city
up there.”
“I think Dad's going to love getting to know
David.”
“When they first meet, I want to be there. With
your dad being that identical to his dad, I'm afraid there's going to be a lot
of emotions flooding him at once. Then, David will get to know him.”
“You're going to find something really
interesting, but I've seen David before. In fact, I went over and hugged him
once because I thought he was my brother. My brother is almost identical to
David.”
“That's uncanny!”
“I thought so too. That was a lot of years ago,
but I don't know if he'd remember or not.”
“I imagine he would. I know I'd remember it if
someone came up and hugged me who I didn't know.”
She laughed and said, “He's a good looking man.”
“Yes, and Robert is the apple of Rose's eye
already.”
“Who's Rose?”
“Rose is David's soon to be fiance'.”
“Oh!”
“I'm so happy because they're perfect for each
other. You'll meet her and just love her. She's Steve's mom, so it's a nice
neat package.”
“Now, if Robert wants to call you and Steve Dad,
let him. His Dad wasn't there for him and all I can say is it's a scar on
Michael's soul he wasn't more active with these children. I know if things work
out for Bear and I, I'll let him adopt them as his with me. So, when that day
comes, if you and Steve want to adopt Robert, then feel free to do so. I know
he loves me and I know he'll love you, so he'll have a better world because of
it.”
“It'll have to be kept really quiet. Do you have
CNN?”
“Yes.”
“You're probably going to see us on there.
Steve's got their spotlight right now and what we're doing is pushing him to
run for Governor. Robert is being seen as my son, but I'm having to dress in
drag for the part.”
“Why?”
“Because I screwed up and went to Miami in drag
as a disguise. When I got back, CNN was filming Steve. Now everyone thinks I'm
his girlfriend instead of boyfriend. It's got us having to play the part in
front of them. So when I got back yesterday, at the bottom of the stairway of
the plane was the CNN guy filming. Robert got seen then and that was the best
way for me to explain things.”
“Ok, I'm glad you told me. That would have been
a shock.”
“Yes, but what I'll do is make sure everyone
here privately knows your his mom.”
“Robert's fine with everything, right?”
“Yes. He's really going out there and giving everyone
a great impression of him. He's probably got lessons to be a politician if he
ever so chose.”
“Wouldn't that be amazing!”
“Yes, some day I hope to be that above board
with things so we can do that.”
“IF he chooses to do it, by all means do it. That
kid's got a brain for history and learning I never had.”
“I know. I showed him how to memorize people's
names last night, so he started doing it.”
“Oh man! I'm so happy for him.”
“Today at the funeral, Robert's going to go
around and speak to people to see how many names he's absorbed. It should be
good association as there were a lot of politicians there last night.”
“Good. Name association and recognition is
something people remember.”
“Yes. Well, here's Robert. I'll let him speak
and then we've got to get him ready for the service.”
“Does he have something to wear?”
“Yes, we went out and bought him clothes this
morning.”
“Ok, good.”
I handed the phone to Robert and they spoke
while they spoke, I went up to Steve and hugged him. “Did I ever tell you
you're the greatest?”
“Not today, but I've been needing to hear it
since you've been back. What's going on?”
“Everything's perfect. She'll sign guardianship
papers and will even sign adoption papers to us if we want.
She's
warming up to Bear and thinks her kids are responding to him more than they
ever did to Michael. So, that's all good.”
“I heard something I didn't like.”
“I know, but it's got to be done.”
“Why?”
“Michael's father got banished. He's not even
allowed to be in this country. He called her and threatened her and the kids.
In that threat was a threat made towards me too.”
“But murder?”
“Hon, we don't work with restraining orders and
we don't wait until our heads are blown off before we worry if someone who is
banned is going to come after us. If he made the threat, it's in his mind it's
what he'll do. Rather than take it lightly an angry deranged man will go to
those lengths, I'm going to take it seriously.”
“Ok, I'm thinking of how bad this could get. If
he messes with her and the children, it affects us because it affects Robert.”
“Yes, but how would you like to be in a campaign
parade and have Robert shaking hands and get blown away?”
“Oh Lord.”
“So, this has to be taken seriously.”
“I understand.”
“Hon, I've got to make calls. She's got Bear
there and Bear already spoke to the man. I'm sure he contacted Alex who
probably is on it, but I'm going to make sure. If Alex is on it, that's all I
need to do is be sure.”
“Sometimes you not having a prison system is a
hindrance.”
“Yes, but if we had one, it'd have to be
solitary confinement for everyone. The thought of them intermingling and
pooling their thoughts to put together a super group of bad asses is something
which is beyond fearsome.”
He nodded and said, “Protect Robert at all
costs. I'm already growing to love him. Why don't you have her go ahead and
sign those adoption papers so when we need them, we'll have them.”
“It'll have to be to you because I can't.”
“Why not?”
“First of all, I'm a sex offender. They'd never
let that adoption through. Second of all, I'm gay and they have a law which
specifically forbids gays from adopting in Missouri.”
“I'll do it then. What matters is he knows she's
his mom and can speak to her and the kids whenever he wants.”
“I'm fine with that.”
“When he's a bit older, we'll get him a cell
phone so he can do it.”
I smiled, “You're really falling into this
fatherhood role really good.”
“He's a good kid.”
“He is. His mom did right.”
“She's aware she can come out anytime, right?”
“Yeah. She seems interested, but I think she's
also wanting to get on with her life.”
“She's not going to be allowed to drop him and
ignore him.”
“No, what I'll do is I'll get everyone to
working on it and we'll let them know we're expecting them here. I think a part
of it is she probably doesn't feel safe coming out of her little area..”
“I'm not getting what you're meaning.”
“I've spoken to people there who've never left
the city once. Their idea of an adventurous trip is going over to Collinsville
to the Cahokia mounds.”
“How far away is that?”
“Right across the river. From the top of Monk's
mound, you can see the city.”
“Man, that's close!”
Robert handed me back the phone. “Hello”
Robert said, “She already hung up. She'll have
my stuff ready.”
“You seem sad.”
“I am. We get a new dad whom loves us and I'm
not there.”
“You got us!” Steve said.
“Yeah, but I'd love to see my brothers and
sister's faces with the way they deal with him.”
Steve said, “Hey buddy, lets go up and get
dressed for the funeral. Rhette has some business to take care of and that way
I can talk with you up there.”
The went up and I called Alex. “Hello?””
“It's me. Have you gotten a call from Bear?”
“Yes, it seems the man made a call and a lot of
threats. None were directed towards me, but you caught the brunt of it as did
the kids.”
“You got somebody going?”
“They're already there and it's already being
carried out. I ordered the whole bunch gone.”
“Ok, a bit extreme but I'll second it.”
He chuckled and said, “I figured I'd send
someone who was my best and there would be no regrets later.”
“Ok, now what I need you to do is to call and
get guardianship papers and adoption papers drawn up for Robert to be adopted
by Steve. I've spoken with her and she's fine with it.”
“Steve?”
“I can't adopt him or I would.”
“Ok, you guys getting along fine?”
“We're doing great. Steve and Robert are doing
wonderfully and he's interacting fine with us. How are you?”
“I've got the auction ordered for the properties
and the household goods. The families are cleared out. Old man Michaels did
attempt to say some shit to me, but I broke his jaw. He made threats to blow
his house and I told him to attempt to do so. Little Jimmy's map telling me
where everything was located was good. I got guys in there and got everything
removed.
HE
thought he'd call my bluff and went to the light switch that detonated
everything. I told the man to hold up and then went over and flipped it myself.
The fright on his face was priceless. That's when I told him he had exactly
fifteen minutes to hit the city limits and to report where he was when he got
there.”
“You have someone trailing them, don't you?”
“Yes, plus satellite transponders and the car
wired to blow should he be found to be in contact. I'll do it by remote from
here.”
“Ok, that's cool. Did you get the money switched
to your accounts?”
“There and accounted for?”
“Get it out of that account and moved to a lot
of different banks in the area. I'll need the number of that bank who controls
the shares so I can buy them out.”
“The news is running strong here about the
murder charges. He's lawyered up, but the prosecutor said the case is air
tight.”
“You spoke to him?”
“Oh hell yeah. He called to personally thank us.
He did request we assist him in finding out about certain disappearances. I
told him I'd check our files and tell him if we were involved, but I told him
we wouldn't divulge information unless we chose to hand the person over.”
“I want you to order twelve choppers and about
thirty six trucks. No, make it forty trucks. I've told the police chief we'd
get the gang activity taken care of.”
“I know. What's bad is we have nothing in the
files about that. It's like he couldn't deal with it, therefore he ignored it.”
“They're heavily armed. My advice is to get
yourself at least five thousand grenades and stun grenades and go in with
those. If you need to, burn the fucking dwellings and let them roast to hell
inside. Whoever is the landowner is needs to be brought in to account for the
allowance of the gangs residing there. IF he says he was powerless, you make
him sign on with us and then, he's to throw the grenades. I want the man to see
we're not taking no for an answer.”
“That should take care of it.”
“I want those trucks to ride out in plain sight.
I want those neighborhoods to wonder what the fuck is hitting them. Do the take
downs in plain sight and kill those people in plain sight if need be. Then, you
stay there and you call the police to come and stick around. My guesses are the
neighbors are all in the know. We'll send them a clear message we're taking the
neighborhoods back.”
“My feeling is they'll head to the East side.”
“IF they do, you make it evident they're not
coming back across those bridges. You stake out the on ramps to the interstate
and you fucking blow cars if you have to.”
“You're making this an all out war.”
“That's what I'm ordering. If you don't have
enough manpower or ordinances, then let me know. I'll get the money or whatever
you need. I've given my word to the police chief and commissioner and they'll
see we're about fulfilling our agreements.”
“What if my guys get arrested?”
“They won't. If they do, expect them released.
If they aren't released, we go to war
against the police station. They're aware it's how I'll do things and they've
approved us our mission.”
“Ok”
“They're going to get you word of any feds in
the area. They've told me already.”
“Ok”
“Alex, I'm not sending you in to do an un-doable
job.. Use your resources and then gain the rewards after the job is done.”
“I know you've done a lot of footwork.”
“I'll tell you something else. I'm going to make
a few phone calls and tell the leaders I know we're about to come gunning.
They'll back off and take their losses.
What
I will do is I'll offer them positions with you. It should pull in their armies
under us. What I won't allow is for them to continue business as usual. IF they
think that, then we'll begin carrying out our plan of kill first and ask
questions later.”
“Like the old days?”
“Yeah, but what is the old days for us is the
new days for a lot of the country. It'll get confusing because we're used to
the style of things we're doing.”
“Ok, I was a bit confused when you said we were
doing things a new way.”
“That's the old way for us. Everyone has to be
trained for it.”
“Anything else?”
“Find Dominic and tell him Kansas City is his.
I'll call him too, but I want it to come to him privately through his daughter,
publicly from you and then from me so he's aware everyone is aware who is going
over there.”
“Who is going to be there to help him get up to
speed?”
“David.”
“Man, that's going to be a team!”
“Yeah, I'm really happy about how things are
going..”
“I bet. The man really looks like Gino.”
“I agree.”
“I'll let him know. What if he takes Kansas City
and attempts to turn it on you?”
“He won't. I have a feeling he knows we know the
secrets more than him. I'll tell you now. IF any city ever attempts to do it,
I'm gaining the knowledge of them all to the point I can put guys in their key
factories and get the dollars diverted to me. Without those dollars, they'll
soon be unable to keep their manpower up.”
“I don't know, we've got some pretty big
accounts.”
“What happens if those accounts suddenly have
zero balances and those moneys are moved over to me?”
“Oh”
“That's what this thing is based on. The men
ride with whomever pays their bills. They might ride with you, but if I'm
paying their bills, they'll see real fast their loyalties are only words with
you. That's how it is with him too.
I'll
tell you now, the man won't go rogue on me. He might look old blood, but he's
new. I'll not teach him key elements of the system over there until I'm sure
he's capable to lead and will get things done our way.”
“I just was worried. I know I'm loyal, but some
of these new people probably are going to try to do it their way.”
“It's about trusting only so far. A part of the
trial yesterday was to show them I'll gladly turn over my people to the police
to get them to stay in line. I'll gladly kill my own people if they err. And,
I'll gladly replace them should they be unable to manage.”
“What about the Dayton crowd.”
“First of all, it's not going to be a crowd. One
man answers for the bunch and all the rest to me are sucker fish. When one
goes, all the rest go. It's why I seconded the things you set in motion.”
“I worry about things.”
“We'll get you up to speed and get things headed
for them too. I think they're going to look at their new roles as being
something given by me and quite easily taken.”
“You've not called Dayton to tell them they're
coming, have you?”
“No, have they left?”
“Not yet, I know they're itching to get there.”
“Ok, tell them next week. I'm but one person and
this week is filled. I'll be up tomorrow to get those papers signed. IF they
have issues, they can voice them to me.”
“Ok, well, this will be all on this end.”
“One last thing.”
“What's that?”
“Look through the files and find out where
Michael's girlfriend is living. Her house was bought from your accounts. Get
her out and get it sold. Or, get yourself situated in there.”
“I'll do it.”
“I'll see you tomorrow.”
“Bye now.”
I got off the phone and saw Rose standing off to
my side.”
“You ordering the troops sounded so good. You
really take charge of them.”
“It's the details I've got to remember.”
“You're getting it done.”
“How are you doing?”
“I'm doing well. This is but a formality for
me.”
“Ok, we'll handle this as a family and then,
we'll get a start on the future together. How are you?”
“I'm happy.”
“I am too. A unexpected bonus happened and you
are about to be a grandma.”
“Really!”
“She's going to sign adoption papers. Steve is
going to officially adopt him.”
“Oh my!”
“Yeah, it dropped into our laps. I'm going to go
ahead and make it happen.”
“I need to meet her.”
“How about you go up with David to meet Dominic.
I'm sure she'll be there when he's installed.”
“That would be special.”
“Dave's going to have to train Dom. I want that
torch to be handed over by him.”
“I think Dave would love that.”
“Yes, it's come full circle. What I'm not going
to do is hand over the property to him. It's mine and I'll give it to grand
kids, but he can run everything else like his.”
She smiled and nodded. “Would you hand it over
to her kids?”
“Yes.”
“Good. I think it would do both their hearts
good to see the properties going to Dom's grandkids.”
“I'll do it but Gino's house and Meemaw's stay
with Dave and I. I've not yet brought up the idea of raising our children up
there, but I think it'd be better for them not to be brought up in the
spotlight of a Governor dad.”
“What do you mean?”
“Steve and I have jets. We can commute and we
can make it so the kids don't know the way things are for me or for him. IF
you're with Dave, then wherever you are, they can be. I just don't like the
media raising my kids.”
“I'm understanding.”
“IF they get used to seeing themselves on
television and CNN, they'll think it's normal. It's not.”
“Raising them up there with family and other
children would be a lot better.”
“I think so.”
“One thing the boys had out here was isolation.
Now, we're going to be having a lot of changes right over there which is going
to make the world brought a lot closer.”
“Yes, but what we're doing is providing the
future.”
“I'm a bit worried.”
“Why?”
“I don't want the boys to be selling out their
birthrights to get the world a future who won't thank them back. Your kids will
thank you for the land some day should it be there.”
“We're not giving up more than what we've
planned. I don't think I could get Steve to agree with it and I sure don't
think I'd want to ask. The place where I put the office buildings for the other
two businesses I'm bringing to state are going to be where the people are more
available. This area is strong, but I'm wondering what an added extra half a
million people will do to it.”
“It's going to be stressed.”
“True. We've got time and ability to forecast
where they'll grow and we'll get the resources and money there to make money
off it.”
She smiled and said, “You're an opportunist.”
“Yes, but you know it's not about the money
really. Look at how much I've got in the bank and how much I've got in all
those accounts at my disposal. I couldn't spend enough to run out of it. It's
about the game and being in there with my hand out to get more for everyone
else.”
She laughed and said, “Hon, you're a sweetheart.
I'll tell you a secret. Don't pile things so high you forget where the on/off
switch is located. What I think you need to do is pick a date when the ride is
over and then choose that day as the end of it. If you don't, you'll find
yourself enjoying the ride with a lot fewer people around you.”
“That sounded ominous.”
“Steve doesn't like it. He's content now. What
happens when he's done with being Governor and you're not ready to settle
down?”
“What if he wants to be Senator and I'm stuck at
home?”
“What if you're stuck in drag and not liking it
one more bit than you are?”
“I don't like it now.”
“You won't like it then either. You two have to
decide when it's over and let it be on that date.”
“I'll talk with him tomorrow when we have our
ride up for him to propose to me.”
“It will be a pretty ride and you'll have a
great day.”
“I'm so sorry it's so soon after you bury
James.”
“Hon, I'd rather see my kids moving forward than
downward into a grave. I'll take Robert tomorrow and Dave and I will go do
something enjoyable while you have your time.”
“Ok, we've got to go to St. Louis early. He's
got to go see his mom and gather his things and I've got to have her sign the
papers. Then, I've got to bring back someone who needs our help.”
“What are you going to do with him?”
“First of all, he's got to think he's being
locked up and going to jail. I know Steve probably won't go for it, but in that
man's mind, he has to think he's going away for the rest of his life. I'll hold
out the olive branch and tell him I'll help him get better if he'll let me.”
“What if he doesn't”
“Well, to be honest, I've not crossed that
bridge mentally because it's a breakdown of someone wanting to get better. I
think if it comes to that, you'll probably see me get really cruel.”
“What do you mean?”
“The man will probably be given a room with all
the drugs he ever would want in it. He'll think he's been given heaven when
he's being given his suicidal form. He'll use them until he dies and then we'll
have a nice funeral for him.”
She nodded and said, “I think it would be a lot
less painful for him and his family if he were to just end it.”
“True, but I have to believe we'll get him
through it and lead him to something which is productive.”
“I once saw a frank interview with Mary Tyler
Moore about her son's overdose. She thought so many times he'd gotten around
the bend, she wouldn't have to worry. He constantly had to worry about it and
finally the compulsion was too much. He died knowing him overdosing was the
only way for him to end it.”
“It's sad, but I understand. For me, my drug of
choice was alcohol. There are times I feel like I'm ok to flirt with it and
there's always the thought in the back of my mind I couldn't ever handle it. I
know if I ever drink without guidance, I'm gone.”
“What do you mean 'without guidance'”
“Last Halloween, Kevin and I went to St. Louis
to do a drag show. I drank excessively and afterwards, Kevin and I drove home.
I wasn't so drunk I didn't know anything. I was remorseful and self loathing.
He
and I talked and we found out where I went wrong. The problem is we had never
made a pact to trust the other to step in and end things for us should it
occur.”
“I'm getting you now. It's not a situation of
knowing they're trying to be a jerk, it's them telling you they love you in the
kindest form.”
“Now we have that pact and I'd hope he'd still
step in and stop things.”
“I think he would. He still loves you too.”
“I know.”
She smiled and said, “You know. I really envy
seeing you work things out after your breakup. You're doing it so adult like
it's amazing. I can see you love him and I can see he loves you and yet, I know
it's over. What I think is so great is you love him enough to share this world
with him and help him find someone who obviously loves him.”
“Do you think he loves JT?”
“I think if you whistled, he'd come over like a
faithful saddle horse. I think eventually he'll love JT, but what depth it will
be is unknown.”
“Do you think it's harmful to JT?”
“No, what's interesting is I think it's a depth
of love both of them need. As they grow together, they'll love each other
deeper and you'll be a memory.”
“Good.”
“See, an insecure person wouldn't have said that.”
“A selfish person wouldn't have said it. Someone
who is done and needs to go on does. I'm ready to build things in ways Kevin
and I couldn't have.”
“What do you mean?”
“Steve took up the role of fatherhood so easy. I
think with Kevin, it'd been stiff and really forced. I'd like to be wrong, but
I don't think so.”
“You're probably right. You're now seeing things
you couldn't see.”
“Yes, now I want to see Steve expand upon his
role and have some who are his.”
She smiled and said, “Hon, if one is meant to be, then one is what you'll have.
IF more are meant to be, then you'll have more. Don't wish for more than what
you're willing to be thankful for. Robert is a blessing and he's really a
treasure I'm happy for.”
I smiled and hugged her. “You know I'm really
thankful for you. We have a relationship which I'm honestly treasuring.”
She hugged me back and said, “Hon, you know the
day we met, I knew I'd love you, but I'm finding I love you in so many
different ways. You're not selfish and you've stepped into a house and not
tried to control it.”
“I don't know. I've got an army of guys here.”
“You've got them here, but they're here to help
Steve.”
“I'd really like to have some moments of peace
though.”
“So would I, but I know for us to have things
we've got to have the guys here for now.”
“Have you heard if they've contacted the
architect about those blueprints?”
“No, but they could get the blueprints from the
county. They have them.”
“Ok, we'll use those to get them started upon
your house.”
She smiled and said, “I'm going to do something
different with our house. I want to turn it at an angle which faces the
peninsula out there instead of this house. I'll be able to see this house from
it, but I'll see the ocean too.”
“It sounds wonderful. Would you mind if we did it here?”
“No. I've thought it should have been done a
long time ago.”
“Well, now is the time we can do it. I think
I'll speak with him about it to see what he thinks.”
She smiled and said, “You're sweet.”
“Thanks. I love you too.”
She giggled and said, “I want some broccoli and
cheese on that buffet.”
“Ok, go tell June because I've given my special
request.”
She walked over towards the cook trailer and I
went out to the construction foreman's building.
When I went in, the man looked at me and said,
“Yeah”
“When we raise the house, we're going to want to
turn it so the front of it here faces out towards the ocean.”
“You're wanting a ninety degree turn?”
“No, more like a 45 degree turn.”
“That's not so bad.”
“When you lift it, that's probably the time to
give it the twist.”
He smiled and said, “We'll get on it.”
“Ok, if I call and say that's not fine with
Steve, forget it. If it's a go, I won't call.”
“Anything else?”
“The elevator. Have you ordered it yet?”
“No”
“Put it in cinder block or solid concrete. I
don't want a hurricane taking it out. And when you do a specification, I want i
to be the size of a hospital elevator. There's no sense in hauling a gurney
down them stairs if we don't need to.”
“You planning on running a hospital there?”
“No, but I'm not getting any younger. I plan on
dying in this house. When they haul me out, I'm going to make sure my last trip
isn't dying going down them damned stairs!”
“Ok” he said with a slight smile.
I went back out and across to the main house.
When I went in, I saw Steve and Robert in watching CNN.
With This Ring
ab
Notes From Retta:
“From My Keyboard To Your Heart”,
Retta
Copyright Notice –
Copyright 2008 by RettaMichaels
The Author, RettaMichaels
copyrights this story and retains all rights. This work may not be edited,
changed, or duplicated in any form, media [known or unknown], without the
author's expressed permission. All applicable copyright laws apply.
Retta
Michaels does NOT give editorial consent in order for this story to be
published. If it is deemed unpublishable, in it's context, permission must be
granted before publication or changed occur.
Trademark Notice –
Trademarked 2008
“From My Keyboard To Your Heart”, “ 'Retta”,
“RettaMichaels”, “Retta”, “Rhett”, “Rhette”, “Vonn Michaels”, “VonnMichaels”,
and “Vonn Michael's Stud Service Night Club” are all trademarks of the
RettaVonnMichaels L.L.C.. None of these trademarks may be used, or authorized
without consent.
Disclaimer: All
individuals depicted in this story are fictional. Any resemblance to real
persons, characters, locations, or incidents is purely coincidental.