Evan

Evan The Ninth Chapter By RettaMichaels

Disclaimer

The Usual Disclaimer applies...if you are below the age of 18, and/or can't read this story due to laws prohibiting such, please leave. Your presence here jeopardizes those of us who can and do read these for enjoyment.

Notes from retta:

Many of you wrote to tell me how much you enjoyed the story's beginning chapter. I appreciate those emails.

As you know, a lot of these stories were started many months ago. It wasn't my intention to finish "Evan" then due to being contacted by an attorney for a "Said" star supposedly depicted in the story and the star's "Said" son.

At that time, I chose to honor the request because I was a bit taken out of the water as I'd unintentionally wrote a story which harmed someone. Since then, I've had a change of heart. For me to be censored because of what I "Might" write and be asked to stop is pure bull. Instead, I'm not mentioning any names and I'm falling on the Disclaimer at the bottom which states All characters in this story are fictional.

Let the story roll. Evan

Chapter Nine

The gate buzzer rang and I saw it was Officer Evans. I buzzed him in and then, shortly afterward I heard another buzz. I looked and saw it was Stuart. I buzzed him in and then went out onto the rear turn.

Layne parked in the garage as I'd instructed. Stuart pulled on around the circular drive and parked.

"Hi Stuart, I need to get Layne, they're up in Sam's suite."

"Ok, I have the list for you."

"Go ahead and put it upon the table. We'll be in shortly."

I went over and saw Layne coming towards me. He'd changed into civilian clothes. His physique was amazing.

"Damn, you're built!"

He smiled , "I work out a lot."

"Do you use steroids or is this natural?"

"Natural and a good diet."

"Man, I need to take some pointers. You're huge!"

He nodded and we went in. "Everyone's upstairs right now. They're up, so what I'll do is give you a tour and then, we'll have you meet everyone."

I gave the tour and then, went into the kitchen. I knocked on Sarah's door and she answered it. She hugged me and I said, "This is Layne Evans. He's our guard for inside the house."

"Hi Layne."

She asked, "Can I speak with you later?"

"Sure."

"I need to give him the tour and get everyone introduced. Do we have someplace for him to sleep?"

"I imagine we could put him in Bran and D's suite. No one's using it."

"I'll ask. I don't want anyone upset."

She nodded and he and I went on into the living room. "Here is the living room. Over there is offices which were for Bran and D. No one's going in there now."

We went upstairs and I went into Ev's suite. This is Ev and I's suite. Blane sleeps here. He's my chauffeur."

"Ok, I'm glad you're giving me the lay out of the place."

"The reason I brought you in here is Sarah called my Dad. He might know where we're located if she didn't block her number."

"Why'd she call?"

"Fear. She figured if she confronted him before he caused anymore problems she'd be one ahead."

"Bad move."

"I know. I didn't orchestrate it, but now it's done. I figured I'd give you the update."

"Is that why I got a chilly response from her?"

"Let's just say she's more Mama to Ev and Sam than anyone knows. She's raised them and when she felt they were threatened, she did some threatening too."

"Nothing bad, I hope."

"Well, let me say this. I've learned some things about my Dad tonight which made me lose my dinner. She learned them too and it's not nice. She feels everyone's threatened and when she called, there were threats made by him too. She threatened his life and I imagine she means every word of it."

"As long as he comes out here. It's premeditated if she goes there."

"I'm taking her to Italy with us. If he comes out here, I'm not telling you what to do, but my advice is if he makes it this far, shoot first and ask questions later."

"I can't do that unless I see he has a pistol drawn."

"By then, you'll probably have to duck out of the way. I did."

"We need to have a course of action in case anything happens. Are there safe rooms in the house?"

"I don't know. We'll get everyone together and see."

"I'd like to speak with her myself."

"Don't. It'll embarrass her."

"No, I want her to know I'm here and I'll do what's needed. I understand fear makes emotions raw, but I can't be shot in the back if I need to make a shot."

"Ok, but don't disarm her. He's good and if you go down, then she might need to take that shot."

"You sound like you don't put anything past him."

"No. No, I don't. If truth be known, I figure I'll sacrifice myself rather than have anyone else get hurt. He's after me and if he gets here, those guys out front and that gate's not going to stop him. You can call all the reinforcements you want in, but by then you better be calling a coroner because I know he's got enough weaponry to make things bad."

"Why didn't he use it on you?"

"I don't think he intended upon killing me. After I fought back, I think his attitude changed. Now, he knows I know all the incriminating evidence on him and he considers me really dangerous."

"What's the evidence?"

"He's a serial rapist. He raped my aunt while living at home with her when they were little. He raped my Mom. My Grandpa, her Dad, basically made them have a shotgun wedding and then, he got revenge by making my Mom's life hell until the day she died. When she died, I caught the brunt of it until I left and now, he's back in form."

"Do you know any self defense?"

"I know how to street fight...that's it. I also know how to fight while on the run. I've done it with him before and broke his wrist and crowned him with a skillet. I got out, but even then he was able to get in his truck and ram my car. I rammed back and made a getaway."

"Ok, so it's really bad."

"Yes."

"Let me make some calls. If we start having more patrols, we'll be better off. Do you have any photos of him?"

"None. Life's better without a reminder I was born to him."

"Ok, what I'll do is have them pull up a driver's license photo of him. If there are any photos of him on the web, I'll get those distributed to our officers. I realize we've got people out front, so what I'll do is get our guys to start patrolling on foot in case he tries blending in."

I said, "We just made funeral preparations tonight. It's going to be at the ball park. The mayor said he'd have police officers there doing the security. We're also having a huge motorcade going to Forest Lawn, so I think you should know it's going to be a mess."

"Is this going to be broadcast publicly?"

"Yes. We wanted all her fans to be able to attend the funeral."

"Bad move."

"With the number of notables, if we'd had it at the funeral home, someone would have been excluded. Rather than upsetting anyone, we went this route."

"Ok, someone still in the music industry?"

"Sam, their daughter and Ev's sister is beginning a career. It could be disastrous to her if someone's upset."

"I'm understanding better. We need to hire some people."

"Ok, make sure they can carry and use. They're nothing more than ducks in the shooting gallery if he gets to popping his arsenal."

"What does he have?"

"The best way for you to know is to ask the question of what he doesn't have. One way would be to get his licensed ones from South Carolina and you'd have a better idea. He's got a lot of unlicensed stuff too like Ak-47's, a tech 9, tommy guns, and even an antique Gatling gun. I do know there's a bazooka from Vietnam."

"Man!"

"It's all about the macho personality. He's a nut who likes his power trips and is getting up in age where he needs to go lay down."

"I'm surprised you didn't turn out like him."

"I had good influences. None of them were him."

"You do realize when you speak of him your face turns to stone. That's a sign of post traumatic stress."

"Probably. Maybe when it's over I can get help. Until then, there's no use in wasting moments when I'm still alive."

"Ok, we need to know the basement level here. If he's going to come here with a bazooka, these upper floors aren't where we need to be."

"It's down the stairs from the kitchen. I'll show you."

"Any livable space down there?"

"Nah, mostly old furniture and stuff from years of D being afraid to waste anything."

"How'd they get it in?"

"That end of the house has a patio and walk in sliding set."

"Oh, not safe."

"It's alarmed out the wazoo. We had to silence the alarms because of the guys walking on the grass putting flowers out."

"The alarms up now?"

"Yeah. Inner perimeter is. Outer is under all those people out there. If they stayed on the sidewalk, it'd be fine, but they're leaning up against the wall and walking all over pressure sensors."

"Oh. Well, keep the inner up."

"If you can, you might see if there's a way we can be forewarned if he gets on a flight."

"That'd be a problem. It's his right to go where he pleases."

"Ok, is it within my right to have who I want following him?"

"As long as it's not within restricted space it is."

"Good. Watch this."

I picked up the phone and dialed Trent.

"Hello?"

"This is Den. Until further notice, get every available man to my Dad's house in South Carolina. IF they're arrested, make sure another fills his place until we get them bailed out."

"What's going on?"

"He's making threats and Sarah called him. I'm not sure if she blocked her number from him finding out where she is. If he saw it on caller id, he'll be headed here. I want to know when he moves and where."

"Every available man?"

"I've got a little over a hundred million left. Let me know when I get close to spending it and I'll leverage everything I have. If need be, make sure he sees a man on every corner where he drives. I want him to thinking he's going nuts."

"Ok, it'll be done. We'll need to rent cars. I'll get us any flight out there."

"IF he's not there, get back here because you criss-crossed."

"Ok, you need some men there?"

"I have an off duty police officer. Sarah's here and she's armed."

"Ok, we're heading out. I'll put on our message machine for the landscaping company we'll contact them to reschedule due to a death in the family."

"Ok. Bill it to me."

"Will do."

I hung up , "We've got about two hundred guys going out."

He smiled, "They'll be arrested if what you said it is, is true."

"It is. I want them arrested one by one. The town Marshall only has one car. He'll have to haul them there because the town doesn't have a contract to haul with the Sheriff's department."

"Oh, that sounds good."

"Now, what we do is we'll wait and see. If he repeatedly calls her like he did Blane, we'll know he'd got her number."

"If he calls, I'll make a report."

"Let's go down and see if he's calling. As soon as he does, we'll make the report. Can I do that with Blane?"

"Yeah."

"Ok, one moment."

I knocked on Blane's door. He came and answered it. "Yeah Den?"

"Would you make a report against my Dad calling you?"

"I don't want to get involved."

"Ok" I stepped back , "Go on back to New York, I'll get someone else here to drive me."

"Den, don't be that way."

"Blane, your family didn't do a fucking thing to lift a finger when I was getting beaten. You showed your colors, now I'll keep you on, but you won't be in this house or work for me in any manner other than driving that car in New York. I'll be calling to get you a flight out as soon as possible."

"Who do I contact?"

"He's here. All you had to do was act. I'm going down now to see if Sarah is getting calls. If she is and if she has anything happen to her, I'll hold you responsible for giving her that number."

Layne said, "Den, that's a bit rough."

"He WAS family. Now, he's an employee. If my Dad calls him on work time, I'll count it as a personal call. We know whose side he's working on."

I turned and went out the door. Half way down the steps, Blane called to me. "Dammit Den, I'm doing it."

"Blane, right now, I don't care if you did or not. Sarah told me the story about your Mom. Would you calmly sit by when he did anything to her?"

"You're a son of a bitch, you know that?"

"Wrong, I'm the son of a asshole. My Mom was a nice woman. I'll get you your flight out. You're fired. And if you contact my Dad to assist in any manner more than you have, I'll see you restfully rot in a cell. You got me?"

"On what?"

"Accessory to commit whatever crime he's commits."

"How!"

"You don't think I don't know how the fuck he knew to call Marty? I take that personally you traitor."

"All right, I admit it."

"You handed me over to him. Now, go to the end of the drive and get the fuck out of here."

I went and knocked on Sarah's door.

"Yes."

"We know who is the enemy within, Blane's packing."

"What!"

"He admits he's the one who contacted my Dad to tell him to call Marty."

"Why?"

"Apparently, he likes to stand by my Dad. He's been fired and is now packing."

"Oh Den!"

"Yeah, a traitor within. I hope my Dad pays well."

"I'll get my pistol and train it on him until he's off the property."

She went and got it and then walked past me. At the top of the steps, Layne met her. "Don't bring that in here."

"You're a cop, right?"

"I'm off duty."

"Then I shall call and have him removed. Until he's out of this house, I'm protecting my family."

"Ma'am, he's not going to do anything."

"Then tell him to put down that pistol because I'm going to blow his head off in three seconds."

Layne spun around as a shot reverberated. A split second later, Blane's head exploded.

I pulled out my phone and dialed 911. "Hello, we need an ambulance. We have an off duty officer shot and his shooter dead."

I handed the phone to Layne , "You tell them the story. You give too many fucking chances. Be thankful she killed him."

From behind us, we heard a scream. Ev came running and I said, "Guys, get back in that room. Ran, what in the fuck did you let them out here for?"

"I couldn't stop them!"

"Dude, get them back."

"You ok?"

"I'm fine. Sarah's fine."

"Ok"

I patted Sarah on the back , "Go down and sit down. I'm calling Marty."

"Ok"

I pulled out my phone and dialed Marty.

"Yeah"

"We need you at the house."

"Why?"

"Sarah just killed Blane."

"What!"

"You heard me. He was working for my Dad. He shot our off duty officer and Sarah killed him."

"I'm on my way."

I went to Layne , "You ok?"

"It's a flesh wound. Internal affairs will have my ass for this."

"You didn't shoot him."

"No, and thank God she did!"

"I tried warning you!"

"I know. One thing we do have now is reason to arrest your Dad. Conspiracy out here, carries just as much as the actual charge."

He snapped my cell phone shut , "Didn't you hear him say your Dad paid him to kill you?"

"Oh, yeah."

He smiled , "It should inconvenience him for a while."

"I bet he takes flight out here just as soon as he can."

"He'll land and be arrested."

"I need to go speak with Sarah. Are you fine?"

"Damn, you needle me too much."

"Man, you just took a bullet."

"Yeah and it's a flesh wound. It went into that wall over there. She'll get a medal for this."

"Let me make sure she heard the same thing."

He smiled , "Good looking out."

I went downstairs and into the living room. I sat next to Sarah and she had the pistol in her hands staring at it. "It all happened so quick."

"Sarah, Layne is covering for us. He wants you to be sure you say you heard Blane say he was paid by my Dad to kill me."

"When?"

"When I accused him of setting me up."

"Oh, ok. I'm sorry Den."

"Hey, Layne's fine because of you. If you'd not did it, it would have been a world worse."

"I'll go to jail."

"Layne's making sure it doesn't happen. You're a hero. You'll get a medal for it if you stick to that story."

"It's a lie."

"Blane WAS working for my Dad. A small lie isn't going to hurt him none. It will get my Dad on conspiracy and that's all we needed."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"What do I do with the gun?"

"Let's put it in on the counter and get up with Layne."

"Ok, tell Ev to come down and buzz them in."

I went up and was followed by Sarah. At the top of the steps, I went to the door, "Ev, we need you."

Ev came out and I said, "We need you to buzz in the police and ambulance."

"Ok, what happened?"

"I'll tell you in a moment."

"Ok"

He went down and I went over to Ev's apartment. The door was shut, so I went in. Layne said, "Recount the whole story, but where you accused him of being in collusion with your Dad, he said he admits it and your Dad paid him. Then, tell them everything up to me getting shot. Be sure you tell them you tried to warn me."

"Layne, if anything happens over this, you've got a job with me the rest of your life."

He smiled , "I could need it."

I opened the door and then said, "This is going to make national headlines real fast."

"Let them. What we need is Blane's cell phone because I want it with me."

"Ok, it's in on his charger. I saw the red light."

I stepped over Blane's body and went in to get the cell phone. I took it to Layne , "You dropped it after you were shot. I picked it up."

He smiled , "You really need to be careful. We have no proof your Dad is in South Carolina. With a cell phone, he could be anywhere and the calls will come from that number."

"Ok, what do we do if we find him gone?"

"The Police here will protect you."

"I'm calling Trent to tell him we need our guys here. This is getting insane."

"Tell him not to send them yet. Anyone inside those gates is a suspect until I tell them otherwise."

"Ok"

His breathing was labored. "Help me up."

"You sure?"

"It's my arm, not my leg!"

"Yeah, but it could be bad."

"If worse comes to worse, we'll put on a tourniquet. I don't want them seeing me laying down."

"Why not?"

"Butch guys don't fall down."

"Butch?"

"Yeah, I'm in the closet."

"Oh, Ok. Don't worry, I'm not saying anything."

He smiled , "I know you won't."

I helped him up and together, we went down the steps. Ev said, "Police car at the gate!

Layne said, "Pretty fucking slow response time. He could have had us all killed."

The squad car rolled up and then, Ev said, "Marty at the gate."

"Let him in."

"Who's Marty?"

"Our lawyer."

"Ok, he nearly beat them here!"

So help me, I wanted to say "He lives in Anaheim" but didn't. Instead I told the truth. "He lives four blocks over."

The cop came in and as soon as he saw Layne, he got on his radio, "Officer down!"

Layne said, "Dammit, you'll have everyone here."

"You're shot!"

"Yeah, and the perp is dead thanks to the woman in there." he said with a head nod.

"What happened?"

"You filling out the report?"

"I'm the first on scene."

"With that call, you'll have Supervisors here. They'll take it."

"Oh."

"No problem, you probably got me out of the department."

"Oh man. Sorry."

"You did your job. I was trying to get to you before you did it."

Marty came in, "You alright?"

"I'm fine. Blane turned into an idiot."

The officer said, "Who's Blane?"

Layne said, "The dead guy."

Marty looked surprised , "Who shot him?"

Both Layne and I said "Sarah" at the same time.

Sarah came into the room, "You called?"

Marty said, "Sarah, I'll come sit with you. IS she going to be charged?"

Layne said, "No, she saved my life."

The officer said, "What happened?"

"Mr Johns here is a billionaire. His father has a history of attempting to either kill him or have him killed. He paid the guy upstairs to do it as he already had a position working for Mr Johns. Mr Johns found it suspicious he hadn't been out here long when his father started calling the company he is working. The attorney in there can verify that part of the story and their phone records can prove it.

Well, we were walking through the house taking the tour of me beginning to work when Mr Johns asked to speak to Blane. Blane came out and words were exchanged. Mr Johns told Blane to go back to New York as his services as a chauffeur here wouldn't be needed any longer. Blane kept speaking and Mr Johns told him his suspicions of Blane being the one who was giving information to his Dad. Blane admitted it and then said he was paid by the father to kill Mr Johns.

The next thing I heard was Mr Johns talking to me calmly telling me Blane had a gun pointed at my back. Sarah was there with her pistol to see Blane out of the house without incident. She told him if he shot me, he'd be dead. He shot, I got this, and she shot one shot which killed him."

"Where'd she shoot?"

"Clean head shot to the forehead."

"Oh man."

"Yeah, so get the coroner ordered and lets get this cleaned up without these people having too bad of a night."

Ev said, "Ambulance and police cars at the gate."

Layne said, "Let them in."

The officer pointed at Ev, "Where does he fit into this?"

"Doesn't. Him and others were upstairs in another suite of rooms. Only Sarah, Mr Johns, myself, and the perp were involved."

"Ok, less paperwork. They can all say they heard the shot and that's it"

The ambulance arrived and I said, "We need someone with some authority to speak with the press."

Layne nodded , "We can do it tomorrow morning, or your attorney can do it real fast. IF you think it'd help your singer's career, get him down there."

"Ok"

I went in, "Marty, we need you to go speak with the press."

"Ok, I'll be back."

"Thanks."

Marty went out the door and several officers came in. One asked Layne, "Scene secure?"

"Yeah"

Sarah came in still carrying the pistol. Several officers drew on her and I said, "Guys, hold up!" I said, "Sarah, put the gun on the table nice and slow."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot I had it in my hand."

Layne said, "Guys, based upon your response time, you draw too fucking fast."

The first officer said, "How bad was it?"

"Ten minutes at least. That man could have had us all killed."

"Oh damn."

Layne said, "His pistol is still in his hand up there. It should be the only unsecured weapon in here."

A man in a suit came in and demanded to know what Layne was doing here. Layne told the story again and the man started sputtering , "Oh, I'm sorry Mr Johns."

"No problem."

"You won't have to testify or anything. We'll get this taken care of real quiet."

"I don't want it quiet. I want my Dad arrested out there for accessory."

"Oh ok, we'll get that done. You'll probably have to give us a statement and then we'll get the warrant signed."

Layne said, "He gave me a statement and I reported to Ed Johnson over there."

Johnson said, "He agreed that's what happened."

The supervisor held out his hand again , "Bill Webster. I'll take over this investigation. Would you come up with me and walk me through the incident?"

"Sure."

We got to the steps and I said, "I'll show you everything that happened exactly as I did it."

"You did it?"

"Hold on a moment, I need to get my attorney in here. He'll contact the Mayor and this way we'll be assured I get to be at that funeral on Saturday."

"Who's funeral?"

"D and Brandon Gordon's."

"Oh damn."

"Now, I gave Layne a tour. That's what I did. Do you want to accuse me again? If so, Officer Evans is worried the wrong person is going to be off the force."

Superintendent Webster held up his hands , "Ok, I mistook something."

"I thought so. There's nothing overt here except my Dad is trying to get me killed. Now, you want to go after someone, I'll pay the fucking airfare so you get him arrested. Got me?"

"He'll be brought in just as fast as possible."

"Get him in the morning while he's still sober. He'll be drunk by noon. He's sporting police credentials which aren't credible any longer, so you need to tell them that."

"He was law enforcement?"

"Kicked off the force for being corrupt. As I said, I was giving Layne the tour of the house to be our personal security because my Dad suddenly started calling my attorney making threatening phone calls. He started calling right after Blane was called in to drive the limo."

"OK, what sort of threatening phone calls?"

"Threats to kill me and have me killed."

"Oh, did you report it?"

"To my attorney here, to Officer Evans this afternoon and to you guys. No one really took me serious because they didn't think he was a threat that far away. Now I hope you guys do."

"Oh we do. We'll have a lot more patrols in this area."

"Sir, if you excuse me, I'd like to tell you I've been told that too much. Do you realize you're going to have patrols in this area and it took ten minutes to respond when I told your dispatcher an officer was shot?"

"Oh Jesus."

"Yeah, so you telling me anything like that is having me tell you I'll believe it when I see it."

"Is that why the lady had a pistol?"

"Yeah. She wanted to know he was going to be removed from this house safely. She came up with her pistol and thank God she did."

"Ok, what happened?"

"We came in and I was giving Layne the tour. I told him about the calls and expressing concern because Blane said my Dad was calling him a lot."

"Does your Dad normally call him?"

"I don't know. I really think it was a cover in case I saw my Dad's number on his phone."

"That makes sense."

"Well, we were talking and Layne told me we'd have to get complaints in order to file a report. I told him Blane was getting calls and knocked on Blane's door. I asked him if he'd make a report and he suddenly said he didn't want involved. To me, that's a red flag. He's getting calls and bitching about it and telling everyone what a monster my Dad is and suddenly he doesn't want to make a report. I heard that, and told Blane he could go back to New York and still keep his job as driver there, but I didn't want him around me. He got upset and called me a son of a bitch. I politely told him I was a son of an asshole, but my Mom was nice.

Then it dawned on me he probably was working for my Dad. I tell him my suspicions and he says, "Alright, I admit it. I'm working for him and he paid me to kill you."

Me hearing that, I suddenly turned around. Maybe it was the tone of his voice, but when I did, Layne was already standing about here and Blane as you can see was standing there. I was over here and see Blane with a pistol.

Sarah saw it and I told Layne that Blane had a pistol. That was when Sarah told Blane if he shot she'd kill him. A shot happened, Layne fell and Sarah shot too. Blane went down and that's when I saw Layne had dropped Blane's phone."

"Why did Layne have Blane's phone?"

"In the conversation, Layne wanted to see the call log to see how many times my Dad had called him."

"Oh, ok, so Blane let him have it?"

"Yeah, that was before the angry words were said."

"So what happened then?"

"I pull out my cell phone and everyone from over there started to come out and I told them to go back in and reported it to 911."

"Ok, then what'd you do?"

"Told Sarah to go downstairs and sit."

"Why?"

"She was holding the pistol like this and I didn't want anything more to happen."

"She fine now?"

"Yeah. I mean it's been a half an hour and she's had a conversation with Layne who assured her she's a hero and not a killer."

"Ok, so she'll corroborate this story?"

"It's not a story. IT'S the truth."

He flinched and I said, "Let me call the Mayor. Apparently you're here to try to make yourself look good by getting something here which isn't. It bugs me because my traitor is now laying there and I'm safe..."

"You call him a traitor."

"Hell yeah I did! Wouldn't you?"

"I'm asking the questions here."

"Ok, why don't I go ahead and let you ask the Mayor."

I pulled out my phone and Webster said, "That won't be necessary. I believe you."

"I hope so because the next time, I'm going to ask for your job. You speak like a forked tongue snake. You SAY you believe me and you SAY you'll patrol, but low and behold, if Layne wasn't here, we'd probably either all be dead or still waiting for a cop to show. We all know you guys roll damned fast when it's one of your own, but even one of your own was pissed about that respond time."

"I'm not happy about that either."

"Now, my attorney is down there doing damage control trying to make you guys look like heros...especially Layne. SO, if you push him off the force, I'll tell you now I'll hire him gladly and put him on my payroll at a half a million a year. He'll smile because he can sit at my office tower and find the hardest part of his work day is going to be deciding if he wants to take a golf cart to his car to go home or if he'd like to walk."

"What is it you do exactly Mr Johns?"

"I'm co-owner of Dollar America with Evan Gordon. It's not official, but it's Willed that way. I'm owner of DJI which is an import/export firm and I'm co owner of Brand stores and TL Hobbs."

"Nice stores."

"Just bought them today. I also bought Brand today."

"I bet that set you back a pretty penny."

"About six hundred million, but I paid cash."

"What is it you said you do again!"

"Import and export. If you like the Hobbs stores clothing, I imported them. The other items I import are so numerous you probably have a ton of them in your house."

"Really?"

"Yeah, a lot of what goes into lower brand stores comes through me...especially if it's a Gillette or Proctor and Gamble product. If it's a plastic figurine, I can guarantee you it came through me."

"Lot of money in it?"

"Homes all over the place and the number 107 slot on the Forbes 500."

"Damn."

"I'll go up next year with these purchases. I'll probably be with Ev tied as we're co owners now."

"You get good deals on the ones you bought?"

"Brand was amazingly good. I paid four fifty and got sixteen billion worth of company. With Hobbs, I traded an apartment for the company."

He smiled , "Hearing shit like that makes me sick. Why'd they sell so cheap?"

"The guy who owned Brand was worn out on it. He got a loan from the mafia and still had thirty four left to pay on it. They were squeezing his nuts and he wanted out."

"You worried about them?"

"Nah, if they think they'll wedge in, I'll shut the place and scuttle it. The only reason I bought it was because of the distribution network."

"Oh. You're keeping it open, aren't you?"

"Yeah, if they stay away, I will."

"Hobbs is nice. I've been up by their headquarters and it's real nice. The stores are some of the nicest I've been in."

"People love them."

"You import their clothes?"

"Yeah, I helped them get their start. We're friends and they like my apartment in Hong Kong, so as a favor, we're trading."

"The apartment nice?"

"So-so, it's valued at a lot, but I didn't pay much. I'd rather sleep at the headquarters."

He smiled , "You seem pretty normal."

"Yeah, I earned my money."

"Your Dad's a lawman?"

"He was, as I said, he got removed from his position"

"How'd that happen?"

"Ok, I'll give you an abbreviated life history. Ok?"

"Sure, you're the one talking."

"Born. At seven, Mom died of cancer and Dad took up the beatings with me filling in her place. His alcohol consumption steadily grew worse and the beatings did too. At fifteen, the worst beating happened and my friend carried me out nearly dead. I got removed from the home and placed by foster care with my Grandma. She raised me until I got graduated and then she died. I inherited her place and Dad really resented it. That's when the harassment really began and I had to start sneaking into town to go to my house and sneak back out.

Business got better and then, 9/11 happened. I was in New York and was scheduled to be on one of the planes. I missed the flight, but my Dad assumed I was dead and contacted my banker. Together, they drained several hundred million from my account.

I got home and tried to get them to put it back. They refused,. I sued in federal court and the judge hearing the corruption involved petitioned to have my Dad removed from office, awarded me what I sued to get, and I got it."

"Ok, so there's corruption there?"

"My Dad has been a bully all his life. He went to Vietnam. When he came back, he got elected town marshal as a war hero and then began to rape women. If you notice, that's plural and there's a lot of them out there."

"How do you know this?"

"He's admitted it to me and I have a sister out there somewhere from one he raped who was a part of a Motown tour. She wrote out a report to Motown and then overdosed of heroin."

"Damn."

"Yeah, supposedly, my aunt (his own sister) was raped by him before he even left home, so it's a long standing fetish for him."

"You confronted him about this?"

"I've been deliberately provoking him to try to get him to come out and play where I could get police involvement."

"Is that what you did tonight?"

"No, it was a fluke I found out Blane was involved. If you ask me, I still think my Dad is the major threat."

"We're going to park someone down there and get those people removed."

"No you're not. You can park a car down there, but those people are fans and they're not doing anything except paying respects to D and Brandon."

"Where do you fit in with them?"

"Their son and I are lovers."

The look on his face immediately told me he didn't approve.

"Excuse me, I'll make that call now. I see justice has the same face as back home."

"Hold up, I didn't say a thing,"

"Sir, the face you made tells me your opinion. I don't rightly give a fuck whether you approve or not. If it affects your actions, I'll get someone in here who WILL affect your actions outside of this force. If you don't believe me, ask me not to speak to Bloomberg, or any press because I'd love to slap a suit on your ass over that. The Mayor has assured me we'd get excellent treatment from your city. If I can't find it with you, I'll certainly find satisfaction with him, or he'll have major press up his ass until I do."

"Hey, my personal opinion doesn't interfere. I don't approve, but it's your life."

"Yeah, now trump up a charge and I'll bail on it and then come down. I'll back off when you assure me it's not happening. I'll believe you about as much as I do those patrols you guys promised."

"Nothing's amiss with me. Continue where you were going with this."

"You asked a question. I answered. You made the face and I decided enough was enough. You've downright accused me of bullshit. You've out and out tried to incriminate me with bullshit. Now, I see the bullshit is coming from the source which is you. Now, I can either be assured you're empty now or I'll ask the Mayor to take his prize winning bull the fuck away and get me cleaned off."

He stood and stared at me. "I hate people with money."

"Because we insist our rights are carried. We have the money to lawyer up and make life hard for those who want to harass us. We have the balls enough to call a spade a spade and you don't like it. Well, I don't like it either, but I'm not about to hand over that much money and lay down for you or anyone else."

"Ok, let's back off."

Marty came around the corner. "The press is aware and damage is contained."

"Marty here is my lawyer. I think he arrived just in time."

"There's no need for him."

I turned , "Marty, the next time I get an inkling this man is about to piss me off, I'm going to call the Mayor and get him down on this guy. So far, he's attempted to use my words against me and has asked questions which I answered. Then, he wants to jump to conclusions and insinuate I'm somehow responsible for this. Lastly, he apparently doesn't like gays and wants to make faces and say he's not saying anything. If a trumped up charge comes from him, I want you to start screaming to the press down there, file suits on my rights being violated. Then, go after this man's life's work, possessions, and property in so many liens and suits, he really knows he had a bad day."

"Ok." he turned to Webster , "Unless you have charges, I'd say your conversation with my client is terminated. You can speak to Sarah if I'm present, but I'll tell you now it'll be with internal affairs reviewing the report I file too. That report will be several complaints compiled into one asking for removal."

Webster sighed , "I see I'm not getting answers."

"I'm calling the Mayor." I said

I dialed and the Mayor's voice answered. "Hello, Den Johns here. I need you to come to the Gordon estate."

"What's going on?"

"My limo driver shot a police officer and my maid killed him. The police officer has given his report and his commanding officer has personally taken my statement and harassed me to the point I'm now going to sue your fine city. You gave me your word sir, and I see you meant to keep it, but this asshole was given answers and since I'm not confessing to anything, he's not happy."

"Who is it?"

"Webster. He's some sort of Superintendent."

"Let me speak with the man."

I held out the phone. Webster snatched it and spoke. "Yeah....uh, oh, sorry sir. Yes, I'll finalize my report and have it on the Commander's desk. Yes sir, our duty is done here. Yes sir, I'll apologize sir."

He handed me back the phone and I said, "Ok, I'm back."

"If that man doesn't apologize and make it believable, have your attorney file a complaint with me in the morning. I assure you he'll wish he'd not gotten me out of bed."

"Sorry."

"No, you did what you needed to do. It's people like you who move away because of people like him. Please don't think for a moment I support him on his actions."

"Ok, can you do one other thing before I get off here?"

"Sure."

"They promised increased patrols. An officer got shot here tonight and it took ten minutes to get the first car here. If that's increased patrols, I'll hire my own and get this city patrolled correctly."

"You'll get them. I wasn't aware that was a problem."

"Either it's not and we got lied to, or it is and the rest of the city goes without. I don't want the city going without, but I want more presence here. I DON'T want any of those fans on vigil down there harassed. They're peaceful and not bothering anyone."

"Ok, I'll get it done."

"Thank you sir, I'll support you with all I have in the next election."

"Thank you. I appreciate it."

I hung up , "Now, that call is made."

Webster put his hand out to shake mine and I stared at it. "I believe you were going to apologize. He didn't tell you to shake my hand."

"I want you to know we're going to clean up and get out of here."

"You going to get my Dad arrested on conspiracy to commit murder charges?"

"As soon as I can get back to headquarters, that warrant will be issued."

"Do you guys serve it?"

"No. They bring him in there, but unless he's out here, we won't be able to extradite him."

I nodded , "I figured as such. A bunch of fucking harassment for nothing. I GUESS I'll have to increase the bait to the point his dumb ass hops a plane and comes out here. I can only HOPE you guys aren't patrolling here so much you miss the flight when it arrives. Maybe with a call to the Mayor, I can get someone to do their job again."

He turned and started to walk out the door. Marty said, "How do you spell your entire name? I need to get it for the complaint I'll be filing. You didn't apologize to my client, nor did you make it believable."

"Fuck it." he said, and walked out.

Marty shrugged and a smile spread on his face. "The man's job is history."

"Ok"

Marty pulled out his own phone and dialed. "Yeah, Martinez here. He never apologized and when reminded, he said "Fuck it" and left."

Marty paused and then said, "It'll be on your desk when you arrive. Have a nice evening."

He got off the phone , "While I've got you alone, I found that file."

"It shredded?"

"Shredded and took home with me and burned in my fireplace."

"Ok. Now, think of a way we can legally get my Dad here so we can get him arrested."

"Ok, let me call and use some enticement."

"Sure."

He pulled out his phone, "I should get him out of bed."

"Hello?"

"Yes, this is Mr Johns attorney. I have a check here in the amount of one million dollars if you'll quit your harassment of him. Ten million? One moment."

He paused , "Ok, he'll pay it, but he wants you to come get it. He'll pay for the flight, but he want assured you actually received the check directly from me. Yes, I'm aware there's no blackmail or coercion on your part. Yes, if you go to the airport in Charleston, I should have a flight connecting so you're here first thing in the morning. I'll meet you at the airport personally." He paused and listened. "Sir, I assure you Mr Johns will pay the money, but I highly doubt he will sign any deeds over to you. How about I counter and offer to buy your home from you by Mr Johns and make it a location where you're out of that area." He paused , "Sir, you should note this payment is for harassment to cease from any law agency there. Yes, you do have the power as I'm aware you contact them regularly. How do I know? Sir, I have detectives there as we speak. I know well about your conversation last night at the VFW and at a little crab shack where you ate. Yes sir, I do also have notes from a conversation you had with a convenience store clerk. That clerk was a man of mine. You see sir, I've got probably two hundred people there and you have no idea who they are, or what capacity they're in. There's enough evidence against you so far I could get it to the Governor tomorrow morning and a full scale investigation would be underway by afternoon. There's enough evidence sir, you can't begin to cover it up. Who? Let's just say Department of Justice is where I began my phone calls. They got involved gladly after a phone call to a judge in your region. He spoke quite candidly about your involvement and helped to get them a confession from a former officer of yours who was involved in a lot of crimes committed by you and your officers. He was given full immunity for his assistance and now can die with a clear conscience. Yes sir, I'm aware it's highly confidential, but sir, you fail to realize they probably have this line and a number of other lines you speak on bugged. I can speak openly and will."

He paused , "Sir, you have this one offer. I'll accept it as being refused and then, you'll have problems there. My advice is to cut your losses, take the ten million and take my offer to a buy out and get out of the country. It's likely your only chance not to spend the rest of your life behind bars."

He paused , "Well, in that case, I'll make more phone calls and see what we can't do to get you apprehended. If you had played your cards right, you could have had a ticket out here and money to spend. You have a great evening."

He snapped his cell phone shut , "Hold on."

He flipped his phone open , "Yeah, did you get it? Good. Now, go arrest the son of a bitch. While you're arresting, he's got charges out here too."

He paused and then said, "Conspiracy to commit capital murder. Out here, it's a life term without. It carries just as much as the actual murder itself. Yes, it would add to your case there. You've got the tapes, right? Ok, make the arrest and have a good night.'

He hung up , "Sorry, but I was sworn to secrecy."

"What did you do?"

"When I got the first phone call making threats, I called an old law school friend of mine at the Department of Justice. I played the tape of the conversation and he agreed there were charges we could obtain from the tape. He initiated an investigation based upon the judge there telling about what he knew and that cracked open a lot.

What I did Den, is I deliberately asked you questions to see if you were into corruption like him. You wanted to do things legally which told me you weren't into that sort of thing. So, I reported my findings and found out they had a lot of things going on.

Tonight, I got reports from my source. He wasn't supposed to tell me anything, but based upon phone line recordings, their case here is substantiated and he's got a good number of charges as do his friends there.

As a last chance offer, I tried to help their case here because I know ours carries more weight than theirs. We can get him, but they need to file charges here."

"So you knew about Blane being hired to kill me?"

"All he told Blane was "Do it". That could have meant anything. I got that report right before you called. "

"Shit. I could have been dead by the time you got anything rolling!"

He smiled , "Sarah got called and she was absolutely frantic."

"Is that what got her scared?"

"Probably."

"Ok, I'm glad then. Let's get out of here."

"Your cousin who is his sister is a good person. She's probably the only one. Even his Mom was trying to get you killed."

"Ok, well was there enough on the tape with her to arrest her?"

"We weren't supposed to hear her conversation with him. Her conversation was on your Dad's line to him. It'd not be a part of the warrant."

"Ok, well, she'll be in mourning over losing him and I've got dogs who could wind up dead real fast. Get your people to get my dogs for me and I'll be out there to get them real fast."

"Your dogs and your cousin are under watch. We know she's good and have been worried for her safety."

"So my dogs are expendable."

"Your dogs will be on a flight out of there tomorrow."

"Ok, I appreciate it."

He nodded , "Den, get Ev and rest easier."

"Where?"

"Take him and go to your hotel. You've got it booked for the week."

"Ok, I've somehow forgotten."

"The man there we have to watch over you hasn't."

"Ok, let me go to the emergency room with Layne and then we'll go there."

He smiled , "Your loyalty is good."

"He deserves it."

"Sarah is fine. She knows there wasn't any other way. I think she's shocked she could actually do it."

"I'm glad she did. One thing I'll tell you is I'm going to be getting a pistol and a permit real fast like."

"Don't. You could get hurt."

"Hey, the barrel of that gun there looked like a fucking cannon! It was fast thinking which saved me and I couldn't do a thing. I don't like that feeling."

We left the room and started to go down the stairs when he pointed towards Sam's door , "He's in there."

"Is Sarah?"

"I'll send her up."

"Ok."

"Give them a chance to get the body out of here and then I'll be leaving."

"We need to get someone up here to clean up the blood."

"We will. You and Ev might have to stay at the hotel a few days."

"I'll see."

I walked over to Sam' apartment and went in. Ev came running , "Can you talk now?"

"Yeah, it's a mess."

"Sarah ok?"

"She'll be up real fast."

"What happened?"

"Let's get everyone together so I can tell it once. Sarah probably can add some, but I bet she doesn't know a lot. Marty sure does though."

Sarah came up and we all sat together around the pit group and I told everything I knew and what happened. As the story unfolded, Sarah added some, but I was surprised she didn't know as much as I guessed.

When I finished, I said, "Ev, it looks like we're going to be sleeping at the hotel. They'll remove his body, but it will need cleaned."

Sarah said, "Let me get out my rug shampooer tomorrow and I'll get it cleaned."

"Sarah, no. It'd just make you feel bad."

"Having you kids sleeping in a room at a strange place would make me feel worse."

"I'll help you. Let me do what I can to get carpet ordered and we'll get painters and plasterers in so we can get it as good as new."

Ev asked, "What about the press down there?"

"Marty spoke with them. He said damage control was done. Now, what we need to do is go to the emergency room to be with Layne."

He nodded and I said, "Ev, it will probably be a while. If you'd rather go to the hotel, you can. I understand you didn't hire him, but I feel responsible, so I want to be there."

"No, we're in this together, and if he's an employee of yours, then he's an employee of mine."

We hugged everyone and I said to Sarah. "If you can't sleep, give us a call and we'll come running."

She smiled , "Hon, I'm just worried you hate me."

"No, I understand completely. What's a shame is I didn't have a pistol in my possession and did it myself. Fortunately, you did and were able to do it."

"You don't think I'm bad?"

"No. Not at all."

"Ok, I'll try to rest easy. I'll probably take an Melatonin and go to bed."

"Drink a cup of warm liquid. People think I'm crazy, but I find drinking a cup of coffee makes me drowsy enough to sleep."

She smiled , "That's because you're up going in high gear most of the time. How you do it, I'll never know."

"Tomorrow is a down day. The only thing I have planned is going to the house to get Mike the car to use and that's it."

She looked strangely , "Be careful there. I find it strange he was so close to us and right there."

"He's a normal guy. If we start suspecting everyone, we're in trouble. I'll check him out and double make sure."

"Ok."

Ev and I left the apartment. At the bottom of the steps, we saw Officer Johnson. I stopped and asked which hospital they took Layne to and he told me Cedars Sainai. We thanked him and left.

Out in the car, Ev said, "On the way back, I want to stop by and get the Aston Martin. I love the Rolls, but I want to start using it."

"We need to get over there to the dealer and get them paid for. He's supposed to have us plates for the cars."

"Ok, we'll put that on the agenda tomorrow. How about we take some time and go looking for houses ourselves."

"That'll be fine. I do want to do a search on Mike to be sure about him, but I'm thinking he'll check out fine."

He got quiet and I took his hand. "What's on your mind?"

"You don't feel any remorse for Blane?"

"The only remorse I feel is I hired him. Marty did some checking and even his Mom was in on the plan to have me killed. When I think back about wanting to help him, it upsets me that I'm so generous and can be so gullible when family is concerned."

"His sister is ok?"

"Marty says yes. I'll have to call her, but I don't know what to say or how much to trust. Her brother dies and I just can't help feeling she'll turn on me too."

"Be careful with the whole bunch."

"They're supposed to arrest Dad. Hopefully, the news hitting there about him and Blane's scheme will get me some good will so I can go back?"

"What's so important you feel the need to go back."

"It's home for me. When you can't go home, it sucks."

"Ok, what I do want to do is be sure when we go there, we do it with plenty of guards and witnesses in case they want to do anything."

"We'll take a limo, that's for sure. With someone else driving, they're not going to find anything for us to be arrested. Hopefully, with the Sheriff and town Marshall being arrested also, things will be cool."

"They're the only ones being arrested?"

"No, a lot of others. They're going into a lot of cases and opening them because of the corruption."

"Ok, well when you want to go, we'll go."

"Monday is Nebraska and Italy. The rest of next week will be Italy and then, I think we'll go to New York and put the apartment at the Carlyle up for sale. If you'd like, we could look at the apartment in one of the Trump places."

"I thought you wanted in the Trump Tower?"

"Yes, I do, but if nothing's open, then I'm not going to take a lesser apartment just to be there."

"Ok, I'm getting you better. You want to step up and not step across or down."

"Precisely. To me, it's got to be a real nice place. I'd love for a penthouse, but those things are enormously expensive."

"Why not an estate there?"

"All the business is conducted downtown. In other places, we can get by with bringing them to the unit, but there it has to be centrally located."

"Doing business at the house will be fine?"

"No, but here we have Northridge. We'll bring them there and knock their socks off."

"You wanting to put your offices at the small tower?"

"I'd like to, but the drive over there is a bit much. It would necessitate me concentrating on doing business there a whole day."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I don't want to feel I have to beat traffic in order to make a meeting. That always spells trouble. I think I'll hire someone to schedule my appointments and go there."

"Do you want to do that together?"

"We can, but we need to start making schedules to reflect what we need to do."

"What do you mean?"

"Ok, take for instance we need to go out and inspect stores. We should pick a day to do that like Friday. We can fly out and hit an area. Once we're done, we can have our weekend. Another day, we'll have DJI which will require a day. Hobb/Dollar will take some time so we need to schedule time for it. If we're lucky, we'll have two days to go buying which one of that will be long assed flights to and from."

"Why not get a jet?"

"We will when the wells come in. Until then, a jet is a real expensive luxury."

He smiled , "We're billionaires and have to budget money."

"Yeah because if we don't, we're sure not going to be in that class long."

"It's a class?"

"Yeah. It's the stratosphere of elite. What's weird is you'll see millionaires flocking around and treating you different. That's why I was real cautious tonight when I talked about the number of wells we bought."

"Oh, I forgot about that."

"I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. It sucks to be rich and realize you're not rich enough."

"Have you been in that situation?"

"Lots of times. You don't know the deals I was offered which I had to turn down. In time, we'll be there where we get to take advantage of some really huge deals."

"For instance...."

"Ok, I'm going to speak hypothetically. Say we are trucking along now and some place like Kmart, Target, or some other store line comes up for sale. We'd be way out there to even consider it because the debt would drag us down. It'd be nice, but we'd have to say no to ourselves and wait until we look better financially."

"And those deals will come along when we're rich enough?"

"Some will. If they look good, we'll snap them up and probably will run them as a separate off shoot like we do Hobbs. We'll buy for them, but they'll keep their own identity."

"Are we going to go into other areas?"

"Like what?"

"I don't know, it seems like we could use the stores as draws for other things like Kmart does with Little Caesars."

"Maybe, but I want it to hook up better than that so we can buy for both. You don't know it, but them buying out of that loop is what hurt them."

"How?"

"Ok, until they bought them, Kmart had a lot of good money rolling in with their lunch counters. They expanded and had delis in the stores and those did well. Then, someone in their infinite wisdom thought they needed to expand into Little Caesars. It crippled the company and drew away from their other successful food operations."

"You don't fault Wal-mart for theirs?"

"Wally's does theirs as a total different offshoot. They're not sucking business from others with the ones they have."

"Oh"

"I'd love to have separate businesses like that, but in separate store fronts. We could go a lot of different routes with them and have whole strip malls of our own stores. It'd be neat, but I'm not focused on it."

"Ok, somewhere you lost me."

"Hon, the basic jest of what I'm saying is if we can get into buying for a restaurant chain, we are better able to support it through our distribution network."

"Which way would you go?"

"Something tried and tested. It has to be a draw on it's own. We did good with our buys today because we needed what Brand had and it was low enough cost we found it cheaper to take what we needed that way than building from scratch. With Hobbs, we got more network, but we got some damned good stores. They're known on their own and we got lucky."

"So look for ones who are independent?"

"No, build up what we have, remodel and redecorate. Streamline the items sold and make it so we can handle the burden. Until then, we need to forget anything else."

"Ok, you're going to work on it with me?"

"We're going to work on it together, but you're going to be with me every step of the way."

I looked over and his eyes were nearly shut. "Ev, damn it!"

"What!" he said with his eyes opening wider.

"Why'd you say you were coming if you're falling asleep?"

"I want to be there!"

"How about if I take you to the hotel. You can sleep and not fall asleep on me."

"Why do you want to go be with him in the first place?"

"Hold up. Are you feeling threatened because I want to be there for him?"

"I don't think so. Why?"

"Because if you're worried about that, stop. We're together and our relationship matters to me. I want to be with him because he would have been fine and healthy had he not came to help me. I'll be there for him, because I appreciate his doing it."

"Ok."

"Now stop being insecure about us."

"Den, you don't realize it, but Mom had affairs. It made me think someone I loved was going to leave."

"What about your Dad?"

"What about him?"

"You saying he was clean?"

"You're saying it like you know something?"

"I'm not saying anything. What I'm saying is you can't blame your Mom for it any more than your Dad. It took two to tango. Were her needs being met? Was she getting what she needed at home? If so, she was damned dumb. If not, then he was damned dumb. Together, they should have worked together, but apparently something was wrong."

"I don't know if my Dad did. I do know Mom did."

"Ok, did you ask?"

"Did I ask Dad if he was having an affair? No. Do I suspect he did? I can't say. He got close to people so I don't know."

"What do you mean?"

"He'd have people in his office and giving them special treatment. He'd pay more attention to them and it was real obvious. Then, he'd back off and someone else would be getting the treatment."

"Ok, so he was giving at work what he should have at home?"

"Not really because she wasn't home. When she was, she was so involved in the next tour or what was good for her image it was like we weren't there."

"Ok, so what broke the ice?"

"Dad finally told her if that's what she wanted she had to decide. She left and was gone and then, a few weeks later, she came home and told him she'd be off the road by the end of the year. She stopped taking tour offers and any appearances."

"So she gave up what mattered to her in order to get what mattered to her. There wasn't a happy medium?"

"No because she was driven at it whenever she was in it."

"So you think I need to totally give up what matters to me to come be your lover?"

"No, I want to work it together. I figure if I learn it, then we'll have things in common."

"Ok, but don't get clingy on me. I can't stand that shit."

"Whoa! You think I'm clingy?"

"Clingy....possessive....whatever, it kind of sucks....no, there's no kind of to it...it sucks."

"Then take me to the hotel!"

"Ok, now at least you're admitting you were only coming because you felt threatened by him. Why didn't you just say it"

"I don't want to upset you."

"Bullshit Ev! You need to speak out and just say what's on your mind. First it was that car and now it's this! Am I going to have to read your mind to get what you're thinking?"

"No, we can end it now if you want."

"Or you can start fucking communicating and telling me what's going on with you. How about, ""Hey, I really feel threatened here. The guy's built like a brick shit house and my gaydar is going off the fucking charts!

"Well!"

"Well what?"

"Is that's what you're thinking?"

"Hey, listen. He's a damned nice looking guy. Yes, he's built like I'd love to be. Am I attracted? Yeah, but as a lover? No. Why? Because why the fuck would I want a relationship with him when it would fuck up what we have?"

"You feel that way?"

"Yeah, and I can voice it. Do I just blurt it out? No. Why? Because it might hurt your feelings. Are you attracted to him?"

"No...well, he's built real nice, but I like your looks way better. As far as a relationship goes, there's no way I want him. I have you and I've got way better than I'd ever want with anyone else."

"Then realize it and realize I feel the same. Now, are you going to be upset if I want to get to be friends with him?"

"Why do you want to be friends with him?"

"Hon, he's built like that and I work out. He's done it naturally and offered to show me. He's gay and isn't going to be all threatened when I work out with him and he finds out I'm gay. Just because we're gay doesn't mean we're going to fuck!"

"So you want to be friends and that's it?"

"Yeah, can't I have friends?"

"Yeah!"

"Good, because if you said no, I'd be pulling over and telling you to get the hell away from me. If you say yeah and then get all possessive, I'll tell you to get a fucking loan and buy my ass out because I'm done building a dream for you and trying to make you happy when I can't have a life."

"You'd leave me!"

"In a heartbeat if you play that shit. If I can't have a life and friends, you best believe I'll have a life and friends without you. You'll not suck the life out of me and then flaunt yours in front of me. It doesn't work that way.'

"You think I'm sucking the life out of you?"

"You telling me I can have friends and then not mean it?"

"No."

"Good. Then I don't feel life being sucked. Cut the possessive shit and get real."

He looked over to the window and I pulled over. "Ev, take the car. Go home. Live your life and manipulate someone else. You can leverage Brand and get the loan. I'll take six hundred million. I keep the oil wells."

"You're dumping me!"

"I'm not going to speak my mind and then have it held against me. You can play someone else. Somewhere in you, there's a need to play games. I'm not going to play those. You can decide to cut the shit and we can stay together, or you can decide to play the shit and I'll get out now. What is it going to be?"

"You're leaving!"

"Hey, is there something here where what I've said isn't sinking in? Is it that you can only hear the negative? What about you stop playing games. How about you communicating your thoughts instead of shutting me out?"

"I don't know how to say it!"

"Bullshit. It's like learning how to walk. You put one word in front of the other and you speak. Your thoughts come out and you dump what's going on in your head. I do it and it seems to work."

He looked down , "I feel threatened by him. I'd love to do them things with you. Instead, you're going out and doing them with someone else."

"Ok, so we learn together from him. I want to be that big. Call it what you will, but that's it. Yes, he's a damned nice guy and I think I could learn from the friendship."

"Will you do that?"

"Yeah, but you keep your ass in this car and you go to the hospital and you pretend like a motherfucker you care about the man. He took a bullet so each of us there tonight didn't have to take one. And while you're at it, you might say thank you to Sarah for a lot of shit by starting to say thanks for her blowing Blane's brain out."

"What's that mean?"

"Hey, the woman feels like a Mom to you. She's basically raised you and been there in good and bad and does she get told you love her? Appreciate her? Or even get told thank you?"

"She gets a paycheck."

"Whoa. You selfish son of a bitch!"

I got out of the car and he got out. "What the fuck!"

"Evan, you get in that car. You step towards me, I'll break your jaw. You go home and fire her and let her have a life. If all she is is an employee, tell her she's deranged for caring about you and then watch the life you lead go down the God damned toilet. A paycheck doesn't begin to pay that woman for what she does for you!"

"I don't know why you're looking for a fight tonight, but you're sure trying hard to pick one with me. Am I not perfect enough for you?"

"Saying that shit? No, you're not perfect enough. You're some spoiled little rich kid who has no fucking clue what people do for you. A woman raises you and all you can see is Mom's not here. Guess what? Mine fucking died. Guess what? My Grannie stepped in and didn't get paid enough from the state for saving my life. Did I thank her? You bet your ass I did. Did I love her? More than you can ever imagine. Was all I saw in her an employee? No fucking way."

"So I take the brunt of your upsets in life because you didn't get?"

"Ev, get in the car and drive. Take me to the Bel Aire house and I'll get my car. The same stands that when I get out, I'm done. Apparently, this isn't going to work because after a lifetime of loving you and caring for you, I'll lay in a casket and hear I was a good business partner while you totally discount you ever loved me. I can NOT believe you don't love her."

"She could be fired any moment. Why would I love her? I don't build myself up to be disappointed. Mom did that too many times."

"Ok, you blind dumb fuck you listen up. Was your Dad an employee?"

"No"

"Think again because I'm about to ruin your world. Did you love him?"

"Yeah."

"Oh, well excuse me because the man wasn't your Dad. Now, get in the car."

"My Dad wasn't my Dad!"

"Evan get away from me."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying your Mom had an affair. I'm saying she got pregnant. I'm saying your Dad was married to her and she came home and had you when you were someone else's. He kept you and he loved you, but he didn't have to. He could have walked. He didn't, and neither did Sarah."

"Who told you this?"

"Do a private investigation and find out. DO a dna and find out. Do you think you're the only one who can run backgrounds on people?"

"You ran one on me?"

"Yeah. I ran one on you. I ran one on your Dad. I ran one on your Mom. And I ran one on the woman your Dad was fucking...."

"What!"

"Your Dad can't do any wrong? He did Evan. She was an employee. She took a paycheck. He made her financially capable to support her and her kid she had."

"What!"

"Which part aren't you understanding? The part you don't have a right to inherit the company? The part you are Sam's half brother? Or, the part where you've got another half sibling out there?"

"You're trying to hurt me!"

"Trying?"

"Yeah."

"Ev, if that doesn't hurt, you've got no fucking feelings. You block them out and it's just not there."

"So you don't want me because my Dad fucked around?"

"Evan, I'll catch a cab. Get in the car and go home."

"Why?"

"Because the love you have inside you isn't enough to fill an ant's teacup. You block it out and you just don't get it."

"So what do you want me to say?"

"I want you to say you're not a robot. I want you to say you're not going to say what I want you to say. I want you to rise up and scream you're so pissed. But I also want you to say you're capable of loving someone who isn't related to you...namely me....namely Sarah.....namely your Dad."

"I loved my Dad."

"You shut it off?"

"He's dead!"

"Which one?"

He stood there with his hands by his side and looked down. "Ok, I knew about not being his. I knew he knew. It hurt. How could she do that?"

"You blame her, but you won't blame him?"

"He never stayed away from home."

"Oh my God, you dear poor pitiful child. You think your Mom chose to stay away?"

"She could have stayed home. She didn't have to work."

"What happens when I go out on the road?"

"I go with you."

"Why?"

"So we can be together?"

"You don't want to run the company?"

He stopped , "Who's the woman he slept with?"

"Your head of security."

"Is that why you wanted to keep her on and not let her go?"

"In part. I want her to go, but right now, she could sue the company for sexual harassment like you wouldn't believe and get it. She's got a kid to prove it."

"What do I do?"

"Say you love me. Say you love Sarah."

"No, about her?"

"Evan, get in your car. Drive as far away from me as you can get. Then, when you think you're far enough away, drive twice as far and then drive five times as far because you'll be about half as far as I want you gone from me."

"Why?"

"You hear so selectively you piss me off. It's like you only hear what you want to and that's it. When you can't absorb shit, you just shut down. Why?"

"It hurt."

"She loved you. You loved her. When people love each other, they attempt to take care of them. She had to work in order to do that. If she didn't, she would have been vulnerable."

"How?"

"All it would have took was your Dad to come home and say, "Get the fuck out you cheating bitch. I've got someone else and while you're at it, take that brat of yours too. He's not mine."

She was a survivor. She made it from the projects and didn't want to end up there again. She did it the best way she could. She got a woman in there who loved you like a mother and she got you a Dad. She worked and she got you money in case she needed it after the divorce."

"It hurt."

I went over to him and hugged him. "Ev, I know it hurt. You shut it out it hurt so much, but you also shut out those who love you."

He started crying , "Do you love me?"

"I love you."

"Are you going to go out on the road without me?"

"Not right now. Let's try it your way."

"I want to meet that other child of my Dad's."

"Ask Wanda to let you meet the child."

"She's the other woman?"

"Yeah, I told you that."

"I guess you did."

"Get into the car. We're going to the hotel."

"Why?"

"Because I don't want to go to the hospital. You need me worse and I have no idea how to begin helping you."

"What do you mean?"

"Emotionally you shut down. You block things out and how I can get you to open up is just not in my scope of knowledge."

"You love me, don't you?"

"I love you."

"I'm scared."

"I know."

We drove to the hotel. When we got there, we went in and there were no preambles of undressing each other. I got undressed and got into bed. He got in and I held him.

"I love you."

"Ev, I wish that you do, but I don't think you do."

"Why?"

"You say it when we're in bed. You can't tell me when we're standing out on the street and I ask you if you love me."

"You asked me?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I do."

"Ok Ev, good night."

"Good night."

I put my nose to the back of his head and held him close to me in spoons. I closed my eyes and tried to go to sleep, but so many things were going through my mind I couldn't begin to sleep.

After laying awake for several hours, he said, "Den?"

"Yeah babe."

"You going to sleep?"

"I can't sleep."

"Why?"

"Because I'm not all the kings horses and all the kings men."

"What's that mean?"

"Ev, I'll tell you in the morning after I contact someone."

The next morning, I was up early. I went into the main living room of the bungalow and dialed the phone. It rang but a couple of times and was answered.

"Hello."

"Jack, Den Johns here."

"Den! How are you? Long time no hear."

"I'm afraid this isn't a social call."

"Huh? You're not having problems are you?"

"No, nothing like that. Well, I need to talk and get some advice."

"What's going on?"

"I've met someone."

"Great."

"Well, I need you ask you some questions because there are some problems I'm not understanding."

"Ok, go ahead and I'll interrupt if I have any questions which clarify what I'm hearing."

"Ok. His name is Ev. His Mom was a famous star back in the sixties. He's a great guy and completely loving, but there's a lot of compartmentalizing going on with him."

"In which way?"

"I'm getting to that."

"Ok."

"I need to give you his bio as I know it and that will help.

His Mom had affairs. He is the product of an affair. His Dad who raised him was married to his Mom, but raised him anyway.

His Mom was out of the road a lot. All I can get from him when he feels insecure is "It hurt" and that's it. It's like he shuts down completely when it's happening."

"Ok."

"His Dad was a business man. He kept good hours and was home for them, but he particularly missed his Mom.

The woman who raised him was his maid. She's a loving woman and if I'd had her as a Mother, or Grandmother influence, it'd been great. I've only known her but a short while and completely love her.

His problem is he can't say he loves anyone. With the maid, he says she's an employee and could have been fired at any time so he can't love her.

His Dad who raised him is what I call a pedestal figure. He's put him on a pedestal and the man can do no wrong. I'll repeat he wasn't a bad guy, but he wasn't a saint either. He flaunted affairs in front of him at work and notice I say affairs. All he'll say about his Dad was he gave people extra attention from time to time, so I'd say he was at best discrete.

He and I got together and in the time we've been together, he's been growing clingy and wants to do more and more with me. He's edging on possessiveness and I don't like it.

Last night, I had an employee who got shot. He's an off duty police officer out here and was working as a security guard. My Dad hired him to kill me and he got close enough he pulled the gun. Fortunately, Sarah, the maid, had her pistol and killed the guy after he'd shot my guard."

"Oh man, I'm taking it your Dad is up to the usual."

"Yeah, and Ev's failing to realize I've got a big target on my back and don't really need him in the way when the bullets start flying.

Anyways, I wanted to go see the guy in the hospital and Ev was looking tired, so I offered to take him to the hotel. Instead, he wanted to go to the hospital. I didn't mind because I do want him to learn my job so we can have some intertwining of knowing what the other does."

"Ok"

"As it turns out, Ev was wanting to go to the hospital because he was feeling insecure about he and I. The guard is built like a brick shitter and is gay. I'd like to build up a friendship with him, but only as friends.

I confronted Ev about it because I think there should be good communication between us. He said he doesn't know how. I told him like you told me, to put one word in front of the other and voice his feelings.

He started to, and then, I thought we had good communication, but as we talked, he seemed like he was only hearing bits and pieces of what I said. Either he was shutting down, or he just wasn't hearing it because he'd hear a paragraph and only grasp what the negative sentence was in it.

"Can I interrupt you?"

"Sure."

"Den, remember when you started coming to me?"

"Yeah."

"You were the same way. What he has is what you had Post Traumatic Stress Disorder."

"But his parents were good people!"

"Yes, but when we develop, our psyches develop and traumatic events happen which can set us back. With him, it's not the same as you. You got beaten by your Dad. His beatings didn't occur with fists, spankings, yelled epithets, or cruelty. They happened with a fear of rejection.

I bet you he strove for perfection in his house. If you ask him, he tells you he tried to be perfect so his Mom would stay home more. She didn't so he internalized it that there was a flaw with him, so he tried to be more perfect and still it wasn't perfect enough.

It's painful for a kid to try hard and not get noticed for it. It's painful when the parent is so wrapped up in their own lives, careers, or whatever they don't notice.

It sounds like he internalized and looked outward. What he saw was what molded him for relationships. His Mom had affairs. Because she wasn't home, she must be out doing that and therefore why would Dad put up with it? SO, Dad becomes the perfect figure. Slap a halo on him because he's not messing up or is too discrete for him to notice.

You said the Dad had affairs. He was discrete, but all he showed outwardly was favoritism towards certain women in front of him. That's all he saw because his Dad was discrete. It puts him up a notch because Dad's discrete and Mom wasn't.

I'll tell you now, there's probably anger at him towards the mother. He hugged and embraced her, and she shunned him. At some time, he stopped internalizing him being at fault and pointing the finger at her for being at fault."

"She ended the affairs."

"Den, if your Dad stopped beating you and started acting normal, would you trust it?"

"No."

"Would you say all is right and I had a perfect life?"

"No."

"Well, for him, the damage was done and even though she was acting normally, he didn't trust it. He didn't think it was perfect."

"So what are you saying? Am I not going to be forgiven in this relationship?"

"You'll probably be forgiven to a fault. He probably only holds onto the negative in a conversation because he's viewing it as faults he has. You're perfect until you push him to the point you're no longer perfect. Then, I imagine the relationship will be finished.

You're acting more healthier than you realize. You see problems and I think you see a lot of you in him. He's where you were a long time ago and now, you're to the point you don't know how to do it and are calling me because I helped you."

"Yes, it's hard because it doesn't make sense."

"Remember what you told me when I first started talking with you a long time ago?"

"Yeah, I used it last night."

"You were put back together again. You put yourself back together. You made sense of your world and your surroundings and you accepted it for what it was.

He's on the outside of that onion looking at it as an onion. He doesn't realize there's layers of shit there and his little him is on the inside smothering and wanting to break free."

"Why is it he can only tell me he loves me if he's wanting to be sexual?"

"Was he sexually abused?"

"No."

"Did he love someone he was sexual with?"

"He says he hasn't been with anyone else."

"Good friends he liked a lot possibly sexually?"

"I don't know. He's never voiced it, but he doesn't voice much."

"He's probably afraid you'd reject him if he voices his thoughts, feelings, and opinions."

"Am I doing that to him?"

"No, I think it's because he's probably tried doing it before and it didn't work. I bet when he shuts down on you it's because he wants to scream out from the pain, but realizes it never did any good for him before, so it probably won't do any good now."

"Oh man. I do want him to talk with me."

"Do this and let's start talking together."

"Ok"

"At least once a day, get him alone and just the two of you talk about feelings. Listen to him and listen to him if he says there's any pain, anger, or any feelings he has. If you start paying attention to him, he'll start opening up to you and soon, that water is going to flow over the dam and it's going to be a sudden wave of emotions."

"Can't you talk with him?"

"I could, or someone there could, but unless he's wanting help, it's not going to work. He trusts you, so try for his sake."

"Ok, I'll do it because I do love him."

"Den, how long ago did his parents die?"

"The other day. It's still fresh."

"Ok, I probably know who the mother is. I did hear about their death if it's who I think it is."

"Yes, I imagine. It's been all over the news and MTV."

"Ok, now let me say this. Who the mother is and who your father is doesn't mean one thing to me. What matters to me is you and what matters to me is him. He should matter to you and I bet you'll find you mean more to him than you know."

"Is that why he's afraid to tell me he loves me any other time?"

"Don't take it personally. He's afraid to tell anyone he loves them. I bet he was afraid to show the maid any affection because he thought it'd upset his Mom and she'd alienate him with affection like she did her husband."

"But can't he see they loved each other at the end?"

"Den, a lot of water rests in a riverbed of emotion. How stinky does water get if it doesn't flow?"

"Bad."

"He's got a stopper in them and needs to know he can trust you to let him do some run off. If he can, you gain trust and as that trust develops, he'll give you more and more until you've got a good communication and a relationship which is great. Give him some time and work with him."

"Ok, I feel a lot better about this."

"Den, be patient until after the funeral. Do what you can to alleviate angers which build up in him because I'll tell you it's going to be painful moreso than you realize."

"Why?"

"Ok, how would you feel if your Dad died."

"Great."

"No, listen to me and hear me out because I wasn't finished."

"Ok"

"How would you feel if your Dad died and you were at a funeral hearing people talk good about him and all the fun times they had with him?"

"I'd call them liars."

"But what if they did have good times with them and they respected him for what he was around them?"

"Then they didn't know the real him."

"And does his Mom's friends know the real her? The one who hurt her little boy?"

"Oh man."

"Yeah, so you hearing how good your Dad is would upset you. You'd feel like each person who spoke good about him was adding to a mountain of anger inside you and you'd feel like exploding. Right?"

"Yes."

"Well, he doesn't know how to voice his feelings well enough to trust anyone completely. Imagine how he'd feel inside with all that building and not feeling like he could vent it. It'd be like a volcano and when it happened, it'd be terrible, terrifying, and most of all scary to him because he'd be scared to lose you."

"Ok, I've got to get him to talking."

"Not too much too soon. When you do, ask little questions and listen carefully to his replies. When he says something, hug him, hold him, and be there to nurture him because he's going to feel scared and vulnerable."

"Why?"

"Because probably the last time he tried, it was his Mom he tried with and she slammed the door on him. He'll probably feel like you'll do the same to him."

"Oh man. I'll do what I can to show him I'll be there for him."

"It'll do him the most good. Love him and just listen to him more. If he says something which is negative about himself, tell him something positive which endears you to him. If he says something negative about his parents, don't be repulsed, but ask him how it made him feel. His feelings matter, but he needs to know they do."

"Ok, man, I feel a lot better talking with you. I was ready to end it."

"Don't do that. It'd hurt you as well as him."

"Ok, I'll try harder."

"Good, now we've talked about him, how are you doing?"

"Busy busy busy. I bought us two companies yesterday, so the next time you see a TL Hobbs, or a Brand store, know we're running them."

"What's his company?"

"Dollar America stores."

"Oh, well, I shop in them all."

"We're changing them, but they'll be a lot better."

"What are you going to be doing with your company?"

"I'm going to be hiring people to come in and work for me. It's a conflict of interest if I keep buying for others while buying for myself, so I'm hiring people to do it and giving some real good incentives."

"Don't hurt yourself. Keep some business for yourself."

"I am. I've got investments now which are going to be really panning out. It's an exciting time for me."

"Good. I'm glad to hear it."

"Well, I better get off here. I want to thank you."

"Start giving me calls on Mondays and Thursdays and letting me have some updates."

"Ok, I'll do that. Any certain time?"

"About now would be great. I'm in the office at this time, but very few people like to make appointments for morning."

"Ok, I'll do that."

"Den?"

"Yes."

"Remember rice and raisins. It's brain food. If you eat that in a diet, you'll think more clearly. Also oatmeal is a good supplement."

"I'll do that and get him on it too."

"He's why I mentioned it. I told your Grandma that and it worked for you."

"I loved it because she made things taste good."

"Yes, and do what you can for him too. Eat healthy and get plenty of hydration."

"I'll do that."

"Ok, I've got a client coming in soon, so I'll get off here."

"I appreciate it once again."

I hung up and went into the bedroom. Ev was in the bathroom taking a shower. I went in and climbed in with him. He smiled , "What are you doing in here?"

"Making sure the parts of you I love are getting clean."

"Which parts are those?"

"Well, up here I love you and down there under your toes I love you and all points in between, so I guess I got to scrub all of you."

He giggled, "I thought you were upset with me."

"Honey, it's going to take a lot more than that to get me upset with you. Yes, I was upset, but I've thought about it and I was entirely out of line. I'll be more patient and I hope you're more patient with me too. We're still getting to know each other and as we do, we'll learn how to talk and open up."

"I feel strange when I do."

"I know and what I've got to do is be patient and let you have the floor more. If your needs are met, then I feel better. I've probably not been so good about that, but I'll change."

"Where were you earlier?"

"Out on the phone."

"Business?"

"In a way, someone from the past I wanted to check in with."

"Who?"

"A man who knew me and listened when I was having a lot of problems with my Dad."

"You're having problems with me, so you called him?"

"No! I'm having problems with me. I want to know how to love you better, so I called him."

"Did he help?"

"He taught me a lot about myself back then, and gave me a refresher course so I could know I need to be patient."

"You're not very patient."

"I know and I've got to correct that mistake with you. I'll try if you'll be patient with me."

"It's already working."

"Good, I'm sorry. Do you forgive me?"

"Yes silly."

"Good, I feel better for sure now."

He laughed , "Den, I know you want me to open up and feel like I can talk with you more."

"I do, but I can't put on a light and interrogate you either. It doesn't make you comfortable and it's not good when I put pressure on you. I love you and although I make mistakes, I really don't mean to."

"I don't mean to either."

"Ok, so we forgive each other and we'll build up our relationship so we can talk completely open with each other."

"I want to."

"And I want to also. I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too."

We kissed and hugged a long time as we rubbed each other and soaped each other.

When we were finished with our shower, I said, "One thing I've got to turn you onto is Rice and Raisins and some oatmeal in the mornings."

"Why? I hate the stuff."

"Because it's what I have every day and fried food first thing in the morning makes you feel real blah until lunch."

"Is that what does that?"

"Yeah, what I do is I eat that for breakfast and then, I have fruit and drink my water for the day until lunch. By then, I've had my water and good healthy stuff, so I'm pepped up."

"I'll do it because I need to be able to keep up with you. You don't realize it, but you're hard to keep up with."

"I'll slow it down until you're more up to speed."

"I'll try harder."

"Hon, try as much as you can. I'll wait."

He smiled and gave me another hug. The hug turned into a kiss and then, we were making out. As much as I wanted to wait, I threw caution to the wind and carried him into the bedroom. Our wet bodies intertwined and for the first time, we made love.

Afterward, as we were laying there kissing each other and caressing, he asked, "What's on the itinerary for today?"

"We have to go to the car dealer and get that done."

"Ok"

"Then, we have to get a bite of lunch and then, we have to go to the hospital."

"What time?"

"Early afternoon."

"Why?"

"You ever been in the hospital?"

"A long time ago."

"In the morning, it's busy. Doctors in and out and all sorts of people wanting to do all sorts of things to you. By lunch, you feel like you're a guinea pig and then, it's hum drum boring and all afternoon, it's either soap operas or people standing on sofas or throwing them on talk shows. Supper comes and then, it's like a frigging family reunion because everyone wants to visit then."

"So we go in the afternoon when less people are there and save him from having to watch soap operas?"

"Yeah."

He smiled , "I think his body is hot too."

"I want to work out to get that sort of build. He said it's natural, so I want to be doing what he does to get that."

"Can I work out with you?"

"Sure. Just be careful because with him, I can't get horned. With you, it could mean we'd be making out a lot!"

He laughed , "Maybe I'd be horned too. I already know seeing you with your shirt off is amazing."

"You don't like my legs?"

"Oh yeah, but your stomach is awesome."

"I'll show you how to do it. You're thin enough you'd look ripped with very little work out."

"Ok, I'd like that."

"Me too. I'd be running my tongue up and down those washboard abs and...."

"Hey!"

"What?"

"It's already after nine. With traffic, we'll do good to make it to the dealer by lunch."

"Ok, I'm sorry."

"I'm not complaining. You do things with your mouth to me which drive me insane. I just want you to be sure today.

What do you want to do after that?"

"We have to go to the Bel Aire house at five. We'll get him the car and then that's it."

"We going to call a realtor for him?"

"We need to, but I don't want to spend too much time doing what we shouldn't be doing and doing what we need to do?"

"Ok, all I have to do today is that interview."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Damn."

"What?"

"I should have asked you."

He smiled , "It can be fit in anytime."

"Let's call Ran and see when we need to do it."

"How about I call while you drive?"

"Ok"

"You really need to get a hands free unit. It's the law out here."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I'm surprised you've not been pulled over."

"Oh, we need to do that."

"They sell them all over the place. Anywhere from convenience stores to grocery stores have them."

"How about we stop at a Brand store and be mystery shoppers? It'd give us an idea what they're like and get me to being a law abiding citizen."

He laughed , "Ok, but I bet they don't have what I have."

"What do you have?"

"I have a phone with Bluetooth. When I drive, I put one of those ear things on and it communicates with my phone. It's handy as all get out."

"Ok, where'd you get yours?"

"Wal-mart."

"Oh, well I don't want to be a mystery shopper there. I like selling to them, but going in one of those stores is upsetting."

"Why?"

"I go in and know the wholesale price of everything. They say it's Everyday Low prices, but in reality they sell at some of the highest markups in the industry. They'll sell low when they come in to kill off competition, but then they jack them up and that's when they really kill their customers."

"Are we going to have a problem against them?"

"No, because what we'll be doing is going in and undercutting them every way we can."

"How?"

"White Rain Shampoo. They won't deal with Wal-Mart anymore, but we can get it for real low. We'll sell it for seventy eight cents a bottle. They sure aren't going to compete against us at that price."

"We making a profit on it?"

"About forty five cents a bottle."

"Did we already order some of that?"

"Probably, but I'll make sure."

"You know if we do this enough, we'll be doing really well."

"Yeah, and that's the goal. I want our name on everyone's tongues when they think of going shopping. Right now, people think Wal-Mart, or Target, or Kmart in that order, but we'll be up there slapping the big dogs and then when they think they should be upset, they'll realize we've got a muzzle on them."

"Really?"

"Yeah, think about it. There are dollar stores which charge a dollar for everything. They have people thinking they save money there, but they're marked up nearly as much as Wally's. People go to Wally's because of the convenience of getting food there. That's where we're going to really be making enemies. We'll get people turned onto buying real cheap and then they'll head for us when they want to save money."

"Won't they think ours is low quality?"

"Probably, but when they see many of the same things as the other stores and we're a lot less, they'll start picking those up. With the groceries, a can is a can of veggies, so they'll do the same. Where we'll have a lot of mistrust is in the meat area.

What I want to do is have cookouts on key weekends at our stores. We cook up hamburgers on the grill and we show our meat is good. They'll take a hamburger because it's free and while they're getting it, we'll have our price of a dollar per pound versus Wal-mart's price per pound. I'll tell you a lot of people are going to be sick because they probably bought a family value pack already over there and realize they could have gotten more than double with us. That's when we'll snag them."

He smiled , "It'll be expensive."

"For a few weeks it will be, but then we'll see sales take off and soar."

"You sure?"

"Hon, let me explain to you how it goes. People get a hamburger from us and they'll say, "Yeah, they sold us the good stuff while they got the crap in there." They'll be suspicious as all get out, but they'll probably buy some to see if it's as good as the other. They'll go home and have a Hamburger helper night and low and behold, they'll say it's the same. That's when they say, "Hon, don't go to Wal-mart to get hamburger because you get twice as much at Dollar."

"Wow!"

"Yeah, it's gaining their confidence which is hard. Once we have it, we've got it. I'd love to be able to tell them ours comes from Wal-mart's supplier, but it'd get complicated."

"Why?"

"Maybe I could tell you that this week, but next week, it might be different with them. They do contracts and get suppliers to competing to get their business."

"And our supply stays the same?"

"Yup. Pure beef from Brazil. We'll import it and it'll stay the same."

"They get theirs from there?"

"Here's how it goes. With the volume they buy, they get it from there until the prices go up because they've exhausted the supply. Then, they'll roll over to Australian or maybe American, but only if it's meeting the prices they got at Brazil. Brazil's is the cheapest, so they head there first."

"And won't ours go up if they buy there's there too?"

"Yeah, but what we're going to do is we're going to go in and buy all ours for a year there in one buy. They will see us buying and ask themselves what we think we're doing, but it won't be until ours hits the market, they really feel the hurt put on them."

"Oh."

"So, by that time, we've got them hurt for the year and they know it."

"Why?"

"Prices shoot up quicker in Brazil and they have to go elsewhere faster."

"Won't they be more aware next year?"

"Yeah, but where we've got them is we'll do the same year after year. They can't do it, so they won't."

"Why can't they do it?"

"There's not a freezer big enough to hold all the meat they buy in a year. With us, since we only buy hamburger, we're grabbing that bottom line, but we'll have ours in freezers which are huge."

"Where?"

"Underground warehouses. You don't know it, but under the ground, it's a constant temperature which is lower. It takes less energy to run a freezer, so we can build them in there and not worry about the meat going bad."

"How are we going to get those freezers?"

"Order them. We'll call the underground warehouse people and lease them. They build to suit and they'll build it."

"Doesn't that cost more?"

"No more than us having to find a place to build ours and doing it ourselves."

"I thought you said it was cheaper to get everything ourselves?"

"Yeah, but with that sort of storage, it's about the same. The thing there is we can store it there for a year and not really have a problem."

"Ok, how much is that per pound to store?"

"I'm not sure how much we'll need to buy in hamburger. What I think we should do is figure five thousand pounds per store a month and then, have that as our baseline. If customers buy more, then our baseline will go up, but if they don't, then we can hang on to what we have and get it out the door before we order the new."

"We can do that?"

"Do what?"

"Just order it when we want?"

"Yeah, here's what happens so you know. Let's say we order a million tons of the stuff. We can call down there and say, "We want to buy a million tons this year and tell us what it'll be. They tell us and we ship the check via wire to them. They're happy because they got paid. They'll process it as we need it and yay, we have it all year long."

"So we only need warehouses for a few months out of the year."

"Capacity...a few months capacity. We can rotate it in, but I want to have a year's capacity up front."

"Why?"

"Because we don't know if they are going to buy like bandits, or if it's going to go slower. IF they buy like bandits, we'll have to be prepared to ship it when the stores are screaming. The worst thing we want to do is have it down there and be caught waiting on it with empty shelves."

"Ok, so we store enough for a year and rotate into that stock as we sell?"

"Yeah, We sell a month's worth and then, when that space is empty, we order to fill it. Then, we're down to the next month and so on."

"You lost me?"

"Hon, we'll probably be two months ahead of what we've got coming. It takes a month to process an order and a month to ship it and get it to us."

"Oh. That's a long time."

"Yeah, but most people are aware of that who order. What I order today from anywhere probably will take six weeks to two months to deliver. That's why you order for Christmas in September. You'll see stocks of companies go up then based upon their orders."

"At Dollar, we bought year around for Christmas."

"Ok, that's a smart way to go about it."

"It was bad because we'd have stuff start showing up on our shelves in late July and by September, we would be full."

"Ok, that's bad, but we'll get it straightened out. We've got the warehouses now, so we can get Christmas on our shelves in October."

"Is that when it's supposed to be put out?"

"Wal-mart starts early. They do it because of the volume they buy. For us, I don't want to stress so much on Christmas we totally devalue other holidays like Labor Day and Halloween. We can undercut them on those too, so we need to take advantage of it."

"How?"

"How do we undercut them?"

"Yeah."

"They sell costumes at ten bucks. I'll tell you we'll sell ours for a dollar."

"There's that much mark up in it?"

"Yeah. A costume is wholesaled at thirty to sixty cents. I can get it from the manufacturer for about a dime to fifteen cents. We'll get a good supply of them and put them in the stores right after Labor Day. The parents will see we've got the deals and they'll head our direction."

"We'll have to start bulking up on candies."

"Yeah, but that's easy. We'll be getting ours from either Brazil, Argentina, or Mexico."

"Why?"

"Sugar from other countries goes to those countries to be made into candies. Low labor means cheaper products. They have the market on those because they're so close to the sugar."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

We left the bungalow and went out to the car. In the car, I said, "Call Ran and see when we have that interview. We'll figure everything around that."

"Ok"

He called and Ran told him two pm. He said we'd be there and got off the phone.

"Is that going to be a problem?"

"Nope. It's you, so it's a priority with me. We'll go to the hospital and then be out of there by one thirty and then get to the house. Traffic shouldn't be an issue at that time."

"Where do you want to go for dinner?"

"How about I surprise you?"

He smiled , "Ok"

In no time, we got to the car dealer. When we pulled in, he saw the Red Ferrrari , "You didn't!"

"Yeah, I did. Let's go see it."

He ran over to it and as soon as the salesman got to us, he said, "Just rolled onto the lot this morning."

"Good. Let's go do the paperwork and let me get you paid."

"I see you're driving Mr Gordon's Rolls."

"Yeah, we're using it until I can get what I've got around the world here. When that happens, I'll probably have too much of everything. It's better to just concentrate on what we have."

"Any idea what you'll do with the excess?"

"Can you use them?"

"Sure. I'll get you a real good rate on them."

"Ok, when they come in, I'll give you a call. I think most will be flown in."

"Expensive."

"Yeah, but it sure beats waiting forever to get them. I could hire a service to get them stateside, but overseas is going to be a mess."

He paused and asked, "Do you buy to US specs when you buy? I saw the limos you bought from us were to those specs."

"Yeah, it keeps me from having to get used to driving on the wrong side. It's a bit strange, but not nearly as strange as feeling all weird."

"Ok, so if they're to those specs, they should clear customs sooner.'

"I've got a few cars over in France which might be a problem. They're Porsches from Germany. I never intended them to come over, but I might as well get them over here."

"Why do you have more than one?"

"I got to buying special issue models from the factory. I'd fly in and pick them up and then drive to Paris. The drive was nice and that's where the collection began."

"How many of them?"

"Eleven."

His eyes went open in surprise , "You've got their last eleven special editions!"

"Yeah. I'll probably keep buying them. I hear they get to be worth a lot of money."

"Ok, what I'll do is get them over here. If we bring them in, we can go to either the docks here or in San Diego and get them to US specs."

"Ok, but here's the deal because I'm NOT going to be screwed there. If you take them over to US specs, I get all the tail lights and everything you replace. I'll put them with the cars and if and when they're sold, I'll have both sets. If you can't do that, I don't want your people messing with them. I'd rather they be authentic and stay over there than have them lose value."

"We'll get them over here."

We did the paperwork and he surprised me by already having plates for Ev's Ferrari. I handed him my black card and he said, "Wise choice."

"I learned. Things going well for you on that other Rolls?"

"No problem here."

"I'd like to buy it when you get it."

"It's already been bought by your people."

"Ok, I don't want it being a collector car."

"I could get it stored for you somewhere."

"I think my guy is doing that."

He processed the card , "Give me a call when you're ready to move cars."

"How about I start with that and we'll have them moving this direction."

"Ok, do you want me to move them?"

"If it's no issue for you, that'd be great."

"What would you like done with the monies from them?"

"Roll it into early seventies muscle cars. I know I want a '71 Hemi Cuda convertible and a Daytona Charger."

"You should be able to buy a good number of them."

"I imagine, but it's going to sound weird but I want a '58 Impala or Caprice convertible. If it can be pink or turquoise, that'd be great. If not, go with white with red interior. Strive to get options like no other, and I'll be happy."

"Anything else?"

"The rarest of the rare. Those I mentioned will be nice original, but they'll be drivers."

He looked shocked and I said, "There's no use in having them if I can't enjoy them."

"We have another client who prefers that."

"I know. A lot of them do."

"Anything outrageous you'd like to have?"

"Get me show cars and movie cars. I'd love to have a Batmobile and some others like it."

"Ok, how about a Mach 5."

"I ordered one from Shelby. It should be waiting on me."

He nodded , "They're out now."

"Sold out?"

"Yeah."

"Glad I got mine."

Ev came in , "It's lunch time."

"Ok."

I said, "I've got to go. It's a busy day."

"Is the funeral VIP only?"

"No. It's at a ball park so all her fans can come. I'll get your name on the VIP list if you'd like."

"No, I was wondering."

"It's open for everyone."

I shook his hand and went out to Ev. "Do you want me to follow you, or do you want to drive us?"

"You'd have to follow me to both the restaurant and the hospital."

"Is there going to be enough time to come pick this back up?"

"How about we go drop yours over at Cedars and then go eat lunch."

"Ok, make sure I don't lose you at a light."

"I won't."

I followed him and as I drove, I thought about the way the morning had gone so far....wondering if I was spurring his self confidence more than previously. My end decision was thinking if I showed him the attention I am now, I'd be better off in the relationship. When we got to Cedars, I got out and into the Ferrari.

"I love it."

"Good. You look great in it."

"You think?"

"Hon, you look good in or out of anything....especially your clothes."

He smiled , "Lunch is my surprise."

"Ok"

We went to a drive thru restaurant called Rally's. It's a little narrow restaurant which has double drive thrus. He got it so the pick up window would be on my side. When we had our order, he pulled out into traffic and zoomed off.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see."

"Ok"

Soon, I knew immediately where we were heading. Seal Beach. I imagined he wanted to go there to make sure Terry and Larry's Mom knew she was invited to the funeral. When we parked, we were about a block away.

"Out there is where my car got submerged."

"Oh ok!"

He smiled , "Let's go see if she's here."

"Ok, I imagined that was what you were doing."

"I want her to know she's going to be in amongst special friends and family. I want her there."

We got to the store and as soon as we entered, he was smothered in hugs and kisses. She wasn't as bouncey as normal, so it was a blessing.

"Oh honey, how are you?"

"I'm doing well and you?"

"God, I miss her and didn't even really know her."

She looked at me and instantly, her mouth went into an O and then she looked at Ev , "You two are...."

Ev shook his head and she ran to me. I knelt down to receive the hug and was enveloped in them. Ev laughed and I said, "Mama Hobbs, you sure make a guy feel straight!"

She laughed , "Boy, if you ever get to thinking about that and I wish you would!"

I laughed , "Not with him around. He's grabbed hold of my heart and won't let go."

"Good. He's needed someone."

She paused , "Do you know what them boys of mine did?"

"What?"

"They sold out! They called me up and said they sold out."

"I know. I'm the one who bought it for us."

"You did!"

"Yeah."

"You must've paid a lot because they told me they put a bunch more money in my bank account, but they told me they were moving accounts and would mine too."

"I know, they're taking it to Nebraska to put it in the bank I do business."

"Good. I know if you told them about it, they done good then."

"You'll have a card to shop with. It'll be black like mine."

"What's the difference?"

"The one your banker gave you only lets you spend up to ten thousand on it. With mine, I can go unlimited."

"Oh. Well, I never spend that much money, so it doesn't matter."

"Just the same, you should really like it."

"Why?"

"Here's why. When you take that card you use into a place to spend with it, they say it looks like all the others they see. They continue treating you like you don't matter. With this one, they see it's black and instantly, they start treating you better."

"I don't go nowhere special enough to be treated different."

"No, but even your grocery store will use this and they could treat you better."

She nodded , "As long as the bankers treat them good. That's all that matters to me."

"He will. I'm saving them coming up as a surprise to him, but he'll treat them like he does me which is great."

"Good. That last one hasn't been nice to them at all."

"And he should have. It irks me because I know he should have."

She nodded , "I'm glad to see you. You going to the funeral?"

"Yeah, that's why we came down here. Ev wants to speak with you about it."

She turned to Ev and he said, "Mrs Hobbs, I want you to come to mama's funeral. We're burying them together, but I know she liked you and I want you to come and sit with special friends."

She put her hand to her mouth , "I don't have anything to wear!"

"How about we come by tomorrow and go get you something nice to wear?"

"Would you do that?"

"Sure. I know a store who has black dresses not far from here and we can go there."

"I don't look worth anything in a dress."

"You will in this one."

He winked at me over my shoulder and mouthed Neiman Marcus.

She said, "Honey, I heard about it and all day long today they've been playing her songs. I've been listening, but I have to stop and cry."

"I hear them in the background."

She nodded , "I'm so glad she gave me that gold record there. Every time I hear it, I think about when she gave it to me and all these lovely pictures she signed and I just feel closer to her."

"She liked you."

"I know she did hon. She'd come down here and see me without you being with her. I knew then that she liked me because she didn't only do it when I wasn't around. I know she sure loved you."

He nodded , "Towards the end it was better."

"She said she felt like she'd let you down. She just didn't know how to apologize."

"She did what she could to make up for it. That's what mattered."

"Honey, when she gave me this record, she sat right over there and talked. You don't know it, but I really felt like she was opening up to me and sharing some hurt with her. Did you know that damned Barry Gordy told her if she didn't perform she wouldn't eat?"

"No."

"That's why she did it even when you didn't want her to. She knew if she performed, she'd have food for you even though she didn't want to do it."

"Why didn't she stop? Dad had money."

"Barry Gordy told them girls to only trust him about money to the point they just about went broke listening to him. You might not know it, but she told me as much as she loved your daddy, everything he had could be taken away real fast and she wanted to be sure she had enough for you kids."

Ev looked at me and I know a light bulb went on.

"So Barry Gordy's dumb ass is what deprived me of a childhood with my Mom?"

"Hon, it wasn't her fault. She'd sit here and cry she felt so bad about it. She did it for you."

Ev's jaw locked and I knew the volcano had just been topped off. I went over to him and hugged him. He turned and a lone tear slipped down his cheek. His lip quivered and he just leapt at me to hug me closer. That's when the sobbing really started.

She came up and hugged him from behind. "Honey, I'm sorry."

I reach my arms out and pulled her to us. "He needed to hear it. I'm glad you told him. He never knew."

"She didn't know how to tell him. She was afraid he'd hate her."

Ev cried harder and I said, "Baby, it's going to be alright."

He looked up at me , "It hurt so bad."

"I know it did. I know it just made you feel like you didn't matter, but you did. You really did."

"How'd you know that's how I felt?"

"I feel that way about my Dad. I feel like if I'd just love him a little bit more, he'd not hit me. Each time, he'd do it again and again and again, and I felt like if I could just reach out and tell him how much it hurt, he'd stop. He didn't."

"Oh God, she didn't either. I felt like....like I just didn't matter to her....she'd....she'd....come home and she'd totally ignore me. I'd draw pictures and I'd even sing her damned songs thinking if I did, she'd pay attention to me. She'd just look at me and then go off to do something else to prepare for the next tour. And now I learn she thought she had to do it to feed us and make everyone else happy."

"Honey, think about the way it made her feel" Mama Hobbs said. "She'd come home and he'd give her enough stuff to do to make her time all filled up. Then, if she didn't, he'd complain and tell her she was nothing but a no good whore!"

Ev's anger surfaced. "He said that!"

"He said a lot of things she told me. None of them were nice. He'd pretend to care for her, but he didn't. People who call you names never do love you. I know that!"

Inwardly, I thought to myself. "A small woman with a childlike mind is saving my baby." I set it in my mind telling myself, "No matter what, she has the world coming from me and I'll give it to her."

Ev cried and then, he calmed some and then turned around to her. "I want you there. If she trusted you enough to tell you all that, she really liked you."

"Oh honey, she did. She said coming down here made her feel like she was going back to her childhood where she would go to a store and be with a lady who worked there. She said talking to me made her feel like she could tell me anything. I'm glad she did because it's helping you."

"It does. I just never knew."

"It made her feel bad. I could tell. She'd try to be glamorous, but when she came here, she would have her hair back and have clothes on which were nothing like those clothes in those pictures. She's laugh and tell me how those clothes itched and might look glamorous, but they'd be hard to wear because they showed too much."

Ev nodded , "She's still got all those clothes. Do you know she'd never wear them for us?"

"Honey, those clothes aren't to be worn for someone you love. Those aren't clothes you wear for anyone you want to know real well. It'd be too embarrassing."

"Why'd she do it?"

"That's what he wanted her to wear. Don't you realize when she got away from him that she started wearing clothes which were better? Look at this picture here. It's covering things which should be covered. This one here is too, but it's still beautiful."

Ev said, "I never paid attention."

"Hon, look at what she wore around the house. It's normal Mom clothes. When it mattered, she wanted to be normal for you. It wasn't normal while it was happening, but she stopped it when she could."

"I'm seeing that now. I wasn't there when Barry managed her, but I know she said she tried to treat her managers like she did Barry because it kept them happy. He started it, so she kept it up. It sucks, because it was just her responding to how she was treated my him."

I stopped and thought. "Son of a bitch. My Grandma said my Grampa treated my Dad bad. I bet he treated him just like he treats me." A chill went through me and I said, "Ev, I'm sorry, but I've got to go make a phone call."

"To who?"

"It's important."

He looked at me strangely and I went out the door. Out on the boardwalk, I was so nervous my hands were shaking.

"Hello"

"Dad"

"Don't you Dad me you son of a bitch."

"Dad, I need to talk. You might not like me and you might not want to hear what I have to say, but I finally understand."

"You don't understand shit you dumb fuck."

"Dad, how'd it feel when Grampa treated you bad?"

"It's none of your business what he did!"

"Dad, I understand. You might not understand, but I do. I got treated the same way. You didn't know how to express your hurt and pain, so you just treated me the same way he treated you. If it matters, I understand and know you went through hell."

"You trying to tell me you went through hell!"

"Yeah. Yes I did."

"You ungrateful son of a bitch."

"Grateful for the beatings? Were you grateful for them?"

"I hated his guts."

"And I did you too. You might want to kill me, but for what it's worth, I finally figured it out that you were hurt too."

"I couldn't talk with you. You were too little."

"Did you try? You could have tried. I would have listened. I loved you."

"You loved me?"

"I loved you and you'd yell. I tried being perfect and it was never good enough. I would wait until you got home from drinking and you'd whip me for staying up. I tried. You shut me out."

"I tried too. By the time you came along, I couldn't deal with a kid. I went through hell and then I went to Vietnam hell and it wasn't none different. People would say I was nuts and to me it twernt no different than living with that bastard. He'd shoot at me on Friday and Saturday nights because that's the only nights he could afford to buy ammo. Did you know I had to hide ammo in order to go out and kill something to eat? If I didn't, he sure wouldn't because it was all drank up......oh god, I did the same to you."

"Dad, I forgive you. I understand."

"Denny, don't do that to anyone else. I know you're a faggot, but guys have feelings too."

"I know Dad. I'm trying to love him. It's hard because he got hurt too."

"Don't let him hurt you!"

"I'm not. I'm helping him and he's helping me."

"Denny, I'm sorry. I...I... I've got to get off the phone now."

"Dad, don't."

The line was dead. Inwardly, I was glad I wasn't going to be around because it'd probably be a night the dog would get kicked he'd be so drunk and pissed.

I went back inside and Ev saw me. "You're crying."

"I had to call my Dad."

Shock registered on his face and I said, "He was hurt too. I just figured it out. He told me he was sorry."

He ran to me and we cried together. Mama Hobbs came over and hugged us from the side. She was humming a little song and as I began to listen, I heard it. "Fly little sparrows." I started to sing and she smiled. "I sung it to my boys. An old woman's voice isn't what it used to be, so I hum now."

"My mama sung it to me."

Ev chuckled , "Mom sang it to me too."

Mama Hobbs said, "Boys, the saddest day of my life was when my Mama died. Until then, I knew love. After then, I thought I'd never find it again until I met the boys' daddy. He showed me love and the second saddest day was when we was out looking for him and found him beat to death under the pier."

She stopped , "Hate is bad. Blind hate is just stupid. Someone is going to go to Heaven thinking they will get in and find out the good Lord is going to drop kick them to hell. They beat him because he was dressed bad and under there trying to get a good place to sleep."

My cell phone rang. Ev said, "You better get it. It might be him."

I answered. "Den?" It was Trent's voice.

"We got it on tape. I hate to tell you this, but he just committed suicide."

"Oh God!"

"Den!"

"Trent, I have to get off the phone. Tell them I'll be there. Get me a limo and all the protection you can muster because we're going to go bear hunting."

"No! Stay there and I'll handle this."

"Trent, tell them I'll be there Saturday evening to identify the body."

I looked up at Ev and the look on his face was pure shock. Mama Hobbs' hand immediately went to cover her mouth.

"Tell the authorities I'm coming in. If it takes the highway patrol, I'll be there. If they give me one second's grief, they'll wish they had been dealt with by my Dad."

"I'll tell them. There's a new bunch in as all of them were arrested earlier. He was going to be arrested himself."

"I know. I'm glad I got to talk with him. You tell them the weapons in that house belong to me and if any of them show up gone, I'll sue the fuck out of them to get them back."

"What are you going to do with them?"

"Keep them where they fucking are...that's what I'm going to do with them. That's a house I have to visit and relive. I have to come to a happy ending with it and it's ripping my guts out now to think it has to happen."

"Ok, let me get off here because the Marshall just pulled up."

"That'd be Jeff Green. You tell that son of a bitch Den said if he doesn't do like I asked...."

"No, Jeff got arrested earlier today. You're forgetting you can come home now."

"Oh. Tell them I'll be there Saturday night. Good bye."

I hung up , "My Dad just committed suicide. He found out I finally knew the secrets and forgave him and he just self destructed."

Ev said, "Weren't they going to arrest him?"

"Yeah, but my call came through before. I feel robbed all over.'

"Why?"

"Maybe I would have gotten to sit and talk with him in jail and get to know him better. Now I don't."

Mama Hobbs come over , "Honey, the good Lord works in mysterious ways. Maybe he thought the man had been through enough hell and didn't want him to sit in jail. Blame the devil for what he made him do, but remember you forgave him and he finally got a moment of peace."

"Ok, I'm glad you are speaking with me. I needed to hear that."

"Honey, my Mama and Grandma were strong people in the Lord. I might not have remembered when I left out of there, but I remember now. All this time, it's been bubbling within me waiting to come out and at the right time. It has."

"It sure has."

Ev was over on his phone. He had tears going down his face and I went over and hugged him from behind.

"I love you too. I'll be home tonight. I didn't know you were worried." he paused and then said, "Yeah, I love you too."

He hung up , "I can say it now. She needed to hear and you were upset with me last night because I couldn't, but I can say it now. Something told me I could."

I hugged him , "Babe, I'm really glad we came here. Let's go home."

"You don't want to go to the hospital?"

"I'll call him. Right now, I need to get home."

"Our house or home in South Carolina?"

"I need to get there too, but to me, home is the house now."

"I'm glad. It's where we need to be."

The End ab

Notes From Retta:

Hi. Something told me I needed to finish this story. I know it's way off of the beginning, but they needed to have lives and backgrounds. Now you've got the story and I hope it meets your expectations.

Writing it took several moments of realizations. It took a lot of understanding and it took a lot of acceptance. In the end, it took on a life of it's own and became very easy to write. It's like the words were bubbling from within and I just had to get them out....Mama Hobbs' words, but so very true for me too.

Writing my characters, it's weird but they get personalities. Some of them I like and others, I have more association with than others.

It's strange, but a lot of people see a star's life and they seem to focus on the outward appearance given off instead of the inner turmoil experienced by them. Rarely do we ever get to see it, but when it happens, it's sad....damned sad.

If you liked this story, you'll see a lot of similarities to my story Jordan. Both are guys names and both have a touch of the star personna touching them. Both deal with the subject of music, and both show a side we don't normally think about.

A long time back, when I began writing Evan, I never dreamt it'd end in this manner. I never saw the ending because I wasn't more focused than what would happen with Den beyond getting to the house. I guess it had to come when it did for it to be something which would have meaning. I hope it did.

If you appreciated this story or any I've written, please drop me a line. I attempt to respond to all emails although it's hard at times. Some of you know the difficulties I'm having with my left arm and some might know now I think it's cancer. It's not fun to think about because I ignored it thinking it was carpal tunnel or something which it wasn't. Let's pray it can be frozen like the ones in my legs were.

Switching subjects, I'm going to get into a different tone for a moment. In Evan, I've attempted to switch fonts and see what I could do to make my writing have it's own personality. I think I've found it and it's looking something like this page. If you like the pale yellow background, please let me know because it's the only thing I just don't like about the look so far. All the rest of it is going to stay the same.

One last tidbit. I mentioned my Aunt Wanda's name in here. She's long wanted to read my stories and just yesterday found she's needing to battle leukemia. Aunt Wanda, you're a source of inspiration and if ever Den were real, he'd be a woman and he'd be you. You're the only one who could ever make him run a little faster.

Prologue

This finish to Evan sat on my hard drive for the last 6 years. It hurt too much.

A lot has come out in my writing. It cathartic because I get to do a lot of introspection and working through so that the characters have depth.

Until someone read it and recently asked me to finish it, did I realize I hadn't completed it. Now it's being posted.

Thank you for reading my stories. I'm trying to get them finished so I can move on to the many others I've got started.

"From My Keyboard To Your Heart"

Retta

RettaMichaels@Gmail.com

Copyright Notice - Copyright 2008 by RettaMichaels

The Author, RettaMichaels copyrights this story and retains all rights. This work may not be edited, changed, or duplicated in any form, media [known or unknown], without the author's expressed permission. All applicable copyright laws apply.

Retta Michaels does NOT give editorial consent in order for this story to be published. If it is deemed unpublishable, in it's context, permission must be granted before publication or changed occur.

Trademark Notice - Trademarked 2008

"From My Keyboard To Your Heart", " 'Retta", "RettaMichaels", "Retta", "Rhett", "Rhette", "Vonn Michaels", "VonnMichaels", and "Vonn Michael's Stud Service Night Club" are all trademarks of the RettaVonnMichaels L.L.C.. None of these trademarks may be used, or authorized without consent.

Disclaimer: All individuals depicted in this story are fictional. Any resemblance to real persons, characters, locations, or incidents is purely coincidental.