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

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...

Chapter 48
A New Beginning

It was nearly six thirty when I got home, and the others were just finishing dinner.  When Allie saw me, he jumped out of his chair, “Dad, what happened?  What happened to your slacks?  Sit down and I’ll get your dinner.”

I sat down and thankfully the chairs were padded, or it would have been very uncomfortable.  After Allie had placed my food in front of me, he sat down and acted very official, “Mr. Waller, we want the entire story, and we want to know it now.”

I sighed, “Okay, I was jealous because you and Brahim had been shot and I hadn’t, while we were in Algeria, so I arranged for someone to shoot me.”

 

Allie stopped me, “Dad, that’s not even close to being funny.  Now tell us what happened.”

It was nearly eight o’clock before I finished telling about my day, and no one had said a word.  “Bra, finally spoke, “Ed, maybe we should leave Houston.  What would happen to Allie and me if something were to happen to you?”

Dr. George Daniels intervened, “Brahim, I’m sure Ed will be safe after what happened today.  Let’s just wait and see what happens.  Allie, I thought we were going to go to the grocery store, so you could get the things you needed if you are going to be cooking.  This was a wonderful meal.  Brahim, why don’t you take care of the dishes tonight so Edie and I can accompany our young chef to the grocery store before he turns into a pumpkin.”

I was trying to help Brahim with the  dishes, and realized that my leg was beginning to stiffen up from having been sitting for so long.  Dan and Mike arrived and Mike asked, “Ed, what happened to you?  Were you in an accident?”

I quickly explained what had happened and Dan was concerned, “Ed, have you had a tetanus shot recently?  It doesn’t look like just a flesh wound to me; I think you should go to the Emergency Room and have it checked by a physician.  The wound is starting to bleed through the bandage.  Let me take you to the Emergency Room at the West Houston Medical Center.”

Brahim stopped me from refusing, “Ed, please go with Dan.  Since I’m not legal to drive in the United States yet, I can‘t take you. I’ll stay here and make sure Allie doesn’t have kittens.”

Dan went and got his car and Brahim put a towel under my leg so the blood wouldn’t get on Dan’s car seat.  As Dan and I were driving to the West Houston Medical Center, the radio was on and the program was interrupted, “We interrupt this regularly scheduled broadcast to update the shooting that occurred early this evening in front of the Shell Oil Company headquarters.”

Dan turned the volume up, and the announcer continued, “The police have apprehended the two people who were involved in the shooting.  It seems that two people had been fired from the company by the young man who pushed President Adam Odom and a Vice President Reed  to the ground.  The man was injured in the attack and is now missing.  Mr. Edward Waller hasn’t been seen, since he left the scene of the attack after being attended to by the paramedics.”

“Police checked his last known residence at the Pine Grove apartments, but he hasn’t been seen since yesterday.  Police are asking anyone who knows the whereabouts of Mr. Waller to notify them.  They are afraid that he might have been injured worse than was initially reported.”

I started to laugh, “Dan, what should I do?”

Dan was relieved from answering because we had pulled up at the Emergency Room entrance at the hospital.  Dan helped me out of the car, “I’ll be back as soon as I park the car.”

Before Dan could return, a young man came out of the Emergency Room receiving area with a wheelchair, and I was sitting in front of a middle aged lady who started to fill in the information.  After she finished the basic information from my driver’s license and insurance card, she asked, “What is the nature of your problem?”

Dan had joined us, “Lady, Mr. Waller was wounded by gun fire.”

The lady looked at us, “Well, why didn’t you say that in the first place?  Allen, take Mr. Waller to exam room three.  I’ll call Dr. Odom and he’ll be with you shortly.”

Dan went with us to exam room three, and Allen helped me onto an examination table.  He carefully cut away the bandage that the paramedics had applied.  When he saw the wound, he departed saying, “Mr. Waller, I’ll be right back.”

He returned and took my vitals and as a he was finishing, a young intern arrived, “I’m Doctor Tom Odom.  Mr. Hayworth thinks you should have some stitches.  Allen, have you taken his vitals?”

“Yes, Doctor Odom.  Mr. Waller seems to be in fine physical condition, except for his wound.”

Doctor  Odom had me turn on my stomach so he could look at the wound, “Allen, we need to use at least  five sutures to close the wound and prevent infection and a big scar.  It would be a shame to see such a nice body have an a big scar.”

Doctor Odom looked at Dan, “Sir, what is your relationship with Mr. Waller.”

Dan looked at the Doctor Odom, “Doctor, if it’s any of your business, I’m going to be the next door neighbor of the Mr. Waller.  I’m merely here as a concerned friend.”

Doctor Odom looked at me, “Mr. Waller, we’re going to give you a local anesthetic around the wound, but you are going to feel some discomfort.  While I’m doing the procedure, would you care to share how you happened to have this wound?”

They started to do the sutures, and I did indeed feel what was happening.  I started to tell how I received the wound, but Doctor Odom stopped me, “Mr. Waller, I know the rest of the story.  I want you to lie still, so we can make sure that you aren’t having any ill effects from the anesthetic or sutures.  I need to make a phone call.”

Doctor Odom pulled a cell phone out of his pocket and dialed a number,  “Hi Mom, is Dad there? … Hi Dad, I have the elusive Mr. Waller on the operating table.  What do you want me to do with him? … No, he’ll live.  We put five sutures in his backside to close the wound.  He may not be able to drive for at least the rest of the day and perhaps tomorrow, because of the pain medication I’m going to give him.  So I guess he won’t be able to get to work in the morning. … Okay, Dad, here’s Mr. Waller.”

“This is Ed Waller.”

“Ed, Tommy says, you probably shouldn’t drive tomorrow, so I'll have the company limousine come pick you up in the morning at nine o’clock.  Where are you going to be staying?”

“President Odom, we’re staying with the Daniels on Mercy Road.  We’re planning to buy the property.  Just a minute, I have no idea what the address is.  I just know how to get there.”

I turned to Dan, “Dan, what’s the address where we’re staying?”

Dan laughed, “It’s 1402 Mercy Circle.”

I relayed the information to President Odom.  He responded, “The limo will be there at nine.  I’ll tell Mr. Blank to hold your appointment until ten.  See you in the morning.”

Doctor Odom was sitting there laughing, “Mr. Waller, my wife and I had dinner with my parents last evening and my Mother is in love with your friend and his younger brother.  Dad, called me to tell me what had happened today, before I came to work tonight.  This is ironic because Dad usually maintains a distance between his family and his business contacts.  He must think you‘re special.”

“Here, take two of these before you go to bed and under no circumstances should you drive tomorrow.  It’s your left leg, but if you are like me, you tend to use it when you’re driving a car, even though there is no need to use it unless you have a standard shift.”

I shook Doctor Odom’s hand and Allen took me in a wheel chair to exit and helped me into Dan’s car, when he pulled up at the entrance. 

The radio was on as we were driving back to Mercy Circle and another news flash came on, “Ladies and gentlemen , we interrupt the regularly scheduled broadcast to inform you that the hero of the shooting in front of the Shell Headquarters has been found.  Mr. Waller was just treated at the Western Houston Medical Center.  All they would tell is that he is fine and is planning to go back to work tomorrow.”

I looked at Dan, “Why is this happening to me?”

Dan pulled into Dan's and Mike's driveway and Allie and Brahim were there almost before he had a chance to turn off the engine.  Allie started on me, “Dad, are you okay?”

“Allie, I’m a little woozy and probably should go to bed.”

Brahim looked at me, “Ed, you aren’t planning to go to work tomorrow are you?  You shouldn’t be driving if you are feeling woozy or nauseous.”

I climbed out of Dan’s car. “Guys, I’ll be fine.  The company is sending a limo for me, and I promise that I’ll come home early if I start to feel poorly.” 

I realized that I needed some support to get to the Daniels' house and Brahim helped me.

I said goodnight to everyone and the next thing I remember was Allie waking me up, “Dad, are you okay?”

I hugged Allie, “Allie, I’m fine.  I think my system just needed to recover from the trauma of what happened.  I think I could drive today if I had to.”

Both guys shouted, “That’s not an option.”

I watched as Brahim departed with the Daniels.  Jim and John stopped by for Allie, with two other friends and the five of them were walking by Mike and Dan’s house as Mike pulled out of the driveway.

Thank goodness Brahim had helped me get dressed, because I was having doubts about how effective I could be at work.

The limousine pulled up in front of the house and I started to hobble towards it as the young man, dressed in a uniform, rushed to me. “Mr. Waller, let me assist you.”

When I was in the back of the limo, the young man announced, “Mr. Waller, there are some sweet rolls and juice if you would like to have some.”

I looked at Juan, Thank you, Juan, but I’ve already eaten breakfast.”

When we arrived at the Shell Oil headquarters building, we were met by two security guards.  One just happened to be the young man who had escorted me to my car the night before, “Good morning, Superman.  We’re glad that you’re still ambulatory.”

I looked at the young man, “Mr. Thompson, what is you’re first name or is it Thompson?”

The young man frowned, “If you must know, it‘s Oscar.  You'd better not tell anyone, because I’ll make sure that the next hit men don’t miss their target.”

When we arrived at the security desk, the young woman looked up, “Good morning, Mr. Waller.  President Odom is waiting to see you in his office.”

I waved at Juan, Oscar and the other security guard and went to the elevator that went to the 49^th floor.  When I stepped off the elevator, I was met by a young woman, “Mr. Waller, I was sent to greet you.  Let me help you to the conference room.”

When I walked into the conference room, President Odom stood, “Ed, we’ve saved a place for you, beside me.”

I went to where President Odom was standing and he introduced me,  “Ladies and gentlemen, for those of you who don’t know this young man, he’s Edward Waller, who probably saved mine and Roger Reed’s life yesterday afternoon when he shoved us to the ground.  The police found six shell casings, but only one hit a target.  That is why it gives me great pleasure to introduce Mr. Waller as my new special assistant in charge of special projects, and the Housekeeping Department.”

A gentleman I had not met before stood, “Housekeeping is under me.”

President Odom stood, “Mr. Zikas, you are no longer employed here.  We have facts and figures to prove that you and you’re in-laws, have been draining the funds of the company for a long time.  We will be filing charges against you and some of your staff later this morning.”

Mr. Zikas stood, “You have evidence to prove that charge?”

“George, it took Mr. Waller less than a day to find out how much money you and your extended family have bilked from this company.    Security, please take Mr. Zikas and relieve him of all his credentials so that he can never re-enter the building.  Oh, and by the way, George, if there is a repeat of what happened last night, as we were leaving the building, you will be spending the rest of your days behind bars.”

After Mr. Zikas had been escorted out, Mr. Odom turned to the people still seated at the table, “The rest of you aren’t squeaky clean either.  You, or someone in your department should have realized  what was happening.  I expect you to provide Mr. Waller whatever information he should ask for.  Now I suggest that you get back to your jobs and make this company even more profitable.”

After everyone had left, I looked at President Odom, “Sir, you’ve just told everyone in the company that they should hate me.”

“Ed, you’re wrong.  I just told everyone that they should be afraid of you.  I’m thinking that you will find more graft before this is over.  Some of these people have been here for so long they don’t even think they need to work a forty hour week or and eight day.  You need to make that change.”

When I arrived at my office, it was after ten and Steve Carson was sitting there, “Steve, I apologize.  I had no idea that I was going to be meeting with the big brass this morning.”

Steve laughed, “I don’t mind.  It gave me time to develop a plan.  Mr. Waller, I looked at the figures that you compiled and the only two people from the Gump clan that showed up for work today were his two sons.  They are repainting your new office as we speak.  Did you know that they were both college graduates?”

I turned to Joe, “Mr. Blank, would you go to the Human Resources Department and get the dossiers on the two Gump gentleman and Juan, who was the chauffeur that picked me up this morning?  While you‘re at it, why don‘t you get me the file on Oscar Thompson who works in security.”

Steve looked at Joe, “Mr. Blank, the Gump gentlemen’s names are Greg and Grant.  I have no idea who Juan is.  I have never had a ride in a limousine.”

Joe chuckled, “Mr. Carson, I haven’t had a ride in a limo either, but I’m guessing it’s Juan Gomez who is married and has two children.”

After Joe had departed, Steve continued, “Ed, if I may call you that.  The Housekeeping Department was overmanned.  The work order requests do not justify the staff that we had.  I would like to be able to evaluate the need and then make recommendations to you.  The one position that we need to fill immediately is the receptionist or work order control person.  I can’t do that and insure that the workers are performing quality work.”

Joe retuned and handed me the four folders, “Steve, let me look at these, and then we can decide what you should do.”

I was reading the four folders when Joe popped in, “Mr. Waller the Messrs Gump are here and Juan is on his way.”

I looked up, “Joe, show the two gentlemen in and when Mr. Gomez arrives, please show him in, and I would l appreciate if you could take notes of our meetings.”

Joe scowled, “Whatever you say, Mr. Waller.” 

The Gump brothers were seated and I looked at them, “I’ll be right with you.  I need to finish reading these folders.”

They were fidgeting in their seats when Joe arrived with Juan who obviously had no idea why he was here.”

I looked at the assembled group, “Mr. Carson, did you just tell me that you needed assistance to manage the work load so you could make sure the housekeeping crews are doing what is expected of them?”

Steve wasn’t sure what was happening, “Yes, Mr. Waller, that’s what I said.”

I turned to Juan, “Mr. Gomez, it says here that you have your degree from The University of Houston in business,  What was your major?”

He was completely caught by surprise, “Mr. Waller, yes and I’ve been working  on my masters in business management as the money allows.  I’ll probably be fifty before I get my master’s degree because we have two young sons that have to come first.”

“Mr. Gomez, do you think you could work for Mr. Carson as his assistant and office manager in the Housekeeping Department?”

Juan took a deep breath, “Mr. Waller, I would very much like to have the opportunity to do that, sir.”

I looked at Juan, “Mr. Gomez is your wife of Hispanic descent too.”

Joe answered before Juan could,  “Mr. Waller, I can attest that Juan’s wife is not of Hispanic descent since she’s my sister.”

The other three guys were laughing.  I looked at Steve, “Would you have any problem with this troublemaker being your assistant?”

Steve looked at me and grinned, “I guess I could handle it if he were to work for me if he would be willing to put in a full day.”

“Juan, tomorrow you will report to the Housekeeping Department at eight o’clock.  Now Messrs Gump, your proposal to be in charge of the janitorial staff is not going to be accepted.”

Both men started to stand, and I said in my best authoritative voice, “Greg and Grant, sit your asses down.”

“Greg, you’re personnel folder says that you have your master’s degree in business management and that you and your wife  have two children.  Why, might I ask, are you working here at Shell in the Housekeeping Department?”

Greg answered, “Sir, I got fired from my last job because my boss tried to put the make on me and I punched him out.”

“Thank you for being honest, Greg.  Grant, your folder says that you have a college degree in Human Relations.  Why are you working here in the Housekeeping Department?”

“Because I need the money.  No one was willing to hire a young punk like me to work in their Human Relations Department.”

“Grant, why would you say something like that?”

Greg answered, “Because he’s gay.”

“Guys, what does being gay have to do with doing a job, especially in the Human Relations area?  I should think that would be beneficial. Just so you all know.  I’m gay and have a partner and his brother who is like a son to me.  I have something in mind, but I would like to think about it over lunch.  Juan, do you suppose you could take us to a nice place for lunch, where you could join us.”

Joe spoke, “Mr. Waller, just so you know, Grant and I are lovers.  Will that make a difference in what you decide to do?”

“Not if you can promise to keep your penises in your pants during business hours.”

Both Joe and Grant stood and said, “We do.”

Juan looked at me, “Mr. Waller, I can drive you wherever you want to go, but wouldn’t it be rather awkward for you to be seen eating with a person in a chauffeur’s uniform?”

Grant added, “Greg and I aren’t exactly dressed to go to a restaurant.”

I chuckled, “I'll tell you what we’re going to do.  We’ll go to a clothing optional restaurant as long as everyone is wearing clean briefs or boxers and can keep their hormones under control.”

That caused the other five guys to laugh.  Steve spoke up, “Mr. Waller, I brought my lunch to save time and money.”

I looked at the others, “How about the rest of you?”

Everyone had brought their lunch except me.  I started to laugh, “Now I get it, you are all ashamed of what your dirty briefs are hiding.  Why don’t you go get your lunches while Joe goes to the cafeteria and gets me a ham salad sandwich and a glass of ice tea. Joe, please stop by and see if Mr. Thompson can join us. 

We’ll resume the meeting as soon as everyone returns. 

To be continued...  

Editor's Notes:  It is certainly good to see that Ed wasn't hurt very badly.  

I think it is going to be a much better run company, now that Ed has sorted out much of the corruption. 

Hopefully, nobody will need to wander off to any more third world countries to round up all the evil dastardly dangerous dysfunctional desperadoes dealing in despicable daring do. After all, dealing daintily with dozens of dorks can depress anyone.   

I hope everyone will have a delicious dinner, when they get home tonight.

Dare, I'm done! I distinctly want another Delightful chapter, Darn quickly!  I'm deeply aDIcted to Dis story! Indeed I am!

Darryl, Da raDio RanDcher

Posted: 10/09/09