Chapter 21: The Obverse Side

Yolanda is a crackerjack bicycle mechanic and Sergey is very handy to have around, or were when they were trying to keep on my good side. Maybe they should reconsider whether living with the evil they know isn’t better than inviting the evil they don’t know! They seem determined to provoke my obverse side and meet the MEANY ME!

Sergey and Yolanda won’t be running a prostitution operation at the ‘NOW’ truck-stop. They wouldn’t agree to my terms. Without my guidelines in place to govern them, I merely told them their troupe of whores isn’t welcome here. Sergey and his daughter have decided to seek their fortunes elsewhere, but as of yet, they’ve not discovered where else they want to go. Now they need to decide quickly.

They leave me no choice but to evict them. The use of the apartment is a side benefit to being an employee. Employees don’t keep their position or free company housing benefits, by telling their boss no and refusing to work. Our relationships have cooled. Sergey is always too busy tinkering with that ex-cop car to assist in any task of my request. He’s unwilling to teach me how the rewind equipment is used, either. The carousel ride is over. Ingrates get off and get out!

While I was having the two story apartment over shops constructed, I raised the pavilion roof creating a second story above the office.

The office is now elegant looking brick and extended to encompass my former roughhewn bedroom addition. The bathroom has been modernized. Central heat and air-conditioning is installed, with two thermostats. One up, one down. The thermostats control damper doors in the ductwork to the separate levels. The damper doors by opening or closing actually switches the HVAC on or off.

Now, I go upstairs to bed. My bedroom is greater than twice it’s former size, and I have windows to view all points of the compass.

I have the most unusual headboard for my custom made large mattress. Two rows of flip up theater seats. Armrests and seat bottoms are eliminated where the mattress fits in to the wine colored backrests. A single seat each side of the bed functions as a seat for sitting while shoeing and slippering, but the lift spring is removed. The seats stay in the down positions unless I manually flip one up. Up accesses the shallow boxes beneath containing normal bedside table stuff. Alarm clocks, paper pads and pens, QTips, Kleenex, ect.

The rear row of seats goes sidewall to sidewall along the back wall, seven total in the row. A comfortable distance separates the two rows, for hanging our legs and feet over the seat-backs in front of us while seated in the rear.

T he old Bijou Cinema is being demolished and I bought these balcony seats as memorabilia. They have important significance for Marshall and me. My refurbished quarters and the theater seats were all the enticement needed for Marshall, and Karen too, to move in with me. Jin is so often here, she may as well be said to be living here with me.

The theater seats also come in quite handy for business meetings when I need to address the entire group of my partners at once.

Gathered today in such a meeting, an uninvited guest wanders in.

“Yolanda! Well, don’t stand there gawking. Come on in and be seated. Sorry, only the bed is available, but make yourself comfortable. Please.”

Mom, Karen, Marshall, Estrealla, Milly, Jin, Mei, Moses and Johnny fill all the theater seats, including the bedsides, totaling nine.

Johnny has just returned from being knighted a Shell Seminary Graduate Manager. He jokes now he really is a Shellback.

At sea, a Shellback refers to seamen who cross the equator aboard ship, the first time as pollywogs. They’re forced to undergo the hazing initiation by King Neptune’s Court of august old Shellbacks and thus become one, forever. An artsy scroll is given to commemorate the induction and for future proof, to avoid being hazed again on a different ship crossing the line.

“How may we assist you, Yolanda? This is the bulk of my family and all are my business partners. We have no secrets from each other. Speak freely.”

“Father and I feel we have behaved badly and foolishly. We ask for your forgiveness and please give us another chance. We’ll cooperate this time.”

Glancing around the room, I see puzzlement on most faces. I don’t guard secrets from my partners intentionally but neglect to tell all I know sometimes. I wish to maintain the pretense my partners know all about it.

“Have you prepared the dossiers on the prostitutes I requested?”

Yolanda passes a thick manila envelope. Marshall is immediately at my side, intercepting and disgorging the contents on the bed.

File folders. Each has a name printed on it with a wallet sized photo glued on the outside. Inside the folder are copies of birth certificates, passports, police records, medical records, and testimonials. Included are work histories and personal assessments by Sergey and Yolanda for the time the prostitute has been associated with their troupe. Excellent personnel records for a prostitution operation. I expected nothing less from this pair of international professionals.

“Have you agreed to all my guidelines and stipulations.?” Yolanda assents.