There Must Be A Mistake Ch. 32

"Mrs. Thyme, I have a friend who lives near Austin, and he told me you developed your Magnetic Antigravity engines when you were 14 years old. How does one so young develop a theory as advanced as that?"

"The answer to your question Bishop is really not proper for the inside of a church. It would be better said outside."

"If it is the truth God will not have a problem with it, and neither will I."

"The man who I thought was my father wanted nothing more than to rape me at his soonest opportunity. I was never allowed in my home unless my mother was there to protect me from him. In school, I had to act like a harlot to keep boys away from me. My mother did not want me to make the same mistake she made as a teenager, have a child out of wedlock, and live in an unloved marriage. My name, Delicious, was a running joke among my peers, and they did everything they could to try to embarrass me in school. I turned that around and acted viler than they did. If they said they wanted to get laid, I would lift my skirt, and say let's go. They would run for the hills because I told them I had herpes, and other venereal diseases. Once they left me alone, I had time to study in the library, and when my mother was at home in my bedroom with her. I was always very smart, but never showed it in school. My mother got me advanced college books through the library system, and I picked up an article by a group of professors who were working on a theory to promote levitation. As I watched their progress, I knew they went the wrong way, I just knew it. So I started doing my own calculations and I came up with the right formulation for my magnetic engines. It was their work, but as I said they went the wrong way. When they were told about it the lead professor recognized it and realized what he had done. He wanted to share of it, but we had already patented it, and it was too late for him to get in on it."

"Would it have been God-like to give him a share because of his work?"

"Yes, but he was unwilling to share the new advances that were coming out of his work from going the other way. If we had come to an amenable settlement, his group's name would have been added to our patent, and our groups name would have been added to any work that came from their new findings."

"I see, greed reared its ugly head, and he lost."

"I believe he did Bishop. I don't think anything they come up with will be a startling as these new engines."

"I love science, the church is beginning to believe in science more deeply than before, and if I do not get this ceremony on the road, I think the people here will kill me."

"Yes Bishop, some of the faces in the audience are beginning to look like lions."

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

The Bishop said, "Okay everyone listen up. 90% of you are already married, so you've been through this before, and you know the drill. If you are a member of the bridal party, you start at the back, you wind up in the front. If your girl you wind up on your left, if you're a boy you wind up on your right. If you are the groom, you wait by that door, until the wedding march begins. If you are the bride, you stay behind the closed doors in the back of the Cathedral, until the wedding march begins. The doors will open, and you and your father will come all the way up front to meet me. Are there any questions?"

"Hearing none, and seeing no raised hands, class dismissed."

The bishop turned on his heel and walked towards the rectory.

Zoey looked at Gordon and asked, "That's it?"

"Zoey how hard could it be? I stand by that door and walk to the middle. You stand by the big doors, wait for them to open, and walk down the aisle with your dad to meet the Bishop. I will be there too. It's not linear algebra, or computational mathematics. It's organized walking."

"Well, since you put it that way, let's go eat."

Payne and Dycke laughed at the uproar of the relatives in the church. Father Vincent/Bishop Vincent hadn't changed and all the years they've known him. He was bright, humane, and funny. If he didn't have to waste time he didn't. If he wanted information, or wanted to impart knowledge, he would sit with you for hours. This was a prime example of how he worked.

Everyone filed out of the Cathedral, talking and laughing, but Zoey stopped.

"Stay here Gordon, I'll be right back."

She threaded her way back inside looking for parents, and when she found them she pulled them to the side.

"I don't have a dress to wear. With all that's been going on, I never thought about it. What am I going to do?"

"People compared to get up early tomorrow morning. I'm going to call in a lot of favors. By 2 o'clock tomorrow afternoon you are going to have a beautiful wedding dress baby, I guarantee it. Don't worry your little head over it. Your mother and I will take care of you."

"They can make a wedding dress in one day?"

"The people I'm calling in can perform miracles. They can make a wedding dress and one day. They will start on it tonight, I will give them your measurements, and they will have the materials cut for you by the morning."

"Thank you dad."

"Go to Gordon, and don't tell them what's going on. He's not allowed to see you tomorrow anyhow."

"Okay mom, I'll see you at dinner."

"You did very well with that Dycke. I think I see a little bit of Even sneaking out of you."

"What was I supposed to do, tell her the wedding dress arrived from Paris yesterday?"

"You better have five or six tailors at the house tomorrow morning, with tracing paper and sewing machines to make you look like the magician you say you are."

"I think I'll mess up Harold's apartment again."

"Good idea, but call home now, and get the dress down there before we get there."

"Good thinking."

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

The next morning at 5 AM Zoey knocked on her parent's bedroom door.

"Come in Zoey."

Zoey set on the edge of the bed by her mother and asked, "Is it okay if I eat breakfast mom. I know what the lady in Paris said about eating before we had a fitting, but my stomach is bouncing, and I am very nervous about what's going on today."

"You are marrying the boy of your dreams Zoey. What are you nervous about?"

"I'm not nervous about getting married, I'm nervous about the wedding dress."

"Honey, your wedding dress is going to be gorgeous. I promise you it'll be like everything you saw in Paris and more. Dad called his friends in New York and Washington last night and put them on airplanes. They are already at hotels down here. They wouldn't take money from him to do this when they heard what happened. They were so excited for you, they are bringing fabrics and their own sewing machines with them. Everything is going to be fine. You are going to be the most beautiful blushing bride anyone has ever seen, since me. They called Madam Suzette in Paris, and she faxed them the design of your dress. She was ecstatic that everything worked out for you, and happier that I am recovering. Go inside and eat, but don't drink too much liquid. It wouldn't be good for your stomach anyhow."

They kissed, and Zoey retreated to the kitchen. She opened the refrigerator door, and for a moment she couldn't decide on what she wanted. Then she remembered what she made her dad when she was in Temple. She smiled, took out the eggs, bacon, and bread and began to work.

She decided to make two of them, plus a pot of coffee. She had a feeling her father was going to join her very soon.

Dycke was very stealthy. Zoey didn't hear him sit down at the table. When she turned to set the table with plates and silverware she didn't jump.

"Morning dad, I've been expecting you that's why made the coffee"

"I thought I would at least get a scream out of you."

"No, I knew if the bacon didn't get you, the coffee would."

She placed a mug of coffee in front of him, with 0% milk. She wasn't sure who he was kidding, but this was his only attempt at keeping his bad cholesterol, and triglycerides under control.

Then she placed the egg sandwich in front of him. Toast layered with eggs of every kind: over hard, over easy, scrambled, and runny. Each layer separated by two strips of bacon. She cut it in quarters again and skewered each quarter with a long toothpick.

Dycke said, "I don't know if it would have worked, but I wonder what would have happened if I sent you to culinary school when you were younger and out-of-control. You have turned into the best cook money could buy."

"I would have beaten the chef to death with a frying pan Dad. He would've been ordering me around, and you know how I love being ordered to do things."

"I remember, but just think of the aggression you would've been able to take out on heads of lettuce, cucumbers, carrots, and the meats. Those poor roast beef's, and filet mignon. The blood running all over you, don't you just feel sorry for them? They may have let you slaughter a cow."

"I couldn't cut up a buffalo dad."

"I understand that, but you were already on birth control pills. I'm talking about before you took them. Think of the pleasure you might have had with a hacksaw in your hand in the 14 inch knife."

"Would you be worried when I came home at night?"

"No you would've been away in boarding school in France. When you returned you would have had to come through so many metal detectors, your fingernail clippers which set them off."

There was a lull in conversation while they ate their breakfast. As Dycke was resting after he ate his filling meal he received a smack on the back of his head.

"What did I do wrong now Payne?"

"You made my daughter sound like a chainsaw murderer."

"I did not. It was a hypothetical discussion about a possibility of getting her aggression out on something other than us, and the rest of the civilized world."

"Hypothetical, and possibility in the same sentence. How did you graduate Magna Cum Laude?"

"Don't you remember, we bribed the principal with an athletic field?"

"You did something illegal dad?"

"I was only 18 years old, I didn't do a thing. Payne's dad did it."

"Your father gave my father $1 million to do it."

"I did nothing of the sort. I gave your father a $1 million retainer to be my lawyer. You are one of the signatories on the account, and so was your brother. Legally that makes you part of the so-called bribe."

"Now you know why I hate your father sometimes Zoey. He is so smart he can wiggle out of anything and blame it on you. He ate one of your egg sandwiches again?"

"Yes he did mom."

"I can't wait until they have to do a sextuple bypass on him."

"Ladies, I had my physical last month, and I am perfectly healthy. It is my athletic routine that will keep me that way for the next 40 years or more. Or until your mother kills me."

"You don't have to worry about me killing you Dycke. I have too much fun driving you nuts."

"Have you seen your nurses around anywhere?"

"Dr. Russell was wrong when he told you to hire young nurses. Even though they are very efficient and very kind to me, somehow they disappear with one of our agents, for 30 minutes or so, and come back blushing and sweaty. Have you noticed our agents are rotating on a more regular basis now?"

"Yes I had noticed it."

"They also don't mind being on the terrace so much either. I think they found another way of being warm out there."

"Are the nurses charging by the hour?"

"I don't think so, but we could ask if you want."

"As long as the agents are doing their duty, and the nurses are taking good care of you, they can have their fun."

"You are a very forward thinking boss dad."

"If you had the time, I would ask you to spend eight hours a day walking around on the terrace. It's boring, windy, and either very hot or cold. They are out there protecting your mother. As long as they do that properly, it's okay with me if they have some fun."

"Soon, hopefully very soon, we can let them go back to their normal duties Dycke."

"I would put an army out there to keep you safe. I'm in no rush to take them off, just in case you have a bad day."

"Dad is right mom. There is no telling how you are going to react on Christmas Day, when I leave."

"We will spend the night at a hotel, and the following morning we will get into my pink airplane, and once I get to altitude, I will turn it over, and we will fly inverted all the way back to Charleston. I don't think there's anything wrong with that, do you?"

"I would love to see a picture of dad's face when he gets off the airplane."

"You send me a postcard from wherever you are, and I'll return a postcard with a picture of your father."

"I'm not sure if I hate Even, or women more at this moment."

"It's probably womem. You would not know what to do without Even, and the problems he sends you."

"You're probably right, but once he leaves I have to deal with an 11 year old, and a 6 year-old. Holden is as eccentric as his father, and just as brilliant. Richard is the more stable one, but heaven knows his ideas are off-the-wall. How long did it take them to give you a model of a hypersonic airplane Payne?"

"I believe it took them eight minutes. It had a uniflow wing and engines on top to give it lift. They needed more time to work on the engines, but they said it would do Mach 6 and its current design. Those two kids would scare every one of your engineers to death."

"Speaking of engineers, Cloudy is doing very well. I am not doing him any favors, and I am staying away from his trainers so they don't feel any pressure from me. All I do is get reports on him, and so far they are all positive. It would seem Anna picked a good one to marry."

"Have you told Anna about this?"

"No, all of this is privileged information, and like every other trainee, he won't know if he's being kept on or let go, until his final evaluation at the end of the year. It's better to let him work his ass off, then let him think he has it made."

"Be ready to go down to the Chase's apartment at 8 AM Zoey. Everyone will be waiting for you."

"Thanks dad, I think I'll go to bed and get some sleep. I have a long day ahead of me."

"A happy day ahead of you baby, a very happy day. I can only imagine what Gordon's going through now. He's probably pacing his room like a caged lion."

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

Gordon's head hit the pillow in his room at 10:10 PM, and he was out like a light. He had not moved since. He was sleeping the sleep of the innocent, and had a wake-up call for 1 PM. He had a do not disturb sign on his door to keep housekeeping out. His tuxedo was ready, shoes were shined to a glass finish, and he was happy as a lark.

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

Zoey came running upstairs from her fitting, half naked, with papers pinned to her bra and underwear. The agent opened the door as she screamed,

"Mom it's pouring outside, what are we going to do? My new dress is going to get ruined."

Payne rushed over to comfort her daughter.

"We will wrap you in plastic bags if we have to, and cover you under umbrellas, but everything will be fine, I promise you everything will be fine."

Dycke pulled a pillow over his head. Not again. "How many times can I ask you for a miracle and expect to get it. Hello Lord, it's me again, but I'm not asking for my bride this time, but for my daughter. She's led a troubled life, and has just come into her own. If you could just as make it stop raining from 2:50 p.m. until 10 minutes after four I would truly appreciate it. Oh, and if it's not too much trouble, could you keep an eye on her while she's traveling around in space. Her mother and I really worried about that part. Thanks for listening"

He crawled out of bed and went to join his girls. He said to them, "I have it on good authority that the rain is supposed to stop before 3 o'clock."

"We just watched the news, and they said it's supposed to rain all day."

"I have my sources and they said it's going to stop raining early this afternoon. Are you going to believe some recent college graduate who looks at a blue screen, and points at Wisconsin when he supposed to point at Delaware, or are you going to believe me?"

"You better be telling me the truth daddy, or I will never forgive you."

"Never is a very long time, so choose your words wisely. Go downstairs and finish getting your dress made."

Zoey ran back to the Chase apartment to continue the work they were doing for her.

"Who did you speak to Dycke, or are you lying through your teeth again?"

"26 years ago a young girl called me in the morning panicky, because it was raining outside. I told her that it was going to stop raining at 2 o'clock and when she left for the church her shoes wouldn't get wet. Do you remember who that young girl was Payne?"

"Yes, it was me."

"Did I lie through my teeth that day?"

"No you didn't, everything you said came true."

"Why are you calling me a liar now?"

"Because there's no phone in the bedroom."

"I used my cell phone."

"It's on the counter charging."

"Not that one my alternate one."

"What is the number of your alternate cell phone, I believe I should have it in case of an emergency."

"It's 78599899781."

"That's one too many numbers Dycke."

"The 1 at the end is the extension."

"When are you going to stop lying to me?"

"When I can't think up another lie to tell you."

"Let's start all over again Dycke. What's going on?"

"26 years ago a young girl called me in the morning hysterical because it was raining outside. I didn't know what to do so I prayed, and asked God to make it stop raining so you would have a wonderful day for your wedding. I told him I didn't care about me, I just didn't want to go to my death knowing I had told a lie before I died."

"You did that for me?"

"You know I would do anything for you, anything at all."

"Sometimes I am so grateful for what I have, and something I nearly threw away."

"You could never throw me away, because I simply won't go."

"I love you Dycke."

"I'm sorry I didn't hear that. Did you say I love you Dycke, or I love your dick."

"You bastard, I'm going to kill you."

She chased him around the kitchen table and into their bedroom. He slipped behind her, closed and locked the door, and cornered her.

"I haven't taken my medicine yet."

"I believe you're going to be taking it a little bit late this morning."

"I'm supposed to take it at the same time every day."

"I'm sure one day will make a difference."

She tried to cross the bed and flee the room before he could catch her, but he was much too fast, and much too strong.

He kissed her and asked, "If you are not ready, I won't force you."

"I've been waiting for you. Shall we stop talking, and move on?"

"Do you want to do it Zoey's room, and hope she catches us?"

"No our bedroom is good enough for me, let's play, it's been a long time."

He removed her night clothes and lay her down on the bed. He was kissing her calves, and moving up towards her thighs when there was a knock on the bedroom door.

"Mrs. Schneider, it's time for your medication."

"It figures, I let them screw around all they want, and when I want to screw around they interrupt me."

He opened the bedroom door, accepted the tray with the pills and a cup of water, and closed it behind him.

Payne was sitting at the edge of the bed, with her robe on. She took the cup with the pills in it, let them slide into her mouth, and drank the water to help them on their way to her stomach.

She looked at Dycke and shook her head. "Sorry, I'm not in the mood anymore."

Obediently, Dycke turned and began to walk away.

Payne threw off her robe, and tackled him as he took his second step.

"Now I have you where I want you."

"All you had to do was ask."

She unbuttoned his shirt, pulled out his belt, threw off his shoes and socks and removed his slacks.