Chp 73 : Hanukkah?

Second chapter of this week,

Firstly, special thanks to Cisco as he just became one of my patrons yesterday, thank you Cisco!

Second, I just read the news that my fellow SEA country, Myanmar was just having a military coup in a COVID-19 pandemic! I don't know how long this will last, if there was a Burmese reader in here, please stay safe out there.

Third, I don't know if I should rushed out 1986, or not, if you have any suggestion about some events in 1986, you can just comment here or join my discord, I know I won't meet all of your request, but thank you for giving me those.

Happy Reading and Enjoy The Chapter!

~~~

"Here, let me fix your tie." Mrs. K pulled the tie on his neck and forced him to bend over a little so she could reach Al who has grown like a beanstalk.

"Mom, please, don't tie it so tight. I couldn't breathe." Al complained and got himself a scoff from her.

His eyes were squinted, a foreboding thought appeared on his mind that made him felt uncomfortable, "Are you upset because I'm going to celebrate Hanukkah?"

"Just because I'm a Christian, doesn't mean I'm upset with you for celebrating it, I don't have any bad blood between them okay?" She said while fixing his messed up tie.

"You didn't? Then what's wrong?" In a sense of relief, he inquired.

"Of course not, I'm just worry about you, those people in that rich community are all leech and vipers. More dangerous than that mafia in those movies made by that Coppola brat."

"You knew Mr. Coppola?" He was surprised, he started to get curious about Mrs. K's past.

"There's many more you didn't know about me boy. Now be safe over there, and don't trust anyone besides your Godfather." After Mrs. K was done with his tie, she grabbed his face and kissed his forehead.

He smiled mildly, "Thank you, Mom. One day, can you tell me everything about you? I'm dying to know more Mom."

"When you hit 18, sweetheart."

He turned his attention to Drew who was being braided by Mary. Although Drew was not a Jew, as the Goddaughter of Steven Spielberg, she was qualified to join this community gathering.

"Drew, you ready?"

"I was born ready." She puffed up her chest like a modern Disney Princess.

Her cuteness level being overloaded and Al couldn't hold his instinct anymore; with a move like a tiger, he suddenly pounced upon the helpless Drew like she was the prey.

Once he caught her, he took her to the sky and twirl her in the air like she was a baby. With her letting out joyous laughter, they were being photographed by Mary with her instant camera.

The rest of the orphanage tenants finally went out from their room to see Al dropping down the little Drew. Seeing the joy on Drew's face made Annie and Melissa became jealous.

Not to make his care looked one-sided, Al smiled and did it again, but now with both Annie and Melissa were held each in his arms.

Suddenly, Drew who also didn't want to lose wrapped her body around his waist and let her be carried away by him.

The orphanage's living room was filled with the sound of joy and laughter.

"Okay kids, get ready. John has been waiting for two of you now." Mrs. K clapped her hand.

Nodding at Mrs. K, he went out of the orphanage with Drew was holding unto his hand. There, he was greeted by John who already opened the backseat door to both of them.

"Be careful, don't talk to strangers Drew, that also applied to you, Alphonse Brandt." He gave his Mom and everyone a salute and they left leaving a trail of dust.

On their way to Beverly Hilton, where the Hollywood Jewish community gathering being held, Drew asked him a question about what actually her Godfather and he were celebrating.

"Hmm... okay what do you know about Hanukkah Drew?"

"Lighting candles for straight 8 days? Chocolate coins and gifts?" He pinched her cheeks after hearing her answer.

She tried to bite his hand off from her cheeks and Al immediately pulled his hands back, "Okay, what exactly it is then, will Godfather be mad at me if I didn't know?" Drew again, she asked.

"And yelled at this cute thing?" Her head then being patted by him, the thing she loves the most.

"Hmm, I'll make it short then. It commemorates the rededicating of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem when Jews were led by a band of brothers called the Maccabees rebelled against King Antiochus IV. This guy, Antiochus aimed to plant his own culture throughout his kingdom, and that included worshipping its gods by forbid Jews to do their rituals, then they loot the temple and massacring Jews.

After Jews won, during the dedication, as people prepared to light the Temple's large oil lamps to signify the presence of God, only a tiny bit of holy oil could be found.

Yet, that little bit of oil remained alight for eight days until more could be prepared. Thus, each Hanukkah evening, for eight nights, Jews light a candle, adding an additional one as the holiday progresses throughout the festival."

"You made it so bloody and complicated." Drew complaint while holding dizzy her head.

"Wait, it's not yet reached the part where this holiday is so important to American Jewish." Drew groaned when he said it.

Drew suddenly passed out while Al kept telling her why Hanukkah for American Jewish was so important.

Although in the place where it came from, Hanukkah was a minor holiday, in the US, it has more significant meaning, especially for Jewish immigrants.

By giving those gifts at Hanukkah in December, instead of adopting Christmas, they also expressed their ideals of American religious freedom, as well as their own dedication to Judaism.

Following their path through the Beverly Hills, they've finally arrived at one of the most expensive-looking hotels in this region.

Usually, this ballroom was also the place where Golden Globe Awards was being held.

Outside of the hotel, they were surrounded by dozens of flashlights. Los Angeles is always the center of Showbiz, everywhere they go, there must be at least a paparazzi haunting them.

"We're here Drew." He didn't need to hear the voice from her to answer, as she was holding his arm a bit tighter the moment they arrived in front of the Beverly Hilton, she seemed a little afraid of those paparazzi.

He patted her head again to calm her down and she did it in a heartbeat. This version of Drew was so different from the teenage one from his previous life, where she was brass and unruly.

The current Drew was smarter intellectually and emotionally, with the patient care from Mrs. K and Mary, with Al continously telling her about the cruelty of this world so she wouldn't become naive like Laura.

After denying some request for an interview and photo shooting, they finally reached the hotel safely.

They entered the ballroom and were greeted by the beautiful scene of the dimmed hall and the thousand lightened candles.

"Whoa!?" Drew cried out beside him.

He saw some familiar faces from Hollywood, from the actors, behind the scenes crew, and film production studio executives.

Steven saw him came from the front door, so he approached him, gave him a little hug that Al reciprocated with a bear hug.

He heard a beautiful melody called pain from Steven, and a fist bump to his shoulder.

He lightly smiled, "Hanukkah Sameach, Godfather!"

"Hanukkah Sameach, Al! Good evening Drew." He then bent over to hug little Drew.

"Happy Hanukkah, Godfather!" Drew exclaimed.

"I'm really happy to see you both here, Amy and Max were sitting over there." He said, pointing to the corner of the ballroom.

They both saw Amy using Max's hand to wave in their direction. Drew pleaded with puppy eyes, asking silent permission to be separated from him.

Al nodded and patted her head. She screamed in joy and ran in Amy and Max's direction.

Steven put his arm into his shoulders and led Al into the place where a lot of middle-aged and elders were talking and laughing happily.

"I want you to meet some people, Al. However, keep your vigilance around them. These people are dangerous."

Steven then introduced him to some of them, these old men were Godfather in their profession. Newspaper & Media head, Hedge Funds managers, Property business conglomerate, etc.

He gave more attention to the two people in this circle.

The first one, he introduced himself as Sumner Redstone, an old man in his 60s, and has an invisible burn scar on his face, and maybe the rest of his body from a fire accident in the late 70s.

"So this is the rising star of Hollywood. The 80s pop-culture icon." He laughed with his cracked voice.

"Thank you, Mr. Redstone, I read your merit during World War II, decoding Japanese secret message and it was amazing."

He looked surprised when Al knew what he did before in WWII, "You know it!? That was like 40 years ago kid!! I like this kid Steven, where did you find him." He patted both Al and Steven's shoulder.

"If you knew about me during World War II, you must know what I'm doing now right kid?" Trying to test him, he asked.

"Well, you are one of the shareholders of Viacom, and I only read the news about Viacom group taking over MTV, but I'm sure sooner or later, you will take over Viacom." He smiled, "Maybe in few years, one of the Big Seven will be taken over by you."

Sumner just smiled knowingly. Steven gulped, he thought that if this old man took over one of the big studios, it will be harder for him to part ways with big seven.

These old men were all good schemers. But, if his Godson knew about this, he must have a countermeasure.

Both of them had a film studio production house, and only if they joined forces they could fight they the constraint that big studios placed upon them.

As for the other old man, who Al considered as an outsider, introduced himself as Rupert Murdoch. After the news of him took over the Fox and changed its name to 20th Century Fox, it got a lot of resistance from the American people because he was an Australian.

But weirdly, he easily bypassed all the obstacles and merged Fox with News Corporation.

Not only that, he got a tight connection with the Republican Party, although he considered himself a quarter or maybe a one-eight part Jews.

He also has a good connection with British Isles media. If there was an award for the most two-faced person, it will be him the one who won every year.

He just smiled politely at him, just make sure to get a good impression from these two media giants owner. However, he was quite sure that in the future, he will have a war with them both.

Behind Rupert Murdoch, he saw a woman, no, a girl who likely has the same age as him, blonde hair, heart-shaped face, and average height.

She shyly introduced herself to him in a polite manner, sounded British but not so, so he knew she must be has a relation to Rupert Murdoch.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Brandt, my name is Elisabeth Murdoch."

"Nice to meet you too, Mrs. Murdoch, my name is Alphonse Brandt, or call me Alphonse or Al is fine."

"Then just call me Liz, Mrs. Murdoch is my mother."

"Okay, Liz." He gave polite smile at her.

"Looks like we need to get away from here, let the youngsters talk, and us the antique find another place." Quipped Rupert, which got eye-rolled from Alphonse and Elisabeth.

After elders left, Elisabeth tried to ask him a quick question about Hollywood industries, which he politely answered.

He even recommended her to visit his film studio which there Mary could satisfy her curiosity about the film industry.

"Excuse me if I'm rude Al, but do you know someone named Borat and Anastasja?"

He was shocked when she mentioned that name. "I never heard them."

"A pity, oh they were a duo musician came from the distant land of Europe, had a show in Venice Beach and they were gone. I was lucky to get to watch them, and even recorded them.

I really want them to perform again in one of my father's shows on Fox TV. I thought that if you as a native Los Angeles had some information about them."

"If I have any information about them, you'll be the first one I tell." That made smile blossomed from her face as for Al, he was smirking inside his mind.

Borat and Anastasja were personas they used when Al and Alice performed in Venice Beach ages ago.

Not long after, Al excused himself to have a quick break in the restroom. On his way, he met with a familiar person, which were Steve Jobs, and Edwin Catmull, the ex-leader of the graphic group turned to Alfheim Animation and VFX.

"Brandt!" Edwin groaned.

"Mr. Catmull, long time no see. The last time we met, our conversation turned to something unpleasant."

"Yes, and I see that you still held into the animation department which I pity. Now I've joined my hands with Mr. Jobs here, I'm sure our new company, Pixar Studio will leave your studio in the dust. With his help and connection, we can get a better computer and improvement to 3D animation."

"I'll wait for that day Mr. Catmull, Mr. Jobs nice to meet you." Steve Jobs just nodded at him, only glanced once in his direction then continue looking for someone in the crowd.

Steve Jobs, as he met a few years ago still the same as he remembered. An arrogant son of heaven who looked down on everyone else, even after being kicked out by the Apple board.

He still waiting for the day that he will be turned 180° by Indian monks.

He parted ways with Edwin Catmull giving him an unpleasant look in Al's direction.

When he was away, finally Steven turned to Edwin, "Who's that guy Edwin?"

"He's the one who bought graphic group before you could Steve."

"How about Pixar Image Computer you brought me? Will there a problem with copyright issues?"

"No problem Steve, just let me handle it, okay!" Edwin said but he was panicked inside.

The Pixar Image Computer copyright was registered under the graphic group, but he kept one in his house and used it for himself.

As long as nobody knew, he could use it without paying any fees and made some improvements to that computer in their animation studio.

~~~

He put a note to himself about always going to the restroom before any banquets or parties would be held.

His bladder was so full and threatened him with a leakage if he didn't get to the restroom immediately, but he always met with random people who recognized his face or an acquaintance of him.

"Mr. Brandt!"

'Not fucking again!!' He silently grunted.

He turned his attention to someone who was calling him and became more disgusted.

A fat, bald person who he described look like Varys from the ASOIAF series appeared like a wild Pokemon... Miramax's pervert owner, Harvey Weinstein.

If he remembered he was also a Jew, but the worst of the worst kind. He even didn't deserve to be called one, only use it to make the connection between big guys.

"Hi, Mr. Weinstein, what a delightful time to meet you here."

"Also the same with me Mr. Brandt, unfortunately, that Mexican chick isn't here. I could really need a companion to make this banquet more pleasant."

"It seemed that you have met my sister, Mary and I heard your conversation turned pleasant. But I heard from her that before she could ask you out for a dinner, you ran away in fear. Well, it seemed a Latin girl was too much for Mr. Weinstein." Al grinned.

His fat face redden, he looked like wanted to scream at him but realized this was a religious celebration, it would be suicide for him to make trouble over here.

He huffed, turned his back on him but before he walked away, he warned him, "Oh Brandt, looked like we have aimed for the same project. If I'm not wrong, it's <Good Morning, Vietnam> right?"

His face turned serious, "You didn't!"

He laughed merrily, "Barry Levinson got an interest to direct it and roped a big studio to produce it with Miramax, let's just see who will be the first one who gets the project, Brandt."

Al groaned in dissatisfaction, Miramax shouldn't aim for this film. Looks like his enmity with Miramax led history into a strayed path.

He decided to tell this about Mary later, but first, there was something more important.

"I got to piss." He went in a heartbeat speed to the restroom to empty his bladder.

Once he's done emptying his bladder, the thing that happened in some movie, also occurred to him.

When he was washing his hands, he accidentally eavesdropped on a conversation between two old men in their late 40s talking about business in Wallstreet and a familiar name they mentioned.

"I told you, Carl, we need to let this woman join us. Soros has rejected our offer to cooperate, maybe we can lure Ms. Smith to work with us."

"Ron, I don't do the foreign currency business. I'm happy with just sniping some company." Carl answered.

"Yeah but this is Nancy Smith, the Queen of Wallstreet, she was so successful with Japanese currency and shorting Apple's stock. I heard she started to invest in some technology industries such as Motorola and Cisco. Maybe we can sneak up a little."

"Ron, just focus first on Marvel Comics, I heard they agree to sell you their shares," Ron grunted and dried his hands with a tissue.

Both of them then went out of the restroom without even realizing that Al had been eavesdropping on them.

If he remembered, those two guys must be Ronald Perelman and Carl Icahn, two Wallstreet sharks who can smell blood from a dying company and made a good profit out from it by bankrupting them.

And now they have set their sight on Marvel Comic and his Nidavellir CEO, Nancy Smith, maybe it won't have a good effect on him, moreover about his plan during 1987 black Monday later.

'Queen of Wallstreet?' He mused.

The night turning late, and he knew he needs to excuse himself.

Somehow, this gathering's atmosphere was very heavy and suffocating for him. There were too many big guys here who could turn the world's economy upside down overnight.

That was why Mom was so adamant not letting him attend this gathering, he thought he would only celebrate a regular Hanukkah with Jews from Hollywood.

Turned out this party was the same as other parties in Hollywood, for connection and business.

He was back into the place where he and Drew met Steven for the first time.

Steven was talking happily with Amy, while there was Drew who was talking with Ari Emmanuel, their agent.

He excused himself with Steven and some of the acquaintances he knew and went home, with Drew's hand full with chocolate coins and toys.

On their way back, Drew was looking for the scenery outside with her eyes cast down.

"What happened Drew?"

"I saw Kate and Max, I miss them. You promised me before to accompany me to meet my parents."

"I did promise you and I will fulfill it. Say, this Christmas, I'll invite your parents and celebrate it together, sounds good?"

A dazzling smile formed from her face, this is what a Hanukkah should be, a smile so bright like a candle burned to brighten the cold dark night. Instead of 8 nights, he hoped her smile could last forever.

To Be Continued...

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Produced by:

JJTS

Emmanuel Sawoka (Striker)

Francisco Acevedo (Cisco)

Directed by:

Jarvis