The Devlin Deception: Book One of The Devlin Quatrology (51 page)

"Yee-oww!"

"First, what's your name?"

"Jerry."

"Last name?"

"Hagopian."

"And how do you spell that, Jerry?"

"H-a-g-o-p-i-a-n."

"Okay; Jerry Hagopian.

"And where do you go to school, Jerry
Hagopian?"

He named a well-known university in New Jersey.

"Which campus?"

"Camden."

"And how old are you?"

"19."

"Very good, Jerry. Now I'm going to ask you
a compound question, and that may be tougher for you. What year are
you in and what is your major?"

"I'm a sophomore, marketing."

"Well, well, well. Maybe you're not as
stupid as your behavior would indicate. Or maybe you are precisely
that stupid. What is your GPA?"

"Oh, geez. Um, 2.1."

"Two point one? Maybe you ARE that stupid.
Are you from New Jersey? Were you born there?"

"Yeah, yeah."

"And your buddies here are also from New
Jersey?"

"Yeah, yeah."

“All of them?”

“Yeah.”

"And you probably think you're pretty tough
guys and your shit don't stink, right?"

"No, no ... owww ... well, okay, okay.
Yeah."

"And you also probably think any girl would
be happy to, as you say, suck your dick, right?"

"Okay. Right."

"Well, you can learn some things pretty fast,
at least. Now, do you see those two signs just north of us there,
one brown, one blue?"

"Yeah."

"Can you read what the bottom one says? Oh,
can you read?"

"Yeah, I can read. It says 'Entering Lee
County.'"

"And you are going back north when?"

"Sunday."

"I want you to listen very closely to what I
am about to tell you. If I see you OR any of your buddies south of
that sign at any point between now and then, you will find out
precisely what your tiny little dick and your testicles taste like,
and you will also probably bleed out in less than half an hour ...
and your body will NEVER be found. Do you understand what I just
told you?"

"Um, yeah."

"And will you all stay north of that sign ...
no, stay away from this entire beach until you head home?"

"I ... ow ... okay, okay."

"Say it."

"I will stay north of that sign ... away from
this whole beach."

"And your buddies will, as well. I'm holding
you responsible for them, too; you will suffer if they break my rule.
Do you understand?"

"Yeah."

“What is it you understand …
precisely?”

“I will suffer if my buddies break your
rule.”

“Very good, Jerry Hagopian.

"Now all you guys, listen up. You have seen
how I have humiliated and frightened your buddy Jerry here, right?"
The buddies all nodded.

"When I let him go, he's going to try to
compensate for that, and you will probably hear him saying lots of
stuff, blustering and full of himself, lots of bravado. He'll
probably even call me a bitch, or worse, and he'll need to do that
for the sake of his little ego, and you all need to be very gentle
with him until he figures out that his behavior and attitude toward
women is completely unacceptable.

“In fact, Jerry Hagopian, I believe that
your college has an introductory course in Women and Gender Studies,
and you will take that course as soon as you can register for it.
Perhaps that will teach you to have some respect for women, which you
have obviously not learned to have up to now. Do you understand?"

"I ... ow ... okay."

"That course number is ... let me see ... WS
988, colon, 201, and you WILL register and take it, AND get at least
a B in it."

"How do you ... ow!"

"When you DO get home, I will be sending
someone to watch you and, if necessary, have a further little chat
with you on the subject of gender and respect. She will be as firm
as I am, possibly even firmer, and you will do precisely what she
tells you to do, especially about fixing your attitude. She may also
have to have a talk with your father, Harry, at his clothing store,
with your mother, Naomi, and even with your sisters, Harriet and
Stephanie."

"Wait, wait. How do you ... yeeoww!"

"I have access to lots of information; you
don't need to know how. Just know that you can't hide from me and my
allies. You will be watched and you will never know who may be with
us. If you remember nothing else after you sober up, you will
remember that. Now get your buddies and your stuff and get your
pathetic little dicks and asses out of here. And don't let me ever
see you again."

A moment later, Carie leaned in to Jill and said,
"Amazing how fast some people can move when they're motivated,
huh?"

"Uh-huh. And you know, CB, I almost had some
fun with that. And, Sharon, thanks for the research."

Sharon's raspy female voice came thru her earbud.
"No problem, kid; that's part of what I'm here for."

"And, Carie Berry, you know what really
annoys me?"

"What, Jillybean?"

"Assholes like that are allowed to vote."

Down by the waterline, Jake caught Pam's eye and said, “Wonder
what that was all about.”

“I don't know, couldn't hear, but she sure took charge, didn't
she?”

“Oh, yeah. Guess the ditzy chicks aren't all that ditzy.”

“Told you they were pros.”

“Don't think I'll take the other side of that bet.”

Pam held her index finger and thumb slightly apart and let Jake, but
no one else, see it. Jake nodded and held his own digits a good bit
further apart. Pam nodded and they both got up.

“We'll watch your stuff,” Norm and Janet said in unison.

“Get ready, Sharon,” Jill whisper-giggled into her beach
bag.

-106-

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

4:55 p.m.

The Oval Office

Washington, DC

The five Broadway union bosses were standing and fidgeting in front
of Donne's desk when Emily and five more Secret Service agents and
three private guards escorted Ms. Skinner and her three associates
and their four clients in, all eight handcuffed.

Shockingly thin and disheveled, the men unshaven, but all
belligerently resistant, they stood as stolidly as they could to
either side of the Broadway guys, whose faces showed their dismay at
the appearance of, but solidarity with, their union cronies. Donne
let them stew in their own juices for a long three minutes as he
looked intently through a stack of papers on his desk. Finally,
glancing up, he spoke.

“Well, boys and girl, now we come down to the nitty-gritty. I
do hope you're all ready; I don't think it will be pretty.”

Ms. Skinner wavered a bit and Donne said, “Ms. Skinner, you
look a bit faint. There's a chair behind you. Sit down, if you
like.”

“I'll stay standing, Mr. Donne.”

“Your choice. But feel free to sit if and when you want to.

“Now, excluding the lawyers, there are nine of you who are
facing a serious choice. Four of you have already made the wrong
one, and five of you have indicated you want to make that same
choice. I think you should take a close look at your four buddies
and think very carefully about what the choices you make in a few
moments will mean to your individual futures. Take a close look, and
note that their condition is only the beginning. It's only been
three months. Study them closely and think. I'll give you a few
moments.”

Donne looked back down at the papers he'd been studying and continued
to read them and make occasional notes on a separate notepad.

After what seemed an eternity to everyone in the room but Donne, he
looked up and said, “Ms. Skinner, you're looking even more
faint. Please sit.” She reluctantly complied, but maintained
as hostile an expression as she could muster.

“Good, good; I hope you start feeling better soon. All that
tofu does have an effect, doesn't it?

“Now, you Broadway boys, I have found you guilty and passed
sentence on you and your families and cronies. Now, I don't do this
often … in fact, this is a first for me … but I'm going
to give you a chance to convince me to set those findings and those
sentences aside. So take a moment, gather your thoughts and when
you're ready, go ahead.”

After a few moments of silence, Donne added, “I'm sure you were
talking amongst yourselves in the other room, so why don't you pick
one of you and just spit it out? Let me know when you're ready.”
He went back to the papers on his desk, ignoring everyone in the
room.

The Broadway guys fidgeted, looked at each other and the other union
bosses and their attorneys, gathered together and whispered to each
other for a few minutes. Then the head of the stagehands union
cleared his throat.

“Mr. Donne?”

Donne held up an index finger, wrote another note on his pad, made a
mark on the papers in his hand, put them in his outbox and then
looked up.

“Yes?”

“We … we ...”

“You need to use the facilities?”

“N-n-no, sir.”

“Well, then, spit it out, man. Don't waste my time.”

“We can –“ he looked at his cronies for
confirmation; they nodded. “We will get our people back to
work tomorrow.”

Ms. Skinner spoke from her chair. “No, no, you --”

But she was cut off as a plexiglass-encased half-wheel snapped from
the floor in front of the chair, rotating over and around her and the
chair, encasing her completely. After a moment, she began beating on
the plastic in front and on both sides, with no effect. Donne
ignored her and continued as if nothing had happened.

“For the matinees?”

“Uh … yes, sir. For the matinees.” His cronies
nodded, glancing at Ms. Skinner in her cage, yelling soundlessly.

“Well, that's a step in the right direction. And how about the
losses the producers have sustained and refunds to ticket holders for
the dark nights?”

“Uh --”

“You do understand that you are the cause of those losses, of
course?”

“I --”

“And you and your members should take responsibility for them,
wouldn't you agree?”

“Uh --”

“A simple yes or no will suffice.”

“Uh … yes, sir.”

“Good, good. I will expect to see your unions making full
restitution for all of that. Too bad you can't use your strike
funds, the ones I froze in December.

“Now, what do you need to do to get your people back to work?”

“Uh, a few phone calls.”

“Emily, would you give them back their phones?”

“Yes, sir.”

She beckoned to one of the guards, who brought a box over, from which
each union boss took his phone after being unhandcuffed.

“Make the calls, gentlemen. They will be recorded. I'll
wait.”

He went back to his papers, ignoring them as they each began to
comply.

After a few moments, Emily spoke up. “Mr. Donne?”

“Yes, Emily?”

“You may want to do something about her.”

“About – oh.” He looked over at Ms. Skinner, who
was now gasping for breath and beating weakly on the glass of her
cage. Donne reached under his desk and a nozzle extended itself from
the side of Ms. Skinner's chair, releasing a spurt of pale blue
smoke.

“Ooops,” Donne said and moved his hand again. The smoke
was blown away from the nozzle, and Ms. Skinner began to breathe a
bit better, but still gasping. After a few moments, her breathing
returned to normal and the belligerent look returned to her face.
Donne returned his attention to the papers on his desk.

A few moments later, the head of the stagehands union spoke up. “All
set, Mr. Donne.” Donne held up an index finger, finished with
the set of papers in front of him, carefully placed them in his
outbox and looked up.

“Good, good; a step in the right direction.

“Now, as to restitution, I've got the totals here.” He
picked up a stack of papers from his desk and held them up. “I
will leave it up to you five to determine how to split those costs,
but I expect to see those funds transferred by the close of business
tomorrow.”

“I'm not sure we can --”

“I am absolutely certain that you can … and will. If
not, I will impose a fine equivalent to the total of these totals for
each day you fail to comply. Each day. Do you understand?”

“I – ah … yes, sir.” He looked to the
others, who all nodded sullenly.

“And since you are the one person who spoke up, I will hold you
personally responsible for the performance of your buddies here. Do
you understand that?

“But I --”

“I didn't ask for an objection. I asked if you understood. Do
you understand?”

“Yes, sir,” was the sullen reply.

“Good, good. Another step in the right direction.

“I have not yet decided whether to set aside the sentences I
imposed earlier, but I will suspend them temporarily, and I will be
watching very closely to see how well you all … all …
comply with my orders and directives.

“I have ordered several members of the military to oversee your
members' activities at each theater, and I expect you to make sure
none of your members does anything less than his or her very best at
their jobs, for each and every performance. Do you understand that?”

“Uh, yes, sir.”

“Good, good.

“I will also be sending a representative to facilitate
good-faith negotiations between you and the producers for new and
fair contracts. He or she will act with my full authority and will
have absolute veto power over any parts of any proposal that seem to
him or her to be out of line. He or she may also simply impose
contract terms that make sense to him or her. Do you understand
that?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Do you also understand that another strike is not an option in
your negotiating tactics?”

“Uh --”

“Do NOT waste my time. Do you understand? No strikes?”