Three Dog Pack - Shot Down

Part Three

Shady looked over the loading dock bay, as people took their seats. Ti, Rosalia, one of her numerous aunts, and Amar stood with him on the impromptu stage they had created of pallets covered with plywood.

Grunt leaned against the wall on one side of the building, with a couple of Rosalia's cousins. Less than five feet away, Rosalia's father had settled into his seat, with a number of her older brothers.

Yasmina was passing out envelopes to each person as they came in, assisted by some of the older kids.

Once everyone had taken their seats in the folding chairs Ti had rented from the contractor's warehouse, Shady stepped forward.

"My name is Shady, and I am from Three Dog Consulting. As most of you know, we have been working to fix things with your business. I hope you will excuse me if I don't talk with fancy words. I'm not here to give you a bunch of flowery phrases, I am here to let you know what we have done for your farm.

"First of all, we have replaced the server which was damaged. Grunt also helped in rebuilding some of the cage racks, and repairing the holes in the sides of the building, until better siding can be done. We have replaced all of the control wiring for the cages. You have Ti and some of your own relatives to thank for how well that went.

"At our recommendation, Amar and Kimber have set up a website for receiving orders over the Internet and set up individual email addresses for all of you. You will be able to receive bulletins on what is happening here on a daily basis, send emails to each other, and send emails to Yasmina and Rosalia to make suggestions or to ask for information. Yasmina will brief you on the changes in her area of responsibility."

Yasmina walked up to the stage and Ti grandiosely gave her a hand onto the stage. Shady felt smug about the confidence in her step and her professional posture. As she turned to address her relatives, Shady noticed a young man coming in, carrying an elderly woman in his arms. Room was made for him and the old woman, and a number of people raised eyebrows when they noticed who had come in.

"My brother Deniz and my mother," Rosalia whispered to Shady. Shady vaguely remembered him from school.

Yasmina stood straight, her hands clasped in front of her. "My job here has changed, I will now be in charge of Accounting. Some of you are probably surprised at that, supposedly my job has always been Accounting. But, up to now, my job has been to arrange work schedules, track work hours, file taxes, file T-reports, verify and process payroll, order supplies, inventory, deposit payments, and other duties that are not strictly accounting tasks." She nodded to Kimber, who stood up near the front row of seats.

"Amar and I have automated time punches, and there are now six terminals throughout the building to allow you to punch in and out. Payroll is also automated, but Yasmina will still be verifying payroll before checks are printed. Tax reports such as W-2's are also automated, and should be printed by the first week of January each year. T-reports will be generated, reviewed, printed and filed with the government by the second week following a stakeholder's 18th birthday. Inventory is also automated, as far as is possible." Kimber sat down.

Yasmina continued. "These are the duties that I will be responsible for from now on: I will verify payroll, I will make deposits and maintain our account books, I will file taxes and government reports, and I will do audits of inventory and business costs. However I will have an assistant to run inventory and order supplies. Another assistant will maintain payroll records, W-4's, and stakeholder records. Another assistant will maintain the work schedules as needed. Amar and Kimber were able to find a scheduling program to help in this, that assistant will definitely be part-time." Yasmina stepped back and nodded to Amar.

"Order processing has been automated, and a new terminal at the loading dock will print off orders. Shipping labels and pick-up orders will also be automatically generated. This will expedite orders coming in, being filled, and being shipped out. And the website is set to take payments, so the money is in our accounts quicker, often without Yasmina having to make a trip to the bank. That increases our income in the form of interest on the income and eliminates the danger to Yasmina as she goes to the bank to make large deposits." Amar nodded to a young man in the third row.

"I am now in charge of shipping, and I can tell you that our orders have doubled with the new system, with more expected shortly. We have already shipped out five orders that were larger than any order we have processed so far, and the delivery truck was here just in time to take the orders. With the new system, we can process orders far more efficiently." He sat down as the people around him whispered to each other.

Rosalia stepped forward. "Thank you, Raziq. We have also received several standing orders, for periodic shipment, to several large factory farms across the United States. We have also received inquiries from farms in Europe, Asia, and Africa. And we have received small orders of less than ten chickens each from smaller farms run by families like our own.

"We are a family, and this is a business. I want to keep the family in the business. But that does not mean that we have to keep the business in the family.

"What I mean by that is that few of our workers have had time to pursue their own lives. Yasmina has been working fifteen to twenty hours of overtime a week. This is unacceptable, on both a personal and business level. Yasmina has little time to spend with her daughter, and the business has to pay more for her overtime.

"And I have been made aware, painfully so at times, that we are wasting our resources. We recently cleaned out a storage room, and we found supplies and materials that we could have used. Due to how long they were in storage, some of those items are now useless to us. We have a number of people here who are qualified and talented enough to take on some of the duties that have been heaped on others who were already over-burdened.

"On the subject of resources, I must inform you that we have closed out all of the company credit cards and debit cards, and all of our accounts have been changed. The authorized signers on all of the accounts have been changed. From now on, the only authorized signers on the account are Yasmina, uncle Hamiz, or me. It has cost us much to do so, but even our checks have been changed."

An older, ascetic looking man stood up next to Raziq. "It took some work, but Yasmina, Nazara, and I have been able to reconstruct the books for the last year. Certain people have taken over eight hundred thousand dollars from the company. As the attorney for the company, I have advised Yasmina that any stake payments due those people will go towards paying that debt off before they are allowed to take any payments."

Rosalia's father's face looked thunderous, and the men seated around him were in shock.

Rosalia continued, "We do not have enough people to warrant a Human Resources office, so I will be taking those duties. My other duties will consist of prioritizing business expenses, with the input from the entire family, maintaining our new larger contracts, and managing our resources. As always, I will have an open-door policy, anyone can come to me at any time with any concerns or suggestions. Yasmina and I will both set aside time every day to answer questions by email as well.

"Some of you have questioned my decision to sponsor 4-H clubs and FFA chapters, as well as sending out people to buy breeding stock at country fairs. However, it is due to that decision that we are able to expand our operations at this time, with very little expense. I will be continuing this policy, and I will not just be sending out the usual aunts and uncles. I will also be sending with them younger members of our family, to learn what it is we are looking for and why. The experience of our older relatives is too precious to waste, and to waste the talents of our younger members would be criminal."

Shady stepped forward. "In the past five days my colleagues and I have learned a lot about your business here. We also have learned what you have been doing wrong. It was my colleague Ti here who took the time to listen to what one of your children was saying, and found that storage room. Some of the things there were salvageable, but not much. We organized and inventoried what was found that was salvageable.

"I had to wade through a lot of bullshit to find out the reasons you were doing things a certain way, and usually they were for all the wrong reasons. Because Kimber and Amar spent so much time with computers, they were deemed irresponsible. But when it came time when you needed someone with experience and expertise with computers, they weren't consulted because everybody thought they were irresponsible. And when Kimber and Amar were trying to make constructive suggestions, they were ignored. You could have doubled your business, more than a year ago, but your arrogance prevented that.

"Because Rosalia is a woman, she is not considered competent to manage this business. You appointed her as a temporary measure. When she proved she could do the job, you heaped other petty duties on her, deciding that the only reason she was doing well was because she wasn't doing enough. Most of you are convinced that once she gets a husband, she will step down from her position. However, I would like somebody here to tell me when she is supposed to find a husband when she has to spend all of her waking hours here.

"Raziq has a very organized and methodical mind, uniquely suited to his new position. But everyone figured he was slow. Nobody took the time to see that he did the job quicker than anyone else, more competently, and left less of a mess behind to clean up.

"Deniz is a talented writer. In a few hours, he was able to write an amazing amount of content for your new website, and made a number of suggestions to make the website more usable. Instead of valuing him for what he can contribute, because he 'only' a writer, you have put him in a position where he is working sixteen to eighteen hour shifts at a job he is marginally qualified to do, despite the fact you have several qualified people here who can do the job better on more manageable shifts." Shady held up a hand to quell any objections. "I understand that Deniz loves his mother very much, and having seen her tonight, I can see why." This called up mirror-image crooked smiles from Deniz and his mother. "But you people have completely isolated both of them. Not even her own husband takes the time to sit down with his wife for an hour a day. Few of you visit her, even though she loves you very much.

"The amount of money and resources that have been wasted by you people far exceeds the amount of money that has been recently leeched by a few individuals." Shady stepped back and crossed his arms, waiting for the response.

Rosalia's father jumped to his feet, swearing at Shady in Spanish. "Filthy maricone, you pervertado, by what derecho do you have to come and tell honrado men what do?" By this time Grunt had slipped behind the man, and slammed both hands, cupped slightly, against each of the man's ears simultaneously. The man gave a little shriek and staggered.

"Shut up and sit down," Grunt told the man. "Shady doesn't steal food from the mouths of his family, and he doesn't require the services of a whore to be a man."

The rest of the people began to gabble back and forth, not saying anything to Shady or the suddenly frightening Grunt directly. Deniz came to his feet. "Mama wants to speak!" he said angrily. The crowd quieted quickly. Everybody bent forward to listen to the old woman.

"You find the beds of prostitutes more to your liking than mine," the woman said softly. "Then see if they will take you in. You are not welcome in my home anymore. And the only sons welcome in my home are my true sons, who I expect to see at my table for dinner every night. You will take turns cooking."

"You can't-" her husband whined.

"I can, and I will," she told him. "I ran this company, before I married you, for several years. I agree with this young man. It is time we stopped wasting resources, and I will waste none on you. Leave."

"Mama," Deniz told her into the sudden silence. "I want you to know that I have never regretted helping you. But it is getting difficult for me to fill my other responsibilities."

"What other responsibilities do you have?" one of his brothers sneered.

Deniz pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and held it up. It was a check. "I have a twenty thousand dollar advance here on a series of novels," he replied calmly. "I can not care for Mama all day and night, and finish even the first book. As it is, I have been sleeping for less than four hours a night." The fact that he did not boast or bluster seemed to have more effect on those around him than the check, although his brother did reach to take the check.

"Oh, no, brother," Deniz said dangerously. "I have earned this money. And you have earned this money even less than the money you have stolen from all of us."

"If we can continue," Rosalia said sternly, "I'm sure you will all join me in congratulating my brother on his achievement. However, we still have other business to discuss. First of all, Grunt will you escort that man out? And please make sure he gives back that envelope he has in his hand." She watched with a grim smile as Grunt hustled the man out the door. Grunt came back and handed her the envelope, as well as a ring of keys.

"Thank you," she nodded. "I hadn't thought of that, Mama's decision took me by surprise." She turned back to the crowd. "If you will open your envelopes now, you will find a card with your new email address on it. There is also a data disk that will automatically setup your computer to be able to access your email. Some of you will find a second card, outlining your new job title and your job duties, as well as who you will be reporting to. My brothers will find that they are on probation for the time being. If they show they can be responsible, jobs suitable for them will be found for them." One of her brothers, a chubby man with a petulant face began to cry brokenly. "Knock it off, Leonaldo, nobody here buys your act anymore. You were as enthusiastic as that man was."

"Amar and Kimber will go over the new time clock system next. Also, I will tell you that Yasmina has sent emails to each of you confirming information we have. If there is anything incorrect, please let her know. Amar, Kimber?"

The next morning, after the first decent night's sleep in five days, the three men presented themselves at Rosalia's office.

"Good morning," Rosalia greeted them. "I missed saying thank you last night, you slipped out."

"You had things under control," Shady shrugged. "And your relatives were more than able to stop any problems, once they realized how much the changes benefited them."

"Well, then, I suppose that it is time to pay the piper," Rosalia shrugged. "Feliz, if you please?" The plain young man seated at the desk outside her office handed her an envelope, which she handed to Shady. "Once again, my thanks, and my family's as well."

Shady opened the envelope and nodded at the amount on the check. Ti whistled however.

"Thank you for the bonus," Shady told her. He looked over the copy of the invoice he had given her the day before. The 'bonus' had been figured into the invoice so that the total on the invoice was still over the amount they had been paid, effectively laundering a portion of their income. "You'll receive a statement by the end of the week, indicating that the invoice has been paid, as well as the check number."

Rosalia nodded, her eyes twinkling. By arrangement, the check number noted would be slightly off, in case the government required a copy of the check. "What are your plans now?"

"We have to go look at an office, get some cell phones, and arrange for delivery of our office furniture," Ti told her cheerfully.

"Very nice," she approved. "Shady, could I talk to you a moment?"

Shady nodded, and followed her into her office.

"I have a favor to ask you," she told him. "As you pointed out, my brother Deniz hasn't had much of a life up to now. Now that there are others to take care of Mama, I'd appreciate it if you could help him to live more."

"I wouldn't know how," Shady told her. "Most of my life has been hanging out or school."

"Well, then," she shrugged, "think of it as learning to follow your own advice. Besides," she added off-handedly, with a smoldering look, "he likes you."

Shady stared at her, confused.