Honor Thy Mother & Thy Father Ch. 12

Fred was having a nice visit with Sharon and his girls, when the 'ghouls' came. As loud as he could, he said, "Get them away from me. Every time they touch me I hurt more than I did before they came."

The physical therapists laughed at Fred's attempted outburst. "Come on Mister Hastings, it's time to play soccer."

"How about I sock you instead."

Lisa, his lead therapist said, "Mister Hastings I am going to put my head 6 inches from your hand. If you can sock me in the head, your therapy for today is over. Agreed?"

"Lisa this is going to hurt you, more than it's going to hurt me."

"How much do you want to bet Mister Hastings?"

"Sharon, isn't that the way you lost her first husband?"

"Yes Fred that is the way I lost my first husband, but I will let you take this bet because I know you're going to lose it, and your therapy will continue."

"You are going to allow me to hit a woman?"

"As long as it is not me or my children, you go right ahead."

Lisa put her head 6 inches from his hand and waited. Fred struggled with all his might to lift his hand off the bed. He made it 1 inch, and then 2 inches.

Sharon said, "Lisa is going to have a bad back by the time your hand reaches her face, Fred."

Fred continued the struggle and he made it 3 inches and then 4 inches before his hand collapsed down to the bed. His face was full of perspiration and he was crying because he had not made the 6 inches.

Lisa looked him in the eye and said, "Fred, for a man that should be dead you are doing wonderfully. Do not get down on yourself. You have 16 other people's blood in you. They are still talking about you in the OR. Pictures of the operation are being sent around the country. You have made a star out of Doctor Wilcox. You may not be doing the moonwalk yet, but in six months you will be. Let us do our jobs, and we will all dance at your wedding."

Fred looked at Sharon who had tears in her eyes. "Baby, I am not going to die. I'm going to marry you, whether you like it or not. How are our mongrels doing in school?"

"They are taking all their courses online now, because they want to be here at the hospital with you during visiting hours."

"Is there any cheating going on, because they know their rules against cheating."

Cindy said, "We can cheat all we want. There is no one at home to enforce the rules, until you get better. At the rate you are going, we will be seniors in college before any enforcement occurs."

"Sharon did you tell the girls that you are keeping score, and that when I do get home all the enforcement will be cumulative?"

Cindy asked, "Why is he talking about clouds?"

Danni smacked her sister. "Cindy he said cumulative not cumulus."

"Oh, okay what does that mean?"

"It means every time we screw up it adds up. When dad gets better our behinds get worse."

"So what you are telling me is even though he is lying down on the job now, he gets to catch up later."

"Very good Cindy, you getting A for asshole, on that one. Oh crap, go ahead mom, I'm ready."

Sharon and the girls kissed Fred goodbye leaving him to the hands of the physical therapy team. It was better this way, because for the next hour it would sound like they were trying to kill him rather than make him better.

At 5:30 PM Clark Atwater walked in to the intensive care unit with a beautiful blonde twenty-something woman walking behind him.

Fred said, "Hi dad, cheating on mom again?"

"Sonny, when you were well you never had a sense of humor. Now that you are near death you have developed one?"

"I can see this was your plan all along. You had me shot to get me out of the way and bring in a beautiful new assistant to cover-up your fair. This is your new assistant, right?"

"I can't slip anything by you can I? Fred I would like to introduce you to your replacement. This is Sondra Lock."

"Hello Ms. Lock, did he tell you that you are entitled to an assistant."

"Dammit Fred, she is your assistant."

"Sir, at the rate I am going it will be at least six months to a year before I can sit behind a desk and help you the way I did before. Miss Lock is going to need all the help she can get to keep up with the workload that you have to handle. Do not let her fail because you want to save a salary. Get her an assistant and get her one now."

"Would you mind telling me which one of us is the boss?"

"You are Sir. However, there is another question that has to be asked. Who runs the office? The answer to that question was me. I worked 80 hours a week to keep up with you and I knew what I was doing. Miss Lock is walking in off the street cold. She does not know the system, and worse than that she does not know you. Give her a chance and she will serve you well. Drown her and the office drowns with her. Now go away so we can talk."

"Are you dismissing me?"

"If you can sit down, and be quiet you can stay, otherwise you can leave. According to the law you can't fire me, because I have had a job-related injury. I have seven years to recuperate, before you can remove me from my position and permanently put me on Workmen's Compensation, Sir."

"God I hate lawyers."

51. Starting Over

Bernice Morris was in her apartment, on a Wednesday evening, when there was a knock at her door. When she asked who it was, she was told it was the FBI, and they needed to speak to her on a matter of some urgency. She asked to see some identification, prior to opening the door, and the men produced their shields and their photo IDs. She let them in and asked them what this visit was all about.

The lead agent, Alfred Brogan asked, "Do you know a Ms. Patricia Parent?"

"Yes, I do."

Agent Brogan said, "She has a present for you from the United States Government." For the next hour he told Bernice about her new identity. Her first name remained the same but her last name was now Culpepper. She had a new Social Security number, birth certificate, driver's license, passport, high school, and college diplomas. Agent Brogan told her everything that she saw in front of her would be verified by each of the institutions involved. The things she had to do now was to leave her apartment, quit her job, close her bank accounts, sell her car, and leave the area with no forwarding address, before she could start using her new identity. "You can take nothing with you that can be traced to your old identity."

Bernice wanted to cry she was so happy. She asked, "Can I call Patricia and thank her?"

"No that is against the rules. She knows that you will be very happy in your new life, and wants you to enjoy your new baby."

The floodgates opened. Bernice started crying and could not stop. Neither agent were 'touchy feely' type guys, but they had to do something to calm Bernice down, so they went over and hugged her, until she stopped crying.

"If you can get a message to her, tell her she has made my life complete. I will able to leave Cottonwood by Sunday."

"We will pick you up at 1 PM Sunday afternoon. Enjoy your week Miss Culpepper."

****************************************************************************

Bruno Valentino smiled when he saw his wife getting out of the car in front of his bungalow. It had been two months since he made the request for her to come to see him, and she was finally here.

When Victoria saw him her reaction was not exactly the same. As he walked towards her to kiss her hello, she walked by him and said, "I want to talk to you inside, now."

He looked at the FBI agent who was bringing her bags and asked, "What happened?"

"Don't ask me, she was fine on the plane."

When they were alone he asked her, "What is going on Victoria?"

"You have ruined that child's life forever. I can never forgive you for that. You killed her mother, and now she does not care if she lives or dies. If she decides to live, she will become a nun, and lock herself away from the rest of the world. If she decides to die, she will do it by her own hand. How can you possibly live with yourself knowing you have that kind of power over people's lives?"

"Where are her friends? Why can't they stop her from taking such drastic actions."

"No one knows where she went. She convinced three of your friends to give themselves up to stop a war from starting in New York City. After that Director Free said she gave up. Patricia had no more fight left in her. She wouldn't even give him a phone number for him to contact her to make sure she was okay. She told him the two options she decided on and left him after saying goodbye. There was nothing else he could do."

Stephano opened the door to his father's bungalow and said, "Hi mom, I was just told you were here." He went to kiss her, and was smacked, in the face, for his trouble."

"Idiot!"

"Okay mom, what did I do wrong? I walked into the room, I said hello, and I went to kiss you. Then I got smacked; where did I go wrong?"

"You let that girl go. The best thing that you could ever have gotten out of life slipped through your fingers, and she got away. Between you and your father, why didn't you just get a gun and kill her?"

"Dad, do you want to answer that one?"

"No son, I was getting it before you walked into the room."

"Mom, do you want to tell me what's going on, or should I leave?"

"You may as well leave, she is probably dead already. The FBI no longer knows where she is. Between your father and his friends trying to kill her, she has lost all her desire to live. If she does live she will go into a convent and lock herself away from the rest of her life. She never wants to be with people again. She finds it too painful."

"It serves her right mom, because she made life painful for a lot of other people, including me. This is what she deserved and I am happy that she is doing it."

Victoria looked at her husband and said, "Congratulations Bruno, your son has grown up to be just like you, and your father. He thinks he is the only one that counts. His are the only feelings that can be hurt. I wonder what he would have done if someone would have blown me up instead.

"Would he have injected himself with a lethal dose of radioactive material to put the killer in jail?"

"Would he has put himself into a position where each of the five Mafia families put a price on his head because he destroyed their computers?"

"Would he have gone through the trouble of kidnapping a Mafia family member's son and then not hurt him because it was not the right thing to do?"

"Would he have gone through the trouble of trying to make that person see himself as a better man, rather than the lowlife he was becoming?"

"I wonder Bruno if Stephano wouldn't have done that if it was me that was blown up, and there was no body to bury?"

"I would take that girl as my daughter, over you as my son any day of the week, because of the way she handled herself this past year. She showed more courage, stamina, faith, hope, humility and charity, than any woman I have ever known. William Zabo did not spare your life Stephano, Patricia Parent did. You should kiss the ground she walks on, because of it."

Stephano said, "This has been a fun reunion folks. I think I will go back to my bungalow now, and hide under my bed."

Victoria said, "I hope lightning hits it."

"Me too mom; it would lighten things up a little."

Bruno looked at the Victoria and said, "I still have a few friends in New York. Do you want me to see if they can locate her?"

"Bruno, if the FBI, with all their assets, and all their people can't find her, no one is going to find her, because she does not want to be found. Remember how good she is with a computer. She can have people running around in circles for years, and she could be living next to the director of the FBI, and he would not know it."

"Have a look there yet?"

"Bruno, don't make me smack you. I've already smacked my son, and you are the only man left in this room."

"Have you had dinner yet?"

"No, but I need some time to wind down, before I can eat. My stomach is tied up in knots because of Patricia. That poor girl deserves better than what she is getting."

In his bungalow Stephano was lying on his bed speaking aloud, "I am not going to let that bitch get to me. She is getting what she deserves. 50-50 hell, it felt like 99-1 and I was doing all the giving. The list I made out was bullshit. So what if my side was full and her side only had she loved me on it. That should have been good enough for her. I could make her happy if she would just stop being so bossy. So what if I like dealing with people more than she was. I am better at it. I went to better schools. I am less caustic. I am smarter in the ways of business. She couldn't sell a pencil and paper convention. She can't even make coffee right. Screw her. I can get along without her. I do not need her in my life. She will only cause me aggravation. I will wind up having an ulcer before I am 25. Why am I even thinking about her. Patty get out of my head. God dammit, leave me alone."

In the base communication center one of the listening post personnel said to the other, "I guess he doesn't know the bungalows are wired for sound."

"I guess not, but that is the worst losing argument I have ever heard. Should we send the car over now, or wait until he calls?"

"Let's send it over now. We can tell him we heard his shouting all the way over here."

After 10 more minutes of arguing with himself, Stephano has had enough. He walked outside to go to his parent's bungalow and nearly fell over the waiting car. He asked the female driver, "What are you doing here?"

"I am waiting to take you to the airport, sir."

"Who said I was going to the airport?"

"Sir, you were making your losing argument so loud, half to base knows you are going to the airport."

"My argument was that lame?"

"Sir, with all due respect, you should put the wedding ring on now, and get it over with."

"You have no idea how tough she is to deal with?"

"And you are the prize in the bottom of the box of Cracker Jacks, Sir?"

Stephano laughed. "No, I guess I am not. I will be right back. I have to say goodbye to my parents."

He knocked on his parent's door and walked in. Before his mother could yell at him, he said, "I am going to find her before she hurts herself. I will make sure she gets some help."

"Is that what all that screaming was about, getting her some help?"

"I did not say how I was going to help her, she never listens to me anyhow."

"Stephano, the last time you spoke to her you told her to die in no uncertain terms. Why would she want to listen to you now?"

"Who the hell knows mom, sometimes I am as irrational as she is. Heaven knows what our children are going to be like."

"Children, aren't you putting the cart before the horse, son?"

"She can't get me out of her head, and I can't get her out of mine. We should either get married, or draw pistols at 2 paces and end it all. Something has to happen between us, because this misery has got to stop."

"Good luck finding her, the last place I know she was, was in New York City. However, the director told me they parted company there early yesterday evening. She could be anywhere by now."

"Steve, this is Stephano, and I don't care what you've heard about me, it is all true. I need a favor, and even though you don't want to do it for me, I need you to find Patty, before she hurts herself."

"Asshole, you are the reason she is in this predicament. If I could get my hands around your neck right now I would strangle you."

"You will have your chance, I am on a jet flying towards New York. Unless you can tell me where she is, I will have the pilot change course and go there. You can wring my neck later."

"Stay on the line, let me try something."

Steve had backdoor communications capability with Patty's computer. She had forgotten to close that door after the emergency situation at the hospital in New York was over and she had transferred him $1 million as a present.

When she saw her computer blinking and had a message, she was very upset with herself. Patty opened the window and there was a message from Steve. "Friends are trying to find you to make sure you are all right. I want to make sure you are all right, also. Please contact me immediately. Marie hit me because of you. She wanted to get laid and found out that I was holding out on her, until after we were married. That was not nice Patty that was not nice at all. Steve

Dear Steve, I have just loaded in my computer 'The Garden of Eden.' I am fine as of this moment. If you ever try to contact me again, I will not warn you, I will just send my pet project to you and turn it into dust. I wish to be left alone. I wish to remain your friend, but I also wish to remain anonymous, until such a time that I wish to resurface. Please respect my wishes. You have 30 seconds to delete this email, before I push enter, and you will watch your computer die in front of you. Goodbye my friend; be nice to Marie, she will make a lovely bride, and a wonderful wife." 30, 29-

Steve read the reply, hit save and shut down his computer.

Patty watched as the disconnect occurred. She immediately disengaged the backdoor from her computer and checked for any she may have forgotten about in the past. There were two more for her former professors, and she deleted them. The security features on her computer were at maximum, her antitheft programs were activated and everything else was in order. She forgot one thing. Her father put a GPS locator beacon in her computer, when he cleaned it out of all the spurious software Bruno's men had put in it at the Miami Satellite Facility. It was on when her computer was on, and it was off when her computer was not in use. It also had certain liabilities. Since it was so small, it had to be near an open space to be able to be detected by the three closest satellites in order to triangulate its position. If it was blocked by concrete walls, it was useless.

Steve picked up the phone and told Stephano what had happened. "She does not want to be found, and she does not want anyone to find her, no one ever will. Her computer may say she is in Pittsburgh, and she could be in Bangladesh. I would give up Stephano, and crawl back into your hole. If any of her friends find you, they will probably beat you to death because of what you did to her."

Patricia was at the Comfort Suites Hotel for nearly two weeks, awaiting the delivery of her new toy and she was getting a little antsy. She was taking driving lessons on an older version and she was getting pretty good at it. She wanted the new one just the same. She was paying a small fortune for it, but it would give her the liberty to move around the country as she wanted. She never would be tied down to anyone place again. She would always be on the move.

She heard the familiar beep, went downstairs, and went for her next lesson. She jumped into the driver's seat with her instructor sitting in the seat behind her. With him was the woman from the Motor Vehicle Department to see if she could pass a driving test, with this monster. She backed it out of the parking lot perfectly, and smoothly moved it out into traffic on the one lane road. She followed the instructions given to her over the next hour, and finally was told to drive back to the hotel. She parked the motorhome between two tightly spaced cars, and did it very well. The woman told her she had passed the exam, and to accompany her to her to the Department of Motor Vehicles building to get her new license issued. When she returned back to the hotel, much to her delight her new Integra motorhome was parked in the space where her training vehicle had been. She rushed in to the office area and found the salesperson waiting for her arrival. She signed the papers and went over the Motorhome with him, inch-by-inch; detail by detail, and at the end of the tour she handed the salesperson a check for $347,000.