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

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Chapter 18 

The Guillotine Falls

When Tom and Greg walked into the office, Tom looked at the walls. “Mr. Waller, I take it you’re into gambling.  Perhaps you should have made the trip to Vegas instead of me.”

“Tom, my name is Ed.  Some things happened around here this weekend that caused my office to need to be repainted.  I still haven’t determined who is responsible for this polka dot effect.   I’m hoping that the dice aren’t permanently painted on.  You're right in that it wouldn’t be sending a good signal to visitors.”

Greg laughed, “Tammy is the interior decorator responsible for what was done.”

I looked at the two men, “Gentlemen, you both said some things this morning that have me somewhat baffled.  Greg, you mentioned that Tom lived next door to you and that you didn’t know he worked here at Shell.  Yet you knew that he was on a trip.  Could you explain in more detail?”

Greg nodded, “Tom and Ginny just moved into the house next door a week ago.  Tom and I had talked just briefly when he was mowing the lawn one night last week.  Kim was talking to Ginny over the weekend and Ginny mentioned Tom was on a business trip to Las Vegas.  I still hadn’t made the connection.  I have had no reason to get involved with the Real Estate Division until this past Friday.”

I looked at Tom, “Do you have anything to add?”

Tom grinned, “We just bought the house after I was hired three weeks ago.  I still don’t know why I was hired to be in the Real Estate Division.  What little I know about real estate, I learned while Ginny and I were house hunting.  I knew that Greg worked for an oil company, but Curtis didn’t say it was Shell when he was talking to me with his friend Allie one night when I had to go home early because of a problem.”

I decided to ask a question that was probably none of my business, “Tom, this is probably something personal that you might not care to share, but since you are going to be working for me, under Greg’s tutelage, I’m curious as to the comment you made about not being interested in drinking or gambling.”

“Mr. Waller, you go right for the jugular vein, don’t you?  It’s not a nice story, but I suppose you need to know why I have an aversion to alcohol and gambling.”  

“My Mother died when I was ten, so I was left in the care of my father.  He was a great Dad and tried to make my life as good as he could.  He belonged to a poker group that met every Thursday and they would have a good old time.  Nothing out of the ordinary ever happened until one night after I had turned sixteen.  I was in my room doing my homework when my Dad’s best friend, Noel, burst into my room.”

“He reeked of alcohol.  He grabbed me and pushed me on the bed and started to undress me.  He was mumbling, ‘I won the right to use your body fair and square.  You’re Dad wagered your body and he lost.’  I was not very big for my age and man easily over powered me.  He was brutal in his treatment of me when he penetrated me.”

“When my Dad sobered up, he was mortified by what he had caused to happen.  The next morning Dad’s friend came and profusely apologized for what he had done.  But I wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of even acknowledging either one of them.”

“Needless to say, the poker games ended and Dad tried everything to get me to talk to him.  I held out for a year, and when I finally talked to him, I told him I did not want to ever talk about what happened.  Dad and I have, I guess, what would best be described as a reserved relationship.  He adores our son and daughter.”

“I found out just recently that Dad’s friend, who violated me, paid for most of my college expenses.  I was incensed at first, but Ginny convinced me that it was best to not stir up the dust.  We also have found out just recently that Dad and Noel are more than just friends.”

I looked at Greg who was shrugging his shoulders.  I asked, “Tom, how do you feel about your father being in a relationship with a man?”

Tom shrugged, “When I first found out, I was devastated, but Ginny has helped me understand that it’s okay as long as it doesn’t impact on us and the children.  In fact, my Dad is happier now than he’s been in a long time.”

“Tom, I have one more question.  Would it be a problem if you were to be working with some people who are gay?”
 

Tom shook his head no, “I can work with anyone as long as they don’t try to put the make on me.”

I chuckled, “That’s good.  Just so you know, I’m gay and I have a partner, and the Allie you mentioned is my son.  There are also some other gay people who work for me, but they will not be bothering you.”

I looked at the two gentlemen, “Greg and Tom, I have the feeling that you two gentlemen are going to be very important in the revitalizing of this company.  Katie and Joe will be attempting to tear it down while you two will be responsible for making sure it is operating smoothly.  Tom, I can’t tell you what your salary is going to be yet, but I think I can assure you that it will be significantly higher than it was previously.”

I stood, “Greg, when you get the information that President Odom asked for, take it to his office if I’m not here.  Welcome aboard, Tom.”

I accompanied Greg and Tom to the first floor and some of the people who had gone to Vegas were arriving.  One gentleman in particular was giving the security people a difficult time.  I walked up to the gentleman, “What seems to be the problem, sir?”

“These stupid people won’t let me bring my suitcase into the building without it being checked.”

“They’re just following security procedures, sir.  Why do you need to bring your suitcase into the building, anyway?”

The man was getting really huffy, “Look, asshole, it’s none of your business why I need to bring the suitcase into the building.”

I looked at Oz, “Mr. Thompson, please relieve the man of the suitcase.  Ms Miller, please make sure this gentleman is restrained while we check to see what is so precious that he thinks he needs to bring this into the building.”

The man yelled, “Who the hell do you think you are that gives you the right to open personal property.” 

I went and stood in the man’s face.  “I’m Ed Waller, and I am head of security.  The way you’re acting makes us suspicious that you might be carrying explosives into the building.  After all the things that have been happening around here, I wouldn’t be surprised.”

Oz called, “Ed, come and see what the man was trying to bring into the building.  Ms Miller, call the police and tell them we have intercepted a gentleman with a suitcase full of pornography.”

I went to see what Oz was talking about.   The suitcase was obviously filled with all sorts of pornography.  I called President Odom’s office and told Marlene that the President might want to come witness what was happening. 

President Odom arrived just as the police did.  I showed the police and President Odom the suitcase that the man was trying to bring into the building with the pornography.  The young officer made a call to the dispatcher.  “Sergeant, this is a case for vice.  A gentleman is here at Shell with a suitcase full of porn and there is some child pornography in the collection.”

“This is Inspector Mansfield.  Have the people at Shell witness the inventory you make of the materials and bring it and the gentleman in question to the headquarters.”

I looked at Oz and Myrabelle, “Please witness the inventory and send a copy of the inventory to my office.”

As President Odom and I were walking toward the elevator, we met Greg.  “Good, I was just coming to give you the information that we were able to recover for the last two months on the use of the limousines.  The records are not in good order.  We’ll take care of that problem as quickly as we can.  For your information, Vice President Farnum submitted a requisition for a new Cadillac, today.  He complained that his had over 100,000 miles on it.  I checked and it is only nine months old.”

President Odom remained outwardly calm, “Thank you, Greg, this will be most helpful.”

I stopped at Human Resources and Finance to find out exactly what Greg was being paid, so I could inform Tom what he would be making.  I figured that they should receive the same.  When I arrived in the office, Joe was waiting for me, “Ed, the legal department is way overmanned, as I suspected.  I am of the opinion that they could do the company’s legal work with only a fourth of the people.  The people spent much of the time while I was there today helping people with personal problems.  Even Vice President Farnum stopped in to talk to Mr. Kravitz about a personal problem.”

I looked at the clock, “Joe, I have a staff meeting with the hierarchy in fifteen minutes.  Please prepare a list of your significant observations in legal division to include Vice President Farnum’s visit today.”

As I was getting ready to go to the meeting, Joe handed me a one page memo in a folder, “Boss, this is the best I could do in such a short time.”

I read through the memo and started to laugh, “Joe, I’d hate to see your best.  This is great.”

When I went to the President's office, Marlene accompanied me into the Board Room and my name was next to President Odom’s again.

President Odom was gracious when he started the meeting, “I want to thank you for taking time out of your busy schedules to meet with me this afternoon.  I know that this is an inconvenience for some of you, since you haven’t worked this late for some time.”

Some people started to scrunch down in their seats.  President Odom looked at the listings that Joe and Grant had given him, “I have had the opportunity to review the amount of time each of you were in the building last week.  As I look around the table, I note that there are only six of us who were present for duty for at least forty hours.” 

“I’m telling now that your next paychecks will reflect the number of hours that you worked, so some of you will be receiving much smaller checks.  I am directing that Mr. Waller’s people prepare the documentation to have the funds deducted.  You people were hired to do a job, and you sure haven’t been doing them.”

“From now on, you and your people will be here a minimum of forty hours a week to receive your full pay.  There will be exceptions for sick days and vacation days. Those days will be closely monitored.”

One of the vice presidents asked the wrong questions, “What about business luncheons that we attend on behalf of Shell Oil?” 

“Stanley, I am not aware that you have been authorized to represent Shell Oil at any business luncheons.  But that brings me to the next point; the company will not pay for any travel or business luncheons, unless they have been pre-approved by Mr. Waller’s people.”

Stanley stood up, “That’s preposterous, they have no idea what’s going on here at Shell.  Next they’ll be telling us when and when we can and can’t drive our cars.”

“Thank you for reminding me, Stanley.   We’ll be collecting the keys to the company owned cars.  While I have a company car, I don’t drive it back and forth to work.  I’ve had the same car since I arrived here five years ago, and it has less than fifty thousand miles on it.  Luke, I understand that you put in a request for a new Cadillac, since the one which you’ve had only nine months has over 100,000 miles.  There is no way that you could have driven that many miles on company business.”

“We’ll be collecting the keys to the company cars as you leave tonight.  If for strange reason you didn’t drive the car today, the limousine will take you home so you can get the keys and you can come back and pick up your personal car and drive it home.”

Vice President Farnum stood, “This is outrageous.  You’re treating us like common criminals.  My company car isn’t at the house.  My wife took the car and some of her friends and they were driving to Dallas for the night.”

“Luke, what business can your wife be taking care of in Dallas for the company.  You just proved my point that you people have been abusing your offices for personal purposes.  Now sit down, before I fire your ass.”

People were sinking lower in their chairs.  President Odom was on a roll.  “Today is the last day that the limousines will be transporting anyone home or for personal purposes, even though some of you may be without transportation after you turn in the keys to your company car.”

“I want to make sure that everyone understands, The Company will not be paying for any expenses that are not pre-approved.”

Another Vice President spoke up, “Adam, you’re out of control.  You’re letting this Waller person tell you how to think.” 

President Odom remained calm, “Archie, you are the people who were supposed to be watching over the operation of the company, and it is becoming increasing evident that you people haven’t been doing it and haven’t been earning your salaries.  I have here the letters of resignation and termination, if you refuse to go on your own.”
 

Vice President Farnum pounded the table, “You don’t have the authority to fire us.  We were appointed by the board.”

President Odom laughed, “We’ll take care of that right now.  Marlene, have the people been hearing what has been going on?”

“President Odom, this is Melanie Carr, we’re all on.  What exactly is your motion that you wish us take action just to make sure that we are all clear on what we are being asked to vote on?”

President Odom responded, “I’m asking that all of the vice presidents except Roger Reed be relieved of their duties either voluntarily of involuntarily for failure to perform the functions that they were hired to do?”

“This is Melanie Carr. I so move.”

“This is Randy Tabor.  I second the motion.”

President Odom asked, “Ladies and gentlemen, is there any further discussion.   Hearing none.  Marlene, please take the vote of those people who support the dismissal of the all the vice presidents except Roger Reed.”

The roll call was completed except for Dad.  He was last probably because of our last name.  Marlene asked, “Mr. Waller, how do you vote?”

Dad, being himself, said, “I vote in favor of the motion and recommend that the legal department look into recovering any funds that were misappropriated.”

President Odom laughed, “Al, we’ve already started actions to stop use of company funds for personal use.”

“The motion has passed unanimously.  The employment of all vice presidents except Roger Reed are hereby being terminated.  Board, before we go on to other business which you might want to listen to, I would like to recommend that we have a special board meeting a week from tomorrow.  There are some actions that you will need to approve, by then.”

After Marlene did a roll call, all but one of the board could be present and he gave his proxy to Dad. 

The meeting continued and President Odom pulled out the folder that Joe had given me.  He looked at Mr. Kravitz, head of the Legal Division, “Art, exactly what are the responsibilities of your division?”

Mr. Kravitz took a deep breath, “We’re here to protect the company from being sued and reviewing all of the contracts that involve the company.”

“I didn’t know that the company had any dealings with Amazon or EBay.   Do we have a contract with ESPN as well?  I have here a report that says over half of the people who came to your office today were there because of personal questions.  Your job is to take care of company business.  I hope I don’t find out that you and your people are charging a legal fee for providing services that have nothing to do with the company.  Why was Mr. Farnum visiting with you today?”

Mr. Farnum jumped up, “Art don’t answer that question.  It’s none of anyone’s business what you and I discussed, today.”

President Odom pointed his fingers at the two gentlemen, “If Mr. Kravitz was talking to you on company time, then it is our business.  Mr. Kravitz, what was Mr. Farnum talking to you about?”

“He wanted to know what he needed to do to file for bankruptcy.”

President Odom fell back on his chair, “Luke, if you can’t live on what you were making and pay your bills.  You have no business being in a position of power.  No wonder this company has so many things happening that shouldn’t have ever been allowed to happen.  This meeting is adjourned.”

After everyone left except Roger Reed and myself, President Odom looked at me.  “Ed, I want you and your staff here at eight in the morning.  I want to talk to them.”

When I arrived in the office, my staff, including Tom were waiting on me, I looked at them, “We’ve been summoned to meet with President Odom at eight in the morning.  Don’t ask me what for, because I haven’t the slightest idea why.”

Greg spoke, “Ed, I offered to give Tom a ride home so his wife wouldn’t have to come pick him up.”

“That’s great.  He can join our car pool, and we can save even more money.  Let’s bust out of this place. It’s already after five.”

When we arrived at the checkout point, the young security person stopped me as I was about to exit via the front entrance, “Sir, President Odom said you were not to leave by the main entrance until further notice.”

“But I drove us to work.”

The young man was persistent, “Then give your keys to one of your friends and they can pick you up at the side entrance.”

“Here you go, Juan. Since you at one time, a long time ago, were a limousine driver, surely you can drive my old jalopy.”

Juan and Greg laughed as they left the building with Tom.  When they pulled up at the side door, I climbed in the back with Tom, “Home, Mr. Gomez.”

On the way home, I described what happened at the staff meeting and the guys were laughing.  Tom spoke up, “I didn’t know that I was going to be working for the company’s number one villain.  We’ll have to get you a disguise to wear to and from work.  Maybe you should buy a helicopter and fly to work and land on the roof of the building.”

I had Juan drive to where the three guys lived so I would know where they lived the next time I drove.  When I walked into the house, Allie hugged me, “Dad, it’s so strange now that the Daniels have taken their things.  They were able to get everything done today.  They told me to tell you that they would be here at seven tomorrow evening to sign the paperwork for the house and the household. Dad, we need to go shopping so our house really feels like a home again.”

“Brahim called and he’ll be here in about twenty minutes.  I did the best I could do with what we had.”

The Daniels had taken the breakfast table, a set of dishes, silverware and some pots and pans.  After we ate, we went to see what else we would need.   Allie decided that we should go to the new and used furniture store to see what we might find.  My two guys were very practical.  Allie was in favor of getting all used things, but Brahim convinced him that it would be less expensive in the long run to buy only the things that we really liked. 

Since our bedrooms and bathroom were left as they had been, we decided to concentrate on the kitchen, since that was the second most important place in the house according to Allie.

After an hour of shopping and looking we found a table and chairs for the breakfast area that the guys liked.  Allie especially liked it because it had six chairs so that when the grandparents or anyone else came to visit we could eat breakfast and lunch there.  The dining room was fine.

We were just about to leave the store when Allie spotted a nice used desk that could replace the one that Mr. Daniels took from the study so Brahim would have a place to go and hide if he wanted to.  Before we departed the store, we had also bought a king sized bed frame that could be attached to a headboard later.  Of course we needed the box springs and mattress to go on the bed frame.

We made arrangements for the merchandise to be delivered the next day, between noon and three, because Brahim would be home before he had to go for opera practice.

When Brahim and I were in bed, I rolled against him, “Bra, hold me.  I have no idea what’s happening anymore.  When are you going to be practicing for Rigoletto?” 

He held me, “Eddie, I’m going to be having practice only Tuesday and Thursday for the next two weeks.  It will pick up after that until the performances.”

“Bra, would you be amenable to going to New York to visit Mrs. Carr since my parents are probably going to be here Monday night and Tuesday night of next week?”

“That’s fine with me, but we need to talk to Allie and make sure he doesn’t have anything planned.” 

To be continued...

 Editor's Notes:  I said last time that Ed was going to be making a few heads roll, at the company.  He and his staff seem to be getting a good start on that project. I am sure that the trip to New York will be very interesting.  I strongly suspect that they are going to meet some very interesting people In New York. Mark my words.  I hope it won't be long before we have another chapter to read.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 03/12/10