There Must Be a Mistake Ch. 06

One day the telephone rang and it was you, my darling brother, the love of my life was calling me and apologizing with every other word out of his mouth for abandoning me, and acting like an idiot. I cradled the phone against my ear, listening to your every word as I lay down on my bed crying. You had patented your first product, something about earphones. I couldn't have cared less. I was just listening to your voice. It was music, no it was a symphony. You begged me to talk to you, but I couldn't because I was crying so hard. I was finally able to say, "Even I love you so much."

You said to me, "I have loved you since I was 13 years old. I am so sorry I hurt you."

Then you said something that frightened me, because I thought you knew my secret. "How is our little girl?" I stopped breathing. Then you repeated your question as if I didn't hear you. "How is Delicious?" I breathe a sigh of relief.

"Roly-poly has thinned out. She is now long and lean but Julius is no longer allowed to touch her. I caught him playing between her thighs and I went ballistic. I threatened him with his life, and he knew I wasn't kidding. He doesn't go near her now, not even when she's playing."

"Did you call the police?"

"It would be my word against his. There is no physical evidence; they would be able to do with thing."

I remember the conversation as if it was yesterday, because it was our first since you stop talking to me. You promised to call me every few weeks checkup on me, and you did. My spirits soared, and he noticed.

"What's happened to you, you look happy?"

"I'm happy because the pervert, who is my husband, is staying away from my daughter. He had better continue to stay away from her."

That ended that conversation in a hurry, and he never brought it up again.

We moved into a house of our own. It wasn't much but it was ours. Delicious had her own room, and I spent hours in their tutoring her because she was very smart.

It didn't take me long to realize she was as smart as her father. I started bringing books home from the library that were high school level. She breezed through them. Science, math, physics, it didn't matter, if I didn't understand them she would explain it to me. Then it got ridiculous. By the time she was nine years old the library had to order books for her on advanced subjects that I had no clue what they were talking about. Books on Particle Physics, Nuclear Research, String Theory, what the hell were these things? I sure as hell didn't know. I wanted to send her to you, so you could continue her education. You kept calling me and telling me how wealthy you were and to leave Julius and come to live with you in Colorado. It was a very tempting offer but my life here has not gotten to the breaking point yet. Julius and I had an understanding; he could do what he wanted outside the house, as long as he behaved inside the house. It was working out. He was screwing everything in a skirt. Delicious and I were being left alone.

Two things happened in the same month; Delicious had her 10^th birthday, and Doctor Even Luck was nominated for a Nobel Prize in Science. I already knew you were very wealthy, but I never told anyone else. Julius said he hoped you won so you would give us part of the $1 million prize money. Dad called you a loser. There is no sense arguing with him, so I stayed silent. You know he hated you because you didn't go to work at the paper mill making $18.50 an hour. He wanted you under his thumb for the rest of your life. Thank God you escaped.

I don't know how he did it, but Julius found the books Delicious was studying from. We were sitting at the kitchen table and he threw them down in front of us. "What are these?"

Delicious said, "I'm studying for Advanced Placement in science and math. Those are my books."

He seemed to accept her answer until a few weeks later when he cornered me in the kitchen.

"I know what you are trying to do. If you send that little bitch to your brother, I'm not going to kill you; I'm going to kill your parents. Then I'm going to Colorado and killing her and your brother. I'll have a few of my friends come here and have a party with you. When they're finished, there will not be enough of you to put in a doggy bag."

I protested. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm hoping she is able to get into MIT just like Even did. What good would it do to send her to him? She has all the books here she needs, and she has to finish college."

"Remember what I just told you, because I'm not kidding. She leaves this house your parents are gone, your daughter is gone, your brother is gone, and you are plaything for my friends until your dead."

I shrugged my shoulders and said, "Then I have nothing to worry about." I walked by him as if I did not have a care in the world. I don't know if it confused him or not, but he never brought up the subject again.

The problem for me was that was exactly what I was going to do. If I could get Delicious out of harm's way, and deal with him one on one, I stood a better chance of winning. Now I had no chance at all because our parent's lives were at stake.

Delicious started to bloom when she was 12 years old, and the pervert noticed. It wasn't only him that noticed, but every boy at school. It seemed every other girl stayed flat while delicious had a chest of 34B. She was honey, and the boys were flies. She couldn't keep them away from her. They would grab her while she was in the school hallway, at gym class, and even in the classroom. The teachers ignored her pleas for help. I started reading about ways to help children defend themselves from this type of aggression, but all of them required interference by school authorities. I found three books that I thought were absolutely brilliant in their concept and started putting them into practice at home with her. It was quite an attitude adjustment, because this was not my baby. She was sweet to the core, and I had to change her into the wicked witch of the west.

We practiced hard over the summer months between eighth grade, and first year of high school. She went from her demure walk to walking like a truck driver. Her dresses went from knee length to a few inches below her crotch. They were so short I had to sew panties into them to keep her covered. The biggest adjustment was her attitude. She was a great student. She should go to Broadway to act because when she started she was magnificent. I would walk up to her as if I was a boy attempting to get the best of her in front of his friends, and embarrassing her.

"Hey cunt you want a piece in my meat. You think you can take it all down your throat, and swallow my cum?"

Delicious would reply with something like: "What that pimple, I couldn't even brush my teeth with it."

As she got older she came up with something I didn't even think of. If a boy came on really strong, she came on stronger. She would move into his private space and say, "Let's do it. Let's do it bareback. A guy gave me the gift that keeps on giving. I may as well give it to you. If I have herpes why shouldn't you."

Once the word got around that she had herpes the boys gave her a wide birth. It was the smartest move she ever made, and it never occurred to me. There was only one person we could not pull that stunt on and he lived in this house. Every night at dinner he would look at her as if she was on the plate. I began wearing slacks all the time with a folding knife in each pocket. When he went out drinking with his friends after dinner, Delicious and I would study until the wee hours of the morning. We made sure she did not do well in school to go along with her persona, but I knew she was bright.

Every night when he got home he would open her bedroom door only to find us studying. He would slam the door shut and go to our bedroom to sleep. Delicious had a knife under her mattress for protection also. I wasn't sure she had the courage to use it on him.

You, my brother, gave me the courage to go on. Your phone calls, your constant pleas for me, and our baby to come to live with you were always in my mind. I couldn't do it because of the threat to our parents. The police would have been helpless again, because no crime had been committed. They were only words uttered, supposedly in anger. I knew better, but they are restricted by the law. There were hundreds of times when he came home so drunk I could have killed him, and said he assaulted me, but I am not a killer. I could not have lived with myself if I did it. I would have been worse than him. My life was bad, no it was terrible, but at least he didn't touch me or our baby. I went to work every day and had friends to talk to. During those hours my life was normal. Delicious made sure she did not enter the house unless my car was in the driveway. She was never allowed to be alone with him.

You called me last night and you patented another one of your thingamajig's. I wish I could understand what you were talking about, but you were higher than a kite about it. I was up there with you. It is such fun to talk to you when you are like that. It is like when we were kids, and you would tickle me. I would scream and you would never let me go until I begged for mercy. You were such a bastard that way. My one and only weakness and you took me anytime you wanted with it. Well, actually I had to weaknesses, tickling, and you Even, my brother. I would do anything for you. One day I hope to see you reach out for the stars, and the world will proclaim you a hero among men. I have known that since we were children. When you get to your destination do not be surprised if I am there waiting for you, because my heart is always with yours. I love you so much Even.

Dad called. He told me Julius was hurt playing football with his friends. What a shame. He's on his way here to get me and to take me to the hospital. I'd rather go to the dentist. Delicious is at a girlfriends' house. I will put our little sign in the window so she knows not to come in the house. I have to put this book away with his trophies, just in case he has a broken leg and comes home. I wish he broke his neck. My life would be so much easier. I could be in heaven with my two loves, my daughter, and my brother. I will continue writing when it is safe.

**********

I closed the diary and placed it in Delicious' hands. She held it to her chest and cried.

I lamented, "Why did not she tell me? I could have bribed him with a few million dollars and he would have let you both go. That is all he ever wanted: money! I could have given him $1 million a year for the rest of his life as long as he never entered the United States again. He would have jumped at the chance."

"She lived her whole life for me. Everything she did was to protect me from him. If your parents and listened to her at the very beginning, none of this would have happened."

"My father was a very hard man. I was his son, his firstborn. I was to follow in his footsteps and take over at the mill. I was nine years old when I told him I was going to be a scientist. He smacked me and told me I was going to work in the mill and learn his job so I could take over for him. I told him no. I was nine years old and I told my father no, I am going to be a scientist. He hated me from that day on.

When your mother became pregnant with you, and Julius accidentally lived in the same town, she did not stand a chance. If the boy lived in a 100-mile radius my father would have gotten him to marry her. He would move heaven and earth to get his way, regardless if he was right or wrong. He was good at his job, but he was terrible as a human being. He had very few friends, and I never heard my mother talk back to him. I never saw her smile."

When I graduated MIT they did not come. Thousands upon thousands of people were there to congratulate 28 students who became Doctors of one discipline or another and I had no one there to congratulate me. I believe that is what turned me inward and more determined than ever to succeed. I did, beyond my wildest dreams.

Now, I am 33 years old and I have the opportunity to help a daughter whose life I missed 17 years of. I will start from the ground up with you. It will be as if you are brand-new; a baby in my arms. You know what that means do not you?"

"No dad, what does it mean?"

"No sex for 16 years."

"Dad, you do not have a prayer."

"How much would you like to bet?"

"Why do I have this feeling I am a fish with a hook in my mouth?"

"If we leave this earth in 10 years, and I put you in stasis, it will be a lot more than 16 years."

"You should not have said anything dad. It means I have to hurry up and get all the sex I can in the next 10 years."

"You are only going to have one tiny problem."

"What do you have in store for me now?"

"I am going to have you handcuffed to Gordon."

"Dad you are impossible."

"Please do not tell me you have just figured that out."

"I would like to get mom's book put into a sealed glass enclosure so it does not decay."

"I will have Rod do it for us."

"That will be fine. Where do we go from here dad?"

"Can I say I am sorry that I missed all those years of you growing up?"

"You can, but it was not your fault. It was not mom's fault. It was not even Julius's fault. It was your father's fault. If he had kept his nose out of everybody's business none of this would have happened. It was a chain of coincidences. Why couldn't Julius have lived in Maryland or Tennessee or any place but in Maine? Why couldn't your father have kept his mouth closed? After you graduated, mom would have moved in with you in a heartbeat. The three of us would have lived together happily ever after."

"Tomorrow I am getting married to a woman I truly love. How does this fit into the scheme of things?"

"It all goes back to your father. He forced mom to marry Julius. He was driving the car, when he tried to beat the train at the crossing. He set everything in motion, and that is why everything is where it is today. Do not look backwards dad; look forward to a great life with Jennifer. Mom would want it that way."

"I hope so, I have really do."

"She said so dad, she said, "One day I hope to see you reach out for the stars, when you get there do not be surprised if you find me there waiting for you, because my heart is always with you." If she is not telling you to go on I do not know who is dad."

"You are right. We will start Monday morning brainstorming ideas on the design of the craft. You are going to have to contact C.E.R.N. They are the only ones that can produce enough antimatter in a seven-year time period to fuel your engine."

"Dad, I am not going to use antimatter."

"Oh fuck, don't tell me, I do not want to know."

"Chicken shit."

"$10 please."

"That goes for you too."

"God I hate myself."

**********

27. A NEW START

"Gordon have you blown my machine up yet?"

"No dad, but Doctor Thyme seems confused."

"What is the matter Gray?"

"Doctor Luck, he is only four years old. He could not have been exposed to the formulas he is using to figure out these problems. At times he is skipping three and four steps and coming out with the proper answers. I cannot do it, how is he?"

"Have you asked him?"

"Honestly, I have been too embarrassed to ask him."

"Gordon, you have heard Doctor Thyme's question, can you answer it for him?"

"The numbers just run around in my head, and tell me where to put them. When they want me to skip something they put flowers in the way and I have to jump over them. I just follow what the numbers tell me to do."

"Do you see Gray, it's easy. You just follow the numbers and jump over the flowers."

"Can I tell that to Doctor Oyster when he gets here tomorrow?"

Delicious asked, "Clam is coming here tomorrow?"

"Clam?"

"Yes that is what Director Meil calls him. Dad we forgot to send him the figures on the Milli-Newton Thrusters. One will get you 10 that is why he is coming to your wedding."

"Should we really blow his mind and have Gordon look at the numbers?"

"Yes, let Gordon see Caltech's numbers."

"Gordon, a scientist at a very prestigious university on the West Coast called is building a miniature thruster to be used in space. We do not think it will work. He thinks it will. Would you look at the information for us and give us your opinion on it?"

"Sure dad."

I brought up the program at his station and backed away. I asked him if he would like something to drink, because it was a long program and would take him about an hour to go through.

"Can I have some orange juice?"

"Sure, I will be right back."

Gray had never seen the program so he went through at his station and I went through it at mine. Delicious stood behind Gordon holding his orange juice. Every time he found a problem in the program he highlighted it and continued. It took him 90 minutes to go through the entire program and he found seven problems. Delicious had found five. She was not happy so she asked him about the two she missed. It cost her $20 because they were simple errors.

"Gordon, I am sorry I used bad words. You are fantastic."

My son said in his ever-humble manner, "I know."

As delicious walked by me she said, "Some girl is going to kill that kid."

I laughed.

We downloaded the corrected programs onto discs and sealed them in anti-magnetic envelopes and put them into a carry folder. Our workday was over, fun time was here. Or at least I thought so.

I was told I could not see Jennifer until at least 3 o'clock this afternoon. I took Gordon by the hand and said, "Come on son, let us go outside and play."

Delicious mocked me. "The great and powerful Doctor Even Zachariah Luck knows how to play?" This

"If you look at the list of my patents, two of them are for very successful and profitable toys."

"No shit."

"Gordon would you tell her please."

"$10 in the pretzel jar please."

Delicious knelt down beside him and said, "Listen little brother, I am going to take that money out of your allowance if you are not careful."

"I did not know I was getting an allowance. How much is it and where can I invest it."

Doctor Grayson Thyme walked to the side of the stairwell and held onto the railing for balance.

He said, "Gordon, if I give you all the money that is in my 401(k) would you invested wisely for me?"

"I can tell you what to do with it, but I cannot do it for you, because I am not registered as a broker."

Gray dropped his head to his chest, until his mind cleared.

Delicious took his arm and asked, "Gray are you all right?"

"I have a question to ask, and I am very serious about it. I want to watch this little boy grow up, because I want to learn from him. The only way for me to do that is to leave NASA, and join your intrepid little group, to help you design your Starship. Would you be willing to take me on as a charter member of your building crew? I would love to go 'WHERE NO MAN or WOMAN HAS GONE BEFORE!'

That is the problem with working at NASA. You work for a generation on a craft that you can call every nut and bolt your own. Then three or four strangers get inside it, and they are the heroes.

The actual heroes are the dreamers, designers, metallurgists, everyone down to the maintenance men, who make sure that no scrap of wire or waste is in that machine before it blasts off.

Apollo 13 was almost a disaster because of a bit of unshielded wire, and it was only going to the moon. Orion is going to Mars. If it happens out there, those men are dead, and the fault falls on us.

I smiled at Delicious. "You are going to have to design a larger containment unit."

She got me again.