Doc's Place

Chapter 3 | Part 6

Monday, October 1, 1984

Catch the Marketing group as they are leaving for a departmental luncheon at a nearby restaurant. After I introduce myself and trade a few quips about being in their neighborhood, they invite me along. It doesn't take long to figure out that this group doesn't have much depth either.

Kevin McVay, the analyst, is sharp with the numbers but admits that he cannot plan, organize and run marketing and advertising campaigns. His boss, Paul Manookian, can but he's in Las Vegas at the moment. Lou Dobny, the promotions supervisor, is an enthusiastic little guy with an energetic staff but he talks too much. The press relations gal is sociable but dazed-looking, like she has a coke habit. The staffers are happy but dumb.

Morty and Glenn must think these people are idiots. This seems like a conspiracy. The first-string execs may be sharp but their bench strength in marketing, finance and HR is close to zero. It's as though the executives went out and hired their staff from the bargain basement. What the hell is going on?

When I get back from lunch, I find Liz in her office. She covers her work when I walk in, sit down and put my feet on the other chair. "Cheer me up," I tell her. "Tell me the security and food-and-beverage people have more on the ball than the non-revenue pukes I've been meeting all morning."

"Did you meet Morty and Glenn?" she asks.

"They're smart, aggressive casino operators but they can't run a profitable casino without decent administrative and marketing support."

"Don't take you long to look at a horseshoe," she says.

"Beg your pardon?"

"Old story," says Liz. "Blacksmith takes a horseshoe out of the forge and sets it on the anvil when a greenhorn walks in, says he wants new shoes for his horse. He picks up the shoe and drops it just like that." When I nod, Liz asks, "Want to meet the Security Manager, Carlos?"

"Sure."

"Hang on. I'll see if he's available," says Liz, reaching for the phone.

Meanwhile, I walk up the hall to visit the head. When I get back to Liz' office, she has the door closed again. Just then, I see a stocky Latino in a navy blazer walking toward me carrying a two-way radio. He has the haircut and the precision in his apparel that speaks of military service. From the way he carries himself, I guess he's in damn good shape as well.

"Hi," he says, "Are you Jill Price?" He checks me out, taking in my physical condition, the way I dress down to my shoes and then undressing me without appearing to do so.

"Yep," I say as we shake hands. "You must be Carlos Esteban, chief of security."

"The very same," he says. "And you're communications?"

"Bingo," I tell him. Carlos has a massive chest, probably forty-eight to fifty inches, but his waist is relatively small, about thirty-two. Although most of his bulk is in his upper body, his thighs are slabs of muscle. I put him as a runner, probably five miles a day plus weights and swimming.

"It's good to meet you, Jill. How may I help you?"

"How about a dime tour of the front and back of the house so I know what the hell everybody's talking about?" I ask.

"You got it," says Carlos. "Any specific questions I can answer?" He begins walking toward the front of Doc's Place, so I walk along beside him.

"Well, Morty and Glenn mentioned soft count, hard count, drop and win," I say, "but I didn't want to interrupt the flow of conversation to ask questions about basic casino knowledge, if you know what I mean."

"Sure I do," he says, opening the stairway door and walking through. "Those two guys oversee ninety-nine percent of the revenue streams through this place, so you want to keep them talking once they get started."

Like this guy. Don't have to explain things to him. He checks me out thoroughly without making a big deal of it but he does it without apology, since it's his job.

Follow Carlos through the casino. He points out a Filipino man who is emptying trash and whispers, "Casino cleaning people are called porters." He leads me to the cashier cage where a chubby Asian woman buzzes him in on recognition. They greet each other warmly and he introduces me as a new employee, from upstairs, he adds. She smiles guardedly at me.

We continue to another door where Carlos presses a button. We look up at a camera and show our hands. The door buzzes and we enter a narrow hallway where an armed guard watches our approach. The guard uses a key to open a door and then steps back, still watching us carefully.

Inside a glassed-in room, two men and two women in short-sleeve coveralls pour paper money out of a metal lock box into a pile on a steel table. They arrange the money by denomination for counting by machines.

"Soft count," Carlos says quietly, standing beside me. "Security pulls the lock boxes from under the gaming tables every few hours and brings them here. These folks count the money and wrap it. At the end of the shift, they bag it and store it for the armored car. The car takes the money to the bank where it is deposited and returned to circulation."

Feel his eyes on me, probably looking for an emotional reaction to seeing this much money in one place at one time. I'm sure my thoughts are typical. In my lifetime, add up all the cash I've held in my hands and it wouldn't add up to what this little Reno casino takes in one eight-hour shift. "What's drop and win?" I ask, just as softly.

"From the casino's perspective," says Carlos, close to my ear, "drop is the total cash dropped by players at the tables minus payouts. Win is what's left over after the players cash in their chips for money."

"Revenue before expenses," I whisper back. "Exactly," he whispers. He touches my elbow, drawing me away. We leave the room the same way we entered. The armed guard watches us carefully all the while.

"Security's pretty tight," I say. "Those jumpsuits they wear in soft count have no pockets. Do you search them in the dressing rooms?"

"All that and more," says Carlos.

"What's hard count?"

"That's where we're going now," he says. "Procedures are the same in regard to security but different in regard to handling coin instead of paper."

"Do the coins end up back in circulation, Carlos?"

"Only the coin that exceeds what we need to cover machine payoffs. The casino pays off large jackpots in paper money."

"Same idea for drop and win? Win is revenue?"

"Correct," says Carlos, looking at me. "You pick it up quick, Jill."

"Don't take me long to took at a horseshoe," I tell him.

Hard count is noisier. The workers are all men who dump five-gallon buckets of coins into metal baskets atop counting machines. The counting machines spin the coins, which drop according to size and weight into cylinders to be wrapped and stacked in sturdy carts. The men push the carts into cages with coin stacks of all denominations.

Carlos leads me to the casino floor where men are removing buckets of coins from beneath the slot machines. The coins fall into the bucket when the slot machine's hopper is full.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License

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Doc's Place Chat
© 2008, Michel Grover.
Chapter 3 | Part 6
Late Spring 2008

Mic :

In the left frame, I'm posting Doc's Place, one of my copyrighted stories. I'll post a part of a chapter, wait for a while so people may leave comments or questions and then post those I find interesting.

Marcus :

I thought it best if I withdrew for a session while everyone cooled down. Look folks, I'm not here to confront or criticize constantly. I'm here to point out that Jill has dropped the ball now and then, as everyone does. I have faults, I admit them and I'm willing to take criticism for them.

In response to Amalie's, Cyril's and Alan's comparison, I am amazed by Jill's executive abilities, as I'm sure a lot of people are. Her achievements are incredible. Whatever I've done cannot compare. I stipulate to this but let's step back when necessary and question Jill on what she's doing. Let's make Jill answer some tough questions about how she's conducting herself. I promise to be critical but always helpful.

Finally, you people are in danger of groupthink. Paraphrasing Irving Janis' definition, groupthink is thinking that people engage in when involved in a cohesive in-group, when the members' strivings for unity override their motivation to appraise alternatives realistically. Groupthink causes disasters, people. It caused the space shuttle Challenger disaster which occurred in the same timeframe as the events in the story we're reading. This is a cohesive group and that is not always a good thing.

For example, let's invite some people into the group now and then who may have been there at the time and perhaps see things differently than the way Mic and Jill see them. Why, these events took place only 23 years ago, so many of these people are still around. Let's hear what they have to say. Wouldn't you like to hear from one of the Doc's Place executives? Let's bring in Jill's friends or some Pere executives. You want to ask them a few questions, right?

Amalie :

Marcus makes a good argument. I say bring him in.

Alice :

I agree. He could stir things up.

Maria :

What is your family situation and your relation to Jill, Marcus?

Marcus :

My wife, Lenora, and Ume Brandeau are friends. Lenora has assisted Ume in adopting two Mexican children over the years. We have 6 children, all doing well. My wife and I are co-directors of Aliversal's efforts in Mexico, although Lenora is much more involved than I because I am SIA. My role is directing financial research, analysis and reporting in Mexico. I am aware of SIA's other intelligence-gathering efforts but I am not involved in those other efforts.

Lucia :

This sways the balance. Mic, it's time to bring another woman into the group.

Mic :

Yes ma'am.

Alan :

Marcus, what do you think of Jill's pathology and SIA's tactics?

Marcus :

I will answer both questions with a single story. I mentioned that my 6 children are doing well. When a group of men attempted to kidnap my oldest son while he was in Mexico City visiting a museum with his school, SIA bodyguards killed the men—all of them. Over the next few days, 5 men, including 2 policemen, died in various ways. Jill had nothing to do with any of this, but I'm sure Ume at least had knowledge of it and she works for Jill. If Ume Brandeau called me today and provided logical, verifiable reasons why I must go someplace and give my life to protect the life of one of her children, I would kiss my Lenora, my children and my grandchildren good-bye and I would go without hesitation. I owe her a life and I would gladly pay it. I hope this answers your question.

Jules :

You don't sound critical of Jill or her life, man.

Marcus :

I am critical of everything, hombre. Why do you think I work for this woman, meaning Ume? One does not last long in SIA if he does not question and criticize everything—inside and out.

Let me ask you something else, hombre. If someone told you about a woman who was a lesbian, an atheist, a thief, a former drug user and a murderer, would you want to meet her, knowing nothing else? Would you perhaps have a few questions before agreeing to meet her?

Jules :

I would.

Marcus :

So would I.

Benny :

Hope you don't mind answering my question. What you think of Carlos Esteban? He seems like a cool guy.

Marcus :

You can ask me anything, anytime you want. Let me tell you a short story about this man we call Carlos Esteban, because I know him personally, Benny. Of course Mic changed his name in the story, but this man was in Hué during the early morning hours of January 31, 1968. Do you know what happened during those pre-dawn hours?

Benny :

Yes sir, the Tet Offensive.

Marcus :

Lieutenant Esteban, as we call him, had given a report at 1st Division Headquarters the previous day and was preparing to return to his unit later that morning when the attack began shortly after 2:30 a.m. The Lieutenant gathered some clerks and other administrative staff and helped to fight off the attack and defend the HQ despite three wounds—one from a bullet and two from shrapnel. For his quick and clear thinking during the battle, he received the Silver Star. Whether or not he is a hero is for someone more qualified than I to decide, but he is a man who will stand and do his duty.

Ian :

Just before we ripped into you last time you joined the discussion, Les was talking about the executives. Les said and I quote: "They're going to jump ship in 3-6 months, take over a competing casino and then in a year or so, buy out Doc's Place because these fools will have run the place into the ground." As a businessman, what do you think of what Les said?

Marcus :

I agree except for the timetable Les mentioned. If Les can figure it out with his business background and so little detail, then they only have 30-60 days. I'll say something else and then add my view in general. I think Mister Peter Marriott is aware of the executives' plans because he is a smart man and these men work for him. I think he knows but he says nothing. His reasons are his own.

On a general note, the last business I presided over was a casino. That is an incestuous business and by that I mean that executives move around from one company to another. Some are sharp but many are just plain stupid; however the owner companies hire these executives anyway because they have experience. The reason I mention this is to say that it is difficult to lose money in a casino because people love their sins, including gambling. If executives can figure out how to operate a casino and lose money, they're stupid. Remember that as you watch this story unfold, my friends.

Amalie :

Marcus, what do you think of Jill's infidelity with Bruno and her treatment of Lucy?

Marcus :

As a religious man and a Catholic, I do not condone such behavior. Like you, I believe that Bruno, despite his beliefs, is a man of God. I also believe that Lucy is a child of God. I must add, however, that I do not expect everyone in the world to believe as I believe. No, I believe that everyone is free to decide for themselves. For this reason, although I do not condone Jill's behavior, I do not condemn it either. What do you think, Amalie?

Amalie :

As a Catholic, I have confessed before God, his priest and my fellow man the sin that my girlfriend and I committed this past summer. In my mind, I know that I should go and sin no more, but in my heart, I know that I am going to repeat this offense, Marcus. I enjoyed it too much and I do not consider it a sin, so I will follow my heart, not my head. What do you say to that?

Marcus :

You are young. Follow your heart. Go with God. He will not love you any less, nor will He desert you for what others may call sin.

My wife and children say that I tell too many stories but it is my way, so please forgive me while I tell you another. My youngest daughter is a year older than you and she has an IQ close to 180 according to her school and the University of Southern California, where she is attending film school trying to become a movie producer some day. Lenora and I love our daughter but she is headstrong and willful. It was hard for us to let her go at her young age to Southern California and the culture there, but we let her go. Every day I expect the telephone call that will break my heart, but do you know something, Amalie? That girl still attends church every Sunday and she associates with good kids. I think that my daughter is going to be just fine. And do you know something else? I think that you will be just fine too, Amalie.

Alice :

Your children are lucky to have you as their father, Marcus.

Maria :

During your first visit, Marcus, we saw a rough exterior but now we begin to see that you are quite sweet on the inside. Which is the real Marcus?

Marcus :

You have seen through the professional countenance that I show the world so that I may make a good living and provide for my family. However, do not deceive yourselves into thinking that the steel in my countenance does not emanate from a stubborn and critical streak that comes from deep within my heart and mind. Having said this, as a husband and father, I intend to spend the rest of my days loving my grandchildren and children with all my heart.

Raj :

Did you know Ben? We miss him.

Marcus :

Yes, I did, and since you ask, I'll tell you a short story about Ben and me. When I ran a resort company with several hotels and other properties in Texas, we hosted a golf tournament attended by celebrities and professional athletes, one of them Ben. One of the athletes had brought along some unsavory friends and one of them had a handgun. During a disagreement by the pool, this friend pulled the gun and discharged it. Some of you may have heard about this in the media. After the athlete and his friend left, Ben asked me to take him to the hospital. The bullet had lodged in Ben's chest and he hid it with his jacket. On the way back to the hotel after they had removed the bullet, I asked Ben why he hadn't asked for treatment right away. He told me that he wanted to wait until he and I could handle it privately without attention from the media because he didn't want me or my hotel embarrassed by publicity from the incident. How many men do you know like Ben any more? Not many. I miss him too, Raj.

Suze :

Back to Jill's pathology, please tell us what you think of a person who hunts down and kills other men, even though those men may be convicted felons and repeat offenders.

Marcus :

We live in a free society and everyone deserves his day in court. Even though convicted felons do not have all the rights that law-abiding citizens do, nevertheless, they cannot be punished for repeat offenses without a legal trial before a jury of their peers.

Having given that little speech, I agree with Amalie. If one or more of these men enter the same room with innocent men, women and children, especially one of my daughters or grandchildren, I pray to God in Heaven above that Jill Price walks in and blows every one of those sons of bitches straight to hell before they harm anyone. If that makes me a sinner, then I pray for forgiveness. In the same breath, I call down the blessings of Almighty God upon the head of Jill Price and pray that she lives a long and healthy life. I hope that answers your question.

Carlo :

Name a specific criticism you have of Jill and what should be done about it.

Marcus :

I think Jill Price should account for some of the grievous acts she has conceived, planned, and committed in her life. Specifically, Jill has not provided a satisfactory answer, or any answer really, for the question Suze posed about why she didn't tell the truth to an officer of the law about Mark Tanner and Melanie or Linda Peterson, or whatever her name is. Let's get her out here and ask her that. Even if she has an answer, I'd still like to hear it.

Jill :

If I tell Carmine about pulling over for Mark Tanner and Melanie, I have to follow him into the station to provide an eyewitness account. That account conflicts with Mark Tanner's account so I have to sit through questioning by officious pricks posing as agents because Mark dragged Melanie across state lines so his act falls under federal jurisdiction. Who knows what Melanie, alias Linda Peterson, will say? If I'm lucky, I get out of there hours later. Weeks later, I have to drive out to testify once or twice, couple days each time.

My theory is that Melanie wants to run away from her home, her life, whatever. She flashes her smile and some skin for Mark, who falls for it. My showing up gives her the opportunity to steal his cash and his blade, catch a ride with a trucker and get away.

What trumps everything though is that 2 months previous to the Mark and Melanie incident, men tried and failed 4 times to kill me. During one of those attempts, the hitters killed a federal agent on each side of me. After those attempts, I began keeping a low profile. I do not want to sit unarmed in a box where people with guns know where I am and how to get at me.

Mic :

Suze, you posed the question. What's your response?

Suze :

Jill, wouldn't a reasonable person report the incident to the trooper and testify?

Jill :

No, not if that reasonable person had gone through the thought processes and experiences that I just described. People, once you've talked to the authorities as many times as I have, you simply do not volunteer anything. Instead, you get the hell away as quickly and cleanly as you can, every time. If you can't, you keep your mouth shut and call your lawyer.

Maria :

But Carmine befriended you.

Jill :

Yes Maria, he did, so I did him the favor of denying everything to do with Mark and Melanie. Thanks to that, he didn't have to stay late past his shift filling out paperwork. Best part was that he didn't have to call Bruno and tell him that he screwed up the simple assignment of moving me along to Reno without trouble or incident. Imagine facing a gargoyle, 6-6 and 280, as he stares patiently into your eyes while you try explaining why and how you messed up.

Lucia :

What was your impression of my father?

Jill :

Carmine Locaccio was a beautiful and decent man. If he hadn't been married, I'd have rented a room and left him sweaty, smiling and sleeping. After meeting your mother, I think of him occasionally and smile. To the extent that I experience emotion, I love him.

Lucia :

Thank you.

Marcus :

I have a transcript of a brief exchange between an SIA agent and an assassin for hire who turned down a contract with Jill Price as the mark, abbreviated as mk jp. The rr requests reason for rejection, if applicable. SIA does this when necessary to identify such people and determine their status. The assassin, identified here as M3, is Linda Peterson. The SIA agent, identified here with her first name in the story, is Sui.

M3 [code]

Sui 0.25m [date range deleted] mk jp + rr

M3 r debt out

Lucia :

Is that a quarter million dollars?

Benny :

What's that last thing, r debt out, mean?

Marcus :

I reject the contract because I owe Jill Price a debt. Sign out.

Maria :

That's how easy it is to have someone killed?

Marcus :

It's not that easy for a taxpayer. It is for someone who hires such contractors.

Doug :

Any way to find out what the debt is?

Marcus :

Not without discussing it with M3 who is still active, so no.

Alice :

Marcus, did you come to praise Caesar or to bury him?

Marcus :

While I believe that we should thoroughly question Jill regarding her actions, I believe that her actions will reveal no culpability. Even though she does not shrink from such questions, neither should we shrink from asking.

Benny :

What do you mean by that, Alice?

Alice :

Did Marcus come to praise Jill Price or to criticize her?

Benny :

Where's it from?

Alice :

Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, Benny.

Benny :

Man, this is more work than school. Now I'm not only looking up definitions but quotations.

Cyril :

People, we are witnessing the education of Benny.