Taking Texas By Storm
by: E Walk
(© 2009 by the Author)
 

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

Chapter 10 

The Driver’s License

Brahim and I waited until we were sure that everyone had retired before we finally went to get ready for bed.  When we were in bed, Brahim had his head on my shoulder and was playing with the few hairs on my chest, “Ed, it isn’t always going to be hectic is it?”

“Bra, I hope not.  Now tell me how you were able to get a driver’s license.  Is there something that I need to worry about?”

Brahim squeezed my penis, “There’s nothing your little head needs to be concerned about.  I was sitting beside this nice guy in Government class and he wanted to know if I would like to join him for lunch.  I had nothing else to do, so I agreed.  We were talking and he wanted to know why I was sticking around if I didn’t have any classes.”

“I told him that I had just arrived in the United States and hadn’t had an opportunity to get my license yet.  He frowned and said, ‘That sucks.’  He volunteered to take me to get my permit so I could at least practice and get ready for the exam.”

“He had me drive back to the campus after I got the learner’s permit, and after I parked, he commented, ‘Heck, you can pass the driving part of the test with no problems.  Why don’t you study the test booklet while I go to my next class.  I’ll take you to get your license since my sons go to school near the testing facility.’”

“Spencer had me drive his car to get my license and I passed.  We went to get his sons.  The weird thing is that Jesse and Tucker go to the same school that Allie does.  In fact, I didn’t even go back to school today.  I walked home with Allie and his friends and called Dr. Daniels and informed him I was already home.  Spencer’s wife works at Shell in the Human Resources Department.”

“Spencer said that Katie was frustrated because she didn’t see any room for advancement because the people were taking care of their friends and promoting them because of the special favors they would perform.”

“Do Spencer and Katie have a last name?”

Bra looked funny, “It’s something like Kimball.  It was a name I had not heard before.”

I was awakened in the morning by the blasted alarm; I put on a robe and went to the bathroom to take care of the my morning necessities and take a shower, since we hadn’t taken one the night before.  I was joined by Bra.  I exited the shower a few pounds lighter than when I entered.  My wounds were starting to itch like crazy.

I was almost dressed when there was a knock on the door.  I assumed it was Allie but it was Dad, “I was instructed to bring you your coffee.  I understand you will be leaving before breakfast, so I thought I had best bring you this check so you can make sure that our Grandson and his brother are properly housed.”

I started to laugh, “Dad, since you know what I’m going to be making, I can probably make sure that Little Al and his brother are adequately housed.”

Dad cut me off, “Look, son, take the money and get some financial advice.  You can use the money that your Mother and I are giving you as collateral to get a loan to actually pay for the house.  When you get to be in the income bracket that your going to be in, you’re going to need all the tax breaks you can manufacture.”

I hugged my Dad, “Dad, what about my sisters?”

Dad shook his head, “Ed, as your Mother and I said, we’ll make sure that your sisters and our granddaughters are fine.  But, now that we know the entire story, their sorry husbands are not going to receive a red cent of our money.”

Dad wasn’t finished, “Ed, I was rather devastated when I heard that you loved another man who had a brother.  I always wanted you to be the macho man like the old Marlboro man.  Now that I’ve met Brahim and Allie, I’m glad that you turned into a wimp.  Son, you don’t know how proud we are of you and what you’ve been able to accomplish at Shell.  But could you please stop getting shot at?”

“Dad, if I get shot at again, my guys will probably make me find a new job.”

Our conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Allie, “Dad, can I have some money for lunch, please?”

Dad nodded, “Little Al, I'll go to school with you, and we’ll take care of your lunches.  I need to make an inspection to see if the school is good enough for you.”

I had just finished my coffee when Juan pulled up, I hugged my parents, Bra and Allie and I was off for another day at the headquarters of Shell Oil.

As we were driving, Greg remarked, “Ed, I think the Transportation Division is probably overstaffed in some areas.  How do I go about getting rid of the people we don’t really need?”

“Greg, let me talk to the Human Resources people and see what policies exist and what we need to do.  I have something else I need to talk to them about.  Greg, I take it you still haven’t found anyone that you feel could be capable of taking over the Transportation Division?”

Greg turned to me, “Ed, that’s something I wanted to talk to you about.  Is there any way that you can have me assigned to the position permanently.  I know that probably isn’t what you had in mind, but if you were to make it so that I’m officially the head of Division, the employees are more apt to take me seriously.  I get the feeling that some of the people are stalling, thinking I’m going to be leaving soon.”

“Greg, are you sure that’s what you want?”

“Ed, I never envisioned making the kind of money that I am now making when I started to work in the maintenance department for my Dad.  I feel as if I have achieved something and would like to be able to do the best job I can.  I’d like to be able to make the division run so smoothly and efficiently that people will notice and perhaps the doors will open to bigger and better things.”

I chuckled, “You do realize that I would still be your boss since President Odom did say that Transportation Division was my problem?”

Greg snickered, “That’s what's so great about the situation.  I can always say, ‘Ed, made me do it.’ if something goes wrong.”

Manny was laughing, “I’ll have to remind Steve to use that excuse if someone complains.”

When we walked into the facility, the check-in was so slick that there was absolutely no wait time.  I went to the Pit Stop and Tripp was already busy.  When he saw me he called out, “One café au latte and a cinnamon raisin bagel with cream cheese.”

When I went to pay for it, Tripp tried to wave the money off, but I insisted, “Tripp, you’re in business to make money.  You don’t need to be giving away free food and drinks.  I hope you didn’t wear out my Hotel Manager last night?”

“I would have if I could have.  Would you tell him that he doesn’t need to work all the time?”

“Tripp, I’ll talk to Oz.  Talk to you later.”

When I arrived in the office, everyone was already in place.  I stopped at Tammy’s desk, “Tammy, why is everyone here so early?”

Tammy grinned, “We heard the boss was going to be checking on us and we wanted to hide all the dirty linen under the desks.”

I shook my head, “Tammy, how was your dinner date last evening?’

Tammy scrunched her nose, “I had a horrible time, but the two boys had a great time.  Trig was like a snake charmer weaving his spell on the boys.”

“So does that mean you’re not going to see him again?”

“Not until tonight.  He invited the boys and me to his parents’ house for dinner.”

“So he’s taking you home so his parents can check your teeth?  Tell Grant, I’d like to speak with him.  He must have someone in there with him since his door’s closed.”

I stopped at Joe’s office, “Good morning, Joseph.  Would you please call your Mother and make an appointment for us to talk to her?”

Joe looked up from the report he was working on, “I assume you’re talking about Mrs. Lawrence since she’s the only Mom I have.”

“That’s the person.”

When I walked into my office, there was a voucher attached to a bill.  The note read, ‘Marlene said you were authorized to sign for this bill to be paid.  I’ll hand carry it to the Treasurer’s office.  Oz.’

I signed the voucher and took it to Oz’s office.  He was talking on the phone but he motioned for me to sit down.  I listened as he was talking, “Yes sir, I’ll talk to Mr. Waller, but I think he will tell you the same thing that I just said.  I’ll have him call you.”

After Oz hung up, I asked, “Whom am I to call and what am I calling the person about.”

Oz shook his head, “Ed, that’s the third person who has called and complained about having to check-in and out of the building.  It seems there is a group of middle level managers who are being caught with pants down and are feeling the squeeze.   This particular call was from the head of the contracting department saying that he and his people needed to be able to come and go as they need to, since they did so much business away from the building.”

“I’ll call the person.  I think I’ll invite him to come meet with us at our convenience.  Now would you care to explain why Tripp was complaining about you working all the time?”

“Ed, after this week, things will settle down, and I’ll have persons I can trust in all the supervisory positions.  I still have two positions I need to find someone to fill.  Trig called and wants to know how soon we would like his parents to start serving lunches in the executive dining room?”

“Oz, why don’t we have them start next Monday.  That way they will be able to make some plans.  They will need to be able to come and go as necessary, so you will need to get them security badges.  I noticed that you have already taken care of Tripp and his people.  I have a question.  How will the Wakefields be able to get their supplies to the dining room facility?”

“There’s a service elevator that goes right to the dining room facility.  It stops at the cafeteria and that’s how Tripp has been getting his supplies in and out of the building.”

“Oz, I’ll talk to you later.  I have some other things that I need to take care of.  Here is the voucher for yesterday’s luncheon.”

Grant was waiting in my office when I walked in, “Good morning, boss, you rang?”

“Grant, what did that young man, Don, want to talk about that you said we would discuss?”

“He feels threatened because he thinks he's being sexually harassed by his supervisor who has threatened to get him fired if he did get what he wanted.  Don said the person was livid when he found out the glory holes were gone as well as the condom machines.”

“Grant, do you have any idea how busy the bathrooms where glory holes had previously been were?”

Grant shook his head no, “Ed, I didn’t know they existed until this past weekend when the cleaning crew found them.  From the numbers of condoms we found in closets, I would say they were probably well used.”

“Grant, call this Don person and ask him to meet with us this afternoon.  I have some things that I need to take care of now.”

Joe arrived as Grant was leaving, “Mrs. Lawrence awaits your company, Mr. Waller.”

I shook my head, “Joe, I didn’t realize that you were going to be my resident jester.”

Joe laughed, “Well, someone has to fill that role.”

When we arrived in the Human Resources office, the receptionist looked up at us, “Mr. Waller and Mr. Blank, Mrs. Lawrence is expecting you.”

The receptionist pushed a button, “Mrs. Lawrence, Mr. Waller and Mr. Blank are here.”

“Send them in.”

When we entered, Mrs. Lawrence nodded, “Good morning, guys, have a seat.  How can I help you?”

I decided to put it on the line, “Mrs. Lawrence, I have several issues that I would like to discuss.  Greg Gump is of the opinion that some of the departments in the Transportation Division are overmanned.  How do we go about getting rid of the excess deadwood?”

Mrs. Lawrence grinned, “The easiest way is to eliminate the positions and give the incumbents two weeks to find another position before their employment is terminated.  You do realize that would cause a lot of stress for a lot of people which is probably good.  In fact we have had calls from departments requesting additional positions.  Based on the instructions, I received from President Odom, there is a freeze on any new hires unless you approve.”

I slumped down in my chair, “Mrs. Lawrence, you do realize that I’m going to be the most hated person in the building.”

She smirked, “Well, for the money you’re going to be making, you had better be prepared to grin and bear it.  Ed, I was being silly, but we need to sit down and look at each request and determine the validity of the request.  You and Joe are going to be the people that can make this work when you visit and evaluate the departments.  Joe and I’ll coordinate the meetings, since you’re going to have a lot of other things to take care of as well.”

I nodded, “I do have another question.  What is the company’s policy on sexual harassment?”

“Ed, I haven’t any idea if there is a written policy.  I would suggest that you check with Mr. Kravitz in legal or the head of Administrative Services.  There must be a formal policy.  Now that you mention it, it should probably be included in the information that we provide to all our employees.”

I looked at Joe, “Okay, Mr. Blank, it’s your job to find a copy of the company’s sexual harassment policy.  Get with it.  I want to talk to your Mother about another matter.”

Joe rolled his eyes, “I know when I’ve been told to disappear.  Do I need to tell Dad about the rendezvous?”

After Joe left, I asked, “Vivian, I understand that you have a Katie Kimball working in your department?”

Mrs. Lawrence nodded yes, “I’m not sure how much longer she’s going to stay.  I’ve heard rumors that she thinks she’s being discriminated against because she's married and is a woman.  I’ve looked at her files and she has an excellent record.   Why are you interested in her?”

I told Mrs. Lawrence why I was asking about her husband taking Brahim to get his driver’s license.  “Would it be possible for me to talk to Mrs. Kimball?”

Mrs. Lawrence pushed the intercom, “Connie, would you ask Katie Kimball to come to my office?”

There was knock on the door which was open, “Come in Katie, Mr. Waller wanted to speak with you.”

I was surprised to see an attractive lady who I guess was about thirty.  After the introductions, “I started, Mrs. Kimball, I understand that you have two young sons, Jesse and Tucker, and that your husband, Spencer, attends the University of Houston.  I understand that you are upset because you think you are being passed over for promotions and are thinking of leaving Shell Oil.”

Katie looked at Mrs. Lawrence, “Mrs. Lawrence, exactly who is Mr. Waller and how does he know so much about me.  Am I under investigation for something I don’t know about?”

Mrs. Lawrence nodded, “Mr. Waller, is President Odom’s special assistant who has been shot twice recently.  I have no idea how he knows so much about you.  You need to let Mr. Waller tell you why he wanted to meet with you.”

“Katie, your husband befriended a friend of mine and took him to get his driver’s test yesterday.  I understand that your sons go to the same school as my son.  Tell us in as few words as you can, why you think you should be promoted.”

Katie took a deep breath, “Mr. Waller, I didn’t go to college to be a glorified file clerk.  I graduated from Rice with a degree in Human Relations.  I since have obtained a master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Texas.”

I stood, “In that case, you need to be in my office at 2:00 this afternoon with your personnel dossier so we can see if we can take advantage of your professional skills.”

The intercom was activated, “Mr. Waller, Mrs. Grimes called.  Your presence is requested in President Odom’s office as soon as possible.”

As I was getting on the elevator, I was thinking, ‘What’s the problem now?’

To be continued...

Editor's Notes:  It is funny. Every time I get really pulled into a chapter, it seems that I am stuck waiting for a new one.  I'm not really complaining.  I saw a note on one of the forums, the other day, where the reader was saying how nice it was to have been able to read a huge number of chapters at one time.  He had been away from the Internet for some time, and was now catching up on his reading of his favorite stories.  His comment was that now that he has caught up, he will have to wait like everyone else does, for new chapters to come out.  It is always a nice thing to get a new chapter. 

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 01/15/10