„Hello, I would like to speak to Mr… Zimmer,“ I look quickly at the letter, since I have forgotten the name already.
„Please hold.“ She smiles at me and after a while a bearded face with glasses appears.
„Zimmer speaking,“ says a man who can be around fifty. „Oh, Mr. Kaulitz, good morning. You must be calling because of the donation we returned to you, am I right?“
„Yes, that’s right,“ I answer. „Can you please tell me why my donation wasn’t accepted? Is Mr. Schultz angry with me or something?“
„No, of course not. Mr. Schultz is unfortunately not in a position to be angry with anyone anymore, because he died. Your donation was transferred to his bank account after his death, so it couldn’t be a part of the inheritance proceedings anymore, and that´s why we were forced to return it. Is something wrong? Any problems with the transfer?“ he asks to make sure.
„No… well yes, I did get it back. When exactly did Mr. Schultz die, if I may ask? And how did it happen? He looked like a healthy and vigorous old man on that TV show,“ I wonder, still half in shock. So the old man is dead and I didn’t even know. It was kind of strange that I hadn’t heard from him since, but I honestly thought that it would be just a question of time before he would find me. I disappeared from Hamburg to Berlin after all.
„Under normal circumstances, I am not allowed to disclose such information to anyone, but your generous donation is telling me that you cared about Mr. Schultz quite a bit, didn’t you? The thing is, he fell down from the roof of his house on Tuesday, fourteen days ago, and he was killed instantly. The doctor claimed that it had happened around midday. A postman found him on Friday afternoon, when he was bringing him all the mail that had come after that TV report. Unfortunately, he had not had a chance to finish his project after all. Well… just between us, it was probably just some crazy idea of his, they use to call him the crazy old geezer in the village,“ the lawyer laughs.
Why are all lawyers such heartless jerks? He´s already the second one I have to deal with after Mark.
„Thank you for your trust and for telling me, of course I will keep it to myself. Has Mr. Schultz got any heirs?“ I ask.
„No, unfortunately not, he didn’t have any family. At this age, if you have no children, most relatives are already six feet under, right?“ The idiot grins again.
„Would your office be possibly interested in representing me as your client if I wanted to purchase Mr. Schultz’s property, his house with all of his equipment, the old barn and the land inclusive?“ I clarify to make sure I want it all.
„Of course, we would be honoured, Mr. Kaulitz. His inheritance should be passed on over to the state, so the price won´t be that high. It shouldn’t be more than a hundred thousand. How high are you willing to go with your offer?“ He´s obviously trying to check my money situation.
„I don’t care really, just buy it for me. Draw a written, preliminary contract and send it over to me, you will get it back signed and proved by a notary.“ I am eager to finish this business as quickly as possible. I really don’t feel like dealing with this idiot much longer.
„Of course, of course. The fee for our law services will be mentioned in the contract, but I am sure we are not more expensive than lawyers in Berlin. We´re a reputable company, Mr. Kaulitz,“ the ass-kisser assures me. He´s happy that he got himself a deal and he´s sucking up to me now so I won´t change my mind. I can’t wait to end this.
I say good-bye and hang up.
Well, well, the old man is dead. I´m really sorry about that. I liked him very much. What did the layer say exactly? When did he die? On Tuesday, fourteen days ago. It was the same day when I was taking my journey to the past. Before midday we were leaving the laboratory. It seems like he died right after that, but what was he doing on the roof?
Right after the time swap I appeared here in the bathroom with a dryer in my hand, but I have never thought about where the old man might have been himself at that time. It seems that he had just a really bad luck, being on the roof, probably repairing something, falling down for some reason. It´s the most probable screenplay of his death. He simply had a bad luck, which neither of us could have predicted. I feel guilty, but it´s already too late.
That TV report was most likely recorded long before, so when it was finally broadcasted, the old man was already dead in his courtyard. That would mean that Beda is still waiting to be finished, but I could probably take care of that. If I buy the house, the barn with the car and all the rest, I could find some young passionate scientist to finish the old man´s work. Schultz would surely want it like that, at least I would think.
When we talked about his trips to the future, he didn’t talk about meeting himself there, and now it´s clear why. He couldn’t meet himself after 2014, because he wasn’t alive anymore. Maybe he knew. I don´t remember to which years of the future exactly he travelled, but it´s quite possible that I´m still going to meet him on some of his trips. I can recognize Beda among thousands of cars, so from now on I will pay attention and maybe I will meet him.
My two darlings are still sleeping and they’re even together in the same bed. All the promises Tom gave me yesterday in the afternoon, how he is going to repay me by hot, steamy sexy times later that night were just that… promises. He and Davey got so wiped out, that after they bathed, they ate, went straight to the bed together and fell also fast asleep. Uncle Tom tried to tell him a fairytale but from what I managed to hear, it was one of his imaginative horror stories.
I watch my two little angels for a while and then I cover Tom with a blanket, so that he won´t get cold. I let them sleep there together. They are both really naughty. In the past week the child-like side of Tom re-surfaced and that´s probably why he gets along with Davey so well.
Damn, it´s already almost half past ten, the breakfast is slowly getting old and they are still sleeping. I better wake them up, so that they won´t sleep through the whole day. I open the door of the bedroom quietly and what I see makes me smile. Tom is still sleeping, spread out all over the bed and Davey, quiet as a little mouse, plays with his toys on the carpet.
He raises his eyes to me and he puts a finger to his lips as a signal to me to be quiet.
„Shhh, daddy, uncle is sleeping,“ he tries to whisper, but he speaks so loudly that the named uncle jerks and finally opens his eyes too.
„Uncle is waking up, aren’t you uncle?“ I speak to my brother.
„Oh, I must have fallen asleep here last night, I´m really sorry darli… brother,“ he corrects himself when he notices the presence of my son. „But tonight… I will surely treat you more than right,“ he whispers as he exits the room, sneakily slapping my butt gently on the way out.
„Don´t make any promises you can’t keep,“ I call after him. „Come here, darling, we need to go pee, wash, change clothes and have some breakfast.“ I lift Davey up to my arms and I follow Tom to the bathroom.
David is so well-rested today that he doesn’t seem to need any afternoon nap after lunch, so we decide to go to a theme park. The entire afternoon we run from one attraction to the other. Tom had far too much cotton candy and we had to wait for his stomach to calm but the rest of the day moved smoothly without any big disasters.
Davey liked the swings best, because his uncle was crazy enough and pushed him go so high that I had to intervene eventually. I was standing there gritting my teeth, waiting for my little poor thing to fall down to the ground. But the poor thing was bravely holding on, yelling like crazy. Neither one of them took dad´s stupid, boring comments about safety seriously. They just make fun of me and I realize it has become a pattern already. Sometimes I feel more like a careful mother than dad.
In the evening Tom was careful not to fall asleep with Davey again, so this time I was the one telling the fairytale. It was more difficult than I had expected, because all never-ending questions the kid was asking were distracting me from the story, but in the end we managed somehow and he fell asleep. As I relax on the sofa, resting my tired body after warm shower and watching some TV, my angel with dreadlocks comes in and sits down next to me. „Come with me, love.“ He is leading me to the bedroom unnecessarily early to fulfill his morning promise.
„Why so early, we are finally alone, don’t you want to spend some quite time with me and talk some.“ I try to tease him, but he doesn’t budge.
„I promised you something yesterday, so let’s go! Don’t argue, just come with me.“
He lays me down nicely on the bed, turns the familiar light on, puts on some romantic music, handling me like a porcelain doll, which I don´t like that much, to be honest. He is very gentle and attentive but I would prefer if he showed his conqueror side again, but for now I am just trying to enjoy the moment.
The minute he is ridding me of the last piece of clothing we both hear creaking of the door. Tom quickly plunges to the other side of the bed, covering his body with the blanket, trying to look as decent as possible. At the same time I roll over to one side, facing Davey and trying to hide Tom behind my back. The little angel in pajamas stands in the door.
„Daddy, I´m thirsty and I need to pee.“
What did I say? Adrenaline sport!!!
THE END
