Page 88 of You Chive Me Crazy
“Who would do such a cruel thing?” Aaron asked. “I would probably end up in jail for assaulting the man who did that to me.”
I nodded. “So, you would not be happy if you found out your own son did that to someone else?” I glanced at Lazlo.
Aaron blinked twice, his brow furrowing. “What do you mean?” He glanced back and forth between me and his son. “I don’t understand.”
I played Lazlo’s video on my phone for him.
Aaron’s nostrils flared when he realized what his son had done, and the longer he watched the video, the more the vein in the middle of his forehead stuck out.
“But wait, there’s more.” Rolando showed Aaron the video of his son, with Damian behind the building. “This is Lazlo getting paid to post that video. I don’t know if that is libel, slander, or defamation. I always get those three mixed up, but I’m pretty sure they almost always end up with multi-million dollar lawsuits and/or jail time.”
“What an imbecile!” Aaron said, smacking his son upside the head repeatedly. “This is not how I raised you! You’re bringing shame to the entire family.”
Lazlo held up his hands to protect himself from his dad’s repeated blows.
“That behavior is disgraceful.” Aaron turned to us and pleaded, “If there is any way possible, please do not get the police involved. I will handle it and make sure nothing like this ever happens again. Not that he doesn’t deserve it, but it would hurt my business and would affect many innocent people. Please, I beg you, Mr. Filo. I’m appealing to your compassion.”
I shrugged. “I appreciate that, but the video is still up. People can still see it.”
Aaron pointed to his son’s pocket. “Delete the video. Now. And no tricks. Show us you are doing it.”
Lazlo didn’t say a word, pulled out his phone and scrolled. “It’s not here. Look.”
I glanced at his phone and his latest video was from three days ago. I checked my phone to confirm, since I had just played the video for Aaron.
“He’s right,” I said. “The video is gone.”
“Wow—Savannah did it,” Rolando said.
Aaron glanced at me, clear devastation written all over his face. “I understand you have to do what you have to do, but I promise I will take care of this. He will learn his lesson. Please tell the owner of Potato Heaven that I apologize from the bottom of my heart for my son’s horrible, unacceptable behavior.” He grabbed his son by the ear. “Tell them you’re sorry.”
“I’m sorry,” Lazlo said. “But we need the money, Dad!”
“That is not an excuse!” Aaron said, tugging on his son’s ear. “We do things the right way, the honorable way. You should be ashamed of yourself.”
Lazlo apologized one more time, and it sounded like he meant it. His eyes were welling up, like he regretted it.
“You shouldn’t be telling us,” Rolando said. “You really hurt Zoe and her business. She’s the one who’s suffering right now, and you need to apologize to her.”
“I will drive him there myself,” Aaron said. “You have my word. And I’ll eat those potatoes and invite everybody I know to join me.”
“I appreciate the gesture, but we can take care of the apology right now,” I said, figuring it would be the fastest way to get Zoe’s food truck open again, plus have it documented. “I’m going to record you admitting what you did, retracting what you said in your video, then saying you are sorry to Zoe. As long as nothing like this ever happens again, the police won’t see the video.” I pulled out my phone, tapped the video record button, then gave a nod to Lazlo to start.
Lazlo hesitated, then sighed. “I’m sorry for posting that fake video about Potato Heaven. It was the best potato I have ever eaten, and I never got salmonella from it. Damian Landau paid me to say that, and I only did it because our family needs the money. That’s no excuse. I know that now. Please forgive me, Zoe.”
Wow. I hadn't expected that.
The part about Damian was pure gold.
Still holding onto his ear, Aaron dragged Lazlo toward the restaurant. “This is not over. Not by a long shot!”
When we got back in the car, I started the engine, turned to Rolando, and grinned. “We’re like Cagney and Lacey.”
He gave me a blank stare. “I do not know who that is.”
“Elliot Stabler and Olivia Benson?”
Rolando shook his head. “Nope. That doesn’t ring a bell.”
