by Finian Blake
Cherry took over. “Well that’s the details. If you can deal with that, you’re in for one hell of a ride. Can you take the ‘Popeye oath’?”
“What the hell is the ‘Popeye oath’?”
Cherry pulled Rhonda to her, “I am what I am and that’s all that I am. That’s the oath and we all take it. Take me as I am or leave me.”
Rhonda pulled Cherry and whispered in her ear. “I am what I am and that’s all that I am.” They kissed fiercely and Sera started to leave.
“Arnold and I sleep in this room I don’t want stains on the sheets.” Sera ran out of the room and down the hall past Ted with Cherry and Rhonda hot on her heels. Ted effortlessly scooped up one woman under each arm.
“Play nice or I will have to spank both of you.” The red haired giant held them both as easily as a child would hold it doll.
“Do you promise?” Rhonda made her voice sound as seductive as possible.
“If he does his wife will spank him!” Cherry could not see Nadia but she knew her voice. Ted immediately dropped them both unceremoniously laughing as he did.
“Lassies I have just had a better offer. Now, run along and play nice.” Sera came back down the hall embracing Rhonda and Cherry in a three-way hug. Cherry relaxed completely, sure that their truce would hold.
Nabil was going blind on the internet looking at different types of tanker trucks for just the right combination. With all of the different types of trucks there had to be one that fit all of his requirements. Maalik artfully dumped all of the responsibility on him saying that he needed to shop for a target. Nabil knew that he wanted an explosion of maximum effect. He decided to take a ride around the area to see what kinds of trucks were on the road. Nabil drove aimlessly finally settling on a major truck stop. There were a few tables outside the restaurant in case someone didn’t like air conditioning in the 90-degree heat or wanted to enjoy the wonderful stinging smell of diesel exhaust. He sat with a cup of coffee watching the trucks enter and leave. Nabil’s interest peaked when a propane truck pulled in the truck side of the restaurant. The driver jumped out quickly sprinting toward the building.
Nabil was up instantly walking toward the truck. The truck was a single unit with a large pressure tank mounted on the back bed. The Tank appeared to be a pressure tank with a large inspection hole that was covered by a plate which was secured by ten or twelve substantial bolts. The tank was marked by large letters that read PROPANE. It would be perfect for their purposes. As Nabil walked past the truck he noted that the driver had left the truck running. He had just reseated himself at the table when the driver sprinted back to the truck tightening his belt as he ran. As the truck left the parking lot Nabil calculated the size of the tank guessing that it would be very close to the size that they needed. Nabil noted the name of the company planning to get more details for reference before bothering Maalik with a hard idea. He needed to figure out a trigger and compute the pressures involved. Maalik would need to find a target that would be worthy of the destructive force the bomb would produce. He decided to take the morning off to visit the propane company and start collecting his information.
Nabil picked up his cell phone. “Maalik I just wanted to give you a heads up. We can deliver the whole package on a single truck. I still have the fine details to figure out but you need to pick out a target that we can park a truck near.”
“You figured it out! How…?”
“Remember we don’t discuss things over the phone.” He enjoyed sticking Maalik with his own rules. “I won’t be able to get to your place for about two hours since its rush hour.” Nabil stopped for dinner after which he took a slow drive over to Maalik’s house so that he was fifteen minutes later than promised. He intentionally squealed the tires pulling in the drive and the tires screeched as he jammed on the brakes for show. Maalik was pacing in front of his garage door running up to the driver’s window before he could exit the car.
“Where in the hell have you been?” Nabil brushed him back with the car door.
“The traffic was a killer and there was an accident on the highway. The police only allowed one lane for cars in each direction and…”
“I don’t give a damn about that. What have you found?” Nabil took a little too much delight in Maalik’s frustration and it transferred to his face. “You dog, you are playing me!”
“There was an accident…”
“Tell me…!”
Nabil stood tall with pride, “I was at a truck stop carefully studying the trucks. Hundreds of trucks passed through. I was about ready to give up when this one…”
“Tell me…!” Nabil grabbed Maalik behind the neck pushing on his chest with the other hand.
“A propane truck, I saw a propane truck. They have a pressurized tank and the tank is just the right size with all of the proper labels. There are not that many but you do see them all the time and with 2,500 gallons of fuel it will make a large crater that will take a very long time to fill. The sentimental Americans will put a monument to celebrate our victory. They will cry and we will celebrate.”
“So tell me my friend, what great target have you selected for us?”
“I have not yet found a target,” Maalik mumbled.
Nabil swung his arm as if punching the air. “I have fulfilled my promise and will deliver a great weapon. The EPA wants to move all of this stuff and only needs to find a way to dispose of our fuel. I can be ready in a week when will you make up your mind!”
“I will make up my mind,” There was a long pause, “when I make up my mind!”
“Well if you take too long we will lose our weapon.” Nabil knew that he had pushed as far as he dared. His body sagged and collapsed against the fender of his car. “I will move ahead with my preparations. You need to know that we must modify the truck. We must to buy one right away. If we steal a truck they are not difficult to spot and it will take one or two days to accomplish the work. I will let you know how much money that I will need to make the deal.”
“We do not have unlimited funds.”
“The people that sponsor us have several oil wells if they want something big they will need to give big.”
“Be aware that our funds are limited.” Maalik was losing patience.
Nabil was also losing patience. “Be aware that I will leave this group if you let this pass.” He was dedicated to the cause but he was tired of the indecision. Nabil fired up the car slamming the shifter in reverse and backed out of the drive as quickly as he could manage narrowly missing Maalik’s feet. He ran down the drive screaming for Nabil to stop but only made it half way when the car was forced into drive grinding the gears as it lurched forward. As Nabil drove off he could see Maalik standing in the middle of the street dialing his cell phone. Nabil turned his phone off after the third ring because he had no desire to talk with the enraged Maalik.
It was Eight AM before the police decided on what to charge Felix with which was domestic abuse. The police didn’t allow him his phone call until ten o’clock that morning. They didn’t try to question him as a matter of fact they just took the information off of his driver’s license and put him in a holding cell without saying a word despite his protests. They seemed to delight in having a lawyer as a guest. It was eleven before his attorney was able to get to the jail. Felix was livid.
“Paul, they didn’t ‘Mirandize’ me or give me my phone call.” Paul Fenton was a former classmate of Felix. He had gone into private practice wile Felix pursued a government career.
“Did they try to talk to you?”
“No…”
“They still have not charged me.”
“The police have 24 hours to file charges. You know this stuff!”
“I have had cases thrown out of court because the police did not Mirandize the defendant.”
“That is because they tried to interrogate the prisoner before they read him his rights in your case they never talked to you. What did they arrest you for?”
“Betty, I though
t that the door was stuck and I threw my weight into it hitting her in the head which knocked her out cold. My daughter called 9 1 1. When the police showed up with an ambulance she was still unconscious. They took her to the hospital calling CPS for the children. I believe they think that I hit her. I haven’t been able to call the hospital or check on the kids. I am going crazy!”
“Felix that’s what I am here for. I will talk to them and see what I can work out.” Paul pushed Felix gently on the bench. “Listen I need around an hour just, sit down and don’t say a word, don’t scream at the jailer or kick the bars. I need to have them believe that you are stable. I promise that I will call Betty and check on the kids.”
It took an hour and Paul was back in the cell with some current news for Felix.
“I called the hospital and Betty is alright. She has a cut on her forehead and twenty stitches. Betty says that she doesn’t believe that you did it on purpose and forgives you. They will release her tomorrow pending a few more tests. The kids will be dropped off at your house by protective services but you must allow the case worker at least one hour for an interview with you and the kids. The good news is that the police will defer charges pending a good report from Family Services. That should be a visit a month for six months.”
“I didn’t do anything!”
Paul shook his head. “I know that you went to law school because I was there with you. Felix, she was out cold for four hours, and took twenty stitches you can’t tell me that all you did was bump the door. There is a lot more damage than that. All things considered this is the very least that they can do especially after that stalking thing in Maryland. You spent the night in jail at Fort Meade the other night. They wanted to go the full route with you here because of that. The only thing that saved you is that I convinced Betty that she had to say that she trusts you and that took some convincing.”
“What do you mean?”
“She doesn’t think that you were malicious but she is worried about all of these accidents. Why did you throw your weight into the door when a small bump might have done it? Felix you have issues that need to be worked out. You are a tenacious bulldog, with all of your traits it makes you a good prosecutor and a lousy family man. They will be done with your paperwork in five or ten minutes. Go home and do the work it may surprise you.”
“Thanks Paul…”
Felix did not go in through the garage. He went in through the front door and the very first thing that he saw was the huge blood stain on the wooden floor in the middle of the hallway. The blood stain bothered Felix. He grabbed a roll of paper towels and cleaned up everything that he could. He did not turn on the TV or anything else. Paul had suggested that he see what a silent house would be like. Felix did not care for the absolute silence in the least. Betty refused to see him until tomorrow morning wanting to give Felix time to think. She loved him but the accidents kept getting closer together and more serious.
Paul had talked Betty into not pressing charges. After all it was an accident. She was positive that Felix had not known that she was on the other side of the door. What if one of the kids had been there? Felix was a good provider and a good husband. Every once and a while he got out of control, but she knew that he was not a violent man toward her. Paul had insisted that the DA would make accepting help as part of her deferring the charges. The last month had been crazy with him losing control but Felix being thrown in jail for violating a restraining order was too much. He had not bothered to mention the restraining order. Betty had made up her mind to confront him last evening about his rages when the lights went out, and she woke up in the hospital with nothing familiar with no one around. The doctors had to give her a powerful sedative to get her to stop screaming. Half of her face was wrapped in a thick bandage. When the surgeon came in to redress the wound and examine the stitches, Betty saw that the scar ran from the hair line to her eye brow. First was Colleen then this woman in Maryland and now her. Betty picked up the phone and dialed the number that they had given her for CPS.
Felix had just poured himself a drink and settled into his study when the phone rang.
“Hello mister Owens My name is Stella from child protective Services I am required by law to notify you that this conversation is being recorded. You were told that we would bring your children home tonight. Unfortunately, we will be unable to do that until your wife returns home.”
“They’re my kids I want them home where they belong.”
“I know that you were told that they would be home tonight, but at that time we understood that your wife would be home also and we do need to interview both of you before we return them.”
Felix took a second to compose himself. “I am capable of taking care of my kids.”
“I understand that but the order says that I must interview both parents before relinquishing custody it’s a legal thing.”
“I am a lawyer and I understand legal things.”
Stella wanted to be precise. “If you are in fact a lawyer, you know that the only way that CPS can deliver your children to you is by court order. I can only deliver your children if you get the order changed.”
He used the last of his self-restraint to switch gears. “Thank you for your call Stella.” Felix filled his glass, draining it in one pass throwing it at the wall so hard that the base of the glass stuck in the wall. He stormed upstairs thinking that he would have to make a repair before Betty came home.
The phone rang again. He checked the caller ID noting that it was the office.
“Felix its Gerald Wringer, we have been trying to get a hold of you all day. We tried to call you on your cell and left several messages.” He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket noting that the battery was dead. Angry he threw it on the dresser harder than he calculated cracking the screen.
“My cell is dead. What’s up?”
“LA called and there were so many flaws in the writ that they couldn’t serve it. They have been calling for two days.”
“I have been indisposed.”
“You mean incarcerated. You can put a coat over your head but your name was splashed all over the news and they used a file photo so you made the news anyway. You came out of that house looking like a certified criminal. The AG also found out about your say in Fort Mead Maryland and would like to see you at six A.M. before the morning news cycle begins.”
Felix tried to beg off, “I have to pick up my wife.” He did not want to mention the hospital but Gerald continued.
“The doctor probably won’t release her before eight. I will give you a hint about what will be discussed the incident last night, your arrest in Maryland, your spectacular incident at NSA headquarters, and bribing Colleen Arthur to access a restricted file that you could have filled out a request for. I think that covers it.”
“If you knew that I was in jail why didn’t you get me out?”
“You’re the number six lawyer in the Department of Justice and that’s what lawyers do!”
Felix walked over to the dresser to retrieve his phone finding the screen cracked he threw it up against the wall with all his might. The phone shattered with pieces flying all over the bed room. Felix reached over to turn off the lamp knocking it over, breaking the bulb and collapsing the lampshade as he tried to catch it. Felix was suddenly exhausted and fell asleep on top of the bed covers in his clothes with his shoes on.
Rhonda and Cherry returned to Rhonda’s house. They made their way to the bedroom. Rhonda checked her messages finding three panicked messages from Boris. Ten of his people were due into Dulles Airport the day after tomorrow. Rhonda started to get undressed when the phone rang again.
“It’s Boris, Cherry.” She rolled over answering the phone.
“Good evening Boris we just played your message. Why do you sound so panicked?”
“Ten people will be here the day after tomorrow and five are staying in England what will happen?”
Cherry put the phone on speaker and started to undress as she talked to B
oris. “Take the day off tomorrow and Nadia will pick you up. How many apartments do you need?” Cherry lay back on the bed naked, not bothering to take the phone off of speaker while Rhonda started to pile scarves on the bed.
“Three, there are two families and my mother. My sister decided to stay in England she said that it is my turn to take care of mother.”
Cherry kept her voice low so as not to add to his excitement. “I will see you upstairs tomorrow. We will then wait out front until Nadia picks you up. We have already prepared the three apartments and we will sit down and see what their needs are.” Cherry needed one more piece of information. “What will you need to accommodate your school sweetheart?” As Cherry talked on the speakerphone, Rhonda playfully tied her wrists to her ankles with the scarves.
“Nothing, she decided to stay in England with a cousin. She still likes me but she is married to my cousin. They didn’t tell me for fear that I would not take them too. Somebody called Beth gave her a job as a seamstress and someone called Ernie gave my cousin a job training horses.”
“Are you happy with all of the arrangements? Would you rather that we do not back your sweetheart or cousin.” Cherry wanted to see what kind of man Boris was.
“No I would’ve tried to bring them over anyway even if I had known.” Cherry thought that she detected the sound of relief and Boris’s voice.
“Rhonda and I do not wish to get in the way of true love. We will step aside so that you can be with your true love.” Rhonda was proving to be a real distraction sensually playing with Cherry as she tried to hold a conversation with Boris
“Absolutely not, I couldn’t be happier with the way that things turned out, you know that I would never want to disappoint you,” Boris said with a nervous laugh.
“Then could you please, do me one little favor?” Cherry made her voice small like a little girl.
“You don’t have to ask, just tell me what to do.”