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| FATHER JACOB {Chapter THREE} |
Okay, another long chapter, sorry!! Here we meet the last of of central characters, {maybe}. Hope it is still flowing as to make some kind of sense.
CHAPTER THREE
Levi was playing Beethoven’s Adaigo Allegro Vivace in B-flat from his Fourth symphony, when the phone rang.
“Hello, top of the world God speaking.”
“Give it a rest Levi.”
Levi always answered the phone like that, with a crazy saying or joke. He usually switched it up a lot, but had been using this one for a couple weeks now.
“Jeremy!” Levi shouted while still playing the piano. “What’s up butt-breath?"
“Not much Liberace!” Jeremy zinged back.
“Ha ha, good one. Real original there.” Levi laughed.
“Hey have you seen Jimmy around today?” Jeremy asked.
“No not since after school yesterday. Why?”
“He was gonna get us some smoke from Brandon.” Jeremy said.
“Whoa dude!” Levi shouted as he stopped playing and grabbed the phone. “I had you on speaker and me moms here.”
“Shit, sorry Keyman,” Jeremy apologized. “She didn’t hear that did she?”
“No, don’t think so Flav-dog,” Levi said. “She’s in the kitchen.”
“Cool, don’t need her hearing that then calling my mom.”
Jeremy said relieved. “Anyway, you sure you haven’t heard from Jimmy?"
“No Flav, not a peep. When was he supposed to deliver?”
“Right before school today. But he never showed. He wasn’t in classes either.”
“You don’t think he got busted do you?” Levi asked.
“God I hope not, or we’ll all be in deep shit.”
“Yeah,” Levi said. “He’d be ratting everyone out before they even cuffed him.”
“Yup, right after he pissed himself.” Jeremy laughed.
Levi laughed along with him.
“But seriously, Keyman, can you check around and see if anyone’s seen him today?”
“Yeah, I’ll make a few calls and call you back.”
“Great. Talk to you then Keyman.”
“Later Flav-dog.”
The man put the phone back in his pocket and bent over to pick up the boy. He heard someone coming towards the house through the woods.
“Oh bloody hell.” The man whispered. “Now what?”
“Brandon? Brandon? You out here?” The man heard a voice loudly whisper. “Damn it Brandon you better not be fucking with me.”
The man stood behind the big Ash tree, holding his pistol. No, no, no, he thought. This can’t get anymore fucked up then it is. He looked down at the pistol in his hand, and then he had an idea. Holstering the pistol, he pulled out the tranq gun.
“Over here dude.” He said trying to sound like a kid.
“Why you way over here man?” Jimmy asked as he approached where the man and Brandon were. As he got closer the man stepped out from behind the tree. Jimmy froze.
“Whoa man!” Jimmy cried out, thinking the guy was a cop.
“Get over here kid!” The man demanded.
“Okay, okay officer.” Jimmy said as he raised his hands and slowly walked towards him.
“Holy shit!” Jimmy yelled when he saw Brandon’s bloody head sticking out of the blanket. “You’re not a cop are you?”
“Not bloody likely you little shit.” The man said as he pulled the trigger.
Tobias started setting up the church for the evening mass. He wondered where Jimmy was. It wasn’t like him to be this late. Father Jacob had gone to call his house. Tobias only hoped Jimmy wasn’t out smoking with his other friends. And he didn’t mean cigarettes.
“Tobias?” Father Jacob called out as he entered the back of the church.
“Yes Father Jacob.” Tobias replied.
“You’ll have to finish up by yourself, without Jimmy,” Father said as he walked towards Tobias. “And Brother Benjamin will be conducting the service tonight.”
“Why? What’s the matter?” Tobias asked. “Did something happen to Jimmy?”
“I don’t rightly know. There’s no answer at their house,”
Father said, placing a hand on Tobias’s shoulder. “But I have to go now, it’s an emergency.”
“But Father.” Tobias started to say.
“Tobias, it’ll be okay,” Father said. “Jimmy will be okay, really he will. He probably just lost track of time, or forgot he was scheduled tonight.”
“Yeah but why aren’t you doing mass?” Tobias asked, almost starting to cry.
“I have an emergency Tobias,” Father said calmly. “It’ll be okay with Brother Benjamin. I tell you what, after services why don’t you head over to my quarters, I won’t be too late. We can visit then, okay?”
“Yeah I suppose Father.” Tobias said lowering his head and staring at the floor.
“Hey,” Father said, lifting Tobias’s head up by his chin. “I won’t be that long. I promise.”
“Okay Father.”
“Now go do a good job for Brother Benjamin. Make me proud.”
“I will Father Jacob.” Tobias said smiling.
There were two men waiting outside the back door to Deano’s Steak Hut. The tall burly one looked at his watch.
“I thought that bloody brit said he’d be here in fifteen minutes?"
“Hey maybe he stopped for dinner.” The other laughed.
“It’s been almost an hour now. Where the hell is he?”
Just as he said that, a van turned into the alley.
“Well there he is now.”
The burly guy walked to the back of the van. Opening the doors, he saw two bodies.
“What the hell Jeeves? You pick up a spare?”
“Don’t call me Jeeves you bloody wanker!” The man growled.
“What’s with the extra kid?” He asked as the second man carried Brandon’s bloody blanket wrapped body to a nearby delivery truck.
“He just came up on me after I tripped and dropped the other one.”
“Well what the hell am I supposed to do with him?”
“I don’t know. I sure the bloody hell couldn’t just leave him there after he saw me with his friend all bloody and wrapped in a blanket. So I tranqed him and brought him along.”
“Great Jeeves. Just fucking great.” The burly guy said. “Just wait here, I gotta go make a call.”
Taylor fired up the Jag as soon as he noticed the boy looking at him. Hitting the window button, he placed the camera on the passenger seat.
“No more pictures here today.” He said to himself as he drove past the line of buses. Looking in the side view mirror, he saw Cody watching him drive away.
Taylor looked at his watch, 8:17. He wanted to be at McDonalds by 8:30. Thirteen minutes to go cross town, it would be close, but if he pushed the limit he’d get there on time.
Taylor pulled up to Macs just in time to see Josh get out of the limo. As he watched his son walk inside, he thought back to what Sheryl, his mother had said before she died.
‘Jesus Christ Taylor, the kids never going to grow up if you never let him be with other kids his own age and enjoy life. He’s 14 now, my God let him take the bus to school and back.’
Taylor remembered exactly what he had told her.
“Not until this city makes it so it’s safe for him to do that.”
Taylor meant that. In the five years they had lived here, there had been over 20 child abductions, and almost 100 kids shot by gang members. Taylor swore that as long as he was alive, nothing would ever happen to his Josh. That’s why Josh took the limo. Whenever Taylor couldn’t be with him, Josh took the limo. Then Taylor knew he would be safe, because if Ted, Sal, or Jake, the three guards assigned to Josh, ever let anything happen to him, they knew Taylor would kill them. And they knew it wouldn’t be an easy death.
Jake and Ted were standing outside the limo, Sal had gone inside with Josh. When they saw Taylor pull up, they nodded and got back into the car. Once Taylor entered the restaurant, Sal returned to the limo.
“Hi Dad!” Josh said as Taylor hugged him.
“Howdy kid.” Taylor replied. He knew Josh was getting to old to be called kid, he grew up fast after his mother died, but Taylor kept calling him kid, and Josh didn’t seem to mind too much, if it was when they were alone.
They went up to the counter and ordered the usual. Sausage egg McMuffin, hash browns and a strawberry shake. The store didn’t usually serve shakes for breakfast, but they always made them for Taylor. Josh had a thing for strawberries; he got that from his mother.
“So what are we going to learn today?” Taylor asked his son.
“Not much dad. That school is so lax. I’m still over a year and a half ahead of the rest of my class, and that’s with a lot of fucking around.”
Taylor looked at his kid with eyebrows raised. Josh knew what that meant.
“Sorry dad,” Josh muttered. “That just sort of slipped out.”
“It’s okay, just don’t make it a habit,” Taylor said. “I know it’s got to be hard for you to hold yourself back. But remember you don’t want to bring any extra attention to yourself. Just go with the flow of the class, okay.”
“Yeah, okay dad.” Josh said with a mouthful of McMuffin.
Taylor looked out the window at the limo. Jake was watching them, Ted was scanning the parking lot, and Sal was sitting behind the wheel. It was then that Taylor was hit with a thought. A thought that made him shudder. Since Sheryl had died he had started to over protect Josh from the outside world. Afraid of him being abducted or shot, all the while, Taylor himself was working on a project that was in essence going to be abducting 15 kids. All of whom, he was sure, had loving and caring parents, just like himself.
“Well you done?” Taylor asked josh.
“Yup.” Josh said slurping the last of his shake.
Heading down Fourth street, Josh put in a Guns& Roses cd, their song Paradise City, blared thru the 16 speakers of the Jag. As Taylor turned onto Roosevelt Avenue, heading towards Josh’s school, Josh spoke up.
“Dad, can I ask you something?”
“Sure kid, what’s up?” By the tone in Josh’s voice Taylor knew it was something important. Josh seemed almost afraid to ask his father whatever it was.
“Well it’s kind of hard to say dad.”
“Josh,” Taylor said in a voice only a loving father could have. “You know our deal. You can say or ask me anything, and I won’t get mad at you, and I’ll answer as honestly as I possibly can. That’s our agreement, right?”
“Yeah I know dad. But this is something weird,” Josh said. “It’s scary for me and I don’t want to piss you off or anything.”
Taylor reached over and mused Josh’s hair.
“Hey, remember, neither of us gets pissed, okay?”
“Yeah.” Josh said with a nervous tone to his voice.
“Okay then,” Taylor said. “On the count of three spit it out. Ready?”
Together they counted. “One, two, three.”
“What are you working on dad?” Josh quickly and quietly blurted out.
Taylor looked over. Josh was staring straight ahead, hands pressed together between his knees. He didn’t want to see his dads’ reaction, and Taylor was glad he hadn’t. Josh didn’t even seem to notice the car swerve over the center line. Instinctively, Taylor flashed the left signal then the brakes twice, a signal to the limo that everything was all right.
“What do you mean Josh?” Taylor asked somewhat worried.
“You’re working on a new project, aren’t you dad?”
“Yes, yes I am. Why?” Taylor turned the Jag onto Eighth Street, away from Josh’s school. Taylor figured this conversation wasn’t going to be a quick one, so there was no since in continuing on to school. It would be better to have the rest of this talk at home.
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