Honor Thy Mother & Thy Father Ch. 20

Chapter 19

Note: This is a work of FICTION! Although the areas this story takes place in are real; all of the landscapes depicted, the people described, and everything else this story uses to make it enjoyable reading for you are NOT REAL. As you read this story, try to remember:

This Is a Novel

84. The Price of Admission

Dycke Schneider called Harold Chase and said, "I got you two invitations to the wedding, but Jim Green made me pay heavily for them. He knows you, Harold; and how deep your pockets go. I hope you are sitting down, because they are going to cost you $5 million each. You get to sit close to the dais, and 10 minutes with Patty."

"Isn't he a sport? $1 million a minute for the privilege of talking to someone, my wife knows."

"If your wife knows her, why did you ask me to get you invitations?"

"I did not know about their relationship at the time. You will never guess how I found out about it."

"Okay, Harold, I will bite. How did you find out that Callie knew Patricia?"

"You are going to love this Dycke. Payne told me."

"Payne, how the hell did she know?"

"You have me buddy, all I know is that she was supposed to be descending into Rio, and she yelled it into my ear. I got a speeding ticket and a ticket for going through a stop sign on my way to the hospital to talk to Callie about it. When she told me she knew Patricia, how they met, and they went out to get drunk together, I fucked her on a hospital bed. Her bridesmaids came in and took pictures of us in the act. I have never seen Callie, turn so red in my life."

"Didn't they put it on the Internet? I'd like to see that."

"No, but they had been taunting her about those pictures ever since."

"Well, I guess I am out $10 million."

"Never happen big guy; I will transfer the money to you immediately. We will fly into New York on the Wednesday before the wedding, do some sightseeing, and drive up to Glens Falls that morning."

"Don't do that Harold. Stephano has made arrangements for everyone to fly in, and out by helicopter. It will avoid a traffic jam by his home. When you receive your invitations, all the information will be on it. All the hotel reservations have been made, if you wish to spend the evening, if not, the helicopter will take you back to the city."

"He sounds like a bright young man."

"His father ran the Manhattan Mafia for over 30 years. I guess he learned a thing or two about protocol and business. He just graduated from Penn with a 4.0 average, and he did not get it by bribing, or threatening his teachers. I had him checked out. For your information, the money was signed over to the Clark Atwater for president fund. It is not subject to the Election Commission restrictions, because he has not announced that he is running yet. When the press gets a hold of this, and the Democrats who want to run against him find out how large his war chest is, they will drop out immediately. The Republicans and their backers will shit a brick. He will have over $500 million from this one event. Then there is his nieces wedding in December. Most of us will be invited to that, also. There is no price of admission for that wedding. However, it would be a very nice touch to add to something to his war chest. The bride has already given him $10 million."

"Dycke, is there anything you do not know about?"

"How would I know about something I don't know about? I have people everywhere, telling me things about everything. I know the Chinese ambassador to Washington is having an affair with a member of the Secretary of State's staff. What he doesn't know is that she is a CIA mole. She tells him things that are going to happen weeks before they happen, but they are of no real consequence. He tells her things that are happening in the Central Committee that are priceless. It is a wonderful relationship. He is thinking about defecting, but she keeps telling him he cannot do that to his family. She cries crocodile tears when she tells him that they will kill every member of his extended family, including their children. She could not live with the thought that she was responsible for that. She is really good."

"Okay, Dycke, how do you know this?"

"She used to work for me. She was one of the people, who was with me, the day they tried to kidnap Payne and me. I still pay her because of that day."

"Dycke, you are a gem of a boss."

"Harold, can you beat the fifth-graders yet?"

"Get off my ass, Dycke."

"I am going to send a personal trainer out to you, and I guarantee you are not going to like her."

"Okay, I will get on that damned treadmill, and try harder."

"I will send you a disk of Mindy doing a light core exercise. I guarantee you, after you watch it; you will be on that treadmill for two hours a day, every day."

"Are you threatening me?"

"I would never threaten you my friend. I want you to live a great, happy, and long life. The operative word in this case is long. I want you and your programs to change the world. Now get off your ass, and get on that treadmill. If I send Mindy out there, you will rue the day you were born."

"Fuck you Dycke."

"I am going to put you on speaker for a moment."

Harold heard Dycke punch in a series of numbers, heard the phone ring, and heard a woman's voice answer.

"Mindy, Dycke, I will have an aircraft ready for you in four hours. I want you in Cottonwood, Arizona, to train a man until he is as fit as you have gotten me. His name is Harold Chase. Where he goes, you go. Make your usual arrangements, use the company credit card, I don't care if it takes six days or six years, I want him to live forever."

"You got it boss. How fat is he?"

"I would say 30 pounds overweight, and soft as a teddy bear."

"Okay boss, I love you. I will do it for free if you want. I love fat ones."

Harold yelled, "I am not fat."

"Mindy what would you call a man that cannot keep up with fifth-graders?"

"I guess I would call him fat and lazy."

"Did you hear that Harold? Not only did she say you are fat, but she said you are lazy also. You are going to love her. I can't even keep up with her."

"I got your message Dycke, loud and clear. I will be on the treadmill, two hours a day, every day. Call off your wolf."

"Harold, how tall are you, and what do you weigh now?"

"I am 5'11" tall, and 206 pounds."

Mindy screamed, "How much do you weigh?"

"Mindy, he said 206 pounds."

"Dycke, does he want to die of a heart attack?"

"Why do you think I'm talking to you Mindy?"

"Harold, this is Mindy, can you hear me?"

"Yes Mindy, I can hear you."

"I don't want to scare you, but even if you are large framed man, you are a minimum of 40 pounds overweight. You are a candidate for diabetes, high blood pressure, hardening of the arteries, and heart disease. How old are you?"

"I will be 38 shortly."

"Okay, you haven't killed yourself yet. Put yourself on a diet, and not a strict one. Lose 2 pounds a month, no more than that. In two years you will be down to where you belong. It is the safest way for you to lose the weight you need to without rebounding back up. You can do that by exercise alone, and if you add a little bit of restraint by eating properly, it will be very easy for you?"

"Mindy, is it really that easy to do?"

"I would not lie to you, Harold. If you were 100 pounds overweight, I would have had to be stricter with you. 2 pounds a month, 20 months equals 40 pounds. Then you go on maintenance with exercise alone."

"Dycke said you were a bitch; you sound more like an angel to me."

"You do not want to meet me in the flesh, Harold. Dycke send him that video. Goodbye, Harold."

"Goodbye, Mindy, and thank you."

"Harold, get your ass in gear, I don't want to lose you. We have important things to accomplish."

"I hear you Dycke. I will be in New York on the 15^th. I will see you at the wedding."

"I will try to clear my calendar and meet you on the 15^th. I will let you know about that. Goodbye my friend."

"Take care of yourself, Dycke."

******

"Payne, what airport are we flying into for Patricia's wedding?"

"Albany, it's less than 60 miles Glens Falls from there. Why did you ask?"

"Harold and Callie are flying in the New York City on the Wednesday before the wedding. I was thinking we would meet him there and spend a few days with them."

"It's not a problem, honey. We can fly into Teterboro, and stay a few days. The four of us can leave around 9 AM Saturday morning, be in Albany, a little after 10 AM, and helicopter into Glens Falls, before noon. Timing is not a problem."

"Could you arrange that for us? I will have Sarah take care of the reservations in New York."

"Consider it done, darling. I will see you at home tonight. Is my paycheck ready?"

"Yes, I will hand deliver it to you, along with your next undercover assignment."

"I love my undercover assignments. I love my husband for getting me our housekeeper, and the psychologists to help me with Robert. He seems to be better able to control his temper better."

"What you mean Payne, is he hasn't tried to throw Zoie over the railing lately."

"He never tried to do that Dycke, and you know it."

"It was just a joke baby."

"Don't joke about my children that way."

"They are not your children, they are our children. If you are lucky, during one of our undercover assignments, I will give you another one."

"Don't do that to me, Dycke. I just got back into the flight deck of this airplane. I am having more fun than you could possibly believe. If you get me pregnant, I will kill you."

"Is it time for me to get a vasectomy?"

"Would you mind terribly if we stopped at three children?"

"Is three all you want?"

"Yes, I think so."

"I think so is not good enough baby. Think about it, because this is forever."

"Yes Dycke, three children is enough."

"Okay, I will make an appointment to have it taken care of."

"I love you Dycke. You have always thought about me first. Every other woman I have talked to has never said that about her husband."

"No one has ever married their PET."

"There you go Dycke, ruining another very special moment. Now I will have to beat you up when you get home."

"Payne, would you kindly tell me what is new about that?"

"Dycke, you are a pain in my ass."

"Is that where you want it tonight, dear?"

"I think I will have Steve beat you up. I am getting tired of hitting you."

"Steve, Cynthia, and Jordan, are coming over to babysit our three kids, while we are in New York for the wedding. At the prices they charge for that service, he wouldn't dare hit me. He may hit me afterwards, but not before."

"Can you blame him? He came home with a 'C' in a Physics midterm, and you took the Corvette away from him for a month. I would have killed you for that."

"Did I ever tell you the story behind that 'C'?"

"Don't you dare tell me you did something to my brother's grades?"

"It was not my doing, it was Cynthia's. She told me he was slacking off, and not going to the library to study. She asked me if I could do something to kick him in the ass. He was doing very well in all his other classes, but he was slacking off in physics. I sent Bob Short to his professor, and asked him for a $5000 favor. He thought Bob was going to ask him for a boost in Steve's grade. When Bob told him to reduce Steve's grade to a 'C', and why, the professor nearly had a stroke. Bob told him not to have it affect Steve's final grade, but this was to ensure that he got his ass into the library and study. It worked, and Steve wound up with an 'A' in the class."

"Did Cynthia ever tell my brother that story?"

"Do you think she's crazy? He would have killed her, for two reasons. The most important one, naturally, was the loss of his Corvette. The second one was he studied his ass off for the rest of that semester. Cynthia said that he did not sleep more than four hours a night for the rest of the term."

"I knew my friend was mean, but that was outrageous. She deserves a medal."

"How do you think your brother got into law school? That little woman has more gumption than a keg full of dynamite. She kept him going like the Energizer Bunny. The end result was even funnier. Do you remember the look on your parents faces when he showed them the acceptance letters to Georgetown, U. of North Carolina, and the University of Florida Law Schools? I thought for a moment they were going to fall down and die."

"That wasn't funny, Dycke. I could have lost both my parents that day."

"No, your mother possibly, but not your dad; he just stood there with his eyes glazed over. The best part is looking at them as they work in the same office, on opposite sides of the desk. They have to look at each other all day, every day. Every time your dad picks up his head and sees Steve working there, he drops his head, shakes it from side to side, not believing what he's seeing. Steve is doing marvelous work by the way."

"Cynthia has been very good for him, and he has been very good for her as well. I never thought she would fully recover from the rape."

"Your mom said you were responsible for a lot of that healing. If you had not interceded when you did, things could have gone the wrong way, very quickly."

"All I did was to be a friend, when she needed one."

"Yes, but as I recall, no one in your school treated you as a friend back then."

"It's ancient history Dycke; let's not go there."

"Okay, what time will you be home for dinner?"

"We should be landing at 6:10 P.M., which means I should be home by 6:45 PM."

"Your birthday present is waiting for you at the airport. I hope you're not allergic to it."

"Dycke, I hate cats."

"If you hate this one, I'll bring it back to the pound, and buy you a dog. I think the kids should have an animal to play with, don't you?"

"Dycke, why after all these years, did you decide to buy a pet?"

"I married a PET, so I decided to buy one."

"Husband, you are out of your freaking mind. I don't know how Robert is going to adjust to it."

"Robert has been doing well. It will be a great test to see how he interacts with it."

******

Payne landed the Gulfstream 650 flawlessly, taxied it into the hangar, and put it to bed for the night. It would sleep for the next two days, while it underwent routine maintenance. After she descended the stairs, a member of the ground crew handed her the roll away night case, and she went to the office to collect Dycke's four-legged gift."

When she asked for it, the maintenance director said it was making too much noise, so they put it outside. She was incensed that they would put an animal outside into the cold dark night; that is, until she saw the animal, and she screamed. The entire ground crew laughed as she jumped up and down.

Dycke bought her a cat, but this one had an engine that roared. It was a bright pink Jaguar XJS convertible. She laughed; she cried; but she was rooted to the spot one spot. She could not move.

Dycke put his arms around her, and said, "Happy Birthday, my love. Try to keep it in one lane. I don't want to lose you."

She spun around and hugged him. "You bastard, you made me wait almost 12 years for my pink sports car. Why did you get it for me now?"

"I had to wait for you to learn how to drive properly."

"I know how to drive, but I am a mother of three now, where am I supposed to put the kids?"

He kissed her, and said, "You put them in there."

Her brother, Steve, drove a brand-new pink, 4-door Porsche Panamera from the left side of the hangar, and stopped in front of her. He stepped out of it, and threw the keys to his sister. He said, "If you don't want it, I will trade you a 3 year old yellow Corvette for it."

"I am not that stupid, big brother. I will trade the car for your Corvette, and both your balls."

"Payne, that's harsh. I used to like you."

Dycke nibbled on her ear, and asked, "Would you like to sit in one of your cars?"

"Dycke, you are out of your mind. You have no idea what to do with your money, so you spend it on me."

"It is not my money; it is our money. I am not the way your mother was, while you were growing up. I know she has changed her ways for the better, but you still think the way she did, before we got married. I wish you would be like she is now. Buy the things you like for yourself, for me, and for our children. We will never run out of money. Our allotment per year is now over $225 million. Do you realize how much we would have to spend per day to go over that amount of money? It is almost impossible to do, unless you went out, and bought a company, or another building."

"I am driving the convertible home. I promise to be careful. You can take the school bus."

"I don't believe the Germans would appreciate you calling their Porsche a school bus."

"Should I call the Jaguar an overpriced Ford?"

Steve laughed and asked his sister, if he could have the Ford. She replied, "You make enough money sitting at a desk all day. Go buy one for yourself."

"What happened to my wonderful sister, who I protected all those years we were in school?"

"She is getting even for her brother making all that noise in his bedroom, while she wasn't getting any."

"Payne, that's not fair. Those young women threw themselves at my feet. I could not, in good conscience, ignore their wishes."

"I know Steve, but did you have to enjoy it so much?"

"I guess it was in my genes."

"You are lying, Steve. Your jeans were never on."

Dycke said, "You two stop arguing this minute, or I will take your new toys away."

Steve said, "I didn't get a new toy."

Dycke spoke into his cellphone, and a moment later Cynthia drove a steel gray Mercedes Benz AMG/E63 Sedan around the side of the hangar, and stopped it by her husband.

Steve gawked at it, with his eyes, and mouth wide open.

"Happy Birthday bro; I will even give you the title to this one."

"Dycke, you are out of your freaking mind. This must have cost you a fortune. Thank you big guy, thank you very much."

"You do know there is a string attached to that car, don't you?"

"Oh no, what is it now?"

"You have to go back to school."

"Take your car back, I will not do it. That little imp over there nearly killed me the last time I went to school."

"It gets even better Steve. Desiree and Joey are going with you."

"I will not do it. I don't care what you say, those two women hate me. No, let me change that; those three women hate me."

Cynthia said, "I don't hate you; if I did, I would not have married you."

"I think you used reverse psychology on me. You hated me, and that's why you married me."

"Do you want me to come over there and beat the shit out of you in front of everyone, or do you want me to wait until we get home."

"Can we skip the beating?"

"Are you going to mind your manners?"

"Yes dear, but I am still not going to school."

Dycke said "It means doubling your salary, and benefit package; traveling to exotic places on a private jet, and no more looking your father every day."

"You do know how to hurt a guy, don't you? What do I have to study?"

"I need you to become an expert in Maritime law, as quickly as possible. I am going to farm it out for the next three years, but by that time I want to bring it in-house, with you, and the other two top ranked students in your class. I am going to buy a shipyard in Indonesia, and a fleet of oil, and natural gas tankers. Farming it out for a few years is fine, but those lawyers will not tell me the nuts and bolts of the law. That's what I need to know, and you will be able to tell me everything about it."

"Do I have a choice of schools to go to, or have you made that decision for me?"

"Steve, would I do that to you?"

"Do you really want me to answer that question?"