In for a Penny

Many thanks go to RF-Fast and FyreHeart for their editing and suggestions that enhanced the story. Any bad grammar left is wholly on me and my artistic style.

LEGALESE: Don't read this if you are underage, if it is illegal in your area, if it is offensive to you, or if you cannot distinguish fiction from reality. This is a work of fiction. All characters active are of the age of consent.

I don't consider myself a writer or author, I'm a storyteller. So please take that into consideration when you read it, it should be read like someone is telling you the story. I am not now, or never have been, an English major. So synonyms may be wrong, and the grammar may not be correct, but it is like people really talk. I've never talked to someone that had perfect grammar.

I write for my enjoyment and for the patriotic people that like it. If you don't like how and what I write, oh well. Don't read it. My feelings won't be hurt.

To all the true Americans in one uniform or another, THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE! And remember, the greatest enemy of the United States Constitution and your individual freedoms and rights is not Red China, is not Russia, is not ISIS... no, the greatest threat to America is the American mainstream media hacks, their corruption, their dishonesty, and their rabid political bias toward the American Socialist Democrats.

For those of you that do like what I've posted so far, thank you and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it.

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One additional note for this story. The kernel of it was suggested by a reader named Darren. As usual, I took select bits and ran with it. Many thanks for prompting me to go in a direction I hadn't considered. There my even be a spin-off in the works.

Copyright (c) 2022 by Acup

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In for a Penny

Happy fucking holidays!

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You can only go a few days without water, and I was going fucking nuts after twenty-four hours.

Not that I didn't really have water. I had two cases of bottles sitting beside the door where the building management had dropped them off with profuse apologies. I could look out over the ocean but couldn't take a shower.

Bottles didn't include a hot shower. Bottles didn't include the ice maker. I can't tell you the number of times I went to the sink or toilet out of habit since yesterday. I had to find a bucket to flush the toilet. It had one of those pressurized bladders, not even a fucking tank to fill. Took longer to dump some bottles in the bucket than it did to take a piss.

I didn't really want to do this, but I dialed anyway.

"Hello?"

"Hey Mom." I could barely hear her over the shouting in the background.

"Titus, how nice to hear from you." Gee Mom, you think you could add just a little more sarcasm to your voice?

"You too Mom. I was wondering if it would be okay to drop by in a little while. The water is out to the building and I need to clean up a little."

"Of course honey, you can come over anytime. Your brothers and sister are in watching the game with your Dad."

No shit Mom! What else would you guys be doing today, somehow I didn't think you guys would be playing scrabble or having crossword contests. "I have to get a few things together, so probably half an hour or so."

There was a big cheer in the background. "Okay honey, we'll see you in a little bit." Then hung up, she had to get back to the game.

I shook my head as I put my phone in its clip, my family. I'm not sure who was the bigger disappointment, me to them or them to me.

To them, I was as close to the scourge of the earth and still be family as I could since I didn't live, eat, and breathe football.

Dad was a guard in college and Mom was a cheerleader. They melded together and had mostly little football fanatics. There are two large old pictures on the wall in the den, Mom in her old cheerleader outfit and Dad kneeling with a football on his knee in one of those old leather helmets.

He got knocked around a lot back then and never finished college. Grandpa said he'd had his brains scrambled one too many times. Grandma would scold him for saying it, but she didn't disagree with him. Many times I didn't either.

Dad had a fancy sounding union title he liked to rattle off, but those that knew, knew what he did. He was the 'field coordinator' for a company that took the food trucks out to the airport. He checked trucks in and out at the service gate because the FAA said somebody had to.

Mom had a job in an office for a while until Bill came along.

Brother Bill, community college Associate's degree in management. Parts house store manager.

Brother Fred, community college Bachelor's degree in management. Area supervisor for a small local convenience store chain.

Sister Gail, no degree, just seven years of college with many and varied majors. Secretarial pool at City Hall.

But on game day they were all FOOTBALL. Just below Mom and Dad's pictures were theirs.

Bill in an on field celebration after a bowl win. He spent the game on the bench for coming in high. The only reason he wasn't kicked off the team was they won and it was the last game.

Fred in a scrimmage picture. He got off the bench once in a while but usually was right back there after a few penalties... and maybe some broken bones on the other team.

Gail standing on the top of a stack of kneeling cheerleaders. That was the biggest joke of them all. They had to put a ladder behind them and cover it for her to stand on. None of the other girls wanted her fat ass up on top of them. She was ALWAYS on the bottom of the pyramid. She'd get pissed when I told her it was the uniform and cleavage that got her the husband.

Where was my big picture? Not up with the football hero's. My little picture was on the end of the mantle. Me in my cap and gown, my valedictorian sash prominently displayed. Graduated with a Master's in computer science and a minor in criminal justice. They came in just as I was stepping down from the podium, the game went long.

But my grandparents were there right up front, Grandma standing up pumping one fist, with thumb and finger of her other hand in her lips letting out a whistle the whole city heard. The crowd chuckled when Grandpa pulled her back down to her seat.

My grandparents, damn, it's hard to believe they are gone. It's been almost five years and I still expect them to show up and yell 'SURPRISE!'. They went out on the Atlantic in a fishing boat with friends, something they had done many, many times over the years. No bad weather, just a nice sunny day. They should have been back that evening, but it wasn't unheard of for them to stay out fishing all night.

When they weren't back the next morning the marina manager alerted the Coast Guard and a search was launched. The university even got out their new side scan sonar and helped out.

Nothing, absolutely nothing. The Triangle had swallowed them up. I took a semester off from school. I would, and could, have taken more, but Grandpa would have been scowling at me for doing it. I put more time in at the stores to make sure they were on track before I went back to school.

Grandpa started out young at one of the big chain grocery stores. Didn't like the way they treated some of the locals and stomped off and went to a little mom and pop store. He helped it grow, took it over, and had expanded it a bit before they disappeared.

The reading of the will was just what Grandpa had said it was going to be.

Mom and Dad got their old house, and promptly sold it.

Bill got the boats, well now just the little boat, and sold it.

Fred got Grandpa's truck and drove it into the ground.

Gail got Grandma's car. She didn't wreck it, but her daughter did with a blood alcohol of 2.8.

I got a promotion at the store. I was 'put in charge.'

The little bit of money in the bank was used to cover some small debts and all their funeral expenses.

My siblings razzed me. They got stuff, I got a raise.

But Grandpa wasn't into all the fancy titles and names. 'If a man does what he does with pride, then ain't no damn fancy name going to make a difference. Be it the president or the garbage man.' He'd grin after saying it, 'and there have been a few of them lib presidents that weren't much more than a garbage man, huh?'

Yeah, I got a raise, to Chairman of the Board, with a controlling interest. Everybody else was so intent on what they got they signed off on the disbursement without reading it. Grandpa said my brothers and sister would, but it was fifty-fifty on Dad. Sad to say you were right Grandpa. The stores were no big deal to the rest of the family. My grandparents lived in a modest house and drove middle of the line vehicles. Nothing special. More like they didn't flaunt their money, they reinvested it back into the stores. And the worst part was, they could take or leave the football.

Dad was their only child, but he was as much a disappointment to them as I was to him. Didn't matter to Grandpa if it was the part time night stocker or the store manager, EVERYBODY was respected until they screwed up. To Dad, the only thing that mattered was football.

You never saw such a 'calm' bunch of worried men as when I walked into the board room. I was half the age of most of them and I held their jobs in my hand.

Three of the management guys were on the verge of being let go, one of them actually in this room. I carried a thick file in my hands and slapped it down on the table scanning their faces. I stood leaning on the table instead of sitting down.

"You all know why we're here?" I asked as I scanned their faces again. Each of them nodded.

"Are profits up?"

There were some affirmatives of various sorts from them.

"And you all know your jobs?"

More nodding.

I picked up the file and held it up making them look at it.

"This is Grandpa's shit list."

There was a collective gasp.

"There are a number of names in here. Some were going to get a talking to, some had already been talked to and were on the way out, a select few were just plain going to be out"

There were some worried looks.

"But in light of his passing, you guys are going to get a bit of a break." There was a collective sigh.

"Two things are going to happen." I held up the file, "First, this list is going to go on the shelf for ninety days. I'll review everything in it against the ninety days. Second, this and next quarter's profi sharing is not going to be much."

There were some grumblings and a few pissed off old guys.

"You've seen the consultants going through the stores, we start implementing in two weeks."

"But..."

I held up the file, he was one of the ones on the soon to be out list. The room got silent.

"Everything will be computerized and upgraded. Ordering will become semi-automated with our suppliers. Orders generated by computer against sales, but just checked and approved by the appropriate personnel. Any changes made to the computer order will be noted." The nervous guy was one who was skimming, and Grandpa had finally figured out how. The only reason he was not out on his ear was the reason. His little girl had cancer.

"When it fully comes on line, there will be a few positions eliminated." I held the file up, "Most will be promoted to empty positions, the dead weight will be out the door." I paused and looked at them. Most were relieved they weren't collectively fired. Grandpa had done that to three quarters of the board when he took over. "Any questions?"

There were none, so they got up and shuffled to the door as I sat down and opened the file.

"A moment of your time Sid," I called out just as they got close to the door.

One man slumped and slowly turned back to the table, the rest disappeared like smoke on a windy day. He sat at the end, the look of a broken man. Grampa was right, he was a proud man. I held the file up, he slumped a bit, then sat straight.

"You know," he said softly.

I nodded, his head dropped. "Tomorrow you will be promoted retroactively to second manager."

His head snapped up, his mouth hanging open.

"With full medical."

He dropped his head to his arms on the table and openly cried.

I got up and stopped beside him putting my hand on his shoulder. "We'll call it an advance against a paperwork screw up, but it stops today."

His crying stopped and he looked up at me red-faced.

"Go, be with your family. Give them the good news."

He stood quickly and gave me one hell of a bear hug, then dashed out the door wiping his eyes.

Grandma's words came back to me, and I could see Grandpa shaking his head but smiling. "Good men will do bad things to protect their children.'

There was a lot of grumbling over the next few months as the new software was implemented. Some of the older folks just couldn't get their head wrapped around the computer vs the paper forms that could be filled out and then changed as needed order by order. A lot of the standing orders went by the wayside as well. Those two changes alone eliminated about forty percent of our waste.

One of the suppliers bitched up one side and down the other about us canceling a standing order and placing an order for half that amount. They bitched the next month when that was reduced another ten percent.

The following month a new supplier was pleased as punch to pick up a small chain he had been trying to get his foot in the door with for two years. First we heard about it. That ordering department manager was one of the first to be let go. The software made his position redundant.

By the end of the next quarter, three more were fired, seven retired with full benefits, and fifteen were promoted, and we even had a little bit of a profit sharing.

Once some of the management realized how much the automatic ordering was saving in time and waste, they started asking about tweaking it for different store markets. Profits went up, and we were opening a new store every year. One year we took over two after an easy buy out just before I sold the stores to a conglomerate that wanted to take them national.

So here I was sitting in my big waterless apartment wishing I had my grandparents to go see instead of my family.

Happy fucking holidays is right.

I grabbed my go bag and took the elevator down to the parking garage and decided to take the truck. I wasn't in the mood to deal with the family if I drove one of the nice vehicles. Yeah, it was a bit much for Miami, more like something some redneck in the swamps would drive, but a jacked-up, wide mud tired F-250 also got the puny little sports cars out of the way. Probably thought I'd go up and over them if they did something stupid. I had grinned for six months after I bought it hoping some idiot would do that, just so I could test my theory. No luck.

The drive over to my parents felt like a man on his final walk to the gallows.

I pulled up on the street amongst all the other vehicles, looks like the whole gang is here... great. A few deep breaths and the slow walk to the door. I knocked, but I think I could hear them outside better than they could hear me inside. It was unlocked, so I just went on in. I tried to sneak past the den, but Mom was coming out of the kitchen with a big platter.

She turned quickly to set the tray down, grabbed my cheeks, and laid a big mom kiss on them. "TITUS!"

"Hey tits up, you come crawling home finally?" I heard Bill call out.

Mom turned her head to the door, "William, watch your language, there are kids in the house."

I was between a rock and a hard place. Not wanting to upset Mom, and really wanting to go kick my brother in the nuts. I probably would never get the guts, but the thought of him rolling on the floor screaming really made me feel good.

Mom let me go to get the platter, then stopped, "You know Titus, you really should move out of that little apartment and get a nice place."

"Okay Mom."

She went to the den, I went to the front bathroom, and locked the door. Even with their kids in the house, my brothers were not against trying something.

I shook my head at Mom. I had moved four times since that apartment. They had been invited over to each place several times but something always came up.

I reveled in a nice hot shower, dreading getting out and spending time with the family.

I walked out slowly trying not to be noticed. Mom got up and came to sit with me at the bar. Half 'Mom talk', half watching the game in the mirror. You know the 'Mom talk'.

'Sondra just got divorced and moved back in with her parents.' Sondra, first kiss, head cheerleader. Told all the other girls I needed a lot more practice. Now pushing two fifty with three brats. Rumor is the kids weren't his, hence the divorce.

'I saw Tessa's mother at the store the other day.' First 'girlfriend'. Got a good squeeze of the tits while necking. Got an encouraging moan and thrust of tit, started putting my hand down her pants and she started screaming and running back to her girlfriends. They weren't supposed to be at that party, or I would probably be in jail for attempted rape the way she was telling it.

There was a big play and Mom jumped up to go in and cheer with everybody else.

Text from a restricted number '154'

Really Lynch? You've been watching too many movies. He got like this every once in a while. '58 + 87 MIA' I texted back.

He must have been waiting 'OPF, and don't look so thrilled.'

I raised my hand to the window and gave him the bird.

'Now, now, such naughty language from such a nice young man. What would your mother think of you for that?'

I flipped him off again, he was out there somewhere.

':-) twenty minutes.'

Mom was just coming back in. I raised my phone. "Gotta go, work."

Mom scowled, "You really need to slow down Titus. Find a nice girl, enjoy life."

Translation, 'I want more grandkids to spoil rotten and turn into the next generation of football nuts.'

I gave her a peck on the cheek, grabbed my bag, and got the hell out of there.

Mom hit the sore spot for me, women.

Computers, cops, judges, courtrooms, or board rooms, and I would kick ass. Put a beautiful woman in front of me and I was a babbling eleven year old caught looking at my first girlie magazine.

I drove to Opa Locka Airport almost on auto pilot. I had been here a few times, but not recently. I got a text about halfway there, 'executive gate.'

Not even a chance to gouge a beer out of him in the lounge.

He was leaning against the gate in his usual fed uniform. Dark suit and sunglasses even as the sun was going down behind him.

He walked toward the little parking lot, so I went that way and pulled in. He just leaned against the fender not even looking at me.

I got out and leaned beside him and said nothing, it was a waiting game to see who would break first.

He surprised me. "I need a favor."

I turned partially to look at him, he was still looking straight ahead.

"Me, not the service. Well not right away anyway." He stopped talking.

"And?"

"Outside the system. We may have a mole."

Now I was looking at him, "Fuck..." If someone got a mole in the US Marshals Service, that was a serious problem.

He pulled his sunglasses off and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Yeah, and she just might have the info to track the leak."

"She?"

"Wrong place, right time. They thought she was passed out, but she heard everything. I have to tuck her away someplace safe, but not in the system."

"What do you need from me?"

"I need to put her with you for a while."

I about lost it, "What do you mean 'put her with me'?"

"Just for a while, until we can figure something out."

"Like?"

He turned and grinned. It was NEVER a good sign when he grinned. "Any idea where you want to go for your honeymoon?"