27(S3E5)-The Father

27
(Season 3, Episode 5)

The Father

It was done.

It had taken all night, which was a lot longer than Sidney had wanted to spend in Rat’s apartment, but she knew she had to work fast.  Now, she had the complete workings of a plan that would bring Fenton Sanoma down, once and for all.

It was, of course, an extremely risky plan; one with more complications than Sidney cared to have in her schemes usually.  The devil was in the details.  No matter how solid it looked on paper, a plan with too many working parts always came crashing down, and this one had a few.

There was no other way though, and Sidney knew it.  Not with the time she had.  This had to work, plain and simple.

Rat had fallen asleep sitting up in his computer chair, and began to snore.  A thin line of drool, colored purple from the toxic sodas he had been drinking to stay awake, stretched from his lip to his shoulder. Sidney took a second to scoff in disgust, then decided it was time to go.  The next part of her plan required her father to make the first move, so with any luck, she could get a few hours of sleep.

She made her way out of the house, down through the levels of post debauchery hangovers.  As she exited the house, she felt the morning sun hit her face and eyes and felt the exhaustion from the night before.  It was a wave of emptiness that left her feeling emotionless.

Her phone buzzed in her hand and she felt the evil emanating from it.  She knew in that instant that it was her dad calling.  She checked the I.D. and it was a blocked number.

She took a deep breath and forced herself back to life.  No rest for the wicked.

She clicked the answer button and put the phone to her ear but waited for the caller to speak.  Never be the first to talk.

There was silence for a second and then the smooth voice from her past began to speak.  “I assume you got the message.”

The intense surreal feeling that this caused overtook Sidney but she pressed on.  “Message?  You will have to be more specific.”

“Interesting,” Her father said.  “Are you trying to play with me?”

“Trying?” Sidney, yet again, answered with a question.

He sighed, showing a hint of frustration.  Points for Sidney.

“I had your friend shot.”  Points for Fenton.

Sidney gritted her teeth as he jabbed the open wound and the night’s terrible memories flooded over her.  She fought to keep her composure, if she lost it now, she lost everything.

“What do you want?”

Sanoma answered quickly.  “A family reunion.  I’m in Akron.  Let’s meet for brunch.  I will text you the location.  Don’t worry, nice and public.”

Sidney didn’t respond she just hung up.  Sleep would have to wait.  She had to work.

****

Another bus ride and a couple more blocks later, she came to the patio of a Starbucks on the main drag in Akron.  He was sitting there, his legs crossed, sipping from an enclosed cup.  He was in a sport coat with no tie.  He was greyer than she remembered and she did not remember him wearing suits around her or her mother.  He never had the confidence that he was now exuding, which was a hard thing to mask.

He looked the same but he was not the father she had grown up with.

He saw her and smiled, motioning to the seat opposite him.  Sidney cautiously took a sat down.

They stared for a long time and Sanoma grinned.  “Not bad.  First rule, never talk first.  You give the other person power.  Although I have to make this clear, you have no power.  The situation is untenable.”

She shook her head.  “Your outfit is ridiculous.  Why don’t you just wear a name tag that says ‘hello, I am a con man’.”

He ignored her comment.  “I will give your hillbilly friend credit.  Clive was one of the better hitters I employed.  I was surprised that he managed to take him.”

“He had help from his sister, if you think he’s bad, she’s worse.” Sidney replied

 “Nevertheless, how long do you think they will fair?”  Fenton pressed, never losing sight of the point he was trying to make.  “Clive was just the first and I doubt the widowed wife and her wounded redneck brother will continue to be a threat.  They will be dead before the end of the week.”

Sidney stared.  Her anger was at a boiling point and she knew now any words would be a mistake.

Fenton pressed on.  “You are wondering how.  How I knew about you and you band of misfit toys?”

Sidney, again, held her tongue.  Fenton continued.  “I have kept tabs on all eight of you.  My human kickstarters.  Each has, in one way or another, become more or less a failure.  One actually died of a meth overdose because of his sad little daddy issues.  Not you.  You, instead, decided to make something of yourself; to follow in dad’s footsteps.”

Sidney couldn’t let that go.  “I don’t do this for you!”

She immediately regretted the outburst.  Fenton gave her a look of frustration.  “Don’t be stupid.  Of course you do.  After eighteen years of a healthy relationship with your father, you find out he’s a con man, has used you for the money and has walked out on you for good.  You could have decided to be anything, maybe something involving the law and with cliché aspirations of putting your evil dad behind bars.  Instead, you decide to become a con artist.”

Fenton leaned back and took another swig of his coffee, waiting now for Sidney to slip up again.  When she did not make the same mistake a second time, he proceeded.  “Consciously or sub-consciously, your entire career has been about this moment right here and now.  It’s been about making me notice. Congratulations, mission accomplished.  Was it everything you hoped it would be?”

What hurt the most for Sidney, in that moment, was the fact that she knew in her heart that he was right.  That in some fashion, she had brought all this down on everyone’s head.  For possibly the first time in her life since her eighteenth birthday, Sidney felt guilt.  Sidney had never contended with the emotion before and wasn’t quite sure what to do now.

“What do you want?” Sidney finally asked, deciding to move things along.

“You three stole a necklace from me.  Where is it?”

Sidney knew these next few moments would decide the success of her plan and the fate of her and all of her friends.  “A bank.  Tobias has it stashed in a safe deposit box.”

Fenton was interested.  “What bank?”

Sidney shook her head.  “Not a chance.  I will get a team together and get it back.”

“Of course you will.  I’m not robbing a bank.  That kind of work is beneath me.” Fenton answered quickly, then buttoned his coat and stood.

“That’s it?” Sidney asked, indignantly.

Fenton let a mocking chuckle escape his lips.  “What did you expect?  We would sit down and I would give you a big hug and tell you how proud I am of you?  That you haven’t wasted your life?  That you weren’t just a cashed paycheck for me?”

It was Sidney’s turn to stand.  “You are going to pay it back.”

Fenton became confused.  “Excuse me?”

“I’m going to get your stupid necklace, and I’m going to deliver it to your hands, but you are going to pay for everything you have done.”

Fenton shook his head.  “I expect more from you than this heroic posturing.  You’re no avenging angel.  You are just a twisted demon like me, who’s not quite as good at playing the game.”

Sidney smiled.  “This is not heroism, Fenton.  Its business.  You owe me and I will collect.  Plain and simple.”

Fenton thought about that and smiled.  “Just get my necklace.  Think before you act and you might not get everyone you love killed.”

Fenton walked away down the street.  Sidney watched him disappear and soon felt the adrenaline wearing off.  She had done everything she could do until she got some sleep.

Her phone buzzed and it was Hank.  She steeled herself for the bad news and answered.  “Hank, how is he?”

“It’s fifty-fifty.  He’s out of surgery and he’s still alive, but in critical condition.  His brain was oxygen deprived for a long time so now it’s a waiting game.  He’s in a coma Sid.” Hank’s voice was broken.  A mixture of pain, frustration, and exhaustion.

Sidney had never heard him sound like this.

“Keep me posted, Hank.”  Sidney said and hung up before he could respond.

Tobias’s life hung in the balance and Sidney was about to undergo the con of her life without him.  She had never, in all her life, felt so alone.

Sidney found the bus bench and sat.  She put her head into her hands, and wept.  She had not cried in nearly twelve years, not for real, anyway.

End Episode 27Hy