Nathaniel's Chorus. Gary Lightfoot

Branch now grins at the thought that he has in some way “gotten” to Nathaniel,

      “Senator Foot, I do believe that we haven’t seen this violent side of you before. Is this now some indication that you might truly be a different person than what you have portrayed?”

      Senator Foot calmly answers and makes his stand,

      “Chairman Branch and to the Committee as a whole, I will not answer any question you may have pertaining to my family nor directly any question that has anything to do with my brothers’ service to this nation. Nor do I intend to defend my personal allegiance and my own patriotism that I have to this nation. As for any information that you might fancy knowing about my brothers; I’m sure that you will be able to read it in their secure files that you now have in your possession. As for myself, I will let my own record speak for itself.”

      Chairman Branch looks to the Senators on either side of him, Senator Aaronson on his left and Senator Bernard on his right. A few tense moments pass. Branch collects himself, glances down onto the folders that are before him and taps his fingers upon the brother’s files. He then says,

      “Senator Foot, you very eloquently eluded to your record speaking for itself, well son, that dog wont hunt. As for me having in my possession files that may be deemed by others to be of a secure nature, let me assure you, this committee has access to any files that we need to read, and Nathaniel, we need to know everything about you and your brothers.”

      Committee member, Senator Tillotson from Arizona quickly steps in and begins to speak,

      “Chairman Branch, I beg to differ with you on your statement that this committee has access to any and all files that we may think we need to see. We are not charged with that power nor do we need to see files of a secure nature to, in someway, satisfy our personal curiosities.”

      Committee member, Senator Rowse from Kansas follows by speaking into his microphone,

      “I agree with the Senator from Arizona, our initial duty was to investigate the possibilities of the terrorist group, the tri-P, having a physical presence in the United States as well as seeking out any signs that the tri-P has influenced any member of the present administration or any members of the Senate.”

      The Right Reverend Jeremiah Branch grabs a large manila folder that his aide has been holding and begins to wave one hand above his head as if he’s summoning supernatural power while reaching into the folder with the other hand. Then with an evil smile forming on his face he pulls out a key piece of evidence and places it on his desk.

      “Dear fellow Senators, please indulge your humble Chairman a moment, I failed to brief you this morning on key evidence that has been found recently by my staff. Evidence that I believe will impress upon you of a long standing linkage between this here young freshman Senator, including his brothers, linkage that will irrefutably prove that this Senator sitting before us today, has willfully withheld information and has indeed been in the past and is in the present, a key founding member of the worldwide murderous terrorist group know only as the tri-P. I will expose him and his impetuous brothers to the world as evil scoundrels lying to the American people and to this Committee. Nathaniel Foot will not be able to refute my claims for I will show that his very record, that he proposes will speak for itself, will indeed shackle him to the tri-P. Before we are finished, I assure you, that we will have not only tied Nathaniel Foot to the tri-P we will also bring down the tri-P completely.”

      The room erupts with noise. The opposing Committee members began talking while Branch was midway through his accusations and the media was now maneuvering for a better shot of Nathaniel’s face as the Chairman’s voice loudly reverberated over the speakers. Nathaniel, who had remained standing in defiance as Branch began his speech, is now sitting and tapping a coin on the base of his microphone. Chairman Branch leans forward on his desk and screams into his microphone,

      “Boy, stop that infernal tapping, don’t you understand! You’re gun’na be tried for falsification of federal documents, withholding documents, conspiracy, treason, forming of a terrorist organization, acquiring weapons of mass destruction, advertising for the purpose of performing assassinations, and for the very act of murder. Now when we finish with you and your brothers we will show that these charges go way beyond sedition. They will show that you have willingly misled this Committee, the people that elected you, and the people of these United States will see you for the sham you are.”

      Senator Aaronson reaches over to calm Branch down, padding his arm, she says timidly, “Geez Jerry, you need to calm down . . .”

      Branch angrily cocks a glare at Cindy expressing his inner rage of contempt for Nathaniel. Catching his breath, he sits back into his chair. The room is even louder now as the media scrambles for pictures of both Senator Foot’s face and that of the Right Revered Jeremiah Branch. Pleased with his performance, Branch looks over toward Senator Aaronson,

      “Cindy darling, you’re a-fixin-to get into my sights. Don’t call that dog home lessen you’re ready to feed it.”

      Jeff had been writing notes on his pad the entire time that Branch has been speaking. Now he calmly and softly speaks into his microphone,

      “Chairman Branch, again I must remind you that this is not a trial, but an investigation.”

      Chairman Branch now lifts the newly acquired evidence for all to see,

      “Senator Foot, do you care to explain this advertisement?”

      Nathaniel stares in disbelief at the poster. It’s an old poster the brothers made during Nathaniel’s senior year of high school and while his brothers were in college. The poster depicts two men in masks throwing a whip cream pie into the face of someone. Across the top of the poster are the words, “PPP Hit Squad, you name’em we pie’em.”

      The media cameras zoom into the poster; the screen fills with the image of the poster. The camera continues to zoom in closer on the images of the two masked men, the image on screen is split with half being a live shot of Nathaniel and the other half being the masked men. The hall grows silent as they realize that one of the masked men has smoky blue eyes exactly like those of the freshman Senator from Southern California, Nathaniel Foot.

      Chapter 5

      The TV inside the “Big Donut” in Long Beach is tuned to FOX News as Nathan and Neil walk through the front door. Susan from behind the counter calls out to the brothers,

      “Hey Neil, you’re on TV.”

      Neil walks over to the counter and says, “Well hello to you too Susan.”

      Susan points up to the TV on the wall and says, “Neil, look, you’re on TV, or at least a picture of you is on TV.”

      The Foot brothers turn to look up at the TV; it’s the Intelligence Committee hearing. Chairman Branch has just held the old poster up for the camera. As the camera zooms in, the image becomes clear. Nathan recognizes their faces and says,

      “Holy Balls, that’s us, how did he get a hold of that?”

      Susan stops Nathan, “What are you talking about Junior, I thought that was a picture of just Neil?”

      “Nope, that’s all three of us. The two masked guys throwing the pies are Nathaniel and me; the guy getting hit in the face with the pie is Neil.”

      As Susan takes the brothers’ order, Nathan begins to explain to her about the poster,

      “Well Sue, you know that we went to military school up until I was a senior, Neil a junior and Nathaniel a freshman, right?”

      Susan hands the brothers their two coffees, one with cream and four “honey glazed” doughnuts and says, “Guys, I know all about that, so?”

      Neil continues with the story,

      “Well Sue, Junior here thought that we needed a way to stick together and help each other out. So what we did was form something we called the Phi Pi Psi.”

      Susan