The Six Messiahs - Mark Frost [143]
"West somewhere," said Dante with a shrug, observing the position of the sun out the window.
"Quite perceptive; but beyond that, do you care where you are going?"
"No, sir."
"We are great believers in discipline, Mr. Scruggs. Discipline of behavior; discipline of the self. It is essential to our work that people should not take any notice of us. Imagine, for example, that a job you were involved with required you to dine in a fancy restaurant and it was important for you to blend seamlessly into that crowd."
"Okay."
Frederick leaned forward and whispered, "Do you think that would be possible, Mr. Scruggs, if you were to exhibit the table manners of a pig rolling around in its own shit?"
Dante felt the blood drain from his face; Frederick still smiled at him.
"No, sir."
"This is why we learn to train our minds; and why we believe every personal failing must be so severely punished. this is how we learn."
Sweat trickled down the back of Dante's neck. Frederick reached over and patted Dante's leg.
"Don't look so worried, Mr. Scruggs. I hadn't made you aware of our standards and you were so very hungry. But having had this conversation, I won't expect to see such a disgusting display from you ever again. Will I?"
"No, sir."
Frederick gave Dante's thigh a reassuring squeeze and leaned back.
"We recognize that each of our men is uniquely qualified In do our work, and if he pleases us, he should be uniquely rewarded. You have developed your own particular interests in life, Mr. Scruggs, apart from ours; we feel that if you have fulfilled our needs to a high level of satisfaction, we should in turn provide you with an opportunity to satisfy yours."
"Okay." What did he mean?
"Do not be deceived; this generosity springs from a selfish foundation: It has been our experience that giving a man what he wants when he pleases us will only provoke him to work that much harder in the future. It is an investment. Do you follow me?"
"I'm not sure."
"An example would be in order. Let's imagine that we have given you a difficult assignment to complete and you have performed it flawlessly. What might you expect from us in return?"
Dante shook his head.
Frederick, all-knowing, snapped his fingers; one of the men opened the door from the corridor outside and in walked a plump, attractive young woman, a strawberry blonde, provocatively dressed, carrying a small valise.
"Yes?" said Frederick to the woman.
"Pardon me, gentlemen, I don't mean to intrude," said the woman, obviously nervous.
"How can we help you, miss?" asked Frederick politely.
"I found this case, you see, under my seat in the next car over?" she said, in a grating midwestern drawl. "And the fella outside—your friend, I guess, he was sitting across from me— he said he thought it belonged to one of you gents in here. So he asked if I wouldn't mind bringing it back myself."
"How very kind of you," said Frederick. "Did our friend offer you anything for its safe return?"
"Sort of," said the woman, blushing.
"How do you mean?"
"He said one of you fellas would give me ten dollars if I did it."
"He would be right," said Frederick, taking out his billfold. "Forgive my manners, won't you join us for a moment, miss? It must be more comfortable in here and we really are most grateful."
"All right," she said, still standing, awkwardly holding the valise.
The man in the hall closed the door behind her, leaving her alone with Dante and Frederick.
"Here then, Mr. Johnson," said Frederick to Dante, "why don't you take your case back from the young lady?"
Dante glanced at Frederick in confusion.
"Oh, is it yours?" said the woman, holding it out to him.
"Thank you," said Dante. He accepted the case from her, holding it stiffly in his lap.
Frederick patted the seat beside him and the young woman sat down, as he slipped a ten-dollar bill from his billfold.
"As promised," said Frederick.
"Thank you very much, sir," said the woman, taking the money, eyes downcast, embarrassed.