Chapter 83

83
HEADQUARTERS, BUCK STRATTON RADIO MINISTRIES, SAN DIEGO

Pastor Buck Stratton was waiting impatiently as Andy Rosenthal and Ted Harper entered the room. "We goin' sit in the auditorium and have a chat. I don't want any little ears listenin' in." He said, referring to the oppressive security system of tape recorders and cameras which blanketed every room the Headquarters Building.

Once the meeting was reconvened in the deserted broadcast facility, Stratton made no secret of what was on his mind. "I wanna know just exactly how in the hell them geniuses lost an open 'n shut case 'n cost me a hundred million dollars to get rid of that whining bitch! You bright boys told me we was winning fer Chrissakes! How can they just keep pickin' another judge ever time they don't get their way? Tell me that!"

Before Ted Harper could answer the question, Stratton exploded again. "How could that crooked judge be willin' to take down a man of God? Ain't he worried none about what's gonna happen to his crooked ass on the day he meets th' Lord? You all's just sittin' there, purtty as you please, but you're lookin' at the man done lost a hundred million dollars, exactly right here, the man who done give away a hundred million dollars! Christ is this ever a bunch of crap! That damned judge oughta' get horse whipped buck naked out in front of his damned courthouse! That's what! Buck ass naked!"

"Try to calm down, Pastor Stratton." Ted Harper was more of a manager than an aide. "We're all disappointed about how the trial came out, but we really just have to go on."

"Go on hell! The Lord said 'Vengeance is Mine'. I'm ready for a little of my vengeance right here! See, that means that Jesus -- the real Jesus, I mean, you know the dead one -- gonna get even for me 'cause I'm a man of God. That's what He's talkin' about right there!" Buck Stratton paused, as if to catch his breath. He was off on another track. "You! Jew Boy! How much money I got left?"

"I know you're upset, Pastor, but is it really necessary to call Andy that?" Harper interceded.

"Damned right it is, you backslidin' sinner! Ole' Andy Rosenthal here don't believe that when I'm up talkin' to God, his Jew ass is goin' be somewheres else. I'm a Pastor. I gotta keep remindin' him afor it's too late!" Stratton, anything but calm, seemed to get an even redder face.

Andy Rosenthal would have taken offense to the rude little man, but his position was far too lucrative to merit thin skin. Referring to a note card he produced from his shirt pocket, "The Ministry has seventy-one million left in the bank after we paid the settlement. Your holding accounts hid a lot of your money from their asset discovery. You've got about eighty million in Switzerland and the Bahamas. The books are cooked. If we survived that investigation, we can survive anything."

"Besides, this creates a perfect reason to ask your faithful for even more contributions. Just say that the Ministry urgently needs an influx of cash." Ted Harper offered.

Stratton looked up. "How's crap sales goin'?"

Rosenthal answered without looking. "Crap sales are roaring. We shipped almost a quarter million packages out of here last month, and that doesn't include what the Ministry Service Centers are doing. I've got all of them out on franchises."

The accountant stood up to better face Stratton and Harper. "In fact we have to pay attention to getting new items designed and manufactured with enough lead time to allow our Taiwan suppliers to keep up with us. They have been shorting our shipments because we're selling that stuff faster than they can make it. There are listeners out there who own every single one of our products. They put all that crap on a table somewhere in their house like it's a shrine. They're buying extras and putting them away brand new so they can give them to their kids when they grow up. Like a hope chest or something."

"Well back order the damned things! We gotta' keep crap sales goin'. They bring a lot of profit into the Ministry. Now I finally got rid o' that damned woman, maybe I can keep some of this money! Them Taiwan guys ain't Christian, you know. I don't wanna' hear nothin' 'bout treatin' them with no Christian kindness. You keep them little slant eyed bastards scared 'n hungry, you hear? Scared 'n hungry! You let 'em know just what it's like doin' business with Buck Stratton! You keep remindin' 'em they can't screw around none with no American Christian White Man! I got th' money, 'n I can squeeze 'em if I want to!" Stratton rose without warning and left the auditorium.