Chapter 35

“As if it weren’t enough that she’s dating a complete moron, she has to sneak out to see him”, Marc cursed as he scoured the streets of Colorado Springs looking for his twin.  His 2030 Harley rumbled down the rain soaked streets.  He checked all of his sister’s usual haunts and she was nowhere to be found.  He pulled his cell phone out of his leather riding jacket and dialed his older brother.  “Jake”, he said once he heard the line pick up.  “I can’t fucking find her.  Anyone else have any luck?”

“Not so far”, Jake said with a sigh.  “I’m about to call Maddie and Jordan in on this and if they’re awaken from a dead sleep like I did Mom and Dad this afternoon in Israel, Jordan’s going to beat baby sister’s ass from now until Doomsday.”

“I heard that.  Too bad Dad would kill us boys for hitting one of our sisters because my twin needs a good smack of commonsense in the back of her head.”

“Well, let me wake Jordan and Davina up.  Davi’s going to shit a brick when she hears my voice on the other end.”

“You know who else you might wanna call, Jake.”

“Not on your fucking life.  I’m suppose to be getting ready to take over in Dad’s stead as the head of the family.  If I can’t keep track of Jessi on one of her whims, then maybe it should be Malachai taking over rather than me.”

“Were you and Malachai both offered the chance and Malachai refused before you could even open your mouth.”

“Be that as it may, I don’t shirk my responsibilities.  It’s my responsibility to keep this household together while Dad’s away.  I can’t very well do that if I’m calling him at a moment’s notice telling him that his youngest daughter decided to sneak out of the house to go see her piece of shit, wannabe rocker boyfriend.”

A bit of movement caught Marc’s eye.  “Hold on, Jake.  I think I see something.”  He looked closer and spotted his twin sister coming out of a building that he knew to be an underground rock club.  “Jake, I’ve spotted her.  Let me grab her and I’ll see you when we get home.”

“No problem, Marc.  Let Jessykah know that she’s in a WORLD of trouble when you get home.”

“Gladly”, he said and hung up.  He pulled up slowly next to the building where he spotted his sister and called her name.  “JESSYKAH!” he barked.

Her head snapped up to look at him.  “What do you want, Marc?”

“Get on the back of the bike. You’re in deep shit.  Jake’s gonna have a piece of your ass when you get home.  And you had better believe that wannabe punk you call your boyfriend will be answering to one of us.  You disobeyed a direct order from Dad.  He’s not going to be happy.  I think Jake’s going to call him and let him know what’s going on once we get home.”

“You and Jake, and the rest of the boys can kiss my ass, Marc Christopher.  I could honestly give a fuck what you think of Remy.  He doesn’t care either.”

“Just get on the fucking bike, Jessykah.  Or do I have to have Jake call Jordan and Davina?  You know how Jordan gets when her beauty rest is interrupted.”

Jessi shivered both from the thought of her sister and the cold.  “Fine.”  She mounted the bike’s back seat and got held on to her brother.  “I still don’t give a shit what you or the other boys think of Remy.”

“And I frankly don’t give a flying fuck if you give a shit or not.  Just be prepared to get a royal ass chewing when we get home.”

“What else is new?”

“The fact that you’re going to get it twice a bad once Dad hears that you didn’t do as he said and stay away from him until Dad could come home in investigate.  He and Mom haven’t even been got a week and you’re acting a fool.”  He shook his head.  “Just hang on tight.  The ride back’s going to be a bit bumpy.  They’re working in the road between the house and town.”

Jessi wrapped her arms around her twin brother’s waist and held on for dear life as he took off.

As Marc sped away, a set of dark eyes watched.  Oh, Marc Draiman, you will regret taking my bunny away from me.  Your sister is my ticket to the big time.  Once your father hears me sing, he won’t be able to have the contract written up fast enough, Jeremy “Remy” Caldwell thought to himself as he stood in the rain and watched his girlfriend’s twin brother take her away.  All in due time Marc.  All in due time.  You’ll see how big a mistake you made tonight and I’ll get the last laugh.

Remy Caldwell couldn’t have been more wrong.  If he thought for half a second that he was going to get the drop on Marc, he was sadly mistaken.  Very sadly mistaken indeed.

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As they rode back to the Egyptian mainland, David heard his cell phone going off in his bag.  They were close enough to land to get a signal, but still far enough out that until he got to the docks he didn’t want to mess with it.  He loved his children, but it would have to wait at least until he and their mother got back to the dock.  He may even make them wait until they got back to the hotel to deal with it.  If was really that important, they would have to wait until he had the chance to get back to them.  And he knew it was one of his children calling.  Who else would be calling while they knew he was in the middle of the water?  No one but his kids.

“Aren’t you going to answer that?” Brie calling over the sound of the engine and wind.

“Not until we’re in a place where I can give a shit.  We both know who’s calling me.  One of the boys.”

“True.  What do you think it could be?”

“Short of Jeremiah and Jona calling to let us know that she’s pregnant too, I honestly don’t know.  Jessi’s under orders to stay away from Jeremy until we get back.  She wouldn’t ignore a mandate from Dad.”

“I hope you’re right for her sake , but something tells me something’s rotten in Denmark, love.”

“Then, when we get back to the hotel, I’ll call whichever of our children it is calling me back.  I need to put my phone on the charger anyway.  I think it’s about to go dead.”

“Then let’s get back to the hotel and deal with our children.  God, why does it seem like every time we turn around this trip, one of the kids- particularly Jacob- is calling with some emergency?”

“Because Jake likes to make sure everything is kosher with me before making a executive decision.  Think about it this way.  In the mafia, the lieutenants don’t make a move unless the Don okays it.  Well, as far as our family goes, I’m the Don.  I’m the Godfather.  Jake, though he’s about to step into that position, is still one of my six lieutenants.”  By this time, the boat had slowed because they were in a no wake zone.  The boat was slowly approaching the docks.

“Hey, David, what are your plans the rest of the time you’re in the area?” Joe called back.

“Dunno yet.  I know what at some point while we’re here in Egypt, I have to take this beautiful woman next to me on a camel ride.  Other than that and looking for a house in Jerusalem, not too damn much.  Why do you ask?”

“The wife and I would love to have you and Brie over one night”, Joe said as he maneuvered the boat up to the dock to moor it.

“We’ll have to see what happens, Joe.  I’d love to see Ziva.”

Brie looked at her husband.  “His wife’s name is Ziva?”

“Yeah.  What makes you ask?”

“NCIS, David.”

“Oh.  Gotcha.  No, Ziva’s nothing like that Ziva.  Ziva’s a very gentle woman unlike the Ziva from NCIS.”

She nodded.  “Ok.  That just popped into my head when you said that.  I didn’t mean anything by it.”

“No worries, Brie”, Joe said as he moored the boat to the dock.  “She’s actually heard it before and thinks it’s pretty cool that people think of that when they hear her name.”

“Well, that’s good.  At least she’s not offended by it.”

“She doesn’t see the point in getting offended.”

Once the boat was tied off , David and Brie carefully climbed onto the dock.  “So, what do you want to do now?” David asked as they walked toward the hotel from the beach.  “We could always get that camel ride you convinced me you deserve.”

“You talk a really big game, baby, but you already knew you were going to take me on that camel ride.  You just wanted me to torture you a little bit during the taxi ride.”

He laughed.  “Perhaps, but that doesn’t answer my question.  What do you want to do now?”

“Get some room service and see which of our children keeps blowing up your phone.”

“Sounds like a plan to me.  After we deal with the emergency there seems to be back in the US and after we’ve eaten, we’ll catch that camel ride.  Sound like a plan?”

“Sounds good to me.”

So they, made their way back to their hotel room to order room service.  After their food arrived, they would deal with the drama back home.

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“What’s taking them so fucking long?!” Jake growled as he waited on his parents to return his call.  He eyeballed Jessi.  “Don’t you even dream of fucking moving, Jessykah Danyelle.  You are in such deep shit right now, the whites of your eyes should be turning as brown as the irises”, he growled.  “Just you wait until Dad hears about this shit.  You’re going to get the worst ass chewing you’ve ever received.  Worse than you even thought possible.”

Jessi didn’t look fazed.  She didn’t even look half assed scared.  She just stared at Jake with an indignant look on her face.  “Do I look scared, Jacob?”

“You should be”, Jeremiah said.  “You know what Dad gets like when his time with Mom is interrupted.  Out comes that grizzly that Maddie’s always called him.”  Jessi responded by giving him the finger.

Jake phone started going off.  It was the tune of Clare de Lune by Debussy.  It was his mother’s ringtone.  The gentle tune always reminded him of her.  He was quick not to let it ring too many times.  “Hello?” he asked after putting the phone on speaker.

“Not who you expected, is it, Jacob?” his father said over the phone.

“Actually, I’m glad it’s you and not Mom.  I think you need to have a very LONG conversation with Jessykah.”

“What did she do?”

“She disobeyed you and snuck out to see that boy.”

“Can she hear me?” David said calmly.

“Yes.”

“Jessykah, let me hear your voice.”

“I’m here, Daddy” she said.

“Did you sneak out to go see that young man after I specifically told you not to?”

“Yes, sir.”  Her tone was cocky.

“Did you now?  And what part of, ‘If you value my sanity you’ll do as I say’ , did you not understand?”

“He’s not that bad a guy, Daddy.  The boys’ opinion of him is painted badly because of Marc’s history with him.”

“Do I sound like I give a shit, Jessykah Danyelle?  I specifically told you not to see him again until I could get home to investigate what your brothers said about him and you blatantly disobeyed me.  You do realize that now that you’re over the age of 18, I can legally put you out of the house, right?”

That hit home.  She’d never heard her father threaten to kick any of his children out of the house.  Her voice shook as she responded.  “Yes, sir.”

“So, why don’t you try convincing me why I shouldn’t have you start looking for an apartment?  I mean, you don’t think you have to do a damn thing I ask of you.”

“Daddy, I didn’t mean...”she cried.

“Don’t think that those tears are going to get you anywhere with me right now, Danyelle.  You’re in a whole new world of deep shit with me.”  He took a deep breath to regain his composure.  “Here’s what will happen; and I hope all of your brothers are in the room and listening very closely because I’m not going to repeat myself.  Jessykah, you are going to tell Jeremy that I want to meet him as soon as I get back.  The day after your mother and I touch down in Denver and roll into the driveway, he had better darken my door.  Until your mother and I get home, you WILL stay away from him.  Boys, you are to do whatever you deem necessary to keep them apart.  Tail her if you have to; I don’t give a shit.  Your mother and I will be home in two days.  Am I perfectly understood?”

“Yes , sir”, all of the Draiman children responded.

“Jessykah, you are to start thinking of a few really good reasons why I shouldn’t kick you out.”

The tears that had originally flooded her eyes started to fall.  “Yes, sir”, she said quietly as she wiped one of the tears away with the back of her hand.

“Now, if you’ll all excuse me, I’m going to eat lunch with your mother, then take her on a camel ride.  You all need to get some sleep, and I don’t want to hear another word on this subject until I get home.”

“No problem, Dad”, the boys responded.

“Good night, children”, and the call disconnected.

“Well, that went rather nicely.  Wouldn’t you agree, Jeremiah?” James said sarcastically.

“Oh, it was tits”, Jeremiah laughed.

“Tits?” Jake asked.

“A guy in one of my Theology classes said that a lot.  He’d say, ‘Professor Gavin is tits, man!’  He meant that Professor Gavin was cool.  ‘That lecture today was SO not tits!’, meant that the lecture blew.”

“I still don’t get it”, Malachai said.

“What I meant was that it went over rather nicely.  I actually thought Dad was very calm about the whole thing.”

“Did you not hear the part where the threatened to kick me out?” Jessi shrieked through her tears.

“He’s not going to kick you out, Jessi”, Marc said.  “But, when Dad asks that you don’t do something so that he can investigate; you don’t do it.  It’s really that simple.”

“Well, I don’t know about the rest of you bozos, but I’m going home.  My wife would probably like to have me warm next to her in our bed”, Malachai said as he pushed himself to standing and headed for the front door.

“Mine too”, Jake said as he started toward the back door.  “Good night, everyone”, he said with a yawn.  “I’ll see all of you in the morning.”

“Jona was asleep when I pried my arm out from under her.  I ‘m sure she’s not thrilled that she’s sleeping alone either; though she’ll understand it was a family emergency.”  He pushed himself to standing and headed for the stairs.

James yawned and stretched.  “I’m going on back to bed too.  I’ve got a pregnant girlfriend that needs me.  Good night everyone.”

“I guess I had better go to bed too”, Jessi said as she tried to stop crying.  She knew that the tears would do her no good.  Her father was somehow immune to the pouty puppy dog face.  She wondered how that came to be, but she didn’t question it at the point.  She’d have to ask him when this whole mess was over and her father saw that Remy wasn’t really a bad guy.  He was a talented guy who had a lot of promise.  But that would have to wait a couple of days.  She headed up the stairs behind James.

Marc decided to sit alone in the dark of the living room.  He thought about the events of the night and how he felt the slimeball’s eyes on him as he pulled away from the musty little club he and his shitty little wannabe rock band called home.  You no talent piece of shit.  I’ll show you not to go around town bragging that you’re fucking my twin sister, he thought.  I can’t wait until you have to meet my Dad.  He will chew you up and spit you out.  Hell, he could sing circles around you with a sore throat.  My father is the best known vocalist today and you think you’re something special?  Please.  Don’t make me laugh.  He thought about his twin sister’s feelings when she found out what the piece of shit she was calling her boyfriend was really up to.  You’re going to end up breaking my sister’s heart, you punk.  For that, I will beat the shit out of you.  Mark my words.  You won’t walk off of this property.  You’ll be lucky if there’s enough of you to carry to the hospital after I’m through with you.  And that’s no threat, Jeremy Caldwell.  That is a promise.

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As they ate their lunch, David was on his laptop booking their flight home and Brie was on the phone with their real estate agent back in Jerusalem.  She was explaining to the woman in Hebrew that they would be coming back during the summer to look at houses so she didn’t have to put a rush on that list of houses.

After she was done, she looked at David who was still fuming after the conversation with their youngest child.  “Baby, you need to calm down or you’re going to give yourself an ulcer.”

“I can’t believe she blatantly ignored me.  None of our children have ever pulled that stunt before.  They all know that when Dad speaks, his word is law.”

“You’re worse than the rabbis I grew up with.”

His head snapped up to look at her.  “What?”

“Yeah.  Remember how Matt told you the story about the rabbi I told was interpreting the Talmud wrong?”

“Yes.”

“That guy was a tyrant.  You’re not like that guy but you’re certainly acting like him.  David, baby, she thinks she’s in love.  When we get back, we’ll handle this and no matter what the outcome is, we’ll be there to support her.”

He sighed, letting out all of the frustration.  “I just pray that what the boys said about this young man is wrong.  I hope he’s not using my baby to get a record deal.”

“And if he is?”

“I don’t know.”

“Why don’t we let the boys handle it?  Remember that analogy you made earlier about our family and the mafia?”

He laughed.  “Yeah.”

“Well, why do you think the lieutenants are the ones that always end up in the clink?”

“Why?”

“Because the Don knows better than to get his hands dirty.  Let the Capo call the shots on the street, let the other lieutenants do what they do, and you keep your hands clean.”

He laughed.  “What would I do without you?”  He took her hands and kissed the back of them softly.

“More than likely; stupid shit.”

“What do you say to finishing our lunch and going for that camel ride?”

“I say I like that idea.  And afterward, I can thank you properly for such a wonderful day.”

“Hmmm… I like that sound of that.”

“Good.  I was hoping you would.  Now, have you gotten our tickets for tomorrow?”

“Yes, I have our tickets for our flight out of Cairo tomorrow afternoon.”

“There wasn’t anything sooner?”

“Nope.  Everything else was booked and it didn’t matter what airline I tried.”

“Ok, then we leave tomorrow afternoon out of Cairo.  Now, I’ve eaten about all my tummy can handle.  Are you full yet?”

“No, but I’ve lost my appetite dealing with this shit with our children.”

“Then let’s set this stuff outside the room, go take a short camel ride, then come back here to enjoy the rest of our day?”

“Let’s go, gorgeous.”  They put their plates back on the cart they were brought in on and gathered their things to go for a camel ride.  They wouldn’t need much, but David wanted to make sure that he had money on hand to that he could pay the merchant that sold the rides so he made that he had his wallet.

After they walked out the door, Brie wrapped her arms around David’s waist as they walked to the elevator that would take them out to the lobby of their hotel.  It wasn’t long before they found a man in the crowded streets of the city that was selling camel rides.  David bought two rides- one apiece- and helped his tiny woman up on to one of the camels  Once he was sure she was in place, he mounted the other one and clicked his tongue twice to get the animal moving and his wife followed suit.  They rode through the crowded streets of the little Egyptian coastal town together and tried to push the shit back home to the backs of their minds.