07.23.2008 / EP. 25
The Ladies Trade Notes
Pam’s cell rang. She placed a plug in her ear for privacy. Pam’s end of theconversation went something like this: “There’s nothing wrong with theconstruction schedule…. It’s still early days. Be late tomorrow, Ed, that’s OK. Butcatch up by the weekend….Find a workaround. That’s your job.…Don’t makeenemies on either side.… Because I say so. Give me good news by nineSaturday.” She hung up.
Milly laughed. She used the same attitude with Arthur and her drug distributors.Cajole, a bit of goodwill, responsibility, then tighten the leash. It left no badfeelings. “We talk the same language,” Milly said.
Pam: “There’s probably a business book recommending it.”
Until I want to teach someone a serious lesson, Milly thought. Then the issue iswhere to bury the body. Try to find that in the self-improvement section ofbookstores.
“The construction business isn’t all sweet reason,” Pam finished her wine. Shedidn’t order another. A hard tone had crept into her voice, or was Milly imaginingit? “Sometimes you play for keeps.”
Had Pam read her mind? Impossible. “What do you mean?” asked Milly. Hardballmeant Milly cut the throat of anyone skimming the take. What was hardball inPam’s world?
“Sometimes you have to gut the opposition.”
Milly’s ears floated over the struts and eaves of Pam’s voice like a palm on silk,gauging its vectors and strength. This wasn’t a captain of industry directing ahostile takeover. Pam’s tenor was bitter, her timbre remorseless. “Perhaps weshould level with each other,” Pam said.
Milly nodded. “Of course.” Where was Pam heading?
Should she disclose, thought Pam, or play it safe? The upside to frankness wasa potential ally. Milly was smart and bold. Her deferential act with Arthur didn’tfool Pam, any more than Pam believed Milly drifted through the tenderloin pickingup guys for quick sex. Milly was manipulating Arthur and played a serious gameunder the table. No, Pam didn’t know what it was and didn’t care. All thatmattered was that Milly’s cards weren’t dealt to the police. The negative was thatany disclosure laid Pam open to blackmail and Pam refused to place herself atsomebody else’s mercy. She needed a stick to beat Milly, a threat, if Milly everconsidered betrayal. She needed reciprocity. There was whatever Milly did whenshe disappeared. Milly was off stage for a good reason. She was doingsomething she didn’t want known. If Milly didn’t want it known badly enough, thatwas Pam’s stick. More precisely, the question was timing. Pam needed a partner.Maybe Milly did too.
“Let’s visit your famous doll room.”
“It’s not a tourist attraction. Really, Pam, what’s going on? You wanted to go out.Here we are. Now, you want to go back. Maybe we both need sleep. Let’s do thissome other time.”
“Humour me,” said Pam. “This involves the Governor.”
Which remark came from left field. On the way back to Milly’s house, Pam laidout a fairy tale. “Once upon a time,” she began, “a young woman stumbled on agoldmine, a discovery in France that allowed people to live 200 years. The drugwas at first very expensive. Call it – ”
“Rejuvenation. I’m with you.”
“No,” Pam continued, “Not Rejuvenation. This was different, and the youngwoman had all the patents to exploit the drug. Call it Resurrection. The happymakers of Resurrection knew a black market copy would surface in India orChina or Bangladesh in a few months. So they took the bull by the horns andproduced an underground version themselves. Call the copy – ”
“Immortality. This is old.” Milly drove slowly. Pam was telling her this for a reason.She tried to anticipate the moral.
“Resurrection is the important part of the story. Without it, there’s no fairy tale orhappy ending. Resurrection is unique. A French woman owns all the rights andshe has friends create a black copy. The friends call the copy White Gold. Doyou see where we’re heading? We have Resurrection with its black partner WhiteGold, both primed to storm the barricades, and nobody to lead the parade.”
Milly halted the car. They’d arrived back at her house. But she didn’t get out.Pam had a point to make. Let her make it.
“Here’s the wrinkle,” said Pam. “The French woman finds a wealthy backer to sellResurrection and White Gold in America. Resurrection will be a legitimatemedication, White Gold the next street pharmaceutical of choice.”
“I follow, but I don’t see the wrinkle,” said Milly. “Resurrection has the same effectas Rejuvenation. They’ll both be legal and compete. OK, that’s normal. WhiteGold will fight it out with Immortality on the black market. That’s normal too. A fewpeople will get hurt. Fine. I don’t see how this involves you or me.”
“The wrinkle is that White Gold is addictive and carries a lovely high. Pots ofmoney will be made through the legitimate drug Resurrection, but even more withWhite Gold.”
“Good for them. Where do I come in?” Milly asked. Pam had gotten out of thecar. They entered Milly’s house without speaking. Milly waited for Pam tocontinue. As she waited and as they walked down the hall, Milly searched fitfullyfor Fred. She saw no sign of him. Milly showed Pam into the humidity-controlled,temperature-regulated, dust-filtered, light-baffled dolls’ room.
“There’s a wild card, a product cheaper than all four of these drugs. It’s not legallike Rejuvenation or Resurrection, or a knock off like Immortality or White Gold.
It’s from Asia,” Pam wandered down the aisles of Milly’s collection, “where thebrightest pharmacological minds are trained. The product is called Young Again.At least in America it’s called Young Again. Elsewhere it has other names. It’s agoldmine.”
From large to small, very old to merely rare, the dolls gave proof of a highlyorganized mind. And an eye for profit. Pam ran a finger along the top of the glassjars. Not a speck of dust. “How much time do you spend here?” she asked.
“We’re not here for the dolls.” Milly had read Pam’s story in the op-ed columns,retailed as gossip and juicy speculation or a lumpy amalgam of both. There wasnothing new in the supposed facts. Pam had something on her mind, however,and Milly wanted her to spill it.
“Young Again is the most addictive substance on the street. It’s cheap. And itcontains the life extender. The people selling Resurrection and White Gold wantto know who’s behind Young Again.” Pam pointed at the empty case whereTriste Bebe had stood. “Your next acquisition?”
“Yes,” Milly lied. “And all this involves you and me how?”
“You aren’t a police informer by chance?” as though asking whether Milly was aRotarian.
Milly said nothing.
“If you disappoint me, I’d confide to the authorities who distributes Young Again,in my opinion.”
“And that is?” Milly asked.
“Arthur, of course,” Pam replied, pretending to study an awkward, full sizemannequin. Milly slid towards panic: was Pam playing cat and mouse with her? Ittook only seconds, however, for Milly to recover her equanimity. Whateversuspicions Pam might entertain, she could have no proof.
