“I swear to God, if I come within a few feet of that Oscar T. He’s a dead man, I mean it.”
“Mate, please… bloody hell, never say stuff like that out loud. We just wanna be sure.” Lowell claimed looking over at his wife as she cleaned his hand, wrapping it.
“Well you can be sure, my father is a man who protects! He attacks bullies! He would die for his family, kill for his family - but he is not a predator of children.” Ben bit into his lips, “God help me, I wanna kill him so bad.” Ben passionately declared, “Oscar T. Wherrington is a predator. Do you know he went after my step-sister, and while she was holding a kitten, he snapped its neck because it scratched him? A kitten. A tiny kitten. That - is what he does, what he is - someone who takes advantage of the vulnerable! He’s taken what he is and made it out like my dad is. That man is the devil’s own.” He fell forward - his head went to the heels of his palms.
Done with his hand, Mercy asked, “What part of the story is true Ben, we need to know if we can help your father.”
Ben exhaled and after a moment mumbled, “The porn. He’d run away from home. Came here to California and - well - yeah - the porn stuff is true. I don’t know all the details, but - my father would never ever hurt a child, it’s - not - in him. You have got to believe me, I would lay down my life on it - my own child’s life - if I had one.” He shook his head repeating, “No way, no way - God knows, no way.”
“Okay… that’s good enough for me. What say you dear, good enough?” Lowell asked his wife.
She nodded, “Good enough, I believe him.”
Ben glanced up with fear and dread in his eyes, “Now what? If you can, please… you gotta help my dad, he doesn’t deserve this… he doesn’t.”
Lowell grabbed his shoulder, squeezed it, shook it a bit, “Leave it with me. We’ll recover, and so will he. Looks like it’s time for me to do what I do best – that Wherrington isn’t the only bloke with connections.” Lowell assured him and turned to his wife, referring to her as he had when he’d first seen her, “Relax baby-face, you know me - you know what I can do, where I can go. You trust me?”
She smiled, nodded, “I trust you.”
“Good, leave it - I’ll sort it. Okay, out of my office, both of you-…” Before he could finish, the police had arrived and were shown to his office.
They walked in looking for Ben, “By the look of your knuckles we’d say you’re the one who attacked the reporter, yes? No?”
Ben sighed, “Am I under arrest?”
The first officer nodded and smiled, “Oh yeah - see, we have this thing called a law where the citizens aren’t allowed to simply snap and start punching people - turn around please.”
Ben shook his head in disbelief, but turned just the same.
“Hands behind your back.” The officer took out the cuffs, “You have a right to remain silent…” He went on as Mercy James informed them, “That’s a waste of time and the tax payer’s money, I’ll be down to bail him right out.”
“That’s your right ma’am, he’ll be easy to find, we file them by name and number.” He returned sarcastically and immediately turned escorting Ben from the office.
“I’ll be right there Ben!” She called behind the officers and Ben. Turning to her husband, “The sooner you get started on fixing this, the better. You know where I’ll be, bailing him out.”
“No worries luv, you go get him out of trouble, and I’ll be working on his dad.”
She turned going one way and he turned the other - both determined to do all they could to right this world suddenly knocked askew.
An hour later, Mercy James watched Ben come from the back of the station, “You okay?” She asked.
“Yeah, I owe you.”
“Don’t worry about it, we’ll take it out of your bonus,” She smiled teasing. They were slowly heading for the elevator to head down to the parking ramp, “Shouldn’t I say something to the reporters to try and get the truth out there? Try and clear my father’s name?”
“Ben, I don’t think it’s a good idea. You’re his son - they’ll claim you’re biased and just trying to protect your father-…”
“Well yeah, I am - because he’s innocent and they’ve already torn him to bits! I can’t just stand by and do nothing to defend him.”
“Sweetheart, you’ve already defended him enough today, don’t you think?”
“No! That was nothing, I’ve only just begun.”
“I know how you must feel, but - there is no honor out there. They’re not dignified, just or fair in this report. They’re worse than ravenous wolves, anything Ben, and I do mean anything to sell a newspaper. I was a journalist before I was a writer, I know the game. It wasn’t in me. That’s why I’m a writer now. They will twist, and turn, and manipulate and edit everything you say, because the truth is boring - no one wants the truth, they’ll only buy lies. The uglier, grittier, and nastier it is the better.” She tried reasoning with him.
“He’s my father - I can’t just stand by - I can’t.”
“Will you at least give it a day? Give Lowell time to work something out first, please?”
Ben shrugged, it was eating him up.
“They won’t believe you Ben - they’ll tear your defense to shreds.”
He went quiet on her. She drove him back to PenTab, to his car. Before he got out, she tried one more time, “Try to hold back Ben, I know it’s making you crazy, but the worst has been done, let’s formulate a plan first.”
He sighed, turned to her smiling, “I’ll think about it.”
He stepped out of her Lexus and into his Mercedes.
By the time she got back to the office, Lowell was on the phone and just finishing up. Hanging up, he asked, “He out?”
“Yeah… but, he wants to talk to the reporters, I asked him not to, but - he won’t be able to control himself, I just know it.”
“He loves his father. Let him fight for him. If nothing else, it will give Everett something to stand proud of. That man is going to need his family more than ever now.”
Wisconsin
“You know what - what happened to courtesy and professionalism? No calls, no messages, nothing to say they’ve canceled. We could have booked someone else.” Sylvia fumed from her office, sitting behind her desk, looking for possible emails that she’d missed. The two check-ins were no-shows.
Mama Jojo sat across from her, “Chile, suits don’t make folks no more proper than ones wearing T-shirts.”
“I’m beginning to believe it. What the-…???” Sylvia broke off what she was saying when suddenly - cancellations began rolling in. “Oh my goodness, what is going on?” She worried.
“What? What you see?” Mama Jojo asked.
“Cancellations - one after the other, and not just for the B & B, but - for the studio as well. Scheduled sessions for family portraits and for the schools. Oh my God, they’re still coming in, what is going on?”
“Sylvia look! Ben on T.V. Lord, that boy fightin’, beatin’ on one o’them reporters, what in the worl’? Turn the TV up.”
Sylvia grabbed the remote immediately turned the volume up. Both she and Mama Jojo were stunned, immobilized by what they were seeing and hearing. The story came to an end on that channel and she quickly switched to another channel to find out what was happening until she found one at the beginning of the full report. Before it even concluded, the remote fell from her hand - her breathing deepened and increased, “Nooo! Oh my God - nooo!” Her ears began ringing, so loud she could barely make out what Mama Jojo was saying, and then the phone was ringing.
Mama Jojo answered, it was Deidre on the other end, “Oh my God, Mama Jojo - is Sylvia there - all hell has broken loose. My father has just - oh God - he’ll never forgive me for this…” Deidre sobbed, panicking - desperate for a way to fix it.
Mama Jojo could say nothing to her in return, she was fully aware of their history, to be honest, he, Shawn just might not, she couldn’t say.
“Mama Jojo… please,
say something, is Sylvia there?”
Taking a long deep breath, “Yeah, she here. We jus’ now hearin’ it, I don’t know what to say…here, I pass the phone to Sylvia.”
Sylvia at the moment sat with one hand covering her mouth, the other over her heart trying to digest the horror of what was happening to her husband. All of his bad and ugly skeletons were hung out before all by their skeletal necks in a noose to bring him down. What destroyed Shawn Everett McPherson, destroyed her. He was the heart and soul of her very existence. She was still watching another news story on him, “Oh no - oh no - oh no … they’ve got it all wrong, he would never… my husband would never!” She was almost screaming.
“Here chile… Deidre…” Mama Jojo had been holding the phone out to her, but she couldn’t hear, it was the tap on her arm that she turned, saw the phone and put it to her ear, “Hello?!” She snapped, not knowing who was on it.
“Sylvia… please… forgive me - it’s me, Deidre, my-…”
“Deidre! Deidre - oh my God! Do you see this? Do you hear them?!” She cried fighting back tears.
“I know - I know! I’m so sorry - oh my God I’m so sorry! I promise you - somehow some way we’ll correct this.”
“Ho-o-o-ow!!!” Sylvia screamed throwing the phone away from her up against the wall as if it had burned her and began shaking, praying, “Please God, please God, pleas… he doesn’t deserve this! Make it go away, please make it go away!”
“Baby, you gots t’calm down. We know it ain’t so - that i’s all lies.” Mama Jojo tried, defending him as well.
“Yeah, we know! But we don’t have the news to broadcast to all, and even if we did - the people listening don’t know him like we do! Poor Ben, he’s there by himself, fighting for his father and look how they’re treating him. What they were saying to him. He’s been arrested now!”
Even after getting out and leaving the James’ - against their advice, Ben had spoken to reporters elsewhere, and sure enough, “He’s your father so of course you would say that. Have you no heart? What about the little girl that died because of him? Your poor little sister? Were you in on it too - that why you’re defending him?” They’d asked him. It was then that Ben realized, he’d more than likely made it worse than better. They weren’t after truth.
They wanted sold out newsstands where their papers had been.
Sylvia could see that, Mama Jojo as well. They’d watched Ben turn away struggling to get in his car, threatening to slam a few hands in the door if they didn’t let him close the door, and finally he started the car and drove off forcing a few to jump aside as they snapped pictures through the windshield.
Shaking her head, wiping away tears Sylvia sniffed, “I can’t believe how they’re jumping on this like mad dogs, sensationalizing all of the worst of it without any proof that it’s true!” Her stomach was twisting into knots. She looked at Mama Jojo, her lips trembled, “What are we gonna do Mama Jojo? What we gonna do - you know Shawn - this is going to - eat - him - alive. Oh my God, my husband can’t take this… please…” She covered her mouth lost as to what to do, wiping at her tears.
“Chile yo’husband stronger than you think.”
“I know he is, but this? How will he face all they’re accusing him of, it’s not right.” Searching for her mobile on the desk, she grabbed it, “I gotta call him, see if he knows what’s happening.” She speed dialed him, and before she could say a word, he told her he was on his way and hung up. Turning to Mama Jojo, “He knows. He’s on his way here, and he’s got that tone of voice I don’t like.” She groaned, “We gotta lock up Mama Jojo,” and was already shutting her computer down, saving the programs, and emails. She heard her door open and looked up – he was there already - Shawn and Ivory Saitama - Angela’s bodyguard.
“Oh Shawn!” She cried out his name.
* * *
Bart stood in the local Farmers Co-op burning with shame and fury. It was all too much. The Hillsboro Farmer’s Co-op was his favorite hangout away from home. Everybody knew him. Everyone looked up to him - despite the mess of his two sons.
Shawn and Jake - they were notorious around Hillsboro. As athletes, students, and fighters - their reputation was well known.
Shawn for years past had been the talk of many because besides being an all-around MVP in high school football and track - he was guaranteed as one to lay the smack down - having beaten many in the defense of his siblings. Most had deserved it. Unfortunately, he’d had a few incidents where he’d beat up a couple from misunderstandings and he’d been forced to apologize for it. Gert had always seen to that, even if it had been by dragging him along by the ear. At those other times, when the whipping he’d laid out deserved, Bart would come to defend him. Angry parents were known to stand yelling at him that he needed to get control of that boy of his. They were tired of him beating up their sons, who were at times, scared to come to school. Bart let them know loud and clear, “My boy never does harm to the innocent. They don’t mess with mine, he won’t mess with them - that’s the way I raised him.” He’d been proud to declare. Besides, he’d been thanked from time to time from various parents of young ones who’d been bullied and Shawn had put a stop to it.
Bart had an indirect reputation - grudgingly given for having raised good boys you didn’t mess with - especially his eldest, Shawn.
As for Jake, he was a double edge sword.
He could be just as much for you, as against you. He could help you as well harm you. He could love you, just as well hate you. He tried with all his might to follow in his older brother’s footsteps, and often filled his shoes, but - he had another type of reputation that pissed off many fathers, mothers, boyfriends and husbands. He often used his sometimes hero status to win the females over while climbing into their beds - a heart-breaker without a conscience.
He was not to be trusted.
Bart had chewed him out time and time again - had whipped him in the barn about his goings on, the last time when he was 16. He never thought one of his children would bring him more shame than Jake. Messing women over, taking young girls virginity - Cassie Gentry for instance. Then there were his dalliances with Christine and Doris just to name a few. Bart had always had a low opinion of Jake. He’d given his son hell growing up. Telling him he would never be half the man that Shawn was. “Shawn respects women.” He’d said, “Shawn protects women, the innocent,” he’d said, “Shawn would never have such a disgusting track record, using women disrespectfully like they were to be used like garbage then tossed aside, not my Shawn.” He’d oppressed Jake, his own flesh and blood son - after Shawn had gone, ran from home. Praising Shawn up, feeling guilty for the things he’d done to him, when all this time… Shawn - Edwin Piercey’s boy - had been doing porn. The most insidious, corrupt, abusive, evil and vile use of women that could ever be done to them in Bart’s eyes… Shawn had done. Shawn was somehow the cause of a little girl’s death! A little girl he must have molested, it must be true, or how else would they be able to report such a thing if it wasn’t true?
He had a record.
Been arrested, on more than one occasion.
He’d been in a shootout.
All that time he was in California - that’s what he’d been up to. No wonder he never wanted his mother, or him to visit him there. All that time, he’d been a common male whore working for a madam, selling himself to the highest bidder to be used, debasing himself, the women and all that he was raised him to be, dragging the McPherson name through the muck, slop and grime of the gutter. They said he actually had a penis model made of himself, on sale in adult sex shops - a dildo! They showed frozen video shots of him, head and shoulders while performing with women and his black partner. They said whose name was Jesse James Douglas who’d died in the shootout.
That name nailed it for Bart to be, all true!
After all, the whole family knew that he’d declared that his son’s name would be - Jesse James! Even to this day, as far as Bart was concerned, his son had no s
hame! It was obvious he hadn’t repented! From where Bart stood, it didn’t matter that all those acts were over 20 years ago - he was obviously proud of himself - so much so that he was giving that name of his porn partner to his innocent son!
Everyone in the co-op that stood watching the report would turn and look at him, shaking their heads as if they felt sorry for him and then back at the screen. Fire shot through Bart, ricocheting and driving his blood-pressure up. His adrenaline was pumping so he was almost shaking. He should have left - not listened to anymore, but more came and he stood as if glued to the spot as that Oscar T. Wherrington said that Shawn had leeched off of them. If that weren’t bad enough, it got worse, they claimed he’d been arrested recently in Madison, and that his own daughter, Angela Rae McPherson told the police that her father had touched her. Those watching around him gasped in shock. Bart couldn’t take anymore listening with them - he quietly left the co-op, got in his truck and turned the news on in there. Starting it up, there was no escaping it - it was on the radio as well with more still. They reported that even though he, Everett Styles - real name, Shawn Everett McPherson was remarried, he hadn’t been able to give up the lifestyle he’d become accustomed to being married to the banking heiress, Deidre Wherrington.
News anchor reporters kept coming back and saying, more digging disclosed that he had such a grip on the family that he’d been able to swindle a mansion out of them, worth millions built locally right there in a small town of Wisconsin where he ran to hideaway, but his grip remains tightly on their purse strings. Deidre Wherrington’s father - unable to take anymore - despite his daughter’s threatening him to stay out of it and leave him alone - is a hero today for defending his family. A hero for exposing the hell of what it’s like to be a billionaire, which makes them victims of men like, Everett Styles on a daily basis.
“Absolutely scandalous,” a commentator exclaimed.
As Bart drove, they played a news report directly from California, “This just in, more on the ‘The Banker, the heiress and the porn star,” the scandal was being reported as, “It would seem, he’s been tenacious in his constant extortion - this is not yet confirmed but it appears, just recently, as in a few days ago, he was able to get even more out of the heiress, another smooth million! The nerve of this guy - when is enough, enough? As for me, I hope he gets what’s coming to him. This is coming to you live from KLAC NEW6, I’m Tanya Hyde.”
Beauty of Man and Woman - Volume 13: Bomaw Page 35
