Overdraft Protection - Part One.

I hung the phone up, rubbing my eyes with the other hand. I didn't know how much longer Elmore and I could keep it covered up. I went looking for my boss.

Deb:  Elmore...

He was restocking the coolers.

Elmore:  Yeah, Ma?

Deb:  Got another call from the bank.

Elmore straightened up and for a minute I was mesmerized by the sight of
his beautiful body as it flexed and stretched and relaxed itself into a
standing position.  His words put me back on track.

Elmore:  Oh, Christ...how bad this time.

Deb:  Ten.

That I meant ten thousand was a given.  Elmore's Corner was one of
Lubbock's more successful nightspots, and the nights the Bailjumpers
played we had a line outside, Rap Mama Goose notwithstanding.  We had come
out of the box screaming and had never quieted.  We did a land office
business...but since shortly after Elmore had brought in his friend, we had
barely been making the bills.

Deb:  What's inventory looking like?

Elmore:  Short.  Looks t'me like four cases of th' Heinies and maybe
another four of th' Lone Star.

Deb:  What's he do with it?

Elmore:  Sell it, Ma.  Nine, ten bucks a case, it's enough.  Little pocket
money.

Deb:  Elmore, we need to do something about this guy before Bill gets wind
of it.

Elmore:  I know it.  I've known it...but he's my friend.

Deb:  Some friend, to rob you blind.

Elmore turned away from me.  He had heard it before, chapter and verse.

Elmore:  Ma, leave it th'hell alone.  I'll figure somethin' out.

I felt instant remorse.  Elmore's back was so far up against the wall he
probably didn't know which way to turn, between loyalty to his friend and
loyalty to Bill, who had consistently supported him, and his very
livelihood.  He surely didn't need me mouthing off to add to his misery.

Deb:  I'm sorry, Elmore.

Elmore:  'Sokay, Ma.  You got enough o'your money tied up in this mess.

Deb:  I talk too much.  Elmore...

Elmore:  Yeah, Ma.

Deb:  Why don't you see what Beth thinks about this...she might have some 
ideas...

...and the simple act of getting together with her might calm you
enough so that you can think more clearly...

Deb:  ...and we're so close to this thing we can't see straight anymore.

Elmore:  Y'think she might be able t'help?

Deb:  I do.  And she can't hurt.  Besides, you know she'll be mad at you if
there's something she can do for you and you don't give her a chance.  Go
on, call her up.

Elmore didn't make the call until later, after he had conned me into
going out to KFC for lunch.  I was groaning over mass consumption of
biscuits and Elmore was finishing off the baked beans.  He called Beth
just as he was tossing the bean container out.

Elmore:  Beth, honey...you free on Saturday?...Yeah, wouldja let me take
y'ta lunch?...Need t'see ya, is all...any place y'want...sure...y'will?...
that'd be great, baby...just us, yeah...yeah...Saturday, then...sounds
good.  'Bye, baby.

He hung up and it already appeared to me that a weight had dropped from
his shoulders.  He reached over and grabbed the last biscuit, started
mopping up mashed potatoes and gravy from the inside of the styrofoam cup.

Deb:  Where in the world are you putting that, Elmore?

Elmore:  Hungry, Ma.  Beth's comin' to lunch with me on Saturday.

Deb:  And you'll talk it over with her then?

Elmore:  Yeah.

Deb:  How are you going to do at a vegeterian restaurant, Elmore?

I grinned at him and looked at the ruins of his plate, covered as it
was with the remains of most of the eight piece dinner I'd brought in.

Elmore:  Lotsa salad, I guess.  I'll be okay.  You have a couple of Big
Mac's waitin' for me when I get here?

Deb:  If I can hide them from Bill, you know it.

That was the night Elmore caught his old friend carrying cases of
Moulson Golden out of the basement storage area and concealing them under
the miscellaneous junk in the back of his pickup truck.  I knew nothing
about it until I came outside and caught Elmore beating furiously on the
guy.

Elmore:  I oughta fire your ass, I dunno why I don't!  You sonofabitch!

I had never seen this side of Elmore before that moment, and I am here
to tell you now that I never want to see it again.  Ricky, Elmore's
friend, was laid out in the dust of the alley beaten and bleeding...and
laughing.  Elmore's rage was awesome as it was, and the laughter was rapidly
driving it to lethal stages.  I knew Beth could have stopped Elmore with a
word or two, but I didn't think I had time to go call her and ask her to
wander on over.  Bill was inside;  Elmore would have snapped out of it in a
heartbeat if he had come out and said something, but he was the last person
we wanted involved.  I jumped down the steps and hurried to Elmore's side.

Deb:  Elmore...Elmore, y'gotta stop, you're gonna hurt him.

Elmore:  Hurt 'im, nothin', I'm gonna kill 'im!

I grabbed Elmore's dark head and dragged it to mine.

Deb:  Elmore!  Bill's in there.  Do you want him to find out before you're
ready to tell him?

I hated to do that.  I wanted to see my boxer beat the living hell out
of this pond scum...I couldn't believe I'd ever thought the jerk was honest.
But we had long since decided we wanted to clean the mess up before we
ever confessed to Bill how bad it had been allowed to get.

Ricky:  You ain't agonna fire me, Elmore...do that 'n 'ere won't be 'nough
o'this place t'stick in a pig's asshole.  You're in 'is with me, y'dumb
bastard!

Elmore looked cornered, impotent fury in his black eyes warring for
space with uncertainty.  He let me pull him off Ricky and he stood by,
quivering, while the man picked himself up and brushed some of the dust off
his grubby clothes.

Ricky:  See y'tomorrow, Elmore.

Ricky meandered off to his truck and drove away.  Elmore and I said
nothing until he was gone.

Deb:  Elmore, please tell me what he was talking about?  You haven't known
about this...

Elmore:  Ma...he's been dealin' drugs out the back room...cocaine f'sure
an' I don't know what all else.  Problem is, more goes up 'is own nose than
out the door, so he's inta these guys an' if he doesn't pay 'em, he's gonna
be in the ground....if he was robbin' me t'do it I could can 'is ass no
problem.  But Ricky makes me look like a rocket scientist, Ma...I feel like
I gotta take care of 'im.

Deb:  Elmore, don't start the he ain't heavy, he's my brother speech on me.
If the DEA finds out what's going on in the back room they can take the bar.
They can send us both to jail until we're so damn old we can't remember why
they put us there.  That isn't even what I'm worried about...Bill...

Elmore:  He ain't involved, Ma.  They can't touch 'im.

Deb:  I know, Elmore.  But his money props this place up.  You know...I've
never seen anybody with no visible means of support that has as much money
as Bill does, and I'll bet if he'd gone legitimate Bill Gates would be
scrubbing his toilets.  In business, he doesn't spend money foolishly and
he doesn't tolerate money to be spent foolishly...and he doesn't tolerate
fools.  Every day we don't get this cleaned up is one day closer to Bill
finding out what a fool I am.

Elmore:  You ain't stupid, Ma.

Deb:  I didn't say I was.  We've been doing okay here, more than okay, in
fact.  But Ricky is a liability we need to lose so we can get this under
control.  Once that happens we can tell him about it, and also tell him
the steps we took to regain profitability.  If we don't do that, if the
DEA comes in and takes this place and prosecutes us...we're on our own.
That might not bother you.  But it will bother me.

Elmore:  Guess I don't need t'know what I need t'do.  Maybe...Beth can
tell me how I c'n do it.

Deb:  I'm sorry I yelled...we're both in this.  We both stand to lose a lot.

Elmore:  More'n just a job, anyway.

Bill:  Whatcha doin' out here?

Both of us jumped and turned around.  And Elmore recovered first.  I'd
got my first impressions of a young man who had made his way through his
world by sheer luck, but the longer I knew Elmore the more mistaken I knew
I was.  That Sunny Jim grin concealed a mind sharp as a tack.  I was 
managing the bar because Elmore's expertise did not lie in those areas.
Not only that, he was smart enough to know it.

Elmore:  Just talkin' business, Bill.  Y'know how loud it gets in there.

Conveniently forgetting that the office had been soundproofed.  Way to
go, Elmore.

Deb:  Gettin' some air.

Bill:  Ricky leave?  I thought he was shuttin' down tonight.

I resisted the urge to look up at Elmore.

Elmore:  Yeah.  Had somethin' to do.

Put his face back on.  Elmore grabbed my hand, squeezed it slightly, and
then I trotted back toward the inside.  Bill caught me around the waist and
tipped my chin up.

Bill:  Somethin' you're not tellin' me?

Deb:  Of course not, Bill.

Billy:  You sure?

Deb:  Yes, I'm sure.  'Scuse me...

I scampered past him...reluctantly leaving his arms, but at the same
time relieved to be getting away from those probing eyes.  And at least the
deposit would be correct tonight.

Elmore:  We oughta take this home, Ma.  Last time we left it, he broke inta
the bag after we were gone.

Deb:  But we've never taken it home before.  Bill sees it, he'll know
something's up.  What can we do with it?

Elmore:  Well...you park in th' driveway tonight and I'll pull th' Hummer
into th' garage...and since th' garage is locked, if I lock th' Hummer, it
oughta be safe for a few hours.

Deb:  Bill doesn't like it when I park in the driveway.

Elmore:  But it wouldn't be th' first time.  He'll get in y'face about it
but that'll be all an' in th' meantime, I'll get th' deposit t'th' bank.

Deb:  You're right.  Sounds like a plan.

Elmore and I grinned at each other.  It was the first decision either of
us had made all week that didn't look to be screwed up.  Elmore bundled the
heavy bag into his car as though it were loaded with down, and we locked
up and drove home.

Bill was awake...not unusual.  And waiting...which was.  He paid Elmore no
particular mind.  Elmore would not crack.  But Bill knew someone who might.
He followed me to bed.

Deb:  Kinda early for you, isn't it?

Bill made a production out of stripping his clothes off...the big
bugger knew my eyes would be on his body and my mind would be on something
other than Defcon4 defense mechanisms against him.  I swallowed heavily.

Bill:  Not when I want somethin'.

Okay, so what do you want, me, or a little damaging information?

I retreated to the bathroom.

Bill:  Ain't been keepin' such a close eye on ya lately.  How's things
goin' down there?

Deb:  About the same.

I stopped cold when I regained the bedroom.  Bill was mothernaked,
standing on one leg and casually scratching the back of the other.

Deb:  Pretty good...actually...

Bill:  Haven't see last month's profit and loss statement.  When ya gonna
have it for me?

Deb:  Been busy, Billy.  I'll...I'll get it done this week.  Promise.

Bill:  You were gonna get it for me last week.

Deb:  I know.  But things...umm...came up.

They certainly were, yes indeedy.  Bill was approaching me slowly, for
maximum effect.  His rippling muscles, and the pantherlike grace combined
to deadly advantage.  I had to fight to maintain any objectivity.  Bill
stopped in front of me and I could feel his heat.  He dropped one hand to a
point low on my hip while the other encircled the back of my neck.  He
grazed my ear with his lips.

Bill:  No later than next Tuesday.  Got it?

Deb:  Yes, Billy.

I had just been handed a deadline.

TO BE CONTINUED...