by Nic Tatano
“You’re very analytical, Jillian. You might take after me in that respect.”
“Yeah, Mom just accepts certain things. I want hard facts. And when it comes to religion, there are none.” He’s listening intently when all of a sudden I widen my eyes in horror and grab the sides of my face. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry! I have no idea if you’re religious and I hope I didn’t offend you!”
He offers a slight smile. “No, Jillian, I’m not religious as all. And you certainly haven’t offended me.”
***
While my father didn’t flat out say he was trying to destroy faith and ambition, he hinted at it.
Fortunately the media is confirming it a few days later.
Stories have showed up in print and on television with hard evidence. Attendance at places of worship has drastically dropped in the past few weeks, particularly among young people. And it doesn’t matter if you’re Catholic, Jewish, Protestant or whatever; half the people who went to churches or synagogues before the gold phones hit the streets aren’t going anymore.
Meanwhile, in a related story (I’m using my network anchor voice here) hordes of students who have already been accepted at colleges have suddenly given up their spots. And there’s been a fifty percent drop in applications to institutions of higher learning.
No one can explain the sudden disappearance of faith and ambition.
Well, I can. But who in hell would believe me? (Yeah, I know. People in Hell would.)
The good news is that I’m not only pretty sure of my father’s plan, but I’ve gone a long way toward gaining his trust. He’s let me in the door. He thinks we’re on the same page as far as religion is concerned. And agrees college is a waste of time.
But here’s the big reveal: he’s offered me a job that will start when I graduate from high school.
It’s no secret that young people don’t trust those who are older, especially their parents. Though my father has a following among people my age, he wants to take it a step farther.
He wants someone in his company who will act as a liaison to those of a certain age. My age.
He wants me.
I would serve as the spokesperson for new products that hit the market. He would still do his usual rollouts on television. But I’m to be his mouthpiece for the young generation, going on television and demonstrating the benefits of DeckTech’s amazing technological breakthroughs.
I told him I’d talk it over with Mom but let him think I’m generally excited about it.
So I know what you’re thinking. Hey, Jillian knows her father’s plan and she’ll be able to infiltrate his company.
One little problem. Even though we know the plan, no one has any idea how to defeat it. The geeks at The Summit have been unable to come up with anything that will render the gold phone powerless.
So I’m about to become partners with my father.
Without an escape route.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Roxanne reaches over and wraps one long arm around Jake’s shoulders as we all sit on my front porch. “Jillian, do you know the definition of a great boyfriend?”
“No,” I say, as Jake begins to smile.
Ryan clears his throat. “Uh, you know I’m right here.”
“I already know you’re a great boyfriend,” I say. “I wanted Roxanne’s definition.”
“Nice save,” says Ryan. “You should go into politics with that talent for spin.”
I turn back to her. “So what is it?”
“It’s a boyfriend who won’t take advantage of me when I’m at my most vulnerable. I’ve been practically throwing myself at the little guy and he keeps reminding me that I’m not myself.”
Jake beams as he turns to her. “So, you consider me your boyfriend?”
Roxanne actually blushes, which could be for the first time ever. “Maybe. If you play your cards right.”
“That’s very noble of you, Jake,” I say.
“It’s also incredibly difficult,” he says. “Especially considering she’s a lot stronger than me. But I know if she weren’t under the spell of the phone she wouldn’t be acting the way she is.”
“He means like a cheap slut wannabe dominatrix,” says Roxanne. “I’d be in real trouble without him. Who woulda guessed he’d be the one keeping me in line?”
“So you’re trying to give up lust for Lent?” I ask.
“Basically,” she says. “Chocolate was a helluva lot easier.”
“At least you two can go out,” says Ryan. “We can only get together at home where we can keep the phone out of range. Like now.”
“Why don’t you just turn it off and go out?” asks Roxanne.
“It would be too suspicious,” I say. “That’s a one time excuse I’m saving for when I might really need it.”
“When might that be?” asks Jake.
I shrug. “When The Summit comes up with a plan.”
“You mean if The Summit comes up with a plan,” says Roxanne. “I’ve actually been doing sessions with everyone in the neighborhood who has a power to see if I can inspire someone to come up with a suggestion. But so far, nothing.”
“It was a pretty cool experience, though,” says Jake. “Though you inspire me anyway.”
“God, I’m gonna get a cavity from you two,” I say, throwing Roxanne’s old comment back at her.
“Leave me alone!” she says, thrusting out her lower lip in a pout.
Ryan starts to laugh. “Payback is hell, huh?”
“Put yourself in my position,” says Roxanne. “All my life I’ve been feeling guilty about sex and now that I’ve finally gotten rid of the guilt and I want to do stuff with a guy I really like he won’t do anything with me because he says I’m not myself and then I feel like a bimbo who’s run off the Catholic reservation and I’m beyond conflicted here.” She looks longingly at Jake. “Jillian, we gotta come up with a solution soon or I’m gonna bust.”
Jake leans over, kisses her on the top of the head and stands up. “Well, it might be better if I went somewhere else for awhile. I gotta run down to the electronics store anyway. My laptop’s got a virus and it’s still under warranty.”
“Okay,” says Rox. “Call me later?”
“Sure.”
She grabs his hand. “Promise?”
I reach over and take her other hand. “Good God, Rox. He’s not running away with some other girl. He’s just going to get his computer fixed.”
“As you can see, she’s not the real Roxanne,” says Jake. He reaches down, takes her chin in his hand and tilts her head up so that she’s looking at him. “I promise I will call you later, okay?”
“Okay,” she says. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be so clingy.” She drops her voice to a sultry level. “But I want you.”
“Geez, with these two who needs Cinemax,” says Ryan.
Jake puts his hands on her shoulders. “You’re not yourself,” he says, then turns and shoots me a wink. My estimation of the guy goes up a few notches.
“Jake, we’ll take good care of her,” says Ryan. “I’ll go fill the bathtub with ice.”
“You people are a bunch of big meanies,” says Roxanne, who folds her arms and begins to sulk.
“Later,” says Jake, who then bounds down the stairs and heads up the sidewalk.
“We’ll get through this, Rox,” I say, giving her a hug.
Suddenly Jake stops and turns around, looking at us wide-eyed. “Oh my God!”
“What?” asks Roxanne.
“I’ve got it!” He runs back to the porch and up the steps.
“You’ve got what?” I ask.
“I know how to defeat your father.”
***
Fuzzball hands me a zip drive and says, “Guard this with your life. If this ever got out, well, it could be a global disaster.”
I take the black drive and study it as I lean forward on our couch “Where did this come from?”
“My friend in Homeland Security. Cyber Crimes Divisi
on. This is the most powerful computer virus ever created. Fortunately they managed to arrest the guy who was planning to use it. He had already hacked into the Pentagon computer when they caught him.”
“What will it do?” asked Ryan.
“It’ll crash anything it comes in contact with. Hopefully that includes your father’s brain.”
“What will happen to her father if this goes according to plan?” asks Roxanne.
“We’re not really sure,” says the Detective. “But if he can download information from a computer and interface with one, we think he’ll lock up like any other electronic device.”
“Is there a patch for this thing?” asks Jake.
Fuzzball shakes his head. “Homeland Security says no. Plug it into a USB drive, it loads in thirty seconds, the screen goes red, hit enter. That’s it. The effect is instantaneous. Whatever it touches, it kills.”
Those words make me bite my lip and cringe.
“Sorry, Jillian,” says Fuzzball. “Poor choice of words. I was speaking of electronics.”
“I know. But…”
“He’s still your father. I get that.”
Ryan reaches over and takes my hand as he looks at the detective. “I’m surprised the government would turn this over to a bunch of teenagers.”
“My contact is a mindreader,” says Fuzzball. “He’s seen what the phone does to people with that power, and he realizes that Jillian’s father could basically crash society. Look what he’s already done. And if Jillian’s dream is some sort of prophecy, people will become a bunch of slugs and no one will ever produce a thing. It would actually be worse than crashing every computer on the planet.”
I turn the zip drive over in my fingers. “So how exactly do I get this into my father’s head?”
***
The plan, such as it is, sounds logical.
Whether it will actually work is another story.
And if it doesn’t, who knows how my father will react? Could he do to me what he did to Ryan? Would he set whatever he planted in my mind to explode?
That’s the part that has Mom worried. She doesn’t have to say a word as she walks into my bedroom with two cups of hot chocolate.
Reminding me I’m still her little girl as I’m stretched out on my bed unsuccessfully trying to take my mind off things by doing homework.
I give her a wide smile as she hands me the steaming cup. “Wow, room service.”
She pulls a chair next to my bed, sits down and wraps her hands around her cup. “Pretty soon you’ll be off to college and we won’t be able to do this.”
“Mom, I’m going to a school where I can commute from here and be close to you and my friends. I don’t wanna live in a dorm. I’m not going anywhere. I still wanna work nights as a seer.”
“I know. But…” her voice trails off as she looks into the cup.
I take a sip, savoring the simplicity of the rich hot chocolate made with real milk and her secret additive, three Hershey kisses. “Besides, where else can I get stuff like this?”
“You can make it yourself. You know the recipe.”
“Won’t taste the same, Mom. They named Hell’s Kitchen after me. You know damn well I could burn a salad.”
We both laugh a bit, then take sips, not saying anything for a while.
It almost feels like I’m on death row and this is a last meal.
“Jillian, you don’t have to do this. Give the people at The Summit a chance to come up with something else. They need more time.”
“I don’t think we have any time. Look at how it’s affecting Roxanne, what it has done to Ryan. God knows what other technology he’s getting ready to release on the world and what it could do to the people we love. We have to stop him, now, and I’m the only one who can do it.”
She shakes her head. “Dammit. I had to raise such a stubborn girl.”
“I take after you. And you know damn well you’d do the same thing if you were in my shoes.”
“I suppose. Listen, I want you to wear something tomorrow.” She reaches in her pocket and pulls out her cameo brooch.
“No. That’s your favorite piece of jewelry. It’s the something old from your wedding. Your grandmother gave it to you.”
Mom takes a breath, looks down at the floor for a moment, then back at me. “Actually, Jillian, she didn’t. I just told you that because I didn’t want you to be thinking about him when you saw it.”
My eyes grow wide with the realization of what she’s saying as hers well up. “He gave this to you?”
“No, Jillian, the man I loved gave this to me.” I’m expecting the usual misty eyes but instead I see anger.
I put my cup on the nightstand and sit up. “Are you saying you miss him? That you’ve been carrying a torch all these years?”
“I miss who he was, Jillian. That person doesn’t exist anymore.” She puts the cameo in my hand. “Wear it tomorrow. Remind the sonofabitch what he left behind.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
This is it.
Everyone and everything is in place. We either take down my father or go down in flames trying.
I’m lying on the couch, Fuzzball is perched on the edge while Mom is seated in a chair facing me, holding my hand. Tightly.
Ryan, Jake and Roxanne are already at the location.
Hopefully, so is my father.
He wanted me to come to his headquarters in Connecticut this weekend but I insisted he meet me after school at Roxanne’s pastry shop. I told him I’d made a decision and didn’t want to put off talking with him about it. I mean, I’m a teenage girl and want instant gratification. I also told him to bring his laptop since I wanted to see him do more tricks. So he said he’d be there at four-thirty.
I look at the clock and it’s four-twenty-eight.
“Time to go,” says Fuzzball.
I nod and look at Mom. She squeezes my hand and kisses the top of my head. “Be careful, sweetie.”
“I’m not really going to be there, Mom. I’m more worried about my friends. He can’t hurt me, remember.”
“He can hurt us all later.”
“It’s time,” says the detective.
“Let’s rock,” I say. I smile at Mom one more time and close my eyes.
He starts his hypnotic voice thing and I melt into the couch, relaxing deeper and deeper—
And then I’m sitting next to Ryan in his car.
He jumps a bit, startled. “I still can’t get used to this.”
“You? I’m the one who’s in two places at once.”
He cocks his head toward Roxanne’s pastry shop. “He got there about ten minutes ago. Sitting next to the window, playing on his laptop.”
“Good.” I lean over and give him one very long kiss, which feels as normal as any other.
He smiles as I pull back. “Damn. I’m not sure which one kisses better.”
“I promise you if we get through this I’ll figure out how to indulge that fantasy of yours.”
“Worry about that later. You need to get going. I’ll be right here if you need me.”
“And promise me you’ll stay here. You know what he could do to you.”
“I know, but I feel so useless here. I’m just a glorified wheelman. You guys are taking all the risks.”
“Yeah, but Rox and Jake could need to make a quick getaway. So be ready.”
He nods, then hands me my purse. “Zip drive is in the outside pocket. Phone is inside. Remember, don’t turn it on until you’re far enough away from the car. I mean me.”
“I know, eight feet.” I look across the street and see my father glance at his watch. “Okay, better go.”
I reach for the car door with one hand and he takes the other. “Be careful, Sparks.”
“See you back home,” I say, as I leave the car and head for the bakery. I get across the street, reach into my purse and turn on the phone. Take a deep breath and enter the bakery.
My father looks up from his laptop and smiles. “There s
he is.”
“Hi Dad,” I say, wanting to choke on that word. He beams as he hears me say it for the first time.
He’s swallowing the hook.
I move forward and give him a quick hug.
We both sit down and I put my purse on the table next to his laptop, taking a quick glance over my father’s shoulder.
Jake is alone at a table behind him, sipping coffee as he plays with his own laptop. He looks over the top and makes eye contact with me.
My father adjusts his chair. “So, what couldn’t wait till Saturday?”
“Well, if the offer is still good… I’d like to come work for you when I’m done with high school. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, and I really don’t want to waste four years of my life in college and then paying dues for years to build a career. I want a life like yours.”
He smiles, his eyes sparkle. “That’s wonderful, Jillian. Consider yourself hired. I know it will be a great opportunity for you.”
“And a great opportunity for us to get to know each other better.”
“Yes, of course. Your mother was okay with it?”
“Well, she was apprehensive at first but she’s the forgiving type.”
“She always did have a big heart.” Suddenly he spots the cameo on my jacket and he furrows his brow. “That’s a beautiful pin.”
“Yeah, Mom lets me borrow it from time to time. Says it’s very special to her.”
“It’s a, uh, family heirloom,” he says, obviously touched that my Mom has hung onto the thing all these years. He starts to close his laptop but I grab the top.
“Hey, you promised you’d show me some more of those tricks. You know, if I have the same second power as you, it might help speed things along.”
He takes his hand off the computer and nods. “Sure, makes sense.” He sips his coffee. “I’m sorry, do you want something? Coffee? Pastry? Both?”
