Fox Spirit 58 – Another Fateful Phone Call
November 1999
Sara
Jerry Wang had called a business meeting on short notice. The challenge was the Internet. How could Rainbow Software take advantage of the burst of interest in interactive information and entertainment on the web? In Korea interactive games had become an obsession. Could this be turned to advantage in the Chinese market? Could this be a new direction for the company?
“Our investors are nervous. Will this new technology replace the game machines, the computers? Is this a threat, or an opportunity?” Wang’s eyes searched the room, making each person responsible for an answer. “What’s our plan?”
Chief Engineer Light Wave Shi was excited by the prospect of new technology to learn about and implement. Trueheart Zhang was worried about the financial impact of diverting resources to the new project. Scarlet Li wondered whether the office network could handle internet-based games without a major upgrade. Storm Cheng was eager to explore a new sales channel, while Sara was unsure whether the Korean revenue model could be made to work in China. Finally Wang summarized the conclusions and turned to Sara.
“So, Manager Miller, will you write the first draft of our plan? You can give us bullet points, yes? Some alternatives? I’d like to see this by end of day tomorrow.” Sara smiled her acceptance of the task and gathered her notes, pleased to be entrusted with drafting the new strategy, even if it was only a straw man to be shot down. It was another chance to prove her continuing worth, even to cement her role if the company took a new direction based on her outline.
“Dan shi. Of course. I’ll have a draft ready by tomorrow.”
Back in her cubicle, Sara quickly put together an outline, then began filling it in with alternate scenarios and questions. If she worked steadily she could have a fairly respectable discussion document done within the day. She settled in, imagining the enterprise complete and thriving, then describing what it looked like and “remembering” the stages and steps it took to get to this pinnacle. She was deep into a description of personnel requirements when the phone at her elbow broke into her thoughts with its insistent shrill. “Drat,”she thought. “I should have told Jade to hold calls.” She picked up the phone and said brusquely “Wei?”
“Mom? It’s Mark.” Sara almost dropped the phone in her surprise. Mark never called except for their ritual weekend exchange.
“Hello, sweet! What a pleasure…”
“Mom, it’s about Rennie. Something bad happened.”
Thoughts of accident, kidnapping, assault, chased each other through Sara’s mind.
“She’s dead, Mom. She’s dead.”
Rennie had been on the freeway. She was late to pick up Richie from daycare. She tried to pass an 18-wheeler and got stuck in his blind spot. The truck had moved over to get around a slow-moving pickup and had knocked her into the center divider. The car was crushed.
Mark’s first hint of something wrong had been when the daycare center called to find out why Rennie had not come for Richie. Penalty payments started at 5:30; Rennie hated to pay them. Mark had tried calling Rennie’s cell phone and somebody who was working on clearing the wreck heard it ring and picked up. An ambulance had already taken Rennie away. Mark called the police to find out what hospital Rennie had been taken to. They tried to break the news gently. She was at the morgue and Mark was told to come down to ID the body.
“Mom, it was awful. They had her under a sheet and just uncovered a little bit of her face for me to see. I knew her hair and one eye looking at me, but they wouldn’t let me see any more. I wanted to take her wedding ring off, but they wouldn’t let me lift the sheet to look for it. They said they would get it for me. Mom, I think she was…” Mark’s voice had been getting higher and thinner and now it cracked. Sara listened in horror as he broke into sobs.
“Mark, stop! You don’t have to tell me any more. Have you got Richie now?”
“Yes. He’s ok. You can hear him, can’t you?” There was an anguished wailing in the background.
“He doesn’t sound ok.”
“He’s getting spooked because Rennie’s not here and I’m falling apart on him. Mom, will you come home? I don’t know what I’m going to do about a funeral and all that stuff. I don’t know how to deal with her folks. You know they’ll go all emotional and I’m afraid I’ll fall apart.”
“Oh, darling.” The thought of her new assignment, her product scenario, flashed through her mind, to vanish instantly. “Of course I can come. I’ll be on a plane as soon as I can. I’ll let you know when I have a flight . Have you called Jasper? Have you called the Cavallos?
“No to both. I had to call you first. I just feel better knowing you’ll be with me, you know. I guess I’ll call Jasper first and then the Cavallos. I don’t know how I’m going to break it to the Cavallos. For Ynez the sun rose and set in Rennie’s eyes. And you know they’ll blame me for it somehow, like if I made more money she could have been a stay-at-home mom and she wouldn’t have been driving. I don’t suppose … no. I have to do it.”
“I’ll call you back in an hour after I’ve checked flights, ok? You call Uncle Jasper and Aunt Carol next. You need to have someone with you, Mark. You can ask Aunt Carol to check with the morgue and find out what you need to do about contacting a funeral home or whatever. Maybe her family will want a funeral mass?
“Good grief. I have no clue. My brain’s not working. Look, I’ve got to go take care of Richie. Call me when you’ve got a flight. I love you, Mom.”
The phone clicked off, leaving Sara to stare blankly at her computer monitor, the dead phone in her hand. Her mind replayed Mark’s description of Rennie’s mangled body under the sheet, Richie’s wails, Mark’s near-hysteria. Sara struggled to think what needed to be done first. She felt a soft tap on her shoulder. Scarlet Li was there, with a steaming cup of tea. Sara realized that Scarlet in the next cubicle must have heard everything. “This will help you,” she murmured. Another light touch and she was gone.
Chinese Puzzle Box 