Will arrived back at his Jeep. He noticed the splattered bits of mud spreading outwards from his tires. He knew he should wash it but since the Jeep was multiple shades of green, brown and rust he figured it would blend in and go mostly unnoticed by others. Will placed his pack in the back seat. He stood with the driver’s side door open remaining still and quiet, turning his head from side to side listening for any distant noise. It was his ritual prior to starting up the vehicle. He always liked to be sure no one was nearby on the dirt road when he arrived at it, emerging out of the forest. He was satisfied and climbed in. The Jeep rumbled to a start and he began maneuvering back and forth out of his tight parking space and slowly made his way back towards the road. He kept his window down and music off just in case he might hear any vehicles. He paused about fifty feet back and shifted his head back and forth examining both directions of the dirt road. He again was satisfied he was alone and crept forward and slid through the two tall pines.
As he arrived back onto the highway that led to Oakhurst he noticed his fuel gauge. He had just under half of a tank of gas. He knew he shouldn’t be driving this much. It was only a year ago that gas prices reached record-setting highs. Taxes on oil companies were at a record-setting peak. Every part of the process of making gasoline was taxed in some way. The government stopped allowing the oil companies to drill in new areas and supplies lowered. The government stepped in and set price controls which caused the oil companies to operate at a loss. Some of the CEO’s stopped taking pay and then stockholders stopped taking dividends so employees could be retained and still get paid. Regardless, within six months mass layoffs began. The government began subsidizing the oil companies to keep them afloat. Company presidents could be seen in the news making statements against the government telling them if they stopped trying to run their business, thousands would have been able to keep their jobs. The government fired back that their intervention by subsidizing the companies was the only reason their companies were still in operation. Will had followed the situation in the news and couldn’t understand how the government officials didn’t see that it was all their intervention that caused the mess in the first place. He figured the false lower gas prices couldn’t last forever. He tried to keep his Jeep full as much as he could afford. He also kept a ten-gallon container filled that he stored at home. Will noticed the time and figured he would fill up on gas later that day knowing his mother and other family were over by now waiting for him with lunch ready.
Will also remembered Lea would be over this Sunday as well. His thoughts lingered on Lea. She was a beautiful young woman that he had grown up going to school and church with. He had never talked to her much while they were younger. It wasn’t until he ended up at her family’s house to work on their furnace the previous winter that they started talking. Lea’s parents, Alejandro and Juana, practically threw her in the basement with him after he began looking at the furnace. They kept trying to initiate a relationship between them ever since that day. Alejandro and Juana even became friends with Will’s mother, which was why they would be at his house today for lunch.
Will turned on to the long rock and dirt driveway that curved back and forth through a patch of old oaks and pines and continued along the side of their ranch-style home. He could see through the front window and into the living room as he drove up. He saw Lea. She had her deep black hair pulled back into a pony-tail. He could tell she had put on make-up on what he thought was already perfect bronze toned skin. Her eyes radiantly highlighted. He had figured that the effort was for him and a smile formed on his face as he parked alongside the house.
*****
Will watched out the front window as Lea and her parents piled into their car and took off down the drive and out of site. Will was thinking it was time that he should sit Lea down and tell her how he felt. He was nearly one hundred percent sure she felt the same way, however, he considered she might just be overly polite and could just be respecting her parent’s desires for her. Will’s mother was walking past the front room and glanced over and noticed Will still staring out the front window.
“Oh my! Is that smoke I see coming from your ears?” she said.
Will chuckled at his mother’s question.
“Yeah, I suppose I’m doing some thinking.” He was still staring out the front window.
“Well, if you gave me three guesses as to what you were thinking so hard about, I would guess the same thing all three times,” her tone raised at the end of her sentence suggesting that she was prying for more information.
Will turned from the window and saw his mother disappear into the kitchen.
“You’d probably be right all three times,” he yelled out so she could hear him.
“Well I think she is an excellent choice. Your father would be very proud and happy for you,” she yelled back.
Will chuckled again, this time to himself. His mother always amused him.
Will’s mother, Beth, was a kind, humorous and very strong woman. She had been strengthened over the many years by her faith in God and her husband’s encouragement. She had endured several miscarriages before and after Will’s birth as her and her husband tried to build a family. The many losses took a toll on her but she recovered with the help of her husband, the community, her faith, and her responsibility to raise her baby son. Beth had a natural intuition that allowed her to read others quite well. Her son was no exception. She could read him better than anyone else. Beth was quite an extrovert and it showed by how often her home was full of guests. Will did not mind, although he did enjoy his alone time. He knew he had the nearby wilderness for that.
Chapter Three
The sounds of voices chattering and ice clinking against glass filled the large private theater. A man who appeared to be in his late 30’s stood next to a tall cocktail table. Next to him was a blond woman. She leaned against the table staring down at her drink, swirling the ice around every few seconds. They appeared to be a couple. He wore a tuxedo, as did every other man in the room. Just like every other man in the room, the only item worn that was unique was the watch. They were all very nice tuxedos, however, the layman’s eye might think they all had the same designer. She wore a formal gold colored dress. It appeared to be made by a special designer. There were reflective adornments that peppered the dress which made the wearer appear to sparkle under even the slightest amount of light. As with every other woman in the room, everything about her dress and jewelry was unique. Large and bright diamonds were common throughout the room on the ears, necks, and wrists of the ladies. There was probably more money in clothing and jewelry in the room than most could hope to save in a lifetime.
The man’s gaze concentrated on different clusters of people around the large room. He listened to each group and then turned his head to focus on the next, hoping to hear subjects of his expertise that he could walk over to join in on. She appeared bored. Occasionally, others in the room would walk up to the two and talk with the man about important sounding topics. As they approached she would look up with a smile and appear interested but she was still not. She wanted to be entertained beyond what this party was offering. Perhaps it wasn’t the type of people she had expected. Maybe she had been to so many similar parties that they no longer gave a rise to any excitement in her.
A buzz from a speaker clicked on and a familiar microphone tapping sound from a sound test pounded from the speaker. “Ladies and gentlemen,” a man across the room began to speak and the chattering voices ceased. “I’m glad you are all enjoying yourselves. We must now begin the business portion of our gathering. The final preparations over the last couple of years have now brought us to within mere months of implementation.”
The room erupted into applause. The man with the golden lady now attached to his arm made his way through the groups of people to the microphone.
“Indeed,” he said, leaning into the microphone.
The woman was now smiling next to him. No doubt she was eating up the fact that all
attention was on her man.
“I commend you all on your patience. We have been planning for this for decades. I must tell you,” he built in a dramatic pause, “the planning is over.” His volume was quickly rising. “It is now time to put this plan into action!”
The room, once again, erupted into applause.
Chapter Four
WWNL interview
Late October 2036
“For our feature on this evening’s news Marcus is speaking with a local business owner right here in Manhattan. Marcus?” Ava said with a smile.
“Thank you, Ava. I’m here with Ralph, owner of The Gourmet Grocer. Ralph is among New York City’s many grocery business owners that have recently been contacted by the government about oversight and management changes that go into effect this coming week. Ralph and the other grocers will now have nearly every business decision going through a government committee. Ralph and many of his customers are worried that the government will start instituting rationing on food. Ralph, what is your take on all of this?”
“Thank you, Mr. Braden. Well, I believe the only reason that the government chose to basically take over the grocery business is because they want to control what gets out to the public. I see no other reason to choose this industry over any other.” Marcus noticed Ralph was very well-spoken. He very much preferred his interviews to go smoothly like this one was.
“Ralph, if you don’t mind me asking, how’s business? I only ask because one might think that the reason the government would do something like this is to keep a failing business afloat.”
“Yes, it would be logical to think that since that has been a past practice of our government and other governments around the world. However, the grocery business is doing fine. People will always need food and as long as owners and management of a company know how to run a grocery store, then they should have no problem keeping a sustainable revenue. Honestly, profits have been down but, we still have profits. With the shaky economy, there has been businesses closing and our inventory variety has decreased. Thankfully, there are alternative products we still have. Some are cheaper, but there are still options. To me, these actions by the government are nothing more than steps toward an ultimate goal of a complete takeover of my business and all grocery stores.”
“Ralph, were you aware of the decision in Congress about a month ago that increased the government’s power to manage businesses that they considered to be a necessity to the country’s infrastructure?”
“Uhh...no, Marcus, I don’t believe I knew about that.” Ralph raised an eyebrow.
“Well, I’d like to remind folks that a little over a month ago, WWNL reported on the matter along with a story about the government confiscating the assets of charity organizations. Ralph, you may not have noticed much in the news because Congress pushed this item through both the House and the Senate all in one evening. To me, it sounds like they didn’t want the public to know.
“Yes,” Ralph chimed back in. “It must’ve been pushed through really fast because I always watch the news and I never saw anything on the matter.”
“Yes, Ralph, it’s very unfortunate,” Marcus said as he turned from Ralph to look into the camera. “It was only a few weeks ago I made some comments on the decisions. Our viewers will remember that I predicted that very soon we would see government takeovers happening. I, however, predicted food distribution would be the first to go, with the intent being the trucking companies that distributed the food around the country. I did not imagine that grocery stores would have been taken over, but I suppose they are a part of food distribution to the public. For our viewers, what is your opinion? Is the prediction that the government will start rationing food like Ralph and other owners think is a possibility, something for the public to worry about? Go onto WWNL’s website to weigh in on the matter. Thank you Ralph for taking time to be here with us. Stay tuned to WWNL throughout this week and next for more on how the government will utilize this new power they voted to themselves. I’m Marcus Braden reporting from on the street in Manhattan. Back to you, Ava.”
Chapter Five
WWNL Interview
November 2036
“Many of our viewers will remember our guest today as we followed his steady rise to infamous business success. Son of European immigrants that fled economic crisis a few decades back. Marek Dominski, now one year shy of 40 years old, is the CEO of Dominski International. His company’s beginnings were from the long time Wall Street investing icon, The City Mutual. Since Mr. Dominski’s takeover in majority ownership and becoming CEO, the company has seen a mass expansion unprecedented by most financial experts. During the long-term market recession, Mr. Dominski’s company has watched their stock prices skyrocket.”
Marcus turned from a camera and readjusted in his seat. The camera panned out. He now faced Marek Dominski. Three cameras sat across from them. Their two chairs sat angled towards the middle camera. Marek sat straight and confidently. He appeared comfortable and natural in front of the camera. He had one leg propped up on the other and laid one arm across his lap. This made his expensive A. Lange & Söhne watch easily visible to Marcus and the cameras. Marcus had glanced at the watch many times as he and Marek chatted prior to the interview beginning. He guessed it cost no less than $110,000 for the artful masterpiece. Marek had neatly trimmed dark hair. It appeared there wasn’t a single strand out of place. His custom-tailored suit and power-red silk tie were probably priced just as much as the watch.
“Welcome, Mr. Dominski.”
“Thanks for having me again, Marcus. Always a pleasure,” Marek said. He had only a slight accent remaining. Having spent most of his life in the U.S., his speech had acclimated greatly compared to his parents. “Remember Marcus, you can call me Marek. I think I’ve told you that every time I come on your program.” Marek and Marcus both chuckled.
“Marek,” Marcus said with emphasis referencing the previous comment, “the U.S. is entering its’ sixth year of an economic depression and your company has only been succeeding, seemingly untouched by the poor economy. How is this possible?”
“Well,” Marek began with another chuckle, “we certainly don’t always succeed. I know our stock price probably makes it look otherwise, but we have our failures. I just make sure that our successes more than outweigh the failures. We are an international, multi-industry conglomerate.”
“That’s a mouthful,” Marcus added.
Marek continued without skipping a beat, “Even if there was worldwide economic collapse, there will still be some industries that do well. We have diversified investments across so many companies and industries that there is no way for me to remember them all. Pharmaceuticals in the U.S. and Europe, manufacturing in Southeast Asia, mining in Russia and China are some of our major ones.”
“What makes you so confident in the places you invest? How do you know they’ll be a success?” Marcus asked.
“I’ve built a time machine,” Marek joked. He and Marcus laughed. “No, it just takes lots of research. Research on the company’s history and their goals and plans for the future. Research on the individuals that run the company. We try to learn absolutely everything we can. There will always be risk. There is no way to avoid it. We aim to minimize it with education.”
“About a month ago, I interviewed a grocery store owner,” Marcus said. “His particular industry is seeing a government takeover. What are your thoughts? Any worries?”
“Obviously, there are worries and questions anytime something like this happens. My company has dealt with some of these issues with governments around the world. Is it a buyout? Is it a managing takeover? Is it industry wide or is it just the one company?” Marek asked the questions hypothetically. “Each situation could mean a different thing. Yes, most of the time it means a loss in some way for the ownership, but there are a few rare times that the stock stays strong. Again, we research everything we possibly can. I have many people with retirements in our mutual funds or that own some of our
stock that I must consider as well in making a decision to hold or sell our interest.”
“Marek, what do you think this means, not just for the investor, but for the citizens of the U.S.?”
“Honestly, my gut tells me we shouldn’t worry. Dominski International doesn’t have anything in the way of grocery stores, but we do have some stake in the food industry. We have heard the rumors of the expansion of the federal government taking over more in the food related industries and Dominski International has made the decision to continue to hold all these assets. We obviously will monitor the situation, but that is business as usual for us. Currently, all legislation coming out of Washington is for power of managing authority. Those situations usually don’t hurt stock prices. I imagine they are just trying to prevent more people becoming unemployed.”
“Interesting points. I have my worries, however,” Marcus said.
Marek had a big smile. “Oh, I know Marcus. You’ve made that quite clear in your newscast.”
“Good to know you watch the program,” Marcus shot back with a smile. His eyebrows furrowed as he became serious, “It’s just the quick and secret actions done by congress to accomplish these overreaches doesn’t add up for it to be for protecting the industry and jobs. If they are acting to protect, why not make it public?”
“You make interesting points as well. I look at it more from the business perspective, though,” Marek answered.
“Marek, always a pleasure to have you on the program. I know our viewers love to follow you as well. You are a hero in the business world.”
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