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Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781936909612 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Live Oak Book Company |
| Publication date: | 12/05/2012 |
| Pages: | 262 |
| Product dimensions: | 5.00(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.59(d) |
Read an Excerpt
BLOOD ON THE THRESHOLD
a novelBy KARIN RICHMOND
Live Oak Book Company
Copyright © 2013 Karin RichmondAll right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-936909-61-2
Chapter One
BORDER MELTDOWN
As it turned out, the telephone receiver lying atop the granite front desk of the historic Waller Hotel was a lifeline to the young woman who was about to be brutally assaulted. That young woman was me—Mirabelle Garrett. I was twenty-eight years old, exuberant, and in Austin, Texas, for a brief visit at the request of a Texas Senate committee.
I had worked for some time on an issue that involved certain tax benefits for companies that hired poor people in poor areas of Texas. The bill "had legs," as they say, and was positioned on the next morning's Finance Committee agenda for testimony. I was prepared and excited. I knew I would be welcomed at the hearing. Still, I was nervously nitpicking my nose and scanning my written testimony.
Months of preparation had preceded the committee's invitation to provide testimony. The previous summer I had moved back to my border hometown from Houston. The impending oil economy collapse was on my radar due to a study I had recently submitted to an oil and gas client, but mostly I was worn out from the demands of the metropolis and needed some time to get away from a romantic relationship that had turned sour. Mom had welcomed me in her home, for the time being, and I set about networking in my newfound mid-sized community for a position where I could contribute toward positive social changes. I wanted a position that would provide me with the most credibility, the most visibility, in the least amount of time. My approach was simply that way. I did not want to lollygag when I was looking to be involved and engaged. I was ready and excited for action.
In a matter of weeks, I was able to convince the chamber of commerce president that the community was lacking a person in charge of economic development and that I had the skill set, I had the right motives, and I was a hometown girl who would work late and do whatever it took. But I would only do it for no more than three years. I had hopes of leaving the chamber and creating my own business based on the high profile I knew I would create in thirty-six months. Clayton, my new boss, completely understood where I was coming from—and where I wanted to go—and over the weekend agreed to bring me on staff as the Director of Economic Development, a brand-new position, the following week. But what a week it turned out to be for me and the entire community.
I started the job with the normal anxiety a new business role brings. I had already been in the offices over the weekend to get a feel for the place. I had a sharp new haircut and a new summer look. It was August in South Texas, the hottest time of the year. New people, new energies, new expectations. I was happy to be there looking toward a new horizon. I thought I brought a fresh, more urban, modern presence to this south Texas office. Chic business suits from Houston added to my look of exactly what a young woman leader should emulate: professional and capable.
The staff was competent and calm and generally a good group to work with. I especially liked Gloria, who was about my age and worked across the hall in tourism. Gloria had a bright and cheerful manner, but I quickly sensed a shadow underneath her smile. I found out decades later that Gloria was more than a bit jealous of my arrival and all the hoopla swirling around the "new girl." The old codger, Fred, who headed up industrial development—a rather dry field, in my book—was less than exciting. Tedious even. I had to respect him, though; he ran one of the nation's first foreign trade zones which was a very big economic achievement for our economy.
How could I possibly have known that within a few days on the job, an unexpected calamity was to strike at the heart of our city? Some radio chatter had been thrown around the airwaves on local talk shows, but not much warning was in the offing. Or at least no one saw it coming in quite the force and drama that escalated beyond control in Resaca, Texas.
I was in my office that morning when the news broke and the waves of press calls, starting from the East Coast, began to tie up all the phone lines. My boss was on the hot seat, and I could see he was talking to senior press correspondents from all the services. The previous night our neighbor city—ten miles away, but in a different country—had had an economic collapse that wreaked havoc with its purchasing power. Imagine a state university yanked out of a medium-sized city overnight. That was the severity of the situation. Many stores were to close and unemployment would reach a pinnacle that would take years to recover from. Urgency and underlying panic were prevalent, not only in my office but spreading all the way to Austin as well. My dress began to show my nervous sweat.
I went to the front receptionist and asked her to hold our boss's calls. "I can't do that" was her hard-shouldered response to my request. But I was vexed, and persisted. "Hold his calls, please, after he gets off this one and until I get out of his office. I will take the blame if there is any. Now!" The receptionist reluctantly nodded her head this time, but I thought I caught a slight grimace on her face.
I waited outside his door until I heard the click of his phone hanging up and walked in. He looked a little dazed, but still calm amid the storm that had yet to show its true force. I flung myself on his prickly business sofa cushions and absentmindedly moved back and forth to scratch my back, ready to absorb this ad hoc lesson. "Let me help you, Clayton. Give me 'International Economic Development Policy 101' right now." I searched his expression. "We have about five minutes." He started to protest at the futility and thought perhaps how much he could trust me, his newest employee, in this very public position with only a few days' experience. Then the phone lines started lighting up like Christmas again. The blinking phone lines were unrelenting.
"Okay, here are the basics," he began with brisk intonation. "The value of the Mexican peso is in free fall. Mexican oil prices are falling, world interest rates are spiking, and the peso has been overvalued for some time now. The banks are scrambling and the Mexican government does not have the capacity to stave off this collapse." He went on with more depth along with adept metaphors and analogies to suggest as interview quotes with the press.
Within a few minutes, I was in my office assisting with the journal and television inquiries and getting into the fast-paced press deluge. The pace was almost overwhelming, and I loved it. How could I possibly have known that one result of this economic free fall would be my arrival seven months later at the Waller Hotel in Austin to do something I had never done before in my life? Essentially, the idea was to give tax breaks to businesses that locate and create jobs in places that have been hit hard with economic duress. How could I have known, while I was there doing public service, my fate was already in play in the halls of the hotel?
Chapter Two
EARLY WARNING SIGNS
In Austin, the capital city about 300 miles away from the Texas-Mexico border, a human resources manager was frazzled. The clanging of construction equipment and hammers pounding on the floors above her were about to drive her to the loony bin. Her young daughter had been finicky about what to wear that morning and that had made them late for school—and work.
Deborah May was a seasoned professional and knew her way around an interview process. She had come on board with the hotel management team the year before, when the hotel was reopened after a several-million-dollar makeover. This historic hotel was on the main street of downtown and had a prestigious past. She was committed to ensuring that its legacy lived on through the employees she selected to make this place a home for visitors to the state capital. She was also very committed to securing a good position in the new company for herself. As a member of the ground floor management team, it was her job to lose and she had no intention of doing anything but the best performance she was able to do.
Deborah was a single mom, black, in her late thirties. She had about given up on dating men, but a fellow had asked her out to dinner the week before. Her aunt had suggested that the two of them get together, so she felt safe—both emotionally and physically—going out with him. He was in the asphalt business, with some ties to the little town of Crockett. She actually had a good time with the guy!
During the dinner conversation he asked if she "needed anybody" at the hotel. "Well, we are hiring right now, since the hotel is just getting opened up an' all. With all this construction goin' on downtown, though, I have a time finding some of the people I need."
"Would you mind takin' a look at a guy I know? He's not terribly skilled, but one of my team leaders is looking out for him since he just moved into town. His name is Leroy Johnson."
"Have him come by and I'll see if we have a fit for him," Deborah said with a smile, then took a sip of the full-bodied red wine. His grin was irrepressible.
* * *
A few months earlier, twenty-three-year-old Leroy Johnson had come to the capital city looking for employment. From a lower-middle-class background in Crockett, Texas, a small town about 100 miles away, he, like many others, had migrated to the closest urban area looking for work. He also had to get out of Crockett because he had a past to hide.
Later in the week following Deborah's romantic dinner, Leroy came by her office. His interview was short and perfunctory, and she had him complete an employment application. He seemed to be a quiet young man, very polite. On the thin side but easily six feet. She discreetly scanned his outward appearance. One can tell a lot about a person based on how he is dressed. His clothes were working man's clothes. Tan khakis, white button-down shirt, and a frayed brown belt. The clothes fit him loosely, like they were a size too big. "Maybe hand-me-downs?" thought Deborah. They were clean and pressed, though, she noted.
Her boss had called her into his office the day before and stressed the need for her to secure a full staff quickly. Indeed, she was short in some of the "back jobs," those not directly in contact with hotel guests, and room-cleaning staff was a little thin. She could use some new hires to fill out her team.
After Leroy had left her office, the phone would not stop ringing. She glanced at his application and noted that he had listed two recent former employers. One was a fast-food chicken joint and the other was a contractor; neither was in this city. Both were in Crockett. "Was that the town her date had mentioned? Deborah asked herself. "Croc ... something?" Didn't matter, though; he was still cute when she recalled his smile.
Background checks were essential in her line of work. Over the years she had realized that people can and do say just about anything on an employment application. Her own internal sense of ethics compelled her to be thorough with every applicant. She picked up the phone to verify the first employer Leroy mentioned and was listening to it ring and ring without answer when her manager waltzed in. Deborah put down the receiver and looked up with just a little impatience in her eyes.
"Give me some good news, Deborah. Our investors are coming in to see the property and how it will perform during our soft opening. What do you have?"
Deborah summed up the hiring situation and reported she was getting the staff in place. They went over a few other details for the opening, then left. Deborah glanced at her watch and realized she had to leave to pick up her daughter from school.
On her way out, she handed the application to the secretary. "Call Leroy Johnson. Tell him we can use him for room cleaning, maybe some room service if he does well. Oh yeah, let our security staff know about him—and the others we hired yesterday. Everyone needs uniforms!" The secretary nodded, but inwardly she was shaking her head. This office was a zoo with all that was going on and around so fast!
Calls to the two former employers Leroy listed were never made. Had hiring protocol been followed, Deborah would have found out quickly that these were false references.
In the following days, Leroy was a little surprised he got the job. After all, he'd served a stint in county jail and he'd made up stuff on the form. "But hey, man," he thought, "I ain't gonna ask no questions, no siree. From now on it's gonna be 'yes ma'am, no sir.' Keepin' the profile as low as it can go."
But some things just can't change in a man.
Chapter Three
ENCOUNTER ON THE BACK ROW
New to the job, I wasn't new to the world of politics. I called our local state representative to have some margaritas and some strategy talk. They mixed well together, talk and tequila.
Frankly, for me, convincing Juan Hinojosa was the easy part. Juan Hinojosa liked to be called by his nickname, Chuy. He had been called that by family and friends for as long as he could recall. Many of us used it as a term of endearment. For Chuy was endearing. He was a calm, quiet man from modest Hispanic origins. He did not talk much about the war, but he was a decorated Vietnam soldier. When he came back home, politics beckoned him to help better the conditions for his people in his south Texas district. He could work with business interests and then party at pachangas with noisy mariachis and good, warm-hearted supporters—all in a day's work.
So, although I did not know him well in those early chaotic months following our August economic crash, I did know that he was passionate about his district and would work creatively and across party lines with Republicans to build back the local economy.
This public official was at ground zero in the aftermath of the economic collapse, after all, and anything of practical value was of importance to him and his constituents. I knew that and so did he. He agreed to introduce a bill early in the next legislative session, which began January 20th. The bill would provide for highly targeted tax breaks and he would work hard to pass it into law. But Representative Hinojosa worked in only one-third of the process. The senators in the upper house and the governor also had to get on board.
My approach to the state senator serving his south Texas constituency in Austin was a different matter altogether. He impressed me as someone very self-assured, and from my point of view, he certainly acted as if he were the most important elected official in the entire state. That wasn't the opinion widely held by others, however. No getting around it, he was a dashing presence and had an electric smile. And he had to be concerned with the economic recovery of his district and needed something in his legislative arsenal to at least have the appearance of acting on behalf of his constituency. I played to his ego, promising to make him look good and in charge of managing this difficult border public policy. He liked the "wonkish" sound of this.
So, for very different reasons in my mind, each of them agreed to support a legislative effort that targeted tax incentives for the border community. It was going to be a long and uphill battle in the upcoming Texas legislative session.
Over the years, I would reflect on my relationships with these two men. One moved from being a state representative to a state senator and sat on the committee that set the law for parolees and the number of beds in the Texas criminal justice system. Both interests directly affected my life in hugely important ways.
The other man retired from the Texas Senate and dabbled in politics and a little film acting. I still recall—with some bitterness—that for personal reasons he worked behind the scenes to prevent my ascension to a state board as a governor's appointee. But that happened much later, after I was to testify before the committee he chaired that April morning—without me. He was still spreading his power and charm around me and others and I was unaware of his unstated agenda. Consumed by the lobbying work, I did not see it coming.
My work to influence the governor and his staff was more circumspect, and as it happened, the key to this door was presented to me one afternoon in the back row of my community town hall during a presentation made by the governor—live on stage. I was pretty sure the governor was going to issue the same platitudes and the same false camaraderie I had heard a zillion times, it seemed. And, quite frankly, I had other things to do. But my boss cajoled me into going to the presentation. I grabbed my purse, slung on my strap heels, and walked over across the Spanish-styled plaza in the blinding heat and sunlight of the semitropical afternoon. I quickly glanced at my reflection in the solar glass as I passed an office window and saw my pink lipstick was perfect.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from BLOOD ON THE THRESHOLD by KARIN RICHMOND Copyright © 2013 by Karin Richmond. Excerpted by permission of Live Oak Book Company. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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