Long ago and far away

By Roy Marshall

 

 

“Doesn’t look like your dad’s home. His van’s not in the drive.” Kelly told her husband as he fiddled with his phone again for what seemed the twentieth time.

Matt smiled, then turned off the phone. “Well I told him last week we might stop by on our way to Vegas. He might have forgotten. That was the last call, no more work problems.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard that before. He doesn’t go anywhere does he?”

“Gym maybe. I think he said he signed up for some Silver Senior program and Medicare pays for it. Who knows. Let’s just drop off the box of pictures and head out.”

Matt took the box of pictures he had scrounged up from his late mother’s possessions and walked to the front door. Kelly got out and walked up behind him as he fiddled with the key. Unlocking the door he stepped inside and froze. There, lying on the floor just before the hallway, was a dead man.

That he was dead was evident from the pool of blood surrounding the man’s head. Plus the big red hole in his forehead. Kelly bumped into Matt as he was frozen to that spot. “Move inside Honey, let me in.”

Sidestepping around her husband, she froze as well when she saw the body. Her new father-in-law never stopped surprising her though and so she quickly pushed Matt to the side and shut the door. “We don’t want anyone driving by and seeing this.” Gingerly looking where she stepped, she moved closer to the dead guy and then looked up, “Matt, honey, there’s two more dead guys in the kitchen.”

Taking two small steps forward he looked around the wall and saw the other surprise. “Man, my dad has done some weird shit before, but nothing like this.”

“Do you think he did this? I mean honey, this is pretty weird. Maybe these men were breaking in and then…” her voice trailed off unable to come up with any likely scenario that made sense for the older man that seemed just odd at times, but had never given any indications that he might be someone that shot people in his own home.

“No, no, I don’t think this is some random robbery or anything like that. I think dad would have called the police. I think. I might be wrong, you know. Dad does some weird things.”

The sound of the van bouncing up the curb and slamming on its brakes out front stopped any more conversations. A moment later, the breathless man opened the door and skittered sideways through the partially opened door. “You two didn’t call the cops did you?”

Kelly was first to respond, “No, no we didn’t. We just got here and saw this. I have to tell you Roy, this is very surprising thing to find on the floor of anyone’s house. I’m beginning to worry about what sort of family I’ve married into.”

“No, no worries. This is just a glitch. Here, here, let me take that box from you. Thanks for bringing these by. Why don’t you both take off and forget about all this, I know you’ve got a long Vegas weekend planned and all. Go, go, enjoy.” The older man took the box and began to push the two towards the door.

Stopping short, Matt turned and looked directly at his father. “Dad, are you in trouble? Do we need to call the police about something?”

“No no no. Nothing’s wrong.” The older man was all smiles. “Look, this is all just a small misunderstanding. And it’s taken care of. I have cleaners coming in a half hour or so.”

“Cleaners?” Matt asked.

“Cleaners? What sort of cleaners take care of dead bodies?” Was Kelly’s response.

The old man just sort of shook his head slowly from side to side. Then he began, “Well, you know, the kind that don’t ask questions. They’re out there. You know, for a price, you can pretty much get anything done. Now, you know, I don’t want you to think this is a common occurrence, this is a first for me. However, knowledge and need are things that ae nice to have access to for future events. You know, should such occur.”

The young married couple were perfect compliments to one another, they both stood and just slowly shook their heads in unison. Matt, broke the silence. “What sort of misunderstanding would have to happen for you to shoot these guys dad?”

Shrugging his shoulders, he smiled slightly, “Well, I think they wanted that money I have.”

“What money?” Both Matt and Kelly exclaimed.

“Well, that 82 million dollars.”

The pair walked over to the sofa and sat down. Matt first asked. “Dad, I bought this house for you to live in because I thought you were broke. Where would you get money like that?”

“Well Matt, it’s only recently that I got the money. It’s sort of new. It’s a trust fund I set up back in the seventies. You know, it sort of grew.”

“Into 82 million?”

“Yes.”

“Well, this must be quite a story Roy, let’s hear it.” Kelly sort of commanded.

                “Well, it started in 1972. No, sorry, it really began in 1968