The Price Of Honesty

I really didn't have the time to be at the annual general meeting of the shareholders' meeting for all the folks who'd invested in Lockdown Security. But I'd been one of the five who had staked Billy Cole in that poker game.

It seems like such a long time ago, that Spring Break of ninety-nine in our last year. But we'd all either bailed out of blackjack or craps or roulette, and a couple of us had made a little money. We'd all had the sense to stay sober, and we'd promised we wouldn't let anyone leave without at least five hundred bucks. So we were keeping tabs on each other, and Billy had started winning hands. So we'd staked him five hundred each. it was more than a little rash, but we'd done it. And we had ended up the big winners of the night. And we'd each come away with fifty three thousand dollars in cash.

i'd given the GTO a tune up and then sold it on E Bay for about thirty seven thousand dollars. It wasn't the best I could have done, but I gave it to a good home. And I'd invested twelve thousand bucks and I had the money fopr a couple of suits and my apartment untill I got a job three weeks later. So I had twenty thousand in my savings account and college was al paid for. Mom and Dad still wonder how I did it, but I won't tel them. If I told them I bet anything in Vegas, Ludmilla Theresa Volkorevon would rip my hair out. And then dad would give me one of those looks. I hate those looks. it always makes me feel so small and insignificant.

So now I had a decent job, a Honda Civic Hybrid and I was able to take a ten day vacation every year. Once I'd been to Whistelr, which cost more than I really should have, but it had been fun. Usually I went to New Orleans or Memphis and listend to some blues and ate a good meal.

When that little Coke-bottle glasses wearing guy had started losing his cool and yelling at the founder of Lockdown, I should have left. But there were a lot of us who had invested. i had invested five thousand. Not much really, but I hated losing money So I'd stayed. Some of those folks had been rolling their eyes, but the more the folks on the dais had tried to talk him down and ask him to leave instead of a simple answer, the more they had provoked him.

I had turned to look at Billy, who'd gone in for wenty five hundred, and he had been shaking his head, and then there had been a gasp, and his grin slowly turned into a sickly look. And I turned. The little guy had whipped out a Smith and Wesson Model 19 revolver with a three inch barrel.

"Oh yeah folks. you aren't going to get away this time! No screwing Henry Palmer this tiem! I've given you seven minutes to answer the question but you just think you can weasel out of it! Well we gave you seven million dollars at your IPO and we deserve a little more credit and a lot more respect. I have my Mother wondering how I can afford to put her in a nursing home with her arthritis and my father in-law in the early stages of Alzheimer's. My wife is wondering how we can afford to put two thousand dollars in the kids' colege fund every yea, and my brother is wondering if I can loan him three thousand to have his car rebuilt after some stoner plowed into him on the same day his boss announced major layoffs. I don't know how they do things on Wall Street, but it seems to me that you are forgetting that the public are tired of getting nothing for their investment!. "

the redhead, who was looking pretty good despite the growing sweat stains under the arms of her blue silk blouse, was frozen at the microphone on the dais. She looked pretty good, sort of like Rene Russo had done in that movie. You know the one I mean. And then there was the poor founder, Thomas Thorpe, who was mopping the sweat off his forehead and sinking into his seat, while the normally cocky smile had vanished and his mustache was drooping.

And then the Latino guy had actually decided to step in and save the day. And he was shuffling through the papeerwork on the table.

"I'm so terribly sorry about your distress Mister Palmer, and believe me, you are not the only one that has family to support. I can relate. We are not all driving Cadillacs and living in mansions. I thought we would be doing better this year. And it is not a case of anyone ripping us off like En-Ron. We have had to delay the release of our new anti-virus software and our fingerprint reader is having some teething problems. We are not going to release faulty products as you can well imagine. But one of our poeple brought in a consultant at his own expense and it may be-"

"You had some geek bring in a consultant after you were paid seven million dollars at the IPO and told us two years ago that the worst was over and we'd be seeing dividends worth our waiting for. I remember that Mister Thorpe. I remember your wife in that nice evening gown at that charity ball last year. And I remember you were seen talking on the television with your teenage son about the dangers of drunk driving as he headed off in that new Mustang. Those are worth about thirty thousand after taxes, plus the fuel and insurance. I get paid fifty eight after taxes. And believe me, My kids are going to be lucky if they can aford bus fare."

And the sarcasm was dripping from his voice. And I really began to wonder if we would make it out of there. I mean we all had our suspicions about the company, but this was getting more than a little ridiculous.