Chapter 3 Just Another Morning

It was just another usual morning in February, two weeks had passed since Eddy's last visit and things were pretty much the same.

Jim moved about restlessly, going over some newspaper clippings sitting on his desk, trying to look busy. After long hours of thinking, He had made up his mind to quit. Not that he needed much convincing, circumstances had firmly made the choice for him.

He would venture into chicken farming downtown. "At least I can afford to buy some chickens", he thought and twisted his face into a sad puppy grimace. He could almost hear the chickens chuckling at him, laughing at him and beckoning on him like lost souls in an evil forest.

"Maybe I should just admit it", he thought, "I am a scumbag and the sooner I put on a dolorous face and joined those dummies who went into the house of jasmine the better". Then promptly dismissing the thought, He stood up, put away the clippings, adjusted his belt and balanced a patrician beret on his head.

He bended over the desk and opened the drawer then stopped halfway and stiffened. Someone was standing in the doorway. He turned around quickly and came face to face with a lady, his jaws fell open.

Standing in the doorway was a woman in her late thirties. By the way she was dressed you could tell she was rich. She was full of melanin, her lips scarlet with dark curly hair. She was properly built, compact and curved and there was strength in her. Her blue shaded eyes were alert and watchful.

She looked immaculate in a white designer cut blazer with a snow white matching skirt. The pair of long slender legs, which revealed soft silky skin were enclosed in an expensively fitting Italian pair of shoes. Diamonds the size and shape of onions circled her neck and glittered nonchalantly in the afternoon sun. It took him a moment before it hit him, she was Rebecca Johnson the wife of Kerman Johnson who had died about four years ago.

Kerman started out as just any other guy had. He worked for the General rails corporation for a couple of years, until one day he had a proposition form a friend who claimed to have found a gold mine somewhere in the far south. It was a big risk at that time, Kerman and his friends pulled together their resources, bought gold mining equipment, hired hard boiled miners and set down south in search of gold.

Veteran miners toiled day and night for six months but found nothing. It was obvious that he would be poorer than the church rat if nothing turned up.

Then on the eight month, when spirits were at their lowest they hit the jackpot!. It didn't last long though. For two months, these two friends pulled out truck-load of this expensive metal from the earth, when the government swooped in and before they could rush into the court room they were thrown out from their mine. But unlike his friend, Kerman was smart and had saved a substantial amount which he used to purchase General rails which produced steel and iron used for laying tracks for the railways.

By shrewd investing and purchasing of mega businesses, this quite ordinary guy had become a billionaire in less than six years after he first hit gold.

He had married Rebecca and they had two children, a girl and a boy, before death as silent as a cemetery at night had snatched him from her. It turned out the dust particles he had inhaled during the mining expedition had connived with death to silence him. But before that time the Johnson's had become a house hold name and it was rumored that aspiring presidential candidates went to him for his blessings.

His influence and power had spread out across the country like the groping tentacles of a giant squid. The last he heard of the Johnson's, they were doing pretty well.

They stood still for a few seconds sizing each other up then Rebecca half turned, changed her mind and walked into the office.

"You're Jim mowe right?"

By now Jim was recovering from his mini shock.

"Ma, I think you have missed your way, the spa is on the first floor", he managed to say. He just couldn't imagine what a fine piece of flesh like her would want his services for. With the amount of wealth and influence at her disposal, she could drain the Pacific Ocean and fill it up with unprocessed milk straight from the udders of a thousand cows if she so desired, and no one would flutter an eyelash.

"You're Jim mowe and this is private services right?" she asked again, ignoring him with a hint of impatience in her voice.

"Yes, sure...welcome...hmm, please sit down", he said struggling for what to say. The effect these damn billionaires have on the human system he thought trying not to show his embarrassment.

"Then you're the man I need", she replied eyeing the seat in the corner as if deciding whether to sit or not.

"How may I...."

"I need your help" she cut him off and walked gracefully over to the sofa. It took in her weight as if it were doing her a favor. "Did you grab the papers last week Sunday? ", she said after adjusting herself on the sofa.

Jim thought for a moment; he had, but there was nothing spectacular in the papers. Just the usually stuffs; an accident involving a trailer carrying shipments of hydrochloric acid, The beginning of the local football season, A celebrity filing for divorce and some other stuffs. Nothing exciting enough to make a dog go into a jewelry store and buy itself a diamond leash. Nothing to be fussy about either. Or was it something about the government tightening up laws involving the illicit drugs trade? He wondered.

He could remember reading about the Attorney General saying something about new laws indicting young offenders who were caught abusing substances. Nothing rang a bell.

Or was she trying to file for a divorce? He knew she had just re-married about a year ago to an English man, who kept smiling throughout the ceremony like a politician trying to convince a band of unwilling voters to vote for him, that was the kind of news that hit the front pages and he had read all about it. Had she already grown tired of him? Anything was possible if you had a billion dollars in the bank he thought.

"The government is pretty intent on punishing drug abusers", she said, bringing Jim back to reality in a graceful voice that would have made Celine Dion blush. I have a simple task for you.

"How does a quarter of a million sound to you?"

She paused and studied his expression the way Michelangelo probably looked at the sistine chapel ceiling after completing his work on the last supper. Satisfied that it had the desired effect, she continued;

"I have reasons to believe...", she paused again and gave Jim a cold hard stare. "I want you to watch my son Tami. A week should be enough. I want to know where he goes, what he does, who he hangs out with even the exact amount of air he inhales...can you do that?"

"Sure, sure I can do that". Then he proceeded to give a detailed explanation of the kind of services he can render and how efficient he was at this job but she cut him short again.

"Then that will be all", she said casually.

He felt naked. She stood up, dusted her skirt and walked over to his desk. She briskly produced a fat looking envelope from her handbag and dropped it on his desk.

"That's half the cut, you get the other half when you drop off your report". She began to walk out of the office when she suddenly stopped and looking over her shoulder to meet his eyes she said; "and one more thing Jim, I want complete discretion, nothing gets into the paper, understand?" He nodded feebly, afraid to talk in case she still had something to say.

"If you blow this, I'll make sure you run out of business faster than you might possibly be able to imagine". He nodded again feeling his mouth go dry. With that she walked out of the office as carefully as she had come.

He looked at the fat packet that lay wobbling on his desk and smiled, talk about a break he said and walked out of his office shutting the door behind him to the disappointed stares of the chuckling chickens in his head.