JC: William Redman Carter Part 2: Hermit Chapter 12 By Lazlo Zalezac Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezac, 2006 It was past time for the weekly status meeting among the bodyguards and they had a problem. Rock and Colt had arrived, but Natalie and Nicole had not put in an appearance yet. Neither man was very happy. The absence of the two women at the meeting underscored the problem. For some reason, the women were furious with them. Everyone in the household, with the exception of William, was aware that there was a problem among the bodyguards. The first clue that Rock had of a problem was when he returned to the room he shared with Natalie after finishing his duties late Christmas night. Expecting to find her waiting for him dressed in lingerie, he was shocked to find that all of his clothes were out in the hallway. He was then surprised to learn that Nicole had moved out of Colt’s room. He had moved in with Colt puzzled as to what he had done wrong. Colt was just as confused. Frustrated at sleeping alone, Rock said, “You must have said something to anger them.” “I can’t think of anything that I said that would make them mad at us,” Colt said shaking his head. He was just as confused by events as Rock. “All I know is that Christmas morning everything was okay and by nightfall things had gone to hell,” Rock said running his fingers through his hair in frustration. Christmas morning, he had given the two women nice necklaces that matched the earrings that Colt had given them. They had seemed quite overwhelmed by the gifts. He asked, “What happened?” Scratching the side of his face, Colt said, “I don’t know. I was telling Natalie that I was thinking about settling down. Next thing I know she’s mad at us.” Rock stared at the top of the table while thinking about it. He sighed and said, “I’ve been thinking the same thing. I’d like to get married and raise a kid or three.” “The problem that I have is that I can’t make up my mind whether I’d like to spend the rest of my life with Natalie or Nicole,” Colt said glancing at Rock to see his reaction. Snorting, Rock said, “Hell, I’d ask them both if I could.” “Same here. There are two of us and two of them. If one of us got both of them, the other would be out in the cold. We ought to be able to figure out some way of pairing up for good,” Colt said while twiddling his fingers nervously. He wished that he had brought something to work on. It would be nice to have something to do with his hands while waiting for the women. “There’s got to be some way for the four of us to be happy.” Barking out a laugh, Colt said, “I sure as hell am not happy right now. I like you, but you aren’t my ideal for a roommate.” “If you had to choose between them, which one would you ask to be your wife?” Shaking his head, Colt felt that the choice was impossible. He’d spent hours thinking about it, but he couldn’t make up his mind. He answered, “I don’t know. I love them both.” “Yeah,” Rock said in agreement. “How about you?” “You know, I’ve spent a lot of long days and nights on duty with each of them. We’ve grown close under adversity. To be honest, that closeness has moved to love. I love them both, too. It is an impossible decision,” Rock said. Colt said, “There are two of us and two of them. We ought to be able to come up with some solution.” “The only solution that I can think of is that we marry them both,” Rock said throwing his hands up in the air. “Like any of us is going to go for that.” --- Vera pointed a finger at Barbara and said, “He wants me to research the sex industry.” “I don’t understand what your problem is with that,” Barbara said staring at Vera. It was obvious to her that the young woman was upset, but she didn’t see any reason for it. As far as she understood, William had hired her as a research assistant. “It is sexual harassment,” Vera said wondering why Barbara didn’t understand that men couldn’t require women to investigate an industry based on perversion. “He wants business numbers about an important sector of the economy. I really don’t see a problem with that,” Barbara said wondering how William had broached the subject if Vera had seen it as sexual harassment. She couldn’t imagine William acting in an improper manner. Frustrated, Vera blew air out of her mouth. She said, “What do you mean you don’t see a problem with that? He has me looking into prostitution, sex shops, adult films, and other kinds of businesses that are equally disgusting. When I put in a query on the internet, I get back pages with pictures of women doing things that are positively immoral. The fact that he’s demanding that I do it is sexual harassment. What don’t you understand about that?” Barbara stared at Vera unable to come up with a response. It was obvious that Vera didn’t distinguish between the financial aspects of the business with the services provided by the businesses. Trying to mediate the situation, she asked, “Have you talked to William about this?” “Of course not; he’s the one harassing me. That’s why I came to you,” Vera answered crossing her arms and staring at Barbara. Deciding that she should get a second opinion on the matter from Sandra, Barbara said, “Okay. Let me look into it.” “You better. If he keeps on insisting that I do this, I’ll sue him,” Vera said. She rose and went over to the door. Looking back at Barbara, she said, “There’s no court in the world that would rule in his favor.” --- With Vera gone, Barbara sat back in her chair shaking her head. She had no idea what to do about the situation. William’s request for economic figures was purely within the scope of Vera’s job responsibilities. She decided that William was going to have to assign someone else to pursue that particular line of research. She made a note in her book to discuss the matter with him. She had hardly finished when there was a knock on her door. Looking up, she said, “Come in.” Feeling a little uncertain about disturbing Barbara, Rock stepped into the room and looked around as if seeking out a threat. Nodding at Barbara, he said, “I was wondering if you could help me.” “What’s the problem?” Barbara asked. She didn’t deal with the bodyguards very often, but liked them. It was very unusual for one of them to ask her for any help. “Uh … well … you see …,” Rock said not knowing how to say what he wanted to say. He stopped trying and just looked at Barbara. “I don’t quite understand,” Barbara said in an attempt to prompt him to get to the point. “You’re a woman,” Rock said grabbing onto something factual. “Yes, I am,” Barbara answered wondering if he was trying to ask her out on a date. Shaking her head, she wondered if she had somehow wandered into the Twilight Zone. “So you understand women,” Rock said. It felt to Barbara like this conversation was going to be as incomprehensible as the conversation with Vera had been. Taking a deep breath, she said, “I suppose I do understand women.” “Good. So you’ll do it?” Rock asked looking at her expectantly. “Do what?” “Talk to the women and find out what we did to make them so mad at us,” Rock answered frustrated that she hadn’t figured out what the problem was. “Which women?” she asked thinking that there were at least two dozen women in the house. Frowning, Rock answered, “Natalie and Nicole, of course. Who else would be mad at us?” “I don’t know why anyone would be mad at you,” Barbara answered with a sigh. “Thanks,” Rock said turning to leave the room. He paused at the door and asked, “When will you know something?” “I’ll try to talk to one of them later,” Barbara answered. Nodding his head, he said, “Don’t give them the third degree. They hate it when you question them like that. Use your authority. They won’t like it, but they’ll answer your questions.” --- “I’m tired of waiting for him to do something,” Sandra said to Juanita in the break room. The two women were in there alone and venting several months of frustration. There was an open bag of chips on the table. Sandra took out a chip and broke it into little pieces. Watching Sandra as she destroyed the potato chip, Juanita asked, “Are you sure that he knows what you want?” “Amanda told him almost six months ago,” Sandra said. It had been a great topic of conversation around the dinner table. Despite Amanda’s very explicit suggestion concerning what William should say to her, he had never acted on it. “I don’t understand why he’s ignoring us,” Juanita said giving voice to the fact that William didn’t pick up their hints that they were interested. In a way, she envied Amanda and Donna. He’d listened to someone about their desires. “I’m tired of it and I’m not going to put up with it any more,” Sandra said reaching for another potato chip. It didn’t last any longer than the previous chip. The pile of crumbs doubled in size. “What are you going to do?” Juanita asked concerned that her friend was going to do something rash. “I’m going to quit,” Sandra said. She pulled out a third chip and started to break it into little crumbs. “Are you going to eat those chips or torture them?” Juanita asked entranced by the bizarre behavior. She’d never watched anyone do that to a bag of potato chips before this. “Oh, I do that when I’m upset,” Sandra said looking down at the pile of crumbs she had created with embarrassment. She actually preferred to destroy those little stick pretzels instead of chips, but they didn’t have any in the break room. “Don’t quit,” Juanita said watching as Sandra destroyed another potato chip. Looking down at the potato chip, Sandra asked, “You don’t think it is weird that I break up potato chips?” “No, that’s not what I meant. Don’t quit working here,” Juanita said worried about her friend. Sandra’s laughter at the miscommunication suddenly turned to tears. Resting her head on her arms she allowed her frustration bubble forth. Looking up at Juanita, she said, “I can’t stay.” --- Adding a note to talk to Natalie or Nicole onto her to-do list, Barbara sighed. She wondered when she had become the personnel department. Rubbing her temples, she wished the day was over. “Barbara?” Juanita called through the slightly open door. “What?” Barbara asked. “I think we have a problem,” Juanita said slipping into the room. She closed the door behind her and took a seat. “What kind of problem?” Barbara asked thinking that it must be a full moon or something. “I don’t know how to say this,” Juanita said feeling like she was about to violate a confidence. Barbara waited, but Juanita didn’t say anymore. Frustrated at having to pull information from everyone who came into her office, she said, “Just tell me.” “I think … Well, I don’t think … Actually, it doesn’t matter what I think. She said that she wants to quit,” Juanita said looking expectantly at Barbara. “Who?” Barbara asked wondering if she had lost some ability to understand English. It dawned on her that Juanita might have been talking about Nicole, Natalie, or Vera. “Sandra,” Juanita answered. “What!” Barbara sat up straight in her chair and stared at Juanita shocked at the news. The last thing she had expected to hear was that Sandra was considering leaving. She stuttered for a second before she managed to ask, “When did she say that?” “About ten minutes ago,” Juanita answered. Seeing the shock on Barbara’s face, she added, “She sounded pretty serious to me, too. She was very upset and crying like Niagara Falls.” “Did she say why?” “It’s William,” Juanita answered thinking that would explain everything. She was pretty sure that Barbara would understand the frustration that Sandra was feeling. “What’s he done?” “It is more like what he hasn’t done,” Juanita answered. “What hasn’t he done?” Barbara asked wondering why she had to get information one small piece at a time. Trying to make sense of what people were telling her was like trying to solve a jig saw puzzle. Rolling her eyes, Juanita said, “He hasn’t been intimate with her yet.” Snorting, Barbara said, “He hasn’t been intimate with you or me, but we aren’t about to quit.” “Sandra thought that he would act after Amanda gave him that little talk about her. You know the one I’m talking about. The one she had with him six months ago. Sandra is tired of waiting for him,” Juanita said. “Okay,” Barbara said sitting back in her seat thinking about the situation. She sighed and said, “I’ll talk to her.” “Don’t talk to her,” Juanita protested. “Huh?” “Talk to him.” --- “Hello, Lucy?” “Betsy? Is that you?” Lucy asked. It was hard to make out the voice on the other end of the telephone. There was a lot of background noise that interfered. “Yes. This is Betsy. How are you doing?” “I’m fine,” Lucy answered wondering why Betsy had called her. “Good. I need a little favor,” Betsy said rushing her words. Lucy could hear the sounds of what sounded like a major fight over the phone. Curious, she asked, “What?” “Mom and I got into a little trouble,” Betsy answered. Dreading what she was going to learn, Lucy asked, “Which Mom?” “Momma Ling,” Betsy answered. Lucy cringed at the idea of what it meant if Betsy and Ling got into trouble. Odds were good that a number of people were either in the hospital or the morgue. She asked, “Why didn’t you call Ed?” “You know how he is about us being too rough when faced with violence. Momma Ling and I discussed it. We thought it would be better if you helped us out,” Betsy said. There was a pleading quality to her voice. “Why didn’t you call William?” Lucy asked thinking it was strange that she had called her rather than William. In fact, this was the first time that Betsy had ever called her. “He’d tell Daddy Ed,” Betsy answered. This was really beginning to sound pretty bad. Lucy decided it was probably best that Betsy had called her rather than William. There was no telling how William would have reacted. She asked, “What happened?” “We were in China Town and there was this little problem with a gang. Well, actually it was two gangs and somehow we were in the middle,” Betsy answered. Lucy could imagine Betsy gesturing while talking. She asked, “Where are you?” “The Central Station Police Department in San Francisco,” Betsy answered. Lucy could hear Betsy put her hand over the telephone and tell someone, “If you talk to me one more time you’ll be wearing your ass for a hat.” Lucy said, “Betsy, let me see what I can do for you.” “Thanks, you’re a great sister in law,” Betsy said right before hanging up the phone. --- Lucy frowned as she hung up the telephone. She picked up the phone and dialed an internal number. When Barbara answered, Lucy said, “I have a problem.” Thinking it was her day for cryptic conversations Barbara was about to say something rude, but held it in check. She asked, “What?” “I need one of the best lawyers in San Francisco to get Betsy and Ling out of jail. I don’t know what they’ve done, but we need them out now. Once you’ve managed to get that started, I’ll need a jet to San Francisco. See if you can’t get me there in four hours,” Lucy answered. “Thank God,” Barbara said relieved that someone was finally talking sense. “Excuse me?” Lucy asked wondering what was so great about having to go to San Francisco to bail her sister-in-law and mother- in-law out of jail. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it that way. I’ve been having a rough day. This is the first conversation I’ve had today that actually made sense,” Barbara said. She looked at her watch and realized that it was almost lunch time. She wished the day would just end. “There is one more thing,” Lucy said with a slight bit of hesitation in her voice. “What?” Barbara asked with a sickening feeling in her stomach. “Uh… well… I don’t know how to say this,” Lucy said. “Just say it,” Barbara said. “Don’t tell William until after I’ve gone,” Lucy said feeling very guilty about not telling William. --- Barbara walked into William’s office feeling like Daniel entering the lion’s den. Maybe if she was lucky the lion would have a thorn in its paw and she’d escape with her life. She didn’t feel lucky. Lucy had just left for the airport; leaving her with the unpleasant task of telling William about his wife’s unexpected trip. Thinking that this was not going to be a good day for William, she sat down and opened her pad. Watching her, William asked, “What’s the problem?” “I wish we only had a single problem. Do you want them from most serious to least serious?” “Sure,” William said. “Okay. Betsy and Ling were arrested in San Francisco. They called Lucy to bail them out. She’s gone there to take care of the problem,” Barbara said watching William closely. William frowned at the news. It bothered him that Lucy went there without him. He asked, “Did she take bodyguards?” “Yes. She went there with Colt and Rock,” Barbara answered thinking that was another matter she should discuss with William. “Why didn’t she take Natalie and Nicole?” William asked. “That’s another problem,” Barbara said with a grimace. “What?” William asked. “It appears that Natalie and Nicole are mad at Rock and Colt. They don’t want to work with the men any more,” Barbara answered licking her lips. She hadn’t had a chance to investigate the matter before she had to dispatch two of the bodyguards with Lucy. “Why?” “I don’t know,” Barbara answered. “Oh,” William said at a loss for words. He was pretty sure that if his foresight was active that he’d have foreseen those problems and possibly prevented them. Instead, he was finding out about them long after they had developed. “There’s another problem,” Barbara said after a long moment of silence. “What?” “Vera is upset at having to investigate the sex industry. She’s thinking of suing you for sexual harassment,” Barbara said. “What?” William shouted unable to believe what he was hearing. “I’m not sure that I understand the problem, but she’s quite adamant that she shouldn’t have to research the financial figures for the sex industry,” Barbara said fidgeting with her notebook. She was half convinced that of all of his problems, this one was going to be the most serious. “Oh,” William said thinking about how stubborn she had been in trying to get out of that particular job. He wondered how he should have handled the situation. He asked, “Is there anything else?” Barbara looked at William and wondered how to tell him the problem in a manner that would help resolve it. Shaking her head, she said, “Sandra has been waiting six months for you to go and fuck her senseless. She’s tired of waiting and is talking about quitting.” “Quitting what?” William asked. He dismissed her desire to sleep with him almost automatically. “She’s talking about resigning her position and leaving,” Barbara said. “What should we do?” William asked feeling a real sense of panic. He wouldn’t know what to do without her. “I will no not anything. You will visit her and rock her world with a night of hot passionate sex,” Barbara said while wondering who would tell him to do that for her.