Page 67 of Lord of Debauchery

“I don’t give a shit what it is. We’re not playing games any longer. Talk to me. We have a serious situation occurring, one that even the members of the Brotherhood are uncertain how to handle. I need answers. I need the truth. You owe me that.”

My father downed a solid fifty percent of his drink before it seemed he found the nerve to face me. “When you and David were born only a few months apart, your uncle and I were still close. We dreamt of a better life, wanting to follow in the footsteps of our fathers. We were young and filled with hope, picking apart the American regime, including the military. Just conversations, acting as if we would be better rulers of our country and beyond. It was our game at first. We had insider knowledge, you know? We were privy to things that most Americans never hear given the family’s illustrious past in politics. As it turns out, it was a mistake allowing two kids with far too much time on their hands to learn the nuances and inner workings of our country. It was dangerous. Instead of turning to drugs like a hell of lot of young men were doing at our age, we were establishing the rules and possibilities of building an entirely new world, one we could rule like kings.”

He was haunted by what they’d done, which meant it had gone much deeper.

“O-kay. Go on. I need to know everything.”

His hesitation was understandable, but I had a bad feeling time was running out.

“Whereas I had other interests, including the growing business, Mitchell became preoccupied with conspiracy theories, learning about some dangerous and potentially damning situations involving the most trusted people in society. I started losing interest, keeping a distance. Sadly, his crazy and unfounded ideas made him insane with the need to change the entire fucking planet. In his twisted mind, he created a world where things could be different, where wars didn’t exist. He put his heart and soul into this insane plan including infrastructure and membership lists, exploring ways to gain control of everything from banks to telecommunications. Every powerful industry that he considered important to our future was his playground and he researched and plotted until he believed he had the perfect utopia in his mind.”

Everything about what my father was saying was as mesmerizing as it was terrifying. “So what the fuck did that mean?”

His face instantly turned red. “Listen to me. You wanted the story and I said it’s complicated. So you need to learn patience.”

He was right and I conceded, waving my hand.

“About a year had passed since Mitchell and I had last discussed his crazy idea. You were barely one year old, the apple of your mother’s eye. David had just been born, but from the get-go I knew that kid would never be allowed a childhood. Mitchell called me and said he wanted to discuss something huge. I went to his office and was shocked at all the whiteboards and papers taped to his walls.”

“The plans for Utopia.”

He laughed again, the sound so hollow it bothered the hell out of me. “Yes. As Mitchell began to explain his plans, which included overthrowing at least a dozen governments, I started to realize that he was slowly going insane. He mentioned he wanted you to be the president and because it would take us, as he said then, at least twenty-five years to put everything in place, you’d be the right age to lead our world into the future.”

Scoffing, it was my turn to laugh. “What the hell did you say to him?”

He was thoughtful about his answer. “He was my brother. We were so close growing up. We did everything together almost like we were twins. To see him so committed to a project, so certain he was doing the right thing for the future, I listened. I learned. I debated. Ultimately, I agreed, although that took time.”

“Jesus.”

“Yeah.” Pops spun his drink in the air before heading to one of the chairs, slowly sitting down. “It took me three years after that to fully admit my brother had gone completely insane. By then, he’d convinced some of the wealthiest and most powerful people in the world to believe enough in his crazy project to invest. It was nuts. There were suddenly millions of dollars in an offshore bank account and more to come. He began approaching certain military operations after that, corporate moguls and politicians. I was shocked how many people came on board with limited questions asked.”

“This is nuts.”

“Don’t you think I don’t know that? I did what I could to keep my distance, wanting nothing more than to protect my family. By then, your brothers were toddlers. I was nervous. Hell, I was certain the man was going to try and get his hands on nuclear warheads. Things got ugly between us, so much so I hired more guards to protect my family at all times.”

“Which is what was happening when I was in high school.”

He nodded. “He confronted me one day when I’d let my guard fall, providing me with intimate knowledge about you. Every class. Every friend you had. Details that he could only know if he had you followed every day. He even said he realized you were a bad seed since you had my blood in you. He no longer wanted you to be what he now called the savior of the new world.”

“He was insane.”

“Yeah, but I took his threats seriously. I couldn’t even recognize him any longer.”

I shook my head, wishing I could remain in disbelief, but everyone was always looking for a better way. It was truly the way of the world, people needing hope. “So what the fuck happened, Pops, before you accepted the man was nuts?”

“Does it matter?”

“Yeah, because he’s so far off the grid that unless we find him, he just might go through with this insane plan of his. Anything you know about the plans might help.”

“Fine. I was so fucking hyped up on the idea of us ruling the world that I was already looking at private goddamn islands. My idea. My fucking idea. It was insane the way my brother pushed so hard, and I bought the crap. We both agreed everything had to be finalized so that when we acted, it was as one finely tuned team.”

“You think the time is near.”

Pops took a deep breath. The man was positively white. “Yes, I do.”

I glanced out the window, trying to imagine the concept. It was unfathomable. “How the hell did you see the light and why?”

“Finally, your mother brought me to my senses, even threatening to leave me and take you kids to a destination where I couldn’t find you. I’m telling you, son, women are truly the brains behind us. Always. After her threat, she took me out for a day, forcing me to go to a goddamn carnival, a movie and dinner at what I’d call a freaking funhouse.” He seemed perturbed from the memory at first but softened as he always did when talking about my mother. “What she was doing was reminding me of the important things in life.” He stopped long enough to lift his head, searching my eyes.

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