Chapter 67: Reversing a Tesseract

July, 1985

[ I hated what I had to do next.]

“Melody, come here for a minute.”

We’d been watching Greg hang up the phone and watched as he stood there and his eyes got puffy.

“What’s up with Greg?”

“He had to lie to Jamie, just like I had to lie to Mary. Please look into my eyes?”

As soon as she did, I projected, “I’m sorry, my sweet Melody, but, the only thing you’re going to remember about our trip, was that we got lost coming out of Nashville and wound up in Pennsylvania. We stopped for the night and went home. That’s it. You won’t remember what happened before that, except the fun parts. You won’t remember who we talked to or exactly what was said. Do you understand?”

She nodded, trancelike.

“Good. When I say, ‘there is no more Evil Eyes’, you’ll be able to recall everything. Always remember that we all love you, okay?”

“Yes...”

“Okay, you can wake up now.” I snapped my fingers a few times. She was definitely disoriented.

She shook her head, “Whoa! Umm, where are we? Did we get lost?”

I chuckled, “Yeah, we’re staying the night at my dad’s parent’s house in Smithton, Pennsylvania. We made a wrong turn.”

You could see her trying to remember.

“Jesus! I must have really been sleeping. Your wives are going to MURDER me for letting you get this screwed up.” She giggled, which I was glad to see. “Are we almost there?”

“Yeah, Greg had to pee. Do you have to go?”

“No, I’m good. Let’s go. I’m getting kinda hungry.”

I took over driving, since I knew where we had to go.

It was now 3:30 on Sunday afternoon. Greg kept Melody distracted, hoping she wouldn’t see any Iowa road signs. When we pulled into Grandma and Grandpa’s house, I heard Grandma Sue holler, “Jack, there’s some kinda Police Paddy Wagon here. What did you do NOW?”

I was laughing as we hurried out of the van and I ran up to give Grandma a hug.

“Oh Lordy. It’s little Charlie, done come to visit. What in tarnation are you doing driving THIS thing?”

We were all laughing, “Well, it’s a long story, Grandma. We kinda got lost. Would you mind if we parked here for the night?”

“PARK? You plan on sleeping in a Paddy Wagon?”

“We don’t want to impose on you. We just need a place to crash.”

“Nonsense! We’ve got plenty of room. And who are your friends? Is this your new wife?”

(Great! Dad didn’t tell them we were coming. Talk about AWKWARD! Dad had suggested that we shouldn’t invite them to the wedding, because they wouldn’t understand our ceremony. Mom, however, MUST have told them we got married.)

“No, Grandma, this is Melody. She’s a close friend of ours, who helped us drive up from Florida. She’s the boss lady on the yacht we were on for our honeymoon. And this is Greg, my best friend.”

Grandpa was shamelessly ogling Melody, “I can see how you might have gotten distracted. My, my, Melody, I’da gotten lost too, with a pretty girl like you beside me. Oww!”

Grandma had elbowed him in the ribs. “You hush, you old perv! Or I’ma gonna take this handsome Greg here and show you that 20 will go into 60 a WHOLE lot more times than 60 will go into 20!”

Greg, Melody and I were laughing so hard we could barely stand up.

Grandma smiled, “Well come on in and take a load off. I’m fixing fried chicken for supper, are you kids hungry?”

I chuckled, “Grandma, we’re starving. Thank you for the invite. These guys are gonna love your fried chicken. It’s my favorite.”

“Great! I just have to send Jack to the store for a couple things before it closes.”

“I’ll go with him. No sense you having to pay to feed three hungry vagabonds.”

I had to insist, as Grandma didn’t want to hear it. I really just wanted to talk to Grandpa alone. I needed to figure out what to tell him. Greg stayed, so he could steer the conversation away from exactly where we were.

This was getting complicated.

On our way, I asked Gramps how his business was going. He told me it was doing great and he was glad he had his new ‘Storage Unit’ place built. He said he and Grandma were going to move into the office later this year, so they’d be closer to town. The office was a two-bedroom apartment with an office area in front. He said he was getting ‘too old and too busy’ to mow the 2½ acres they currently lived on. My uncles, Pete and Jake, didn’t want to take over the business and he planned on running it for six or seven more years before he retired. He’d already had offers to sell and felt he just wasn’t ready yet.

I felt that was my opening to broach the subject of why we came here. I was about to ask if he had any empty units, when he said, “I’ve known you a long time Charlie ... I know you DIDN’T just get lost and stumble in here. What’s up? Are you in some kind of trouble?”

“Ahh, well, yes and no. I’m not running from the law, if that’s what you mean. I actually have papers, authorizing me to use that ‘Police Paddy Wagon’ we drove. It belongs to the FBI.”

It was time to see what he knew.

He raised an eyebrow, “I know. Your dad called me yesterday and said you needed a safe place to ‘stash’ some things. I just had a guy empty out a 10 by 10 by 20-foot locker he had his antique Model T stored in. Would that work for you?”

“That would be perfect, Grandpa. Did Grandma know we were coming?”

“Heavens no! We, your dad and I, thought it best we made it a surprise. The old girl flaps her lips like a hummingbird flaps its wings! We don’t want her to know anything that you don’t want spread around the whole country. When do you want to empty your load?”

“As soon as possible. We promised our wives we’d be home tomorrow by dark.”

“Fine, how’s about we do it later tonight, after your grandma goes to sleep? Being that it’s Sunday night, there won’t be anyone around.”

Phewww! That went better than expected. I had a couple more questions I needed to ask.

“Gramps, do you by any chance have some boxes and heavy crates I could buy from you? We need to transfer some things out of the containers they’re currently in, so we can return the containers to their rightful owners. We’re just ‘borrowing’ the bags and crates they’re in now.”

He thought on that for a minute.

“I have all the boxes you could need in my U-Haul rental office. How much does the stuff in the crates you mentioned weigh?”

I chuckled, “A lot! Like a total of 4000 pounds’ total between 6 wooden crates.”

“CHRIST! What do you have in there, lead? Is it big pieces or smaller pieces? Your dad told me not to ask, but, I need some idea. I have about 20 steel, like, ammo-boxes, would that work?”

“Yeah, that would be even better than the crates. It would make it a lot easier to handle. And if you’ve got like, book boxes, those would be perfect for the rest of the stuff.”

“Then I think I’ve got you covered. How long will it take you to transfer all that stuff?”

I had to think. “Longer than we’ve got tonight. Let’s just get it moved over there tonight and we can sort and transfer containers in the morning. It’ll only take Greg and I about 15 minutes to unload it.”

“Are you gonna need a forklift?”

I grinned, “Nope, Greg and I can handle it without one, thank you.”

“Charlie, either your numbers are wrong, or you and your buddy are MUCH stronger than you look! Your Grandma’s not the ONLY one who can do math, you know?”

I was laughing as we loaded the groceries into Gramp’s car. (He WOULDN’T let me pay.)

After we got in I continued, “Let’s just say Greg and I are MUCH stronger than we look. If you promise to keep a secret, maybe we’ll let you watch?”

“I DID have a Top Secret clearance in World War Two, you know.”

“Great! We’re going to need you to let us into the lot, so we don’t have to lift the whole van over the fence.”

He snorted, “Riggght! I’ll believe THAT when pretty young things like that Melody start kissing my old ass!”

“She just might be that kinky, you’ll just have to ask.”

“Kissing is kinky?”

“On your hairy, old ass it is!”

When we got home, Grandma had the chicken frying and took some veggies we bought and put them on to steam. Grandpa put the rest of the groceries into the fridge. We had a great supper and Melody had written down Grandma’s recipe for the chicken.

After supper we sat around on the porch, having a drink. When Grandma asked Gramps for a ‘Blanton’s on the rocks’, Greg gave her a hug, “Charlie, you’ve got one cool Grandma!”

She sighed, “Just not cool enough to get an invitation to my Grandson’s wedding though.”

She looked hurt.

Greg glared at me, “WHY didn’t we invite them?”

My bud just threw me under the bus, but I deserved it.

“Well, Grandma, we had a very unusual wedding and we didn’t think you’d understand. I’m sorry.”

“What was so unusual? I know Bob got married at the same time. That’s not unusual.”

Greg put his arm around Grandma, “I got married at the same time, too. We all married our soulmates.”

Grandpa looked embarrassed. Grandma groused, “You didn’t think I would have understood that!?” She was looking back and forth at Greg and me, knowing there was more.

I sighed deeply and hung my head, “Grandma ... I sort of married two women.”

Grandma was smirking at Grandpa.

Greg and I didn’t understand the look. It wasn’t outrage or shame or even righteous anger. It was more like understanding.

“Do you love both of them ... the same?”

“Yes Grandma. Maybe not exactly the same, but the three of us love each other very much. We’re like a trio, I guess you could call it.”

She patted my hand, “You know, your father would have had two wives if the government hadn’t played that dirty damn trick on him!? And one was his sister! My Nancy was in love with both of them.”

My jaw was on the floor. I had NO idea she knew about Iris, other than her being Dad’s half-sister. “You knew about that?”

Grandma grinned, “I think Iris was more in love with Nancy, than Nancy was in love with your Dad! The three of them were joined at the hip all through High School. We lost track of Iris entirely when those government assholes told us they had died in a car wreck. The last time I talked to her was when she called to see if I got the same message she did. I know she was very distraught. I was so glad to hear they found each other again. Maybe we can all get together for Thanksgiving or Christmas? I want to meet all of your new wives too.” She gave Greg a peck on the cheek.

I went and gave Grandma a heartfelt hug.

“I’m so sorry I didn’t invite you, Grandma. Sometimes I can be very dense about things,” I chuckled, “Mary and Sarah tell me that, A LOT!”

Grandma perked up after kissing my cheek, “So, let me get this straight. You’re married to a Mary and a Sarah. Bob’s married to a Linda and my Greg here is married to a Jamie?”

Greg smiled, “Yep, she’s my cute, freckled redhead who takes my breath away just thinking about her.”

Grandma giggled, “I don’t suppose you guys have any pictures with you, do ya?”

I knew we took wedding pictures, but I couldn’t remember any others. Greg chirped, “Throw me the keys, Bud, I’ve got one in my suitcase.”

Grandma said, “You all should bring your suitcases in anyway. You will spend the night with us, won’t you?”

“Sure! Thanks Grandma, I’ll go with Greg to bring them in. Do you want both of yours, Melody?”

“No, just the small one will be fine.”

When we got back in the house, I was wondering WHAT picture Greg had. He popped open his suitcase and pulled a large padded manila envelope out of the pocket.

“What picture is that, Bud?”

“You remember, Charlie. The one Bob took when we gave Jessica her new ‘Wild Weasel’ and the girls all wanted a picture with their swimsuits.”

My eyeballs popped out of my head, “We can’t show them THAT one!”

Grandma was giggling and Grandpa sprinted over to get the first peak. “Lemee see. Lemee see!” He panted.

When Greg pulled out an 8x10 glossy of our 5 girls in their ‘Wild Weasels’, I thought Gramps was going to vapor-lock! Grandma was giggling, “Oh my! That looks like 5 of those models Jack has in that Swimsuit magazine he hides under the mattress.”

Gramps looked at Grandma, “Suzie, I think we’re going to have to make a trip east to pay them a visit. Yawzaa! They’re all gorgeous! Oww! What was that for???”

“You’re drooling all over this nice picture, you old degenerate.”

Gramps was funny, as he rubbed his ribs. After we all stopped laughing, we pointed out who was who. We told them that Jessica was Linda’s little sister. Gramps kept nodding at me and winking.

Melody sighed, “So, as you can see, their wives have nothing to be jealous of, as far as my being with Charlie and Greg is concerned.”

Gramps was cruisin’ for another bruisin’, “Ohh, I wouldn’t say that, my dear. If I had a picture of you in one of them, there suits, I’d put you right in there with ‘em.” He jumped back just in time to evade another elbow.

That did earn him a quick kiss on the lips from a grateful Melody. “You’re so sweet Grandpa Jack! Now I know where Charlie gets his charm from.”

He was blushing profusely, “Um, Suzie, maybe we should show our guests to their rooms and get to bed.”

“What’s the hurry dear? Did somebody rip Mr Van Winkie from his long nap?” Grandma was giggling and winking at Melody. Gramps was red-faced, but grinning at me as he led Grandma up the stairs.

He mouthed ‘later’ just as Grandma said, “You know where the bedrooms are Charlie, you guys can sleep wherever suits your fancy.”

She was giggling like a mischievous school girl. Melody was chewing her finger off, trying not to bust out laughing.

“Gosh Charlie, you’ve got the cutest grandparents. How could you NOT have invited them to your wedding?” Melody giggled.

“I don’t know. I feel like such a heel. I don’t think Dad knows how liberated they really are. I won’t make that mistake again.

“Soo, let’s go figure out where WE’RE sleeping.”

There were two bedrooms. One had two full size beds that belonged to Jake and Pete. The other had a queen size bed that was the guest room, where Mom and Dad used to sleep when we visited. After showing both rooms, I asked Melody, “Ladies choice?”

“The Queen looks much more accommodating.” Giggle.

“Okay, then, I guess Greg and I will...”

She took our bags and smirked, “REALLY?! Listen to that!”

We heard a headboard rhythmically banging away.

Melody giggled, “Charlie, you really ARE dense. You still think they’ll have a problem with the three of us sharing a bed?” The banging continued, getting more frequent.

Greg started laughing, “YOU can sleep in the other room if you want, but, I’d like a warm body next to me.”

I dropped my bag, laughing, “Is there room for one more?”

“Thought you’d never ask, big boy!” Melody was quickly naked and helping Greg and me get that way too.

The sounds stopped after some excited moans.

Just as we were getting going good, I heard Gramps clear his throat. “You guys ready?” he asked, at just above a whisper.

Melody harrumphed, “Really? What could he possibly want?”

Greg pulled out and lamented, “Aaargh! We promised earlier that we’d give him a hand over at his shop. With everything that’s happened, we thought he blew it off.”

I kissed her as I was pulling on my shorts, “Coming Gramps, we’ll be down in a second.” We heard the stairs creaking as he went down.

Melody sighed, “You guys need me to help?”

“No, we got it, we’ll be back soon, it only sounded like it would take a half hour or so.”

“Well, you better wake me up when you get back. Your reputations are at stake, she giggled.

So far, our plan was working.

We took Gramps with us and he showed us the locker and we backed right up to it. I told Gramps that what he was about to see was ‘Top Secret’. He seemed doubtful, like he was figuring we had a reasonable way to move the crates that were under the air mattress.

I asked him if he wanted to give us a hand with the crates.

“That’s what I thought” he exalted.

Then he climbed up and grabbed one of the rope handles and tried picking it up, “Ughh! Whoa! Let me get my forklift. There ain’t no way the three of us are moving these.”

We jumped down and walked into the locker, like we were thinking about it.

Just as Gramps was about to get his forklift, I told him, “Watch this...”

He gasped as within 20 seconds Greg and I floated the 6 crates to the back of the locker. It didn’t get any better when he watched the 35 big, black bags fly into neatly stacked piles. Within five minutes, we were done.

Gramps gasped, “Sarah! Your wife! I knew I’d seen her before. She was the reporter that interviewed those girls and that Invisible Man! Are you guys... ?”

“Shhh! No, but Jonah, the ‘Invisible Man’ IS our good friend! He helped us unload that stuff. You CAN’T tell anybody that you know he’s our friend, not even Grandma. It could get us killed.”

“Holy Moly!” He was looking all around, “Do ya think maybe he could move some old broken tractors for me tomorrow?”

Greg smiled, “I’m sure he would do that for us. He really likes being helpful! Let’s go get some sleep, then we’ll follow you here in the morning and get done transferring our cargo into the ammo cans and boxes. We’ll get Jonah to move your tractors just before we leave, okay?”

Gramps was happy, “While you guys get your stuff done, I’ll make room in my warehouse to put those tractors in. I really appreciate that. I’ve been wanting to dismantle those things for years. I just hated the idea of doing it out in the back 40!”

I was feeling uneasy about things on our drive back to Grandpa’s house. I felt Greg and I needed some ‘alone time’. We hadn’t tried delving into his thoughts like we wanted to do a couple of days before and I had no idea what his plan was for capturing Brad! He obviously had one.

Melody was also on my mind. I hated that we had to push her like we did. I hated that Mary, Sarah and Jamie were also out of the loop on our plan too. I needed to talk to Mary. These last two days were the longest we’ve been apart since the day we met and it was killing me inside.

We went back to bed quietly to find Grandma and Melody still sound asleep. Greg knew what I was feeling so we crept back out to the porch when Gramps went back to bed. We connected with a hug, then mentally, just after we fixed ourselves a drink. Greg really liked the Blanton’s that Grandpa had!

I suddenly felt another hug. Closing my eyes, I joined with my soulmate. In my mind I could see the lines joining her, Jamie, Greg and me. I knew this was secure. At least I hoped it was.

The four of us poured our hearts out to each other. We lamented our being apart and how much we looked forward to being together again. We all agreed that mental hugs left a lot to be desired!

Greg was definitely acting strange. Every time I came close to saying something about our plan he shut me down hard. He was fiddling with my arm. I was beginning to get annoyed as he kept tapping and looking at me with wild eyes.

He was trying to tell me something, but I was being dense. SUDDENLY I figured out what it was he was doing! He was tracing out a message on my arm, one painstakingly slow letter at a time. He wasn’t looking at me when he was doing it either. The ‘taps’ signalled another word!

He was trying to tell me that HE WAS THE MOLE!

I was still in a state of shock, wondering what he meant, when we said goodbye to the girls and closed down our connection.

He pointed at our eyes, THREE TIMES, then did something I would never have expected...

He pulled me into a fierce hug and kissed me! Not sensuously or sexually, but desperately and open mouthed.

“Sorry Bud, but I have to be absolutely sure it’s only us. I think Brad left a ‘backdoor’ into my brain when he stuck me in that tesseract. This afternoon, I figured out how to block him, but it’s hard and I CAN’T talk to you, or anyone else mentally without him hearing. His range is fairly limited, and I’m pretty sure he’s in Illinois now, waiting for us to get home with our treasure. I THINK he’s out of range, but I HAD to be sure. I just dialled my power down to nothing but knew we could still connect this way.”