Chapter 78. Reunion
In the days after John Morse had returned on the government helicopter from the Island of Boyuca, he and his son Zach had returned to their home in Los Angeles. On a bright sunny Sunday, Morse drove his SUV to LAX to pick up their friends Charlie Winston, Murielle Winston, and Teddy Winston. All five had been invited to a party at the million-dollar glass-and-steel mansion of Skip Drame in Bel Air, California. Morse helped Winston load the bags in the back, and then steered the SUV onto the Interstate towards Bel Air.
“Did you have a nice trip?” asked Morse.
“It was very nice,” said Murielle. “This is the first rest I have had in months.”
“I heard about that business with Jacob Roessler,” said Morse. “Just terrible. I am glad that you are all right.”
“Sounds like Shorty here saved the day,” said Zach, rubbing the top of Teddy’s head.
Teddy laughed and rubbed the top of Zach’s head.
“Do you think you will be called as a witness against him in the trial?” asked Morse.
“I imagine all of us will,” said Murielle. “What a circus that is. We already have people camped out at our house 24-7.”
“So, John, did you ever figure out what happened to the chief on the island?” asked Charlie. “And where are the other purple snakes? There were dozens of them when we were first there.”
“I have no idea,” said Morse. “By the way, Teddy, congratulations on your recovery,” said Morse. “You look absolutely great.”
“Thanks,” said Teddy. “Yesterday, I went to a water slide. It was really fun.”
Murielle smiled at her son and then at Morse. “It is just so miraculous, John, I cannot tell you. I thank the good Lord every day.”
“You ever been to Drame’s pad before?” asked Winston to Morse.
“Once, on the day I asked him to fund our adventure. It is quite a spread, let me tell you.”
“This should be fun,” said Winston. The SUV wound through Los Angeles, but as always in this City, it was slow going due to all the traffic. After about an hour, they made it to Drame’s mansion.
“Wow,” said Teddy. “Is this where he lives? It looks like a castle.”
“Yes, Teddy, this is it,” said Morse. Morse pulled the SUV up, where they were greeted by a valet, who took the car, and by a bellhop, who took their bags. The group of five walked to the front door, where they were greeted by a young Hispanic female wearing a traditional island dress of many colors. The woman looked somewhat familiar.
“Welcome,” she said. “This way.” She led the group through the massive halls of the mansion and into the back yard, where Morse and Winston could see many people and lots of activity going on, and a large white tent erected over a huge, lush green yard. As they walked toward the tent, Skip Drame came running up to meet them, again wearing his safari hat.
“John-boy! Charlie! Zach! Welcome to my humble abode! And this must be Teddy, the superhero we have been hearing so much about.” Drame put down his safari hat and picked up Teddy, putting him over his shoulders, with one leg on either side. “And I imagine you are Murielle,” said Drame.
“Nice to meet you,” said Murielle.
“I have heard so much about you. On our trip, all Charlie did was whine about how he missed you so much.”
“See, baby?” said Winston. “What’d I tell you?”
Murielle nudged her husband in the ribs with her finger. “Oh, yeah, you did nothing but pine for me. I believe that,” she grinned. “I think you boys had the time of your life on that island.”
Winston thought of being chased by islanders, losing his four fingers, and being covered in burning flame. “Well, I would not exactly say that,” he said.
“Guys, I have some people who I am dying for you to see. Come this way.”
As they made their way under the tent, Morse and Winston were dumbfounded to see their friends from the yacht-- Brenda, Captain Ben Z, the chef Robert, the administrative assistant Mindy Bryant, and the two security guards. Brenda came up and gave John Morse a hug.
“Great to see you, John,” smiled Brenda, the blonde from the yacht.
“Wait a minute,” said Charlie Winston. “How is this possible? We saw your remains. We thought you were murdered.”
“That’s what the islanders wanted you to think,” said Brenda.
“Then what were those heads we saw on the beach?” asked Winston
“Wax heads. We heard about your encounter with the mannequins in the cave,” said Brenda. “Apparently, these islanders are very good at making wax creations. The blood was from a butchered boar. They did that to scare you so that you would leave the island.”
“Then where were you?” asked Morse.
One of the security guards spoke next, embarrassed that he had failed in his duty of protection.
“I am really sorry about that,” said the guard. “Our job was to protect you guys. But honestly, they attacked at night with no warning. They were like ninjas. They had knives to our throats and took our guns. We were surrounded. There was nothing we could do.”
The Captain joined in the story. “There is a large hold for storing equipment in the bottom of the yacht. They put us in there and locked the door. To their credit, though, they did leave us with a bunch of food.”
“The blood on the boat was there to convince you to leave,” said Brenda.
“But what about all that business about blow-flies, Charlie?” asked Zach. “You were estimating the time of death from the blow-flies on the heads.”
“I don’t know,” said Charlie sheepishly. “I guess blow-flies like wax, too.” He laughed, embarrassed of his mistake.
“So I guess the intent all along was to make us leave,” said Morse. “But when I convinced them that we were Xbalanque and Hunahpu, they decided to put us through the Trials of Xibalba.”
“How did anyone ever find you?” asked Winston.
“I heard the motors on the ship running,” said Captain Ben Z. “We started banging on the doors like crazy, but you guys didn’t hear us.”
“After I dropped you guys off in Alabama, Charlie, I got hungry,” said Drame. “I went around the ship trying to find more food, and when I opened the hold, I saw all these guys. I have never been more surprised in my life,” said Drame. “Now, I would like you to meet some other friends. Come this way.”
Skip Drame took the group away from the tent and below a hill, where he had a full-length basketball court.
As they headed toward the court, their friends Ka’-an and Bolinda Jeffries, along with a familiar-looking elderly Hispanic man wearing a Lakers T-shirt and black Adidas pants, came up to greet them.
“Ka’-an!” said Morse and Winston at the same time, happily, shaking his hand. “Bolinda!” they said, hugging her. Winston looked at the elderly man. “Is this the chief?”
“Hello. Nice to meet you again,” said the Chief, in very broken English.
“I have been giving them all English lessons,” said Ka’-an.
“Take a look, Charlie. The bellman, the doorman, the valet—they are all from the Island of Boyuca.”
“You are kidding?” asked Morse, now piecing together that the woman who had greeted them at the door. “How on earth did you get them all here?”
“The Captain and I decided to go back to the Island of Boyuca. My concern was that as soon as Charlie gave everyone his magical snake, the Government would immediately try to invade the island. They would take all these people and steal the one resource that they owned—these magical snakes. You know the Government, Charlie. The minute they got their hands on those snakes, all those greedy Congressmen would get involved, and the next thing you know, this miracle drug would be in the hands of evil rich people with very bad agendas. Sorry, I know you work for the government, Murielle, but I just don’t trust the Government like you guys do. I couldn’t let that happen, not after I learned that the islanders had really not hurt our friends. I wanted to make sure that the island people were safe, but at the same time ensure that a lot of sick people got the benefit of this miracle drug. And if we made a little money in the process, I could live with that. So we went back and, using Ka’-an as interpreter, I explained to the Chief that very bad people would be coming soon to kill him and take his purple snakes. He would normally not have believed me, but after all, I was the attaché to their mythical gods Xbalanque and Hunahpu. He knew I was telling the truth.
“So the Chief and maybe ten of his best people all got onto my yacht. We loaded all the purple snakes into the yacht’s fish tank and headed for home. We sailed through the Panama Canal back around towards Los Angeles. Meanwhile, I called my immigration lawyer, Benny Ortiz. This guy is the greatest immigration lawyer on the planet. He started the paperwork right away while we were still coming through the Canal. He got every one of these people O-1 non-immigrant visas by the time we got to port.”
“What’s an O-1 non-immigrant visa?”
“If you are in the entertainment field, like I am, you can bring in people that are skilled in the arts and entertainment. I immediately advertised that my production company would be filming a movie based upon our exploits on Boyuca. I signed lucrative acting contracts for the chief and three of his island people. We got the Screen Actors Guild involved and they signed off. Two people we got in as wax sculptors. I might even have a shot at getting some more of those islanders in as basketball players. This lawyer is unbelievable, man. While we are producing the movie, they are all going to stay with me. In the meantime, my lawyer tells me we have a pretty good case for getting them all granted asylum.”
“What do you mean, asylum?” asked Winston.
“Well, every one of these people has a legitimate concern that they would be persecuted and attacked on their island based solely on their unique Mayan heritage. After all, the Presdient declared war on their tiny island for no reason at all. Her stated reason—that Americans were killed in international waters—is obviously bogus. You can see that no one was killed in international waters. And if asylum doesn’t work, this lawyer has got thirty other tricks up his sleeve.
“On Boyuca, as you recall, they have a sport very similar to basketball. It is kind of a combination between racquetball and basketball, and the hoop is turned sideways. But trust me, their skills easily translate. I talked to a Lakers scout today who wants to go back to the island and check them out.”
The chief smiled again and said, “Hello, nice to meet you again.” They all laughed at that. Apparently, that was the only thing Ka’-an had taught him so far.
“So where are the snakes?” asked Charlie.
“Well, my friend , that is a very well-kept secret. I can only divulge that information to a shareholder of Boyuca, Inc.”
“What is Boyuca, Inc.?” asked Bolinda Jeffries.
“Boyuca, Inc. is a holding company my lawyers created on the day our yacht landed in Cancun. I never told you guys this, but I took some of that snake water, and I overnighted it to my patent lawyers in Los Angeles. Within twenty-four hours, the snake oil, and any synthetic oil with a similar molecular structure, was patented and owned by Boyuca, Inc.”
Winston and Morse looked at each other, surprised at their friend’s deception.
“So you just registered that without telling us?” asked Winston, annoyed.
“Like I said, Charlie, I was worried the Government would steal it all. That’s why I created Boyuca, Inc.”
“So who is the owner of Boyuca, Inc.--you?” asked Winston, arching an eyebrow suspiciously.
“Well, that was part of my deal with the Chief. On behalf of himself and all of his countrymen, he owns 40% of the new company, which includes the licensing rights to the snakes and the snake oil. The other 60% are the ‘Drame shareholders.’”
“Who are the Drame shareholders?” asked Morse.
“Why, you guys, of course!” The Winstons and Morses looked at each other, confused.
Just then, butlers came down to greet the group. The butlers presented large packages to John Morse, Zach Morse, Charlie Winston, Bolinda Jeffries, and Ka’-an. “Inside those packages,” said Skip Drame, “are stock certificates in Boyuca, Inc. We all own 10% of the stock. I am the CEO and President and my salary will depend on sales. But guys, I do not think it is an exaggeration to say that this company is going to be worth billions, with a B.”
The Winstons looked at each other, thrilled. Zach Morse, who was just a college student, and had a bank account of $72, was the most thrilled of all.
“And don’t worry about the others,” said Drame. “In lieu of stock, we already gave financial packages to Brenda, Captain Ben Z, the security guards, Mindy Bryant, and the chef, and they are all pleased as punch. Oh, and we also got some money to the two brothers of Mountain Man Pete, and they were very grateful.”
“How will you disperse the snake oil?” asked Murielle. “I am concerned that there will be poor people who are very sick who will not be able to afford the medicine.”
“That’s why, Murielle, we are making you Director of Scientific Operations for the new company. I think that, given your background, there is no one I can think of who could balance the need for our company to make money with the needs of sick people to be cured. The Board of Directors Resolution gives you carte blanche to decide our policy on that. I wanted to have someone in that position who was a hell of a lot more ethical and civic-minded than me. I would just get greedy after a while. Will you help us, Murielle?”
Murielle looked at her husband, smiling. She did not have to give it a second thought. “Absolutely! But wait, would we need to move from Atlanta?”
“Yes,” said Drame. “Our headquarters are here.”
“But what about Charlie’s mother?”
“Ah, hell, don’t let that stop you. We can hire her too, if you want. Buy her a house here, you name it.”
Winston looked at his wife. “It sounds wonderful.”
“Hey John, do you think you might be able to pull some strings to get me a teaching job with you at UCLA?” asked Winston.
“Ha ha. That’s a great idea. I am absolutely confident I could help you with that, Charlie. We would love to have you aboard.”
“And one more thing,” said Drame, turning to Teddy. “I would like Teddy here to be the marketing spokesperson for our company. I am picturing ads with Teddy and his snake, telling people how he came out of a wheel chair and walked thanks to this new miracle drug.”
Murielle was concerned that this was all going too fast. She did not want her boy to be exploited.
“Well, I don’t know about that, Skip,” she said.
“No pressure,” said Skip. “I understand. If you don’t want to, that’s okay, but I think it would be great for the world to hear Teddy’s story.” Teddy spoke up, finally interested that people were talking about him.
“Mr. Drame, Daddy said that the President took Grapey. Do you think you could get Grapey back for me?”
“No, Teddy, I cannot do that,” said Drame, smiling, and rubbing Teddy’s head. “But Grapey has a bunch of brothers and sisters, and I think you might be able to visit them from time to time.”
“Cool! I’d like that,” said Teddy.
His parents laughed. There were a few moments of awkward silence when no one spoke. Everyone was just contemplating their wonderful futures ahead.
Suddenly, Zach, who had been quiet until now, spoke up.
“So, ahh, the gist of what you all are saying here, is I am going to be stinkin’ rich?” asked Zach, grinning from ear to ear.
“It looks that way,” laughed Drame.