Dark as Daylight Ch. 15

"Come up here, look me in the eye and say that to me."

"You will kill me on general principles."

"I won't touch you if you're telling me the truth."

Jackson said, "The boy is telling you the truth. He didn't tell me, I got it through a different party."

"Who told you my middle name?"

"You never answered my question, and you will never speak to me in that tone again."

"What do you mean I will not speak to you like that again?"

"You will take that edge off your voice, when you are addressing me. You will not call me an asshole in public. If you want this marvelous machine to work properly, there were only 2 of us that can do it; Delicious and myself. If I scratch one tiny wire, I can keep this spacecraft on the ground for a year. Now Chief Captain, mind your manners, and answer my question. Are you going to marry me or not?"

"What the hell kept you from asking me before? You are definitely not shy, and you are quite able to speak your mind. What has been holding you back Jackson?"

"I have."

Everyone in the auditorium turned and looked at the raised hand of Jack Daniels.

"This better be good Jack, or you're going to visit the nuclear containment unit."

"It all started out as a joke, Monty. No one ever thought it would come to this. The 8 of us swore we would carry it out regardless of what it was, and we all felt like heels when it turned out to be Jackson who pulled the piece of paper out of the bowl.

3 of the men in our group are not married, but they are all going with women they are involved with. 1 piece of paper was put in the bowl which stated they couldn't get married for 2 months. They weren't allowed to say anything, or explain it away. They just weren't going to commit themselves to marriage. One of us put in a piece of paper stating they would go down into the bowels of the ship open one of the valves and let whatever may happen, happen. Since Adam and his merry band are the only ones that know what would happen, it could wind up as a very messy situation, or not. It was a typical boyhood prank that we thought no one could really get hurt, but it turned out that Jackson lost all his chips that evening, and had to take a piece of paper from the bowl. He could have taken anything from cleaning the lenses on the cameras throughout the ship, to cleaning the floors in the Arboretum. He picked the piece of paper that said he could not get married for 2 months, and here we are."

"Jackson Oberlin, you are a very principled man. I accept your proposal, and would like you to meet my matron of honor. Gordon get your ass up here."

"Jackson, this is my maid of honor Gordon Oliver Stars Luck."

"Hello Jackson NMI Oberlin."

"What did you just call him?"

"Jackson No Middle Initial Oberlin."

"He gets more space than a middle name."

"That's why they use the initials 'NMI' instead. Have you set the date Mister Oberlin?"

Monty said, "That is the bride's prerogative."

"I agree wholeheartedly dear, that's why we are getting married Thursday, at 2200 hours."

"We are?"

"Do you see Gordon, she agreed with me already. With the milk we have on board, we can make a cake, with real whipped cream icing."

"You have just made my mouth water. Congratulations the 2 of you, I wish you all the happiness in our world."

"Thank you Captain Luck."

"Shall we go test out my bed now darling?"

"What!!!"

Everyone within earshot laughed at her.

"You know, Girl meets Boy, Boy likes Girl, Girl and Boy discuss the future of the human genome, while in bed?"

Gordon yelled, "Relax Monty, it will be good memories, or I will kill him."

Zoey said, "I hope the both of you are happy forever, and you can forgive the problems I caused, while I was ill. I really am sorry."

"We forgive you, now you have to do what the doctors order you to do, so you can get well."

"I will, I promise."

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

"He seems like a very nice man."

"He is. What are you doing out of bed?"

"Dr. Daniels said I could go for walks, 4 times a day, for 15 minutes, as long as I checked out when I left the room and when I returned. I have 5 minutes before I have to be back. Payne was asleep in the nursery, and this one is practicing for the Bobsled Olympics."

"Hopefully, when you want to rest, it will."

"You aren't even a little curious about what it is?"

"Whatever it is, Am I going to love it any more or less? I don't think so. So why would the knowledge of what it is make a difference to me?"

"With an attitude like yours, I guess it wouldn't."

"I have to start back to my room now. Good bye Gordon."

"I will walk with you Zoey.?"

"Thank you."

"I am still in love with you Zoey. I keep seeing you holding that pistol in your hand, and pulling the trigger. It's an awful lot to get over."

"I know, Gordon. My being ill is no excuse. I've talked to your mom and she has been wonderful to me. She can't understand how I missed at such close range, but so help me God Gordon, I am so happy I did. I would have killed myself if I found out after I got well I killed you."

He laughed. "You must tell my mother that. When she laughs do not take offense. She will tell you something I told her before this happened."

"What did you do now?"

"Just tell my mom what you said, and you will find out. Are you eating in your room later?"

"Yes."

"Would you like some company?"

"I hate eating alone."

"2030 hours okay with you?"

"That will be fine, thank you."

"Okay, I will see you then."

"I will bring Payne with me."

Zoey threw her arms around him and cried.

"Thank you Gordon, thank you so much. You don't know how much I miss her, and the short visits I have with her are just not enough for either of us. I love you both so much, and I know I must earn your trust again. I will do it. I will do whatever is necessary to do it, but I swear I will do it."

"We will see you at dinner."

She wanted him to say more, and he wanted to say more, but there was no sense in making promises that might never be kept. Only time, and maybe medicine would tell."

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

59. The Family Tree

"Dinner was fabulous Jemma, thank you very much."

"I slaved over a hot stove for 10 days to make that meal."

William said, "I am not sure Jemma knows where the kitchen is, except for the freezer of course, which is where I keep her ice cream. There is an alarm when she picks up the last pint of her butter pecan ice cream. A message goes directly to the ice cream store she loves. The owner sends out 5 gallons of freshly made butter pecan ice cream that afternoon. We have the same arrangement on Gwen's rum raisin ice cream, too. In order to make sure everything runs smoothly, I have the stores owner on retainer. If he has no other customers, between our two lovely wives, the owner of that store will be able to stay in business forever."

"In our defense, we have to keep eating ice cream, because of the amount of sex that goes on in this household. Calories in, equals calories out; doesn't it William?"

"You will never hear me complaining my dear. You had a size 38D bust the day I met you, and a size 25 waist. You've had four of my babies, and those measurements are still the same. How could anyone maintain your hourglass figure after all these years, and have any husband complain."

"Take notes Joseph, take a lot of notes."

"I do not have to take any notes, when it comes to you dear. I am recording this entire conversation."

"You are not, I watched you dress."

"If you say so dear."

"Mr. Zabo, you did say you had a gym in the basement?"

"Yes I do Laura."

"If Joseph is lying to me, may I use it for five minutes? It will be good for Patrick to see."

"Of course."

"What do I get out of this if I am not lying to you?"

"What do you want Joseph?"

"Abject obedience for 24 hours."

"You are out of your..."

"I see, you get to beat the crap out of me, but my request is too much for you. Jemma's remark about women ruling the world has not reached you yet?"

"Gwen how well-equipped is your medical bag?"

"I can do everything but a heart transplant."

"Good. Show me your recording device."

"You are looking at it dear. Do you see the tie pin? That is the microphone. The probe goes directly in to the receiver."

"Show me."

Joseph opened the button below the tie pin and grasped something. He opened the button above the tie pin, and then removed the pin itself. He pulled out a small rectangular box and held it in his hand.

"This is the recorder. It has a four-hour lifetime, and does not need a battery."

Laura looked at it and said, "The agency doesn't have anything like it."

"The boys did it in their spare time."

"How does it get its power?"

"You are asking things that are above my pay grade."

"Have they bothered talking to their attorney, and having this patented?"

"Mr. Zabo, if you saw with those boys have in their toy chest, just from what they do in their spare time; you would be amazed. If you started out with only the money you needed to purchase your first patent, you would make your first billion within five years.

They don't know what to do with themselves, except experiment with science. Things float around, inside our building area, carrying messages from one manager to another, and then just disappear. I'm not joking, they disappear. I don't know if it's a trick on the eyes, or if they are made out of flash paper, but we have become so used to it, we just take it for granted. Nothing those two boys do shocks us anymore. It's the reason we don't let anyone near them. Every one of us would lay down our lives, before something happens to them. Did Laura tell you how they knocked me out playing baseball?"

"No, I'm afraid we missed that story. Laura if you would please?"

"If he wasn't as tall as a tree, he would have been safe. The attack had been called off, because of the heavy rains going on outside. The General, and the boys came out of their armored boxes to use the facilities, and eat. While they were outside, Paul Zachary, and the Attorney General decided to teach the boys how to play baseball. The boys were awful.

Paul decided to speak to them in the only language the boys understood: SCIENCE. He explained to them about the rotation of the ball in reference to Newton's theory of planetary movement. He continued telling them about: Every object in motion will continue to move in the same direction, until it is hit by another object moving in a different direction. Telling them about force, and movement was exactly what they needed. After that, any ball thrown to them they hit, and hit hard.

As we were walking up the stairwell to go up to our new room, there was the sound of a bat hitting a ball, and then the ball hitting Joe's head. He was unconscious before he hit the floor. The funny part was the ball bounced off Joe's head into the air, and Richard caught it. He asked Paul if it still counted because he caught it on the fly. Paul told him it did.

Meanwhile, there is Joe lying on the steps with me and the Atty. Gen. wondering if he was still alive. That line drive was really a good one, and it caught him flush on the left side of his forehead.

It was fun when he woke up. "What did the boys do now?"

When I told him it was a simple line drive off a bat, I think he was disappointed."

"I was. I was hoping it was some kind of Death Ray that was only set on stun. Just think of all the possibilities?"

"What are you going to do now Joseph that Laura is beholding to you for 24 hours of, how did you put it, 'Abject Obedience."

"Mr. Zabo, 24 hours is only one day. I want to live with Laura for the rest of my life. If I do anything terrible to her during the next 24 hours, the rest of my life will be extremely short. It may be so short; I may not live to get married to her."

Jemma and Gwen applauded.

Gwen said, "There is still hope for you William. Joseph isn't married yet, and he may live to get there."

"You have just had our first child, dear. We have two more to go. That is if I let you live that long."

"Hundreds of people saw you attempt to rape me, nearly 6 years ago, at a public venue. I could kill you anytime I wanted and declare it as self defense. Pictures of that day would be part of my trial, and the jury would see you as you were, a cowardly lion."

"How did Pres. Roosevelt put it, dad? ...'A date that will live in infamy.' She trips me and it's my fault."

"My son, there is only one person in this universe that can settle this quarrel between you two. All you have to do is go to Atwater Luck, and ask the little girl who started your troubles, 'Teddy Thyme', which one of you is at fault? She will tell you, and the other one will have to keep quiet for the rest of their natural lives, or die trying."

"Excellently put William, I'm extremely proud of you."

"Thank you dearest, shall we return to the living room for coffee and dessert?"

"The desert I'm thinking of does not happen in the living room very often. However, we do have more business to discuss, don't we?"

"Yes we do, we must show Joseph his family tree."

"Please don't tell me you're going to show me all 373 of us?"

"Although I do have a copy of that huge list, for our purposes tonight, I have it redacted to only you and I, and how we are related. I didn't want you to miss tomorrow night's opera because you are sitting here listening to me talk about your third cousin by my fourth daughters, fifth son marrying the daughter of some Roman aristocrat who was on her second marriage."

"That is very kind of you, sir."

"THE FAMILY TREE of Joseph R. Constantine"

William Zabo—Karina Callipo (Great Great Grand Parents)

Children (Aryanna) (Camelia) Ludovica (Michaela) (Bartemelo) Zabo

(Raffaele DiGiovanni x)—Ludovica Zabo (Great Grand Mother)

(Raffaele and Ludovica's son) Christofo Zabo—Angella Constantino (ne: Zabo)

Porcello Zabo X--Giordana Constantino (Resumed maiden name after death of husband) (Grandparents)

Samuel Constantino—Annamaria Alberghetti (Parents)

JOSEPH RAFFAELE CONSTANTINE (Americanized name)

"No wonder your great grandmother comes after you with a rolling pin. Your Confirmation name is the name of her lost love, and you haven't been to see her in three years. If I was her, I would be using that rolling pin on a piece of granite, and be finishing your name right about now."

"What do you have to say about yourself Joseph?"

"Grandfather, what am I supposed to say? This is amazing. I can only imagine what it looks like when you add my three brothers, two sisters, and their progeny to it. It probably takes up the size of this table."

"We used the smallest readable print on the computer, just for that purpose, and printed it in a landscape format. It took up nine pages."

"I wonder if they have televisions in Italy? It appears all they do there is have sex. It's not that I mind, and I just enjoyed it a great deal myself, but don't they believe in birth control at all?"

"Just in case you don't remember, Joe, they live in Italy, the most religious Catholic country in the world. The Pope is on television every other minute extolling the virtues of sex, without the use of birth control. You can only have sex to procreate, and your brothers and sisters are doing their part. Apparently so are their children."

"Thanks to you grandfather, their winery is a great success, and money is no problem for them. When I saw them three years ago they were all very happy. All they did was pick on me, and wonder why I was not married."

"At least they know you're not gay."

"Thank you very much for that little bit of information Laura. I guess I will introduce you to my former three loves."

"If you do, you will regret it."

"Why would I regret it? I'm only introducing you to the women, who could have had me, but were dumb enough to leave me, for a much better woman."

Gwen said, "That bum just did it to you again. He was in a hole so deep there was no way for him to get out of it alive. All of a sudden, with the use of some very inventive wording, he comes out smelling like a rose. I do hope you're taking notes William, either that or you have one of those recording devices Joseph had on him. You certainly could use one."

"No dear, I have neither of those. I am just going to get you pregnant before you're able to take birth control pills again. That will keep you under control for the next seven or eight months, and by that time, I will have tried to figure out some way to keep up with you."

William Senior said, "Congratulations Gwen, did you hear what he just said to you?"

"What did I miss dad? Whatever it was, I will write it down with his blood."

"Quoting my son, he said, "...that will keep you under control for the next seven or eight months, and by that time, I will have tried to figure out some way to keep up with you.' To me that means he is so far behind you, he can only see the dust from underneath your shoes. He is in trouble Gwenny, and you are in the drivers' seat."

"Thanks a lot dad, I didn't need you to echo that to her at this moment."

"Son, do you love your wife?"

"With all my heart dad, you know that, and I hope she knows that."

"How often do you tell her you love her?"

"Probably not often enough."

"How often do you pass her in the house every day?"

"25, maybe 50 times a day."

"If you don't tell her you love her, and give her a kiss every time you pass each other, that is a missed opportunity for each of you to get closer to one another. Your mother and I do it each time, don't we dear?"

"Sometimes your father is even annoying about it. He kisses me, then smacks me on my butt. I wind up black and blue it might."

"Yes I do, and I am responsible for those black and blue marks. However, in my defense, I am also the one who puts cream on it and rubs it in tenderly trying to make it all better."

"Bull, you're just trying to heat me up so you can have sex."

"You do not need to be heated up. You are as ready as I am every time."

"That is a bold faced lie."

"When were we never ready for each other?"

"We were in Boca Raton, and it was 180° outside, and 200° in the room. The air-conditioning was out, and the fan wasn't working. You moved over towards me and wanted sex. I told you exactly what you could do with that thing of yours, and you were not pleased with me when I said it."

"Oh yes I remember; I own that hotel."

Laura choked on her drink.

Joe patted her back lightly.

"Are you okay dear?"

"Mr. Zabo did you purchase that hotel because you didn't get laid?"

"Don't you think that's a rather personal question agent Burkart?"

"Yes I do."

"Since were being honest with each other, I didn't purchase it...directly. I complained to the owner, quite nicely I might say, and he had an attitude problem. I developed an attitude problem after he did. I acquired all his debts, and put him into bankruptcy. I took everything he had, but in Florida you cannot take a man's home. I just made sure he couldn't afford to live in it. I purchased it for 1/16 of its market value, furnished.

When the club we were staying at went up for sale, and all the bidders were registered, through many friends of mine, I made sure each of them had money problems, prior to the date of sale. Each bidder had to withdraw from process and I was the only certified bidder remaining. I purchased the Boca Raton Club for the amount of taxes due. A club worth more than $187 million cost me $16,890 in taxes.