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 33 

Tammy Takes Control

I was sitting at my desk, making a rough agenda for the staff meeting, in light of everything that had and was happening.  I suddenly realized that I really had no concept of what being the president of a major corporation really entailed.  My thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of Tammy, “King Edward, your loyal subjects await your arrival in the conference room.  If you will follow me, I’ll lead the way, so you don’t get lost.”

When I entered the conference room, which was not Katie’s office, everyone was sitting at the big table.  Tammy announced, “Ladies and gentlemen, the prez is about to hold his staff meeting.  He’s had a rather busy morning, so expect a short and sweet meeting.”

“Ignore Tammy, she's only doing some wishful thinking.  I would like to introduce our two newest staff members, Mr. Carlos Calderon, head of the Warehouse Department, and Mr. Fredrico Paganini, who will be the head of the Receiving Department.  I'd like for the rest of you to introduce yourselves so they will know who you are and how you fit into the scheme of things.”

After the introductions were complete, I pointed to Grant, “Grant, I want to commend you on how you handled the interview last night.”

Mr. Odom nodded in agreement, “I agree, Grant. You handled the situation very well.”

I looked at my list, “The next thing on my agenda is that I’ve been informed that Mrs. Grimes is planning to get married over the Christmas holidays and feels that she’s already overworked and needs an assistant to keep her out of trouble.”

Carlos raised his hand, “What type of person would you be looking for to assist Mrs. Grimes?”

I pointed to Tammy, indicating she should answer.

Tammy laughed, “It has to be someone uglier than me, more efficient than me and a person who can take orders from a dumb broad and a dumb president.”

Needless to say, that broke everyone up.

Carlos finally stopped chuckling, “I know someone whom I'd like you to consider, but since the boss placed him on furlough, I’m not sure I can get in touch with him.  President Waller, do we have the authority to recall some of the furloughed employees, whom we can trust, to help us with the inventory.”

“Carlos, you and Fredrico can do whatever you think is best, since you are now in charge of the two departments.  But you will need to get your Division Chief’’s approval, and that is going to be Mr. Sheraton.  Mr. Bloom will be working with you very closely, to monitor the monies that have been siphoned from the company, as will Mr. Withem to be able to determine the charges that should be filed against the individuals who have systematically been bilking the company.”

There was a knock on the door and Marlene’s assistant came in, “Pardon me for interrupting, but there’s a gentleman who insists on seeing Mr. Odom.”

Mr. Odom shrugged his shoulders, “Send him in, Patty.  I have no appointments this morning that I know of.”

Patty brought a man who obviously was a truck driver into the room.  He didn’t wait to be introduced, “I have a delivery and there is no one in the receiving area to accept them.”

I stood, “I’m President Waller, and we’re not accepting any deliveries until further notice.  There has been some major problems in our Contracting Division.  What type cargo are you carrying, anyway?”

“The same things that I’ve been delivering every Wednesday for the past four years.  Toilet tissue and bathroom supplies.”

Fredrico spoke up, “Mr. Denton would always deliver the cargo and then ask us to call Mr. Sampson and have him meet him at the loading dock.”

Carlos added, “We already have more than enough of the kinds of things that Mr. Denton brings, and we won’t need any for probably at least six months.”

“Mr. Denton, please hand me the invoice.”  I wrote on it Shipment Refused,  signed and dated it.  “Mr. Denton, you’re days of dealing with Shell Oil are over.  A quick glance at these prices tells me your products are way overpriced.”

I tore off the top sheet of the invoice and handed it to Todd, “Here, this may help you in preparing your legal cases

I turned to Oz. “Mr. Thompson, would you please escort Mr. Denton out.  Carlos and Fredrico, put a big sign on the doors in the receiving area, Shipments are not being accepted until further notice.”

After the visitor had been escorted out, I looked around, “We’ll continue this meeting tomorrow morning at eight.  If anyone has anything they need to talk to me about, please stick around.”

Everyone departed.  I walked back to my office and asked, “Tammy, where are all the other people’s offices?”

Tammy scowled, “You aren’t very observant, are you?  Grant, Joe, Katie and Oz are now ensconced in your old office.  We need to hire them a receptionist.  I don’t mind filling in as their receptionist, but when you find a vice president, I won’t be able to help out very much.”

“All four of them are like shadows in the night, they keep coming and going at will.  I can’t keep up with where they are, and I almost never know where you are.”

I decided to go talk to the troops, but first, I stopped in CEO Odom’s office.  He was available and Marlene directed me in.  “Sir, I need some guidance as to what my responsibilities are, as President.  Are there any guidelines that I can follow?”

“Ed, you’re doing just fine.  Just keep doing what you have been doing.  By the way, I just received a message from The Hague.  They want us to come for meetings, next Wednesday.  That means we will need to leave on Tuesday and we probably won’t get back until late Wednesday night or early Thursday morning.  You will need to find someone to fill in for you, while we’re away.”

“Sir, you’re the third person to tell me that I needed to find someone to be able to be in charge in my absence, in the last twenty four hours.  All of the discussions have indicated that the person, should be male and should be married, in order to not give the public the opinion that the company is being run by gays.”

Mr. Odom started to laugh, “That would be an interesting idea.  What if you were to select a female for the position.  Would the same restrictions apply?  Why don’t you choose one of the people who are presently working for you to fill the position?”

“Mr. Odom, as of right now, I think I have the people plugged into the right positions.  I’m not sure that any of them would be willing to accept more responsibilities, just yet.”

“You’re probably right.  Let’s go get some lunch.  You’ll be able to think better on a full tank.”

As we were eating in the Pit Stop, Carlos and Fredrico approached us.  Carlos started, “Mr. Odom and President Waller, we have two qualified candidates for you to consider to be the assistant to Mrs. Grimes.  They are both excellent workers and are underemployed in the Receiving and Warehousing Departments.”

I looked at the four people, “Grab a chair, if you haven’t had lunch, I’ll spring for sandwiches and a drink.  Mafia Boy, take everyone’s order while these new people spill their guts to Mr. Odom and me.”

I handed Fredrico twenty five dollars and turned to the two young people who were under consideration for the assistant secretary position, “Young lady, why don’t you start the show and tell?”

The young woman took a deep breath, “My name is Deidre Del Rio.  I’m a single parent with one son.  I have never been married and probably never will be, since I’ve been defiled. I have just completed business school, but have been unable to find anyone who is willing to hire me, because of what happened in the past.”

Mr. Odom and I looked at each other.  I had a thousand questions, but Carlos intervened, “Ms Del Rio was one of the persons involved, when that Mr. Kravitz person told us that we didn’t have a leg to stand on in filing charges against Mr. Gilbert for sexual abuse.”

Mr. Odom shook his head in disbelief, “Ms Del Rio, are you saying that Mr. Gilbert was the father of your son.”

“If it wasn’t Gilbert, then it was a Second Immaculate Conception, since he was the only person who had ever used my body.   If it hadn’t been for my parents, I would probably have put Estaban up for adoption.”

I wasn’t liking what I was hearing, “Deidre, you mention you just completed business school.  Where was it that you attended?”

“Black boy and I are recent graduates of the Houston Business College.”

Mr. Odom frowned, “Who are you referring to when you say Black boy.”

The young man looked up from his sandwich, “I think she’s referring to me.  The name is Jackie Robinson Cleveland.  I’m twenty four, married and have a son and a daughter.  Before you ask, the reason, I need a better paying job that doesn’t require too much manual labor is that I have a prosthesis for part of my left leg.  I was in the Marine Corp, and was in injured by a land mine explosion.”

I stood, “Mr. Cleveland, I have one question for you.  Were you ever made to do things with Gilbert, as well?”

The young man shook his head no, “I’m probably the only person who worked the warehouse area that he hadn’t taken advantage of.   I am the only black person working in the department, since Gilbert was definitely a racist and wouldn’t even have thought to use my body, even if he were desperate for sex.” 

I turned to Fredrico and Carlos, “Spic and Mafia Boy, have these two in my office at four o’clock.  Until then, get back to getting the inventory done.”

Fredrico stood, “Aye, Aye, Sir.”

As Mr. Odom and I were riding up on the elevator, he asked, “Ed, how are you going to choose between Ms Del Rio and Mr. Cleveland?”

“I’m not going to, sir, I have positions to offer both of them if the interviews at four o’clock go well.  In the meantime, I’m going to go talk to Dr. Rudy and see what we can do for Deidre.  I’m guessing it is something that Shell should not be involved in, but we need to make that asshole Gilbert pay.  Who knows how many other women he impregnated?”

I checked in with Tammy and I told her that I wanted to have Katie, Oz, Joe, Grant and her in the conference room at four o’clock.  I’ll be out and about until then.  I have some things that I need to check on before the meeting.

I did stop to see Dr. Rudy, in Legal and I was indeed correct that Shell Oil could not initiate any action on behalf of Deidre.  She suggested, “Mr. Waller, why don’t you arrange for me to meet with the young lady, tomorrow, so I could possibly suggest someone who might be able to help her.”

I stopped in the Contracting Office and Rob was sitting in his office and there was only one other person in the office.  I walked in. “Rob, where is everyone else?”

Rob grinned, “Since we’ve issued a moratorium on issuing any contracts until the inventory of the supplies and equipment on hand is completed, I had the others go help with the inventory.  You should see the warehouse area.  Even, Grant, Joe, Oz and Tom are helping with it.  Carlos and Fredrico don’t take any hostages.”

On the way to the receiving area, I stopped to see if Steve Carson was in.  He was just coming out of his office, “What can I do for you?”

“Steve, I have a question for you?”

“Ask.  I’ll answer if I can.”

“Steve, would you be interested in assuming the position of my assistant and the title of Vice President of Operations.”

Steve put his hands to the sides of his head, “Ed, I’m flattered that you would even consider me, but the answer is unequivocally no.  I couldn’t put up with the hullabaloo that you have to.  I need to be able to spend time with my family.  This is the most important time in our children’s development, and I’m finally being able to provide them with some extra goodies, thanks to your generosity.  I’m happy with where I am, for right now.”

I put a hand on Steve’s shoulder, “Steve, I rather thought that this is how you would react.  Thanks for being honest.”

When I arrived in the warehouse area, it was a beehive of activity.  People were divided into teams, taking stock numbers and counts of items and handing them to the persons operating the computers.  I went to find Carlos.  He was up on a ladder counting something while someone I didn’t know was writing what he was to told to write.  When Carlos saw me, he climbed down, “Is there a problem, boss?”

“Yes, if you’re always going to make people work this hard, then I’ll need to rethink my decision about putting you in charge.  I think it’s great that you have these people so organized.  When will the inventory be done?”

“Hopefully, we can have it done by this time tomorrow.  The furloughed employees are just thankful that they still have jobs.  Some of them are willing to stay late tonight to make up for lost pay.”

I shrugged, “I have no problem with that, as long as everyone is out of the facility by eight o’clock.  No one should need to work more than twelve hours a day.”

At four o’clock. I walked into the conference room and Tammy stood, “Everyone, please rise, President Waller has condescended to attend this meeting.  I'm so glad that his Alzheimer’s hasn’t progressed to the point that he forgets what he tells people to do.”

I looked at Tammy, “You can be replaced by a chimpanzee.  Thanks for being here.  We have two prospective hires for our staff.  First I’d like to introduce the two persons who are being interviewed for the position of assistant to Mrs. Grimes. 

I introduced Deidre and Jackie and they basically made the same spiel about their lives that they made at lunchtime.  Tammy took charge,  “First, we need to check to see if they have good phone personalities.  After that, we need to find out their technical skills, then check to see who can make the best coffee.”

After Tammy's tests, both Deidre and Jackie proved that they were more than capable to assume the position as Tammy’s assistant, I made a command decision.  “This is what I propose, I recommend that Mr. Jackie Robinson Cleveland be Mrs. Grimes assistant and Ms Deidre Del Rio be the receptionist and gofer for Mr. Gump, Mr. Blank, Mr. Thompson and Mrs. Kimball.  Here’s the reason for the placement.  First, I don’t have a black person on my personal staff, and Jackie is married, so the issue of sexual preference shouldn’t surface.”

“Deidre, the good thing about it is that you will get to boss your four bosses around, while Jackie is being made to jump through hoops.  I need to tell the two of you that you will be paid the same salary, so it’s a win, win situation.”

I handed them each a slip, with their salary.  Since I hadn’t informed Carlos and Fredrico what their salaries would be, I also handed them a slip with what they would be paid.  The reaction of the four people was universal.  They sat as if frozen in time.  Finally Carlos got out of his chair and came and hugged me, as did the other three people.

I looked around the assembled people, “I expect all of you to be here in the morning, no later than eight o’clock.  I’m exhausted and I need to go home.”

To be continued...

Editor's Notes: It looks as if the situation at Shell is beginning to settle down to a dull roar.  While I suspect there will still be problems to solve, I think it is getting to a point where business can get back down to something close to a normal situation. 

I think most of the people who are still employed are going to get their stuff together and put in a full day's work for a full day's pay, and do the things that will be good for the company and everyone else, not just what looks nice from the outside.  

Now, I have a request.  Please do me a favour.

Please keep E Walk and his family in your thoughts and prayers.

Some real life issues are rearing their heads, and might cause some delays. I am sure that E Walk would appreciate hearing from you, but please be kind, and don't ask him to rush things. 

We all read and thoroughly enjoy all his wonderful stories, but sometimes personal issues have to take priority.   Please be patient.

I am sure that everything will be fine, but a prayer couldn't possibly hurt.

Thank you,

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher 

Posted: 07/02/10