She sensed my change in tone and turned her attitude down a notch. “Why me?” she asked, soberly. “You don’t even know me.”
“It’s true,” I agreed, “I don’t know you. But, to tell you the truth, I was impressed by the way you handled yourself the other night at the motel. Does that seem odd to you?”
“Well, since you ask, yeah, pretty fucking odd.”
“It’s not, if you think about it. I live an idiosyncratic life. When I need assistance, it makes sense to consider someone who also has a somewhat unorthodox life style. The person I’m looking for can’t have a husband, two kids, and sell real estate on the side.”
“So, what? Like, tending bar and turning tricks on the side are the qualifications you’re looking for?”
“Not necessarily. It’s more a matter of how you go about it. Let’s just say I like your style.”
She mulled this over for quite a while, staring at me the whole time, as if there was something in my face or expression that would help her decide what to do. This was enough for me to see she was interested and would soon get to the inevitable question. I gave her the time she needed, which wasn’t much.
“What’s the money like?” she asked.
Money wasn’t a problem for me. I had a lot of it, and when I needed more, it was relatively easy to get. What wasn’t so easy was finding someone who would do a good job for reasons other than money. Or, at any rate, not only for the money. It wasn’t easy to find someone whose personal integrity, even their sense of well-being, didn’t function like a puppet hanging from the strings of their greed.
“The money is good, and the job isn’t complicated. You’d be my chauffeur, and run errands as needed. Beyond that, you’re not to discuss me or anything you do for me with anyone else. And, as far as possible, you should try to refrain from asking too many unnecessary questions.”
Karla thought for a moment, then nodded her head. “These errands I’ll be running, are they legal?”
“Prostitution isn’t legal.”
“That’s got nothing to do with it.”
She was right, it didn’t have anything to do with it. “I won’t bullshit you, Karla. There may be an element of risk at times. But I won’t involve you directly in anything illegal. And I’ll look out for you. That may sound somewhat... how shall I put it? ...anemic, right now. But you’ll see that it isn’t. I’m not a bad guy to have on your side.”
I didn’t expect any of this to make a favorable impression on her. There wasn’t any context for her to evaluate what the advantages or disadvantages might be. But she was used to taking risks.
“So what about the money?” she asked.
“I’ll pay you a base salary of five thousand dollars a month, in cash. Always and only cash. In addition to the base salary, I’ll pay a bonus for every occasion in which you chauffeur me, and a bonus for every errand you run. The amounts of the bonuses will be entirely at my discretion. They will not be negotiable.” I paused to let her play with the numbers.
“Five thousand a month, plus bonuses?” she confirmed.
“Does that sound like something you’d consider?”
“I’ll consider it,” she said, trying not to smile. “How often will I be driving you and running errands?”
“That’s unpredictable. There may be times when a month will pass without hearing from me. If that happens, you’ll receive your base salary for that month. More likely, I’ll need errands run two or three times a month, and I’ll need you to drive me somewhere once a week, or so. That’s a rough average. There may be periods when I need you more often, possibly even for several days running.”
“Can you give me an idea of how much the bonuses would be?”
“I can, but I’d rather not. I’d rather you work for me for a month or two, and see how it goes. Are you willing to do that?”
She gave the appearance of considering it, but it was obvious her mind was already made up. “I guess so,” she said. “How is all this going to work?”
“Does that mean you’ll take the job?”
“Does that mean you’re hiring me?”
“Yes, but you have to say to me, ‘Shake, I’ll take the job.’”
She gave me a quizzical look, then shrugged her shoulders. “Shake, I’ll take the job.”
“Good. Do you have a cell phone?”
“No. Do I need to get one?”
I took a cell phone, a set of car keys, and an envelope out of my coat pocket and placed them on the table. “The cell phone is for you. You don’t need to worry about phone bills. They’ll be paid for you. You do need to keep it charged and with you at all times, 24/7.”
“Okay.”
“Not some of the time, Karla. All the time.”
“Okay, all the time.”
“When I need you, I’ll call you on that phone. If I need you for an errand, I’ll give you instructions then. If I need you to drive me somewhere, I’ll tell you when and where to meet me.”
She picked up the phone, opened and closed it a couple of times, then set it back down. “Are those car keys?”
“They are. Do you know how to get to the corner of Fair Oaks and Manzanita?”
“Yes.”
“There’s a repair shop there called Tony’s. Go there tomorrow morning and ask for Tony. Tell him you’re there to pick up Shake’s car. He’ll probably look at you like you’re nuts, or something. Tell him Shake asks how Linda is doing.”
“Linda?”
“His daughter. He’ll have the car brought out to you. It’s registered to Tony, but it’s yours to use as you please. Except, of course, when you’re on duty.”
“What kind of car is it?”
“A Dodge Magnum.”
“Sounds macho.”
“It may be, for a station wagon. It doesn’t have many miles on it, so go easy for
