The sun set slowly over Aggerton City and began to disappear over the western horizon. Long, dark shadows started to emerge from the tall buildings and suburbs. Their inky black silhouettes stretched out over the roads and streets, covering everything in their paths. Bright orange and yellow light skipped across the angled windows of the massive skyscrapers, lighting them up like giant television screens. It would be night soon in the city. Clubs would be blearing their music, bars would be opening their doors, and the people would be waiting in long lines for the parties to begin.
The nightlife always seemed to bring with it a scene of voodoo. One could almost reach out his hand and feel the mystery and magic in the air, and breathe in the intoxicating aroma of excitement. It was as if someone emitted a drug into the air each night. It was like the breath of life; you couldn’t quite see its presence, but you could tell it was there, filling your body with adrenaline and charm. Some people would get lucky tonight and some wouldn’t.
Brian felt like one of the lucky people. He felt like he was standing on top of the world, looking down on the nations. The spotlight was on him for this evening. Birthday parties at the Fantas Estate were always loaded with food, games, and music. Friends and family from all around would gather here to celebrate the life of a murderer’s son. It was expected of the richer side of the Fantas family to come at the call of the invitation. It was one way in which they could keep in touch with one another. It was the news network, and it was their life. When someone was a Fantas… he or she was a Fantas until death.
Brian stared thoughtfully up at the sky. His blue eyes perused the darkening firmament for any stars that might be shining through the clouds. He found a few and smiled. The universe had always amazed him; out of all the stars and planets that shown in the heavens, theirs was the only one that held life. Brian took in a deep breath as a cool spring breeze washed over his body. The smell of fresh cherry blossoms invaded his senses. He could feel the day falling into the natural cycle of sleep around him. The sound of the paid orchestra was playing softly the tune he loved so dear. He felt alive and electrified.
Brian looked all around the back yard at his guests. People were laughing and talking with one another and couples in nice evening attire were dancing on the ballroom floor by the stage. Brian thought back to the day’s events. Everything had been hectic after the weird meeting in the medical room with Tom and his friends. People had filed off to their many rooms and offices without any explanation of why or what was going on. His dad had acted strangely during the meeting. It seemed as if he were being fake with everyone. Mr. Tash had ordered Tom around like a servant and then left to greet all the guests out in the courtyard.
Life is maybe just a little too fast around here, thought Brian. It’s almost hard to keep up with the pace. Bizarre questions started eating at his mind like a pungent acid. He wanted to know who Marten and Lee were. He wanted to know why his father had made a deal with them. He wanted to know what the heck this “Brass” thing was. He wanted to know more about what was going on around the house. Why was his father being so evasive and secretive with him?
“Hello, Brian” spoke a soft voice suddenly. It pulled him out of his thoughts. It sounded pleasant. “Do you remember me? It’s been a long time.”
Brian looked over to the young lady standing before him. Her eyes were dark brown and her hair was pulled back into an extravagant bun. She was wearing a nice white dress with studded diamonds around the collar and sleeves. Her slender frame complimented her angled features; she was beautiful.
Brian recognized her as one of the daughters of the Wanamaker family. Mr. Gunner Wanamaker was his father’s personal banker. He looked after all the investments and stocks that their family owned in the stock market. If something was not right, he would set things in order and give Mr. Tash a call. He was practically a Fantas; he had been working for them for years and his daughters were lovely to be around.
“Hello, Alexis,” Brian smiled. “It’s been a long time.” He hadn’t seen her since they were kids. The Wanamaker’s lived all the way out in Babington. It was where all the big banks were located.
Alexis smiled, her white teeth showing a little from behind her red lips. She was amazed that Brian had remembered her.
“It has been awhile since we last talked. I remember all the fun things we used to do around here as children. I remember collecting seashells down by the beach over there.” She lifted her hand and pointed at the southern end of the yard. She sounded amused as she continued. “I saw you from the refreshment stand and decided that I would come over and wish you a happy birthday.”
“I am glad you came over,” said Brian. He put his hands in his pockets. “You look lovely this evening.”
Alexis smiled.
“Thank you. I was wondering what to wear for this prestigious event. I knew I would be meeting you, and a lot of other people I haven’t seen in a long while, and decided that I wouldn’t make a fool of myself.” She blushed and smirked, feeling a little awkward talking about her dress in front of Brian. She was sure that he didn’t want to hear her talk about that kind of stuff. She ran her hands down the smooth fabric of her dress and chased out the wrinkles. “I settled with this piece. It’s not much, but I love it. My father got it for me a few months back.”
“Well, it looks nice on you,” affirmed Brian. “Where are your sisters this evening? Have they come as well?”
Alexis frowned.
“Windy and Sue couldn’t make it tonight. They got sick with a bad lung virus. They’re at home sweating it off.” She looked behind her at the stage. “The only ones that could come were Jess and I. She’s over there, dancing with the man of her dreams.” Alexis pointed at a beautiful couple dancing on the floor. They looked to be enjoying themselves.
Brian looked over at them. Jessica was wearing a short purple dress with excess material at the bottom so that it gave a flowing, twirling affect. White trim ran along the neck and sleeves. The man she was with was wearing a regular three piece suit and his hair was slicked back.
“Who’s the man she is with?” asked Brian.
Alexis’s voice sounded slightly dreamy as she spoke. She enjoyed watching them together; they were perfect.
“They met a while back, and he proposed to her at the Grand Hotel. They are getting married in a few months. Jess will be the first of us Wanamaker girls to get married to an amazing suitor.” She turned and looked at Brian. Her gaze was amiable and her voice sounded playful, yet serious. “I wonder who the second will be.”
Brian smirked at this remark. He could feel that there was more to her words than just playful speculation. He shrugged.
“Only time will tell, Alexis. But if I had to bet, I would say it will be Sue… she’s a real go getter. I remember how she used to chase the seagulls in the yard. Nothing could stop her.”
Alexis ignored his response. She wanted to be more serious.
“Have you found anyone to be with, Brian? It’s been a long time and I would guess that there would be some woman in your life waiting to knock you off your feet.”
Brian shook his head.
“You haven’t found anyone then?”
“Nope,” said Brian. “Not yet.”
Alexis looked around the yard at all the festivities for a minute. Thoughts were turning in her head. She didn’t know quite what to say next. The lights around the party were beginning to turn on and glow softly. The atmosphere felt perfect.
“Where is your father this evening?”
Brian shrugged.
“He’s around here somewhere. I saw him greeting a few people by the stage an hour ago.” He looked over to Alexis. She was fidgeting with her hands and looking down at the ground, looking uncomfortable.
“Would you like to dance?” asked Brian.
Alexis looked up and smiled at this. She stopped fidgeting and her body slowly relaxed.
“Why, yes Brian. I would love to dance.” She held out her hand. Brian took it in his. He was going to escort her to the ballroom floor when Mr. Wanamaker came up from the side and interrupted. He was a gray haired man with a slight lisp in his voice.
“Excuse me, Brian, but could I possibly borrow my daughter for a moment? I need her at our table.”
“I just asked her to dance,” said Brian. “Can it not wait?”
“I am afraid not. We need here back at the table,” said Mr. Wanamaker. There was a lot of unease in his voice. It was strange; he seemed reluctant to let his daughter dance with Brian.
Alexis got stiff. Her happy expression faded from her face.
“Daddy, don’t do this to me. Don’t make a scene here. I just want to dance, that’s all. There’s no harm; it’s just a dance.” She drew closer to Brian and squeezed his hand. “Brian and I were going to dance and nothing more.” Her head rested up against his shoulder.
“Alexis, we talked about this before we came,” said Mr. Wanamaker firmly. He looked over to Brian, then back to his daughter. “You know why I don’t want you dancing right now.” His eyes flashed with anger and frustration. He didn’t want his daughter getting involved with the Fantas family in any way. He wanted her to get married to a man that would not become the next crime lord of Aggerton. She disserved better than that.
“Daddy, don’t be silly! It’s just a dance.”
Brian spoke up and started to plead for Alexis.
“Mr. Wanamaker, it will only be for a few moments. When we are done you can collect her and bring her back to your table. I promise nothing will happen to her. She is safe with me.”
“I don’t care,” said Mr. Wanamaker. He grabbed his daughter by the hand and pulled her away from Brian. “I need my daughter right now. She needs to help out at our table.” They both strolled away quickly, Alexis protesting slightly. She looked back at Brian and mouthed her apologies. Tears were now coming down her smooth cheeks and dropping from her chin. Brian watched them go with complete shock. He couldn’t believe what was happening. Mr. Wanamaker was acting like a complete jerk!
Brian was going to pursue them when a heavy hand landed on his shoulder and pulled him back. Brian turned around quickly to see who it was that had stopped him. He was surprised to see Kaplen. The man’s aviator sunglasses were gleaming wildly from all the lights around the party. His expression was firm but upbeat.
“Let them go, Brian. We don’t need any trouble at this party.”
Brian was still heated from the conversation with Mr. Wanamaker.
“Did you see what happened? Did you see the way he treated her! Did you see they way he treated me!”
Kaplen nodded his head slowly. He needed to calm Brian down.
“Yes, I saw what happened, and my advice for you is to let them go.” He looked around the yard at all the guests. “Let’s not attract anymore attention to ourselves. This is a night to be celebrated. Vindication will only ruin it.”
“Why did Mr. Wanamaker act that way?” Brian asked. His frustration was simmering now. “He acted liked I was going to steal Alexis away from him.”
“Mr. Wanamaker thinks that our family is involved in something bad, and he doesn’t want his daughter mingling with us.” Kaplen cleared his throat. “It’s a weird thing to think, but he can believe what he wants to believe.”
“What does my father do, Kaplen?”
Kaplen’s smile faded.
“Your father is a good man, Brian. He does not do all those bad things that he news and media say he does. They have been telling lies about him for years. Mr. Tash does an honest day’s work and gets an honest day’s wages. Some people just see his success as being unfair. It’s jealousy. That’s all it is.”
Brian grunted at the statement.
“Yeah, I know all that stuff, Kaplen, but what does he do for work? Why is he gone so much during the year?”
“He buys and trades goods.” Kaplen straightened Brian’s tie and brushed off is suit coat. “You know that.”
“Does he trade guns?”
“Yes, sometimes he does.” Kaplen laughed.
“Isn’t that illegal?” Tom asked. He was bothered that Kaplen was acting like there was nothing wrong with this, but he had to appreciate that Kaplen was being honest with him.
“Some people would like to think so,” said Kaplen. “But I don’t. Sometimes laws are more a matter of opinion, Brian. Your father is doing a lot of good around the world. We are supplying poor people with defenses they wouldn’t otherwise have to protect themselves and their families… there’s nothing bad about defending your family.”
Brian was quiet. He stared at the red rose resting in Kaplen’s suit coat pocket. It was the symbol of trust and love. Everyone that was immediately related to the birthday boy got to wear one. Kaplen wasn’t related to Brian, but he was like a second father to him in many ways. Kaplen had looked after him growing up. The bodyguard had been working for his father since before he could remember. Kaplen was family, and he didn’t seem to age a single a day.
“I guess you’re right,” said Brian.
Kaplen pulled him close and put an arm around his shoulders.
“Of course I am right, Brian. I am always right about these things.”
“Where are Tom and the others?”
Kaplen waved at a few girls standing by the crystal punch bowl. They giggled and waved back at him. He smiled.
“I left Tom in his room an hour ago. My guess is that Mark has taken him and Lee to your father’s office by now…” his words faded. The sound of the orchestra was the only thing heard.
“I need to ask you one thing,” said Kaplen
“What’s that?”
“Have you prepared your speech for tonight?”
Brian’s heart sank into his stomach as Kaplen said this. He had not written anything down for tonight. He was going to do it after the boating trip with Maren and Rose, but had gotten caught up in all the excitement. He turned to Kaplen.
“I haven’t prepared anything. I am completely screwed!”
Kaplen laughed.
“It will be okay. Just do what you did last time.”
“I can’t remember what I did last time.”
Kaplen started to walked towards the stage. He pulled Brian along with him.
“Don’t worry, I’ve got your back the whole way. If anyone says anything I’ll…” he held out his hand and faked like he was holding a gun. He began to shoot the air.
“You can’t just shoot them, Kaplen,” groaned Brian. “Violence never solved anything…” Brian paused and thought for a minute. “Maybe you can shoot me… I don’t mean kill me, but maybe just shoot me in the foot or something. We’ll say it was an accident and that I won’t be able to give the speech.”
“I am not going to shoot you in the foot,” stated Kaplen. He led Brian around the dancer’s on the ballroom floor. They were careful not to mess up the graceful flow of the couples. “It’s really painful and messy to get shot in the foot. Blood and bone would be everywhere. Skin tissue is scared and burned from the entry wound. You might even lose a toe or a leg if the thing gets infected. It would ruin the evening completely, and on top of that Mr. Tash wouldn’t like it.”
“I need a speech!”
Kaplen led Brian to the right side of the stage. The orchestra was just finishing up their song. They stood in front of the steps.
“You don’t need a speech, Brian. You’re a Fantas… and that means that you’re a natural born survivor. You can adapt and change to your circumstances. I have seen your father do it a million times. You can speak; it’s in your blood to do so.”
Brian looked uneasy.
“And you’ll you have my back?”
“Always,” Kaplen smiled. He was beaming with confidence. “Just get up there and let everyone know what’s on your mind. Remember, this is your party, and you can talk for as long as you like. You can talk for an hour or two minutes… at the end of it all the audience will have to stand up and applaud your existence regardless. It’s really not that hard, I have been to more Fantas’s birthday parties than you will ever know. It always works out in the end. It always does.”
“But what about Aunt Frita?” said Brian. “She gave a speech at her birthday and the people pulled her off the stage and killed her!”
“Aunt Frita was different. She lived a hundred years ago, and she insulted everyone in the audience. They thought she was a witch, so they burned her!” Kaplen patted Brian on the shoulder. “Just don’t insult everyone and you’ll be okay.”
“Okay,” said Brian. His heart was pumping in his chest. He felt weak in the knees. “I can do this.” He turned and bounded up the steps quickly. He walked over to the microphone and gripped the metal stand. The orchestra stopped playing and the whole party began to get still. The dancers on the ballroom floor looked up at the birthday boy with aw and respect. Pretty soon there was no noise; all eyes were on the stage. They were waiting for the speech to begin.
Brian swallowed the knot forming in his throat. He could feel his mouth get dry and his tongue became stiff.
“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I would like to thank you all for coming out here to celebrate my birthday.” The audience cheered loudly and clapped. Some people in the back whistled their approval. Brian waited patiently for them to settle down. When it was quiet again he spoke. “How grateful and blessed I am to be born to such a family as mine. To have a wonderful father who is a very good man. Our family has been through a lot growing up. I never got to see my mother. As you all know, she died giving birth to me. She died in the medical room.” Brian’s voice began to fill with pain. Tears blurred his vision. The crowed waited patiently as Brian wiped his eyes. “I am sure that she is here tonight, watching over me, and I am sure if she was here she would put her arms around me and wish me a happy birthday… like you all have done.” He smiled. “I see a lot of familiar faces in the audience tonight. I see a lot of my friends and family, to all of you I give my love, and maybe a little advice… the advice that I have for you is that when you go shark fishing be certain to make sure your watch is on tight. A shark might come along and eat it.” The crowed didn’t seem to respond to the joke.
Brian’s eyes swept over the audience. He couldn’t see his father anywhere. He frowned a bit and looked over to the Wanamaker’s table. Alexis’s bright eyes were watching him closely.
“For all of you that I don’t know, or that I haven’t met yet, I ask that you eat up and enjoy yourselves. This evening has only begun.”
With that said, there appeared a burst of bright light from behind the stage. Fireworks began to erupt into the air all around the party. They explode into long streams of color. Blues and whites, greens and purples, it was as if the whole world had caught on fire. The audience was taken aback by the display. The sound of small explosions littered the sky all around the party. Gray smoke drifted on the breeze. The smell of gunpowder filled the air. The guests began to clap their hands and cheer loudly.
Brian thanked them one last time and then exited the stage. He was amazed at what had just happened. He met Kaplen at the bottom of the steps. The bodyguard was smiling really big.
“I told you that I would have your back.” He dropped the ignition switch from his hands. It hit the grass with a thud and rolled onto the ballroom floor.
Brian laughed as he saw this.
“The fireworks were supposed to be set off at the end of the party, Kaplen.” He shook his head. “You’re crazy!”
“I know they were,” Kaplen straightened his suit. “I set them off because I didn’t want to hear you flounder anymore. It was giving me a headache.”
Brian pushed him.
“I wasn’t floundering.”
“Yeah, just keep telling yourself that!”
Brian looked out over the party for his father. People were dancing and talking again. Everyone had resumed their conversation.
“Have you seen my dad? I thought for sure he would be here to watch me give my speech. He’s usually here to see the speech. It’s like tradition.”
Kaplen rested his hand on Brian shoulder.
“I haven’t seen him in a while, but I bet we can find him. He has to be around here somewhere.”
“I want him here when I open the presents.”
“Don’t worry, he’ll be here for that.” Kaplen was going to go search for Mr. Tash, when Mark approached quickly from the side. He was wearing a black suit with a red rose hanging from the pocket. He stopped by Kaplen and whispered.
“I have been looking all over for you. Mr. Tash wants to see you in his office; we need to discuss the plans for the trip. Everyone is there.” He looked cautiously around at all the folks at the party. “I think he wants to leave much sooner than expected.”
Kaplen nodded his head, he was about to leave when Brian grabbed him by the arm. “Is my dad is in the office? Is that where he is?”
Kaplen frowned.
“I am afraid so.”
“I want to come!”
Kaplen and Mark shook their heads.
“You can’t come with us. You need to look after the guests at your party. It’s rude for the host to leave during the party. We won’t be long, just see that everyone is looked out for, all right? Make sure that the caterers keep stocking the refreshment stand,” Kaplen said.
Brian was in complete shock. He was being left out of yet another one of his father’s secrets. It was getting frustrating.
“Why is my father in the office? He has never worked on my birthday before. What’s going on? Is this about the ‘Brass’ thing? Is that what this is about?”
Kaplen shook his head. He could tell that Brian was feeling left out.
“Yes, Brian. That is what this is about. Your dad is investing a lot in this trip to obtain the ‘Brass’. He canceled one of his usual voyages to Tampoo for this particular trip. He never does that, unless he knows something else is going to pay off. He wants everything to be perfect. I’ll be back in a few minutes, I’ll bring your dad with me, we can open presents then.” He turned and left with Mark.
Brian watched them go with utter amazement. This was turning out to be the worst birthday party ever.
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