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 12 

Another Person Down

On the way home, I apologized, “Guys, I’m sorry that I haven’t been able to drive.  I feel as if I’m freeloading.”

Juan laughed, “Ed, Greg and I each were driving to work every day by ourselves and that was before we got our raises.  Just having Greg and me splitting the driving has saved each of us a ton of money.”

Greg turned around, “I second what Juan said.  It sure is a lot faster now that we can use the HOV lanes, and we don’t waste nearly so much fuel in stop and go traffic.  Besides, now I have someone to talk to other than myself.

The guys dropped me off at the house after Greg said he would drive in the morning.  When I walked in the house, Mr. Daniels was laughing, “The chef says we’ll eat as soon as you can change clothes.”

When we were eating, I informed the assembled group, “We’ve been invited out to dinner tomorrow night.  The Odoms are having a dinner party and have invited all of us to dinner at their house.”

Allie asked, “Why are we invited to a dinner party at their house?”

“Because the biddies that Bra went drinking with after the auditions last night want to meet you.  I had lunch with them, and Mrs. Odom volunteered to have a dinner party.”

Mrs. Daniels grinned, “Why were you having lunch them and why are we invited?”

“Mrs. Daniels, I have no idea why I was having lunch the three ladies and the Odoms.  Mrs. Odom specifically said that I was to invite the two of you.”

Allie frowned, “Dad, how are we supposed to dress for the dinner party?  It sounds rather formal.”

“Allie, I’ll check tomorrow and leave a message.”

Allie, Brahim and I were taking care of the dishes when the phone rang.  Mrs. Daniels answers, “Oh hi, Caroline. … Okay I’ll tell everyone.”

When she hung up she turned to us, “That was Caroline Odom, she called to tell us that dress for the dinner party was definitely going to be very casual.”

Allie asked, “What does that mean?”

I shrugged my shoulders, “We’ll dress as if we were on the cruise ship and wear a pair of chino slacks and a nice shirt.”

Brahim excused himself and went to study for a quiz.  I looked at Allie, “Do you have any homework?”

Allie shook his head, no, “Nope, I got it all done at school.  I thought maybe Curtis or Manny would come by tonight.”

I went to talk to the Daniels, “When would you like to have the closing on the house?”

Dr. George Daniels answered, “We were just talking about that.  We’re going to take Monday and Tuesday off, so we can get the things moved into the duplex and get settled.  Why don’t we plan to have the closing next Tuesday.  That will give you the opportunity to make arrangements for the financing.”

I grinned, “My parents gave me a certified check to more than cover the expenses.  I need to find a reputable financial institution to work with.”

Mrs. Daniels ginned, “Ed, you need to talk to the biddies at the dinner party tomorrow night.  They will be able to provide you with some knowledgeable help.”

I went to see what Bra was doing and he was furiously writing, so I decided to not bother him.  I went outside and Allie was on the porch with Curtis and Manny, “Look, guys, you’re trying to make this harder than it really is.  Manny, read the problem and let’s talk about what it says.”

It was a real treat to watch Allie manipulate his friends and convince them that what they needed to do was really very easy. 

I was getting ready to go inside when a car pulled into the driveway.  I didn’t recognize the car.  A gentlemen stepped out of the car which was still running, “Is Brahim here?”

“Yes, he’s inside, doing some work for his classes.  I’m Ed Waller, and the young man with blue shirt is Bra’s brother.”

The gentlemen shook my hand, “I’m Spencer Kimball, I’ll be right back.”

The gentleman went back to the car and it suddenly dawned on me that the man was Katie’s husband.  I watched as Katie and two young boys exited the car and approached us. 

Allie looked up, “Hi Jesse and Tucker, what are you doing here?”

The older of the two answered, “Daddy has something for Mr. Brahim.”

Katie had a funny grin, “Boys, the man is Mr. Waller.  He’s my new boss.  You'd better go shake his hand so he doesn’t know how bad you can be.”

Bra came out onto the porch, He started to say something when he saw who was there.  “Hi, Spencer, I need your help.  There’s something that doesn’t make sense.”

Spencer nodded, “Bra, I think I know what you’re talking about.  I hit a roadblock this afternoon, too.  I went to the library and did some research since the text and what the professor said conflicted.  I got so involved in looking up the information that I was late picking up the boys.”

Katie frowned, “I guess now that I’ve received a raise, we’ll be able to have them go to a daycare.”

Allie looked up from what he was doing, “Why couldn’t they walk home with me and stay here until their Dad picked them up?  If you work with my Dad, you don’t get home until almost six o’clock.”

I shook my head, no, “Allie, you aren’t qualified to take care of the two guys.  What if something should happen?”

Spencer spoke, “Ed, that could be the perfect solution.  It sure would be a lot easier to pick the guys up here than at school.  The traffic at dismissal time at the school is horrendous.  I might be a little late one or two times a week.  I’ve tried to schedule my classes so I can capture the boys on time.”

Jesse the older of the two boys giggled, “Yeah, and he takes us home and locks us in to our cages at the apartment.”

I relented, “I have reservations about this, but I’m willing to give it a try for two weeks.”

Spencer and Bra went inside and the five boys took off with a soccer ball.  Katie looked at me, “Ed, it’s as if I’m in a dream, waiting for something bad to happen.”

Bra and Spencer returned and Bra was saying, “Spence, thanks for bringing me the information.  I was beginning to think I was a complete idiot.”

When I arrived in the office with my café latte and Danish, everyone else was already there, even though it was only seven thirty.  Joe and Katie were working on something and Oz was talking to someone.  I looked at Tracy, “How did the meeting with Trig’s parents go last night?”

Tracy sighed, “They already don’t like me and they're threatening to keep the two sons.  Dinner was superb and we had a great time.  They even volunteered to take care of the boys to give my parents a break.  Trig and Tripp are their only children so they don’t have any grandchildren. Tripp and Oz were there for dinner as well and the boys absolutely adore them.  Oz couldn’t stay because he had some things that he wanted to do here at the headquarters.  He looks as if he hasn’t had any sleep.”

I went to Oz’s door and knocked, “Mr. Thompson, I’d like a word with you.”

Oz came to the door, “What’s the problem?”

“Tammy says she thinks you haven’t been to bed.  Is there a problem?”

“We had a major problem last night; one of the people brought drugs to work with him and was trying to peddle them.  We stopped what was happening, and the gentlemen in my office right now is from the district attorney’s office collecting data.  I promise I’ll be a good boy and go home and get some rest, so I can make Tripp pay big time tonight.”

I hugged Oz, “Man, you’re too much.”

Oz smirked, “Too bad you never find out how much is too much.”

I went to Grant’s office and knocked, even though the door was open and there was no one in with him. “Mr. Gump, are you ready to take care of the infamous Mr. Rudolf?  Let’s go to my office and make some plans.”

It was nine o’clock when Grant and I went to the real estate division.  “Grant, see if you can locate Don.  I’m going to go talk to the Head of the Division.  I went to the receptionist.  I’d like to talk to the head of the division.” 

“Sir, I’m sorry, but Mr. Davidson hasn’t arrived yet.”

“Is his deputy here?”

“No, Mr. Noble doesn’t usually arrive until about nine thirty.”

I went to where Grant was talking to a gentlemen, “Hi, Jimmy, I missed our visits in the bathroom on the thirtieth floor.  I understand that there is a new place to have some fun.  It’s located in the men’s bathroom on the west end of the thirty-second floor.  Why don’t you meet me there at ten o’clock?”

Mr. Rudolf looked at Grant, “How do you know me?  I don’t remember you.”

“But, Jim, you used to tell me that I gave the best blowjobs that you had ever had.  You never saw my face because I was on the other side of the glory hole.”

I thought to myself, ‘Grant should be an actor.’

To make a long story short, Mr. Rudolf was no longer employed at Shell nor were the Head of the Real Estate Division and his deputy.  When I explained to President Odom what was happening, he reaffirmed that I was within my rights to terminate the slackers and commended Joe for having the data to back my decision.

I was eating my lunch when Joe and Katie knocked and handed me the revised Sexual Harassment and Discrimination policies.  I read through them and sat back in my chair, “Joe and Katie, I cannot believe that the two of you have been able to do these in one morning.  This is something that should have been done years ago.  Go get some lunch because after you eat, we’re going to go clear out some more dead wood.”

I went to President Odom’s office, “Marlene, is President Odom available?”

President Odom answered from his office, “Depends what you want, Waller.  Get your butt in here.  What’s the problem now?”

I handed him the two policies that Joe and Katie had written to President Odom.  He read them and looked at me, “How did you get these written so fast?  Marlene, come here and read these and see what you think.”

Marlene read the two documents, “President Odom, these look ready to be distributed.  They are extremely well written documents.  Mr. Waller, did you write them?”

I started to laugh, “Marlene, Joe Blank and Katie Kimball sat down and wrote them this morning.  I was amazed that they could do it that fast.”

President Odom looked up, “Marlene, send a copy to the members of the Board of Directors and tell them we need their votes on whether to approve them by Monday.  Marlene, arrange for Joe and Katie to get an additional $5,000 a month.”

President Odom looked at me after Marlene had departed, “So what are you going to do for fun this afternoon?”

“We’re going to make some heads roll in the Human Resources Division.”

By the end of the afternoon, the deputy of the Human Resources Division, Mr. Crosby was out the door for the last time as were four of the department heads.

It was almost five o’clock when Joe, Katie and I walked into the office.

Tammy looked at me, “Boss, if every day is going to be like this, I quit.  I don’t need this crap for a dollar a day.  The phone has been bouncing off the walls.  Poor Grant and Oz  have been trying to placate visitors, and President Odom wants to see you.”

I went to President Odom’s office.  Marlene snickered when she saw me, “You’ve done it now, Ed.  Go right on it.  It may be the last time you ever enter the hallowed sanctum.”

I knocked on President Odom’s door. He stood, “Ed, come in and shut the door.  First the good news, the board members have unanimously approved the two new policies your people wrote. They never respond this fast.”

I took a deep breath, “Lay the bad news on me.  Am I going to be fired or what?”

President Odom scowled, “When you canned Mr. Rudolf, you canned the Governor of Texas’ son-in-law.”

I waited for the shoe to drop.  “It’s seems that Mr. Rudolf wants to take us to court for entrapment.  The funny part is that his in-laws have been trying to prove that he was cheating on his wife for years.”

I didn’t know what to say, so I said nothing.

President Odom, threw up his hands, “Ed, go home.  I guess you petroleum engineers don’t give a damn about politics.  Be prepared for some fun stuff tonight.  Madeline, Melanie and Leanne can be wild when they let their hair down.”

I chased everyone out of the office and Myrabelle had the guys meet me at the side.  She whispered, you made some big time enemies today.  You need to be very careful.

When Greg dropped me at the house, everyone else obviously was there but there was no activity.  When I walked into the house, Allie ran to me, “Thank goodness it wasn’t you who was shot.”

“Allie, what are you talking about?  I’m fine.”

Allie was clinging to me, “Dad, my nerves can’t take many more of these shootings.”

I went to see why everyone was glued to the television watching,  The reporter was saying, “We have just received a report saying that the person who was shot coming out of the Shell Headquarters was Grant Gump.  The police have apprehended the person who fired the shots.  His name is James Rudolf and he is the Governor’s son-in-law.  The Governor’s office has refused to comment on the case, saying it had nothing to do with the state.  We’ll be providing more information as it becomes available.”

I looked at everyone, “I think we should cancel our dinner engagement, since Grant works for me.  I feel responsible for him being shot.”

I was interrupted by the phone, Allie answered, “Dad, it’s Mr. Blank.”

I took the phone, “What’s the bad news, Joe?”

“I’m calling to tell you that Grant is fine.  It was only flesh wound.  In fact he’s planning to go to work tomorrow.  We’re getting ready to leave the hospital and go get something to eat.  He may be sending the company bill for a new shirt.”

Allie was persistent, “We need to go to the Odom’s.  Let’s go and get the meeting over with.  If we get bored, we can come home right after dinner.”

To be continued...

Editor's Notes: Somehow, I can't imagine that anyone will be bored.

I wonder how many more deadbeats are still working at Shell, that Ed and his people haven't uncovered yet.

Grant was lucky.  Apparently Rudolf wasn't as good a shot as the guys that shot Ed.

I hope the next chapter will be along soon.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 01/29/10