Chapter 7: The Long Road to Redemption

They found my Bronco a week after it was stolen. Parts of it anyway. Why someone would part out a classic was beyond me. It was insured against theft and I was reimbursed a pittance of what it was worth. This motivated me to get cracking on a new conveyance however and, after dropping the twins off at kindergarten, we spent the morning touring several car dealerships to check out different makes and models. I tried to engage Lupi in the process and she eventually warmed up to the notion and even became excited when we started test-driving the few SUVs and Minivans that met our criteria. I smiled when she and her mother began chatting excitedly in Tagalog, having no idea what they were talking about. For her part, Lupi would only go as far as to sit behind the wheel — begging out of test driving. By mid-morning it was clear that both of the women favored Minivans over the SUVs. After comparing consumer ratings, safety data, and personal preferences, I decided on the new Honda Odyssey. Once I narrowed it down to four different models on the lot, I turned to Lupi and asked her to choose. Each was a different color and she balked at my request.

“Lupi, whether you like it or not this is going to be your car,” I said firmly, “and I am going to start teaching you how to drive it as soon as we take it home.”

She began protesting about how it was far too much and she wasn’t worthy or able to agree to such a generous gesture on my part. Her mom was crawling around in the back testing the environmental controls and individual video screens mounted to the backs of the driver and passenger seats.

Maybe it was temporary insanity on my part, but I turned to face her and gently took her face in both of my hands. She stopped talking and gave me a startled look as I leaned forward to kiss her. When our lips touched, I felt an almost electrical impulse. She felt it too I could tell because she suddenly slid her hands up my chest and around my neck, drawing me closer. I lowered my own hands until they rested lightly against her shoulder blades. Our mouths pressed together and she licked my lips prompting me to open my mouth and allow her to explore my tongue. After a moment we separated to catch our breaths. I kissed the side of her neck and buried my nose in her sweet-smelling hair. “I know it’s a lot,” I whispered, “but let’s stop seeing it as you and me, and start thinking in terms of ‘us’.” I pulled my face back until we were nose to nose once more and she initiated the second kiss. I could feel her passion smoldering behind it and I felt just as feverish as I returned it.

I released my hold on her with one hand, allowing her to turn about but still holding her side against mine as we regarded the four vehicles lined up in the lot. “Now you have to choose which one you like the most,” I said firmly as I squeezed her with a side hug. She kept her arm around me as well and I felt amazing standing so close to her.

“Green is my favorite color,” she allowed, still resisting the idea of choosing.

“Green it is then,” I replied and we went to find the salesperson who was helping us earlier. Paying cash saved us a ton of paperwork and time. Setting up the bank transfer was the most complicated process but the dealership took care of all that. 30 minutes later we transferred the car seats from her mother’s Prius to the two captain’s chairs directly behind the front seats. Lupi was excited to pick up the girls in the new minivan and her mom took the opportunity to return to her home to catch up on her chores. As I drove to the school, I pointed out all of the features that a driver needed to know about and she nodded attentively. I promised her that I would take it slow, starting her out in empty parking lots and rural roads until she became comfortable with operating the vehicle.

Dr. Sousa was not at all thrilled with my lack of bed rest — what with all the traveling about town, staying in hotels, and shooting home invaders. He warned me not to overdo it but was happy with my post-procedure care. It was another Friday and the police had released my home for us to return to. It was the twins that worried me the most. I made sure that the crime scene was thoroughly cleaned and my front screen door replaced so that there would be little to remind us of the traumatic event. For their part, the girls seemed not at all fazed by it. They exhibited no bad dreams or frightened behavior during our three-day stay at the hotel. I became used to having one or the other crawl into my bed with me and I looked forward to the snuggles. I even figured out how to tell them apart. It was simple once it dawned on me that they weren’t actually identical twins, but mirror opposites. Lulu was left-handed and Didi favored her right. Their bangs had very subtle parts that mirrored each other as well, and Lulu had a freckle on her right cheek while Didi’s was the opposite.

After taking them to kindergarten I dropped Lupi off for her appointment at the women’s clinic. It happened to be less than a block from Starbucks, where I liked to sit and write, so I took the opportunity to go there and enjoy a cup of Americano with my laptop in my usual spot. I got little writing done because I was welcomed back excitedly by several of the staff and frequent flyer customers who also congratulated me on my book. Davee showed up with his usual flourish and made a point to buy me another coffee before quietly joining me. He appeared contrite as he slid it over next to the one, I was drinking. I glanced at it and then at his sad expression.

“What?” I finally asked, he looked like he was constipated or something.

“Look,” he sighed, “Al, I’m really sorry about your Bronco,” he mewed. I looked back at the token coffee and just shook my head. Only Davee could accept responsibility for something like the theft of a 40-year-old classic truck — and then try to offset it with a fucking cup of coffee! And the funny part was, that was huge for him. I chuckled to myself as I took a sip from the fresh cup. That must have been code for: all was forgiven, because he brightened up like a sunburst. “So,” he began as he took a sip of his drink, “what have the doctors said? Are you going to be, okay? Do they have to cut you up? Are they going to rebuild you stronger, faster, better than before?”

I opened my laptop back up and gestured for him to sit beside me. “You aren’t too far off there, buddy,” I replied as I pulled up the website for the BASI Institute in Argentina. I explained to him how Dr. Sousa had submitted a referral with all of my medical records and we were awaiting a response from them to see if I was a candidate for the reconstructive surgery, they specialized in. He scrolled through the site and made subtle noises as he read the different captions.

“Wow,” he finally surmised, sitting back, “so you would have to fly down there and stay for a while huh?”

I nodded, “Probably so,” I realized how lonely it would be to not have Lupi there with me, but she had the twins and responsibilities of her own here. And someone had to look after Gunner and Libby.

He looked uncomfortable as he regarded the image of the 3D-printed spinal column. “How long do you think this will put you out of action?” I could tell by his expression and tone that he wasn’t just worried about my physical well-being. I closed the website and pulled up Book Two. I turned it to him and he excitedly looked it over. “You are up to Chapter 27?”

I nodded, “I had a lot of time on my hands in the hotel. I can probably knock out the final three chapters by next weekend, then you can let your grammar nazis lose on it.”

“Oh, that is going to make a lot of people very happy,” he smiled excitedly.

“Well, not to get anyone too worked up, but I am already kicking around ideas for a third installment,” I opened a folder full of files where I jotted down notes and wrote out scenes as they popped up in my head. His eyes grew wider as he read through a few of the pages. “That is, provided I don’t die under the knife down there,” I added just to punch a hole in his inflated sense of expectation.

Lupi walked into the café and smiled when she spotted me. She seemed to have a lighter-than-usual step as she came over and walked around the table to slide in next to me. I felt vindicated when she greeted me with a firm hug and kiss BEFORE she acknowledged the astonished gay guy on my other side. She greeted him excitedly in Tagalog and he replied curiously, glancing at me occasionally with an approving look.

After he left, I waited for her to order a tea for the road and I took her out to an area where they had just begun developing a huge 60-acre plot for housing units. There was no construction going on at the moment and all of the roads and sidewalks were mostly complete. After gently coaxing, then teasing and finally barking orders, I got her to grudgingly climb behind the wheel and begin familiarizing herself with all the controls and components. After 10 minutes of having her play around with all the widgets, I made her start it up and drive along a straight stretch of road, stopping at every intersection and then going on. At the end was a cul de sac and she easily turned the minivan around and repeated the long trek back. I had her perform this back-and-forth exercise until she became comfortable and then we began circling blocks, first with only right turns, then only left turns, and then in figure 8s.

By the time Kindergarten was getting ready to let out, she was humming to the tunes on the radio and enjoying herself. I showed her where she could pull over so that we could switch and I waited for her to walk around to the passenger side. I blocked her way into the car and pulled her into a hug, hungrily seeking her lips with my own. She pressed herself into me and latched her arms around my neck once more, moaning as we explored each other’s mouths. The feeling of her firm breasts pressing against me was electrifying and I felt myself getting hard as we made out like teenagers.

I parked in the visitor’s lot at the school. While she went in to collect her babies, I took the opportunity to link both of our cell phones to the Bluetooth features of the vehicles. It was pretty straight forward and I was done just in time to look up at the excited screeching from the twins as they ran up to their new car. I climbed out and hugged each one while Lupi slid open the sliding side doors, allowing them to climb in and explore everything. Naturally, they were smitten with having their movie screens and demanded a show immediately. I glanced blankly at Lupi and we decided to stop at Target to grab a couple of DVDs. During the drive there I explained to Lupi how to use the blue tooth and seconds later all three of them were chatting away with ‘Lola’ in Tagalog. Maria was delighted for us but said she wanted to stay at her home for a couple of nights to rest. I looked sideways at Lupi and noted her very subtle smile.

At the superstore, Didi and Lulu dashed excitedly to the video section while their mother and I followed along holding hands. They were instructed to each pick one movie and then agree on a third. We wound up with one about yellow-looking tic-tacs wearing glasses, another on Dragon Training, and a third covering the adventures of rescue dogs on patrol. The drive out of the parking lot was eerily quiet so I decided to return to the housing development and let Lupi practice driving some more.

“Dr. Esposito, my colleague at BASI has reviewed your records and is in favor of presenting your case to the board of surgical directors during their bi-weekly meeting in three days,” Dr. Sousa said later that afternoon. He called me as I was writing. The twins were sprawled out on the floor coloring a poster together and playing footsy with Gunner and Libby. Lupi was in the kitchen preparing supper. I could hear her humming to herself as she worked.

“How does that work then?” I asked, “Do they consider a bunch of patient cases and decide on them by vote?”

“It goes something like that but there are factors that are taken into consideration that make the prospects more or less favorable to the board,” he replied, “for instance the research value of a particularly difficult case. If they stand to develop a better understanding of a process or outcome then the patient might be accepted pro bono, with the understanding that they are purely experimental and that there are no guarantees. You will be considered very highly because you will be paying cash, which always benefits the institute.”

There have been similar procedures to mine, performed by the institute and even a more radical case performed successfully on a canine patient. The dog was a cherished pet of a former Presidential cabinet appointee — that was struck by a truck and suffered complete paralysis. The client paid for all the materials and procedures and even funded the purchase of a new 3D polymer printer for the institute, so they agreed to perform a highly experimental spinal replacement procedure, with the signed and notarized understanding that any negative outcomes would not reflect upon the institute. As it turned out the procedure was very successful and the animal’s mobility was fully restored with minimal side effects. Several televised documentaries chronicled the dog and his progress as he underwent physical therapy. It was wonderful propaganda for the Institute.

I reviewed all of the documentaries presented that featured spinal reconstruction and began recognizing many of the faces of the BASI staff who participated in the program. Dr. Emilio Esposito was the head of the human musculoskeletal and vertebral restructuring program. He looked like a movie star, the way he dressed and presented himself. He was both eloquent and bilingual, offering interviews and testimonials in both Spanish and English. His staff included a team of multiracial doctors and engineers who assisted with the surgeries themselves, worked exclusively in the extensive 3D printing labs, or performed the follow-up services and rehabilitation care.

“Is there anything I can do in the meantime?” I asked.

“If you are accepted into the program, and we have a better idea of the timeline, Dr. Esposito wants me to have you take another course of steroids as a prophylactic measure.” He replied, “He also wants you to begin taking a joint supplement that offers Hyaluronic Acid. There is a supplement at both Costco and Sam’s Club that offers this as well as chondroitin and glucosamine. Look for the Move Free label.” I jotted it down.

“Copy that,” I confirmed, “uh ... at the risk of sounding like a financial worry wort here ... do you have any idea what my bottom dollar might be with all this?”

“I understand completely,” he remarked, “I don’t have a very good answer for you though. I looked into it briefly and can tell you that the most impressive case they performed — also for a cash-paying client, was just over half a million US dollars,” my eyes bugged out a little at that, “but that procedure involved several cervical vertebrae which is significantly more difficult and riskier.” He paused for a moment like he was referring to notes or something. “I see where Dr. Esposito performed a similar, though less involved surgery just recently, for another cash client, and it cost the patient $250,000 US.”

“Thank you,” I replied, “I’m going to have to talk with my publicist about actually paying me for these books that I’m writing.”

“You have more than one?” he asked curiously.

“Book Two is nearly finished and I expect once they get their hands on it, they will be flogging the printers to get it out there.”

“That is wonderful, congratulations!” he exclaimed with genuine praise. “I want to let you go with one other thought. In my country financing is far less complicated than it is here, especially for those affluent persons such as yourself. You will find that, once your credentials are verified, a simple handshake can secure a great deal of credit.”

We ended our conversation and I tried to imagine what a half-million-dollar handshake felt like.

I went on a writing bender that evening and found myself working way beyond what I had agreed to do for Book Two, which I decided to call “My Recruiter Lied to Me — A Real Marine’s Point of View”. I rubbed my eyes when I finished and decided to revisit it in the morning. I put away my laptop and found that it was well past bedtime for everyone. I let Gunner and Libby out one more time and then made my way into the Office/Second Bedroom to find ... my bed occupied by two little bodies. Gunner promptly claimed the only remaining space on the bed and I turned back to watch Libby headbutt the master bedroom door open and slink inside. There was a dim light glowing from my old nightstand and I peeked in to make sure Lupi was okay.

She was sitting up against the headboard reading a book and I was instantly conflicted by several emotions. The first was scandalous guilt as I gazed upon her incredible naked breasts — I felt as if I were a young kid caught with a Playboy magazine — God! They were incredible to behold. The second was pure unadulterated lust at just the sight of her exposed chest. Her reaction to Libby was to smile and reach down to pat her head as she sidled up to the bed. Then she looked at me and her eyes conveyed a message that even a rock like me understood. She set her book on the nightstand and patted the bedspread beside her, just in case I was that dense.