Chapter 09
After the scream, everything went quiet. Fred opened the door to the crate and entered. The rest of us, including Marcie and Mr. Fleach, followed. Charley the robot was sitting in the corner of the crate, breathing heavily. Fred moved over next to the robot, positioned himself, and looked at me. "Camera ready?"
"Ready." I replied. It was rolling.
"Everybody in unison and… action!"
He reached down and pulled the robot's face off revealing…
"Ms. Fleach!" We were getting good at that.
Daphne squatted down next to her. "How much did you hate this amusement park?"
Ms. Fleach was ready to talk. "Winslow's patent request for the robot was denied. The letter came in two weeks ago." She looked over at her husband. "You stole too much of your design from that Japanese model, you dumb jerk! And they already applied for a US patent. Not only could you not patent it but you couldn't sell them either. Its doubtful you would even be allowed to make your own for this stupid childish fantasy of yours. A kid's park! You're a grown man… at least theoretically."
"Margaret, if you were this upset, you should have talked with me."
"I didn't want to talk with you! I wanted to divorce you! But you made me give up my career to stay at home to be a slave for you and…" She gestured at Marcie. "…her."
"Mom?" Marcie's voice was small.
Ms. Fleach's voice boomed. "I gave up everything for you! And all I wanted back was a normal little girl who would collect dolls, play dress-up, have friends, talk about boys, go to the prom, and just… be normal! Or close to normal. Someone I could be proud of… or at least not embarrassed."
Marcie's mouth dropped open and I could see tears beginning to glisten in her eyes.
"Margaret! Stop it!" It was Mr. Fleach, raising his voice for the first time.
"Why! What have I got to lose? I never entered the work force. I can't support myself. I'm not a pretty woman anymore and I'm not going to find another man to take me away from all of this. I've tried! I hung on in the hope that you would make money off of the robots but, when that evaporated, then all I could do was try and kill this amusement park idea so that you would return to teaching. At least that would give you a steady source of income from which to pay me alimony. I wouldn't need childcare because I have no intention of caring for this automaton you created." She wasn't talking about Charley the robot.
Tears were now fully flowing down Marcie's cheeks.
Daphne. Fred, Shaggy, Scooby, and I looked at each other uncomfortably. This wasn't what we signed up for.
Ms. Fleach had more. "I hate you both so much." This was delivered in a strange matter-of-fact tone that belied the emotional content of the words. "Now call the police. At least prison would be away from you."
"No." Winslow Fleach headed toward the door but stopped just as he was leaving the crate and turned. "Pack your things and get out. I'll start the divorce process in the morning. You'll get nothing. Marcie and I don't need you in our lives any more. You have two hours." He left.
Marcie was trying to get herself under control. At the same time, her mother began to let loose with wailing tears. She cried with rage and fury—completely unlike the soft, silents tears of loss shed by her daughter. The cries settled down and the older woman struggled to her feet in the cumbersome suit.
"Mom?"
"What!" The tone was cold and harsh.
"Where's the robot?"
"In the electrical main switch room." She looked around and saw me holding the camera. "Oh, you want your big reveal where I tell you how I did everything. Sure. I'm never going to sign a release and you'll never be able to use it so why don't I make it good and juicy? I needed Winslow to think his robot was unreliable and possibly dangerous so he would give up this craziness before he bankrupted us. I stole his prototype charging station from the lab and retrofit it for the field model of the robot. There were two previous models: Alpha and Bravo. It wasn't difficult. Winslow was never very bright and his circuitry was simplistic.
"Then I had to break a few rules and run some risks to make a bootleg tie from the power grid to the park switchgear so that I could power up the different areas from the main switchroom or light them all up at once. This made it appear that Charley was making rapid repairs when it really didn't have enough programming to do much more than sweep up, pick up litter, and clean out the waterway in the Tunnel of Love. But these old relics in the park were polarized so it was just a matter of switching the leads to make them work backwards and appear that Charley was messing everything up.
"I just about had Winslow convinced to give up. The divorce papers are ready, and I would have served him on the day he started with a new university. The divorce would be underway, and I would have a steady income to keep me going until I could stand on my own two feet. And I would be free. But then my semi-human daughter decides to get you people involved and you ruin everything. You and your stupid dog!"
Scooby's ears went up but he kept up his act.
Ms. Fleach looked directly at Daphne. "And if one word of this is ever published on that stupid mystery channel of yours, I will sue you and your rich daddy for millions." She stormed from the room.
The next silence was a long one. At the end of nearly a minute, Marcie spoke quietly. "I think my mother may be bi-polar."
I was standing next to Daphne and could barely hear her subvocalize to herself. "Ya' think?"
Yet another silence ensued while we each waited for someone else to do something. Finally, Daphne stepped over to Marcie. "You're weird and you're a nerd but, with a mother like that, you didn't stand a chance." She took an awkward step back, turned to the exit, and stepped away."
Marcie watched her departing back. "Thank you?"
Daphne turned and looked over her shoulder. "I'll be at the car." And she was gone.
"I'm right behind you." Fred looked no one in the eyes as he beat a hasty retreat. Emotional situations were never his thing.
"Yeah, like, us, too." Shaggy and Scooby followed Fred out.
Marcie and I were alone. Was Marcie going to hug me? Or expect me to hug her? And if there was a hug, would it be a friend hug or a romantic hug? I didn't realize that I was holding my breath until Marcie turned and exited without a word. I let the breath out. There had been no hug. I dodged a bullet.