There Must Be A Mistake Ch. 27

It will be up to you to decide when to raise their salaries."

The Gibson's were mute. They were going to be working for a black family. Never in all their years had they thought this was a possibility.

Joseph, I will pick you up at noon the day after tomorrow. I don't want any excuses from my newest employee.

"Yes boss, why do I have a feeling I'm not going to like this job?"

"Because I should have been working for you for 14 years now, but you had to go into public service because you had a sense of duty, and honor, instead of "Common Sense."

"Fuck you Vincent."

"There is another bad word."

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

As good as his word, Vincent Caruso was on his way back to Brooklyn, with Joseph Cummings sitting at his side, on a private jet, talking about the future.

"How long do you think it's going to take the Gibson's to realize they can quit their jobs any time they want Joseph?"

"You son of a bitch, I never thought of it. They are under no obligation to stay employed by that family. No wonder your one of the finest lawyers in this country."

"It took a lot of time for me to see the light, but you must remember, I had two the best teachers in the world. When I didn't have a case to work on, they made me study, and I mean study hard. Then they would test me, more like grill me over an open flame. Some nights we would work until two or three in the morning, until I knew portions of the law I thought I would never use, but I wound up using it to my advantage. Year after year, they worked me like a dog, and I became a good lawyer. After that, they grilled me harder and gave me harder cases to work. They would stand over my shoulder and watch me prepare for the next days' examination, and scream at me as if I was a first grader when I did something wrong.

Donna never worried where I was. She always knew I was in the office learning. I would come home in the middle of the morning 3 or 4 AM, and I would have a hot meal waiting for me. Then she would say, "What did we learn today?"

One time I said, "I learned that your husband is an idiot."

"No he's not, he's done it again."

"What has he done again?"

"He's gotten me pregnant."

Seven weeks later, we found out Donna was pregnant with quadruplets. The doctors were amazed, because we didn't use any fertility drugs. Hell, we already had six kids seven would've been fine. Who expected 10?

When Tom found out we were having four more kids, he went ballistic. He took out a whip, and said, "Learn the law, or I will whip you to death."

From that moment on I ate, drank, and slept the law. 18 months later, I was the third best lawyer in the firm. They threw cases at me that they would normally handle, and one of them would sit second chair. I never faltered I never lost a case. One day I walked into the office and wanted to speak to both of them. They thought I was going to leave and opened my own law firm, but I surprise them. I told them I wanted to be a partner, and they laughed at me.

"Tom said you can't afford it."

"I said name your price."

"He said you're serious?"

"I said name your price."

Tom said, "What do you think Jim, $100 million?"

"I'll burn down your fucking building first. $70 million and it's not even worth that. Your only claim to fame is Celeste. Take her out of your equation, and the firm is worth $55 million. You two are going to retire in six years that will make the firm worth $30 million because of its files."

"How do you know that?"

"Don't call your secretary into your office when she's working on your financial statements."

"You sneaky bastard."

"You're the one that taught me. My offer is $70 million, but it is in cash. Do you want it or not?"

"Where would you get $70 million in cash?"

"Thanks to you, my mom has multiple accounts in Switzerland. It wouldn't even have to leave the country. All that would have to happen is for you to go on vacation, and open an account in the same bank. You can do that, or I can bring two large suitcases into the office and give one to each of you. It's your choice."

"I don't believe you have the money."

"If you say that one more time the price goes down the $60 million."

"I want a suitcase with $10 million in this office tomorrow morning."

"Tomorrow morning I want a contract stating that I am a full partner in this firm. However, I will bring in $20 million, so each of you can have a suitcase. I will open them and show you the cash. I will close them and watch you sign the contract. I will sign it, and Hazel will notarize it in front of us. Then I will hand you the two suitcases.

"What about the rest of our money?"

"You tell me how you want it, and you will get it."

Tom said, "You can't do it. Your pulling our chain."

"My offer just went down to $50 million. Take it or leave it."

"Keep your mouth shut Thomas. Every time you open it, we lose money. $55 million Vincent, or you can leave the firm."

"That's acceptable Jim. Make sure the contract doesn't have any flaws in it. I will read it just like you taught me, and if there any loopholes in it, I will walk."

"It will be an ironclad partnership contract. Your name will be on the door, under mine, and an announcement will be made in the legal papers, and the local news. The money will not be mentioned, just that you have been raised to a full partner."

"Thank you, I didn't realize you had the power to muzzle a great Thomas Shackleford."

"Be careful Vincent, his blood pressure is up about to reach heights unknown to any Doctor."

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

"The next morning, I walked in with two suitcases containing $20 million in cash. Their jaws dropped, and they never doubted me again."

"Where did you get the money from Vincent?"

"It was buried treasure from my father's former occupation."

"The police, the FBI, and every other law enforcement agency went that house multiple times, and never found a thing."

"Yes I know, but my father was very inventive."

"This is your signing bonus. It binds you to our Corporation for a period of five years. During that time, I expect you to relax, and get your head on straight. You will work, and you will work hard, but only on civil cases. I will not let you near a criminal case for that period of time."

Joseph Cummings looked at his signing bonus and his eyes nearly dropped out of the socket.

"Do you give all new employees $10 million signing bonuses Vincent?"

"Hell no, the good ones normally get more."

"I should throw you out of this fucking airplane."

"You said another bad word Joseph, but you couldn't throw me out of this airplane anyhow."

"Wait; don't tell me, I think I know the answer to this one. I can't throw you out of this airplane, because you are from Brooklyn."

"You see Joseph, your are learning already."

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

"Even, I have a surprise coming your way."

"Yes I know. Payne is coming to pick up Zoie and take her home."

"Do you think I would call you on something as mundane as that?"

"I have no idea what you would call me about Dycke? Is it the new fiber?"

"We are still having trouble figuring out the matrix on that thing, no less getting ready to test it. Take a look outside your office window, and see what's sitting there."

I looked out the window and saw a line of tractor-trailers as far as I could see.

"Okay, what are you doing to me now?"

"Your bearings are here my friend, about 23 million of them."

"You are early; you're not supposed to be here until December 1."

"I know, but I was running out of space to store these things, so I brought them to you. If the spaceship can't hold these, it's better to know it now rather than later. You still have to put 505,000 gallons of water in that thing. These weigh a lot less than water."

"I should still put you in the nuclear confinement area. I want to see you glow at night."

"No you don't, who would develop your new fiber?"

"I would have Holden do it."

"That's hitting below the belt, because your child could do it. Can I bring your bearings in now?"

"How many trucks are there?"

"There are 37, the 38^th will be here in a few hours, it blew a tire somewhere in Louisiana."

"Okay, I'll call security and let you in. The trucks will have to wait."

"You are very funny Even."

"Wait for me, I'll be right down."

I climbed aboard the second truck, as one of our SUVs took point, and led the convoy to the NEST. I had a month to figure out how I was going to load the bearings into The Best Luck and it hadn't even crossed my mind yet. So I called the smartest man I ever knew.

"What Is It Now Even?"

"William, Dycke Schneider showed up a month early with my bearings. I haven't figured out a way to load them yet. Do you have any ideas?"

"Of course Even, I'll send him right down."

"William I love you."

"Don't let Jemma he you say that, she will kill you where you stand."

"I promise I won't say it out loud again, except on the day we depart. Then I will say it loud and clear for everyone to hear."

"Be very close to the opening of the spaceship, my friend, she is a very fast."

I will be William, thank you very much.

20 minutes later, Colonels Lucius Canyon, and Jack Daniels drove up to the site.

"Doctor Even Luck, meet Colonel Jack Daniels."

"It's my pleasure Colonel."

"It's mine also Doctor Luck. How can I help you?"

"23 million bearings, in the shape of the one inch cylinders showed up one month early. I have no idea how to get them from down here to up there at their insertion points."

"Am I to understand you built that wonderful machine, and you don't know how to get bearings from here to there?"

"Yes Colonel that is my problem."

"Without being offensive Doctor, I could take a laborer off the street, show him your problem, and he could fix it for you. All you have to do is make a scaffold slightly higher than your entry point. You build a conveyor belt with a hopper at both ends. You feed the hopper at the lower end continuously with the bearings. It spreads them out on the conveyor belt and brings them up to the second hopper. The second hopper is attached to a medium-pressure four-inch plastic hose. A man will manually move that hose up and down to get the bearings to fall to the bottom of the spacecraft. Then he will point the hose directly down and time it to see how long it takes to see the first bearing reached the top. He will yell down the numbers how many bearings went into that side, as opposed to how many bearings it took to come straight up. Then we will know how much time the vibrators will need to help settle those bearings in place.

While that's happening, he turns and starts using the hose on the other side. It becomes a continuous process. If you were in a hurry, we would build as many conveyor belts as you needed and so each port at the same time. However, you said these trucks are here one month in advance, so there is no urgency involved."

"It goes to show you Colonel, a man can know many things, and not anything at all. I had no knowledge of anything you just said."

"Doctor Luck, you and your team built this marvelous machine. I would not know where to start. We all have our own little niches in life. That big black balloon of yours is a marvel for the ages. What I just told you about goes back to the Egyptians. The only thing they did not have is the engines we have to do the work with today."

"Tell Lucius what you need Colonel, and get the best of the best. I don't want anyone getting hurt during this process. You can name your price for your services. Get this job done perfectly, because the 1G rotation on the inside of the spacecraft depends on it."

"What do you mean Doctor?"

The earth rotates at 1040 miles per hour at the equator. It is the reason we can keep our feet on the ground while we are in space. It provides our 1G or gravity, as you know it. When you see the astronauts floating around in space, it's because there is no gravity. This wall is going to rotate, and give us that gravity while we are in space, so we don't float around the ship. It will not rotate while we are in stasis, to save the wear and tear on the bearings. I will be the first person out of stasis, and it will be my job to restart that rotation. As soon as gravity is restored, I let the flight crew out, and we work everything by the book from there."

"It sounds amazing Doctor; do you have a need for an engineer?"

"I just found out I do. How old are you?"

"In my heart I am 39, in my body I am 74."

"Lucius, I have made a lot of exceptions lately, what do you think?"

"The only family he has is his daughter. She keeps him like a prisoner to babysit her children. I can take care of that easily enough. I believe you need him. You have scientists on board that wouldn't know one end of a shovel from another. Give him the ride of his life, put him in stasis, and keep him alive for as long as you can. He will be invaluable to you."

"Welcome aboard Colonel Daniels, you will see things no other man or woman has ever seen."

"How should I pack?"

"I'll tell you what I have told everyone else; pack a little bit for summer, and a little bit for winter. We are allowed one suitcase each. If I were you, I would buy a big suitcase.

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

"Payne Schneider was talking with Jennifer Sunday afternoon, when Zoie and Gordon came charging in. Zoie ran to her mother screaming, "MOM!"

"Hello there how was your trip?"

"It was fantastic. I know the difference between the buffa-pie and a cow pie, and there are bugs that love to set up home in your hair. I nearly killed Gordon over one of the comments he made because of it. He told me to go soak my head, and I thought he was being nasty, so I jumped him. While I was hitting him, he said it again. "Zoie go soak your head."

Monty said, "He's trying to help you. Bugs are setting up a nest in your hair."

"I screamed ran over to the oak bucket and dove in up to my shoulders, while trying to get the bugs out of my hair. I expected Gordon to try to drown being, but he didn't. We learned a lot about each other while we were up there; especially we still have a lot of growing up to do. He loves me so much that he is blind when it comes to me. I will purposely set up traps for him, and he walks into them every time, because he trusts me. Monty had to hit me over the head with a hammer to show me what I was doing wrong when it came to him. I can see why she loves him, and why he loves her. If they were the same age, they would make the perfect couple.

Gordon yelled, "Are you kidding, she would kill me before nightfall."

"That's bullshit and you know it."

"Well will never find out, because I'm not her age, and I never will be."

"Mom can we talk in the bedroom for a moment?"

"Payne if you excuse me please?"

"Sure go ahead."

"What's up Gordon? What is so secret we had to leave our company?"

"You must not mention my birthday Mom. Zoie hasn't mentioned it. It may have skipped her mind. She is leaving tomorrow or the next day with her mom, and if someone mentions it before she leaves the tears will start and they will not stop."

"For the first time in your life, I think you're right about a woman's reactions. This has got to be kept under the rug until she is in the airplane and on her way back to Charleston. I'll speak to Payne and see if we can make the departure time as soon as possible."

"That would be super mom, the quicker the better."

"You will never believe my next statement. I guessed Monty's age. Actually, she knocked me out first, because I asked her how old she was."

"You never ask a woman her age Gordon."

"I'm only 16 Mom. I didn't know that until Monty knocked me out cold. I apologized, in the morning, when I woke up. Then she asked me how old I thought she was, and I nailed it. I explained how I came to the number, and when I said she was 33. She dropped something in the kitchen, and it broke.

Liz laughed at her, and told her that the secret was out. The most amazing thing is Monty turns 33 on my birthday. What do you get your best friend for her birthday?"

"A present for Monty is a little out of my league Gordon. She's built like a Mack truck, so I think anything frilly is out of the question. Did you see her in any night clothes, while you were there?"

"No, she always came out of her room fully dressed.

Remember you don't have much time."

"I know I better speak to dad."

"He's very busy right now. Dycke Schneider showed up unannounced with the bearings for the second wall. He's working with an engineer now trying to figure out a way to put them into the ports on top of the spaceship."

"The bearings are here already? They are a month early."

"Don't look at me; I have nothing to do with it."

"If I get Zoie's okay, can I go to the NEST?"

"Henpecked already, and you're not even married. That's a bad sign Gordon."

"Dad worships the ground you walk on, and you're telling me I'm henpecked?"

"Get out of here before I spank you."

"I think I spanked you last mom."

"Get out of my house, now Mister Luck, before I change my mind."

Gordon kissed his mother, and said, "Louder mom, I want them to hear it inside."

"Get out Gordon; I swear I'm going to beat you to death today."

Gordon went flying through the front of the house, saying goodbye to Payne and Zoie. Jennifer walked into the kitchen moments later.

"I swear I'm going to kill that boy."

Payne asked, "Is that before or after the wedding? The bridal gown is going to cost me a ton of money."

"Just tell me which way you want it Payne, and I will accommodate you. That little runt spanked me again."

Zoie laughed.

Payne slapped her hands. "What are you laughing about Zoie? If you spanked me you would be looking at the ground as you went flying over the balcony."

"Mom you don't understand, the first time Gordon spanked his mom was when she went to buy him condoms."

Payne couldn't help herself; she began to laugh.

"How in the world did you get hooked into doing that Jen?"

"It wasn't easy but they got me. Even was still ill, so he couldn't go. Delicious was sick, and Gray was taking care of her. You just can't ask anyone to buy condoms for your son, so it was left up to me. It turned out to be hysterical."

"Have you ever had to ask either of your sons how big they are?"

"Thankfully, I've never had the pleasure."

"I whispered to Gordon do you know your length? Not only did he answer yes, but he answered loud enough for the people in Houston to hear him. However, I not only had to ask him his length, but I also had to ask him if he knew his width. Again Gordon proudly said 'Yes', and I'm sure the people in New Orleans know that measurement.

As I found the premium brand he needed, both the box of 100, and the 3 to practice with, his hand close to his zipper he asked, "Should try one on now mom?"

That was it; I knew I had been had. I screamed. He ran, and I started chasing him all over the store. On the second or third time around, he got behind me, and whacked me once on my backside. I turned around and said, 'GOSL, get over here."

"GOSL is a name I used to call him when he was very young. It means Gordon Oliver Star Luck. He walked back to me, and in a little boy voice, he said yes mommy. I told him we came here to buy something so let's do this, and get it finished.

I handed him a box of premium condoms, plus three more to practice with and I told him to read the instructions, and while he was doing it, I hit him and ran out of the store. He chased after me, but the alarms went off, because he had the condoms in his hand. Monty was sitting by the cash register. She chastised him for not paying for the item first. He lost twice, and came out of the store as red as a fire engine."