Gynophagia Chronicles: Samantha
Down-town Fremont
Monday, August 24, 2218, 1:27pm
Narrative Reconstructed by Peter Howard
The door opened revealing a bulky blond man in his early 20s. He stood a hulking 6'4", with a thick brow under close cropped sandy hair. There was no mistaking he was, or had recently been a professional athlete with or without the sweaty t-shirt.
"Jesus H. Christ! Look what the cat dragged in!"
"Hello Glen!" Gianni put on a friendly smile. "I heard you got a job with the AOC."
Glen nodded. "Sure did! C'mon in!" He backed away from the door.
Gianni moved cautiously into the apartment. Glen outweighed him by at least fifty pounds, which meant that as fit and fast as Gianni was, he'd not easily take the larger man down.
The apartment was small, but well apportioned. The furnishings were mostly leather sofas and easy chairs in a lounge area augmented by an enormous television hanging on the wall over the fireplace. It was the perfect entertainment centre for the outgoing sports fan Gianni knew Glen to be. He had an idea that tonight Glen would have at least three friends over to watch Monday Night Football with at least two scantily clad girls serving drinks and snacks...
As if to prove Gianni's line of thought, an arm was around his neck, Glen's massive at the end of it. Before Gianni could react, his face was pulled into Glen's chest while Glen's other fist rubbed on Gianni's crown painfully.
"It's so good to see you, man!" Glen said jovially as his sweaty shirt left its scent on Gianni's collared t-shirt.
Gianni hid his annoyance with a chuckle.
“You haven’t changed a bit,” he said, composing himself.
“Well,” Glen said, patting his right leg. “This knee is bum, but mostly I’m the same guy.”
“I heard about that. Sorry the surgery didn’t go well.”
“It actually did. Wanna beer? But at least I got to play in a real game,” Glen retrieved two bottles of Henry Weinhard’s from his refrigerator.
“I saw that game,” Gianni said. He’d watched a recording of the game in question two nights ago. “That hit you took was painful to watch. I heard you were trying to get onto the AOC Gymnastics Team at the time.”
“I was,” Glen said. “I’d been in training for six months when I took that hit. I’ve been training in swimming ever since, but I’m just not fast enough. But that’s how I got the job as an AOC scout.”
“Tell me about that?” Gianni said as he took a seat on the plush leather couch.
“Well,” Glen said. “Not much to tell, really. I hit a school. If I find a prospect, I’ll set up a trial. If the trial goes well, I’ll set up a regional slot and get him or her into training.”
“It can’t be that simple,” Gianni said, looking up at Glen with his chin low.
“Well,” Glen said. “No. I mostly find swimmers and runners. Some Gymnasts, now and then. I look for more than speed. I’ve got twenty three in regional competition, which is better than average… so I must be doing something right.”
“What’s your territory?”
“Bay Area’s nine counties, then San Juaquin County and north to Shasta County . Basically the I-5 corridor from Stockton to Redding ,” Glen said. “But I focus on Swimming, Running and Gymnastics. There are others who scout for other sports, and they overlap.”
“How do you go about scouting?” Gianni probed. “I mean, how do you get into a school? You do scout at schools, right?”
“Oh, yeah! I just call up the school and tell them I’m coming! I’ve never once been turned down.”
“Really!”
“AOC, Man! There’s a lot of clout there. I can walk into the girl’s showers and nobody says boo to me.”
“You do that?”
“Yep! All the time. In fact, tonight, I got a couple of cuties from Irvington High are going to… be the entertainment for me and a few friends. It’s Monday night football tonight. You should come!”
“Sounds fun!” Gianni lied. “It also sounds like you’ve managed to legalize the panty raid!”
Glen laughed heartily at that.
“Remember Phi Beta Kappa?”
Gianni laughed. “How could I forget? I wish I could.”
“You got so drunk you puked on the house mother’s bed! What were you doing with her, anyway?”
“She was pretty.”
“Didn’t you end up puking on her?”
Gianni smiled, tongue in cheek, and gazed at the ceiling.
“Jake Tucker was so jealous.”
“The cowboy?”
“Yeah! Didn’t you know?”
Yes, Gianni remembered. But it was not common knowledge. “No, I didn’t.”
“He found himself some Indian tail, or so I’m told.”
“Apache? Sioux?”
“No, Indian as in from India ! Weird, huh? She’s got this weird name too, Ash Can… I’ll bet she’s a dog.”
“Ashima Kahn?” Gianni blurted, and instantly regretted it.
“That sounds right! How’d you know?”
Gianni collected his composure and thought quickly on how to explain this away.
“If it’s the girl I’m thinking of, her father is Sanjay Kahn. He’s a VIP from Kolkata Exports and Properties. Important guy. His operation is top notch. I did some work for KEP about six months ago. He showed me a picture of his daughter, and she is no dog. It’s why I remember her.”
“I should take you to see them, then,” Glen said. “The wedding’s coming up soon. My folks are invited and they want me to go.”
“I’d better not,” Gianni said, relaxing a bit. “Jake never liked me much. It would be rude to crash his wedding. If you’re in good with him, best not to even mention you’re friends with me.”
“Gee,” Glen said. “I didn’t know there was bad blood there.”
“Long story, but yes.”
“So what are you up to?”
“I’ve been a head-hunter for a while now. That’s how I was involved with KEP,” Gianni said. “So I travel around the country quite a bit. The firm I’m contracted with at the moment has me profiling families.”
“Sounds a little cloak and dagger,” smiled Glen.
“Not really,” Gianni shrugged. “I mostly just pull public records and talk to people. It tends to be time consuming more than anything else. They want in depth profiles to keep from getting involved with… shall we say, needy people.”
“Hey,” Glen perked up. “How long are you here?”
“A week. I have to hit Phoenix next.”
“Good. I could use your help, then.”
“Oh?”
“Johnny DeSilva’s hanging around again.”
“I thought he was connected to your mother?”
“He is! She’s still alive.”
“Oh, good. How is she?”
“Doing great! She’s involved with Marcus Jackson’s run for the senate. She’s planning to be the main course at his big fund-raiser in Orinda next month. She’s forty this month and wants to go out in style. She’d love it if I brought you!”
“Senator Jackson? Hmm… interesting. So tell me about Johnny.”
“Oh yeah. I wanna take down Johnny DeSilva.”
“Why?”
“That’s private. I mean really private. I’ll tell you later if you’re up for helping me.”
“You think I can come up with dirt on DeSilva.”
“You’ve came up with a B+ in Social Science for me in my junior year. I can only guess what method of persuasion you used on Professor McManus, so I’m betting you can come up with dirt on a two bit hood.”
“Well, I don’t know. I do have this job to do, and it does take time…”
“You investigation involve children?”
“Yes. Why?”
“You do this for me, and I’ll get you full access to every school record you need to get to.”
Gianni smiled. Jackpot.
“I’ll do what I can.”
“What’s the name I’m looking for?” Asked Glen, grabbing a stray envelope to write on.
“Wells,” Gianni said, pulling out a PDA. “Matthew Wells, wife: Jessica. Children: Eric, Jenna, Grace, Samantha…”