Three ounces of fine Etude XO Brandy did not settle Sam into a deep sleep. He and Peg were mentally and physically exhausted from the prior day’s tribulations. She was soundly asleep by 1 AM and still dead to the world at six in the morning.
Sam wasn’t sure how many times he dozed off or if he ever fell asleep before the break of dawn. He knew none of it was REM sleep. It was now 6:30 AM. He found himself shuffling around the kitchen making coffee while thinking it must have been the coffee that trumped the brandy.
He went out on the front doorstep to grab the morning paper. He acted surprised when he opened it to a lame headline that read, “Bernie’s Swan Song.” He scan-read the article to the sound of the sputtering coffee maker. The paper had made Bernie a victim hero with an untimely death.
Breaking his lonely quiet was a chirp from his cell phone on the kitchen counter. He thought to himself: who the hell would be calling at this hour?
He answered it, “Hello. Who’s calling me so early? I don’t recognize the number.”
“Sam, it’s me, Ishaan. They’re done debriefing me. I need to hook up with you. Just before doing himself in, Bernie gave me an envelope that he wanted delivered to Mimi. I’ve been hiding it from the F.B.I. - they never frisked me. I need to get it to you so you can get it to her. Did I wake you?” Ishaan worriedly asked.
“Nope, I was wandering around in the kitchen making coffee and looking at the paper,” Sam replied. “The girls are asleep. Bernie’s wife, Mimi, stayed over last night. They’ll definitely be sleeping in late. You know where Jimmie’s is? The Greek diner in Waltham?”
After a slight hesitation, Ishaan got back with, “I just googled it. I’ll go straight there and wait for you, ok?”
“Take your time. I need to shower, yet. See you there, “ Sam closed.
Refusing to hurry and not wanting to make a commotion waking the girls, Sam showered and brought the paper with him so he could show it to Ishaan. He took the long way to Jimmie’s thinking along the route that if all the prior day’s events hadn’t happened he would probably have been returning to the M-Mtek plant to start his temp job helping with the shutdown drill.
As he drove, Sam’s mind again began to drift. He dwelled upon thinking about the good times he had with Bernie, like the time he drove a golf cart up to its undercarriage into a sand trap at the club just to see what it would do to the queuing of the golfers hitting through. Most club members did not believe Bernie when he said he was texting and lost sight of where he was going. Sam vouched for his story.
Sam pulled into Jimmie’s where fresh breakfast aromas were spilling from the grill exhaust vents on the side of the diner. He went in and scanned the booths and tables for Ishaan who was alone in a corner booth by the front windows. Sam slipped into the booth bench seat opposite Ishaan.
“Good day, sir,” greeted Ishaan. “Here’s that envelope I was talking about. Your buddy sure did cover a lot of bases in such a short time.”
“Yeah,” Sam said. “That’ll be his legacy. He was an efficient and effective hostage taker. Here, Ishaan, take a look at the headline, today. They’re making him a victim hero. Go figure.”
Ishaan scanned the front page and understood what Sam meant. “Sam, as you know I’m in HR. It’s common knowledge that there’s a huge problem in workforces that males, mostly white middle-class men, perceive themselves as undervalued and irrelevant in today’s high tech economy. There’s a bubbling cauldron out there filled with these feelings waiting to boil over at any time. Also, many veterans comeback and end up like Bernie, doubting what they did made one pinch full of piss difference in the grand scheme of things.”
“Let me tell you something, Ishaan. That’s not half the story. A lot of us know the fellows you hang out with don’t do a lick to earn their livings. It seems the higher up you go, the less you do. Peter’s Principle is alive and well in modern American business.”
“For instance, take M-Mtek’s decision to do the shutdown in less than a day. What kind of competent executive does that? They got blind-sided because they’re basically unfit to be in their positions. They act like pack animals just the way they did alcohol poisoning each other at their college frat parties,” Sam ranted.
“And, furthermore,” Sam said, “You suits always bleed the place when it’s going under with parachute deals even when you’re exposed as worthless by your corporate boards,”
Sam stared out the window for a moment before looking back at Ishaan to say, “I’m too upset, now. I can’t eat. Thanks for delivering the letter. I’m out of here.”
With nary a handshake, Sam got up and headed toward the door. Seeing him leave, Jimmie called out to him, “Sam, you not staying to eat breakfast? I got nice eggs, bacon, leeks and toast for you.”
“Sorry, Jimmie. You’re the best. But I have some business to attend to. Later,” Sam called back as he left the diner.
Swan song
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American Shutdown by Benjamin F. Campanelli
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