A Matter Of Respect Ch. 07

I returned to my office to find Ms. Peregot sitting behind my desk. She was wearing reading glasses with a pencil behind her hear. She was wearing a light blue blouse that accentuated the color of her eyes nicely. The song 'Hot for teacher ' immediately came to mind. She saw me and stood up. When she stood I could see she was wearing a full length black skirt. 

"No need to get up young lady." I told her. "Have you heard from Finch yet?"

"Not yet. I was laying out four respondent memorandums you will need to sign today. So how is Ms. Merchenal? Is she going to be alright?" Julia asked.

"I didn't get a chance to speak to her. If she has to spend the night in the hospital I am going to sit with her for a while after I get off work. " 

"I figured you would be. I already called for flowers if she has to stay. " Julia replied. She leaned over the desk and whispered to me, giving me a very generous view of her smooth tanned cleavage. "So what did Finch do when you made him ride in the ambulance? Everyone here was dying laughing about it."

"The boy looked like he had been shot at and missed and shit at and hit. Speaking of Finch, I want you to call his secretary and have her come in. Make sure she knows it's strictly a social visit, and I do insist she come." 

Julia almost doubled over laughing.

"I've never heard that expression before." She said with a smile. " I'll call Vetka right now. These should be self explanatory."

I sat down and scanned over the four memos. I signed off on all four then remembered the papers Mr. Graham had given me earlier. I opened the brown envelope and four single page documents slid out. The top was the authorization for the work order to make the security changes I had recommended. The second item was an itemization of the company's benevolent fund. The fund was pretty sizable, a little over two hundred grand for the course of one fiscal year. That's a damn nice chunk of money for a benevolent fund. I was surprised to read that I was the executor of the dispersal of the funds. I would have expected Mr. Graham to handle that detail. Oh well, genuine trust goes a long way. The third memo outlined my 'personal office and work related accessory account'. That's the kind of thing that gives a suited man a stiffy in a jiffy. Basically it's a twelve thousand dollar a year fund for new office furniture and miscellaneous gadgets. Any amount not spent by the end of the year is mine. How nice.

The last memo was the kicker. It was a detailed demographic of the past security practices and protocols, right down to schedules, placement and standard procedures. There was a truncated breakdown of the security budget and a password to access all the information from the company's computer network. From a brief glance at the numbers I could tell Finch was spending money on behalf of the company like it was going out of style. On the first day of every month he had a background check performed on each and every employee of the company with the exception of Mr. Graham, at a cost of three hundred dollars per person. It seemed like a hell of a waste to pay three hundred dollars for a background check on the likes of Ms. Merchenal. I made a mental note to butt heads with him on that and bare the list down appropriately. That's not just overspending, that's downright throwing money away. 

After I read all four of the memos I put them away and kicked back in my chair. I was thinking about the layout of the parking deck. I picked up the remote to the cameras and clicked them on. The book case slid out silently and the bank of monitors glided forward. The room grew dim as the panoramic window behind me turned an even dark gray color. I was beginning to wonder if the fucking thing came complete with HBO. The remote had what looked like a billion buttons on it. One was labeled scroll. It was surrounded by four smaller arrow shaped buttons. I pressed the scroll button and all the monitors blinked to life. There were various camera angles, all seemingly within our three floors. I pushed one of the small arrow buttons and the top right monitor changed views. It was panning down the hallway of our bottom floor, then it showed the exterior stairwell. I pushed the same button again and the view changed to the upper half of the same stairwell. 

The system was pretty sensible. It wouldn't take much time to learn. I pushed the left hand arrow button and the top left monitor changed views. I hit it a few more times and watched the screen change as it passed through the camera shots. One image that flashed by was rather confusing. It looked like an overhead view of a small cubicle or compartment with a white floor. I scrolled back to the camera view and realized the camera was trained over a row of bathroom stalls. I panned the camera right and down. I could see right down into the stalls. There was a vanity with an elegant mirror in the left hand corner of the screen. Finch had a camera in the fucking women's bathroom. I scrolled through all the remaining camera views slowly, and sure enough there was no camera in the men's bathrooms on any of the three floors. I fiddled with the remote until I got an on screen display then killed the feed from the camera in the women's bathroom. 

I'm going to have his ass for breakfast for that one. Mark my word. 

I heard a knock on the office door. I turned the monitors off and the window became immediately transparent again. I stood and opened the door. Vetka was standing there, looking a bit nervous.

"Come on in young lady. I'm glad you meet you." I told her. She didn't respond.

She walked in and stopped about halfway into my office. Julia walked into the room from her office and greeted Vetka. They exchanged a few words. Vetka was clutching a small purse. She reminded me of an old lady lost in a busy train station. Her eyes would travel a bit then snap back to one spot. I could tell she was worried, so I had to make this brief impression a lasting one. I motioned toward my desk. Julia pulled out a chair for Vetka and herself. I sat down and gave her the most comforting smile I could muster. Vetka is a very attractive girl in her own way. Her chestnut hair is thick and flowing. Her eyes remind me of chips of blue ice. They have a striking clarity to them. Her skin is fair with just the slightest hint of freckles. She is tall and slender with nice long legs. She's the kind of girl who looks ten feet tall in a pair of stockings. Alot of women would binge and purge for years for a physique like hers. She has an overall soft svelte appearance. Right now she looked like she was waiting for judgment day, and I didn't like that a damned bit.

"Vetka I haven't had the chance to introduce myself yet. I've been making my rounds and meeting everyone who works for our company.  I apologize I haven't yet made time to meet you." I told her.

"It's a pleasure to meet you sir." She responded mechanically. I could tell her words were forced.

"Young lady I want to cut to the chase here. First things first, pri`yat`na svami po`zna ko`mitsa."

Vetka's eyes widened a little and she smiled a touch. Julia gave me a baffled look.

"Thank you sir." Vetka replied. She suddenly looked apprehensive. 

"Vetka I don't believe in giving false impressions. I have an idea what your situation is like working with Finch, so I don't expect you to trust me. I never try to make people trust me, I try to let them do so. So if you ever feel you need to tell me anything, I will always make time for you. If you don't then I understand entirely. If you feel like you can't come to me then Ms. Peregot will always be at hand. I refuse to tolerate any abuse here, and that extends to Mr. Finch as well. I just wanted you to know that."

Vetka looked as if she were suddenly close to tears. She thanked me and stood before another word could be said. She was almost at the door when I called to her. She turned to us, her face flushed.

"Do`svi`dan'ya Vetka. Ti takaya krasavaya." 

"Spaseba." She replied, then turned and left us.

Julia sat there staring at me in disbelief.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me." She said suddenly. "You speak Russian? And what did you just say to her?"

"I just gave the young lady a few encouraging words. And yes I speak Rooskie. And eleven other languages. It's a hobby of mine." I said with a wink. "Don't you know, every plowboy from Alabama speaks in a dozen tongues?"

She just sat there looking at me like I was a particularly good sideshow attraction. The Amazing Educated Alabamian. Come One, Come All. See Him Spell His Own Name And Talk Without Spitting. I get that look alot, so it's fine by me. 

My desk phone rang. I answered to find Mr. Finch on the other end. He sound very agitated. In a grating tone he told me Ms. Merchenal was going to be staying overnight in the hospital, and he was now very behind on his busy schedule.  

"Finch I want you to come in and give me your report just the same. Your schedule can wait." I said then hung up the phone before he could reply. 

I looked at Julia. 

"Do you have it with you?" I asked her.

She went to her office then returned with her purse. She opened it and pulled the screamer out. I held my hand out and she gave it to me. I pointed at the two small buttons on the screamer.

"One button is to squelch, two buttons is to scream. You won't need to squash any communications, so use both buttons." I told her.

"What exactly does it do? Does it make a loud noise? " Julia asked.

"No it doesn't emit any sound at all. Just try it, and be nonchalant about it."

"Yes sir. I'm not sure when I should use it though." She replied uneasily.

"Look at it this way honey. It's open season on turkeys. So fire at will. Now, I'm going to walk my rounds a couple of times then go see Ms. Merch. Be sure to tell the florist to send her something bright."

I stood to leave. Julia rose from her seat. She stood in front of me with the screamer in her hand. I wrapped my arms around her and gave her a long kiss.

"Thank you." I told her. 

"Thank you." She replied. " Thanks just for being."

"Anytime." I answered. " Oh, one more thing before I go. Could you look up a vet who makes house calls for me? I have a sick pet."

"Christine is sick?" She asked. "What's wrong?"

"Not 'stine. The coyote. Somebody took a shot at him. Tell the vet he's very docile and well fed."

"Don't tell me you're feeding a wild coyote." She responded.

"I've been known to take in all manner of wild beast." I told her with a sly wink the left.  

I knew leaving then was going to have a number of effects. Finch would return then pound his report out. Vetka would take notes then type it and a while later it would end up in a basket in my office. When Finch finds out I wasn't even in the building when he finished his report, he will be mad as hell. Impotent rage is the most frustrating kind. What can he really do about it? He can't make a legitimate complaint. It's his job after all. And one thing is for damned sure in my little universe, when a man has A Job to do, dammit he's gotta put all his problems behind him and do it. 

A few hours later I was walking into Ms. Merchenal's hospital room with a small potted mum. I have always liked those flowers. The petals were a cheery sunny shade of yellow that reminded me of my sister Nadia. Yellow was her favorite color. My mother always called her 'her little sunshine girl'. She always liked wearing yellow. It was her natural color. 

When I arrived at the hospital I stopped at the information desk. The woman at the desk was apathetic and bored looking, She must have been about forty or so. She told me that visiting hours were over in a droning voice. I flashed her my company id and told her the visit was of 'the utmost importance' and the cooperation or lack thereof would be noted, and quickly so. Five minutes later I was walking into Ms. Merchenal's hospital room. 

Hospital rooms have an odd affect on how we see people. You can take a strapping man in the prime of his life and put him in a hospital bed, and damned if he doesn't look like he's knocking on death's door. There was a large spray of bright flowers sitting at a small table near the foot of her bed. Ms. Merchenal looked terribly frail lying there. A large bandage was covering most of her right temple. Two smaller ones were on one of her arms. Her arms were crossed across her chest as if she were cold. I sat the mum in the window sill so she would see it in the sunlight the next morning. I noticed her purse sitting on a small bedside table. Beside it was a small framed picture of a man who looked to be in his thirties. He was wearing a thick down parka and standing next to a ski lift. 'Miss you much Ma' was handwritten at the bottom of the picture. 

She keeps a framed picture of her son with her everywhere she goes. God damn that tugs at you. There were two thin white sheets folded neatly at the foot of her bed. I pulled them up and draped them over her. She stirred and opened her eyes. 

"Nails. You didn't have to come." She said in a labored voice.

"No way I wouldn't have ma'am. Do you think you're going to be alright?" 

"I will. I'm just terribly depressed that this happened." She replied.

"For what it's worth I am sorry ma'am." I told her. " And I can offer you some consolation. Mr. Finch doesn't know it yet but he's going to be pulling parking deck detail then walking you girls to your vehicles at end of shift. On days when he's off I will be with you." 

She smiled at me feebly. 

"Thank you Nails. People know you care. I know." She answered. 

There were dark circles under her eyes. She looked exhausted, mentally and physically. Times like this can take the hardest tolls on a person. Some times life leaves us feeling so tired, it's almost like we're already dead inside. I know too well how she feels, and it was tearing at me watching her lie there in pain. Maybe I'm not a total bastard after all. I sat beside her bed and took her hand. It felt like cold thin paper. She was trembling slightly. 

"Tell me about your husband." I said to her. 

Fifteen minutes later she was sleeping deeply. As I rode the elevator down I felt a deep sense of rending dread. Time is the only thing that takes pain like hers away. You can care as much as your heart will let you, but you can't give someone time.

I arrived home about an hour later. My headlights played along the long rows of pecan trees in a flickering dance of broken ragged images. When I got out of my car and walked up on my porch I saw Christine sitting on one of the church pews. She meowed at me and rolled over on her back, paws outstretched. Only a cat can stretch like that. I ruffled the fur on her stomach then patted her on the side. She rolled over and jumped down then followed me inside. 

I love the way this place smells. It's earthy and solid. I went to my bedroom and stripped down to my boxers. I keep my revolvers in a lockbox under my bed. It weighs a ton so I push the bed aside and then put the guns away. I have those little rubber footies under each of the bed posts so the heavy bed will slide easily and won't scratch the wood floor. If someone were to break in late at night it would be impractical to scramble for the revolvers, so I keep a loaded bullpup under the dresser next to my bed. Two shots from that bastard will bring a herd of raging elephants to a dead stop.

I walked into my bathroom and flipped on the lights. I started to run a bath then noticed the inside of the tub was looking a bit yellowish. The tub is old and the enamel is wearing thin in places. It will still last another century if you clean it and keep it up well. I decided I would clean it out with Ajax before I took my bath. Several minutes later my hands were chalked with Ajax as I scrubbed and cleaned away at the tub. I had my bathroom window open to let a little air in. I heard a long wailing cry float in on the cool night air.

'Owooooooo ........  Ow-Owohooooo' 

I stopped scrubbing at the tub and sat there on the cold tiles listening to the coyote call into the autumn night.

"Well Kiddo, looks like you just named yourself. Ajax. I like the sound of that." 

Fade To Black