Chapter 14

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

The alarm went off at four a.m. Jake had to crawl over Ellen to shut off the alarm. She barely woke enough to notice. Jake went down to the kitchen for a Coke and then returned to the bed. He gently nudged Ellen over toward Julie and sat with his back against the headboard.

He sensed Kate through the wall. She was sleeping restlessly. Jake had been aware of her coming to bed around midnight. He had felt her surliness. Hearing sex sounds through the wall had made it worse. She had been aroused by the cries of the women, but whenever she heard Jake’s voice, it irritated her, and she lost her arousal.

Now she was barely asleep. Jake felt her turmoil. He could see slight activity in the region of the prefrontal cortex that held her consciousness, but she wasn’t quite conscious. He watched her for a while. Every minute or so she would drift toward real sleep, but before her consciousness quite subsided, an image of Harris would emerge causing her to become agitated. She would flail and sometimes cry out.

Harris dominated her dreams. Fear was pervasive. Often it was full-fledged panic.

As he watched the activity in the cerebral cortex, he focused on the association bundles, hoping to get back to where he had been when Kate had awakened Saturday night.

The next sleep disturbance started with the beginning of a new dream. Jake located an active memory and followed the association nerves back toward the midbrain. Again the memory died out before he could get very far. He camped out where he was.

Several more sleep disturbances arose. Each of them involved different association bundles, but they all seemed to be activated from the midbrain. He resumed the task of back-tracing the signals, tracking them deeper into the limbic system. Jake was not surprised when they lead to the amygdalas. He finally isolated the origin of the signals in the basolateral area.

He decided not to tinker directly with her amygdalas because he didn’t know what side effects he might cause. Instead, Jake decided to disrupt the signal somewhere closer to the cerebrum. The most distal common pathway was near the midbrain. Jake ringed it there. He was cautiously optimistic that by intervening at that location, he was hindering only the invocation of memories through the amygdalas, a process that didn’t seem to have any useful purpose.

Jake watched Kate for another fifteen minutes. There were no more disruptions and she fell deeply asleep. Jake decided he would do the same.

Jake’s cell phone rang at eight.

“Did I wake you, Jake?”

“No,” he said groggily. “I’ve been up since sunrise doing my chores. What’s up?”

“Are you responsible for the article about Tommy Cox in the paper this morning?”

“I don’t know. What does it say?”

“It says that Cox accepted a bribe to outlaw the sale of alcohol over the Internet.”

“Then I guess I’m responsible.”

“If your goal was to distract him from our lawsuit, you might be successful.”

“Actually my goal was to expose the corruption. I didn’t think it would affect O’Connor versus Cox. Maybe I should read what the article says.”

“Go do that. The hearing on the next deposition is Thursday at nine a.m. Are you going to be there?”

“Yes. The judge and I had a talk on Friday. I want to see how it changes his attitude. You may find that he wants to wrap up the trial as soon as possible.”

“Is he going to think I had anything to do with your little talk?”

“No. He never saw me. As far as he knows, it was just some stray avenging spirit calling him to task.”

“Then I’m going to look forward to seeing what happens. I’ll push for the earliest possible dates for deposing the witnesses.”

Jake looked at the newspaper’s website.

Liquor Stores Buy a Law

by Donna Glenn, staff writer

Liquor stores in the state were handed a windfall last month when the state legislature sided with them and against consumers in outlawing mail-order sales of wine. Many grumbled, but in the hurly-burly of a legislative session, such decisions are made all the time. There was nothing for the citizens of the state to do but accept it, and maybe ask their elected representatives some pointed questions.

Today, the people who opposed the mail-order ban have a new reason to complain. It has been alleged that the Speaker of the House Tommy Cox (R-Pecan Grove) forced the law through the legislature in exchange for bribes totaling $152,000.

When confronted with proof of the payments to Mr. Cox by way of his chief of staff, Ryan Caldwell, Nathaniel Chambers, president of the Texas Liquor Store Trade Association, denied the payments were bribes but would not otherwise comment.

However, a member of the TLSTA staff who asked to remain anonymous said, “It’s an open secret. Everybody knows that you have to pay to play in this state,” he said.

Veteran state representative Gary Long (R-Shankland) said the bribe would explain the manner in which the law was pushed through the house.

“We were told in our caucus that we would have to present a united front on the wine bill. Some representatives were unhappy, but in the end, party discipline prevailed. Speaker Cox has a way of making dissenters pay.”

A spokesman at Speaker Cox’s office refused to comment. He also refused to make Ryan Caldwell available, saying that Mr. Caldwell no longer worked for the speaker. Mr. Caldwell could not otherwise be located to respond to the allegations.

Jake laughed out loud. He would not have been able to do a better job getting incriminating quotes from the trade association and Representative Long. He typed out a message in his email program.

From: 23b7d5i@gmail.com

To: Donna.Glenn@morningjournal.com

Subject: re: Follow the money

Dear Donna,

I had hoped that you would be able to make use of the information I sent you. I didn’t expect to see such fireworks. I see that I entrusted my tale to the right journalist.

As for how to refer to me, alas, I will have to maintain my anonymity. I am Mr. 23b7d5i, but I’m not a very formal guy. I answer to 23. It’s too bad that I must keep my distance. I’m a big fan of yours. Sadly, I’ll just have to admire you from afar.

That’s not to say that I won’t write again in the future. I happen to have access to other information about Mr. Cox. Some of it is just as juicy as the story about the liquor stores.

Jake went down to the kitchen. All his women were sitting around the island in the kitchen except for Ellen who had gone into work. He kissed each one enthusiastically, lingering over Nina.

“You look happy this morning,” Kara said. “I haven’t seen you smile much for the last week.”

“A couple of schemes have been coming together. For instance, a very bad man who did a very bad thing to someone I love had a very public comeuppance this morning.”

“You’re not talking about your father, are you?” Leanne said.

“No. It’s the man who put Nina in that wheelchair.”

“You mean Tommy Cox?” Nina asked.

Jake smiled. “Yep. Check out the morning paper.”

“We don’t get the morning paper,” Leanne said.

Jake ran up to his room, got his laptop, and brought it back down. Everyone huddled around and read the article.

“It doesn’t say anything about you,” Julie said.

“Nope. I made an anonymous tip to the reporter. She really ran with it. Some of this is stuff she dug up on her own.”

“How did you learn about it?” Julie asked.

“I had to spend two and a half hours very unpleasant in the same room with him at his deposition. I took six pages of notes about bad things he’s done. I plan to keep feeding dirt to the reporter to keep the pressure on him.”

“You said you had a couple of things work out,” Kara said. “What else?”

“Has Kate been down yet?”

“Not yet,” Leanne said.

“Don’t count on her for a while yet. If I did what I think I did, she should be having the best night’s sleep she’s had in a long time.”

“You found a cure for her?” Nina asked.

“I wish,” Jake said. “I don’t understand very much about how acute stress disorder and PTSD work. To actually deal with the root cause is going to take more study. Jan should be by this morning to talk about it with me.”

The doorbell rang.

“That should be a plan of our own working out,” Leanne said.

Jake read her.

“A big bed? For me?”

“Yes, you,” she said and hurried to the front door.

Before long, several furniture deliverymen were hauling bed parts down the hall and into Jake’s new bedroom. When they left, Jake went to look at it. It was twice as big as his mother’s bed.

“Which end do I put my head at?”

“Up by the wall, silly,” Kara said. “It’s really two queen mattresses combined into one. It’s ten feet wide. That should be big enough to accommodate you and five of your closest friends, if you all snuggle close together. Maybe only you and three others if you are — shall we say — vigorous.”

Leanne went over to the closet and brought back some sheets.

“Help me make the bed, Jake,” she said, throwing him one end of the bottom sheet.

“How did you get sheets that would fit?” he asked.

“Custom mattresses take custom sheets.”

“Leanne, you shouldn’t have spent so much money on me. You don’t have all that much to spare.”

“I didn’t even use a quarter of the bribe money, so don’t worry about it. I think it was money well spent, especially when I think about being crammed into that little bed of yours.”

With Julie and Kara’s help, the bed was soon made. Leanne brought a large duvet from the closet as well as five large pillows and pillowcases. They put the pillows in place and stood looking at the bed.

“Why does this just scream orgy to me?” Julie said.

“Oh, dear,” Leanne said, suddenly nervous.

“It screams orgy to me, too,” Jake said, sitting on the bed and pulling Leanne into his lap. “But don’t worry. We’ll go slow and won’t force anybody.”

“How slow is slow?” Julie said, sitting next to Jake and putting her arm around him.

Kara sat on his other side and kissed Jake’s cheek.

“We wouldn’t want to force anyone,” she said and stroked Leanne’s arm while she leaned against Jake.

“No, we wouldn’t,” Leanne said looking nervously from Kara to Julie.

The sound of an outboard engine came from the direction of the boat dock. Leanne hopped quickly to her feet.

“Someone’s here. I’ll go get the door,” she said and hurried out of the bedroom.

Jake chuckled. “You guys are very bad.”

“We didn’t do nothing,” Julie said.

“You two need to be very low key. She’s attracted to you both sexually and she’s afraid that it might lead her to do something that would hurt you. To say nothing about her ambivalence because of the incest taboo.”

“Well, I love her, and I wouldn’t mind if something happened,” Kara said.

“She’s way sexy,” Julie said.

“Now that the orgy room has been established, I suspect we’ll see your mother getting more involved with other people. Just let her go slow or she’ll draw away.”

Kara kissed Jake’s cheek again and stood.

“We’ll be careful. Let’s go see who’s come.”

They found Jan, Shannon, Christine, and a stack of books. Jan looked at Jake with a broad smile when she saw him. Her excitement was so strong that it felt like an almost physical force. He read her and smiled back. Mark had given her permission to have a child with Jake. Jake laughed as the thought struck him that they wouldn’t be keeping many secrets from each other.

Jan ran to Jake who lifted her into the air and twirled her around. She kissed him hard and long.

“I think I missed something,” Leanne said.

What should we tell them? Jan asked.

We tell the truth and let them celebrate with us, Jake said.

“Jan has some good news,” Jake said.

“Yes, Mark says that I can have a baby,” Jan said to the other women.

All the women surrounded her, offering congratulations and hugs, except Christine who was disconcerted.

“But Dad’s so old. He can’t have more kids at his age,” she said.

“That is a complication, Chris,” Jan said. “Mark feels the same way. He doesn’t want to be a father again so late in life. We agreed that my baby would have a different father.”

“Holy shit,” Julie said. “Are you talking about Jake?”

Jan smiled at him and nodded.

“How did you talk him into that?” Shannon asked.

“I didn’t. Jake did.”

Jake, you didn’t make him, did you?” Kara sent.

Did you do something to him? Leanne asked with an edge of jealousy.

Jake moved to Leanne quickly.

This doesn’t change anything between us. I want to give you a child in the worst way, and I will, just as soon as Gus can’t claim it. I promise you I will love it and care for it better than any man has ever cared for his children.

You promise me, Jake?

On my honor. We have lots of love in this house and plenty of money. We can have a big family. With your wisdom and love, we will be able to raise them all to be content and happy and exceptional.

Yes, Jake, she sent and hugged him hard.

Jake kissed her and then turned back to the others.

“Before anyone starts to accuse me of blackmail or something,” Jake said, “there was no coercion. Mark and I had a long, frank talk about Jan’s feelings about having children. That’s all. He’s been mulling it over the last few days and seems to have come to this decision on his own.”

“Fuck, everybody’s having babies but me,” Julie said.

“Julie! You will learn to speak like a lady,” Leanne said. “And you’ve got lots of time before you start having children.”

Julie laughed. “It’s too late, Momma. I’ll never be a lady. You’ll just have to put up with the slut that I am.”

“We’ll discuss your behavior and your language later,” Leanne said. “For now the important thing is Jan and her plans.”

Jan launched into a surprisingly explicit description of her birth control and her menstrual cycle and their implications on her fertility. Strategies to make sure that Mark didn’t accidentally become the father were discussed at length.

Jake went looking for some breakfast. Nina rolled over to him.

“Annabelle and Randy went to the grocery store to stock the kitchen. Randy went on a donut run before they left. You’ll have to make do with that until they come back. Sit. I’ll get it for you.”

She rolled to the counter and returned with two glazed donuts.

Jake kissed her, sat at the island, and started to eat.

“How do you feel about Jan’s news?” he asked.

“You know how I feel.”

“Indulge me. There’s more to a relationship than just knowing what someone is thinking,” he said quietly. “Even mind readers need to talk about things. We just need to be careful. Shannon and Christine don’t know about me.”

“After that scene with Leanne, how could they not?”

“Actually Shannon suspects and has for some time, but Christine is still clueless. But I can count on you to not spread it around, can’t I?”

“Of course, Jake.”

You can talk to me by thinking. That way they can’t overhear.

“What was that?” she squawked.

The others looked over at them briefly and then turned back to Jan.

Nina laughed. What you have done without trying is pretty good. I haven’t thanked you for those two sessions.