Reverse Metamorphosis book one of the Irrevocable Change trilogy (15 page)

John was saying “Look mother, why don’t you
and Clay stay here tonight. Tomorrow after visiting father again we
could all go to Chicago. We can get flights from there easier than
driving to Milwaukee where we are currently scheduled. Our rental
cars can be left here and picked up for a small additional fee.
We'll have more time to chat with you before we leave.” Both
Adrianna and Meredith chimed in and convinced Anna and Clay to
change their plans. Clay excused himself to go to the reservations
desk to attend to arrangements for his and Anna’s rooms. Being as
it was as Meredith had described it, “At best a half a horse town”
there were vacancies.

As Clay was approaching their table in the
bar from behind John, he overheard John talking to Anna, and paused
to listen “Mother, I can’t believe you put up with the deplorable
actions Father and his gang commit. I saw the articles in the
newspaper about yesterday’s killings and knew it had to be
connected with his being in the hospital. I’m ashamed for anyone to
know I am his son. How do you live with it daily?”

Clay continued to the table and took his
place as Anna replied “John, I love your father and accepted him
and his line of work when we met. Nothing has changed. You are his
and my son and we both love you dearly, but don’t try to mettle in
our lives and ask us to change what we are; you don’t have the
right. I’m not asking for your approval; you will have to decide to
accept us for what we are, or reject us. I understand you disagree
vehemently and wish things were different; but things are not
different, and are not likely to change in our lifetime. I pray you
are not going to put me in the position of having to choose between
my only son and my husband; my love for your father is the reason
we are married. You are a product of our love, but not the reason
for it.” Anna paused to let her works sink in, and then continued
“We should end this conversation now, before hurtful things are
said. Some things cannot be easily retracted. Why don’t you and
Meredith turn in for the night while Adrianna, Clay and I visit a
few minutes longer?”

Having been dismissed, John and Meredith left
the table after giving Anna a dutiful good night kiss, and wishing
sweet dreams to Adrianna and Clay.

Once again Clay had the opportunity to
witness Anna controlling and manipulating the situation and was
impressed at the power she wielded so adeptly. Not many people
could issue an ultimatum while dismissing their child and in the
process disarm a delicate situation so artfully.

“I was afraid this would happen” Adrianna was
saying. “Don’t be too hard on him Mother; he’s simply reacting the
way ninety eight per cent of people would if faced with the same
situation. I so wish he could just accept his roots the way Jimmy
and I were able to.”

“Adrianna, I don’t want to fight with John,
but he has to learn to exist with his father and me and not
pressure us to change our lives. I was not joking about cutting him
loose if I must in favor of his father; in spite of my husbands
philandering and other faults. John is an adult and if he forces
the issue he will have serious decisions to make, and to live with.
I don’t agree with matters of his life style either; like marrying
the bitch of a wife he has. But, I have never before issued
ultimatums to him about anything, and will not tolerate his attempt
to run my life.”

Clay signaled to the bar maid for another
round of drinks and changed the subject.

“Adrianna, I haven’t heard anyone mention
what you’ve been doing since graduating from college. I know you
work in Washington D.C. but haven’t heard what type of job you
have.”

“Well, I was hired before graduation by a
lobbying firm and have the best job in the world. The people I work
with are intelligent self motivated and have the most fascinating
background experiences. Some are ex-military, some are
ex-government employees, one girl was in the peace corps and
another sold drugs for a pharmaceutical company. I have an
apartment in Falls Church Virginia and commute to Washington daily.
We're typically hired by other companies to promote services or
programs to the members of Congress, the military in the Pentagon,
and occasionally deal with the staff at the White House. You
wouldn’t believe some of the people I get to deal with. Now, enough
about me, what have you been up to?”

She wouldn’t want to know what I’ve been
doing Clay thought, at least not in the last month anyway. “I still
work on construction jobs as a laborer foreman. I like the work and
being outdoors.”

Anna spoke up and saved him from any further
embarrassment, “It’s getting late you two, we had all better get
some sleep. Why don’t we continue this in the morning over
breakfast at, say nine?”

The three of them walked out to the elevator,
and rode up to the second floor where their rooms were located.
Clay had secured his and Anna’s rooms close to Adrianna rather than
on the first floor where John and Meredith had been booked.

Later, while taking a shower, Clay was
recalling the previous night with Anna. But when his mind went back
to her looking down at him and saying “What are you waiting for,”
his mind inserted a vision of Adrianna above him.

Clay was the first of their group to arrive
in the motel restaurant the next morning and was on his second cup
of coffee when Adrianna walked in. She had dressed more casually
this morning. Her gray slacks and white short sleeved blouse showed
off a shapely, but not voluptuous figure. She wore her hair pulled
back and styled in a simple bun, like her mother often wore. She
was definitely her mother’s daughter, tall, elegant and beautiful.
But unlike Anna she showed no trace of hardness. She was open and
easy to talk to, yet he sensed firmness in her manner and guessed
she would be a tough adversary in business negotiations. He had
never paid much attention to her in the past; he knew she was slim
and pretty, but she was Jimmy’s sister and he considered her off
limits. Now she was off limits because she was a lovely and
successful business person and he was a common laborer. And then
there was his other baggage; things he would not share with
anyone.

Anna had come down next and no one would have
guessed she had worn the same clothing the day before. She must
have coerced room service to press her clothing because she looked
fresher than all the other patrons outside of their group.

John entered about fifteen minutes after
Anna, saying Meredith would be down shortly. He also had inherited
his mother’s looks; tall, about six foot one inches; slim, about
one hundred seventy pounds; black hair, straight and styled
impeccably. He too had the naturally dark complexion of both
parents. He carried himself with long graceful strides and appeared
muscular for his slim build. There was a visible self assurance
bordering on arrogance in his mannerisms.

John is the kind of successful man the
average person dislikes immediately, Clay was thinking. He throws
up a wall by appearing to be so far above average, so proper, so
precise, he offends others by his mere presence. Not that he
intends to. He probably believes he’s self made and believes he can
relate to the common working man and his problems. John could
likely be courted to run for political office, except for his
family background.

Fifteen minutes later Meredith made her
appearance, wearing a black skirt with a maroon colored silk
blouse. The contrast of the blouse with her golden hair called
attention to her, which seemed to be very important to Meredith.
She was not extremely tall, but had a way of ‘walking tall’ and
appeared to be taller than her five feet three inches. Her build
was slim, but she had full cheeks, making her appear heavier than
she was.

Both John and Meredith avoided last night’s
discussion about Tony’s profession, and did not mention any hope
Anna would change him or leave him.

They probably discussed the situation fully
before going to sleep last night, and recognized just how adamant
Anna had been in her position, Clay thought to himself.

Clay was sitting across the table from
Adrianna and found himself repeatedly having feelings of jealousy
at the thought of her receiving attention from other men. My God,
she is so beautiful.

The group spent the remainder of the morning
visiting Tony at the hospital, before driving back to Chicago. The
conversation was lighthearted and avoided the subject all of them
wanted and needed to discuss.

Once there, Anna asked to see Clay for a few
minutes in Tony’s office. With the door closed she removed money
from the desk, placed it in an envelope and handed it to him. “This
is ten thousand dollars. It isn’t nearly enough for all you
accomplished for Tony and I, but it is an expression of our
appreciation. Tony insisted I give you this and he won’t accept no
as an answer. He said you earned a trip, so go to Las Vegas or
Florida for a couple of weeks.”

Clay pulled Anna close to him and kissed her
on the cheek, “Thank you, and give my thanks to Tony. I’ll put the
money away because I do need to get back to work. I really
appreciate this.”

Clay excused himself from the others and
headed for home to start back in his usual routine.

M
onday was Memorial
Day and he attended a family get together at Little Walt’s house
where he helped bar-b-que and endured admonishments from the family
about his relationship with the Gilianos. He left early and headed
home to get some sleep.

The next day he went to the union hall to
sign up to go back to work. New jobs were starting and he was aware
travelers were being hired from outside the local union’s
jurisdiction because the local members were all working. The
Business Agents assistant made a non-committal statement saying
they would call him when something came up, but not to expect
anything soon. When he questioned the man further the reply he
received was “Maybe the next time you get assigned to a job you’ll
stay and finish it.”

For the rest of the week and all of the
following week Clay endured his mother’s occasional snide remarks
whenever she had an opportunity to mention something about Tony or
anything to do with the criminal element. He knew she was worried
about him and wanted to dissuade him from getting involved with
Tony and ending up in trouble. So, rather than fight with her, he
did as Tony had suggested. He flew to Florida for a week to lay in
the sun, swim, drink, and chase wild women.

When he arrived back home Margaret was very
stern and distant. “The police have been here to see you. They have
questions about your being at the Gilianos prior to those killings.
A Detective Sergeant John Coleman left his business card; he wants
to meet with you soon. Clay, surely you haven’t gotten yourself
involved in this mess with the Gilianos, have you?”

Clay smiled and gave Margaret a hug, “Mom,
there’s no problem. The police will want to speak to everyone who
was staying at Tony and Anna’s house; I bet their parents have
already been interviewed. It’s a formality and nothing more.” Clay
kissed Margaret on the forehead and exited to his room. After his
luggage was put away he called the number on the card and made an
appointment for the following Monday to speak to John Coleman.

At the police station Clay was led to an
interview room near the detective’s squad room to wait while John
Coleman was notified he had arrived. Clay had decided the best
action would be to keep all of his answers brief; yes and no if
possible. He would attempt to provide a definite answer to all
questions; even if he had to lie.

Twenty minutes later two men entered the room
and made introductions. The middle aged man was Detective Sergeant
Coleman; a younger detective was introduced as Detective Roger
Warren. Coleman was getting pudgy and smelled of smoke and cheap
aftershave.

Clay and Coleman sat in straight backed metal
chairs opposite each other at a steel table. Warren leaned against
a wall across from Clay and watched him intently while Coleman
spoke.

“I understand you were at the home of Tony
and Anna Giliano for several weeks after Mr. Giliano was shot?”

“Yes, I was.”

“Would you care to tell us why you were
there; what your connection is to the Gilianos?”

“I’m a family friend. Tony and Anna’s
youngest son, Jimmy, was my best friend before he died. I comforted
Anna and accompanied her to the hospital daily to visit with
Tony.”

“You had no other involvement?”

“No.”

“Who else was staying at the house besides
you?’

“There was Anna, her mother and father and
Tony’s mother, plus the staff.”

“No one else?”

“No one.”

Warren spoke up, “Were there any visitors
during the time you were there?”

Warren was slim, of average height, and wore
his brown hair in a crew cut. Clay guessed him to be five or six
years older than himself and noted what he assessed to be a very
self controlled and serious manner. Clean, well groomed, clothes
pressed and tailored to fit, shoes shined, fingernails clipped. He
appeared solid and impressive, but not glitzy or attention
getting.

“No, I don’t recall any visitors, except for
Joey Tadono.”

Coleman spoke again, “And what did Mr. Tadono
want?”

“I wouldn’t know; he spoke to Anna. He and I
aren’t friends; I just know who he is.”

“Would you know what he does for Mr. and Mrs.
Giliano?”

“No.”

“Where were you the evening of Saturday May
29?”

“What, a little over two weeks ago? The
thirty first was Memorial Day; I went to a family bar-b-que. The
Sunday before I went to visit Tony; I had a hang over from the
night before. Saturday evening I was at the Twelfth Street
Saloon.”