The girls, as Jon had anticipated, had returned home with boundless energy, bouncing around the house and sharing their stories. He and Elise were on the couch. Actually, he was sitting on the couch, and she was lying on her back with her head on his thigh. He noticed Fay and Hope whispering from time to time and blushing a little. Getting too curious for his own good, he asked:
"Fay, Hope, what are you sitting there whispering about? Can we join in the fun?"
Elise burst out laughing at this question, and her crystal-clear laugh was simply the most beautiful sound he had ever heard. He looked at her with a thoughtful frown and said:
"What's so funny, Red?"
She said:
"I'm absolutely sure about what these young ladies are talking about. It's about the handsome boys or girls they saw on campus today."
He took a deep breath:
"No, nop, no... no... no, I so do not want to have this conversation! I'm going to cook."
As he walked toward the kitchen, he heard the five of them laughing mercilessly and in unison at his expense.
Fifteen minutes later, Elise walked into the kitchen, where he was busy cooking dinner. She put her arms around his waist and her head on his back. She said softly:
"For someone who has absolutely no experience being a Daddy, your instincts kick in very quickly, love."
Without turning around, he said:
"Red, I swear I'm going to scan every boy that comes through the door of this house down to the molecular level. If there's anything I don't like about them, or if they're even a little bit like me when I was a teenager, I'm going to burn them until not even ashes remain."
He felt her giggle on his back, and she said:
"Love, for you, no boy will ever be enough for our girls, and you can't burn them all."
"Da fuck I can! I'm the freaking antichrist, remember!"
Now she really laughed out loud. He chuckled a little, turned around, and handed her two bowls of salad.
"If you are done laughing at this poor Antichrist, will you please put these on the table in the garden?"
She took the bowls and walked into the garden, still giggling. When she reached the table, the laughter stopped abruptly. She stood looking at the furniture he had manifested and what was on the table. After a minute, she called out in the direction of the kitchen:
"Jon, honey, would you come here, please?"
He came and stood beside her:
"What is it, babe?"
He had manifested in the garden a magnificent antique dining table with matching chairs along with a centerpiece composed of flowers, hand-blown crystal glasses from Venice, china, and cutlery of the very highest quality. Accented with gold and silver. The gold seal on the different types of glasses with the two keys she thought she recognized but could not identify for a moment. Elise could not take her eyes off the table and asked:
"And you're going to make all this disappear again later?"
He saw her looking eagerly and asked playfully:
"Would you like to keep it then, darling?"
She just nodded and continued to stare. He smiled:
"Not everything I manifest is brand new or a copy of something I love. I have a large secret storage area where I keep the knickknacks that I have collected and want to keep. This is all original. The table and chairs were once in Lorenzo de Medici's dining room in his villa outside of Florence. My father and Lorenzo seem to have spent very pleasant evenings at this table. After his friend's death, he bought it and moved it to a safe place. It then served as the family dining room while my mother was still alive. Dad never bothered with this set after she died. I think it was too painful for him to have just the two of us sitting at that table without Mom. Her death had a profound impact on him. She is the love of his existence, and he will never see her again because she is in the one place he cannot get to, Heaven."
She could hear the pain in his voice as he spoke, but also the sorrow he felt for his father. He shook his head slightly and went on:
"The china and cutlery are from the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg. And the crystal came from the treasuries of the Vatican, as you can see from the crest. The Vatican stopped using it anyway. I thought to myself if they work for my grandfather and just keep his throne in the Vatican warm until he finds time in his schedule to show up. Then I guess my grandfather won't mind if I just, you know, borrow it."
She looked at him with joy in her eyes and said:
"If you put it that way, I think it's only right that we use it for family dinners."
He whispered in her ear in a voice that suddenly sounded deeper and more sensual, making her knees tremble:
"If the lady wants it, the lady can have it..."
He then kissed her neck gently and licked her earlobe lightly. Her intention of what she would do to him when they went to bed was certainly not suitable for children's ears. She asked:
"Where is it, and what else do you have in your lair?"
He replied:
"Eden, underground, so it does not interact with nature. Ah, you know, knickknacks. A couple of cars, a couple of motorcycles, a very large collection of records and books, wine, booze, and a lot of cash because I really don't feel like going to the bank every day. Some art, like Da Vinci's Salvator Mundi and Botticelli's Primavera."
She looked at him and said cautiously:
"You mean a copy, right? I read that the original was auctioned off for five hundred million and then..."
It was as if her brain suddenly came to a screeching halt as she realized what she had just said. He finished her sentence:
"And then disappeared from the face of the earth. Yes, and the Primavera in Florence that people can visit is an absolutely perfect copy down to the molecule because I also borrowed the original for a while, so to speak. Botticelli is one of my father's and mother's favorite artists. Apparently, their love of Florence and the Renaissance rubbed off on me. I couldn't resist saving something that all three of us had seen and enjoyed together. Looking at the painting, I briefly feel like that little eight-year-old boy standing between his Mom and Dad gazing open-mouthed at this masterpiece. Simpler times, I suppose, when I wasn't yet the Antichrist, just the son of one Lucifer and Francesca."
At exactly six o'clock, Frank was led into the garden by Sam and Jules.
"Frank, welcome. Girls, we will have dinner in half an hour."
Dinner was served in a very pleasant atmosphere, and everyone was amazed at Jon's cooking skills. He could have made it appear out of nowhere, but he didn't. It was a point of honor for him to cook himself, especially now that he had a family and friends. After dessert, the ladies offered to clear the table so the gentlemen could concentrate on their business, and Jon moved on to the more business side of the evening:
"How about a bottle of Châteauneuf-du-Pape from an excellent year, 1970, somewhat appropriate if you ask me, looking at your collar, and a Cuban cigar, after which we can talk for a while?"
Frank laughed:
"You really are your father's son, because you can tempt just about any priest, bishop, or cardinal with that."
"I have a reputation to uphold, Brother Frank."
He replied with a sneaky smile. He snapped his fingers, and the bottle of wine and the cigars appeared on the table. Frank watched the scene, but instead of being frightened or startled, he sighed deeply:
"If only I could do that. No more kids on campus hungry or in need of the basics, uniforms, clothes, and I don't know what else."
"You are one of the good guys, Frank, and for that reason, but also because my kids go to campus, I will support you with everything I have."
He tapped his glass against Frank's; the crystal seemed to sing in space, and he lit his cigar. Before they got down to business, he had a question:
"Frank, I have a question for you. Let me say up front that my question is not meant to be critical or to attack you or your faith. It's just something that's been on my mind all my life, okay? And it's not like I've had much opportunity to talk to anyone in the clergy."
"Sure, Jon, just ask."
"You're African American; do you celebrate Martin Luther King Day?"
"Yes, I honor that day, not like a holy day of the church, but still. Why?"
"Do you wear a mini sniper rifle on your lapel that day?"
Frank looked at him uncomprehendingly and shook his head. Jon said:
"I've wondered all my life why Christians carry and worship the weapon that killed my uncle every day, why they didn't just stick to the Ichthus symbol like the early Christians did."
"Jon, now that you have put it into words like that, that question will continue to fester in my mind, I can assure you. I think we have all been indoctrinated that the crucifix is tantamount to worshipping Jesus. A symbol that he conquered death, the resurrection. That we have stopped looking at what he had to go through on that cross."
"Never mind, Frank. If he had been into BDSM, that would have been a damn joke!"
The Catholic almost choked on a swig of wine and looked mischievously at Jon, who said:
"Oh no, not done, not asked! What Mr. and Mrs. Jesus do in their bedroom is their business; I don't want that burned into my brain."
Both men laughed out loud at that last part. He manifested two boxes, each containing a thousand cards.
"One box contains cards for students who desperately need new uniforms; those are for Clair's store. There is no price limit on the cards because the account I will open tomorrow will be unlimited, one million to start, but it will be replenished each time as needed. The second box is for Maggie's store for new clothes or even complete wardrobes, the same principle. It's up to your staff to decide who needs what. I recommend that you hire some social workers who can talk to the parents and children and assess their needs. But don't limit it to the students themselves; include their siblings and parents as well. I'll come back to how to pay these wages later. But wait a while before handing out the cards, because both shops have to stock up first. Let's say a week, maybe two. If it's an emergency, send them to the stores right away, of course. Also, send me an email tomorrow with a list of the basic things the kids need for school, including pens, notebooks, and calculators. Well, yes, you know better than I do. I will order a supply and have it delivered to campus. Make sure you have a fairly large place to store it. I don't see the point of having a small van come ten times when it can fit in a truck at once."
Frank was already looking at him wide-eyed. Jon had just thrown two million on the table without blinking. He quickly realized that he had better stay on his toes because this Antichrist seemed to be working at the speed of light. Jon asked:
"Did you bring everything I asked for?"
"Yes, I have Jon, but it is still hard to imagine that all this could be in the past."
He just nodded and pulled out a notepad.
"Okay, first the outstanding amount in admissions. We will get that off the books immediately. What's still outstanding?"
"Right now, just under 3 million."
"Okay, in that email tomorrow, send the account number of your accounting department."
He looked at his guest and suddenly said:
"I'm sorry, Frank, but I suddenly realize that tomorrow is Saturday, and I didn't even ask you if you would mind working on Saturday."
"No worries, Jon. I am usually on campus for a few hours on Saturdays, and I have no problem at all working on weekends, especially if it benefits our students."
"How much is the tuition per student?"
"Depends, childcare, kindergarten, and elementary school are obviously much less than high school. On average, we are at fifteen thousand dollars per child per year. Since we are a semi-public school, the government and also the diocese contribute another part."
"And how many students are spread over the different parts of the campus?"
"Almost a thousand."
"Could you set up a system where admission is based on the income of the parents? Look, if I say I will take care of all these costs for the next twenty years. But I don't want parents who make more than enough to take advantage of it. If you know this area, you know what I mean. The campus has a good reputation, but I think it would be a bad idea for wealthier parents to take their kids out of a private school and take a spot on campus to get even richer, taking a spot from a kid who could really use it. And when I think about it, I would prefer the campus to focus on children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Kids whose parents can only dream of sending them to a school like the Campus. So, a cap on admission depending on the income of the parents. Those who earn more than enough can send their child to a completely private school. Let the underprivileged get priority so they can get a better start in life with a good chance of getting into college. For my children's sake, I wouldn't mind if our income check was forgotten for a moment."
Frank laughed:
"I am known on campus to be rather forgetful. I see where you're going, Jon, but how are you going to do it?"
"Simple, I will set up a fund that will pay all tuition for those students whose parents have an income below a certain threshold. A second threshold could be that the fund pays fifty percent. You said that the GDP here is the lowest in the country and that even that is problematic because of the gap between rich and poor. So let's stick with the 62,000 and divide that into tranches. Any other places that are left over, that is, above the first threshold of 62,000, will go to students whose parents can pay the full amount. However, I hope that there will be very few places left in this third category. You are in contact with various charitable organizations in the city, as well as the various religious communities. So you know best who would benefit most from a place on campus. But admitting students has to be based on academic merit, otherwise you will inevitably have gang members roaming the campus. That's why I want to hire security. Not those gorillas in combat gear, but more like the friendly neighborhood cop who helps everyone with advice and guidance while keeping an eye out for bullying and such. So an absolute zero-tolerance policy on bullying. To get these students here, I'm going to buy a bunch of buses. Have them gather at one point, pick them up, and drop them off."
"That should be feasible. The campus bylaws say that our order makes the bylaws and can change them. However, this cannot be changed in the middle of a school year. We need to give parents the time and opportunity to find a new school for their children. I would suggest leaving the last two or three years of high school out of the changes. Yes, a stop on new admission for kids that fall outside the threshold and fill up the places with our target. But for those who choose to stay, we let them finish their school. Most of these kids have spent their entire lives so far on campus, so let them finish school in a familiar environment. With the start of the new academic year, we can certainly implement the rest as our new goal to help the poor and underprivileged. After all, we are a Catholic organization for a reason, and mercy should be high on our list of priorities, which it certainly is. We can use COVID as the primary motivation for the change because as a result, there really are a lot more kids who could use that extra push toward academic success. We just have a younger brother that we haven't given a real job to, we could get him involved. But that's fifteen million a year, Jon, three hundred million for the time frame you mentioned."
Jon wrote a few things on his pad and continued without reacting to the last part of Frank's statement:
"The free lunch project, I really want that to continue and to be expanded. I want the kids to be offered breakfast when they come to school; there should always be fruit and healthy drinks, and for lunch, there should be really healthy food. Not the everyday stuff that gets thrown into a deep fryer. How much does this project cost now?
"Because of the volume, we are obviously a lot cheaper, but we are still at five dollars a day per child, not counting wages and overhead. So it can't really be called healthy, mostly frying stuff, as you called it."
Jon did some math: five times 200 days times a thousand students.
"Okay, very quick math, so a ballpark figure of a million a year as it is now, but to expand it to the point where I would like to see it, you have to do that amount times four and throw in another million for new staff to be hired. So five million a year. Probably another million to remodel the kitchen and buy new things like real plates and cups. I think it's terrible that the kids have to eat out of this plastic crap as if they're in Sing Sing. I had the luck to be able to go to school in Europe for a while; I like that system much more. The kids eat in a cafeteria that looks more like a kind of restaurant instead of the prison chow hall. That means the cafeterias need to be redecorated as well, more of a restaurant feel."
Again he jotted down a few things on his pad.
"Frank, what projects have you had to put on hold because of Covid?"
"Maintenance of the athletic complex, a swimming pool we were going to build, updating the art department, the audiovisual department, and a new school library."
"Do you have summary project proposals with estimated final figures?"
Frank opened his bag and pulled out a stack of project proposals, which he placed on the table. Jon began to study them carefully in silence, occasionally puffing on his cigar and taking a drag. After a while, he said:
"If I understand correctly, you need about eight hundred million, or even a little more, for the twenty-year period I mentioned and to implement these projects."
"True, and without Covid we were on the right track, not for the full twenty years and the full amount, of course, but for the buildings and renovations. But as I said, the donations dried up, and our priority was the students. New projects could wait."
"You have waited long enough, Frank. I will take care of the money; you take care of the implementation. One fund for tuition and food and a separate fund for the buildings. A third fund to hire new staff, kitchen, security, and social workers to start. I think it would be a good idea to fish these people out of the pool of people who really need help. Single mothers, veterans who too often fall between the cracks, and homeless people who have certain skills but need a push to get back on their feet. I will have my bank manager contact you tomorrow, and you two can work out a safe way to access the funds. I would like to get a monthly summary of the numbers, though."
He said with a sly smile:
"But I have two conditions. The first is that there will be a few spots left on campus for me to fill. Don't worry, these kids will meet all the conditions I just listed. The second is that you name the new library Elise Paschal Lux."
Frank held out his hand, and Jon shook it:
"It will be my honor, Jon; her name will be nice, big, and bright on the building."
Jonathan and the girls were lounging in the living room. The oldest twins were happily tapping away on their new laptops, and the youngest twins seemed to be having fun with their tablets and a game they found online. Elise asked:
"Were you able to help Frank a little, Jon?"
He got a sneaky smile on his face.
"You could call it that, Red."
She looked up at him, now more than used to that smirk.
"Come on, Jon, tell me. That's mean."
He laughed:
"I'm the son of Devil Red; I should be mean."
The girls had turned their attention to their parents. They already knew their new dad a little, and when he laughed like that, they knew something was coming.
"Jon, I'm serious; tell me, or you can sleep on the couch."
"Okay, okay, I give up. We just changed the campus a little bit."
Now everyone was looking at him.
"How can you change the whole campus in one night, Jon? We're talking about a whole school here!"
"Yeah, so what? It's just like anything else; if you want it bad enough, you can change it. First, we are going to eliminate tuition for low-income parents. Starting with the new school year, the campus will focus entirely on children from underprivileged families. The rich, like those in this neighborhood, can easily send their children to private schools, so the children I have in mind can go to the campus and get a better start in life. In addition, the lunch project will be expanded to include breakfast, fruit throughout the day, healthy drinks, and a really healthy lunch. The art department and the audiovisual department will be completely renovated, a swimming pool will be built, the sports complex will be renovated, and a completely new school library will be built."
They sat and looked at him as if he were speaking a language they did not understand. Elise snapped out of her thoughts:
"Jesus, Jon, what is this going to cost?"
"I don't know because I'm not done with Brother Frank yet; he just doesn't know it. I'm going to make sure that when they come to school in the morning for the next few days, all they see are trucks and contractors."
He laughed:
"Somewhere in the neighborhood of a billion right now, I think."
"Excuse me, did you just say billion with a B?"
"Right as pie, babe."
"But why, Jon?"
He pointed at the girls:
"That's why, Red, our daughters are going to campus, and I'll be damned if they're going to get a lesser education because of a little money. I will not settle for mediocrity, not when it comes to our children."
"You're doing all this for the campus because that's where our girls go to school?"
"Of course, dear, that is my first reason, for you and our Hellions only the best. But underprivileged children also have a right to a good school."
She quickly straddled him, kissed him hard on the mouth, and whispered in his ear:
"I had already planned for you to go crazy for this fantastic tableware and furniture, but believe me, now you are going to call for your granddaddy and beg for mercy, my delicious prince..."
His eyes got wide, and he blushed. The four girls who saw him blush could roughly guess what Elise had whispered, and at the same time, they let out a squeamish giggle:
"Eewww..."
and all four of them had a mischievous look in their eyes. Jonathan turned to the four and said sternly with his familiar smirk on his face:
"Hellions, I've already told you not to interrupt me when I have extremely important things to discuss with your mother!"