Chapter 65: HR Talks
Candy’s POV
“So that was the infamous Mark?”
Hal nods. His entire body is tense and I stop, turn toward him and place my head on his chest. I know my darling boyfriend. He stops and holds me, expecting me to cry , but I’m holding him, waiting for him to release some tension. Eventually I feel him relax.
I look over and Danny is smiling and whistling into the clouds . He looks over and winks at me. I smile and look up at Hal’s face. He’s smiling at me.
“Making me look soft,” he whispers.
“The evidence says otherwise,” I tease back.
Danny coughs, blushes and walks ahead, chuckling.
Hal looks down. “Are you OK to walk in those shoes?”
I nod. “These are only four inches. Perfectly fine.” I grasp his hand and we start walking to church again. My phone beeps and I check the message.
“Your boss wants to talk to me after service,” I tell him, confused.
“Your HR degree. She has questions.”
I’ve learned with Hal that this statement does not begin to express what she might want. I’m nervous.
“Danny?” Hal says. Danny turns around. He’s a gorgeous man, but I see the ring. Some woman is very lucky. “Service doesn’t start till 10 .”
Danny frowns then laughs. “Still wanted to deck him?”
“I was going to relax in the living room but he seemed stuck on Candy’s chest. I’d hate to start a fight on Sunday.”
I glare at my territorial boyfriend. Danny is laughing and Hal looks grumpy. “Hal?”
Hal sighs and tells me what’s happened so far. Now I understand. Anymore disrespect to anyone Hal cares about and Mark will be a bloodstain on the ground. I tug him back to the beach.
We have 90 minutes to kill before service.
I’m learning to accept church as a part of my relationship with Hal. He’s never asked me to do anything except sit next to him and he’s never tried to convert me. I appreciate that. I understand that at moments when he feels he needs God’s help the most, he wants someone sitting by his side while he prays.
I’m thinking I’m thankful I found a good man. I’ve dated enough creeps. Men think that because you’re a dancer you’re a whore. I’m glad that the one time I was interested enough in a man to take him to the champagne room, he was interested enough to follow up with a weekend date, then a constant on-the-phone thing, then constant trips to see me. I didn’t believe in love at first sight until I met him and I hope he feels the same way. He treats me as if he does. Men like Hal, who treat you like a lady even though they screwed you silly right after saying hello, are rare.
The service is good and we walk back to Stephanie’s rental to relax. Hal takes my bag from the car and I take a quick shower upstairs in the bedroom Stephanie is using. Hal, Danny, and I are the only people in the house but he still wants me to have total privacy. I’m just walking out when Stephanie enters.
“Oh, sorry, Stephanie. Hal told me I could wash up in here.”
She grins. “No problem. I’m about to do the same.”
I smile and she moves into the bathroom. I’m hoping to get some time to get to know her. I know she’s important to Hal and now that I’ve seen her, I’m nervous. The woman is gorgeous and I know Hal loves me (right?), but he spends all day with her? I want to see how they interact. He calls her ‘Sis’, so I shouldn’t have any competition, right?
I head downstairs where Hal has already started lunch. Chicken, fish and corn on the cob are prepped for the grill and Danny is wearing a “Real Men BBQ!” apron. Hal is peeling potatoes at an impressive rate.
“Land in the brig a lot?” I tease.
He smiles. “Article 15.” I raise an eyebrow. “Not brig, Article 15. Military non-judicial punishment and no, I was a good soldier.” I commit that one to memory. Hal’s been trying to teach me all the common military terms.
“Brig is fine, Candy,” Danny snorts. “If you say brig, men will understand that faster than Article 15.” He grabs a tray of steaks and walks out, shoulders shaking.
Hal tosses a potato cube at his head, which makes me laugh. “Anyway, I was the youngest of six. You learned to be fast.” I nod and look at the ingredients. I begin prepping the rest of the potato salad, coleslaw, and baked beans. Steph appears downstairs and I hold a knife out to her.
“Not a chance.” She grins. “I have no skills in the kitchen. You need something microwaved, call me.”
I laugh. “You wanted to talk to me?”
“Yeah. One of the things I wanted to talk to the guys about this week is the amount of administrative work they do.” At this point, all the men have migrated into the kitchen and are listening closely, including asshole Mark. “I’ve been paying attention. It started with Hector’s PA armed bodyguard license. I noticed he had one for Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and Delaware. That’s four separate licenses he has to track and renew every two years, and to renew he has to sit through 45 hours’ worth of classes per state.
The men in Atlanta have six licenses. It’s a logistical nightmare. Then there’s the handgun licenses, the insurances for health and cars, the investment accounts for the men–I mean, I asked Hal, on a whim, and he said admin accounts for about 25-40% of his day. It’s admin that each of these men has. I want to pick your brain about relieving their workload.”
Ah! I see. “Well, what’s your HR department looks like right now?”
She grinned. “You’re looking at it.”
I look around the room. “Huh?”
“Us,” Hal says. “She means all the XOs and herself included.”
“Holy crap,” I mutter and each man chuckles. “Payroll?”
“They’re in Miami,” the pale guy answers. I can’t remember his name. Mando? “We have a staff of four accountants and it takes all of them to keep up with the expenses we pass back.”
I nod. “OK, but no one person in charge of benefits administration or basic employment administration?”
Everyone shakes their heads. I smile. I wonder if I’m being offered a job.
“OK, here’s what I would do.”
Stephanie picks my brain for the next three hours. Lunch is spectacular and I finally look at Hal, pleading. He brings me a legal pad so I can write notes and passes another to Steph. We trade suggestions and ideas throughout lunch. Each of the men chimes in with their suggestions and concerns. I remember a lot of this from school and a lot from working as a contract employee every chance I got.
Finally, she heads back to the beach . (“To think. I’ve got to let that settle in my brain.”) Each of the XOs heads out with her. Hal grins at me. He’s had his hand on my butt for the past hour and his thumb has been moving. I’m horny and I was ready to mount him two hours ago. He calls someone then turns to me. “One hour.”
As usual, he makes very good on his promise. Stephanie’s not an issue. He truly does look at her like a little sister and me like a banana split.
I slip into my bikini and he smiles and shakes his head. Those blue board shorts look good and I want him all over again. I get a kiss on the top of my head and we set off for the beach.
“Do you think she’s gearing up to offer me a job?”
“Yup.”
“Are you OK with that?”
Silence. I look over at him, nervous. I’m not ignorant of the fact that the men he works with have all seen me nearly naked (OK, naked) and they know I screwed him 15 minutes after meeting him. I’m not ashamed of my sexuality or how we met, but I don’t want to cause him problems.
He’s stopped at the edge of the beach and he looks at me. He’s nervous. “I’m fine with it if you choose to accept. Are you uncomfortable with the idea of working with me?”
I shake my head. “Would I answer to you?”
“No. You’d probably answer directly to Steph. Ryan does. You two would be your own little admin department.”
I smile and put my arms around his neck. He holds me close and smiles. “I mean it, Hal,” I whisper. “If she offers me a job, would you have a problem with it? I mean, you have to work with those men and they’ve all seen me naked. I’ll turn the offer down if it makes you uncomfortable in any way.”
The wonderful thing about Hal is I’ve never, for a single moment, doubted his sincerity. “If she offers you a job and you choose to accept, I would be thrilled. I would be able to share my day with someone who I know cares and understands what I’m going through. The men I work with will not have an issue with it. Half of them thought I was a virgin.”
At this I collapse in giggles. Hal? My god, the man is insatiable and he’s skilled. Massive dick and he knows how to use it. Virgin?
He smiles. “They’re thrilled I have someone. Apparently I’m a completely different man after you and I have spent some time together. They’re happy to know you’re in my life and Ram smirks on the rare occasion I mention you. He considers himself as having introduced us.”
I find that hilarious but Ram did specifically ask for me when he booked the room. I remembered him. I’d danced for him once before when he was in AC and he tipped me $100 after five minutes. Hard to forget a cute guy like him who tips like that.
We continue down the beach and I splash in the water while Hal sets up the blankets and towels. I’m glad I quit last week. We originally intended to spend this weekend moving me to Hal’s apartment but when this trip came up, he simply gave me the keys and called Junior. I was hurt but I understand now. Hal will never be the clingy type and his job requires him to be ready to go at a moment’s notice. He has a job to do, I’m his woman and he trusts me to handle whatever I need to do. If I needed his help, he would have driven around the whole of NJ to make it work.
I was nervous when Junior showed up; I remembered him from the party, but he didn’t treat me in any way that made me feel like he was stripping me with his eyes. If anything, he had a good time teasing me about taking four months to move in with Hal. So, I had the luxury of spending the weekend moving my things and unpacking a few boxes. It also helps that Hal had very little in his apartment and had cleaned up the few possessions he had to make room for me. Junior told me that half of Hal’s wardrobe lived at RangeMan; apparently, an onsite apartment comes with the job for the XO and Hal has clothes there just in case of emergency.
Men. A mostly black wardrobe, TV, Xbox, a few pairs of shoes, and a full gun collection. I’d never seen that many guns in my life. Junior smirked and asked me to put a gun cabinet on the list of things to buy. Hal was storing his on a shelf in his closet.
I’m picked up and twirled around and I scream for Hal. Moments later I hear a chuckle in my ear.
“Who do you think has you?” He puts me down and I slap his arm. “Ouch. All the sting of a butterfly.”
I grin and jump on him. He catches me and we fall backwards into the water.
“Children! Children! Play nice,” Danny calls, laughing. Good thing he’s married. I know a few single girls who’d kill for him. The chest alone …yummy. I love my Hal but I’m not blind. I glance back at Hal, who’s frowning.
“Stop,” I whisper. “Not interested. I saw the ring and besides, I have you. I was thinking I know some single girlfriends who would kill for him if he were single.”
Hal’s mouth twitches before he nods. “Mostly single men in my branch.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Never tell them I told you that. They’d kill me.”
I grin. We splash and play in the water for a few more minutes before I walk back to the towels. Hal and Danny are swimming to different buoys, trying to race.
“Candy?” I turn and find Stephanie in front of me. “OK, my brain is rested. I have a new puzzle for you.”
I like Stephanie. She’s very upfront. “Shoot.”
“I have an XO, I won’t say which one, that I have a problem with.”
I flop back onto the towel. “Trying to find cause to fire Mark?”
I see now what Hal means about her inability to lift one eyebrow. I giggle. Her entire face looks funny. “No?”
“Not even close, sista.” I raise an eyebrow and she groans.
“Can everyone do it but me?”
“Wanna know how I learned?” She looks up, eyes wide. “I practiced in front of a mirror. Hal’s ability to do it drove me crazy, especially when he did it to substitute answering questions. I finally figured out how to do it by watching my face in the mirror.”
She flops back on the towel and moans. “My god! I’m going to have to spend half my life in front of a mirror.”
I laugh. “Maybe, but there’s nothing worse than a man realizing that he can’t read your face. Hal pouts every time I turn my ‘blank face’ on him.” I give her a demonstration and she laughs.
“Does that work?”
“Like a charm. The moment I do it, he sighs then starts talking. We have a rule: No blank faces during conversations.” I grin wickedly. “If he starts to slide one in place, I put mine in place. If he doesn’t break, I start taking off clothes. He breaks every time.”
She leans back and laughs. “If he doesn’t?”
“The day that happens, I’m prepared to pull on my flannel jammies and ignore him.”
We both fall back into the sand and laugh. God, it’s good to have a girlfriend again. Hal told me he wants me to take time to get to know Steph and, so far, I really like her. We lie back on the towels and look around the beach. Hal and Danny are still swimming to buoys in the ocean. Javier and Mando are tossing a football in the sand. Javier has an amazing body, six-pack, high tight butt, and killer white smile. Mando’s pale for a Latin guy. He honestly reminds me of Gomez Addams, but the Raul Julia version. Straight black hair, great upper body, pale gray eyes. He should have a nice tan by the end of the week, although I keep wondering why he isn’t tan if he lives in Miami. Even asshole Mark (I have to stop thinking of him like that) is a looker. I was in love with IceMan from Top Gun and Mark’s a dead ringer for him.
All the RangeMen XOs are gorgeous but I still have the best one. I have Hal. Six feet three inches of hard packed muscles, a killer smile, and gentle hands. A devious mind hidden behind a boyish, innocent facade, he’s underestimated by most. If you’re smart though, you realize that sweet innocent smile hides a freak! I grin. I’ve never had such great sex in my life and he’s such a wonderful man. I love my darling boyfriend. I’m trying not to hope for the ring. We haven’t known each other long enough but still, I can’t imagine Hal not being in my life.
I turn back to Stephanie. She’s smiling at me. “I know. They should all come with a warning sign. Can you imagine being in an office with 40 of them all day?” I literally have a hot flash and she laughs. “My best friend, Mary Lou, said she was at the office for a little party a few weeks ago. When she saw all of them gathered in the conference room, she had to twist her wedding ring on her finger and remind herself that she’s been very happily married for over a decade.”
We laugh until we cry. I can believe it. Mark ends up walking past us and he nods at both of us. We quickly sober. A great ass and amazing thighs in those short black swim shorts. Too bad he’s such an asshole.
Steph blows out a breath and looks at me. “Never mind. Back to the problem. I’ve given him ’til the end of the week to win over his colleagues but it won’t happen. I know this. I need a way to keep him but make him work for me.”
“You want to split the baby but keep him alive?” OK, church might be rubbing off.
She smiles. “Yeah. I guess so.”
I sit back and think about it. We’re both lost in thought when Danny and Hal return. Hal starts slathering me in sunblock and Danny gets Steph’s back.
Danny laughs over the confusion on my face. “I have no desire to meet Ranger in a dark alleyway.”
I can’t wait to meet this infamous ‘Ranger’. Hal describes him as somewhere between immortal and demigod. He’s convinced that ‘Tank’ is an immortal demigod. I find it all cute, and humorous; my boyfriend has a ‘man-crush’.
“We aren’t together,” Steph groans.
“Uh huh,” Hal replies sardonically. “But some of us still enjoy life. Danny has dependents. Cindy would appreciate it if he stayed alive.”
We all lie back and are soon joined by Javier and Armando. Javier grins. “He’s down the beach. Looks like he’s thinking.”
Thirty minutes later, I look over at Steph. “I may have an idea. Let’s walk.”
Steph’s POV
I’m glad Candy has something. I’ve got bupkis.
“Before I tell you what I think, let me tell you this. I may not be employed in my field right now, but I’m still going to treat what you tell me with complete confidentiality. Nothing said between us will be repeated without your consent.”
She’s very serious and I nod. I like that. She starts by covering bases.
“OK, I would like you to level with me. Why do you want to keep him? From everything I know, which, given that it’s Hal, is very little, he could be termed an annoying asshole. Do you have grounds?”
I nod. “Insubordination, for a start.”
She frowns. “Then why on earth do you want to keep him?”
“Because the problems between me and him can’t be resolved by me and if I let him go from the branch, I’ll have to find a new leader there. Actually, if I let him go from the branch, upper management will fire every manager there. It would be annihilation in that branch and we can’t support it. I can’t build, or rebuild, three branches in one year at the same time. No matter what, consensus says he’s the right man for that branch. He’s just an asshole to everyone else.”
“I don’t get it.”
I sigh. “The problems between me and him aren’t really between me and him. They’re really between him and upper management and I’m his scapegoat and theirs. I don’t like it. I’m being given the dirty work of firing him and I don’t want it. If they want to resolve this, they’ll resolve it, not attempt to make me do it.”
She stares at me with an odd look on her face but finally she smiles. “You’re insane, but if this works, he will flip his loyalty to you.”
I grin. “That’s exactly what I want.”
“Good. Force his resignation.”
Huh? “Why?”
“What are his other options? You said his colleagues won’t vote to keep him. Give him a graceful exit, one that preserves face. You’ll note, however, that I never specified when he had to leave.”
I consider what she said and I get it. I can even see how I can make this work for me in a few more ways.
I look at Candy, who is staring down the beach at Hal. They’re so in love it hurts to look at them. Hal is just as private as Ranger (or Tank) but he has no problems making it very clear to anyone looking at Candy that he loves her. He’s possessive. He’s considerate. He blushes red head to toe when anyone teases him about his ‘girlfriend’.
Ranger acts that way only when we’re in private. Joe is inconsistent. It depends on whether or not we’re on, how long it’s been since my latest capture or car explosion and whether or not I’ve spent time in Ranger’s company recently.
I notice Hal looking down the beach at us. The look on his face says he’s trying to decide whether or not to join us. I smile and wave, as does Candy, and we set off down the beach. I glance back and Hal’s seated again, but watching us closely.
I look over at Candy. I’ve wanted to talk to her ever since I heard Hal mention she had an HR degree.
“I hear you just moved to Trenton.” She nods. “Where are you working?”
She snorts. “I’m not yet. Every place I’ve been won’t give me a call back or I can’t get past the background check.”
“Why?”
We continue to walk in silence. Finally, she stops and looks at me, tears in her eyes. “Let’s see. Where do I begin? How about the fact that my sister was diagnosed with cancer when I was 21? I graduated the next year, magna from FIU as a matter of fact, but I couldn’t find a job and I needed money fast. Hal tell you how we met?”
I shake my head.
“I am, was, a stripper. Dancer. Either way, I took my clothes off for money to pay for my sister’s treatment because my family is useless. Both parents remarried to other people and we can barely get in touch with them. So I stripped to pay for her meds. Her hospital stays. Her chemo. Let’s not mention the numerous part-time jobs I worked to pay my own bills. She met and married a creep and for the past year she’s been in remission but no one told me because her husband started ‘coordinating’ her care. Wanna know what that meant?”
I nod, eyes wide.
“It meant he spent the money I made letting the world see my tits smoking crack. Got Cassie hooked. So here I am at 26 unable to get a good, professional job because I spent four years paying for my sick little sister’s treatment and she pays me back by running scams using my name. So, in the rare instance I get a second call back, once they start running my background and spot the solicitation, fraud, and prostitution charges, I’m declined as a candidate.”
She blows out a breath. “Hal finally confessed that he ran a background on me and I came up clean only because he somehow got my social security number and ran my name, SSN, and birthday in combo. If done that way, I come up clean, but the newest trend in HR is to run combos, to ensure you aren’t missing anything. That’s why I keep getting declined.”
Wow. I have no words for that. I thought I had it bad with Val, at least until Hector told me the truth about the pot.
She looks at me with a sad smile. “I’ve been cleaning up my background and applying to more places in the past few weeks, but until all the databases strip my name of my sister’s charges, I still can’t get a job. Hal wants me to talk to a lawyer. He thinks I may have to take my sister to court, but I don’t know if I can do that.”
I nod. Yeah, Val isn’t that bad by comparison. “We need an HR person. Interested?”
“Don’t offer me a job because you feel sorry for me.”
“Can I verify everything you just told me?”
She looks at me hard. “Every word.”
“Then it isn’t a sob story. It’s a case of getting royally screwed. No, I don’t feel sorry for you. Life happens. Shit happens. One of my best friends is a former hooker who was brutally injured and left for dead on my fire escape. I don’t pity her and she’d kill me if she thought I did.” I shrug. “Life happens. Know how I became a bounty hunter?”
She nods. “Layoffs from a mob-connected company, right?”
“And you say Hal doesn’t talk.”
We look at each other and grin.
Tank approves the hiring of Candy later that night. He’s amused I’m hiring Hal’s girlfriend.
“Any reason for her instead of an open posting?”
“She just helped me solve a massive problem. A few of them, actually. She’s creative.” I give him a small taste of everything Candy will be in charge of and he stops me halfway through the list.
“Can she do all that on her own?”
“I expect she’ll need staff at some point, but I think she can get started and tell us what she needs.”
“She falls under you. Keep your operation lean.”
“Will do, Tank.”
Silence, then, “Company’s yours to run. You’re doing a great job.”
I hang up and walk into the living room. Candy’s snuggled up, half asleep, under Hal and Hal is glaring at the other XOs, who keep smirking and taking pictures with their phones. I whip mine out, take a quick snap, and send the pic to Tank.
Hal’s phone beeps a few minutes later. He checks the message and groans.
“Thanks, Steph. You suck.”
The men all laugh. I look at Tank’s message.
“One hell of a distraction. Good man.”
Armando is tomorrow and I’m stuck. I’ve heard every possible bit of information I could about him. Everything I know about him is all over the place, and I truly think I know what his problem is but I need to confirm that thought. I need background info in order to make a decision about him and there’s only one person who can give it to me.
“Lucia?”
“Hello, Stephanie! Ella tells me you need info. How can I help?”
“First, thank you for your actions in Miami. I’m sure Maria will find life a lot easier if and when she returns.”
“I hope so,” Lucia says, giggling. “We’ve never had so much fun as a group. I wish we could do it all over again.”
“Well, if they haven’t learned the lesson, you may get a chance to.”
“Wonderful! Now, how can I help?”
“Armando. I’m speaking to him tomorrow and I need to understand him. The information I have about him is all over the place, but you’re family and I’m being told his problems are all family related. Would you tell me what you can?”
It’s silent on the line. I lie back on the bed and start some calf stretches.
“Well, I want you to understand that a lot of it is family gossip and what I’ve gotten out of Mando. I managed to get quite a bit out of him during my two weeks in Miami and since you’re now asking, I’m glad I did. Just understand that there may be some biases in there.”
“I understand, Lucia.”
“Ok. So, Armando is the third of six kids and he’s the oldest son. He’s always been the responsible one, the hard-working son. He joined the Marines right out of high school, worked hard in college, married his college sweetheart and has always tried to do the right thing.”
She sighs. “So let me back up. His mother is Consuela and her sister is Conchita. I’m second cousins with Armando’s late father but I remember Connie and Chita. Meet them once and you never forget them. Two more domineering, critical women you’ve never met in your life. They stay in constant competition with each other and it filtered down to their sons.
Mando got the worst of it for years. As I said, Mando is Consuela’s eldest son and she liked to throw her children in her sister’s face all the time. Chita miscarried twice before Antonio was born and he nearly died three times before his first birthday.”
I’m sitting up, eyes wide, listening to this. I feel sorry for this woman and I’ve never met her.
“Antonio was it for Chita. Meanwhile, Connie had three more. Six total to Chita’s one but Chita had the last laugh. While all of Connie’s kids are smart kids, Antonio tested at genius levels. He was a brilliant little boy and Chita was thrilled. Of course, since that was her only little boy, she waited on him hand and foot. He was hungry? She made whatever he wanted. Tired? He napped. Bored? She changed the channel to watch what he wanted. He never had chores, he never had to clean his room, he never had to do anything. Spoiled would have been an improvement. She still does it. I watched her wait on her adult son while I was there.”
“Wow,” I breathe. “His mother trained him to see women as maids.”
“Yeah,” Lucia sighs. “It wasn’t until I was in Miami this past summer that I remembered all this. Actually seeing that side of the family again brought it all back because all we talked about years ago was how much of a success Antonio was going to be.
Anyway, Antonio went to Florida Tech. He was accepted to MIT, Case Western, Georgia Tech, all the big tech schools, but Chita wouldn’t let him go because that was too far away. He got lucky getting into FIT because it’s highly ranked and it’s close. He graduated, with honors, and got a six figure job right out of college.”
So far, I’m thinking that Chita did win the war with her one son but I can see how Mando got screwed. Antonio is Mando’s Val.
“Now, we’ve never gotten a straight answer about what happened. We’re not sure if he was fired or he quit but next thing we know, he’s switched jobs. Mando said he was fired. Tony says he quit. We know he was fired from the next two jobs. Tony admitted it, said he should have been hired at a higher level. He wasn’t given any authority or responsibility and was made to do grunt work.”
“What’s his degree in?”
“Computer engineering.”
“Interesting. I wonder why Hector didn’t hire him,” I mutter. I know my partner. There had to be a damn good reason.
There’s laughter on the line. “I’m going to get to that, Stephanie. I was there at that dinner. So he’s fired from two jobs, he quits the third. Conchita asks Mando to do some digging and he reports back. Tony’s former employers report that he’s impossible to work with. He comes in believing he should be a manager. He doesn’t understand the value of hard work and putting in your grunt time in the trenches, showing you can handle small things before you’re promoted up.
Anyway, the entire family immediately says that Mando’s just jealous. Tony is still making six figures and he gets promoted into management at job four. He’s doing a great job. Bought a condo and a Ferrari, had a girlfriend whose only thoughts centered on having Tony’s babies, he’s living the life the family fully expected. This visible success leads Connie to start treating Tony like her son, believing he’ll always be more successful than Mando, even though Mando’s a steady patient success. He’s at RangeMan at this point, working hard, putting in his time.
His family is telling him that Mark’s going to get the XO job in Miami when Boston is opened, so he shouldn’t get hopeful. Mariela, his wife, is fighting back against them and supporting her husband but you can tell it’s taking a toll on Mando. Anyway, shocker! Mando gets the XO job in Miami and the family is stunned because Mando’s now making more than Tony.”
I plug the headphones into my phone and start a few crunches. I’m thinking about all of this and I can’t wait to meet Antonio.
“Mando’s father, Pedro, openly praised his son in front of the family and that’s when I realized Mando’s only real, consistent support was his wife and father. His mother actually sat there and belittled Armando’s accomplishments, calling him a disappointment next to his cousin. Next thing I know, Mando immediately moves to Flagami to get away from his family.”
I’m mentally clapping for Armando.
“So Armando is building RangeMan Miami and I hear he’s successful. He has good ideas and support. He and Mark are close, in constant competition to prove they know what they’re doing. His love of his work at RangeMan is why I accepted the position in NYC when they advertised. He told me how much he loved it and he and Mari are starting to think about having a family.
Then Pedro died of a heart attack three years ago. Armando was devastated. His father had been his quiet support for years, praising his son, telling him he’s doing a good job and Armando and his father were close. I realize now that Pedro and Connie had stopped loving each other years ago and Connie held Mando in contempt because Mando was close to and adored his father. He wasn’t a Momma’s boy. He was his father’s son and he could care less about Connie’s war with Chita.
With his father’s love and support, and his wife’s, Mando has no problem flipping his family the finger. But with Pedro’s death, Mando was screwed. Connie needed somewhere to live because Pedro had a second mortgage on the house and his life insurance wasn’t enough to pay it off. Mari and Mando buckled. He’s the eldest son, the responsible one with a house and room for his mother. It was supposed to be temporary, especially since Mariela gave birth to their first child a month later. Connie is still living there even now, Stephanie.”
I’m doodling on the legal pad and thinking. I was right about Mando and the timing is just right. Three years ago. That’s when he started losing control of his branch.
I know how to help him. Now, how best to do it?
“Now, Tony quits the fourth job because they won’t give him the raise he demanded. He’s unemployed for nine months before he decides to apply at RangeMan. Clearly it’s not so bad. Armando has a house, a car, Mariela was home with their child, Mando had it made. Meanwhile, Tony’s girlfriend left him and he had to sell the condo and the Ferrari to pay his bills. We’re talking massive bills, student loans; Tony lived well above his means. Selling his South Beach condo and the Ferrari put him in the black, but he can’t humble himself to get a job in anything less than management.
The entire family, even his brothers and sisters, pressure Mando to hire him at RangeMan. Mando is straight with them: there are no management positions so Tony can give that up. Tech is there but he’ll have to interview with the head of Tech. Don’t even think of trying to interview for the CIO job because it’s just been filled and the new CIO is deadly. He won’t take the challenge lightly.”
I’m grinning, wondering what Hector did to him.
“So Tony joins RangeMan and he makes it through the probation period. He complains about not making enough money, but Mando makes it clear that Tony makes standard salary. He can’t change that. Anyway, Tony applies for tech. Hector takes a look at his resume, has his interview on the mats, and tells him hell no. Tony is shocked and bitches and moans to his family that he didn’t join RangeMan to just work as a bodyguard and his credentials are better than the CIO’s. The CIO graduated from NJIT, a nobody school. He graduated from Florida Tech. So he goes over Mando’s head and speaks directly to Ranger.”
I’m shocked. Tony’s an idiot.
“So Mando tells me that Ranger calls him and Tony to his office. He reviews Tony’s resume and admits it’s impressive. Then he smiled.”
I sit up. Ranger smiled? He was about to screw Tony over painfully.
“Mando said it was the scariest smile he’d ever seen. Ranger set up a test. He asked Tony to set up a sub-network on our system and defend it. He could have the CIO job if the current CIO was unable to take it down in 60 minutes.
Hector took it down in eight minutes, completely ripped his programming to shreds, locked him out of the system, exposed all his vulnerabilities, and basically made him a laughing stock in Miami for a while. Then he showed up, in person, at a family dinner. I was on one of my rare trips to Miami and I was at that family dinner, honey. Hector explained every wrong thing Tony did.”
My mouth has dropped. I hear a car alarm blare but I barely move. This is much more interesting.
“Hector’s comment? I’ll never forget it. He said, ‘You may have a degree, but 10 year olds could take down your work. It was shit. You were tested as gifted at six. That was what? 15 years ago? 20? You’re normal now and edging toward mediocre. True genius requires hard work and dedication. You have neither, which is why you won’t work in IT in this company. That’s why you keep getting fired. You don’t understand what it means to work hard. I need men, not spoiled little boys. You want my job? Take down my work.’ “
I break into laughter. That sounds like Hector. There’s a knock at the door. “I’m fine,” I call.
“OK, Steph,” Javi answers. I hear him step away. Lucia is still giggling.
“Stephanie, by the time he was done exposing every one of Tony’s failures, the family was shocked speechless. Chita was stunned. Her precious baby wasn’t the best at something. Then Hector started playing interviews with Tony’s former employers. Proved everything Mando had always said and the family couldn’t believe it. Tony was red-faced and embarrassed. He never again asked to work in IT at RangeMan and he steers clear of Hector.”
First smart decision I’ve heard Tony make.
“Ranger took him to the mats the next day. Told him he was getting an hour for bypassing his XO, one hour for wasting the CIO’s valuable time, and another hour for wasting his time. He met with Mando and told him to fire him. Mando said that he believed that now that Tony had been disabused of his ambition to be the head of Tech, he could be a good RangeMan. Now, he says Ranger stared at him and finally nodded. Ranger was going to allow him to use his judgment but to remember there was a standing order in place when he was ready to execute.”
I’m not quite sure how to regard that decision. On one hand, Ranger allowed Mando to be the one in charge of decisions for his branch. On the other, I’d think it was pretty clear that Mando might not have the backbone for the position.
“Now, if you ask me Stephanie, I think Ranger’s using this as a chance to assess Mando. At first, it looked like Mando might be right. Tony settled into his job, especially when he moved into management as the head of the bodyguard group. But Mando’s failure to fire Tony has hurt him over the past year. I think Mando’s survived because the branch has been doing fine, financially, and Ranger has barely been in house.
Now, why has Tony survived so long? Two reasons. One, because he’s a charming little shit and there’s no other way I can put that. Second, he’s good at sitting back and assessing his opponent, looking for weaknesses then attacking. He knows Mando’s. He sets Connie and Chita on Mando instead of approaching his cousin openly. He waits until the family has worn Mando down then steps in for the kill. Right now they’re pressuring Mando to prepare Tony to take the strategist job, since it’s widely believed that Diego will go to San Antonio as an XO.”
“Why not pressure Mando to promote him as an XO candidate?” Not that it will happen. Nothing I’ve heard about Tony has been positive and if Ranger left standing orders for him to be fired, I’ll never put him in a leadership position.
Lucia snorts. “I asked Mando the same thing. Answer? Chita says that’s too far away. Charlotte is as far as she thinks Tony should go, just in case he needs her. I watched, Stephanie. Tony truly treats his mother contemptibly, but then she’s trained him to. I watched him demand food, drinks, socks, books, oh god, I’ll never forget the moment he looked over at all the kids and said they were giving him a headache.
Chita actually ushered all of them, except Mando’s, into the backyard. Mariela told her that if she touched her children, she’d body slam her and Chita knows that Mariela means her threats. Mari turned to Tony and said that if the children were a problem for him, he was welcome to leave their home.
Mari is about the only woman Tony obeys and that’s because Mari flipped him to the ground shortly after she got the RangeMan wives training. He thought she was joking. He found out she wasn’t and she bruised a vertebrae when she did it. He was on bed rest for a few days and Mari has never apologized. He won’t move against Mariela because he’s certain Armando will kill him if he touches her. Mariela is sacred to Mando and she might have flipped him but after she told Mando about it, Mando put him in the hospital for another week.”
My mouth has dropped. I wonder if I’m allowed to hire Mariela as XO. “They were at Armando’s house?” I’m incredulous at this.
“Yes. Armando was working late and Connie acts as if she’s Queen Bee in that house. Mariela is no longer queen in her home and I can see she’s reaching a breaking point. I don’t want to see Mando’s marriage break, but something has to happen, Stephanie. I just don’t know what. Best would be if Connie were forced to move out.” It’s quiet on the line for a few minutes before I hear Lucia mutter, “Poor baby. Stephanie, I love my cousin. Help him. Please.”
Yeah. I know exactly what I’m going to do for Mando.
“Thanks, Lucia. This has helped a lot. You have no idea how much.”
