Cimarron, Denver Cereal Volume 4 (20 page)

“
She does,” Delphie said.
“Blane helps her with the books and taxes. She employs ten or
fifteen women.”

“
I saw her here the day
after… everything happened,” Honey said.

“
She came to help clean
up,” Delphie said.

“
How does the food get in
to our apartment’s cabinets?” Honey asked.

“
Rosa,” Delphie said.
“She’s always done that. She knows us better than we know
ourselves. She’s been very grateful for your meal plans. They’ve
helped out a lot.”

Honey nodded as if she understood. Delphie
laughed.

“
How did you think the food
got here?”

“
Magic,” Honey said. “We
were barely out of things when they’d just appear.”

“
Magic?” Delphie
laughed.

“
Yeah,” Honey scowled.
“Like cheating death or knowing the future or…”

“
Oh Honey,” Delphie said.
“You can’t confuse the natural with the fantastic.”

“
The natural? Really.”
Honey’s brow furrowed. “Define natural.”

Delphie laughed. A loud crash came from the
chapel area.

“
They’re still working,”
Delphie said.

“
Jake said they’re finding
all kinds of cool stuff,” Honey said. “It’s like a treasure
hunt.”

“
He says that when things
aren’t going well,” Delphie said.

Honey nodded. There was another loud
crash.

“
Let’s make some tea,”
Delphie said.

“
You’ll explain to me what
you think is normal?”

Delphie laughed. Still puzzled, Honey
followed Delphie into the kitchen.

~~~~~~~~

Wednesday mid-day — 12:40 A.M.

STATE THREAT BRINGS EMPLOYEE-OWNERS TO
TEARS
– 9 News

“
I just hate this,” Bambi
said.

Starting to cry, she stood to hug Jacob.
They were standing in the middle of Lipson Constructions’ large
conference room. Aden, Blane, Tres, and Sam were near the front of
the room. The site managers filled the rest of the space.

“
I don’t think anyone likes
it much,” Jacob said. “I don’t like it much.”

“
We’d never be owners if it
wasn’t for you,” another woman site manager said through her tears.
“You made me a site manager. And when my husband got sick? If we
didn’t have my income, we’d be on the streets. My family owes our
lives to you.”

Jacob smiled at what he felt was the woman’s
exaggeration.

“
We’re trying to say that
none of the employee-owners want you to leave or want to leave,”
Jerry Siegle said. “We polled everyone at our sites.”

The site managers nodded and mumbled in
agreement.

“
If you were going to take
advantage of someone,” a small blonde beautiful woman said. “Why
didn’t you pick one of us? I’d have your love child.”

“
What about Freddie?” a
site manager near the front said.

“
Oh God,” the blonde woman
blushed. “Don’t tell Freddie I said that.”

Jacob laughed.

“
We’re just saying we’d do
anything for you, Jake,” a man near the back said. “Well, I won’t
be your boyfriend. I’m definitely over straight men. Blane
however…”

The site managers laughed.

“
Okay, okay,” Aden said.
“We need to get down to business.”

“
You can eat while we
talk,” Jacob said. “Please. Delphie made your lunches. There are
notes for each of you on the sandwich. Sandy made the cookies for
dessert.”

The site managers opened the jaunty napkins
in front of them. Their names and small notes were written on
little cards tied to the napkins with jute. They shared the notes
with each other and began to eat.

“
Start with what happened,”
Sam said.

“
Aden, Blane and Dad were
out,” Jake said. “You remember. I was here by myself. I went to our
office manager and asked for someone to help with the phones. I
hate telephones. The woman started the next Monday.”

Bambi raised her hand. Jacob nodded to her.
She finished chewing and swallowed before she spoke.

“
Did she work for Lipson
before that?” Bambi asked.

“
She worked for us for a
month,” Sam said. “Blane met her once…”

“
In passing,” Blane said.
“When she came in for an interview.”

“
Otherwise, the management
team never met her,” Sam said.

“
She worked for me one full
week,” Jacob said. “In that time, she was able to fabricate the
entire story with text messages dating back about six
months.”

“
We’re researching how she
did that,” Blane said.

“
Is someone else involved?”
Bambi asked.

“
The office manager and our
head of HR both gave their resignations,” Sam said.

“
No, they weren’t
involved,” Jacob said.

“
We won’t let them resign
over this,” Aden said.

“
Cut to the chase,
Marlowe,” Jerry Siegle said. “What the hell is going to
happen?”

“
We need to know what’s
going to happen first,” the site manager at the end of the table
said. “Once we know, we want to know why.”

“
I placed my shares of
Lipson Construction in a trust,” Jacob said.

“
How much do you own now?”
a site manager in the middle asked.

“
Good question. About sixty
percent,” Jacob said. “Valerie has regained control over her ten
percent. The employees own thirty percent. The trust will continue
to sell Lipson Construction to her employees.”

“
By reverting ownership to
the trust, Jacob is effectively out of the company,” Tres Sierra
said. “The state will continue their investigation of him,
personally. Our sites will be up and running again on Monday. In
the meantime, we will cover salaries for the rest of the
week.”

“
Lipson will give the state
one-hundred percent cooperation,” Sam said. “That means everyone,
every employee. When the time comes, you’ll need to make that
happen.”

“
Who owns the trust?” Bambi
asked.

“
Katherine Anjelika Roper
Marlowe,” Jacob said. “And any other children I might
have.”

“
And you, Jake? You’re out
of the company?” a site manager asked.

The room became very still as the site
managers struggled with the idea.

“
I’m a salaried employee,”
Jacob said. “However, right now, I’m on administrative leave until
the state completes its investigation.”

“
How long will the
investigation take?” Jerry asked.

“
We’ve been told that it
could take an upwards of six months,” Sam said.

“
Aden is stepping in as
President,” Jacob said. “Dad’s staying as CEO. Blane is going to
work half-time as COO. Tres will stay as CFO. Of course, this will
have to be confirmed by the owners.”

There was a general buzzing in the room as
the site managers spoke to each other. Jacob waited until their
attention returned to him before speaking again.

“
Anyone remember that I was
sued by the old board of directors?” Jacob asked.

“
The suit was declared a
nuisance. It was thrown out,” Bambi said. “That’s what Honey told
me.”

“
Right,” Jacob said. “One
board member, the prime instigator of the suit, is very…
friendly…”

“
She’s his mistress,” Blane
said. “The little whore was only here to destroy Lipson so he could
swoop in and buy it up.”

“
Before the employees owned
a majority,” Sam said.

“
It’s a desperate measure
to keep the employees from owning Lipson,” Jacob said.

“
That’s what we believe,”
Aden said. “I was contacted yesterday with a buy out
offer.”

“
We turned over a recording
of that telephone call to the state,” Sam said. “Unfortunately, the
state is legally obligated to do their investigation.”

“
But why would they care so
much?” Bambi asked. “We’re just folks trying to get ahead in life.
Everyone who bought in has worked at Lipson for a long time. We all
sacrificed to buy what we could. We deserve it.”

“
I think it’s a bigger
issue,” Sam said. “There are people who believe that we set a bad
precedent. By having employee-owners, by sharing the wealth, we
encourage other employees at other companies to buy in.”

“
And take the power and
wealth from the few,” Blane said.

“
Is that true? It seems so…
revolutionary war or something,” a site manager said.

“
Paranoid,” another one
said.

A few of the site managers nodded to each
other.

“
I’m sorry to say that it’s
real,” Sam said. “I hear it everywhere I go. Jacob’s taken a lot of
heat for making the employees owners. Even though it’s something I
wanted, he’s the figurehead who made it happen. He’s been
confronted by other business owners almost everywhere he
goes.”

“
What we’re doing is
revolutionary,” Jacob said. “And totally appropriate. No one minds
if you buy stock – give your hard earned money to us so that we can
run our companies as we see fit. No one likes the idea that you get
some say with your money and the investment of your time and
talent. We wanted owners, real owners who have some say in how
their work lives go. We’ve also invested in making sure our
employees know how to run a business. You don’t just give us your
money and rubber stamp what we want to do. That’s what’s
revolutionary.”

Jacob shrugged. The room became silent as
the site managers digested the information with their lunch.

“
Jake, what are you going
to do?” Jerry asked.

“
I don’t know,” Jacob said.
“I’ve been doing underground utility twenty-four hours a day for
the last five years. I’m not sure what I’ll do.”

“
He won’t be far,” Blane
said. “We’re just moving him from the limelight.”

“
If I’m needed, I’ll try to
help as much as the state will allow.”

“
How’s Jill taking all of
this?” Bambi asked. She immediately back pedaled adding, “I mean
it’s none of my business and…”

“
It’s all right,” Jacob
said. “We’re a family business. Jill’s a part of my family. And…
It’s really hard on her. You wouldn’t believe the horrible things
people say to her and about her. Strangers say the cruelest things
to her. We try… her sisters try… to protect her but her mother’s in
Costa Rica, Mike’s in Prague, and Steve just had a baby. She feels
very alone. If you have a spare prayer, she could use
it.”

The site managers nodded in agreement.

“
Starting Monday, it’s
business as usual,” Aden said.

“
Just no Jacob,” Blane
said.

“
What’s Lipson construction
without a Marlowe at the helm?” Jerry asked.

“
An employee owned,
employee run enterprise,” Jacob said.

No one responded. There wasn’t anything left
to say. Jacob Marlowe, the man they trusted and loved, would no
longer be at Lipson construction.

Nothing could brighten that reality.

~~~~~~~~

Wednesday afternoon — 2:40 P.M.

8 LIFE THREATENING WOUNDS,
8 CONSECUTIVE SENTENCES – CBS4

“
I am sentencing you to
seventy-two years for each attempt on Honey Lipson’s life,” the
judge said. “Honey Lipson received eight mortal wounds. You will
receive eight consecutive seventy-two year sentences. For the crime
of acquisition of the children, Katherine Anjelika Marlowe and
Patrick Hargreaves Jr. for the purposes of prostitution, you will
receive two consecutive twelve year sentences. For three counts of
human trafficking, you receive two consecutive twenty year
sentences. For first degree assault against Jillian Roper, you
receive a ten year sentence. The district attorney was willing to
drop the rest of your charges. These last sentences will run after
you’ve completed the sentences for attempted murder.”

The crowd in the court room gasped and
whispered to each other. The judge had given Honey’s sister the
maximum sentence for every charge. Tiffanie, Honey’s mother,
slumped in her seat. Honey reached to hold her mother’s hand.
Tiffanie looked at Honey and nodded. Sam put his arm around
Tiffanie for support. MJ held Honey’s hand tight. Honey felt Jill’s
hand on her back.

They were all there – Honey, MJ, Tiffanie,
Jill, Katy, Jacob, Sam, and Delphie. Everyone who’d been hurt by
her sister, Jacob’s step-sister. Yet, even though the sentencing
was what they wanted, there was no joy in the judge’s statement. No
one liked watching a young woman lose her life to the criminal
justice system. They simply felt a sense of relief that the trial
was finally over.

“
I spent a lot of time
thinking about what I would say to you,” the judge said. “But I
realized you wouldn’t hear me anyway. I will tell you that you
better do good time. God might have mercy on you but I won’t if you
return to my court room. Deputies?”

The Department of Corrections officers moved
forward to Honey’s sister. She let them handcuff her and lead her
from the courtroom. Walking out of the courtroom, she slowed near
Honey. Her smug face and ironic smile told Honey all she needed to
know.