The Product Ch. 37

The overweight Mexican gardener who was standing at his gate was waving to him and shouting something. Not wanting to get out of the car and exposing himself to gunfire, Richard rolled down his window and leaned out just a bit, shouting to the man.

"What do you want?" shouted Richard.

"Excuse senor. We do gardening neighbor," said the man in broken English. "You not home we come. We sorry. We move. Unload first. Gracias."

"OK," shouted Richard, "but hurry. I'm late for work...trabajo."

"Si, senor," said the man. "We hurry. Give card? Do you gardening? Good price?"

"OK, sure. Leave your card in the mailbox," said Richard, still not sure it was safe.

Richard was staying where he was at until they pulled away, just to be safe. He wondered if it would be safe to open the gate even then. What if they burst inside? Should he drive back up to the house? No, he decided. That would just put Lisa, Rebekah, and poor Beatrice in danger if they climbed the fence and followed him.

Better to stay where he was at and wait, decided Richard. When the gate opened, he would gun his way past and down the hill. If they were Villarreal's men, they would follow him, and the women would be safe. He would be the hero. Probably a dead hero, but a hero none the less.

"No want card?" asked the man as he waved it through the fence with a hopeful look on his weathered face.

"Mailbox. Put in mailbox," shouted Richard, pointing toward the mailbox. What the fuck was the word for mailbox in Spanish!

"Si," said the man as the gardening truck pulled forward and the men pushed or carried their equipment across the street to the neighbor's yard.

Richard started the car and hit the remote for the gate. As soon as the gate opened wide enough, Richard gunned the car between the wrought iron panels and fishtailed a bit on the street before speeding down the hill.

The Mexican stood next the gate as it finished opening and continued to shake his head.

"Gringo loco!" he shouted to his men, before putting the card in the mailbox. Maybe the gringo would call. After all, he did the gardening for all the other houses on the street now.

---

"What's up sister-wife," said Deirdre when she saw the call was coming from their home number. "Is sleeping beauty up yet?"

"Yeah, she's in the shower and Beatrice is fixing breakfast for her," replied Lisa.

"Did Richard get off?" asked Deirdre. "What kind of shape was he in?"

"Yeah...and he went to work too!" said Lisa, doing her best Groucho impression. "He said he felt like something died in his mouth."

"Not very original," said Deirdre. "That's Somerset Maugham."

Oh, he did the attribution," said Lisa. "So, he's clear on that."

"Did you find out anything about what was going on with him last night?" asked Deirdre.

"No. He was in a rush to get to the office," said Lisa. "Funny thing thought, he stopped in the drive and spent a long time talking on his cell phone. He looked serious. I was watching from the kitchen window."

"But he is off now. Right?" asked Deirdre.

"Yeah," said Lisa. "But what I called you about. I just wanted to let you know that we would be in about one, so I can style the princess' hair and do her makeup there."

"Good idea," said Deirdre. "By the way, we're having a white sale. Everything on the set is going to be white except blondie's hair and her pretty pink chastity belt."

"Great idea," said Lisa. "Sounds very virginal."

"That's the idea," said Deirdre. "Speaking of which, can you style her hair really girly and curly. Like a prom queen."

"Sure, I guess so," said Lisa. "Not that I ever went. How about you?"

"Nope," said Deirdre. "We didn't have those in the part of Ireland I'm from. All the social activities took place at the pub. At least the ones that weren't R rated."

"Got a question," said Lisa. "Do you want her in her formal jewelry, or do you want to pass today?"

"Good question? Those rocks and rings don't exactly cry out virgin, do they?" agreed Deirdre. "But bring them along anyway. Perhaps we can take some shots to use after the grand opening."

"Do you want me to trim her bush at all?" asked Lisa. "That's a hairy mess down there."

"No. Leave it as is," said Deidre. "That bush has virgin written all over it. If you trim the damn thing, some of the audience will just assume she's just another out of work actress earning some money on her back."

"OK," said Lisa. "I figured I should ask."

"I've got a question for you," said Deirdre. "Do you think we should color her fingers and toenails or leave them alone?"

"I don't know. I could go either way," said Lisa. But teenage virgins color their nails, so I think a nice shade of pink that matches her highness' harness would look nice."

"OK, agreed," said Deirdre. "Check in with me when you get here, and I'll come down."

"Catch you later, sister-wife," said Lisa.

"Back at ya'll, Magnolia," said Deirdre with a drawl as she hung up before Lisa could get another word in.

---

Richard kept looking over his shoulder and in the rearview mirror all the way down to the freeway. He kept looking behind him, trying to make sure the gardening truck was not in hot pursuit. Once he was on the freeway he kept looking to see if he was being followed by another car.

Maybe Villarreal had some of his other men waiting down the hill for him. He kept looking to see if the same car turned up in the freeway traffic as he constantly changed lanes. He got off and on the freeway a couple of times, just to see if he was being followed. He had seen that in a movie.

He was being paranoid, and Richard knew it. But he could not help himself. As he finally got off the freeway near his office, he decided to stop by the diner and have breakfast, and maybe flirt with the pretty new waitress. He had already talked to Villarreal and that had been the priority on his agenda for the day.

Perhaps that would make him feel better. He called his assistant and told her he would be another hour as he was walking from the parking lot into the diner.

There was a huge BOOM! and Richard's knees buckled as he reached out to grab the wall on the front of the diner to keep from going down. He checked himself for bullet wounds instinctively before realizing a car had backfired. Feeling foolish, Richard gathered himself and went into the diner for breakfast and maybe a little recruiting. As he sat down at the counter, he took a deep breath and tried to collect himself. He realized he had become a basket case.

---

"You say she should clean up well?" asked Villarreal pointedly?

"Yes, she is quite an attractive woman," replied Xavier. "Although her tits are too large. They make her look like the slut she probably is."

"Why do you say that?" asked Villarreal.

"Who, but a slut, would allow themselves to be whipped like that?" said Xavier.

"Well, I don't have to look at her back," said Villarreal. "The women can dress her in some lingerie that covers her back. And I guess I'll have to endure the big tits."

Both men laughed.

"Have the women feed and bath her, and do her hair and makeup," ordered Villarreal. "Bring her to me in a couple of hours, when she is presentable."

Villarreal waved Xavier out the door pointedly as his cell phone rang.

---

Lisa did not know what to do first, pull her own hair out or finish styling Rebekah's. Things had started going downhill once Rebekah got out of the shower back at the house. When Lisa explained they were going in for a photo shoot, at first Rebekah was excited.

But when Lisa told Rebekah she would be without clothes most of the afternoon in front of cameramen, crew and God knew who else, Rebekah had a panic attack and had been acting out, a real pain in the ass, as teenagers are wont to do.

Lisa desperately tried to finish styling Rebecca's hair in the salon as the girl continued to fidget in the chair and Lisa was growing short on patience.

"You need to let me finish," said Lisa sharply. "Don't you want to look good for the cameras?"

"No! Well yes!" blurted Rebekah nervously. "Yes, of course. But I'm going to be naked! And there are people everywhere. Can't I wear a robe until we get there?"

No! Young lady. No!" said Lisa seething. "For the tenth time, NO! You need to get used to being naked around people. And there is no better time than here and now!"

"But Lisa..." Rebekah started to complain before being cutoff.

"This conversation is over," announced Lisa bluntly. "This is what you agreed to. This is what you wanted, remember?"

"But..." Rebekah was cutoff again.

"You said you wanted to do what Jana did. Right?" asked Lisa inquisitorially.

"Yeah..." Rebekah was cut short again.

"Well then? If you are going to let a bunch of men fuck you silly on camera, do you think they are going to let you have a robe on?" shouted Lisa theatrically.

"No," whimpered Rebekah.

"Now sit still while I finish your hair," said Lisa breathily. "I still have to do your makeup and we're running out of time."

"All going well?" asked Deirdre brightly, as she walked into the studio. "Is our budding movie star ready for her shot?"

As Deirdre looked at them, Rebekah was about as chipper as someone being led to the gallows. And as for Lisa, if looks could kill, she surmised they would already be planning she or Rebekah's funeral.

"Well, I can see everything is moving right along," said Deirdre calmly, smiling at Lisa, "I guess I'll see you both on the set."

Deirdre beat a hasty retreat out the door and waited until she was in the hallway to begin laughing.

---

Richard was in a vastly improved mood as he walked through the outer door to the law offices. He had a good breakfast in him, his head was feeling a little better after more coffee, some orange juice and the two pain killers his young waitress had provided him.

As he ate his breakfast, he had listened to the young waitress tell him her life story. She was from Iowa and her family were all farmers. But she didn't want to be a farmer's wife, so she got on a plane and flew to Hollywood to make her fame and fortune; which at the moment consisted of sharing a small apartment with three other girls and pursuing her current career in hospitality at the diner.

But she was taking acting lessons and she had already had several auditions. But, of course, none of them had panned out yet. She just needed to wait for her big break.

"So, yes. I want to be an actress!" gushed the cute young blonde. They were all blondes, thought Richard drolly.

"That's amazing! An actress?" said Richard enthusiastically. "Who would have ever thought?"

After pumping Mildred's ego up for a few more minutes, Richard had finally pounced and offered her one of his business cards from Edge, telling her he was the chief counsel. He suggested that she arrange to go in to fill out an application and interview. He assured her that there would be plenty of opportunities to get in front of a camera and do some acting. As he left the dinner, he gave himself a sixty percent chance that he was successful.

So, Richard was beaming as he walked through the outer office toward his assistant. And then he saw the newspaper headline on the coffee table in the reception area. Richard immediately made a mental note to quit looking at the newspaper on his way through the outer office.

And at the same time Richard saw the headlines, he turned pale once again and he felt as though someone had let the air out of his balloon.

"Good morning Ms. Ames," said Richard unconvincingly as he walked through the door to his office with the newspaper under his arm. "No coffee please. I'm going to be behind closed doors for a while."

Richard closed the door behind him and went to his desk to see what other unwelcome news awaited him beyond the screaming headlines. Ms. Ames sat in the outer office with her mouth open and a handful of messages. She had never seen him look so pale. She had guessed he was sick. No wonder he was so late.

CARTELS INVADE L.A. screamed the banner headline with two separate stories underneath, and what had to be a high school photo of an attractive black girl in between the sub headlines.

The three-column headline on the right read: Three Presumed Cartel Members Brutally Murdered in Hospital Attack. A separate small headline read: FBI and DEA Agents Severely Wounded.

The other one column headline on the left simply read: Potential Witness Disappears.

"FUCK!" yelled Richard, as he pounded the desk with both hands, causing Ms. Ames to rush in and then immediately shooed back out the door.

The story on the girl painted a tragic picture. She was a recent high school graduate from a broken family in Palmdale and had just started working at an area strip club. The article noted that there was speculation that she was either a DEA or FBI informant, but no one would confirm it on the record.

She had been put up in a local hotel for her safety after being attacked the day before, but she had snuck out to go visit her mother who was worried about her. Apparently, she never made it to her mother's home and was now missing and presumed dead.

The other story was more grizzly. The three suspects were being held in a high desert hospital and were each shot through the head and killed execution style the previous night. The FBI and DEA agents, who tried to intervene were also shot and severely wounded. Both had been helicoptered to trauma center is Los Angeles to undergo extensive chest and head surgery.

The article went on to say that it had been reported, but not for attribution, that the girl had been an informant and the three dead men were known Mexican cartel associates who were also involved in some fashion at the strip club where the young woman worked. The three men had apparently failed in their attempt to kill her the previous day. The article rehashed yesterday's story about the phantom preacher and had nothing new to add beyond that.

Richard called Ms. Ames and apologized for his outburst and asked her to bring him some coffee now. He really wanted some scotch from the bottle he kept in his desk drawer, but he knew if he started now, he would not quit. Richard decided to go back to being an attorney for the rest of the day, as he sorted through his messages that his assistant finally gave him and he began to return phone calls.