Revenge - Chapter 40 – Part 2 of 2

Revenge

By Karen Singer

Chapter 40 – Part 2 of 2

Five men, including Gerald Hudgens, sat on one side of the long gleaming table when Harry Feinbaum, Dick Feinbaum, and of course Mel walked in.  They all sat on the opposite side of the table with Mel in the middle. 

“What the hell is going on here?” Hudgens demanded as they were sitting down.

“A sexual discrimination case,” Mel replied. 

“Bullshit!” Hudgens exclaimed.

Mel didn’t reply.  Instead, she started handing out copies of the contract she had created to Hudgens and each of his men. 

“Ruth McGruder?” Hudgen’s exclaimed as he read the beginning of the document.  “The party lady?”

“And therein, Mr. Hudgens, lies the biggest part of your problem.”

“I thought you were joking!” Hudgens’ chief lawyer said.

“It’s no joke,” Mel replied.  She gave them all another minute to quickly glance through the document. 

“This is ridiculous,” the chief lawyer suddenly exclaimed.  “It’s all nothing but pure fantasy.  No judge in the world would award anything at all like this – in any court!”

“Oh, I quiet agree,” Mel replied with a smile.  “But I’m quite confident that this case will never reach any judge or any court.”

“Then what the hell is this really all about?  Why are we here?  Because it’s certainly not for a…sexual discrimination case!”

“Oh, but as you can see by that document, that’s exactly what this is all about.  And Mrs. McGruder is insisting on it.  Now gentlemen, let’s go through this from the top.”

She ignored the incredulous looks from all the men across the table from her, and continued on.  “First of all,” she said, “since you didn’t seem interested in being here yesterday, the starting amount here is sixty million dollars.  As you’ll see, there are a few things that can affect that amount up or down.  Some of them will affect it substantially, so you’ll want to pay attention.”  She saw the chief lawyer shake his head and lean back in his chair.  She also noted that he wasn’t even bothering to look anywhere near the document on the table. 

She ignored him and began going through each of the demands one by one.  The money for Ruth.  The immediate raises for all of the women depending on their level of responsibility and time of service to the company, then other raises spread out over time.  The gradual change in the manager and supervisor positions over the next five years to put women in a much higher percentage of those jobs.  One by one, she went over every detail of every part of the contract.

She had just started on the final item, everything that would involve Steve, when the chief lawyer again interrupted rudely. 

“That is more than ridiculous!  It’s…absurd!”

“Oh, I quiet agree,” Mel replied.  “But as you can see, since Ruth placed such a high emphasis on it, then we’re going to pay just as much interest in it here.  One by one, she went through every single detail that had been outlined for Steve’s future – if he signed and agreed to the document.

“It’s just stupid!” Hudgens said.  “Why bother even putting it in here.  I’ve met this guy.  He’ll never agree to this…stupidity.”

Mel nodded.  “Most likely not, but it’s something that Ruth insisted on.  So I’ve laid it out for you too.  You will note though that if he doesn’t sign, that the only requirement for your company will be to terminate his employment immediately.”

“What about this…document of wrongdoing that you’ve mentioned here pertaining to him?” one of Hudgens’ lawyers asked.  “I don’t see that in here.”

“No,” Mel replied.  “That document will be held in a very secure location.  If he signs and goes along with this deal, then it will never see the light of day.  However, if he decides to not take it, then we will have no choice but to turn it over to the authorities.”

“But if he’s done something illegal, why should we be required to keep him on?”

“Because it’s what Ruth specifically requested,” Mel replied.

“As far as I’m concerned,” the chief lawyer jumped in, “we can all just go home right now.  Our company isn’t going to sign any of that.  And if you want to pursue this any further, we can see you in court – a hundred years from now!”

Mel nodded.  “I was fairly sure you would react that way.  Gentlemen…” she addressed all the men across from her.  “Perhaps it would be a good idea for Mr. Hudgens and I to speak privately for a little while.  Then we’ll see if you still want to ignore this list of demands or not.”

The chief lawyer shook his head.  “As far as I’m concerned, we can all just leave right now.”

“I suggest you stay, Mr. Hudgens,” Mel told the owner directly.  Mel had no problem seeing the nervousness on Gerald Hudgens’ face. 

“If he stays, then I stay,” the chief lawyer replied.

Mel was still looking Hudgen’s in the eyes. 

“No,” Hudgens told him.  “Go.  Let me talk to her.”

“It’s against my council!” the lawyer told him.

“Just go!” Hudgens insisted firmly.

The lawyer shook his head, but filed out with the rest of the men.  Harry Feinbaum led them all to a small lounge not far from the conference room where there was coffee and other snacks available. 

“I don’t know what the hell you’re really trying to pull here,” the chief lawyer said to Dick Feinbaum, “but it’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard of.  I’m betting there’s some kind of takeover in the works by another company.”

Dick smiled.  “No takeover at all.  Just a small restructuring of your company – due to sexual discrimination.  And trust me, we’ve got plenty of proof of just what has been going on in your company…among other things.”

“If this is sexual discrimination, then your company isn’t half the big deal it’s supposed to be.”

“You know,” Harry Feinbaum said before his son could answer, “there’s been an old adage running around the legal community for some time now.  One that I find kind of funny.  It’s…‘you never say no to old man Feinbaum.’  That’s me of course, which is one of the reasons I find it so humorous.  But lately there’s been another saying that I’ve heard floating around among my legal staff too.”  He leaned forward.  “You don’t mess with Mel!”  He pointed to the conference room.  “That Mel in there!  And trust me, you don’t want to get her mad!  I’ve seen what she can do to the best in our business, and it’s not pretty!”

Inside the conference room, Mel and Hudgens stared at each other for a moment.  “I noticed that none of your legal staff knows about the things I sent you.”

“Not…exactly,” Hudgens replied.

“As I guessed,” Mel said.  “Yesterday I sent you five transcripts of recordings made at your company.  Today, I sent you copies of just those recordings.  Mr. Hudgens, we have in our possession, not five recordings, but sixty four!  And the ones I sent to you were not even close to the really damaging ones that I have.”

“Where did you get them?”

“From Ruth, of course.”

“Such things are illegal!”

Mel considered that.  “Yes and no.  But the authorities, particularly the FBI, will find many of them very enlightening.  Mr. Hudgens, we’ve got enough to send you away for most of the rest of your life, and several other members of your company for almost as long.  In fact, why don’t we visit a few of those recordings right now.”

Hudgen’s looked very uncomfortable, but Mel was only getting started.  She had a playlist set up and ready to go at a push of a button.  One by one, Hudgen’s was forced to listen to, first his Human Resources manager explaining all the reasons why women weren’t given more in the company, then more damaging recordings involving procurement of contracts, then still more damaging recordings concerning changing materials after production started to produce cheaper quality goods for the government.  And finally, Mel played the recordings where the men talked about silencing certain government and influential officials to obtain contracts.  During the last recordings, Mel saw Hudgens’ face turn white.

Mel turned the recordings off.  “Sixty four recordings, all carefully made, documented, and transcribed.  Each one more damaging than the next.  Mr. Hudgens…who were those three men you had that last conversation with?”

If Hudgens was afraid before, he reacted even more afraid.  “I…can’t tell you that.”

“Why not?”

“Because…they’ll kill me.”

Mel stared at him.  It was clear to her that he was telling the truth.  They would have to find those men some other way.  “All of these recordings will be kept in a safe in my office, and a copy also here in the Feinbaum offices. None of them will ever see the light of day…if…you sign that document right now agreeing to every one of Ruth McGruder’s terms.  If you don’t, then I suggest you start planning on spending the rest of your life in prison!”

“This is extortion!” Hudgen’s complained.

“No, Mr. Hudgens, this is correcting what’s wrong with your company.  Nothing more, nothing less.  What will it be?”

Hudgens stared angrily at her for a very long time, but not once did Mel ever back down glaring right back at him.

The legal team finally filed back into the conference room.  The moment they were all in the room, Gerald Hudgens picked up a pen and signed the document.

“What the hell are you doing?” his chief lawyer complained.

“Just sign that damn thing!” Gerald Hudgens told him.  “Sign it, and let’s get the hell out of here.”

--- §§§§§§§§§§ ---

On Thursday night, long after midnight, three men stealthily made their way into the yard of Ruth McGruder and her family.  A pane of glass in the back door was quickly broken and the men were in the house only moments later.  They moved fast, very fast, spreading out all through the house, looking for any sign of occupancy.  But there was nobody home.  Just as silently as they had come, they were gone. 

In the security offices, word had been sent to the police the moment they entered Ruth’s yard.  The motion detectors on the cameras started the recordings of everything that happened – both outside and inside the house.  Unfortunately, the men were gone before the police could arrive.  But the recordings clearly showed the faces of all three men.  Three hours later, the security company, the police, and the FBI had the names of all three men.

--- §§§§§§§§§§ ---

It wasn’t until Friday that Steve got called from his desk to go up to the HR office.  Thoughts of getting his promotion were at the top of his mind.  When he got there, the director of Human Resources took him back to a private room and sat down at a table with him.

“Steve,” the director began, “I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but some things have recently happened in this company that are forcing the company to make a lot of significant changes in our policies and the way we do business.”

“What happened?” Steve asked, no longer sure of his promotion.

“Well, that part is something I don’t really have any knowledge of,” the director admitted.  “But I’m afraid that one of the mandates that came down from both Mr. Hudgens as well as the legal department, specifies you directly.”

“Me?”

“I’m afraid so.  Steve, I’m sorry to say this, but your position with his company is being terminated.”

“I’m fired?”

“Well, actually you’ve got your choice.  It’s either leave, or take another position that I’ve been…ordered…to offer you.  Actually the legal office drew up a contract for you for that position, and sent it to me.  And let me tell you, it’s so ridiculous that I’m sure you’d never agree.  Your only other option is to accept being laid off.  And I’m afraid that to make matters worse, some kind of damaging document is mentioned that will get turned over to the police if you don’t take the offered position.  I have no idea what this damaging document is, or what’s in it, but it seems your only choice is either take the offered position, which I’m sure you won’t, or be fired and, I’m guessing, deal with the police.”

Steve immediately knew what document he was talking about – the signed confession that Monica had.  “That witch!  All those damn witches!”

Actually, I understand that all this had something to do with Ruth McGruder.

“She’s a witch!” Steve proclaimed angrily.

“I’m sure you think that,” the director told him.  “But she’s no longer employed with this company.”

“You fired her too?”

“Um…I’m not actually sure what happened there,” the director admitted.  “Do you want to bother looking at the document that legal sent?”

Steve was about to say no, he wasn’t interested.  He would take his chances with the police.  But instead he was surprised to find himself saying.  “Sure.  Why not?”

The director laid the document with the terms on the table so that Steve could see them.  “First of all,” he told Steve, “you will be moved from your present position as an engineer, into Ruth’s old job of planning parties, fund raisers, and whatever else she was doing.”

Steve’s jaw dropped as he stared at the document.

“And since this company has always felt that such a job should be done by a woman, you will be required to dress and act as a woman at all times when you are here at work.  We of course don’t care what you do outside of work.  But here in the company, you would have to basically become a woman.  That means you will have to either style your hair appropriately or wear a wig, and dress appropriately of course according to our company guidelines.  I’m afraid that they also specify that you would have to use the ladies room as well.  Basically in all ways, you will be considered to be a woman by this company and not a man.  Ridiculous isn’t it?”

Steve was so shocked and could only nod.

“I’m afraid there’s more,” the director continued.  “Your salary will be decreased drastically I’m afraid.  I don’t know why they set the amount specified here, but at least I can tell you that all the women in the company will be getting varying degrees of raises very soon, so at least that should help…some.”

Steve looked at the new figure for his pay.  It was little more than half what he made now.  “That’s…ridiculous.  I can’t live on that.”

The director only nodded.  “As I said, it’s all…ridiculous!  This contract specifies that you would be locked into this position for a period of not less than five years.  After that, you can either elect to stay in the position, or your employment here will be terminated at that point.  And evidently after the five years, whatever that document is that they mentioned will cease to exist.  So I would guess that you wouldn’t have to worry about it anymore.”

Steve could say nothing.  He was out of a job.  He was being fired.  And the job they were offering instead was…absurd! 

“I’m sorry Steve,” the director said.  “I happen to know you were probably going to be getting a promotion within the company instead.  I never ever imagined anything like…this.”  He could see that Steve was still in shock.  “You’ve got till the end of the day,” he said, “but I suggest you clear out your desk when you leave.”

Steve nodded.  He was about to get up to leave, but for some reason he couldn’t.  No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t seem to move any part of his body.  And the reason for it…he was no longer in charge of his body.  The witches were at work yet again!  And then he heard himself saying, “If I sign that contract, can I make one request?”

“What’s that?” the director asked, not believing that Steve would even consider signing the thing.

“I want everyone to call me Karen.”