JC: William Redman Carter Part 2: Hermit Chapter 11 By Lazlo Zalezac Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezac, 2006 “Vera.” “What?” she answered without even looking away from her computer screen. Her fingers did not slow down in the least bit. William frowned at the tone of voice that she used in answering him. It seemed to him as if she was upset about something. Dismissing his concerns, he said, “I need you to research the sex industry.” “Excuse me,” Vera said drawing out each word twice as long as would be normal. She saved the file she was working on before turning to face William. The expression on her face could have curdled milk. “I need you to research the sex industry,” William repeated now that he had her full attention. He couldn’t believe that he had neglected such a major economic sector in gathering data. “And the nature of the research that you want me to perform is?” Vera asked narrowing her eyes. “I need to know about prostitution, sex shops, online sex sites, and any other areas of the sex industry that I may not be aware of,” William said. Almost immediately the adult film industry, strip clubs, and magazines came to mind. He knew that ten minutes with Happy Harry would have given him a complete list of businesses that could be considered as part of the sex industry. That thought reminded him how much he missed the old man. “I can tell you all you need to know in one word.” Wondering what she meant, William asked, “What word?” “Disgusting.” That was not the reply that William had expected. He said, “I’ve gotten data about all of the other major economic sectors in the United States. I can tell you how much the typical family in every economic stratus spends on housing, health care, food, entertainment, travel, vacations, energy, and manufactured goods. I can’t tell you how much is spent in the sex industry.” “There is a good reason for that,” Vera said in a cold voice that could have frozen water. “What?” William asked not even sure what he meant by the question. “It is disgusting,” Vera said turning back to her computer as if dismissing him. Her fingers went back to work on the keyboard, but the rhythm of her typing was a lot slower and less steady. William stood there and stared at her for a full minute. He asked, “You are going to research it for me, aren’t you?” Vera huffed and said, “I’d rather not.” “Why not?” “It is disgusting.” Stunned, William was at a loss as to what he should say. No one had ever treated him in that fashion. Finally, he said, “It doesn’t matter if you consider it to be an illegitimate area of business, but as an industry it is of major economic significance. I want to know about the business numbers, not the parts about how tab A gets inserted into slot B.” “It is disgusting and should be eliminated,” Vera said folding her arms across her chest. Nothing that William could say would change her mind on the matter. “How difficult would be it be eliminate it?” William asked trying a different tactic to get the information he desired. “It would be impossible. There are too many perverts and they spend too much money,” Vera said looking down her nose at him. “How much do they spend?” William asked. “I don’t know,” Vera answered with a frown. “How can you eliminate it if you don’t know how and where they spend their money?” “I don’t know.” “So find out.” With an expression on her face that made William think of someone eating worms for breakfast, Vera said, “Okay.” --- Lucy stared at William for a second and laughed. Shaking her head, she asked, “How could you forget that?” “I just didn’t think of it,” William answered. Although he was sure that it had to have been covered in his courses, he couldn’t recall any of his books on economics discussing the matter. “You can’t be serious,” Lucy said looking puzzled. “I am. The closest they came to it was to discuss the second economy, but that was cast in terms of organized crime, undisclosed tips, fraud, cash only businesses, and work performed without being reported,” William answered. He had used law enforcement data for the organized crime data and fraud. Of course, the IRS had estimates for the undisclosed tips and work that went unreported. Shaking his head, he said, “It was like they didn’t even want to admit that the sex industry existed.” Lucy frowned and looked up at the equations on the board. Curious, she asked, “What is the second economy?” “If you look at the top eight equations and the bottom eight equations, you’ll see that there are basically two economies. The first economy, described by the top eight equations, is the legitimate one. All transactions are performed in a legal fashion with appropriate taxes paid. The second economy, described by the bottom eight equations, is a cash only economy although it does admit to a certain amount of barter. These transactions are never reported and taxes are not paid on them. Usually the price of services in the second economy is lower than if it is provided under the first economy,” William answered. “What do you mean?” “Well, suppose that I have a car towed for some reason. If I pay the guy with a credit card, then he has to declare it and pay the taxes on it. That could be as much as half of what he receives. The money is directly tied to him receiving it. On the other hand, if I pay the guy in cash, he doesn’t have to report it since there is nothing tying him directly to the money. That means he doesn’t have to pay any taxes on it. He can charge only three quarters of the legitimate price and still have more money in his pocket.” “How big is this second economy?” “About the same size as the first economy,” William answered with a smile. Stunned, Lucy sat back in her chair and considered the matter. Her eyes drifted over to the equations on the board and considered those that represented the second economy. Finally, she asked, “Who earns most of that money?” “Every economic class earns a bit of it. There are an awful lot of people who are officially earning at a poverty level, but actually earn twice that much.” Shaking her head in disbelief, Lucy said, “Just think about it. If you were able to actually tax that second economy, then the whole national debt could be paid off in no time.” “Actually, I doubt that very much. The first economy would probably tank as a result. It depends upon the infusion of money from the second economy. If the second economy were to get taxed, the costs of those goods and services would go up and transactions would go down. The first economy would suffer from a major loss of sales as a result of the downturn in the second economy,” William said. “You are telling me that there is a black market in the United States of America.” William pursed his lips and nodded his head before he answered, “Yes.” “I thought that was a third world or war time phenomenon.” “Most people think that. I’d bet that most people who are involved in the second economy don’t even realize that they are participating in a black market. They just figure they are earning a little extra cash to buy that DVD player at the electronics store,” William said. Lucy shook her head and laughed. She said, “And you forgot to take into account the entire sex industry in all of those equations on the board.” “That’s right.” “You’ve got a lot of work to do,” Lucy said. Her eyes twinkled with amusement at the idea that William had forgotten something so significant. “That’s right,” William said with a sigh. “You’re going to need some help from me,” she said. Smiling at the thought of being able to watch her work, William said, “That’s right.” “You don’t seem disappointed by that prospect.” “I’m not,” William said grinning at her. --- As was always the case in December, the Phoenix homeless hotel was crowded. It was a matter of seasons. Many of the homeless men and women who roamed the states came to warmer climates when the weather turned cold. That didn’t mean they necessarily left the cold behind, but it did mean that their chances of surviving the winter were greater. William and Lucy, followed by Ling and the bodyguards, walked to the shack where essential items like food, clothing, and blankets were distributed. William walked up to the window and looked at the black man running the place was busy brewing another large urn of coffee. As always, William wondered how a black man had ended up with hair that particular color of red. He said, “Hey, Copperhead.” “Half Feather, it’s good to see you. It’s even better to see Lucy Diamonds,” Copperhead replied giving Lucy a wink. The man had been busy since early in the morning preparing for the Christmas meal. It wasn’t that he had to cook the food, but that he had to set up the camp for distributing the food that William was bringing and the larger than normal crowd that it would draw. “It looks real festive around here,” Lucy said pointing to the decorated tree. The tree was decorated with beer cans and bottles tied to it by string. It fit in with the environment of the homeless hotel very well. “Ah, the fire company donated the tree to us,” Copperhead said looking over at the rather rough looking tree. It had been the last one on the lot the previous day. It may have been the orphan tree, but the folks at the camp had fun decorating it. “I like it,” William said staring at the tree. He’d seen dozens of trees decorated in the same manner at Homeless Hotels around the country. “So what did you bring?” Copperhead asked looking over at the crowd that was gathering to greet William and Lucy. “Bring?” Lucy asked. She looked over at William with wide eyes and asked, “Were we supposed to bring something?” Visions of a riot breaking out in the homeless hotel flashed through Copperhead’s mind. There would definitely be a riot when people discovered that they weren’t going to get the Christmas dinner that he had promised. He stared at William unable to believe that he had been let down by Half Feather. At the look of horror on Copperhead’s face, William laughed and said, “I recall loading a couple of Huggers with enough turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, rolls, and cranberry sauce for four hundred people.” Laughing, Copperhead said, “You had me going there for a second.” “Where do you want us to put the food?” William asked. Pointing to the parking lot of the mattress discount store that was next to the Homeless Hotel, Copperhead answered, “They let us use their parking lot this year. We spent the morning setting up the tables.” Seeing how everyone was keeping ten feet away from Ling, Rock knew there wouldn’t be any trouble with her around. Looking over at William, he said, “Natalie and I will move the Huggers over there and unload.” William looked uncertain for a minute and then said, “Okay.” Lucy whispered to William, “It’ll be okay.” “I know. Just stay close to Ling,” he answered biting his lower lip. There were a lot of people around and that still bothered him. While Rock and Natalie went over to two of the Huggers, Lucy turned to the crowd of homeless men and asked, “Who would like to help them unload the food?” For a second there, it looked like the start of a marathon race as everyone headed towards the parking lot next door. Copperhead laughed at the sight. He knew that it was as much the food as it was that Lucy Diamonds had asked. He said, “There’s nothing like a Christmas meal to get them moving.” Turning to watch the activity, William’s eyes fell upon the statue of Happy Harry. He walked over and touched the statue feeling his heart break. Looking up into the face of the man who had taught him many of the smaller lessons of life, William felt the absence of his friend come crashing down upon him. In a soft voice, he said, “I miss you.” A feminine sounding male voice said, “It’s about time.” “Huh?” William said thinking that it was the first time since Midsummer’s Day that he had heard that voice. “It’s time for you to start living a real life again,” the voice said. “I’m trying,” William said thinking how difficult it had been to come to the Homeless Hotel with Lucy. It wasn’t for his own safety that he worried, but that he couldn’t protect those he loved. “Try harder,” the voice said sounding much more masculine. “I will,” William said realizing that he had been living like a hermit for six months with the exception of teaching at the high school. It was long past time for him to start living a real life. “I know you will,” the voice said with a gentler tone to it. William could feel the presence of the Two-Sided One leave. The visit had two effects on William. First, he was reassured that the Two-Sided One was still watching over him. Second, he was a little embarrassed that he had to be reminded to live. When he turned away from the statue, Lucy was standing by his side with a concerned expression on her face. William had been staring blankly at the statue of Happy Harry for almost three minutes. In a soft voice, she asked, “Are you okay?” “Yes,” William said looking at her. “What happened?” she asked wondering if his ability to foresee the future had returned. “The Two-Sided One talked to me,” William answered. He looked over and saw that Ling was standing a discreet distance away. “What did he say?” Looking over at the statue of Happy Harry, William answered, “He said that I’ve been acting like a self-indulgent asshole wallowing in self-pity.” “What?” Lucy asked surprised by the language. “I did not say that,” the Two-Sided One said. With a chuckle, he added, “I should have, though.” “Well, he didn’t really say that, but that is what he meant,” William answered glancing over at the statue of Happy Harry. “So what are you going to do?” Lucy asked. “We are going to go over to there and have some turkey with our friends,” William answered putting an arm around her. Heading towards the lot where the food was being put out, he added, “When the food is done, the stories told, and the songs have been sung, then we will go home and make mad passionate love.” “Sounds like a perfect day,” Lucy said slipping a hand down to his ass and squeezing it. She had a feeling that he was going to rock her world that evening and she was looking forward to it. Following behind, Ling watched Lucy’s hand reach down a goose William. She laughed at the little jump he gave. She knew that William was going to be all right as long as Lucy was around. The young woman could be a brazen hussy when William needed her to be one. She would let him know that it was proper for a man to act like a bull around a cow in heat on occasion. There were times when men needed to let loose like that. Colt and Nicole followed behind Ling keeping a discreet distance from the trio. It was close enough to intervene if there was a problem and far enough back to spot a problem while it was developing. Colt said, “It sounds like our lives are about to get busy again.” “I’m glad. The past six months have been rather boring,” Nicole said. As they walked, Colt asked, “When did we decide that we were going to keep working for him permanently?” “I don’t know. I got a call the other day to protect some movie starlet from a stalker and turned it down without even thinking about it,” Nicole said. It had been the first call for a job in the past year. “Rock and I have stopped getting calls,” Colt said. “It is not a bad job,” Nicole said looking around the crowd of homeless men and women. Shaking her head, she said, “Remember all of those boring Hollywood receptions we would have to attend?” “Yeah. I remember trying to protect clients who would get drunk and then do everything they could to get away from us,” Colt said recalling the days spent watching self-indulgent clients who had little or no restraint in their lives. Nicole laughed and said, “The only thing different is that William doesn’t drink and he succeeds in getting away from us when he really wants to.” “So are you going to stick with this job?” Colt asked. “I guess. I figure there will be lots of opportunities for a little excitement,” Nicole said with a shrug of her shoulders. She looked at Colt and asked, “What about you?” “I’m thinking about getting married and settling down,” Colt replied. “Oh?” “Yes.” Nicole walked along thinking about what Colt had said. She wondered whether he was going to ask her or Natalie to settle down with him. The relationship among the four bodyguards had become a little more complicated since they started working and living together for so long. There were times when she shared her bed with Colt and times when she slept with Rock. Wondering if this was an oblique approach to a proposal, she asked, “Anyone in particular you are thinking of marrying?” Colt shrugged his shoulders and answered, “I don’t know. I’m just thinking about it.” “Oh,” Nicole said irritated that he didn’t know who he wanted to marry. The usual order was to find someone and then start thinking of getting married to them. She thought to herself, ‘That bastard is going to go out and find some floozy to marry. Who am I? Chopped liver? No, I’m the cow who gave away the milk for free.’ They reached the area where the food was being served. Colt turned to Nicole and asked, “Would you like me to fix you a plate of food?” “No, I can manage that by myself,” she answered with an edge of coldness to her voice. “Oh,” Colt said wondering what had caused her to change moods so quickly. Deciding that he wouldn’t understand, he gestured to the food line and said, “Well, why don’t you go first and I’ll watch over William and Lucy?”