Chapter 35

Thursday, June 10, 2010

“What’s this all about?” Brian asked when they were in the car. Carol sat up front with Jake.

“You may know that Carol and I have an arrangement.”

“What? No. I don’t know anything about that.”

“Carol and I have sex. In fact, we have a lot of sex.”

“You jerk. What about Julie, Kara and my mom?”

“Carol and I have been together about as long as Julie and I. You don’t know that they come as a boxed set?”

“How would I know that?”

“Well, I can’t help it if you’re not very observant. At least you realize that Carol and Julie have been doing it like bunnies for the last year, didn’t you?”

“No, I guess I didn’t”

“Even your mom knows that. Anyway, the thing you need to understand is that Carol likes sex. She likes it a lot. And it turns out that she’s very, very good at it. So I do my best to give it to her. But being only mortal, I’m not able to give her as much as she wants. Or give her the variety that she wants. So I sometimes help her hook up with guys who please her. It turns out that you please her.”

“You’re fixing me up with Carol?”

“If everything works out, yes. But I’m very fond of her, and while I do my best to make her happy by finding guys for her, I feel it’s my duty to protect her from the likes of you. So there is a set of rules every guy she’s with has to follow. They are simple, easy-to-understand rules. They are, however, non-negotiable. You agree to them and you can have lots of the best sex of your life. You violate the rules and it dries up. Fast.”

“And what are these rules?”

“There are three rules for everybody, plus one special one for you. The three rules are that you always use a condom, you tell nobody else that you are having sex with her, and you treat her with respect.”

“I don’t use condoms.”

“Then I’m sorry I wasted your time. I’ll drop you off at your house as soon as I wrap up my business downtown.” He turned to Carol. “I’m sorry it didn’t work out, sweet thing. I don’t think he’s much of a catch anyway. We’ll find you someone better. It won’t be hard.”

They drove along in silence.

Keep the faith, love. He’s already regretting it. We keep playing the game and see how it plays out.

Jake parked at the courthouse and got out.

“Carol, rules are rules. Not even a blowjob while I’m gone. I’ll be less than fifteen minutes. There’s a picnic table in the trees over there where you’ll be comfortable.”

Carol, flaunt your tits. They’re making him crazy.

Jake went to the DA’s office where he asked to speak to Assistant DA Johnson about the DeRizzo case. Johnson appeared a minute later but looked irritated when he saw Jake. Jake took control of him.

“Take me to your office.”

They went back to a modest office with no windows. According to the law license on the wall, his name was Clarence Johnson.

“Tell me the truth,” Jake said, making it a command. “Did you make the decision to file the DeRizzo case?”

“Yes.”

“Why did you file it?”

“I did it as a favor.”

“Tell me all about it.”

“I recognized that the woman named in the complaint is the wife of Gus DeRizzo. I know a man named Steven Cockrell who hates him.”

“How do you know him?”

“I know lots of people. I’ve been a lawyer in this town for a long time. I probably met him at some community function or something like that. He went through a rough patch financially because Gus DeRizzo’s bank wouldn’t approve a loan for his construction company. Something about having started a big job without adequate interim financing. When the bank wouldn’t lend him the rest of the money, the investors bailed out leaving him with a large debt. It seems DeRizzo personally profited by buying the underlying property at the foreclosure sale and then selling it later to a syndicate that included Cockrell’s original investors.”

“So DeRizzo screwed him over?”

“No, not really. Cockrell was stupid moving forward on the deal without having his ducks in a row. It wasn’t just DeRizzo’s bank that refused to make the interim loan. But DeRizzo was the only one who made a buck off his misfortune. I knew Cockrell was still mad about it, so I let him know that there was a rather steamy complaint about the wife.”

“And then what happened?”

“I told Cockrell that if he made it worth my while, I could embarrass DeRizzo by having his wife arrested and hauled off to jail.”

“And?”

“It was worth $10,000 to him. He’s back on his feet now, but he sure carries a grudge.”

“You wouldn’t have filed otherwise?”

“No, the only evidence was hearsay.”

“What does that mean?”

“Hearsay is a second-hand statement made by a person with no personal knowledge of the facts. You don’t credit a complaint from a person who’s too remote from the events. Especially because she heard it from children. This case needed more investigation. I didn’t really expect it to go anywhere. From what I hear from the detectives, it looks like it didn’t.”

“Other than embarrassing Mrs. DeRizzo. And since she’s divorcing her husband, it doesn’t look to me like it’s going to bother him in the least.”

“That will disappoint Cockrell.”

“I’m glad that I’m not about to fuck up the life of someone who has the capacity for remorse. What happens when a lawyer is caught doing unethical things?”

“Usually a client or a judge or another attorney reports him to the local grievance committee. The committee investigates. If there is evidence of unethical conduct, the state bar files a disciplinary case against the lawyer.”

“And what would happen to a lawyer who accepted a bribe to file a bogus criminal case?”

“He would almost certainly be disbarred.”

“Then here is what you are going to do. You will contact the grievance committee as soon as I leave here and report yourself to them. You will explain all about the bribe and how you filed the case to harass Gus DeRizzo.”

Jake felt Johnson’s mental turmoil. He was torn between his fear of disobeying Jake and the prospect of committing professional suicide. Jake upped the fear.

“But that’s not all, Mr. Johnson. You will contact Stewart Brown and pay Mrs. DeRizzo’s legal fees. Next, you are going to take that ten grand from Cockrell and give it to Mrs. DeRizzo. She will receive a check from you by close of business today. And then, you will pay me $10,000 more for the trouble of cleaning up this mess. You will have until close of business tomorrow to put that check in the mail to me.”

“Who are you?”

“My name is Jake Fielding. I’ll leave you my address. Now where do I find Steven Cockrell?”

“Cockrell Builders. I don’t really know where. They’re local. They’ll be in the phone book.”

“See that the charges against Mrs. DeRizzo get dropped. Today is not too soon. Call me when it happens. I’ll leave you my cell phone number. And the last thing. Don’t tell anybody about me, Mr. Johnson.”

Jake found Brian and Carol in the picnic area. They walked back to his car. Carol’s breasts bounced with each step, her nipples conspicuous. Brian nearly walked into a parked car.

Back in the car, Carol sat in the back seat with Brian.

“Jake, I think that Brian has reconsidered his opposition to condoms.”

“Is that right, Brian?” Jake asked as he pulled out of the parking space and started for the DeRizzo house.

“I guess.”

“There is no guess. Either you promise to use them every time or we walk away.”

“I’ll use them.”

“And you agree to tell no one that you are having sex with her?”

“Yes.”

“And you will treat her with respect?”

“What? Sure.”

“See, now here’s an area that I am concerned about. You are all the time bossing your sisters around. I’m not sure that you really know what it means to respect a woman.”

“What do you mean?”

“Think golden rule. You should treat women the way you want to be treated yourself. For instance, for Carol this means that you freely permit her to make her own decisions about matters that pertain to her, her body, and her affairs. And you will do it without putting pressure on her to do what you want.”

“I can do that.”

“Like you did with Beth? Is that why she sent you packing? Because you made her feel so respected? Or is it that you pressured her to have sex when she didn’t want to.”

“How do you know about that?”

“Duh. Brian, I’m a mind reader. It doesn’t fill me with confidence that Beth decided to cut her losses. It’s just one more reason for me to think that you don’t really know how to be respectful to girls. So that should help you understand why you have a fourth rule to follow. The fourth rule is that you have to treat Carol as your girlfriend.”

“What exactly do you mean by that?”

“You will publicly acknowledge Carol as your girlfriend. You will treat her like your girlfriend. You will go out on dates with her. You will protect her from boys at school who act inappropriately or disrespectfully toward her. You will defend her honor if necessary. You will eat lunch with her if it’s possible. You will walk her to and from school. You will do all those things boys do with their girlfriends because she will, in fact, be your girlfriend for as long as she wants.”

“Does that mean she’ll stop fucking you?”

“No way. Not me and not anyone else that I get for her.”

“That’s not fair.”

“Told you,” Carol said.

Jake smiled at her and then turned back to Brian. “It is fair. It’s fair because you know from the outset what the rules are. You are free to accept them or go back to looking for a willing girl. Besides, I don’t think things will work out so badly for you.

“I don’t really care if you have sex with other girls, but if you do, there are two more conditions. You keep it secret so that no one thinks you’re cheating on Carol, and you tell Carol what you’re doing. Carol may impose additional restrictions. I’ll leave that up to her.”

“That’s not so bad, I guess.”

“Of course none of those other girls will be half as good in bed as Carol, or willing to have sex a quarter as often. I kind of doubt that in the long run, you’ll be all that interested in those other girls.

“I can also offer you and Carol the use of my apartment when my mother isn’t home. I’ll also put in a good word with your mother so that you can use your bedroom at home without embarrassment.”

They pulled up in front of the DeRizzos.

“So what do you think, Brian? You can be the best-fucked guy in high school if you agree. If the terms are too much of a burden, well, then Carol and I will find someone else. Do you need some time to think about it?”

“When would we start?”

“Right away. You just have to make mutually-acceptable arrangements with Carol about when and where.”

Brian looked over at Carol. Jake looked, too. Carol was pinching and pulling on a nipple. Brian did not stand a chance.

“I’ll do it.”

“Brian, look away from her tits for a second. I want you to really hear this. No means no. If you don’t accept it when she says no to you, I will cut you off for as long as I think necessary to teach you a lesson. If you keep it up, I will cut you off permanently.”

Brian agreed and they went inside. No one was home. Brian tried to persuade Carol to go upstairs with him.

“Brian, do you have condoms upstairs?”

“Uh, no. I guess I don’t”

“I’m stocked up at home. We’ll go over to my place if that works for Carol.”

“Sure,” Carol said. “All this talk about sex has me revved up. Besides, your grandmother is going to call me in ten minutes. She expects me to be at your apartment.”

“Wouldn’t want to keep Gramma waiting,” Jake said.

Jake, Carol and Brian walked into Jake’s apartment. That was when something happened that Jake would have bet everything he owned was impossible. He heard a room full of people yell surprise, and he was surprised.

People started to pour out of his mother’s bedroom. He stared at them for a few moments, mouth agape. There was Ellen, the DeRizzo women, Jan and her stepdaughters. Steph Miller, his grandparents, and the Hambry boys were there, too.

“But ... but ... how in the world did you do this?”

Jan walked over and kissed his cheek.

“Don’t blow your cover, birthday boy,” she whispered. “It’s all a matter of understanding your enemy. I’ll tell you later. Lots of people are wondering why we had to crowd into the back of the furthest bedroom when you got here.”

“All my favorite people are here. I’ve never had a surprise party before.”

“But I threw a surprise party for you when you were ten,” Ellen said.

“And that was wonderful of you, Mom, but I knew it was going to happen. You know how hard it is to keep a secret from me.”

“Yes, I suppose I should have realized. We got a cake for you, Jake.” She looked around. “Jason, there you are. Would you light the candles on Jake’s cake?”

They crowded into the kitchen. Presents had been piled on the table. Drinks were served. Ice cream was produced. The guests sang happy birthday and Jake blew out the candles. Cake and ice cream were served and the guests spread out into the apartment.

Jake moved among them, speaking with them individually, sometimes out loud and sometimes using mind talk. Then they were herded back into the kitchen for Jake to open presents. He got lots of music CDs and movie DVDs and some games for his computer. His favorite gifts were driving sunglasses from Ellen and a pacifier from Kara. Leanne rolled her eyes. The consensus among the guests was that Jake had just been told that he was a big baby. Jan just looked at him and Kara thoughtfully.

So how did you do it? Jake sent to Jan later when the guests were once again milling around.

She smiled over at him.

Before their conversation could continue, Christine cornered Jake. He had nudged up her arousal level when he saw her at the start of the party. Now she was very interested in getting Jake’s attention. Jake introduced her around to the people who did not know her. His last stop was Gil Hambry. He got them talking, turned down Christine’s arousal, and slipped away to talk to his grandparents.

“Didn’t you have a hearing this morning?” he asked Gramma.

“Yes, indeed.”

“How did that turn out?”

“We are now something called managing conservators. I gather that that lets us do anything real parents can do.”

“The difference,” Jake said, “is that compared to the real parents, you’ll really be parents to Carol. Did the court say anything about them?”

“Yes, the judge said that he was terminating their parental rights.”

“What exactly does that mean?”

“I think that makes it so that they have no right to any contact with her. They also can’t talk about her to her doctor or her school. There’s something about inheritance, too. Do you remember, David?”

“Yeah. They can’t inherit from her, but she can still inherit from them. That’s an odd little nugget to make a big deal about.”

“Lawyers,” Jake said. “You can’t live with them; you can’t kill them all first thing, either. But enough lawyer jokes. I want you both to know how proud I am of you and how grateful I am that you did this for Carol.”

Jake went to Leanne next.

“I would have thought that you had better control of your daughter.”

“I was about to say the same thing about you and your, uh, well, whatever she is to you. The future mother of your children, I suppose.”

It was a wonderful present she gave me. When I think about you and her having my children it makes me want to get you both alone and kiss you very, very thoroughly.

Leanne smiled at him.