Keepers of the Underworld

Chapter 10

Yannis Papadopoulos was one of the last people Dee wanted to deal with. He had been in a good mood, and he knew his mood would be ruined by the new resident. The man had recently been checked into the Spring Haven Hospice Center by his family. Dee had handled the paperwork for the admission, and it was clear they were ready to wash their hands of him. They had even more disdain for Yannis than Travis’ family had for him, but this seemed to be completely justified.

Dee knocked on the room door and waited until he heard a reply.

“Come in!” came in a raspy wheeze.

Dee walked to see a man who looked to be at least one hundred, even though he was only seventy-five. He was frail and emaciated. His skin was pale and splotchy. The man was mostly bald, with only a few wisps of white hair still clinging in a low ring to his head. He had dark circles under his black eyes, which glared at Dee as he entered the room.

“What do you want?” the man hissed.

“Dad, that is enough. This is Dee Pappas. He is the attorney for this center and helped us fill out all the paperwork to get you admitted,” the woman said before she turned to Dee. “Please excuse my father. As he has gotten older, he has lost what little tact and civility he ever had. I’m Helen Simmons, his daughter. My brother is the one who took care of our father’s admission.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Helen,” Dee said. “I thought I would drop by and check to see how things were going. If you like, after I speak with your father, we can talk in my office.

“Yes, please,” Helen replied.

Dee gave her a nod before turning his attention to Yannis. “I know you have not been here at Spring Haven long, but how are you finding the care here so far?”

“What care?” Yannis spat. “Not only was I stuck in this room and ignored, but the nurses here are nothing to look at. The only one who is is that blonde who always wears her hair in a bun. She needs to let it down. She would be prettier if she did.”

“That is my wife, Sephi. I strongly suggest you are polite and well-mannered when it comes to her and the rest of the staff,” Dee told the man coolly.

Yannis laughed, “Boy, I will do as I please with anyone I please to do it with.”

Dee looked at Helen. He could see the furry and hurt in her eyes as she glared at her father. He turned back to see Yannis smiling, quite pleased with himself and having no concern over any pain he caused others. The old man seemed to be happy that he had upset his daughter and Dee.

“I will mention your concerns to the staff and see if we can work something out to ensure your care meets your high standards. However, let me remind you that if you act inappropriately toward the staff, you will be removed from the facility,” Dee warned the man.

“If you do that, I will buy it just so I can fire you,” Yannis laughed at Dee.

Dee took a slow, deep breath in an effort to keep himself calm. As much as he wanted to put the fear of the gods into the man in the bed before him, he could not do that with Helen watching. The corner of his mouth turned up as he thought about doing it when Yannis was alone, which he guessed would be often.

“Helen, are you ready to go to my office and speak?” Dee asked the woman.

“Absolutely,” Helen said as she stood. “Dad, I will see you later. I don’t know when I will be able to come back. My schedule and the kids' schedules are hectic right now.”

“Come back or not. It isn’t like it will change how much you are getting when I die,” Yannis told her.

Dee frowned as he watched Helen’s shoulders slump. It felt like each time the old man spoke, it was meant to hurt his daughter. Dee despised that. Yannis had already secured his place in the underworld, and it would not be in Elysium.

“Helen, if you will come with me,” Dee said as he opened the door and motioned for her to exit.

When they were in the hallway and the door was closed, Helen said, “I want to apologize for my father. He has always been like that.”

“There is no need for you to apologize. You have no control over what he says and does. From what I have seen, you are one of his favorite targets,” Dee said as he opened his office door and motioned for her to enter. Dee closed the door behind them and continued, “Can you tell me more about your father? Things that are more of a personal nature that could explain his behavior. Was he a victim of abuse or some type of trauma that would affect his behavior?”

“I wish there were,” Helen sighed. “My father is one of the most vile, despicable human beings I have ever met. He has abused every member of his family physically and mentally. To the female members, he has done far worse. There is even some question about the paternity of a child my neice became pregnant with when she was only thirteen. I would have nothing to do with him if it weren’t for a promise I made my mother on her deathbed.”

Dee’s stomach turned as he listened to Helen. What she claimed Yannis had done to his family was the worst kind of abuse he could have inflicted upon anyone. Then, doing those things to his children and grandchildren made it even worse. You protected your family, not hurt and abuse them for your own amusement.

“What would you like the treatment of your father to be?” Dee asked. “I can take what he said about the staff as a threat and act on that if you like.”

“I want him to stay here so I know that I can keep him away from the younger family members. They need to be protected in a way that I was not,” Helen told him.

“I will make sure it is done. I will keep him here. Understand that if he begins laying his hands on the nurses, they will have the right to restrain him. I will not tolerate them being physically assaulted by him, regardless of how much money he has. He will find that means nothing to me.”

“Good. It is about time that someone stands up to him. He has always used his money and influence to get what he wants and to keep himself out of trouble. Growing up, when I would tell someone what was happening and ask for help, everyone was afraid to do anything. Or my father would tell them I was lying and not only would I not get help, I would be punished.”

Dee softly spoke, “Helen, I promise you will never be punished for telling me what he has done. I might not be able to do anything about what he has done in the past, but I can here in this center. I want to assure you that when he passes, he will get what he deserves. Believe me when I say Hades will delight in receiving him. He likes to get souls to torture, and your father’s soul will deserve every second of torment.”

“Thank you,” Hellan laughed with tears glistening in her eyes. “Mr. Pappas, I think you might be the first person to believe me and truly want to help. I know you are the first person not to be afraid of him.”

“Please, call me Dee. I am not afraid of him or anyone else. If there is anything you need, please call me,” Dee smiled as he handed her his business card. “As I said in your father’s room, my wife Sephi is one of the nurses here. I can pass information along to them that will make it easier for them to care for the residents here.”

Helen took the card and sighed, “Thank you again. I will call you if I can think of anything. Right now, I need to be going. My daughter will be home from school soon.”

Dee stood and walked Helen to the door. He escorted her to the main door of the facility and watched her as she walked to her car. He was thinking about what Helen had told him about her father. Dee sighed as he turned and headed to the nurses’ station. He wanted to fill in Sephi and Roxy so they could be prepared. He was greeted with smiles by everyone there.

“Roxy, Sephi, are the two of you free to join me in my office for a few minutes? It is in regard to one of the residents and some information I was just given.” Dee asked.

“Of course. Especially if you are willing to order lunch,” Roxy joked.

“I will order us a pizza if that is alright with you,” Dee offered with a smile.

“Oooo, can we get one of the Mediterranean pizzas from Gianna’s?” Sephi asked.

Dee chuckled as he waved to the women to follow, “I will order it as soon as we get to my office, where we can have some privacy for this conversation.”

Dee wrapped his arm around Sephi’s waist as he led the way to his office. Roxy had fallen in step behind them, making Dee grin. He knew she was studying every move he made as they walked. He opened his office door and escorted them in, leaving Roxy to close the door behind them. Sephi and Roxy dropped into the chairs in front of Dee’s desk as he took his seat. He quickly called and ordered their pizza before he started the conversation.

“I met with Yannis Papadopoulos and his daughter, Helen Simmons. They both had some very interesting things to say and unfortunately, none of it was good,” Dee told them.

“He is a horrible man. I’m afraid to ask,” Roxy grumbled.

“You should be,” Dee sighed as he pulled his hands down over his face.

“My love?” Sephi softly asked. “Are you alright?”

“Yes, or I will be later. Please let everyone know to watch themselves around Yannis. He made it quite clear that he believes he can take anything he wants. If he touches any of you inappropriately, tell me, and I will contact his family to get approval to have him restrained. His daughter has no problem with it, so I doubt others would either.”

Roxy asked, “Why do I feel like there is more to this than him being handsy with the staff?”

“His daughter said he is a serial abuser. He has abused everyone in his family and the girls even more so. It is so bad that there is a question of paternity of a child his grandniece conceived.”

“Oh, God. That is disgusting,” Roxy gasped.

“I will condense it, but he said he will do anything he pleases to anyone he wants. That is why I want all of you to be careful around him. He even said he would buy this center so he can fire me if we try to prevent him from harming staff,” Dee warned them. “He is an entitled jerk who feels he can do anything because he has money. From what I have heard, he has always gotten away with it because of who he is and his money.”

“If he weren’t already admitted here, I would recommend him be banned, but it is too late for that,” Roxy said.

Dee grinned, “If it were possible, I would have him removed immediately. However, he has not done anything yet. Let’s watch him and see how things go. If things get bad, I will take the legal steps to have him removed.”

“Thank you,” Sephi told him with a smile.

“Of course, my queen,” Dee smirked, knowing how Roxy felt about hearing him say that to Sephi. “I will always protect you in every way I can.”

“You two are just so stinking sweet,” Roxy laughed. “You should be the relationship goals for everyone.”

“Only if he doesn’t let me starve to death,” Sephi giggled.

“I have ordered your pizza. They are only a block away, so it should be here any minute,” Dee laughed.

“You two are still the cutest,” Roxy said with a smile.

A knock on the door interrupted the conversation. Sephi giggled as she got up and answered the door. The delivery man was standing with a grin as he held a large pizza box.

“Thank you,” Dee called from his desk. “I included your tip in the order.”

“I saw! Thank you!” the delivery man said as he gave Sephi the box.

Dee slid things away from the side of his desk to make room for the box before he pulled paper plates and napkins out of his desk drawer. He handed them out to Sephi and Roxy as he opened the box and allowed the women to help themselves. Soon, they were enjoying their lunch and chatting about more pleasant things than Yannis Papadopoulos.