[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
Figueroa smoothed himself, put the wet end of the cigar back in his mouth, and
sat again. He leaned back but thought twice about putting his feet up and
merely crossed his legs. This shifted his weight back more than he expected,
and he had evidently not yet learned how to tighten the chair's tilt, for he
was suddenly leaning back, legs still crossed, but with both feet in the air.
Figueroa seemed to try to subtly lean forward, but failing that, tried to
appear that this was the way he wanted to sit. He pulled the cigar out again
and rested an elbow on the arm of the chair, blowing smoke toward the ceiling
while trying to maintain eye contact with Chang. "So," he began, the effort to
keep his head erect clearly straining his neck. He let his head fall back as
if searching the ceiling for what he wanted to say, and suddenly he was inches
from toppling over backward. He quickly reinserted the cigar, gripped both
arms of the chair until his knuckles were white, and pulled himself up again.
He leaned forward, careful to keep his weight centered.
"I, uh, spoke too soon when I exempted you from being interrogated," he said.
Chang made a teenager's face at him. "What? I thought you were in charge
here."
"Oh, I am. Make no mistake. But I would have to answer for it, probably to the
potentate himself-
we talk, you know-if I made an exception for anyone, especially in my own
department."
"So you're going back on your word."
"I didn't exactly give my word."
"No, you just said it, and apparently that doesn't mean anything."
"Of course it does, but you're going to have to roll with me on this one. I'll
owe you."
Page 117
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
"It's not that big a deal. Forget it."
"No, now I want to be known as a man of his word. Tell you what-I'll conduct
the polygraph myself."
"Now it's a polygraph?"
"Well, not really. The type I told you about is all."
"Fine."
"You're a good man, Wong."
"Yeah, I'm great."
"No, really, you are."
Chang pressed his lips together and looked away, shaking his head.
"I'm trying to be friends here," Figueroa said.
Chang looked back at him. "You are? Why would you do that?"
"You intrigue me, that's all."
"Oh, no. You're not-"
"Wong! I'm a married man!"
"Thank goodness."
"No, like most everybody else around here, I'm intrigued with your gifts and
skills."
"Which I'm not using as long as I'm sitting here."
"Don't be a hard guy, Wong. I'm in a position to do you some good."
"You're not even in a position to keep your word."
"Hey, that was uncalled for."
"Come on," Chang said. "What's this about? That would have been uncalled for
only if it weren't true."
"Okay, fair enough. It's just that you're bordering on insubordination, and
you don't seem to care that as your boss, I hold your destiny."
"What, you're going to fire me if I don't make nice?"
Figueroa took three short puffs and studied him. "No. But I might fire you if
you don't tell me how you knew my name."
"I told you, I guessed."
"Because to tell you the truth," Figueroa continued, as if not listening, "I
can't think of a way in the world you would know that."
"Me either. You could have denied it and I wouldn't have known the
difference."
"Now see? That's a level of thinking I have to admire. That's intuitive."
"Whatever."
"No, because you know what? I started thinking about my personnel file, and I
had to wonder if I
ever gave them my full name. So, know what I did? Huh? I checked it myself.
Not there."
"What do you know."
"So you really did guess."
"Wow. I'm something."
"You are."
"Can I get back to work now?"
"One condition."
"I'm listening."
"Promise you won't say anything about my telling you I've got your destiny in
my hands or that I
could fire you, any of that."
"Already forgot it."
"Good man. Because I know your dad and you-know-who are tight, and ..."
"Already forgot it."
"You want to be a project leader, a group head, anything?"
"Just want to get back to work."
"Fair enough."
"Three and a half years ago there was, like, a church in here," Enoch said.
"Some of us-" he turned to the group-"how many went to the church thing at
Page 118
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
least once?" About half a dozen raised their hands. "The rest of us had just
seen a flyer, a brochure, about the place. We still have
those, don't we?" Someone went to get one.
"It's kinda simple, just a regular piece of paper folded in half and then
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]