The Zodiac Schmodiac Story Cycle

Tiger Mother, Cheetah Father

Jackie heard the creak of the bedroom door opening and he knew his life was over. She was back, and this time she'd kill him for sure. Last time it had been poison, this time wouldn't be anything nearly so nice. 

"Hello, dear. I've missed you so much," Amanda said as she stepped into the hallway. She had on leather gloves and had a thin wire wrapped around one hand, a garrote. "I'm sorry I've been away so long, it just took longer than I thought to find my way home. How have you been?"

"When I heard the report on the radio I knew it was you. Are you going to kill me?"

"Oh Jackie, you know I could never leave a job unfinished, it just grates on me until I feel like I'm going to go crazy. I'm sorry that we have to try again, it should have worked the first time. But you know what they say, practice makes perfect!"

She made her way across the room slowly, like a tiger towards cornered prey. Jackie's last thought was "why didn't I see this coming?"

~~~

It had been a long day for Jackie Lin. Not only had he gotten a parking ticket and scuffed his new Italian shoes, he lost the number of the cute insurance salesman who had come by the house a few days ago. If anything could have made him feel better, it would have been an afternoon of using his money to hit on a cute guy. The salesman was probably straight, but some people would do just about anything for money. Buying another life insurance policy wasn't a problem, he already had 15. (There are a lot of cute guys selling insurance when the economy is down.) Who the beneficiary would be would have been a small struggle to figure out, but there was always his dog. A few million would keep him in milkbones for the rest of his life. 

The parking ticket was on his Mercedes when he came out of the courthouse. The cops in Taipei seemed not to realize that there are some cars that should just be left alone. When you drive a Benz it means that you can do just about anything you want on the road, and if you get stopped (very unlikely) you can just offer to pay the ticket on the spot with a wad of thousands. It works every time. Jackie couldn't remember the last time he had stopped for a red light. If your car is big, black, and German everyone assumes you're Maffia and gets out of the way. He wasn't, but there was no sense disabusing others of their mistaken notions. 

His loafers, brand new, purchased in Milan not three weeks ago, were scuffed when the cameraman tried to get ahead of Jackie for a better shot and tripped him up with his big clodhoppers. Those shoes couldn't have cost more than $200, and they were the size of small boats. Jackie was upset about the scuf, but at least it ended the questions from the reporters. For now. They would show up outside his complex every day for the next week or so waiting for him so he'd need to avoid using the front door, but that was better than the way they had hovered outside his hospital room for 10 days. 

For someone so particular about privacy the whole media circus should have upset him more than it did, but Jackie finally had what he wanted. He was free of her. From the moment he'd laid eyes on her he knew she was trouble. That she was attached to his mother's arm at that moment was even bigger trouble. His mother had made the decision before he even had a chance to protest and stall further. But now she was gone, and he was free. Even his mother wouldn't have the spleen to try again after this. 

For years Jackie's mother had been trying to get him married. The arguements always sounded the same. How can the future head of Formosa Chemical run a public company without a wife? Did he want the whole world to know about his "problem?" Was he going to break his mother's heart once again? Each time the barrage had come he would duck for cover and then counter attack with a question about why his mother was carrying last season's Louis Vitton. She would become flustered enough to usually lose her train of thought, and after her unusually fashion sensitive son had chosen the perfect purse and accessories she seemed to forget that it was necessary for Jackie to get married and save the image of the company.