by Bill Day
“Again!”
I send down another ten balls. This time she blocks more than she dodges. She fails to catch the last and it hits the end of her finger. Her face goes pale. The bruises on her arms blacken. Her finger is red and looks swollen.
She faces us, “Again!”
I load up the hopper and send down another salvo of balls. She blocks rather than dodges. The second last ball slams into her stomach. She turns slightly and the last ball slams into her left hip.
She faces me, “Again. Load them up, Monty!”
Sonia puts an arm on my shoulder. “Enough Monty.” She approaches Gail slowly. Gail bounces on her toes, ready to block more balls. She watches Sonia approach. Her hands rise to an attack position. Sonia continues slowly forward. Gail shifts her weight and kicks. Sonia casually grabs her leg, dumps her on the ground, and falls on top of her. She has Gail in an elaborate lock.
I ring Felicity, “Flick, Gail’s in the basement. I think she’s lost it.” Flick is on her way.
Sonia whispers gently. “Shhh. Steady and calm. Breath Gail.”
Gail struggles for thirty seconds then goes limp. Sonia slowly relaxes her lock. Gail is lightning fast and tries to break. Sonia just tightens her hold and talks to her softly.
“Gail, I am going to let you go now. You need to stay down. I’ll stay with you. Okay?”
Gail nods. Sonia relaxes. Gail lies in her arms. Slowly her face screws up and tears leak down her cheeks. I walk to the far end of the room and give them space.
The door swings open and Flick strides in. Fingers is with her. She takes over from Sonia. Fingers scoops up Gail and carries her away like a little girl. He is much stronger than he looks.
Sonia walks over to me. She looks sad. “She wasn’t ready Monty. Perhaps nobody ever is.”
I nod. “Is Flick an assassin?”
“No Monty, she’s a plumber.”
I look confused. “Monty for a smart guy you’re not well informed. She’s a plumber. She removes blockages and mops up the crap. Mostly the job doesn’t need violence but she trains for it just the same. Flick is slowing down. Gail is ready to take over. It’s a career choice.”
“So when things go wrong Flick sorts them out?”
“Exactly Monty. Give yourself a tick.”
She sighs, “That was mean. Let’s go upstairs. I’ll teach you that armlock I used.”
As we walk up the stairs I turn to my fiancée, “Sonia, you were amazing down there.”
She smiles radiantly, “I was, wasn’t I?”
36
Successful Succession Planning
In the morning there is a knock on the door. Sonia swings her legs out of bed and walks over to answer it. A few seconds later she returns with Gail. Gail has her finger tied in a splint. She looks drained. Sonia climbs back into bed. Gail follows her. She lies quietly as Sonia puts her arms around her.
“Sorry about that.”
“Nothing to be sorry for my friend.”
Sonia looks over her shoulder. “Don’t even think about it Monty.”
Before I can speak there is another knock on the door. “Monty, I’m coming in.”
I never did change the locks. Lucky breezes in and sits at the table. I leave the girls and join him. “Monty what do you know about generators?”
“Um, they make electricity Lucky.”
“Monty! They transform kinetic energy into electrical. I’m surprised you don’t know that.”
“I do know that Lucky.”
“You do now Monty - I told you. Anyhow, we need a generator. The bloody power company shut down the air conditioner.”
“Shut down the air conditioner?”
Just then Sonia and Gail walk out of the bedroom. Lucky smiles, “Monty! Like mother - like son.”
Sonia and Gail converge on him. They both slap him on the back of the head. He puts his hands up in surrender. “Hey, who am I to judge.”
“Anyhow, they came over and installed one of those bloody smart meters. Then some wanker in town decides we use too much peak power and shuts down our air conditioner. I won’t have it!”
“You need an electrician Lucky. I can’t install a generator. I don’t think you can do it legally. How big would it have to be?”
“I have no idea. What about Mike?”
“Oh, really Lucky?”
“Oh yes. Sorry. All the media reports say it was an accident by the way. You all did a sterling job. That whole thing was my fault, sorry.”
Gail looks up, “Everyone’s sorry Lucky. Let’s move on. I have an electrician for you. See Mum and ask for Gerry’s number. He won’t ask questions.”
Three hours later Gerry, Lucky, Fingers and I are in the basement. Gail, Sonia, and Flick have come down for unknown reasons. Gerry paces about.
“This place is huge. You won’t want it here. What’s down this corridor? Or that one? You guys have so much underground I surprised the building doesn’t sink down on top of it.”
I know what he means. In the spirit of minding my own business I have never asked about the side corridors.
“What you need is a medium size soundproof room that we can vent to the surface.”
Lucky drags out a bunch of keys and walks down one corridor. He unlocks a door and swings it open. It is empty. He explains. “Most of these rooms are empty. We used to store stuff in them but it is no longer convenient.”
Gerry holds his hands up. “Hey I didn’t ask.” He walks inside. “This will do it. Is that a vent?”
I look over to a cast iron rectangle set in the wall. I hear a snuffling noise coming from it. An almighty “woof” thunders into the room. I laugh. “Yep, it’s a vent and Trotsky is at the other end. He can hear me.”
Gerry writes a list of requirements and hands it to Fingers. He makes some further notes. “Call me when you have all the gear.”
Fingers escorts Gerry to his van. Lucky looks around the room. He sighs and looks at the others in the room. “Do you want a tour?”
Gail, Sonia and I nod vigorously. Flick just shrugs. “There’s nothing new in here Raymond. I’ll come for the walk though.”
Raymond strolls down the corridor and unlocks doors as he goes. He gets to the last one and opens it. There is a bank of shelves, all are empty. “Have you worked out what we do here, Monty?”
I shrug, “Sort of Lucky. You look after other people’s money.”
“Well kind of. We used to store proceeds of crime. So if one of our customers hit a jewellery shop we would hold the goods until it was safe to fence them. If they got nabbed or convicted we would hold the goods for as long as required. We held a large stash of gold in this room for fifteen years. Its owner eventually got paroled, cashed in, and disappeared to parts unknown. Our cut was significant. Anyhow, after the proceeds of crime bill was passed your dad said to stop that arm of the business. It was too risky. We only manage cash and small high value items now. We launder cash and invest on our client’s behalf. There are still a few material goods down here - owners whereabouts unknown.”
“So you fence goods and manage cash?”
“I do Monty. I’m the banker. I can’t go into more detail without bringing in others. So there you have it.” He walks along opening other doors.
“This is Jessica’s room. She doesn’t use it now. Jess is our lever. She gathers incriminating goods or information that we can use to our advantage. It was all filed away here. She’s mostly digital now. She has leverage on more than half our serving leaders and just as many public servants. Her archives stretch back decades. Fascinating stuff.” Lucky’s face drops. “We have lost Jessica. She just wants to make up lost time with Sarah. Not that I blame her, mind.”
“Lucky, does Jessica have influence with anyone at the local employment agency?”
He keeps a straight face, perhaps too straight. “I really wouldn’t know Monty.”
He turns to us. “We need youth to take over. We’re slowing down. You all have important roles to fill if
you are willing.”
I can see Gail’s role clearly. I can see Sonia being useful in any number of ways, but me? I wonder what my skills are.
As we leave Jessica’s room I note a substantial safe in the far corner. It’s firmly bolted to the floor. Jess still has something stored down here.
Lucky walks us through a range of rooms. Most are empty. The stories they contain are fascinating. The tour concludes, we make our way to the ground floor, and go our separate ways. Gail stays with us. She just wants friends around her at the moment.
We get to my unit and sit at the table. Gail flops in the single rocker. I must get a lounge. I think about my role in the scheme of things.
“You know, I am not really sure why I’m here. Lucky just took me in because of dad.”
The girls stare at me like I have two heads. “Monty, you’re the lawyer!”
I blink. “My dad is the lawyer.”
“Yes, but when he retires, you take over.”
I don’t bother to state the obvious. I am totally unqualified.
37
Gerry and the Generator
Fingers has all the items on Gerry’s list. He’s driven a truck down the access ramp and into the basement. Gerry, Lucky, and Sonia stand off to one side. I help Fingers as he tries to lift a massive generator off the flat top truck. The small built-in crane is inadequate to the task. We have been at it for a while.
“Extend the crane arm some more, Monty!”
“It’s fully extended, Fingers.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course I’m sure. Come and have a look if you like.” Fingers jumps off the flatbed and fiddles with the crane controls.
“We need the crane over the genny. If we lift now it will swing too much.”
“Will it even lift it? It’s a small crane and a bloody big genny.”
“I’m aware of that Monty. I have no idea.”
“Ring the hire company.”
“And tell them what exactly? Hello, I want to overload your crane with a black-market generator we’re installing in our basement. Can you give me some advice?”
Sonia calls out. “No need to be testy Fingers.”
“I am not being testy!”
“You sound testy.”
Fingers mutters lowly. “I can give you testy, Sonia.”
“What was that Fingers?”
“Nothing Sonia.”
So it’s not just me that feels a little intimidated by Sonia the Amazon.
“Can we move the genny?”
“Monty it weighs a ton.”
Lucky chips in. “Guys you only have to move it a few feet. Why don’t you drive up the ramp and reverse back? If you brake quickly it will slide.”
“Are you serious Lucky? What if it slides right off?”
“Trust me.”
Fingers drives up the ramp. I can’t believe he is going to try Lucky’s idea. He puts it in reverse. He reverses quicker than normal but still quite gently. He slams on the brakes. There is an awful tearing noise.
“What was that? Monty, did you undo the lock pins?”
“Lock pins?”
“Yes, Monty, the fucking lock pins. Did you undo them?” He glances warily in Sonia’s direction.
I look at the truck bed. The metal is torn in one corner where a pin held the generator to the truck. I jump up and undo all the lock pins. Fingers gets a hammer and pounds the tear flat so it doesn’t catch on anything. He drives up the ramp again.
This time the generator slides like a wet foot on floor tiles. It skids along the truck bed. It looks like it will slide right off the truck when there is a loud “clunk”. Some part of it has caught on the lip of the tray. Fingers leaps out of the truck. We stand back and stare. The generator is teetering on the edge. It sways like a rocking chair in the wind.
Gerry stares aghast. “Be careful guys, it’ll be rooted if it drops from that height.”
“Thank you for your sage-like advice, Gerry. Your observations and comments are useful as always.”
“Are you being sarcastic Fingers?”
I hear the stair entry door open and Gail walks in. “Is Sonia in here?” Trotsky and Helen slip in behind her. They see me and bound over with grins of complete pleasure on their faces. I bend down and greet them with pats and hugs. They lick and jump. This is just what we need.
Trots lumbers from person to person and gives his customary greeting. Helen sits, puts her ears up and fixes her blue eyes on the teetering generator. Before I can distract her she leaps onto the truck and up onto the generator. She runs to one end. The generator starts to tilt. She runs back the other way. It tilts back and settles on the truck bed with a bump. She runs down the other end and it tilts again. And so it goes. She has the uncanny knack of being able to stand on the far end of the generator until it almost unbalances, then run back to steady it. It is both fascinating and terrifying.
In time with Helen’s tilting Gerry runs up and down the truck bed and yells. “Whoe, whoe, whoe.”, then turns and runs the other way, “Whoe, whoe, whoe, whoe.” And so on. His arms wave above his head. How he thinks that'll help is a mystery to everyone.
Trotsky barks and runs beside Gerry. Trotsky eventually runs too close and Gerry trips.
“Whoe, whoe, whoe, waaaahhh.” Gerry pitches face-first on the concrete. His head bounces three times on the concrete floor.
Sonia checks on him. “I think you’ve killed Gerry.”
“What? No, surely not.” We stare down at the growing pool of blood around Gerry’s head.
Fingers sighs. “Now what? Can we give him mouth to mouth or something?”
Just then Gerry moans. His eyes open and see the pool of blood around him. He screams. “Oh god! I’m dead. I’m dead.”
Fingers ignores him and grabs a length of rope. “Can someone see to Gerry? Monty, toss this over the generator. At least we can tie the end down to stop it tilting.”
I grasp the end of the rope, hold the coils in my other hand, swing, and fling the coiled rope high. It is a good toss. I watch it proudly as it arcs upward. It reaches a point directly over the generator. Helen launches herself upward and plucks it out of the air. She holds the coil of rope in her mouth and savages it with vigorous head shaking. The generator tilts back and forth.
Lucky calls out. “Monty, Helen’s got the rope.”
I turn to him. “Thank you for pointing that out Lucky.” This moment of distraction allows Trotsky to run up and snatch the other end of the rope from my hand. He pulls it tight. Helen plants her front feet firmly on the generator. She refuses to relinquish her prize.
Both dogs growl, pull, and shake at the rope like demons in a tug-o-war. Helen has the height advantage. Trotsky has the strength. All the time the generator pitches fore and aft.
Sonia finds some cloth and bandages Gerry’s head. Blood seeps through the cloth. He looks like one of those injured soldiers you see in old wartime photos.
The door opens again. Muscles walk in and looks at the chaos. “Geeze guys, you’ve fucked this job up.”
He jumps on the truck, whips a small coil of wire out of his pocket, and ties the front of the generator down. “Tungsten wire. You never know when you’ll need it. Two Dogs, come with me.”
We walk up the ramp. He takes me to a rickety of shed at the far end of the block. He disappears inside and roots about in an old wooden box. He pulls out an ancient inline winch.
“Take this back to the basement. I’ll be there in a minute.”
I try to lift the winch. It is rusty, dusty, and very heavy. It appears to be made by a race of ancient giants. I can’t lift it. I hold the chain and drag it out of the shed. I begin to drag it across the block towards the basement entrance. I see muscles walking along carrying two heavy metal ramps under one arm. I recognise these as being part of what I thought was the back fence. He spies me dragging the winch and sighs. He walks by and scoops it up like it’s a plastic cereal toy. Shamefaced I follow him down the ramp.
<
br /> Muscles places the ramps against the back of the truck. He hooks one end of the winch to the generator and the other to a pillar by the far wall. He begins to run the winch chain out. It resists him at first but he isn’t in the mood for uncooperative winches. He forces it to obey. With everything in place, he pulls the continuous chain. Slowly but steadily the generator eases down the ramp. In a few minutes, it lays on the concrete basement floor. Helen immediately leaps on top of it with the remains of the rope. Trotsky circles. Muscles scoops up the ramps and heads outside.
Lucky stares at the generator. “How are we going to get that down the corridor and through the door?”
We turn to Gerry. He holds up his hands. “I do the electrics. You have to get it in place. You might have to strip it down to get it through the door.”
We stare at Gerry, mouths open.
“We could have stripped it on the truck?”
Gerry shrugs his shoulders. “Yeah, you guys should plan ahead.”
Fingers turns, stomps up the ramp and disappears outside. I don’t expect he will be back.
Sonia looks at the generator, “We need Mary.”
“Mary?”
“Yes, Monty, we need the ginger cat.” She glares. I pretend to inspect the generator for damage. Sonia rings Enrico and Mary. “They are on the way. Lucky, don’t let anyone start until they get here. Monty, walk with me.” We walk around the generator, up the ramp, and into the sunshine. We stroll over to Muscle’s garden.
“Monty, did you think I didn’t know?” I stare like a kangaroo in a floodlight. “I told her you were gay. She bet me you were just clueless. She won and it cost me a case of Talisker.” She points at me. “You owe me a case of single malt.”
“Why did you think I was gay?”
“Monty! You worked around the two most stunning girls you’ll ever see and you never so much as looked at us. Well, not until Mary bent over that paint cannon. I thought you would pass out then. Anyhow, she is my sister, so don’t be weird around her, okay?”
