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Mustafa went to the company to hold a few meetings, and I stayed with Franz in the room. We could extract four more videos showing both Sami and Tarek using the room. Tarek was scum, but that came with no surprise after I saw what he did the other day at the super nightclub, but Sami was even worse; at least Tarek had obviously paid the girls to do it, but that scum forced his way in every time.
Tarek called and told me to meet him at a restaurant downtown. He said he had a big surprise for me. He was a man of his word as he said. I didn't want to end up on one of those videos Franz was still extracting. They had a drive full of this shit. He could start a porno site with the amount of material that son of a bitch had on his private server. But I had no other choice but to show up, and I would make any excuse to avoid going to the wild party after.
Mustafa was still not back when I left, and that was one time I really needed his advice even if he called me a madman for the zillionth time in his life, but I couldn't wait any longer.
At the restaurant, we greeted as pals or two veterans who bled with each other in some war. Two young ladies were sitting at the table with us. I didn't know if it was the full magnitude of his surprise or if he was planning for a larger scale orgy later that night. We were talking and laughing as I threw some dirty jokes when I heard the last voice I expected to hear in this place. The first question asking us if we were ready to order did not make me tremble as the second one when the young man saw my face.
"Uncle Joseph. Welcome back. You are back. Welcome to..." I couldn't hear what John was saying after that. It was not only he called me Joseph in front of Tarek but also because he was speaking in Arabic with the natural expectation that the person he was talking to understood every word. I quickly changed the look on my face to squinty eyes and shaking head trying to pretend I did not understand what he was saying,
"I'm sorry young man. You must have mistaken me for somebody else."
John was shocked not only when he saw my reaction, but when he recognized the other man sitting at the table, and Tarek motioned to his men to come and remove John,
"Move away, you idiot. This is Herr Simon Heinrich. What kind of scum do they get to serve in this restaurant? Shame on you!"
I understood that, too, as Tarek said it to John in Arabic
"It's ok, Tarek, the young boy, made a mistake. But tell the restaurant manager to send us someone else to serve our table. There is no need to humiliate the boy." I smiled at John with my heart jumping out of place. I deserved to be kicked in the teeth. Herr Simon Heinrich suddenly understood Arabic.
They treated my little boy like an animal, and I did nothing. How typical of me to stand by and watch and do nothing, absolutely nothing.
I realized that for the last fifteen minutes, I told no jokes or do anything funny, so I tried to tell a joke, but I could tell my attempt was so pathetic, or even worse. I was planning on making an excuse to bail out of this hideous dinner with that horrible man whom I came to fear, but I didn't have to make any excuses; he didn't ask me to go anywhere with him after the dinner which ended quickly. He wished me a good night and got in his car. I think he was happier to leave than I was. The moment I thought we were getting a little lucky, my children are now involved in this. It wasn't enough I ruined their lives all this time. I came back to finish them off. I knew Tarek was not the brightest guy in the world, but he was not the most stupid either. He was going to come after my boy to know what that fuss in the restaurant was about, and I had no idea what he would do when he learned that John was indeed the son of George Karam. There was nothing I would not expect from that scum and his partner.
I told the smiling driver to pull over after he drove for a couple of blocks; I told him I felt like walking and waited for him to drive around the block. I picked my phone and called John who was still working at the restaurant.
"Leave everything behind and meet me at the corner of the restaurant. Please do it now. There is no time for twenty questions. I'll explain everything when I see you."
I ran all the way back and saw John at the corner. When he saw me, he wanted to go back in, and I had to follow him and grab him near the door.
"Please John, just walk with me. I can't talk here. Everyone is looking at us." I whispered in his ear, but John didn't understand the gist of whispering, and he started yelling.
"Who are you, mister? Why would I come with you? I don't know you." More people gathered to see what was going on.
"Elsa is in danger. We have no time. We have to move now." At least that made him move a little away from the restaurant. I didn't know if anyone there would call Tarek and tell him what had just happened, but I believed he had his suspicions about me. I couldn't remember the last time I didn't screw it up. Here I was doing it again, and now my kids were at stake.
"Who are you Joseph or Simon or whoever you might be?"
I wanted to tell him the truth, but I wouldn't risk losing him forever, "I'm Joseph Saroyan, the same guy who sat with you and your sister and I swear all I told you was the truth, but you caught me in a bad time. I'm sorry. I had to lie about who I was. You see, to him, I'm Simon Heinrich, and that must stay like this for a while. Please trust me, I promise I will answer all your questions when we get to a safe place, but first, we need to get your sister. Do you know where she is?"
John had his hands on his head. I couldn't blame the poor boy, I had a hard time trying to figure out what just happened myself.
"I don't trust you. I want to call the police. Get away from me."
"Trust me. That's not what you want to do. Do you know this man? Do you know who he is?"
"Of course, I know who he is."
"Then you know that your father killed his father. Can you imagine what he will do to you if he finds out that I am not Simon Heinrich and you know about it, and you just happened to be in the same restaurant we were in? So, you think he will ever leave you or your sister alone? I know you are a smart man, John. Think like one, please. I would never hurt you or your sister. Remember what the head mother said about me. Let's talk about it later. Now, please let's go get your sister. Is she home?"
"Where else would she be at this time?"
John did not like coming with me one bit, and he didn't talk all the way back in the taxi, and I didn't want to explain anything or talk about anything. I guess we were both thinking only about Elsa. The taxi arrived at my parents', but I had no time for any nostalgic feelings, I asked the taxi to wait, and I went up with John to the house. Elsa was sitting at the old table where my mother used to make her afternoon tea in front of the old television and watch her never-ending series. I pictured that moment when I would come back to my parents' house; I thought it would be more romantic, but there was no time for romance.
John told Elsa what happened, and they talked to each other. I was afraid John would call the police.
"Is this true unc... mister?" Elsa asked me.
"I swore an oath to your mother to protect you and be there for you before she died, please don't let me break that promise."
They talked to each other one more time, then John came close and said, "You know I am not afraid of you no matter who you are. I don't trust you at all, but I fear that other guy, and that's the only reason we're coming with you. If you try to do anything, be sure that I will kill you before you can blink." That man standing up for his sister right there was my son, I smiled at him,
"I will kill myself before hurting you. If it makes you feel better, I will talk to the head mother now, and I will take you there to stay with her for a few days" the suggestion disarmed the kids a little. I talked to her first and let them both talk to her, she told them they could come to stay for as long as they liked.
In about half an hour, they had packed a small suitcase, and we were all running down the stairs. I didn't want to use the same taxi. We took another taxi to the Holy Cross Hospital. The head mother was waiting for us. She gave the kids a room in the sisters' quarters. I waited there until the head mother came back and I could see she had a lot of questions in her eyes, especially when she saw me in disguise.
"I'm sorry sister to take so much advantage of your kindness. I can't tell you anything except that the kids are in danger now and they need your protection. Please, don't let them leave for any reason until I come back in two days and I promise I will tell you everything."
"I will do this for the children, Mr. Saroyan, not for you. Don't you ever think I will do this because of the money you gave us? You can take it back."
"No sister. I would never... please, just keep them safe until I return." I could see her skeptical looks, and I could swear she had doubts about who I really was.