Cotton & Cow Ranch
AMARILLO-TEXAS, Potter County
One year later…
The hacienda Francesco Corleone
bought four years ago from the heirs of Cornelia Wadsworth is without doubt one
of the largest in the state of Texas. 3,500 hectares (little more than 8,400
acres) divided into two distinct parts: a huge cotton plantation highly
mechanised for trade and export on the eastern side, and a farm of over ten
thousand head of cattle, mostly braford breed, on the western end.
However, the income
statement for the ranch does not bring Corleone much joy despite the devotion
shown by the more than one hundred workers. And what’s more, since Theo Schwann
(Joe Barlow actually) took over as general foreman, the figures sent to ACE
headquarters in Los Angeles, not only were far from improving, but have even
suffered a slight decline instead. Nonetheless, the tycoon’s real concern is
the rumours of discomfort coming from the cotton plantation employees... it
seems that the new housekeeper, his former secretary Lucy Berkley, is trying to
pull the strings to make her husband cover up for her misdeeds and to
intimidate workers opposing her ways.
This situation has made the
couple quarrel more than once, although far from the hacienda personnel’s eyes.
Trouble is brewing in paradise: they no longer have the idyllic relationship
they had at first. In fact, Schwann, always so good-natured, gentle, fair,
disinterested and collaborator, is now turning into an irascible, stubborn,
capricious, unfair and intimidating man even though he has this self-imposition
of never answering her back making him look like the nobody who has been
all his life.
Corleone decides then to send one
of his agents to investigate the facts in situ. For this work he chooses Frank
Medeiros, secretary of the Personnel Department. Looking back to his memories
from his trip to India, flashback-like images come from dinner at Ahdoos
Restaurant in Srinagar and the back of the plane where Lucy and Theo were
sitting like two lovebirds. Led by intuition and sagacity, he calls David
Huxley, ACE security chief, asks him to try to recover the recordings of the
cameras inside the plane during their return from Shanghai to Los Angeles a
year ago.
Frank and David are dated to
Thursday at Corleone’s office. Not unaware any of them of how strict and
demanding their boss is regarding to personal business, they get ACE
headquarters one hour before the time set in the letter. They sit next to each
other in the waiting room, but there seems not to be a very good relationship
between them: avoiding direct eye contact, they just keep some idle chatting.
Medeiros seems to hide the dossier carrying under his arm the same way as
Huxley keeps the requested DVD recording out of view in the inside pocket of
his jacket.
It’s nine o'clock and Corleone’s
secretary lets the security chief in. After a formal greeting, David places the
DVD in the player near the tycoon’s elegant desk and few seconds later Corleone
can see on the monitor screen the scene he was so interested in: after lovingly
cuddling Lucy, the snake charmer reveals his true identity. Corleone stops the
video and orders Huxley to investigate Joe Barlow’s past by all means. Before
leaving, David warns his boss not to rely too much on what the second man
waiting outside keeps for him, for David knew about the past complicity between
the former secretary and Medeiros. Francesco appreciates Huxley’s
professionalism and says goodbye with a warm handshake. After a
brief pause, it’s Medeiros’ turn. He enters the office showing clear signs of
anxiety: shaky hands and and beads of sweat sliding down his forehead betray
his real insecurity. He leaves the dossier on the table and sits on the edge of
the armchair. Corleone grabs the folder after a cold greeting and begins to
read the document. When he finishes, he turns his gaze fixed and staring to
Medeiros asks inquisitively “Is this everything?”.
The personnel Secretary clears
his throat and says “I questioned one by one all the 28 plantation workers...
Miss Berkley’s and Schwann’s words are completely transcribed in the report. I
reckon it’s been too much exaggeration on the whole thing... I think Schwann is
a good man, unable to act as they say the accusations of the five operators
marked with an asterisk... there are always quarrels and jealousies in all
working teams, y’know what I mean? You asked me for opinion and so I’ve done,
sir”. Corleone takes his time to answer: turns himself on his chair and looks
through the window to the port of Los Angeles in the background and the
skyscrapers of the WTC on a closer plane. He starts thinking of the the frantic
call from an employee of Cotton-Cow the previous day, the woman on the phone
claimed to be a victim of bullying by Lucy and Schwann, nothing new though the
woman accused her boss of being more and more violent during the last days.
Solemnly but without fuss, Corleone
lets Medeiros dismiss and once alone calls his secretary to tell her to do the
necessary arrangements to fly to Amarillo by helicopter the next day.
ACE helicopter lands at
Cotton-Cow Ranch heliport for the first time in years. The arrival of Corleone
surprises the foreman chief, who knew by radio about his boss’s sudden visit
just few minutes before. As holding his cowboy hat not to get it blown away by
the wind coming from the blades of the helicopter, Schwann greets his boss and
asks to accompany him to the office set in one of the rooms of the colonial
house on the centre of the estate where he lives with his wife. Francesco thanks the refreshment offered
by one of the workers and, turning to the foreman, says, “ Well Barlow, I want
you to explain to me what is happening here, and please go straight to the
point”. The foreman feels even more confused when hearing his real name from
Corleone’s lips, “No one but Lucy on this side of the country knows my real
name” he thinks, “Have I been betrayed...?“. Noticing Barlow’s grave silence
Corleone says raising his voice a little “Are you going to talk or shall I call
your wife to have it clarified all at once?”. Coincidentally, Lucy opens the
door and gets into the office, wearing some cowboy outfits and greeting the new
comer, “Hello, Francesco..., sorry, I mean... Mr. Corleone... what brings you
here, to your house?”. Her voice can’t hide her anxiety. The tycoon goes on
bluntly, ”I’ve got here some information that puts your career here at risk.
I’ll take the testimony of all the plantation workers listed here. I hope my
suspicions don’t turn to be true for your own sake and the proper running of
the ranch. I’m afraid that you have breached the trust I put on you!”. The
couple start giving Corleone an unconvincing explanation full with
contradictions and lame excuses and try to blame some workers calling them
envious, polemical, lazy and inefficient... all those manes, however, don’t
seem to Corleone to be anything else but the self description of their own
total failure, not to mention the fraud clearly reflected in the ranch
accounts: after close examination month by month, ACE team of economists
discovered suspicious entries, false invoices to non-existent suppliers,
expenses on furniture or machinery that are nowhere to be found within the
ranch premises, and a long list of irregularities. The report issued by the
team is devastating and raises no doubt about the couple’s administration.
Mr, Corleone starts calling the
workers into the office one by one. The second in is Tania Seighmour, who
can’t disguise her anguish of talking near Barlow’s presence on the other side
of the room. Francesco recognises the woman’s voice as the caller’s hwo had
rung him few days ago. Sobbing, Tania relates a series of outrages committed by
Barlow to herself and to other of ther colleagues. Her speech is so consistent
and sincere at first sight that Corleone interrupts and tries to comfort her
until that finally he asks her to go out and tell the other workers that he
will not need further comment: Corleone’s made his decision. He asks Barlow to
take a sit in front of him and, in order to save him the shame of deeper
questioning, offers him three possibilities to choose one: The first is to
rescind the contract and return to snake charming back in Kashmir.
The second is to stay part of the
company staff but moving to Washington and spend twelve hours a day playing his
flaut before the grave of his great uncle, Don Vito Corleone, in Arlintong
Cemetery, to delight his soul with sweet melodies. The third is to pack his
staff, as he did in Srinagar, and get out of Amarillo, but he won’t surely have
the chance to go too far, since Corleone would repport him to the police anyway
for Barlow was still the ony one of his former gangband whose whereabouts were
unknown.
By doing this,
the tycoon just meant to scare Barlow for his real intention was letting him go
without repporting, and so he did when the former snake charmer turned down the
first two offers.
The helicopter
took off from Cotton-Cow at 8.30 pm heading for Palm Springs. That night seemed
to have no end for Joe and Lucy. They ended up arguing after Barlow’s momentous
decision of going solo despite Lucy’s desperate begging for staying together
and trying to fix their relationship.
Early next
morning. Barlow left Cotton-Cow Ranch on his Range Rover northward
to the famous Route 66. About fifty miles away from Amarillo he stopped
at a roadside restaurant for breakfast. Some time later inside the restaurant,
he was sipping the last of his coffee when two policemen approched him and one
of them uttered the so fearsome “Joe Barlow, you're under arrest” and put
handcuffs on Barlow’s wrists while the other police read his rights loud.
Outside on the parking lot, the two men were helping Barlow into the police
car, when the former turned his head south and thought “This is none of
Corleone’s doing, he is too smart to do something like that, no doubt. My
nightmare has actually come true, that boa constrictor was my beautiful Lucy...
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