“Glenn, nobody ever listens to good advice.” “So then, what happens?” “A lot of them act sensible, and a lot of them snort coke and meth and
die young.” “Are we responsible for that?” “To discourage it. If we can’t, then we can’t.” “What should we do with a model with a drug habit?” “Shoot her if she can work. Tell her she should stop, if you like
talking to the wall. Go to her funeral if you think there is any point in that. There are a lot of people who are better off being poor. Especially when they are young. Chrissie and I will be all right being rich. We’ll invite our friends over, go out on the Med with our boat, smell the flowers and look at the fishes in our ponds. If you turn out to be able, you will bring Teresa or someone over and shoot her in our yard. We’ll sit on the deck with a few shots of Jack and talk about photography.”
“It won’t spoil you.” “No. We are going to like it, but it isn’t going to spoil us.” * * * They arrived at a hotel, and went in. They slept, and then showered
and dressed, and had breakfast in the hotel. They went out to the street, just getting an idea of the weather and the light. One of the bell boys had catalogs, and he got some pretty good tips handing them out. Will was surrounded by pretty girls. He signed up 16 of them, and called them to conference in the hotel in one hour, everyone needed a parent’s signature on the contract, and do expect Poquita to check, and do not expect her to forget.
Poquita did indeed check, and everyone was all right. She explained how the covey worked, and that Marcie would for sure be photographed with each of them. That they would all get a page on the web site with their pix, and a little bio. That they would all get in the catalog and their little bios would be there, too.
Kitty prowled in with his lioness. They were seated. Glenn sat next to them, and so did Marcie. “Girls, we are going to go out to the big truck out there, and you can wear anything you like on the racks. Please leave things in order. I would like to see it a little neater than the last covey left it. These two guys here who are not talking are our security detail. If they tell you to do something, do it. Otherwise, we are expecting you to do what Marcie says. She’s not real hard to work for. We’re going down to the park at the end of the street and do a little modeling.”
Marcie took her covey into the truck and they all dressed up in Aurora with, of course Phillipa shoes. Out they came, much as they had gone in, but dressed nicely, and the better for a little lip gloss and eye shadow.
There may be nothing a girl enjoys more than looking good and being noticed looking good, unless it’s, uh, well, of course there is that. The covey, under the watchful eye of Marcie, went down the street to the park, with their photographers and the silent guys. Japan takes a different view about firearms than Texas. In Texas, you’re not really OK unless you have at least one, and preferably 10 or so. In Japan, guns are considered really scary, even though it’s motor vehicles that kill people.
Despite this belief, the two guys who had not much to say had them, and so did the General who was not really a General, and didn’t actually exist. These three gentlemen didn’t expect any trouble, but they understood the possibility that evil would rear its ugly head, which would of course be shot to hell.
The covey played around in the park for a while, documented by Glenn and Will on virtual film. They went back to the hotel and had a snack and the girls got shot with Marcie. Lots of posters got printed and signed. Poquita gave the girls their web page addresses, and uploaded everything. Each of them received a little letter from Will about how she was a nice young lady, and he had the highest hopes for her future career.
The letters were varied a bit by Will, and some more by Poquita, so that they did not seem to be the same letter. They did the rest of Japan in a similar matter, and went north to take care of unfinished business.
Chapter 18 Scandinavia
Musical Theme; Come to My Window by Melissa Etheridge The seven three set down at the Copenhagen airport. John Riggs congratulated Will on a nice landing. “The hardest part is setting them down, Will. Real nice. You’re already a seven three pilot, but we will wait a bit for your tests.” Marcie and Chrissie came into the cockpit. John took instructions from the tower, and told Will where to put the bird. Will taxied over and parked her. “Will, that was you who landed?” John laughed. “It wasn’t me.” They went down the stairs to the bus. John and his crew could sleep on the plane. Will, Chrissie and Marcie got on the bus, and into their bunks. It only took 10 minutes for the luggage to be loaded. The bus took them to a hotel, and they got out with the carry on kind of stuff, and a little more.
Marcie put her stuff in her room and went to the bar. Will and Chrissie went to their room, and stayed there. Marcie came in late and she either had a man with her, or a draft horse. In the morning, Will took a shower and got dressed. He found out Marcie had brought home something between a man and a draft horse. A Viking Dane shook his hand. “I am Karl Holburg.” Karl was a little too big to be an NFL fullback. He might not have been big enough to throw a VW into a dump truck, but it wasn’t something you would want to bet on. “Will Ames.” “You are of American Marines, I think?” “Yes.” “I am of Danish Army, but we have nobody to fight, I leave.” “It’s good not to have anyone to fight.” “Is right, I think, someone invade Denmark, see me. You take the picture of Marcy.” “I do.” “Marcy think I go with her.” Marcy said, “Will, Karl is footloose and fancy free. He needs some work.
Can he come with us?” “I have to check him out.” He pulled out the palmtop, and Karl handed him a driver’s license and held the palmtop with his thumb on top. Will hit the record key. He went down to the bus, and got his little attaché case. He opened it, and plugged in the palmtop. He sent the data, then unplugged the palmtop and put it in his pocket, and coiled up the cable, putting it in the briefcase. He initiated a voice call. “Kitty, I don’t know how you find them.” “Might be a special talent, Sir.” “Your friend Karl is M.I. Retired like you. Bigger than you, though. My, My, that is one big dude. Been kind of bumming around the country like you do. Twenty years ago, he was a First Lieutenant. I’d guess if he had planned his career a little better, he would be a light colonel by now.
Maybe not even field grade any more.” “Is he with anybody now?” “Well, not anybody bad. He’s not carrying a badge or anything like that.
He could be a volunteer, or he could be with someone like the Christians, but Denmark doesn’t do much of that sort of thing.” “So your bet is, actually out?” “Well, probably perfectly happy to help out if a kitten got in a tree.” “Even Kitty will probably soon move to willing to help but not really wanting to.” “Meow.” “It’s always nice to have someone you know real well who has, you know, a house or a boat or something.” “Especially if things get a little out of hand.” “So true, Kitty. Well, is Kitty still willing to help?” “Kitty will help.” “Well, that gives me that warm feeling. If your Viking is available to big cat, there are lots of little things he could do.” “I’ll make it vaguely obvious.”
“Love you, Kitty.” “Feeling is mutual. Seeya.” Will came back up to the hotel room. He gave a nod to Karl, and put his briefcase away. Marcie asked, “Are you going to tell me what that all was?” “Mostly not. I wanted to know if your friend was our friend, and now I know he is, so I’m kind of more calm, knowing you are safe.” “This ‘our’ though is?” “Well, like people who wouldn’t want something bad to happen to you.
Now we find that Karl is friends of friends and he could even get friendlier if he wanted.” Karl shook his head. “I am respecting, but this is not for me.” Marcie left to take a phone call. Will put three fingers on his shoulder for a moment. “He asked.” “I will protect Marcie, but you try to protect the world. Too much for Karl, I think.” “I know this won’t do any good, but I am going to say it anyway. Don’t fall in love with her. She will for sure break your heart. I don’t want to run an old friend down talking to her new one, but don’t be thinking lo
ve for ever, a nice wedding and having kids, or anything like that, because it’s not who she is.” “You may be wrong about her.” “I said I knew it wouldn’t do any good.” “I might know more about women than you.” “Sure. But I may know more about wolverines.” Will went downstairs, got a coffee with Bushmills at the bar, and then went out to sit in the sun for a little while. He had no more than got his spot in the sun, and he was assaulted by girls in platoon strength. He picked them on looks, how nicely they were dressed, their smiles, and their poise. He reminded the ones he had not chosen that Marcie Della had only gotten about one job for every twenty she had auditioned for. Will took his new covey upstairs to call parents and sign contracts. Poquita saw to the details. The covey hit the street in Aurora and Phillipa, and were assigned out to their supervisors. Will, Glenn, Karl, and a detective named Eppie took four girls each, and kept them in sight while they handed out catalogs. They blew through about 2,000 in around an hour, and got on the bus to go to the harbor. The water suggested swimwear, and they put it on.
It was cold, and the water was very cold, but four of the girls went with Will to get in anyway. They splashed around a little, and then got into some terrycloth robes. They were photographed looking cold, and then the covey changed into sweaters and jeans, got in the bus, the heater was turned up, and they went on. Ken Burns called. “Will, this is going to be the last push for a while. When you’ve done Scandinavia, I’m sending you back to Italy. I have the same problem Phillipa did, that you are exhausting our capacity to produce. I’m not going to let you hunt for producers like Phillipa did. We’re not going to let ourselves get bigger than our britches. Keep the stuff we need, give the coveys anything that needs cleaning unless you want it. Whatever fits your wife or your maids or whoever, take it all and get me that Morgan Dollar to finish my wife’s collection. Poquita knows which one it is.” “Ken, I’m wanting to comment on the catalogs.” “Please do.” “I was looking at someone else’s catalog, and I was reminded of something that bugs me. They have pics for their jeans where they cut the model’s feet off, and chop her in half around the navel.” “Your idea?” “It’s vulgar, and disrespectful to the ladies. A lady should not be shown like some cut of meat, here is the butt steak, here are the legs, and so on. I realize I think of this as art, and you guys think of it as commerce, but.” “I think of it as art, too, Will. Continue.” “I would like to do it like this: We put a model in an outfit. Women put together outfits. If they think of themselves like cuts of meat, we should show them that, no, they are people who should be seen as people, not with their feet cut off or their heads, even. They appear with dignity in nice pix.
If we sell jeans, then we put them with sweaters or tees that look nice with them. Phillipa will certainly work with you on the shoes. Why cut the girls up and sell jeans when you could just as well say ‘here are some jeans, here are some tops, here are some shoes’?” “I think we could sometimes do that. But what are you going to do with the bra and panties pix?” “Same thing. Get with those cute nylons I like so much. Start selling the patterned ones, and the iridescent ones. The ones with patterns like leaves and vines and flowers and all that stuff. Why do I use those, Ken?” “Well, they’re sexy.” “That’s just the beginning. Women like to be sexy, but even more so, they want to be glamorous, decorative, cute, admired, noticeable, appreciated.
They also have an ongoing thing to impress other women. Sure, 17 year old girls want 50 year old men they would never be interested in to admire them. They also want other women to think they look good. I don’t pretend to know what goes on in their minds. You would probably have to take estrogen to get that. But we should present them respectfully, and understand they are the most precious thing on the planet.” “All this will get talked about at the highest levels, Will. Now you do Sweden, and plan on some time off. Glenn is better every day, and I thank you for that.” “More Marcie than me, likely.” “And you taught Marcie. Would I be wrong to think photographers train models, and models train photographers?” “No. But photographers need photographers too. Shooting Marcie has been a stunning learning experience for Glenn, but she only knows the world in front of the camera. She can create the perfect image, and she can do it really fast, but she can’t select it, frame it, light it, or anything like that. She isn’t dumb, but she has never been told anything about photography. It isn’t her job.” “So I still need you.” “Life could go on without me.” “You’re not going to leave me, though.” “No. Contract or not, I will never let you down. You know that.” “What am I supposed to do?”
“Marcie and I are putting you in your market position. We want you to live life according to the virtues, but we can not insist on it. Teresa and Glenn will probably be able to take over for us, but if they can or not, I think you can hold your position. Sell nice stuff, treat your customers well, the usual. You can sell from factory outlets or on the net. Your reputation is everything, and we are going to build it while you have us.”
“How would I know if I am living life according to the virtues?” “Look in the mirror, and see if you are looking at a man you admire and respect. Ken, you’re a good man, Don’t ever stop being that. Stand up to anybody or anything that wants you do evil, and tell them you will not. The virtuous man will probably always have business, because people like to do business with him, like I do with you. It may not pay. The virtuous man may even lose his life for doing the right thing, but his life will not have been wasted, as the life of the man of vice always is.”
“Well, we will soon be forgotten.”
“No. The lives we live will become a part of history. Those of us who choose to do right will leave trails for others to follow. We will set an example for people yet unborn. Our character and our honor matter.”
“I hope you turn out to be right, Will.”
“No turning out to be about it, I am right.” “OK, Will, talk to you later.” They hung up. Chrissie and Poquita came in. Poquita asked “What did Ken have to say?”
“Main thing of your interest is, we finish Scandinavia and go home to Italy. I mean, Chrissie, I think we can leave Hank with the house in Oregon.”
“Sure we can.”
“I want to order Chinese take out if we can, and then everyone can meet on this.”
“Sounds fine to me.”
He called the Chinese place and said he wanted a lot of food delivered. Well, they did not deliver. He could pay them well for doing so. No, it wasn’t an option. Father James took the phone, and of all things, he was speaking Chinese! There didn’t seem to be a problem any more. Father James put in a typical Will order, which is some of everything, lots of rice, tons of butterfly shrimp, and pot stickers, and if it was not too much trouble, some Tsingtao, like, say, a case, and a gallon of milk. Cash, certainly. And then, there was this one person who liked hot sauce. Cayenne, certainly. Very hot. No, hotter than that. Father James wanted something that had to be delivered in Pyrex and handled with three foot foundry tongs. A half hour would be nice. Thanks.
Father James summarized the conversation for the non Chinese speakers. It was probably just that people thought they were being asked to do something special without getting paid for it. By the way, did Will happen to have $200 in cash? That would take care of everything. Will did indeed have $200. Had he needed two hundred million dollars, he would have needed a very good reason, a phone call to General Barnes, and it would have been held up in the bureaucracy for maybe half an hour. Will had even been pestered by people who thought there was something funny about him running around with small sums like fifty thousand in cash, but those people had been informed that this was just fine, and don’t ask why he has it. It was much easier around military folk, who looked at the ONI badge, and then at Will, and thought this was something they didn’t want to know about.
The Chinese food came, and the $200 went, and there was no problem whatever! Marcie ate almost a whole pot sticker. Father James tried to explain to Karl that this was Will’s hot sau
ce, and, well, Karl found out for himself.
After they had eaten, they went down the street a bit to see what was up at a little video arcade. A couple of guys accosted Marcie, who was in the lead. When Karl caught up with her, they reconsidered, with that sudden change of plans a rabbit makes when he sees a lynx.
They tried the games, but nobody seemed to be able to figure out what they should be trying to do. Marcie was about ready to give up on the whole project when the owner came and used a special key, and she could play as long as she wanted, even though she had no idea how. Will took some pix. Karl went to the bus and got a bundle of catalogs for the video arcade owner. Poquita played a dozen games, and then blew away some vast number of evil aliens, and posted herself as the top scorer on the machine, ever. The owner offered to play her on a two player tank battle game. He wiped her out on the first game, barely won the second, and after that, it was General Patton against the Cub Scouts.
In Love and Law Page 20
