Blind Delusion (11 page)

“Well, you’ve got what it takes, son.” George raised his wine glass to Shaw once again, before gulping down a swallow.

“I hope so, George. In politics you need money and an influential political mentor. It’s all about power and money. Money talks and bullshit walks. Nobody’s your friend in Washington. If you want a friend in this town, go out and get yourself a pit bull,” Clifton Shaw quipped.

Everyone at the table laughed at Shaw’s worn-out jokes and overused clichés except Renee. She had heard Bill’s speech about this man’s political aspirations so often she had practically memorized it.
‘A Princeton graduate with a double-major in political science and history. While in grad school he landed an internship with a prominent Republican senator. During that year working for the senator he met many powerful people who helped him get established in Washington. After graduation Shaw did a stint on Capitol Hill, followed by several Republican appointments.’
According to Bill, Shaw was on his way to becoming one of the top minority business owners in Washington D. C. The only thing Bill said he wasn’t too keen on was that his new friend still held strong political ties to the “Grand Ole Party” or the GOP Republican Party as it’s more commonly known. But Bill had made it perfectly clear that he would have no problem switching teams if need be in order to get connected. This was not the same man she had married 14 years ago. Ever since being forced to retire from his job at EDUTECH, it seemed to her that Bill was acting like he would be willing to sleep with the Devil if he thought it would help him get ahead in his new career. She also realized something else troubling. Shaw clearly had ambitions towards one day taking up residency on 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Renee cringed at the possibility of seeing Shaw in the White House and being able to push the button in a time of national crisis. It didn’t take her long to diagnose Shaw as suffering from Narcissistic Personality Disorder. She closed her eyes briefly and shuddered to remove the scary thought of someone like that running the country.

“Yeah, I’ll donate what I have to for this type of plate fundraiser,” said Shaw, “I get invited to these things automatically. But in an election year, you better believe I’m an Eagle donor. I’ll plop down five grand a pop at a fundraiser just so I can get right in and see the important people in town.” Shaw took a sip of his drink before continuing. He glanced around at his audience to make sure everyone was still listening. “Yeah, you know when you call for an interview the first thing they do is put you on hold. That’s because they’re checking the list to see what you gave. When I call up, I always hear, ‘
Oh yes, Mr. Shaw, what can we do for you?’
” he said, mimicking the receptionist. “And, do you know why? It’s because I always give significant donations. That’s my ticket right in the door.” He nodded, pleased with himself.

Renee sighed in boredom. A smooth-sounding band called NuJeau played an assortment of jazz and R&B oldies, but even their mellow music didn’t help her to relax and have fun. She tapped her fingers on the table absentmindedly. It was now obvious beyond doubt that Bill had forgotten her birthday. He attended this elegant affair at Clifton Shaw’s last-minute invitation only to schmooze and network. Renee debated whether she should remind him that it was her birthday, suffer in silence, or just get up and leave. Not able to decide which option to take, she sat there, fuming.

The waiter kept Bill and Clifton’s drinks—Jack Daniel’s with cranberry juice and Vodka martinis—refilled while they talked endlessly about business and politics with whomever listened or even pretended to listen to them. LaToya, Shaw’s wide-eyed young date, accepted another glass of Champagne and nibbled at the shrimp-filled pastry puffs on her plate. The woman seated next to LaToya was named Maggie Dymond, a Legislative Assistant to Senator Monroe on the Hill—big bosomed and middle-aged, she wore a drapery top that only made her huge chest appear larger.

“So what’s this latest venture of yours all about Cliff?”

“Well, Maggie, my new business partner and I,” he patted Bill on the arm, “have been in meetings all week with our attorneys along with a silent partner who put up a hundred grand in seed money to help launch my startup, Techands Inc.”

“Oh?” said Maggie, feigning interest while she sipped a whiskey and tonic.

Without much prodding, Shaw continued. “Our venture capitalist friend recently cashed in some stocks and said he wanted somewhere to park his money as long as he could remain anonymous. I was able to work out the details to his satisfaction. As a matter of fact, he liked my prospectus so much he agreed to make future investments towards my new company’s growth. If any of you want in at the ground level while the price is still cheap, it’s an incredible investment opportunity.”

“Is it legal?” asked Maggie.

“Of course, it’s legit. Shit, Maggie, how can you ask me that? My startup is based on innovative technology and I’ve rounded up the best brains to lead the troops to victory.”

Shaw slapped Bill on the back and grinned, “Yeah, old Bill’s one of my book boys. He’s in charge of the day to day operations on the IT side of the business.”

“Looks like you’re still winning at the races, Shaw,” smiled the elderly, bearded gentleman named George. “Tell me, what makes your idea so damn attractive to this secret investor?”

“A nice, fat guaranteed return. It works for us too,” said Shaw, pointing to himself and Bill, “The key to good business is to use other people’s money. Our primary investor rakes in over eight mil a year from his other investments. You know, stuff like real estate and retail. He’s not hurting for coins and can afford to take a risk on us. Though, there’s virtually no risk of failure involved here. A 100% guaranteed sweet return. Like I said, I’m a pit bull when it comes to business and politics. And with this business plan, I’ll pull in enough cash to fund my ass right into the presidency or damn close to it.” He chuckled.

“What’s your mission statement?” asked Aaron Kaufman, a skeptical accountant-type with piercing blue eyes behind thick, black-rimmed bifocals.

Shaw had a quick answer to give. “Techands Inc is a H1-B sponsor that’ll host and train foreign nationals to work in this country using the hottest new technology. In fact, the name stands for 'technical hands'. Sort of like ranch hands on the farm. But instead of herding cattle our guys are herding software code. We find ‘em, clean ‘em up, train ‘em, and move ‘em out,” grinned Shaw. “They get the job done for our clients in half the time and for half the cost.”

“You’re quite the altruist, Shaw,” said Maggie in a sarcastic tone.

“That’s right,” Bill interjected, “We provide fast, cheap, and accurate software support to American companies. Eventually, we’ll expand into the international market. With this sluggish economy we’re in, the trend is towards outsourcing, where companies farm out their Information Technology services to Third Party Vendors.”

Everyone at the table looked at Bill as he spoke. Renee noticed that Shaw frowned when the spotlight had momentarily shifted away from him. With added confidence, Bill continued to explain their company’s strategy. “Businesses have eliminated entire IT departments so they can focus only on operations, marketing, sales and customer fulfillment. Techands Inc specializes in the design and development of solutions using the hottest languages out there today. Languages like Java, Oracle, DotNet, C and C++, you name it.”

“Listen buddy, I think you’re going a bit over their heads with the techno babble,” smiled Shaw, “these good folks talk politics, my man—not bits and bytes.”

“Speak for yourself, Shaw,” said Maggie, “I can keep up. I design and maintain my own website. So Bill is it? How does Techands Inc use these field hands, as you fellas call them, to turn a profit?”

“It’s pretty simple, Maggie. Companies send us their assignments and specs and we send them back the executable code for a fair price. If they want the source version too then they can buy it for an additional fee,” Bill explained. “Otherwise, they’ll have to come back to us for changes and future enhancements—which means more money for Techands. The concept is nothing new but our approach is different.”

“Got it, but what I meant to say was, where are you getting these folks?” asked Maggie, “By the time you pay the going rate for your Silicon Valley types, you’ll end up losing money. Not to mention how fast the techies dump you nowadays for bigger bucks at Northern Virginia software companies. After you train them, they’re gone in three months.”

Shaw spoke up in response to Maggie’s point. W
hile Bill’s head bobbed up and down in agreement to everything that Shaw said. “
That’s the beauty of it, Maggie, we’re using only cheap, foreign labor and training them ourselves through a rigorous, boot-camp program. I’ve leased a training facility out in McLean with some of our investment money. Bill’s already got brand new computers wired, networked, and ready to go. We’re in the last stages of our trainees’ H1-B visa applications. We’re on a roll, aren’t we, buddy?” said Shaw, turning to flash a wide grin at his new business partner.

“That’s not a new concept in the IT world, you know. Anyway Shaw, what’s in it for the worker bees?”

“I’m not saying it’s an original idea, Maggie,” said Shaw in a defensive tone. “Look, if you already got a wheel, roll with it. Why invent a new one? And as far as what my guys get out of it, for starters, they get free technical training and a damn good salary to boot. The contract stipulates they only owe Techands three years of service. Like I said, training and operations are Bill’s responsibility, but Techands was all my idea from soup to nuts,” beamed Shaw, polishing off the last of his drink, “so that makes me the HNIC.”

“The what?” said Aaron Kaufman, squinting as he positioned his glasses up from the tip of his nose.

“The HNIC. That’s like your CEO, Aaron,” laughed Shaw. When Kaufman continued to stare at Shaw with a confused look, Shaw slapped Bill on the back to give him the go ahead to explain. “Go on translate for the white boy, Bill. Some of ya’ll know what I’m talking about.” Shaw laughed loudly, clearly amused with himself. When Bill failed to comment, Shaw offered the translation. “Aaron, that’s what we call the Head Nigga In Charge,” said Shaw, motioning for the waiter to return and re-fill his drink.

After a brief awkward silence, Kaufman spoke up, wearing a look of skepticism. “Your plan may sound okay in theory but I still don’t get how it will actually work.”

LaToya shook Clifton Shaw’s elbow and pouted, “Cliff baby, I’m aging over here like a dried-up prune. Let’s go to the ballroom and dance.”

“Be cool, baby, let me finish my conversation.” Shaw turned his back to LaToya and addressed Kaufman’s doubting glance. “Look Aaron, let me explain it to you like you were a two year old.” Then, he chuckled to himself, “Ya’ll remember that was Denzel’s line in that Philadelphia movie about the gay guy. Anyway, man, it’s like this. Bill here put up a website and we’ve been soliciting our services over the web. Right now we’ve targeted Bangalore, India for the first wave of trainees because that’s the technological center in that subcontinent. So, initially our entire development team will be made up of these guys from Bangalore. They’ll undergo employment screening at the U. S. Embassy next week as part of the visa application but we don’t expect any problems with their visas being issued. Do we, Bill?” Bill immediately shook his head in agreement and motioned for Shaw to continue.

“The initial pay is $40,000 to $50,000 per year. Believe me, that’s a fortune to these guys and they’ll work without complaining. Unlike American workers. These people are focused on one thing—programming,” said Shaw, “There’s no leaving work early to go run errands or watch a kid’s soccer game or ballet recital. Our U. S. clients get their code written by highly skilled workers at a cheaper price. It’s win-win for everybody.”

“So they won’t be with their families for three years?” asked Maggie.

“That’s right. We explained to them that their families will have to remain in India until they can save enough money to bring them over. I think that’s fair.”

“Well ya know what this sounds like to me?” That was a rhetorical question because Maggie didn’t wait for Shaw’s response before continuing. “Sounds like when African slaves, European immigrants, and Native Americans were used for cheap labor as indentured servants in the 17
th
century. Granted, nothing was as awful as The Middle Passage when Africans were forcibly brought over here on slave ships then hosed off and 'cleaned up' before being displayed on the auction block and sold away from their families. This plan of yours sounds too much like these foreign workers might be at risk of being taken advantage of. I hope this isn’t a case where History repeats itself in the 21
st
century.”

“Maggie, you’ve got too much imagination. This isn’t anything like that,” quipped Shaw.

“I’m afraid I have to agree with Maggie, but for different reasons. It sounds to me like you’re taking advantage of cheap foreign labor when our workers here are in desperate need of jobs,” said Kaufman.

“What the hell are you talking about? All businesses these days rely on cheap foreign labor if they want to stay competitive,” said Bill with a sharp edge in his voice.

“Shaw, I’m with you and Bill,” nodded George, “Case in point. When I lived in Atlanta a few years ago, illegal Mexican immigrants dominated construction work down there. If the INS forced all illegal immigrants out of Atlanta, construction work would come to a standstill. These immigrants worked for $7.00 an hour and kept their whole family in one small apartment. And they wouldn’t ask the boss to be off on weekends either. Nobody else was willing to do this work for that price. I get your point.”

“What about the effect on American skilled programmers?” asked Maggie, “Some groups believe that importing foreign labor lowers wages for American employees and makes it more difficult for citizens in this country to be considered for career opportunities in technology. And, you’re planning to train foreigners to do high-paying jobs that American workers could be trained to do.”