Elinor - Chapter 3

 

Elinor

By Karen Singer

 

Chapter 3

 

I heard Stan’s cellphone ring.  I watched as he answered, then quickly put the phone away and stood up.  “Better grab your stuff.  Mr. Germo is back.”

I quickly grabbed the papers I had printed just a little while ago.

“I suggest you get your entire planner,” Stan told me.  “You’re probably going to need it.”

Trying to follow the advice, I grabbed the entire planner.  “Where’s his office?” I asked.

Stan pointed at a fancy door in the wall of the office we were in.  “Your office is his outer office.  Now let’s move.  We’ll meet him at the car when it arrives.  Hurry!”

Meet him at his car?  But I hurried to keep up with Stan who strode directly to the front entrance of the house, then out onto a shady porch.  In the distance, past fenced in fields of horses, I could see a black car coming down what must have been a very long road…or driveway.  The car stopped in front of the porch and Mr. Germo got out of the back seat and Mateo got out of the driver’s seat.  Another man got into the driver’s seat and drove the car away as Mr. Germo climbed the few steps up to the porch.

“How was lunch?” Stan asked the big boss.

“Ah!” Germo sighed as we walked into the house.  “Excellent as always.  Rodreguez always knows how to throw a good lunch.”  He turned toward me as we walked toward the front door.  “Elinor.  What’s next?”

“Sir?” I said, surprised by the question.

“What’s next on my schedule today?”

“Oh.  You’ve got a meeting with someone named Johnson at three o’clock, then at four with someone named Crisp.  Evidently, you’ve got a dinner date right here at eight o’clock when the Bolten family is supposed to be here.  After that, nothing until eight o’clock tomorrow morning.  Would you like tomorrow’s schedule?” I asked as we all walked into my office.

“No.  That’s for tomorrow,” Germo replied.

Mateo opened the door to Germo’s own office and we all went inside.  The office was easily twice the size of my large office and ten times as masculine.  There was a sharp odor about the room that I couldn’t place.  Germo went directly behind his desk and sat down while the rest of us stood in front of the desk.

I chanced asking, “Would you like to see a copy of your schedule for the rest of today?  I have one for tomorrow’s schedule as well.

Germo held out his hand, and I handed over two pieces of paper.  “The top one is the few things left for today.”

Germo took the time to study both pages briefly.  Then he looked up and held up the papers.  “I like this!” Germo declared.  “It’s all laid out neatly so I can understand it.  But it still doesn't excuse you from needing to be with me at all times.  You’ve got duties to handle.”  He sat back and shook his head.  “I guess I better make some time later after Ricardo and his family leave to have a little chat with you.  I should have a better idea by that time if I’m going to bother keeping you or not.  Make a note to meet with me later tonight.  We do that often enough anyway.”

Germo seemed to study me for a moment, then said, “I think the first problem before that however is that you’re going to need to be dressed properly for dinner, and as always, I need you there.”

“As always?” I asked.

“As always!” Germo insisted.  He looked to Mateo.  “Elinor said Johnson is coming in a little while, then Crisp.  Is everything set up for them?”

“Yes sir,” Mateo replied.  “Since…Elinor here wouldn’t know about that yet, I made sure everything was set while you were having lunch.”

Germo turned to me.  “In the future, things like that are part of your job to arrange.  I’ll let it slide since this is your first day, but from now on, you need to handle the details.  Besides, you’re the schedule keeper here, not me.  But at those meetings, I need you to take careful notes, understand?”

“Uh…yes sir,” I replied.

Germo turned to Mateo.  “Stable three as usual?”

“Yes sir,” Mateo confirmed.

“Good.  I hate when we have to change things sometimes.”  He turned again and seemed to look me over for a moment, then cursed.  “Shit!  As for dinner tonight, I’m afraid you’ll just have to do the best you can.  Ricardo is simply too important a friend and he’s going to find out anyway.  Not to mention Rosita, his wife, and probably his daughter as well.”

“Sir?” I asked.

Germo consulted one of the papers that I had just handed him.  “According to this paper you gave me, after Crisp leaves, which shouldn’t last more than half an hour, nothing is happening until dinner tonight at eight.  I hate to lose you for that much time, but I’m going to need you to go into your closet and find something suitable to wear for dinner.  I know it’s probably going to seem strange, especially for everyone else, but that’s the way it’s going to have to be.”

“Closet?” I asked.  “I have a closet?”

“You have this entire hacienda at your disposal Elinor.  Get used to it!  Now leave me.  Go back to your office.  Let me know when Johnson arrives.”

I filed out of Germo’s office with Stan into my own.  Only Mateo stayed behind.  Stan closed the office door.  “I have a closet?” I asked as I sat at my desk, and Stan took his own chair in the corner.

“You have an entire suite here in the house,” Stan told him.  A large one.  “You have several closets.”

“Oh.”  Then something occurred to me.  “He said something suitable to wear for dinner, but the last Elinor was a woman.”

“And the ones that came before her,” Stan told me.

“Which would mean,” I started as I thought about that.  “Are there any men’s clothes in those closets?”

“Nope!  Nothing even close.  And I seriously doubt that Mr. Germo will allow you at dinner, anytime, ever, wearing something that isn’t suitable for the occasion.”

“But…”

“Elinor, Mr. Germo expects everyone to dress formally for dinner.  And unless I’m completely misreading whatever crazy thing he has suddenly got locked into his head, then I’m pretty sure he’s going to expect to see you in a dress.  Including makeup and…whatever else you need to go with it.”

“But…”

“Or…” Stan replied as he pulled out his gun.  “I can just shoot you now.”

“Maybe that would be best,” I said as I sank dejectedly into my chair.

Stan stood up again and approached the desk.  I couldn’t take my eyes off the gun in his hand.  But as Stan stood in front of me, he lowered the gun as he raised his other hand and held his open palm out.  “Give!” he ordered.

I was confused.  “Give what?”

“Your cellphone, wallet, keys, and anything else in your pockets.  Empty your pockets completely.  Right now!  Give!”  He immediately raised his gun again and pointed it at my head.  I swallowed, then started emptying my pockets, putting everything I had onto the desk.  Stan picked it all up and put it into his own pockets, then he put his gun away.  From one of his other pockets, he pulled out a cellphone.  “Here,” he said, setting the cellphone in front of me.  I didn’t want to give this to you until there was a chance you would be staying.  I won’t lie to you, I’m rather surprised you’re still alive.  It’s not like Mr. Germo at all.  But here you are…still.  So here’s your cellphone…Elinor.  Trust me, you’re going to need it.  Now that you’ve got it, I suggest you call Mr. Germo and tell him you have it.”

I picked up the cellphone.  Like with the computer, there was no password required.  Call Mr. Germo.  I looked up at Stan.  “Why can’t I just knock on his door and tell him personally?  His office is right there.”

“Call!” Stan told me.  “Trust me.”

I started looking through the cellphone and easily found the list of numbers.  Mr. Germo’s was the primary number that popped up.  I pushed the buttons and called.

“Elinor?” Germo’s voice came back.

“I just needed to tell you I have this cellphone now,” I told him.

“Good!” Germo replied, then ended the call.

I was surprised by how abrupt he had been.  I set the phone down on the desk and tried to consider things, but I was still so confused by everything that I couldn’t make sense of any of it.  And then my mind seemed to focus on something else that I realized was going to be a problem.  Probably a major problem.  Mr. Germo expected me to wear a dress to dinner tonight, including all the fixings with it.  What exactly did that mean?  As with everything else today, I simply couldn’t conceive of it.

“A while later, my new cellphone suddenly rang.  I hesitantly picked it up.  “Hello?” I said.

The voice on the other end replied, “Elinor?”

“Um…yes.  That would be me I guess,” I told him.  “It seems I’m the new Elinor.”

“Um…this is the front gate.  Mr. Johnson and his pals just arrived.  They’re on their way.”

“Thanks,” I replied.  “A thought struck me.  “You know that Crisp is due next, then later tonight, the Bolten family is coming.”

“Yes, you gave us the schedule,” the man replied.

“Okay, thanks.  Just checking,” I replied before hanging up.  Evidently, making sure the gate knew who to expect was also one of my duties.  One I better not forget.

Stan was already on his feet.  “Better tell the boss.”

I picked up the phone to call him.

“This time, tell him personally,” Stan suggested.

Not sure what the difference was, I got up from my desk and went around to Germo’s door.  I was about to knock when Stan said, “Just open it and go in.  You’re his assistant.”

I opened the door.  I saw Germo at his desk smoking a cigar.  Mateo was sitting in the corner with a cigar of his own.  “Mr. Johnson is here,” I told them.

“Excellent,” Germo said as he got up from his seat with his cigar.  “Let’s go make some money.”

Germo and Mateo led the way out of the office, followed by Stan and myself, but I suddenly turned and ran back to my desk to get the date planner and a pencil.  Something told me I dared not go anywhere without it.  I had to run to catch up with the others.

We went out through the front door just after a black car went past the house.  The four of us walked after the car for quite some distance.  We went past two horse stables and all the way to a third one before turning to go inside.  Before turning in, I noticed a fourth stable beyond this one.  We went past a number of horse stalls before finding our guests in an empty one.

Inside, I saw a table set up with a couple of large bricks of…drugs!  I made sure to keep my mouth shut while the drugs were tested.

“As you can see,” Germo told his guests, “the quality is the best.  We only sell the best.”

“Humph!” one of the guests grunted.  “This little amount means nothing.  You could switch to something less after a delivery or two.”

“But don’t you always test each one?” Germo countered.  “Most of our clients do.”

“Always!” the man agreed.

“Then what’s your problem?”

“My problem?”  The man laughed.  “You!”  He suddenly pulled out a gun and pointed it menacingly at Germo.  In seconds every man held a gun and was pointing it somewhere, except me.  “I’m not buying anything from you!” the man said menacingly.  “Instead, you’re either going to supply me with everything I need and take a small cut of my operation, or we’re going to wipe you off the map completely.  And you already know the reputation of my organization.”

“Don’t bet on it,” Germo said back, completely unfrightened by the man or the situation.  “I’ll blow you to kingdom come right here and now.”

I didn’t know what to do as they argued and sent threats back and forth.  A vague idea suddenly hit me.  I knew it might get me killed, but I was about to get killed anyway.

“Ahem!” I said loudly.  When nobody listened, I yelled as sternly as I could.  “Cut the crap and listen up!”

They all turned to look at me, the only one there without a gun.  I boldly stepped forward, aware that I could get shot at any moment.  I addressed the man who seemed to be in charge of the other side.  Johnson, I guessed.  “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“I’m…”

“I said shut it!” I cut him off boldly.  “Shut it, and listen.  You’ve got to be some kind of idiot trying to take over this organization.”

“I’ll do what I…”

“Shut your mouth and keep it shut you idiot!” I yelled.  “Now, as I was saying.  You’ve got to be some kind of idiot not to know that we’ve been in business, not for just a few years, but for generations.  Generations gentlemen.  Do you know what that means?  That means that in all those years we’ve built up a network of outlets that runs through the entire southern United States from California to Florida.  “Uh…sorry, Florida will be online soon, another few months at the most.  Then we’ll have even more outlets to get our product directly from Columbia.  That’s right.  I said Co-lum-bia gentlemen.  Do you know what that means?  It means that we’re backed by some of the biggest cartels in the business.  Are you and your organization ready to go against the Columbia cartels and try to mess up one of their most lucrative distribution networks in the United States?  That’s pure suicide!  But if you want to try it…”  I squinted his eyes a bit.  “Be my guest.  See how long you, not to mention your entire families, survive.  And if you think you’re some kind of badass, you know how brutal the Columbian cartels are.”  I could see that my words had some kind of major impact on our guests.

“The Columbia cartels?” Johnson asked uncertainly.

“Generations!” Germo told him confidently.

Johnson put his gun away and so did his men.

“Now,” Germo said.  “Are you interest in dealing for us, or do we pass on the word to all the other distributers in the country to boycott you so you can’t buy from any of them?”

“Can you deliver by the ton if we need it?  Once a month?” Johnson asked.  “We need a lot.”

“We can handle it,” Germo told him confidently.

“Then we can do business,” Johnson replied.  “Whatever rate you need.  We just need a lot, and the amount will probably vary from month to month.  We’re trying to build our business too, like you’ve evidently done already.”

“Just get in touch with Elinor, my personal assistant there, and give her the details.  The rest is easy.  Supplying is what we’ve handled for generations.  We just leave the final distribution to everyone else.”

Johnson nodded.  “Let’s go,” he told his men.  He looked to me, a questioning look on his face.  “Elinor?”

“Just use the name,” I told him.  “Someone will answer.”

Johnson nodded.  “I’ll be in touch with how much.  We can haggle the price when I do.”

I watched Johnson and his men walk out and get into their car.  A moment later, they were gone.

Germo turned to me.  “What was that?”

“Sorry,” I told him.  “I was just trying to help.  I’d rather not get shot today.”

Germo nodded.  “I suspected as much.”  He pulled a cigar from his pocket and lit it.  “I guess our next guest will be here in a little while.  We might as well wait for them here.  Elinor, what was his name again?”

“Uh…Crisp sir,” I told him.

Germo held up his cigar in acknowledgement and walked away with Mateo lighting a cigar of his own.  I watched as Germo and Mateo walked slowly toward the back of the stable while Stan stayed with me.

“Pretty damn gutsy,” Stan told me.

“I just figured that one way or another I was about to get killed, so I had nothing to lose.  I made up a bunch of stuff that I hope sounded good.”

Stan laughed.  “Like I said, pretty damn gutsy.  Stupid as all get out, but gutsy.”

“Are all his meetings like this?” I asked.

“Some.  It wasn’t really anything we couldn’t handle.  Things like that happen once in a while.  You get used to it.”

I shook my head.  “I doubt it.”

Stan laughed.

A little while later, Crisp showed up with his men, all of them riding motorcycles.  There was no big confrontation, and I was surprised to see they didn’t even bother testing the drugs on the table.  Instead, he and Germo haggled a bit and I tried to take careful notes as to the prices and amounts.  Ten minutes later, Crisp was gone.

“Since I’m here,” Germo said, “I think I’ll go for a ride.”

“Excellent idea,” Mateo agreed.

“Don’t forget about dinner tonight with Bolten!” I reminded him quickly.

“Thanks Elinor.  I won’t forget.  Promise.  Do you want to ride with us?  For that matter, do you ride?”

“No thanks,” I told him.  “I’ve never been on a horse in my life.”

Germo shook his head.  “I can’t have an assistant who can’t ride a horse.  That’s a requirement.  Talk to Hector.  Tell him you need riding lessons.  Immediately!”

Great.  Now I needed to learn how to ride a horse!  I was from Chicago.  Could life get any more strange?

“Don’t forget to dress for dinner tonight Elinor!” Germo called as he and Mateo walked away smoking their cigars.

“Is he serious?” I asked Stan.

“As a heart attack,” Stan replied.

“It’s not a heart attack I’m afraid of,” I returned.  “It’s bullets.”

Stan laughed.  “Come on,” he said.  “I guess, like it or not, I better show you where you live now.”

“What was wrong with where I lived before?”

Stan laughed.  “You’re dead now, and knowing Mateo, you’re getting deader by the minute.  So how the hell can you live there?”

“Dead?  Getting deader?” I asked, but Stan didn’t answer.  He just kept walking back toward the main house.