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 48 

The Revolving Door

Allie, Brahim and I were finishing the trick or treat bags and Brahim was finally beginning to relax.  Neither Allie nor I mentioned the opera.  Allie was cleaning up what little mess we had made and was putting the last of the bags in a large basket when the doorbell rang.

Brahim visibly stiffened as Allie went to answer.  Fortunately, it was Manny and Curtis.  Manny giggled, “We wanted to get our reservations in for the party, before the spaces were filled.  Dad wants to know what you're planning, if you needed signed permission slips.  He wants to know if he should plan to come and help supervise?”

Allie started to giggle, “Dad is old fashioned and he believes that he has to make sure all of his i’s are dotted and all his t’s are crossed.  My grandparents are going to be here, so you can assure your parents that we’ll all be safe.”

Both guys were studying when the doorbell rang again.  I went to answer it, figuring it was for me.  I opened the door and a young guy and girl were standing there.  The young guy asked, “Is this the home of Edward Waller and Allie Safi?”

I had no idea who these two young people were, “Yes, I’m Ed Waller and Allie is my son.  What can I do to help you?”

 The girl yelled, “Mom, this is the place.”

The passenger side door of the car opened and Dr. Graybill started to walk to toward the door, “Hi, boss, I had to come and check for myself to see if you were the Ed Waller who was my boss.”

The young man held out his hand, “I’m Danny Talltrees and this is my sister, Danielle  We’d like to accept  Allie’s invitation to the party.”

“Come on, in.  Allie and his brother are both studying.  Make yourselves comfortable while I get the guys.”

I returned with Allie and Brahim, “Guys, I’d like to introduce my Vice President for Technical Affairs, Dr. Graybill.  Allie, I believe you know Danny and Danielle.”

The guys were shaking hands with the visitors when a car horn sounded. Dr. Graybill looked at Danny, “Danny, go tell Damon to keep his pants on.  We’ll be there, shortly.”

“Dr. Graybill, I’ll go get him and see what his problem is.”

I went out the garage door and reached the car just as the car horn was sounding again.  I opened the door without the young man seeing me, “What’s your problem, kid?  Do you need to go home and jack off or are you just being self-centered?  Get your ass out of the car and go into the house and sit quietly until your brother, sister and mother are ready to leave.”

“Who the hell do you think you are, telling me what to do?”

“I’m Dr. Graybill’s boss, if you must know.  Now get your ass into the house or do I need to embarrass you by dragging you into the house.”

The young man looked at me and decided that maybe I wasn’t kidding, because he timidly walked into the house.  I pointed, “Allie and Bra, come meet Danny and Danielle’s older brother Damon.  He came to apply for a job at Shell, to help teach him some manners.”

“I did not.  You’re lying like all adults do.”

“Damon, I can assure you that I don’t lie.  I want to see you in my office as soon as school is finished, tomorrow.  Dr. Graybill, does that create a problem?”

“No, Danny and Danielle can walk home from school and I won’t have to worry about where Damon is.”

Damon started to sputter, “Don’t I get to have a say in what’s happening.  After all, I’m sixteen and can take care of myself.”

I looked at Kit and she told me with her eyes, she didn’t have a problem with what was happening.  “Damon, either you’re in my office or your mother will be looking for a new job and you won’t be able to afford your car.  Do I make myself clear?”

Our conversation was interrupted the door bell again.  Allie went to answer, this time.  “Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Odom, Ms Sanders and Ms. Crabtree and Dr. Daniels, how can I help you?”

Mr. Odom answered, “We came to talk to Brahim.  Is he available?”

“Come on in.  He’s visiting with some other company, in the living room.”

When Brahim saw who the visitors were, he frowned, “I’m not going to work on Rigoletto as long as Mr. Martinelli is the director.  He can neither read or speak Italian.  I overheard him say to someone on the phone, ‘These clods are paying me big dollars to direct the show.  I need to make major changes between now and opening night, so it is something unique.  I’m guessing that the young unknown person who has the lead role is going to fight me tooth and nail.  He’s already threatened to bail out and that would leave the opera without a male lead.  He’s acting like a prima Donna.  If he bail’s, he’ll never sing in another opera if I’m involved in the production.”

Ms Sanders shook her head, “Brahim, I’m not sure I understand what you were saying.”

“Ms. Sanders, I said that if Mr. Martinelli is going to be associated with Rigoletto then it is doomed to failure.  The man has no aptitude for music. Where the Opera Guild found the jerk is beyond me.”

Mrs. Daniels frowned, “I should have realized that something was wrong when we commissioned Mr. Martinelli. He was an acquaintance of a board member, and he highly recommended him.”

“Brahim, can you be at a meeting tomorrow evening at seven.  I’ll get the principles involved to attend and perhaps we can salvage this production.  The Grand Opera would look very bad if we didn’t put on the initial production of the season.  Come on, people, we need to be leaving.  We have a bunch of calls to make.”

After the opera guild people had departed, Damon stood, “President Waller, you still haven’t told me what kind of work I’ll be doing at Shell.  How should I dress?”

“What you’re wearing will be fine. We may have reason to change, once we get into the job.”

After all the visitors had departed, Brahim let go.  “Guys, I’m sorry for embarrassing you, tonight, but I won’t let someone like Martinelli drag me down with him.”

“Bra, relax.  Allie and I support what you did.  Let’s wait and see what comes out in the wash, tomorrow night.  The Opera Guild ladies are intelligent enough to determine for themselves what the problems are now that you have called their attention to them.  Let’s lock up and go to bed before any more visitors come calling.”

Brahim was feeling better about things when we woke up on Friday morning, “Ed, I feel like a big crybaby for the way I acted, but I don’t want my debut in an opera to be a fiasco.”

“Bra, you did the right thing.  You are not a mule to be controlled by some jackass.  Trust me, things will work out fine, tonight.”

The day at work was going fine.  Kit and my staff were having a field day tearing the last of the technical divisions to shreds.  Tom and his new assistant were getting the coffee klatch squared away.  The participants would be having a little less money to spend when they received their paychecks and were placed on probation.

After lunch, I was sitting at my desk, looking at the information that had been received from the London office, detailing what they wanted included in the conference.  We were going to be busy.  Mr. Odom stopped in and announced, “Ed, I’ve decided to call for the board of directors to have a meeting on the tenth, since some of the out of town members will here for the opening night gala at the opera.”

“Mr. Odom, you’re being a little presumptuous aren’t you?  There may not be an opening night gala.”

“Listen and listen well, Ed, when the biddies make up their minds that something’s going to happen, it will happen.  You can count on it.”

It was just before three when J. R. announced, “President Waller, there is a young man with a definite attitude problem here to see you.  He says that you told him he was going to be working here.”

“J. R., show him in.”

I stood and put out my hand, “Good to see you again, Damon.”

After he shook my hand I motioned for him to sit down.  He still hadn’t said anything.  I thought to myself, ‘This is going to be a hard nut to crack.’

I passed J. R. a note, “Tell Dr. Graybill that her oldest son is here if she would like to sit in on the interview.”

“Damon, I didn’t expect you this early.  I thought you might not be here until about four.”

“I could have been here sooner.  I almost decided not to come, and then I figured you would take it out on Aunt Kit if I didn’t show.”

“I thought Dr. Graybill was your adopted Mother.  Is it going to be so hard to think of her as your Mother?  I thought that the high schools left out after three.”

“They do, but I don’t have any classes after one thirty.  I dropped the last two classes.”

“Why did you drop the last two classes?”

“It was either that, or fail them.”

“Why were you failing them?”

“Mr. Waller, you don’t know what it’s like to lose your Mother and be sent to live with an old maid aunt who hasn’t a clue how to raise children, let alone a teenager.  To top it off, it made me feel like a piece shit when I found out that our drunken birth father was holding us for ransom and trying to sell us to the highest bidder.”

“Damon, I’m going to ask a favor of you.  When you’re here at Shell, I would request that you not use vulgar terms.  You can think them, but please don’t say them aloud.  Swearing doesn’t make the person doing it seem like a bigger person.  In fact, when people hear you talking like that, they very likely to think less of you.  Do you have a social security number?”

He started to say something but stopped and continued, “Yes sir, and I have it with me.”

“Good, the first thing that we need to do is have you complete the employment forms.  Then we’ll discuss what your options would be as far as you being gainfully employed.  Let me see who is available to escort you.”

I picked up the phone, “Tammy, who’s available to help my young friend get processed in?”

“Oz is in his office.  He was just here getting a copy of the information we had received from London on the conference.”

I called Oz’s number, “Hey Mr. Housekeeper and Food Manager, would you be available to help a young friend get processed on board to be a student assistant?”

“Your wish is my command, el presidente.  I’ll be right there.”

Oz walked in and I introduced him, “Mr. Thompson, this is Mr. Damon Talltrees.  While Damon is filling out the paperwork, tell the human resources people that his job description is to be determined.”

Oz and Damon left as Oz was trying to get Damon to talk.

Tammy looked in, President Waller, there’s a Mr. Pennington and a Mrs. Clutterback here, asking to see you.”

I had to stop to think who the visitors might be.  Then I remembered that they were two of council people who had visited the day before. 

I stood to greet the two visitors and offered them a seat.  I couldn’t quite figure out the purpose of the visit, so I decided to let them guide the conversation.  “Good afternoon, Mrs. Clutterback and Mr. Pennington.  What is the purpose of this visit?”

Mr. Pennington took a deep breath, “We came to eat crow.  We apologize for the way we charged in here yesterday, without knowing all the details.”

Mrs. Clutterback added, “We are beginning to realize that perhaps there is more graft and corruption among the city employees than we could have imagined.  Is there anyway that you and your staff could throw the scare of Godzilla into them?”

“Ma’am, after the publicity that we have received, it would be far better to bring in an outside agency, if you council people and the mayor aren’t willing to tackle the problem.  It seems to me that was what you people were elected to do.”

Neither of the council persons were looking too happy.  Mr. Pennington nodded, “Anne, President Waller is correct.  It is the council’s responsibility to manage the city employees.  We have more or less turned our back on the controlling the employees.  Again President Waller, we apologize for our actions yesterday.”

It was almost five when Ozzie and Damon returned.  The scene was a far cry from what it had been when they left the office.  Damon was asking all sorts of questions.  He turned to me, “President Waller, have you decided where I’m going to be working?”

“Damon, I haven’t had time to think about that.  I’ll let you know when I see you on Monday.  What time can you be here?”

“I should be here between two thirty and three.”

“Good, that means you can work two hours a day.  That gives us something to work around.”

When I arrived at the house, the parents were already there.  Allie and Mother were in the kitchen and Dad and Brahim were in the living room.  As we were finishing dinner, Dad announced, “Little Al and I will take care of the dishes while the three of you go get this opera thing squared away.”

When we arrived at the Moores Opera House, it appeared that everyone was present.  It soon became apparent that Mr. Martinelli was missing.  The President of the Opera Board stood, “Ladies and gentlemen, we can take care of the business at hand without Mr. Martinelli, since he must think he’s indispensable.  It has come to our attention that Mr. Martinelli is still making major changes, as of this point in time in the production, when it should be ready for the public to see.  Mr. Devine, do you have anything to add?”

“Mr. Hayes, I have plenty to say about the egomaniac.  Every time he comes to rehearsal, it is as if he has a thousand changes that he wants to have made.  The orchestra members are to the point where they are going to walk, and boycott the opera, as are some of the other principles, now that Mr. Safi has pulled the plug on his majesty’s plans.  There is no one who can, or will, step in the role of Rigoletto at this late date.”

Mr. Martinelli took that opportunity to arrive, “We can start now.  Why are we having this meeting on Friday night?”

Mr. Hayes pointed at Mr. Martinelli, “Mr. Martinelli, you smell like a brewery.  No wonder the principles in the production are complaining about your sense of direction.”

“I heard that neophyte Safi had a bevy of wealthy friends.  This is about him, isn’t it.  He would never have held it together through an entire performance.  He‘s never had any formal training and he’s a foreigner.”

I watched to see how Brahim was reacting.  He was showing no emotion.  Mr. Hayes pounded his gavel, “Mr. Martinelli, I strongly advise that you shut your mouth before you find yourself in jail for slander.”

“Mr. Safi, do you have anything that you would like to say in response to Mr. Martinelli’s unsolicited outburst.”

“Yes, I have several things that I would like to say.  First, Mr. Martinelli, I had twelve years of formal voice training in Milan, Italy.  I also had the opportunity to perform in some minor roles at the La Scala Opera House, and I know that Verdi wrote the score for the opera Rigoletto, which you didn’t even know.  That’s all I have to say, except that I refuse to participate in  any production where Mr. Martinelli is involved, since he doesn’t even read or speak a foreign language and he doesn‘t even read music.”

Mr. Martinelli jumped up, “Safi, you’re even a bigger jerk than I thought.”

Ms Sanders stood, “Mr. Hayes, I move that Mr. Martinelli be removed as the director of Rigoletto and  that we file charges against him for pretending to be someone he isn’t.  His name is Earl Martin and the closest he’s ever been to an opera in his life is as a paying customer in the theatre.  Mr. Skaggs, would you care to reveal how it was that you recommended the fraud to be in charge of the production?”

I stood, “I think that the board would better discuss the issue of what is to happen to Mr. Martinelli, behind closed doors.  The important thing, at this point, is what’s going to happen to the production of Rigoletto?”

Mrs. Odom nodded, “I move that Mr. Devine be in charge of the production, as he should have been, all along.  I wouldn’t blame him if wouldn’t accept, given the conditions that he and the orchestra have had to contend with.  Mr. Devine, would you accept the position at this late date?”

Mr. Devine nodded, “Mrs. Odom, thanks for asking.  Under any other circumstances, I would probably have told you to shove your offer.  I would be willing to assume the position, since it would be exciting that we are going to put an amazing talent like Brahim into the spotlight here in Houston for the first time.”

Mr. Hayes looked around at the board members, “Are there any further comments or questions?  The question is that, ’Mr. James Devine be named as the director for Rigoletto.  All those in favor say aye.”

“The ayes have it.”

There was a loud applause from the back of the room where some orchestra members and other singers were seated.  Mr. Devine grinned and announced, “We’ll have rehearsal tomorrow and use the music and lyrics as Mr. Verdi and Mr. Plave wrote them, before Mr. Martinelli, or Martin, started to rewrite them.  Brahim, you will be here won’t you?”

Brahim grinned, “If I have to.”    

To be continued...

Editor's Notes:  I think Brahim was pretty much validated as the person who knew what he was talking about.

I suspect that his boyfriend, on the committee, wanted to have a famous person for a lover, and figured that there was nothing to being a director. 

I think that Damon will be much more cooperative, from now on.

It just might be that his self worth has been boosted somewhat.

He hasn't even been subjected to one of Allie's pep talks, yet.

Kit may be old, but she is not stupid, by any means, and I suspect that with Allie, Bran and Ed helping out, things will be much better for everyone concerned.

I am ready for more, any time, now.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 11/12/10