Morpheus said...

“Yes Raal--I know.  But before you ride off into the sunset; the attorney’s have informed me that Kyle hasn’t signed that prenup.”

The brother’s exchanged an uncomfortable moment but Morpheus didn’t pause.  He continued...

“We will discuss that later.  For now...I’ve called you all here because you are my family.  Each of you are important to me--and it’s high time that we all make amends.”

Fawn stuck out her lip, then slanted her head at an angle when she said...

“Are you kidding me?  Is that the reason you insisted that I be here?  I rearranged my day for a freaking family powwow?”

“Fawn!”  Morpheus shouted.  “Have a seat, and be quiet.”

“Daddy...you said that this was an emergency meeting.  You asked me to come because you said that there would be an exchange of important information.  But that isn’t true.  You’re manipulating me...and you know it.”

There were so many aspects of her life that she hated; and two of those annoyances were currently present.  When her mother abandoned her, leaving her to be raised by her father; her mother had fled because Morpheus had given her no choice.  Mikita had come into the picture and Morpheus had fallen madly in love with her.  And when she gave him a son, Fawn had felt invisible.  But when her father cheated; like he’d done so many other times in the past--Mikita and Bolden had left and Fawn had her father all to herself.  Now, Morpheus was determined to rebuild relationships that had nearly deteriorated and he wanted her to sit quiet as if she didn’t have a voice.

Fawn was furious when she said...

“I can’t deal with this.  I have to go.  I’m flying back into the city to meet up with Judd.”

Morpheus said...

“I thought that young man of yours was busy with a community charity project.”

Fawn snidely said...

“Nice of you to remember--given that you didn’t give my boyfriend five minutes of your time.”

“I had a meeting Fawn.  Your boyfriend understood.”

“He has a name dad.”

“Fawn...stay for dinner.  Cook made one of your favorite dishes.”

This was one of her father’s old tricks.  He would change the subject, hoping to delay or avoid a topic.  She wouldn’t play that game, mainly because segments of her life seemed to be peeling away.  She had abandonment issues and from the moment Judd infused himself with that damn charity, she’d been seeing less and less of him.  Fawn detested being alone and that fueled the irony in this situation because currently she wanted to be any place except here.

She was nearly at the door, when Morpheus crossed the room to stop her.  A roar of voices cautioned him.  Raal’s voice was louder than Mikita’s

“Morpheus...let her go.  We can do this at another time.”

“Raal is right Morpheus.  If she has plans, it might be something important to her.”

Bolden didn’t chime in--mainly because his feelings mirrored his sister’s.

Morpheus grabbed hold to Fawn’s arm.  She spun around to face him.  Rage colored her face when she said...

“You can’t make us a family just because that’s the way you want it.  You can’t treat us like we’re cogs in your mighty Gustafson’s machine.  This is one situation that you can’t fix just because you are Morpheus Gustafson.  We aren’t your puppets.”

Morpheus glared at his daughter, and he wanted to strike her because she knew how to wound and rip at his gut.  He wanted to rant a string of curses, and he would have had it not been for Mikita.  She had a way about her that was as soothing as a stream.

“Morpheus...release her.”

He felt the fingers on his hand tighten, and Fawn’s arm trembled due to his strength.  He’d never hit her, although there had been countless close calls, but something had always stifled his anger.  A thought from her childhood or an image of her when she was a little girl.  He loved her but he couldn’t abide the triggers that sparked her uproarious nature.  He was her father--he was in control; she understood this.  But this knowledge didn’t squelch her challenges.

Morpheus didn’t have placating verbiage in his vocabulary arsenal.  His terminology tended to be seething ultimatums.  He aimed one of those comments at his daughter.

“This isn’t over--you will have to deal with me, sooner than you think.”  His hand fell away, then he said...  “I’m disappointed in you.”

“What else is knew.”  She scowled.

She was walking out the door, taking long determined strides.

Mikita was standing behind him, and in a soft voice she said...

“Don’t let her leave angry.  Go...make this right.”

She’d always known that Fawn harbored hate and resentment towards her.  She didn’t blame her of course; and she couldn’t fault Morpheus for the way circumstances had played out and they couldn’t turn back the hands of time.  Fawn’s mother was gone and more than likely, fear had kept her from returning.  Morpheus blew out of puff of air that sounded like a raging bull.  He was hot under the collar but he wouldn’t kowtow to his bullheaded daughter.

When Morpheus didn’t move, Mikita looked to Bolden.

“Bolden...go see if she’s all right.”

Bolden raised a brow, expressing his doubt.  He said...

“She doesn’t want to see me mom.  If I go, I’ll only make matters worse.”

“Oh fuck it!”  Morpheus angrily blurted out.  “I’ll go.  And nobody leave this room until I get back.”

Morpheus bounded down the hall in search of his daughter.  When he left the room, Raal said...

“Mikita...what’s going on?”

She shrugged...

“I wish I knew.  I was at home packing to visit my mother when Morpheus called me.  He said that he had something of extreme importance to discuss with me and that it couldn’t wait.”

Raal said...

“Kyle is out of town on business and I was in Miami inspecting one of the munitions factories.  Morpheus sent me a text, and my message was pretty much the same as yours.”

Bolden glanced at their faces, then he shrugged...

“All I have to say is--ditto.”

They looked around the room, and their eyes fell on the table and its five settings.  Was it that simple?  Were they called here to talk over an evening dinner?  They’d been invited here, but no one knew what the emergency was.  At this point, Bolden couldn’t care less.  He had a stick on his shoulder and it wouldn’t take much to knock it off.  For months he’d worked alongside Eliza, accepting that his father was responsible for him being hired.  Bo could appreciate a good joke, but he was beginning to feel like he was the punchline.  Even more so, when he considered his uncles comment; Raal knew about Eliza and the true nature of her job.  He could see it in his eyes and Bo didn’t know how to make peace with that.  So it didn’t surprise him, when he spoke the moment Morpheus reentered the room.  Due to his father’s height, his countenance was intimidating.  He crossed the floor all ‘big man in charge of his castle then he stopped short a few feet in front of them.

Bolden didn’t give him a chance to make a remark.  Being in this house wasn’t good for him and he couldn’t begin to imagine what his father had said to prevail on his mother and he questioned her account of their conversation.

He dismissed the thought to stave off a headache.

His words were spoken and intended to cut like the jagged edge of broken glass.

“I hate to run off like Fawn and...if there isn’t an emergency, I’ll have to take a raincheck.”

“But son...”  Morpheus stared at them perplex; this was a new look for him.  His face was a portrait of ‘What in the hell was going on?’.  This was not panning out as he’d planned.  One family dinner; that’s all he’d wanted.  One meal; was that too much to ask for?

“Bolden...”  Mikita said...  “Honey...can’t you spare just one hour?”

Her heart was breaking for Morpheus, and she couldn’t take much more, witnessing his kind gesture being trampled as if his efforts were no better than cow dung.  He was a ruthless man, but she didn’t believe that he deserved this kind of treatment from his children.  In spite of Bolden’s gentle nature and his belief in fairness; Bolden was not his mother and he didn’t share her sentiment.