The two guys in suits might as well of had 'cops' written on their backs. Always seemed odd to Saifon that cops would study their asses off to get out of uniform, then all walk around in the same suits.
She'd been watching Ribs making a mess of the lacquer dips. He'd only been working on it two years so it wasn't surprising he hadn't quite mastered it yet. It was a process that involved using his eyes and his hands at the same time. Didn't seem to be much communication going on between the two. She looked over his shoulder at what was going on at the far end of the plant.
The two suits had surrounded Desire. She seemed to like the attention. She called Waldo over and the cops escorted him to an alcove in among the loaded boxes. She was too far to hear what they was saying, but they sure said something to shock old Waldo. It was like they'd found his valve and let some of the air out. He kind of collapsed onto the cases. One of the cops put his hand on the old guy's shoulder and nodded. The other one slipped a cue ball in his pocket cause he thought no one was watching.
When they'd finished doing whatever damage it was they'd come to do, they walked out without stopping by Desire's office. Once they'd gone, the excitement went with 'em. Weren't no attention spans in Roundly's long enough to think on about Waldo. Saifon saw him get to his feet and stagger out the back door. She looked back at Ribs.
"Ribs, what color's that ball you're holding?"
"Color?"
"Yeah. You know. Is it blue or red or what?"
"Shoot, China. I don't rightly know."
"You're color blind, ain't you?"
"Hell no. I can see white real good."
"S'what I figured. You been lacquering here for two years, and nobody noticed you can't tell the colors apart. I love this factory. I think it's time you got promoted to packing."
"Gee, China. You think so? Thanks."
She left him smiling at his good fortune at being promoted to a job that paid a dollar a month less, and went out back to find Waldo. He was hiding behind the trash. She went over to him.
"I was …" He looked up at her surprised and she could see he was crying. It embarrassed her. He wiped his eyes with his big old hanky. "Sorry, I'll ask you later." She turned to go, then turned back. "Hell, no I won't. What you crying for Waldo? What them pigs want with you?"
"Nothing," he blubbered.
"Nah. I seen nothing before, and it don't look nothing like this." He blew his nose so loud, some folks inside thought it was the lunch horn. "I ain't leaving here till you tell me. I ain't being nosy. I know it helps to talk about stuff."
He thought it over for a minute or so, and she was right. It would help to talk.
"Lerdo de Tejada. It's in Mexico." She crouched down in front of him. He wrestled his nose with the hanky. "I been saving for ten years to go to a pretty little retirement village on the coast there. I met this guy in McDonalds, see, and … Shit. It's a long story."
"Give me the ending."
"It was … I can't believe it." He started to bawl again. She looked away.
"It was what, Waldo?"
"It was …a scam. Some old biddy hired a private dick to go down there and check the place out for her. There weren't nothing there but goddam sugar cane. No one ever heard of the Lerdo de Tejada Retirement Village. The old biddy called the cops. They traced the address, staked out the post office box and the bank, and rounded up this gang of con men. Seems there was over a hundred old fools out there paying them money for a dream."
"Oh Jees." She had her face in her palms and peeked out through her fingers.
"I was so sure it was above board, Saifon. The guy was an attorney even. If you can't trust a lawyer, who can you trust?"
"Right."
"The gang spent most of the money on the high life. Cops said I might get something back but I shouldn't hold my breath. It could take years."
Saifon didn't think she needed to tell him how dumb he was, cause she figured he must know that himself already. But she wasn't sure what else to say. The guy's life savings and his dream was all sitting in a lock-up in the state capital. Ain't much you can say to cheer a guy up in a situation like that.
"You really screwed up, Waldo."
"Tell me about it."