There Must Be A Mistake Ch. 29

Using his arms like the tines on a forklift, he connected with Barbara's thighs. She was lifted higher into the air, did a 540-degree turn, and landed on her stomach, facing her starting point. She cried out in pain as she landed.

Monty, Liz, and Cathy ran over to see if Barbara was okay.

Gordon said and did nothing. He went to the ice machine, filled up the bucket, and walked to where Barbara lay.

"Is she okay?"

"Yes, she's fine. She's a little woozy, but she will snap out of it in a moment."

"This will help her. ' Wakee-Wakee Barbara,' it's time to get up." He dumped the bucket, and ice on top of her head.

Monty got angry with him.

"What the hell is the matter with you?"

"All I did was exactly what she said she was going to do to me when she won the match. She knew my right knee was bothering me, so she constantly went after it. When I was down in a legal hold, she would punch my knee, which was illegal. Anything legal I didn't care about, but she would go out of her way to do anything she could that was illegal to hurt me. I decided I would put on a show for her and make her think she disabled my knee. Then she tried to do the same thing Liz did at the end of our match. "Say good night Gordon." That was the end of it for her. I wasn't going to hurt her; I was going to embarrass her. Now Cathy can go back to the compound and tell everyone how a one legged man beat the crap out of her."

"Gordon, Liz, and I noticed one thing; you get stronger the longer you go. If I hadn't hurt your knee earlier, I wonder what would have happened between you and Liz. I believe Liz would have beaten you, but I would have liked to see more fighting between you, rather than you playing defense most of the time.

Oh, one more thing, if you ever call me Tubby again, you will be playing the headless horseman every Thanksgiving."

"Monty, this is our last Thanksgiving."

"I'm very happy you got my message."

"I think I'll sneak a live turkey on board the ship."

"Are you planning on living dangerously?"

"I don't know. How many eggs do turkeys lay per season?"

"Gordon, not even you could get that by your father."

"It was just a thought."

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

140. As the World Turns

As he was lying in bed reading the Babcock and Wilcox manuals for the nuclear power plant, Reese knocked on his door.

"Yes."

"I was told to tell you there's a naked lady, in Paris, who wants to talk to you on Skype. The guys are checking her out for bugs now. She is on her seventh pirouette, and we keep finding more. We will let you know when she's bug free."

"Okay, I'll wait here until you are done, or until she kills you all, which will likely come first."

Reese handed him the computer, and when he saw the screen. All he could do was laugh. There was her face surrounded by flowers, flowers of every color of the rainbow and Zoie was the prettiest flower of all.

"Are you in need of watering my dear?"

"No thank you, our room looks like the Amazon rainforest. It is so lovely, thank you Gordon."

"I would like to take credit for it, but Mrs. Valentino did all the work. I knew they traveled a lot so I went to ask Mister Valentino if he could recommend someone there to get you flowers. It turns out they own a chain of flower stores all over the world, and Mrs. Valentino just took charge of everything from that point on. I'll be sure to tell her that you love it."

"It's true Gordon. Noone has ever seen flowers like these before. They are magnificent."

"So tell me all about your tiring day in the City of Lights."

"Are you alone Gordon, because we have to talk."

"I'm in our room, and that sounds ominous. What's the matter Zoie?"

"You know how much I love you Gordon. You brought so much happiness into my life in such a short time. I can't believe it's happened to me."

"Zoie you have me very nervous. Just tell me what's on your mind. The easiest way to do it is to spit it out. Zoey spit it out."

"My mother wants me to stay here with her."

"What do you want to do Zoey?"

"I need you to tell me what to do Gordon, because I don't know what to do. I ruined my parents lives for 16 years. All of a sudden, I'm normal and during most of that time, I have been living with you. My mother and father never had a chance to see me this way, and she asked me to stay with her. Talk to me Gordon, please talk to me, and tell me what to do."

"It's like Abraham and the baby. You can't satisfy both parties by splitting the baby in half. What I will tell you is this; on December 25, I am leaving. I will take your love with me wherever I go. One day if I get the chance, I will name a planet or a star after you. Whatever decision you make, be sure you feel it's in your best interest long-term. Stay close to your parents Zoie, because either way, you are going to need their love and support."

"Why aren't you fighting for me?"

"Fighting for you, I would die for you Zoie. This is one of those things where nobody comes out winning. If you stay with your mother, she will feel terrible because you left me. You will feel terrible because you left me. And I will feel terrible because you left me. It works the same way if you come with me. It's logic my love, everyone loses either way."

"Gordon would you do me a favor and get angry with me"

"Would you give me one reason to get angry with you?"

"I made this call, isn't that reason enough."

"Zoie did you lie to me?"

"No."

"Zoie have you made your decision already?"

"I think so."

"You're staying with your mother."

"I think so."

"You see Zoey; you are such a beautiful person two people want 100 percent of you all the time. Only one of us can have you. Regardless of what your final decision is, I will always love you. You are my first everything. I will never be able to say that to anyone ever again. I love you Zoey. Goodbye."

He signed off Skype, closed the laptop, and came to tell us what happened.

He knocked on our bedroom door and asked if he could come in for a moment. Naturally, we said yes.

Without preamble he said, "You can scratch Zoey from the departure list. She will not be coming with us. There will be no wedding in December. Zoie has decided to stay with her parents. She feels she screwed up 16 years of her parents lives, and during most of the time she has been 'normal,' she has been living here, with us.

I did not try to talk her out of it. I told her everybody loses in a fight like this. She said her decision is not final, but I'm sure it is. That's all I came to say, I'm going to finish my reading, then I'll turn in. Good night."

He turned, and walked out of our room closing the door behind him.

I looked at Jennifer, "What just happened?"

"If you're talking about the little boy who should be walking around with his heart broken, and tears in his eyes, but talked to us as if he was reading a grocery list, I'm not quite sure."

"Yesterday that same boy wanted to pound my skull into the dirt for not telling him that Monty was going with us. He had the same reaction when he saw Monty. I mean he was fighting mad. This evening, one of the worst things that could occur to a boy his age happens, and there is no reaction at all. You or me?"

"I think I'll talk to him Even. Logically he is correct, everyone loses, but it doesn't mean your feelings don't get hurt."

"You know my background in the art of love is you. If you said no, I'd still be a bachelor. So he's in safer hands with you, than he would be with me."

"Even when it comes to affairs of the heart, I would trust Holden, before I trust you."

"That hurts Jennifer that really hurts."

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

"Gordon, it's mom, may I come in?"

"Sure mom, come on in."

"Before I close the door, do I need the tool chest?"

"Why would you need the tool chest mom?"

"I want to know how hard it's going to be to get answers out of you."

"Mom if you ask me a question I'll answer it honestly, just as I always do."

"How do you feel Gordon?"

"Shitty, yeah really shitty."

"When you were in my room, you stated everything so matter-of-factly it was like it happened to someone else, not you. Is it just settling in now?"

"Let me put it this way. I now know why dad was very happy living all alone in Idaho Springs. If they take me off the flight Christmas Day, I'm going to find myself a place just like it."

"Gordon, you just turned 17. You can't legally drink for four more years. You can't go into the military for another year. Your life hasn't begun yet. Eight months ago, you didn't know Zoey existed."

"Don't go there mom, because you'll lose."

"What you mean?"

"From the moment you set eyes on dad in the airplane, to the moment you said I do, how long was it? If you subtract the four days he got lost in the woods it would've been that much shorter. So time really doesn't matter. The same thing happened with Delicious. The only reason she waited to marry Gray was she wanted to be 18. It was an artificial date that she set in her mind. Time is relative. It expands and contracts throughout the universe. Whether I knew Zoey for a minute or for a microsecond, I knew that I loved her, and she loved me.

Don't forget to tell dad that lady will be here for pictures on Saturday."

"I'm sure he'll remember. Goodnight my dearest son, regardless of how far you are away from me, I will always be this close to you, and I will always love you."

"I know mom, that's why I understand what Zoey is going through. It's a shitty situation all around."

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

"That was quick, what did he say Jen?"

"Would you tell me when he turned into you please?"

"I've had 14 wonderful years to work on him if that's what you mean."

"He is totally compartmentalized. He puts his love and a feeling into one corner of his brain, and lives his life and another. Today he got hurt, he just locked it up, and it doesn't exist anymore. He feels shitty to quote him, but any other boy would be devastated. I hope he doesn't implode."

"I'll tell Monty in the morning to keep a close eye on him."

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

"You did what? When did you turn into your mother, Payne?

"Don't yell at me Dycke. I didn't tell her what to do. I asked her to stay. She made the decision, not me."

"Of course she decided to stay, because she was with you. If Gordon were standing beside her, she would have chosen to stay with him. I can't believe you did that to them. I have never been disappointed with you, since we met, but what you did to them yesterday really disappoints me. I'm going to call Even and see how everything is there. I hope Gordon is all right."

"Please, don't talk to Zoey about him until we get home. Talking to her face-to-face will be easier than talking to her over the phone."

"Payne, I am going to spank you harder than I ever have before, and believe me, you have earned it."

"I disagree with you. If that's the way you feel, I'll keep Zoie out of the house, while you do it."

"I love you Payne, nothing will ever change the feelings I have for you."

"I know."

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

"Don't lie to me little shit, how do you feel?"

"I can see this is going to be a fun week."

"You have two choices Gordon. You can answer my question, and be at work on time, or you can get to work an hour late, with bruises all over your body."

"I choose option number two please."

"How did I know you were going to say that? Liz, your services are required."

Liz got out of the SUV dressed for battle.

"He wants to get his ass kicked at 7:30 in the morning."

"Who said you were going to kick my ass. I've learned your best move, and you told me how to defeat it. Monty hasn't beaten the shit out of me this time. I will give you a run for your money."

"The poor boy is delusional. I'm going to kick him in the head to bring him down to earth. Let's go Gordon times wasting."

They walked back into the house, and past the kitchen.

"I told you he would pick option number two Monty."

"Thanks for setting me up dad."

"Consider it therapy, my son. Your mother and I discussed it, and it was either keeping you from work, or getting your ass kicked. We chose option number two also."

Gordon kissed his mother. "I hope you are pregnant, when we leave."

"I'm sorry Gordon, he can't get me pregnant. He was fixed years ago."

"It was very unmanly of you dad, to keep that procedure a secret from mom."

"Keep your mouth shut Gordon."

"Even what did you do?"

"I didn't do a thing dear, not one thing."

"Dad, you told me years ago, that one lie leads to another, and then another. Soon you forget what the truth is. You tell mom what you did, or I will."

"I am going to cut your salary to ZERO dollars."

"Dad, I'm giving all my money to Richard and Holden. You'd only be hurting them."

"Don't make me get a knife, and cut your balls off."

"Don't do that, Doctor Finch reconnected him four months ago. He is no longer shooting blanks."

"Even Zachariah Luck, you are a dead man."

I grabbed Jen's arms, and kissed her with all the love in my heart. I said to my wife, my love, my partner in life, "I wanted to give you something as a going away present that would always remind you of me. I had Rod scour the world for something so precious, and so singular that no one else would ever have. He looked for art, diamonds, and yachts that would put everything else in the world to shame. However, someone else would come along, sooner or later, and try to top it.

Four months ago, I asked Doctor Finch if a reversal was possible. He said it's not only possible; today it's an ordinary procedure. Our hospital has all the newest technology, and only three people were there to assist him in the hour-long procedure. It wasn't like Rod's type procedure at all. I had no swelling or aftereffects. He said it would take about a month before everything was back in action. That was three months ago. You could be pregnant, and not know it yet."

"Monty would you take my husband downstairs, and kill him for me please."

"I can't Jennifer, he still signs my paychecks."

"Liz would you kill my son for me, because he kept this secret from me for so long."

"I can do that."

"Monty if I told you Gordon added 300,000 acres of land adjacent to yours as your birthday present, would you stop Liz from killing him?"

"You did what little turd? Those corporations wouldn't sell me an acre of land bordering mine. How did you get them to sell you 300,000 acres?"

"It was easy, and I got a cheap. Rod told them that small herds of buffalo in neighboring states had tested positive for Brucellosis. Now, small herds of cattle had to be euthanized, because they had tested positive for the disease. For the first time in 130 years, the disease had transferred from buffalo to inoculated cattle. If it transferred to major herds in those states, the Department of the Interior would order the cattle ranchers to kill, burn, and bury every animal on their property. The department would have to capture and test dear, mountain lions, and bears for the disease. If any large animal north of Colorado tested positive for the disease, every animal would have to be slaughtered as a preventative measure. The corporations couldn't sell the land to Rod fast enough."

"You lied to them?"

"I did not tell a lie, I did not speak to them. I paid for the land through Rod, but I most certainly did not tell a lie."

"You cheated them out of the land, but you didn't tell them a lie."

"That is correct. I told Rod what land I wanted, and I left the rest up to him."

"Liz take little turd downstairs, and beat the shit out of him."

"Why, it was a birthday present for you."

"My birthday was the same day as yours, and you didn't tell me. I didn't tell you I was approved to go on the spacecraft for three weeks, and you were pissed. Let's just say I'm getting even with you. Isn't that right Doctor Luck?"

"It's almost time for me to go to work. Your word has been law when it comes my son, since he's been three years old. I am not about to change that now. Monty, from his neck down he is yours. From his neck up, he is mine. Remember he has a good heart, and his mother loves him very much, as do I."

"Liz, keep that in mind."

"Gordon get changed, I'm getting bored."

"Dear, do you want me to pick up some pregnancy tests on my way home?"

"Do you really think I'm going to be able to wait that long? If you see a gun on the kitchen table, when you get home, turn around and run for your life."

"Remember dear, it is a mortal sin to kill someone, and it is unforgivable in the eyes of the Lord."

"In the immortal words of Rhett Butler, "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn."

"Somehow dad, I think you are in trouble, more trouble than me."

"I hope the dam test turns blue, and she has quintuplets, because my guys have been resting for so long."

"Even get out of here before I kill you now, instead of later."

"You better call Doctor Finch, and find the best OB/GYN in Temple. I will probably have to change my Will before December 25."

Jennifer screamed, "If I am pregnant, you are not going anywhere. I am not going through another pregnancy alone. I did it with Gordon, and it was not fun. We are married, and you are going to be at my side, every step of the way. When 'The Good Luck 1' leaves, almost everyone I know, and love will be on it. The only people here with me will be Rod and Rosalyn. You fucked me my love, and I have just returned the favor."

I sat there and tried to read Jennifer's face. She was stone cold serious.

Holden and Richard ran down the hallway wondering why we were yelling.

In a frightened voice Richard asked, "What did you do wrong now dad?"

"Why is it always me? Why couldn't it be your mother for a change?"

"You just answered your own question. Mom doesn't make mistakes, only you do. What did you do wrong this time?"

"I got your mother pregnant."

"Did you get her permission to do it? It is supposed to be a joint parental decision."

"He's 10 years old, and he knows more about decision-making than you do."

"If you are unhappy with this pregnancy, we can terminate it honey."

Holden put his hands on his mother's belly and asked, "Mom if someone's in here, please keep him or her. Who knows how smart or pretty they could be. You always wanted a girl; this could be your chance."

Jennifer picked him up, and kissed him. "Your father knows I wouldn't terminate the babies. I will terminate him first. As far as it being a girl, I wouldn't bet on it. Your father only gives me boys."

I took three $100 bills out of my wallet, and put them under the pretzel jar.

"I bet at least some of them are girls," and ran out the front door.

I heard Gordon laughing. I heard Holden ask his mother if she was all right. I heard Monty tell Liz to get Jennifer a glass of orange juice. Going home tonight was going to be interesting. I decided to call my daughter and have her ask our redheaded clairvoyant what she thought about Jennifer's situation.

"Good morning baby, how are you?"

"Good morning dad, what did you do wrong now?"

"Who said I did anything wrong. I called to say hello to my daughter."

"Gray left for work 20 minutes ago, and you never call me at 7:50 A.M. just to say hello. So what did you do wrong that you needed to talk to me this early?"

"I think I got Jennifer pregnant."

"Weren't you fixed after Holden?"

"Yes, and it's a long story, but I got it reversed a few months ago."

"Dad have you thought about moving up the departure date, otherwise you may be dead before hand."

"I didn't pick December 25 as a departure date because it was Christmas. I picked it because the Earth's axis will be in perfect alignment for us to take off on a southeasterly heading of 138 degrees, with no course corrections. We will only be overland as we hover at 500 feet to check our systems. Once we say goodbye, we will only be overland for 11 seconds, as we passed South of Houston. When we reach the convergence zones, near the equator, we will have past through the exosphere, at a more than 25,000 miles per hour, and 107 miles above the earth. Unlike the space shuttle, when they announce, 'Max Q', we will never go through an area of 'Maximum Dynamic Pressure' because of the shape of our vehicle. What December 25, and a heading of 138 degrees does for us is it gives us time to gain speed, and altitude, so we do not get caught in the severe turbulence at high altitudes, near zero degrees latitude."