Algeria Here I Come
by: E Walk
(© 2008-2009 by the Author)
 

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Chapter 47
Oh What a Day!

As we were starting to eat, Allie began, “Dad, this has been a wild day.  Mrs. Allard took me to this office, and started to give me some tests.  The first one had these cards that looked as if someone had spilled paint on them.  After that, she had me take a really hard test.”

She had this Danny person take me and work with me on something on the computer and then she took me back to Grandpa Daniels.  The three of them talked and Grandpa Daniels took me to lunch at this neat place.  He brought me back here so he could enroll me in school.”

“He talked to the principal and I get to start tomorrow. I’m going to be in the fifth grade, like Jim and John, but I’m going to have a different teacher.  I have some papers that Brahim needs to fill out, since he technically my guardian.”

After he took a bite of his dinner, Allie continued.  “When we returned to the university, Grandpa Daniels took me to the building where Grandma Daniels works.  We went into this big theatre like room where we met Grandma and Bra.”

Mrs. Daniels admonished, “Allie, eat your dinner, or it will get cold.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

I looked at  Bra, “I take it that you had a similar day.”

Brahim nodded, “Yes, but it was more complicated than Allie’s. and  I didn’t get to go to lunch at a neat place.  They threw a sandwich at me.  I, like Allie, took the Rorschach Test.  Why I don’t know?  After that, I had an I.Q. test and then I had to take a G.E.D. test.”

“After my tuna salad sandwich, they took me to a large theatre where they had me singing.  At first, there were only six or seven people present.  After I was introduced to them,  Dr. Daniels started to play the piano, and we did the same two songs that we did here at the house, yesterday.  Oh by the way, one the persons who were present was Mrs. Odom, who was head of the opera guild.”  

“The head of the vocal music department asked if I could read music.  I informed him that I could and he handed us a new piece of music composed  by John Rutter.”

Mrs. Daniels interrupted, “Even I had never seen the music before.”

Brahim continued, “I struggled my way through the song.”

Mrs. Daniels interrupted again, “He did not.  He did a beautiful job.   The forty or so people who had assembled gave him a standing ovation.”

Brahim continued, “To make a long story short, they had me singing with two smaller musical ensembles and the full orchestra before the afternoon was over.  I was very glad to see  Allie and Mr. Daniels arrive.  I called to Allie and told him to keep the people entertained while I went to the bathroom.”

Allie took over, “I jumped up on the stage and asked Bra what I was supposed to sing.  He told me to sing a medley from the ’The Sound of Music’ so that’s what I did.”

Mrs. Daniels laughed, “Boy did he sing.  You guys should have warned me that he was also an excellent singer.”

Allie stood, “Come on, Brahim, we need to take care of the cleanup, so Dad can take me to get the supplies that I need for school.”

When the two guys, were in the kitchen, Mr. Daniels started, “Ed, both your guys are very bright young men.  In fact, Allie intellectually could probably do well in the seventh or eighth grade.  The Rorschach indicated that he will be able to adapt to the American way of life very easily.  We discussed where we should place him in school and decided it would probably be best for him to get acclimated to life in the United States.  We felt that it would be better for him to be with his age peers and be able to excel.  He can always move ahead later if he chooses to do so.”

“I made a command decision and listed Brahim as his guardian because of the uniqueness of your situation.”

“That’s as it should be, sir.  Nothing says I can’t be an interested uncle.  There is no reason to antagonize people needlessly.”

Mrs. Daniels took over, “Ed, Brahim will be starting classes in the morning.  The only area where he is weak, which was to be expected. is social studies.  We only enrolled him for twelve semester hours this first term, other than the music courses, which he’ll ace.”

“The drama arts department is going to be putting on Oliver this fall and they would like Allie to play the role of Oliver and Brahim to play the role of Fagan.  In addition, Mrs. Odom wants Brahim to consider taking roles in some of the upcoming opera productions.  And one last thing, one of the ensembles that performs for pay wants Brahim to join the group as their male singer.”

I shook my head, “Mr. and Mrs. Daniels, I hope we aren’t overloading the guys.  The first thing we need to be concerned about is getting us settled.  It would be so much easier if I didn’t have a new job.  How much is Brahim’s education going to cost us?”

Mrs. Daniels answered, “Basically nothing, he will be receiving a scholarship from the Houston Grand Opera Guild.  That is why Mrs. Odom was there today.”

Allie and Brahim returned, and Allie asked, “Dad, where are we going to be staying tonight.  Are we going to be staying with Uncle Mike and Uncle Dan or at the apartment?”

Mrs. Daniels spoke up, “Neither, you’re going to start bringing your things here.  There is absolutely no reason you can’t start moving tonight.  After you get your and Brahim’s school supplies, you can go to the apartment to start to bring your things.  The traffic will be much lighter after you shop.  It is ridiculous for Ed to need to keep running back and forth to the downtown area.  Besides it will only be a matter of time before you would be moving here anyway.  Allie can walk to school from here and Brahim can ride to the University with George and me until we move.”

Allie looked at me, “Come on, Dad and Brahim, you heard Grandma tell us what we needed to do.  Let’s go and do it.”

Allie handed me the list of things that he needed and I decided that a store like Target might be the best place to go.  We accomplished that mission, and we also bought a backpack and some supplies for Brahim as well.”

On the way to the apartment, the guys chattered the entire time.  I figured that I wouldn’t bore them with what had happened to me.  They probably wouldn’t understand it anyway.  I’m not even sure that I understood what was happening.  I stopped at an ATM to get some cash for the guys, since I had no idea how much money they would need, especially Brahim. 

When we arrived back at the Daniels’ house, Mike and Dan were sitting talking to the Daniels.  Mike looked at us, “Do you guys need help bringing anything in?”

I looked at Allie, “Why don’t you decide which bedroom you would like to live in permanently.  You might as well take up residence immediately, so you don’t have to move later.”

The car was unloaded by 9:30, and I sent Allie to get ready for bed.  As soon as he was in bed, I excused myself, “I’m going to need to leave, by 6:30 in the morning.  If I’m not home when dinner is ready tomorrow night, please eat without me.  I’m sure that there are going to be some fireworks at the headquarters, tomorrow.”

Bra and I were both exhausted so there was nothing special other than a goodnight kiss and hug. 

The next morning, I woke up at six, then went to take a shower and get ready for the day.  I was standing at the sink, shaving, when Allie came in.  “Dad, are you always going to be going to work at this time?”

“No, I need to take care of a problem somewhat like we had in Oran.”

“Can’t Bra and I help you?”

I hugged Allie, even though I was naked, “No, son.  You two need to go to school.  Everything will turn out okay.”

Allie looked at me, “Dad, you’re just saying that.  I can tell by how tense you are that you’re nervous.”

“Allie, you’re right.  I’m concerned that I have taken on a bigger challenge than I’ll be able to handle.”

Allie kissed me, “Dad, you’ll be just fine. I know you will.”

I arrived at the Shell headquarters building at 7:30.  I stopped by my office, picked up a pad and a pen and went to the housekeeping department office on the first floor.  The door was locked so I stood there and the first to arrive was Steve Carson.  I looked at my watch and it was 7:45.  Steve was surprised to see me, “We’ll probably have to stand around for at least a half hour before The Grump arrives.  He’s the only person with a key to the office area.”

“You mean the security people don’t have a key to let you in if Mr. Grump is gone or is late?”

“If he’s going to be gone or really late, he gives the key to one of his brothers or sons who work in the department.”

By eight o’clock, there were ten people lined up waiting to go to work.  The receptionist or secretary showed up at about ten minutes after eight.  “I take it The Grump is late, as usual.”

It was almost 8:30 when seven men came to the area led by Mr. Grump.  I looked at the Mr. Grump, “I thought I told you I wanted to meet with you at eight.  Just so you all know, your pay will be docked for being late.  I’ll take care of that as soon as I get the information I was told Mr. Grump wanted.”

“Look you queer, I ain’t giving you nothing.”

“Mr. Grump, either you get the information I want, or you can say goodbye to your job.  So get it now, before I call Vice President Reed.”

Mr. Grump pulled his hand back as if he was going to take a swing at me.  I dared him, “Go ahead, hit me and you'll be pounding the streets, looking for a new job before nine o’clock.”

Two of the younger guys, who were with him, restrained Mr. Grump.  One of them said, “Dad, give the man what he wants, he can’t touch you.  If you get canned, Mother will lose the cleaning contract.”

I watched as everyone entered and waited to see how long it would be before anyone appeared with their tools.  It was a good twenty minutes later before anyone appeared,  Steve Carson appeared first and said, “The man is in delaying mode today.  It’s as if he's trying to show you who the boss is.”

I walked into the work area, “Grump, I want the records that I asked for, now, or do I need to call security and the President’s office to get them.  If I don’t have them in ten minutes, your ass is fired.”

The same two young men restrained Mr. Grump, but I had what I wanted when I left the department.  It didn’t take me long before I realized what was happening.  The man had a nepotistic ring working for him, or should I say pretending to work for the department.  Not only that, the amount of overtime being paid to certain members was ridiculous, considering what the work order requests showed.”

I had stopped in the finance department and received a copy of the payroll and the overtime pay records for the housekeeping department, after I made several phone calls.

I made one last stop before I was satisfied. I had gone to the contract department and asked to see the janitorial contract and they had no record of it.  I went back to the finance department to see what was being paid for the cleaning contract each month and the price was exorbitant.

I worked all morning and even worked through lunch to go through the information that I received and compile it so it would make sense.

I took the data that I had collected, went to Mr. Reed’s office and asked to see him.  I explained what I had found out so far and before I knew what was happening, I was in President Odom’s office. 

Vice President Reed had me explain what was happening.  When I finished, Mr. Odom looked at me, “ Some heads are going to roll, over this.  By the way, my wife is in love with Brahim and Allie.”

Mr. Reed asked, “Ed, what do you plan to do to remedy the problem?”

“The first thing I plan to do is fire Mr. Grump.  The second thing I plan to do is have a time clock installed so the housekeeping crew has to clock in and out, not only when they arrive and leave for the day, but when they take their lunch breaks, as well.  They will be expected to  work a full eight hour day and do what they are paid to do, even if I have to take care of the department myself.”

President  Odom looked at me, “Ed, wouldn’t that be rather a waste of your time?”

I looked at Mr. Odom and Mr. Reed, “Sir, the amount of money that has been siphoned off at the company’s expense is significant.  This is just one small department.  I’m guessing that other departments have people getting fat at the company’s expense, as well.”

“I think that the company should consider prosecuting Mr. Grump and charge him with embezzling company funds.”

I stood and excused myself, “Pardon me, sirs, but I need to go get ready for the four o’clock meeting in the housekeeping area.”

I went to my office to get the things that I needed and Joe looked at me, “Mr. Waller, I think I was able to get everything that you wanted.   Is this what we’re going to be doing all the time.”

“I hope not, Joe.”

Joe giggled, “Well, you’re the talk of the entire building.  You’ve got a lot of people watching what you’re doing.”

I arrived at the housekeeping office at 3:45 and I heard Mr. Grump say, “Let’s get out of here, “I’ll show that queer who the boss is.”

I said very firmly, “If you wish to remain employed here, then you will set yourselves down.  I have some things to tell you.  The first thing is that Mr. Grump’s employment has been terminated, effective immediately, with no severance pay.  Also, the cleaning contract that his wife supposedly has is no longer valid, or going to be funded by the company.”

“I have suggested to President Odom that the company should prosecute Mr. Grump and charge him with embezzling funds from the company.”

The Grump started toward me, “Look, you queer, you can’t fire me and you can’t do anything about the cleaning contract.  I’m calling my boss and he’ll get your ass canned.”

I hadn’t seen President Odom and Vice President Reed come in. Mr. Odom said, “Mr. Grump, Mr. Waller said your employment and the cleaning contract were terminated.  I thought you were told yesterday that Mr. Waller was your supervisor.”

The Grump turned around, “Who the hell are you to be talking to me like that?”

 

The two young men restrained him again and one of them said, “That’s President Odom and Vice President Reed.”

President Odom turned to two security guards who were with him, “Please have Mr. Grump removed from the premises and make sure you collect all of the keys for the building that he has in his possession.”

After the security people escorted Mr. Grump from the area, Mr. Odom turned to the people assembled, “If anyone chooses to not to want to work by the guidelines that Mr. Waller sets down, then you’re employment here will be terminated as well.  Mr. Waller, call security if there are any more problems.  They have been alerted that they are  to provide you any assistance you might need.  Ed, please come to my office when you’re finished here.”

“Thank you, President Odom.”

I turned to the fidgeting people who were watching the clock.  “For starters, you will be required to be on duty eight hours a day, and that does not include your lunch breaks.  I have, here, a time clock and you will be required to punch in when you arrive in the morning, and you will punch out when you take your lunch break, and then punch back in when you return from lunch, then punch out again when you leave for the day.  The time cards will be collected weekly, and you will be paid for only the time you were present for duty.  There is no excuse for any overtime.”

The receptionist was brazen enough to ask, “That doesn’t apply to me does it?”

“Yes, Miss Moore, that especially applies to you.  You will not be receiving any more overtime pay.  I gather that you might be Mr. Grump’s mistress.”

The woman stood, “I quit. I don’t need this kind of abuse.”

“That’s good, because I was going to terminate your employment anyway.”

I turned to Joe who had escorted me to the office, “Mr. Blank, please escort Ms. Moore to the exit and make sure you collect her security badge and inform security that she is no longer an employee here.”

I looked at the people remaining.  “Two more things that you should know, first, Mr. Carson is going to be the acting head of the housekeeping department.  The other thing is that you will be signing new contracts for your employment in the next day or two and you will all be hourly workers.  The only salaried position will be that of the head of the Housekeeping Department, and he or she will not be authorized to receive any overtime payment.”

I watched as six more people left.  I looked at Steve Carson, “You might notify the personnel people that you have some openings in the department that need to be filled.  Here, have the people who are planning to stay with the company fill out the time cards until you find a new receptionist.”

The two men who had restrained Mr. Grump from attacking me approached me.  The younger of the two asked, “Mr. Waller, could we talk to you?”

I looked at them, “I take it that you’re Mr. Grump’s sons, from something you said earlier.  Is this about your father?”
 

The older of the two shook his head, “No, we have a proposal for you about the cleaning contract.  By the way, our name is not Grump it’s Gump.”

“Guys, come see me in the my office in suite 4712, tomorrow at ten.  I need to go see why President Odom wants to talk to me about.”  I turned to Steve Carson, “Steve, meet me in my office at eleven, so we can discuss what needs to happen.”

I turned to Joe, “I’ll see you in the morning.”

I went to the President’s office and he and Vice President Reed were sitting there.  He looked up at me, “Ed, please sit down.  I’ve decided that you are going to be my special assistant in charge of special projects.  You will still have the responsibilities that you would have had under Roger, but you will have even more, now.  Your compensation package will be increased significantly.”

Mr. Reed nodded, “We’ve already notified Mr. Blank that you would be moving to the suite across the hall from here.  It’s suite 4903.  He’s going to notify housekeeping to have it repainted in the morning so you can move in tomorrow afternoon.

President Odom looked at the clock, “Let’s bust out of this place, I need to go to a formal affair tonight.”

I met up with the two officers in the lobby as we were leaving.  A security guard escorted us, since two valets were retrieving their cars.  Something caught my eye, “Gentlemen get down now.  Someone has a gun.”

I practically pushed them to the ground and put my body on top of theirs, as a car went speeding by shooting shots.  I stood and realized that I had been wounded.  Blood was oozing out of the back of my thigh.  Someone had called 911 and a paramedic team was there almost immediately.  Fortunately, neither Mr. Odom or Mr. Reed were injured.

The team wrapped the leg after they removed the part of my slacks that covered the wound,  and the lead technician announced, “Sir, it just a flesh wound.  We can transport you to the hospital or your doctor can give you a tetanus shot.”

“I had a tetanus shot less than two months ago.  I’ll be fine.”

I finally convinced everyone that I was okay and went to get my car, but I was escorted by a security guard.  As I was getting into my car, the young man laughed, “Wait until I tell my wife that I met the Superman of Shell University.”

I decided to not go to the apartment as I had planned to do, but started toward the Daniels’ house.  Fortunately the traffic had already started to subside.  I was thinking, ‘What are my guys going to say, now?’

Editor's Notes: It looks as if Ed has managed to offend at least one person, and more likely several.  At least he is cleaning out the trash that worked for the department that was supposed to take out the trash.  Let's hope that the security cameras were able to determine the license number of the car that had the shooter in it, so the police can be notified and the thugs can be arrested.

I need another chapter, right away!

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 10/02/09