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Subject: Family Time |
"So, Kitten: how's life been treating you?" "Fine, Granddad. Everything ok on the inside?" She said with a chuckle. Now this could be the start to any normal conversation between a grandfather & his granddaughter but it's not. This is the start to the monthly meeting between Thomas & Catherine Gillespie. "It's fine. Nothing much has been happening recently. You'd think with all the kinds of people that they have locked up in here that this place would be hopping, as you kids say today. But alas it's not." Catherine rolls her eyes as her grandfather once again tries to to be hip. The location of their meeting is his cell at The Safe, the maximum security prison that sits on the southward facing side of Flanagan Island. Out of Thomas' sole window looks north back toward the city & you can also just barely see the remains of the Islands' fairgrounds that use to be one of Parrodpolis' premiere tourist destinations. Thomas was dressed up in a style that Catherine thought was more fitting befitting Hugh Hefner then an Prison Inmate. He was wearing a crimson red smoking jacket. On his feet were a pair of slippers (they were the same color of his robe) & a pair of argyle socks. His pants were pajama bottom, white cotton with light blue stripes, his top was of the same material & style. His hair once thick black hair was now grey with sections turning white & he was slightly balding up top. His skin was wrinkled but his body had held up well for an 88 year old in his line of business. He was seated in a high back leather chair, next to it was a wooden side table. On it was that morning's Parrodpolis Trombone. His manor of dress was from years' of being a "model" inmate. Like the way he was dressed where he was incarcerated didn't fit normal standards. It was still your typical one room but Thomas was afforded all the comforts of him. Catherine was seated on a grey metal folding chair, she sat across from him. The only thing separating her from him was a highly advanced security system & a few feet of Plexiglas. On her feet was a pair of black Chuck Taylor All-Star high tops (They had little white skulls spray painted on to them). She too was wearing a pair of argyle socks (Hers' were a different color). Her pants were a well worn pair of blue jeans. She had a grey short sleeved T-Shirt on. Under that shirt was a red & black long sleeved shirt. Over the T-Shirt was an unzipped well worn, greying black hoodie. On her wrists were a few too many bracelets & a couple of wrist bands. A few of her fingers had some rings on them. Her black nail polish was cracked & chipped in places. Her dyed black hair was up in a ponytail. Both sets of their green eyes sparkled a bit under the halogen lighting of the Prison. The homey look to Thomas' cell was a stark contrast to the bare & emptiness of the cement hallway that she was in. The only thing besides her & chair was a metal catwalk that a guard every so often walked by on. Every time "Grandpa Tom" would wave at the guard with a smile on his face, the guard hardly if ever returned the greeting. Just after the guard had left to check in on other inmates, the kettle on Thomas' hot plate began to whistle. He got up from his seat to take it off. He poured himself a cup & made his way back over to his chair. "Sorry I can't offer you any but house rules forbidden me from leaving my Cubicle without supervision." He said with a chuckle. Catherine didn't mind, visits like this were normal to her by now. She started doing them regularly when she came to the area to doing her Masters' degree. She had been a few times when she was young but when you live on the other side of the country, there is a not so great relationship between the two parties & then there is also with getting clearance: meeting regularly can be a bit of a pain. Catherine has always had a relationship from a far with her Grandfather. She's only gotten to touch him once or twice in her life. But he's been there for a few of the major events: Her birthday parties were always teleconferenced to him (when she was really young she did think he was just a head on a box). He with a small group of his closet heavily armed friends came to all her graduations. "I hope getting in here wasn't a problem because I know it's a problem people trying to get out." He said with a sly smile before taking a sip of his tea. "No. No more then I'd get when I board planes." "Ah yes. They added more security after the attacks back in 2001." He said & then sadly said "I haven't been on an Airplane since the 1960's. Do they still give you real metal utensils when the Stewardess serve you your meal?" "No. You get plastic ones." "Drat. I always liked that. Sure, the food wasn't always up to the highest standards but you felt like it was a regular meal with those utensils." After that comment there was some uneasy silence. Catherine hated those especially there but they are something that kept on coming not matter what they tried to talk about. He was working off of experiences many decades out of date with only a few references to the world of today. Plus, Granddad wasn't all the big of a fan of TV anyways. "So, how's the Job?" He asked. "Fine. Not all that hard. I just have to make sure people don't walk out with a body they haven't signed for. But that doesn't happen much. I mostly take in Bodies, do their preliminary paperwork then store them away until Dr. Jones can get around to them." Catherine noticed she had said something that her Grandfather couldn't quite place. "Dr. Jones is the City Coroner." "Oh yes. Short, balding gentlemen with a perchance for over doing it on the curried rice & Old Spice after shave." "Yes." Catherine said a bit embarrassed. He might not get it on the first try but his mind is still like a steel trap: nothing escape it once his mind latches on to it. More silence, then Catherine remember something. "I did have a cool experience the other day. I was justing doing some filing that needed to be done. It was mostly charts, photographs, various notes & things from Dr. Jones when I had a visitor." "That night watchman you've told me about?" "No." Catherine said, she wasn't referring to Marshall, the guard that never looked her in the eye when he talked to her. His eyes were down a bit. "I got to meet Hatman." Catherine said proud of herself. "The Hatman? The one from the news?" Now Catherine would have made a sarcastic comment right about then but held back. "Yes, the very same." "Was he then on a case?" "I think so. He wasn't there for very long. He just wanted to see a body & then left. The whole meeting took about 20 minutes." "So, how was your first encounter?" He asked with some glee. He had meet his fair share of Heroes in his time. "This wasn't my first time, Hatman makes 3." "I remember my first time." Thomas said he as sat back & rested his head on the back of the chair & looked toward the ceiling. "I had only been, what people would categorize as 'Super Villain', for about half a year when I met him. It was really a fluke meeting. I was making a withdrawal from a local bank to cover some expenses I was making. I thought I was safe from any sort of Mystery Men that had been popping up. I was in Tacoma, Washington for gosh sakes & everyone that was making the news was on the east coast. I never did figure out why Mr. Amazing was in that bank that day. Now I didn't know he was Mr. Amazing at first since he was just dressed up like everyone else. I bet he thought I didn't see him sneak away but I did. I knew it was him when he came back in. Sure, he had changed his clothes, got into his costumed getup & put on a mask but he didn't look all that different. Plus, the woman he was sitting next to was flinching every time Amazing took a punch & he took a couple. Now, I took much more given that I didn't have any powers like him. I got off easy that time. Spent some time in a local hospital & had to spend a month in jail but that was nothing compared to when he met back up a few years later but I doubt he remembered me." Those stories are why she doesn't mind coming on by. Sure, she had heard Granddad' first time many time before with or less embellishments. Her father didn't want her to know about his father's past but it eventually let slip why he was really in Jail. Plus, her interest in Comic Books didn't help any in the family avoid the topic of Heroes & Villains. There was so more silence. They just sat there, Thomas drank his tea. Catherine eventually broke the silence. "I tried to get Dad to come with me." She blurted out. "You did?" "Yeah. He was in town doing some business recently & we had lunch. I brought you up & that I was coming to see you. He shot me down. He claimed he was to busy." "He always does. But, I guess it's to be expected. I was never there for him growing up, why should he be here for me now?" Thomas said sadly. Then looked over at a picture on the wall of his Son & his family from a few years back. "Yeah. But, you couldn't be there for him due to the fact you were here." "Not here. Another prison, I came here to The Safe around the time he was in College. But, I would have been there for him if it wasn't for my wartime activities. Sure, I was no Nazi or the like but I was still a Villain in the eyes of the Government." "But, Grandma Carol was fine with it." "Yes. But she had been there before it all & had time to adjust. Your father had to deal with it as he grew up. I never hid the fact what I did which made it hard on him. I remember trying to tell people that I worked for the Government. But they never believed him." "Kind of funny because that's what he does." "Yes. Yes, that's what he does." Thomas said in a way that was only a half truth. "Now it didn't get any easier when they came in & arrested me during Christmas. You'd think the Government would take the holiday off but no." His voice trailed off. Most of their conversation eventually were about the one man they have in common. Catherine knows her father has come to some sort of terms with who his father was but old wounds are sometimes the hardest to deal with. "So, are you going to see Hatman again?" Thomas said changing the subject. "I don't know. I doubt it. I mean I could, City Hall is a public building & he's a public person. Plus, he got in just fine last time & I'm sure there might a case that might require him seeing a body. But, if you mean did we set up a means of meeting up again: No. No, we did not." Catherine rambled. She blushed a bit. "Would you like to see him again?" "I don't know. Maybe. I mean we didn't really talk or anything that wasn't beyond the work. I wouldn't meeting him in some sort of social situation. But I doubt that would happen. We don't run in the same circles." The blushing got worse. Catherine started to avoid his gaze & began following the path of the cracks in the floor. Thomas saw that this was making her uncomfortable. Just then, the large metal door at the end of the hallway opened. In walked a guard, he was there to escort Catherine back to the Visitor area of the Prison. Catherine got up from her seat, she folded up & she said he goodbyes. He said his & was left alone. He wouldn't have another visit until next time same came. |
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