Sometimes Dreams Come True

Once I reached one of the two restaurants that Spicolli was always at, I irreparably severed the power lines to the main electrical service panel, which not only made everything go dark, but also allowed me to slip into the restaurant undetected...

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Right before penetrating the restaurant, I mentally prepared myself for what I knew might end up becoming a lethal combat situation. However, when I thought of how Kate's parents' business was burned to the ground, I suddenly found not only reason, but also absolution for what I was about to do. And it was right then and there I decided that that I would only kill as a last, and I mean a very last resort...

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Once I was within the walls of the restaurant, I could hear some kind of commotion coming from just on the other side of the wall I was now facing. And facilitating the catlike night vision I was trained to use, I began slithering through the building like a swift, but deadly ooze, creeping ever closer to Spicolli with one thing in mind, and one thing only...

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The moment I found that piece of garbage, I threw a flash grenade to flush out the men that were armed so that I could dispatch them while extracting Spicolli if it came down to that. I threw the flash grenade, closing as well as covering my eyes for the purpose of keeping my night vision in tact, and as predicted, gunfire rang out from three of the four individuals that were in the room.

That was the moment that I decided to strike, and knowing that they would never see it coming, I silenced the three men who were armed, facilitating three Shiriken Stars with enough force to ensure that they wouldn't be waking up...ever. Then I used Spicolli's own fear of the dark to drive him from the restaurant and out into the open...

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Once Spicolli was out in the open parking lot, I removed my hood so that he would know who was responsible for his downfall, and then after kicking him in the face for good measure, I swept his legs from beneath him, placing the tip of my sword at his throat as he lay on his back in the dirt.

"I told you not to fuck with me," I viciously growled, my sword now a hair's breadth from breaking his skin, "Didn't I?"

"Come on, kid," he replied, with fear written all over his face, "Isn't there something we can work out?"

"YOU CAN COME OUT NOW," I yelled into the night air; and no sooner had I spoken those words than four men, all dressed in suits, appeared out of nowhere, all of them clearly of Sicilian descent; and as they drew nearer, I recognized Don Vito Palone as being one of them.

"I let you leave my family with your life, Frank Spicolli," Don Vito said to him, "But that wasn't good enough for you, was it? Now you do the things that this man has told me you've done, and in my family's name, too...what am I supposed to do with you now, huh?" as he kicked Spicolli in the ribs. Then he reached into his coat pocket, and after retrieving a cell phone, he dialed a number. Then after saying something in Italian to whomever he was talking to, he put the phone away.

"You've done my family a great service Rick Parker," he quietly told me, gently patting me on the shoulder as two large, black cars appeared, "And I'm in your debt."

"You can repay me by leaving us alone, sir," I respectfully replied, "I hope this settles things between our two families?"

"You come see me when you get out of college," he smiled, "Maybe I can find work for you."

"We'll see, Don Vito," I told him, as we shook hands, "We'll see," and then the other men loaded Spicolli into one of the black limos after which both of them took off...

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"Oh, my God," Kate gasped, immediately throwing her arms around me, once Chance dropped me off at my parent's house, "Thank God you're alright."

"What happened, son?" Dad asked, worry clearly written on his face.

"Maybe some other time, Dad," I smiled, hold my precious Kate as close to me as humanly possible, "In the mean time, Kate and I are going back to my dorm tonight..."

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"Are we going to be going to be safe now, Rick?" Kate asked, as I drove us back to the dorm, "Please tell me."

"You'll never have to worry about anyone bothering us ever again, my love," I told her, "Not ever..."

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Right after New Year's and a couple of weeks before the spring semester began, Kate and I moved into our own place. It might have been small, two bedrooms, but it was clean, it was safe, and last but not least, it was ours...

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It was the last week in January, and Kate and I hadn't been living in the house but a couple of weeks at the most when U.P.S. delivered an anonymous package to our front door step.

"Who is this from?" Kate asked, bringing the package in the house, "There's no return address anywhere on it."

"We'll know better once we open it," I chuckled, as she shook the box like it was a Christmas present.

I used a razor knife to remove the top, and before I examined the box's contents, I found a small hand written note that simply said one word, "Gratci" which is Italian for "Thank You", and when I looked deeper into the box, Kate and I discovered two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, all in bound stacks of one hundred dollar bills.

"Oh my God," Kate gasped, "This is mob money, Rick. We have to send it back."

"No, it's not, my love, not anymore," I smiled, "It's a Thank You Card, and I'm going to put this money to good use."

"What're you gonna do, Rick?"

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Eighteen months later, Katie and I graduated college, her with a degree in business, me with an Engineering degree, and to say that our parents were proud was an understatement. And then came mine and Kate's wedding, and it was very beautiful if I say so myself.

Every single one of our friends had been invited and every single one of them showed up. I even invited Detective Virgil Andrews and Lieutenant Dave Sorrells, who, with their wives in tow, both came. Although he was not able to come himself, Don Vito Palone sent me a card with a thousand dollars in it. I thought that it was a kind gesture on his part. Of course needless to say, neither Kate nor myself mentioned it to anyone we knew; it was our little secret.

We spent our honeymoon in Jamaica and had a blast while we were there, but like all good things, it soon came to an end. However a week after our return, the old site where Evans Barbeque Pit once stood was now clean and ready for new construction. Because Mom and Dad had given Roger and Sandy the deductible to pay their insurance company, Roger saw to it that my new construction company got the bid to rebuild the new restaurant. I redesigned the building, and along with the funds that I was given by Don Vito Palone, I built and even nicer building than the one they had before, expanding the dining area by another twelve thousand square feet, with another two thousand square feet in the kitchen.

Thirty one months to the day after the terrible night that it burned down, Evans Family Barbeque Pit reopened its doors. Roger was now in a position to be able to supervise the kitchen, of course sampling everything before it went out the doors, and Sandy ran the front.

Because of her degree, Kate ran the business office and found more efficient ways to run things, because she's that smart. Parker Construction, my company, began to flourish, and less than a year later, I built Kate's dream house for her on fifty acres of property that I'd gotten at a bargain price of five hundred dollars an acre...

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Nine months to the day after we moved into our new house, my beautiful Kate presented me with twins; a baby boy who we named Kyle, and a beautiful little girl who we named Kayla. Kyle and Kayla keep us pretty busy these days, but because mine and Kate's children have two sets of grandparents that love them more than anything, the load is never too much to bear.

The life I'm living now is the life I dreamed of having when I was just a little guy, and it just goes to show that if you've got enough love and faith, Sometimes Dreams Come True.

THE END

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