Part 10 (1/2)

I tried explaining that the 20 lis appear appear more valuable, but Link lost interest in my explanation more valuable, but Link lost interest in my explanation

I had to admit, my perception of money had shi+fted, too Now, I found it hard to believe that two years earlier, in the summer of 1991, I had finalized the 12 million purchase of Louisiana Life Louisiana Life (the first step in my five-year plan) and moved my corporate offices into a 4,000-per- My office was once a grand ballrooainst rand ball in 1938 (the first step in my five-year plan) and moved my corporate offices into a 4,000-per- My office was once a grand ballrooainst rand ball in 1938

At that tile worandfather, an early industrialist who had financial interests in anythingHenry Ford's automotive venture Later, he built a co auto industry It becarandmother's father died in the 1918 flu pandemic when she was a baby She had no memory of him The only rerandmother, Martha Johnson, was a short, irl and she was painfully shy Despite all she could buy, beauty was unattainable for her But she was generous and kind

On a Friday evening that May, on a break frola She sat alone in a chair next to theman, on a dare froether dancing on thefrom the boy's silver flask Martha was ena hours, in a fog of alcohol and euphoria, Martha and the boy drove across the state line and randfather-not yet nineteen, awoke hungover, next to Martha And suddenly, nothing was out of reach

They threw lavish parties and bought apool They spent their suan, and never missed a party at the country club Their live-in servants, Wash and Esther, traveled wherever they ventured to care for their growing farandparents' lifeto envy Money was not an issue, and randfather did not need to work Instead, he went on a thirty-year odyssey in search of adventure It started with excessive parties, reckless investant purchases, like his fifty-foot yacht, The Weekender The Weekender As the years passed, adventure beca, and women As the years passed, adventure beca, and women

The family money had survived the Depression, but the wealth couldn't bear the strain of randfather When the money ran out in the 1960s, he divorced Martha and er

Martha's life unraveled She spent her re funds on a reconditioned riverboat that drove her to the verge of bankruptcy She was co her holiday stay with us, she told me how much she liked the people at the institution

”They're nice to randmother's life, she waited in line at free medical clinics; she received a small welfare check; she worked part-tiovernment-subsidized apartment that smelled like cats Old photo albued ti dance of 1938, I worked each day in an office not randfather first saw randmother I liked the sy, I vowed to bring our fahtful spot And I was determined to do it fast

CHAPTER 33

Because the leprosy patients liked ave ave arnish book that illustrated theused by the finest caterers in Aht in preparation for arnish book that illustrated theused by the finest caterers in Aht in preparation for my new duties

My first day on the job, I ran into a problearnish book , , and I felt ready to prepare a centerpiece like Carville had never seen But I wasthe most important tool A knife In into some fruit with a plastic knife from the cafeteria, but it was useless and I felt ready to prepare a centerpiece like Carville had never seen But I wasthe most important tool A knife In into some fruit with a plastic knife frouard on duty hoas supposed to prepare garnish without cutlery

”You can check out a knife,” he said He led me to a closet locked with a dead bolt Inside, there was a se was secured with a padlock Inside, two large netic strips held a dozen sharp knives with black plastic handles Each knife was it that looked like it had been written with Liquid Paper

”I could rewrite those nuuard ”I could e, and handedknife He wrote my name and inmate number on a clipboard, said the knife was , I'd be put in the hole for thirty days Iaround the kitchen

My garnish station was just outside the produce cooler on the leprosy patient side Two large stainless steel tables were dedicated for garnish I was the only inh I could hear the conversations of Chase and Lonnie, the two ine of the food warehouse They had been at Carville since the day the prison opened If the federal prisons had had a trusty system in place, Chase and Lonnie would have held the distinction of being trusties The two of them ordered the food for the cafeteria They drove trucks They held shrimp boils on holidays They had the run of the place As I carved into the fruit and built the foundations for arnishes, I listened to Chase and Lonnie discuss flaws in the plotline of Gilligan's Island Gilligan's Island, explore the dangers of spitting on a guard's food, and engage in a debate about whether a horse will fall in love with a huarnish business was eta flat tire or hollowing a puitated I perforht-lipped, nostrils flared I worked fast so I could get to soap and water quickly But it was more than the dirt that bothered ne Each , I dabbed the backs of my hands so they would smell nice whenever my hands passed anywhere nearmy hands to rid them of dirt also rid them of the scent I so loved

I wasn't able to cut into the fruit without getting ary, sticky juice If I stopped to wash after every cut, I would never finish So I decided to be outrageous I lostof cantaloupes, strawberries, peaches, and water a sandcastle The garnish book's step-by-step instructions were brilliant And siant swan fro, curved neck looked as if it could reach around to clean the tall feathers that stretched upward fros As a companion for the swan, I carved a duck from lemons The duck's webbed feet were made from intricately notched carrot slices Then Ipotato Iit into the trunk of a palreen peppers to make perfect palm branches Then, froether the head of an alligator with an open reat centerpiece to adorn the salad bar

I was starting to like the garnish business I understood why the guards would prepare a garnish for the leprosy patient cafeteria, but it seemed odd they would bother to decorate a salad bar for prisoners Then again, it seemed pretty odd that prisoners had a salad bar

As I becaetables, I experimented with combinations of color and texture Purple-headed lettuce, cut with a certain precision, opened like an exotic flower When accented with maraschino cherries, it took on the traits of a rare, insect-eating blossoourds, I learned to sculpt the likenesses of certain in eyes, and badges

Ella and the other patients said the cafeteria line looked like a for new to look forward to each day My creations got lots of compliments on the patient side Harry stopped to take a look and stuck his thuit, in the air to show his approval

As I carried the last of the trays out of the kitchen, an ineous,” he said in a Cajun accent ”Did you do that on the outside?”

”Yes,” I told hi with reckless abandon” In a way, it was true I was good at the job Polish, shi+ne, attention to detail, and the appearance of perfection were my forte It came quite naturally I'd had plenty of practice on the outside

My financial state of beauty I used advanced publishi+ng software to design it I selected an old-fashi+oned font-Baskerville-and adjusted the tracking so the nu software could match My software didn't actually add numbers, but it enabled me to produce a specimen the likes of which the banks had never seen I printed the financials on custom-made, cotton-fiber stationery for the bankers and investors who requested the statement It looked and sood to be true was a thing of beauty I used advanced publishi+ng software to design it I selected an old-fashi+oned font-Baskerville-and adjusted the tracking so the nu software could match My software didn't actually add numbers, but it enabled me to produce a specimen the likes of which the banks had never seen I printed the financials on custom-made, cotton-fiber stationery for the bankers and investors who requested the statement It looked and sood to be true

Before acquiring Louisiana Life Louisiana Life, kiting checks was an occasional financing technique But noatched the clock carefully At 2:00 PM PM each day the banks would collect the last deposits On any given day, I would check thepayments, chat with investors about their next install Then I would calculate any cash shortfall and prepare a covert transfer

December 21, 1991, was a typical day I sat at my desk and wrote two checks One for 89,000; the other for 118,500 The latter probably didn't need to be quite so high, but I thought it better to be safe than to fall into the insufficient funds real Both checks ritten from my company; both were made out to my company But the checks were drawn on different banks

I wrote a tiny note at the bottom of my daily planner A reminder of what I would need to cover tomorrow I put off, for a moment, the preparation of the deposit slips I wanted to arrive at the banks as close to 2:00 PM PM as possible I wanted the bookkeeping people to be in a hurry, to be so absorbed, so intent ontheir cutoff time that they wouldn't question the size of the checks

I passed a fewat the cornerof my ninth-floor office The view of the Mississippi coastline was unobstructed South, I could see the barrier islands more than ten miles out into the Gulf of Mexico East, a stretch ofthe Gulf of Mexico coastline The walls of azines, a tribute to one of oes along with azines, a tribute to one of oes along with ift froe proofs froe corporate checkbooks

The stack of letters on my desk included our nomination as Small Business of the Year, a request to speak to a civic club, a few notes from parishi+oners at St Peter's by-the-Sea Episcopal Church where I served as senior warden, an invitation to serve on the board of directors of the Coast Anti-Crime Commission, and a letter froreed to letundercover reporter to pose as a student at Gulfport High School

I didn't have time to respond to the correspondence The antique clock on my wall read 1:40 PM PM Twenty minutes until the banks would post

I prepared the two deposits, one for each bank Ismaller subscription payments, as if they were just another in a line of routine deposits I waved to e sure to s smile to my salespeople, and called out to no one in particular that I was off to the bank

At the elevator, I noticed the recently polished copper-and-glass 's hotel days, and the perfectly reflective brass doors of the elevator I placed the two deposit books under htened my tie Every afternoon, a few minutes before two o'clock, I waited for the elevator to make its way to the ninth floor and exaray, but I really didn't ht, an air of stability and soundness Maybe even prudence

Ella Bounds meanders down the corridor

CHAPTER 34

The prison was quiet and cool the day I turned thirty-three My mother sent me several books, and ie sent hoot soood news He arded a US patent for his ned to cure ie document contained an illustration of the injector with a curved base for a snug fit around the penis But, topart The document listed the ”inventor” as Victor Dombrowsky It even listed his federal inmate number

Doc was a brilliant physician and innovator But he didn't pursue reat profit When it caular He dispensed heat pills to the obese and invented a cure for i to pay any price to be cured

Thirty years earlier, another trailblazing physician lived at Carville, Dr Paul Brand Dr Brand was the antithesis to Doc