EPISODE XXIV
“I want justice. I want justice to be imparted impartially. “
Complaint: Grievance, source of pain caused by feelings being broken. Disagreement or discord. The accusation made to the offender by filing a lawsuit, the accusation presented before the court in order to take penal action against the author of a crime.
Cali, Colombia, January 31st 2018
Engrossed in her thoughts, she looked out through the window. It was the last day of the month, late in the morning. Unlike her boss, she liked administrative hustle and bustle better than to spend empty hours before her desk waiting for people to come in. She ignored why Cali citizens had failed to turn up today, it was quite unusual for her not to see the office crowded with people. Marina Cuéllar loved to be responsible for conveying the suitable solutions to the claimants, to such extent that she rendered bureaucracy-addicted but, yet, a puffed-up bureaucrat duly qualified to take her boss over, that´s to mean the judge of constitutional guarantees. Marina channeled all of her energy down into her job as secretary of the tribunal of guarantees, ever since her nine-year-boyfriend run away to fall into the arms of Diana Etcheverry, assistant to the hearing judge in the adjacent office. Her boss would lock himself for hours in his study to solve sudokus. Meanwhile, “La Cuéllar” (that´s the way she was dubbed in jury rooms) handled the everyday flow of attendees, considering their claims and processing their complaints, she was also in charge of gathering evidence from claimants’ statements, for initiating the appropriate prosecutions; among her duties was too, to fill out the necessary forms. The judge of guarantees reserved for himself only a tedious task: to place his colossal signature on official documents in order to set the procedures in motion. The guarantee court office was empty that morning, a fact that upset Marina Cuéllar immensely, for lying idle was for her the most difficult no-task to endure. On account of her shattered nerves, she began uttering insults against everything until a foreigner walked in and stood before her mahogany desk. Only then, the cloud of blindness ebbed away.
There was a harsh determination inside Marina Cuéllar to put an end to her fruitless bachelorhood. She still felt herself attractive, selective, well disposed to meet fully grown men, preferably attentive and generous. Hopefully businessmen. Glowed with satisfaction, she realized that the newcomer´s physical appearance matched her ideal man-profile: not Colombian, white-skinned with clear eyes, tall and bold, in his mid-sixties, trembling hands and the aspect of being driven by a panic-stricken smile. She knew well how to interact with them; so long as she wished to, she tied them down, manipulated them at will, knowing that sooner or later they would fall victim of her one thousand and one subterfuges. A gentleman in an eye-catching packaging usually incited her interest, if so happens, something was for sure: the prospect will be hers. Today, in order to pay tribute to the sole claimant to have set foot on the office, she swore to make a move on toward the foreigner. No matter how long it will take, and even at the expense of go living abroad. “Come on! the time to attempt something out of the ordinary has come” -muttered Marina Cuéllar, as if she were adjusting her skirt to an upcoming game of seduction-. Before greeting him with one of her best smirks, Marina had already come up with an effective approach strategy.
- Good morning, sir. My name is Marina Cuéllar. You may call me la Cuéllar, since that´s how I am known by the phantom employees I work with. I am assigned to your case from now onwards. I am sure you´ve never come across with a public servant as competent as myself before, anywhere else, during your life of…scientific, businessman, small-entrepreneur? Whatever offense against your reputation, or any other claim or complaint you may bring in, it´s easily taken care of here at the tribunal of Guarantees, so that you can clear your name in court. With our support a formal imputation shall be made by the time you leave this office.
- And your name, sir, is?
She achieved the desired effect. Europeans like this one are unaccustomed to south American offenders so, while you calm them down you also ensure that their tainted reputations will be cleared through the good offices of the Colombian bureaucracy. Anyway, he was not the first Nordic foreigner Marina Cuéllar was in touch with. Nine years of working experience allowed her to cope with cosmopolitan claimants.
- Miss Cuéllar, good morning. Here´s Marc André Houdet from Belgium. I reside in Cali. I feel very sorry for my aspect, but I almost had a breakdown. What a relieve to have come here finally.
- Once my report has been filed before the tribunal -the foreigner asked- will the file be moved from the court to the state attorney’s office and to the secret service desks?
She chuckled to herself. How much Marina Cuéllar enjoyed watching claimants in utter desperation, making a show of weakness of character just the way Houdet´s, as his fish-bowl green eyes glittered with a sort of heavy opacity which is a typical symptom of the people who stay out of the sun, people who has lost bowel control and now are seeking to hide their fear relative to the impact that the claim they were going to stand, might cause.
- Provided that you trust on my expertise, Míster Houdet, you will get much more than you expected at first.
Marc André Houdet etched a wide smile, to the point that one of the brave survivors of his calamitous hair loss, a blonde helpless lock in the way to fall down onto his forehead, got aroused at hearing the expression: “much more than you expected at first”. The man stretched out his long legs, sprawled on his seat as if he were in his office, came out of his shell and let out a detailed manifesto to the secretary of guarantees.
“This started off one month and two days ago, exactly on December 29th 2017. Sorry to be so meticulous, but complete precision is engineers´ core business. I am CEO of a Belgian multinational provider of environmental solutions for the Palm sector. The financial manager, an Argentinian named Adolfo Sammartino, was in the payroll until January fourth 2018. As I said, events burst out on December twenty ninth when the financial manager began to behave in an erratic, furious and strange manner towards me; there was a wholesome change in him – I would say a disruption- since he arrived from his year-end holidays. The earthquake hit me the day Sammartino was given an assignment (details are not important for now), we all dived into the project, each of us analyzed it within our specific field of work, but ultimately the project did not come to fruition. You know, such things might happen. Because the project didn´t become a reality, Adolfo Sammartino just freaked out. By December thirty first I was scared to death, I could barely look at him straight to the eyes, I was even afraid to go to his desk to ask him something. His violence towards me increased significantly. I felt myself at risk, so without thinking twice I flew away, to Malaysia, where I own another company. I admit to you I have been a coward, but in my defense, I should say that Adolfo Sammartino turned evil to me. I was really afraid of him. I thought he was going to kill me and so wouldn´t be able to make it to my birthday celebrations at the beginning of this year. The unsuccessful project triggered a face-to-face discussion with him on December thirty first two thousand seventeen, which took place at my office in Cali. It was then he nearly hits me, at least that is what I thought he was willing to do. He fortunately held back though. However relieved, there was a growing concern inside me. After that I resolved to leave Colombia, fly to Kuala Lumpur and stay there until the bad weather be cleared up. Handling violence is an impossible mission for me to accomplish, and Adolfo Sammartino was full of it. I have been raised by my parents with higher values: therefore, in times of conflict I advocate for the use of logic to avoid aberrations. End of story. In a nutshell: last year I was scared, but no accusation could be made on grounds of having had a scare, do you understand? You simply cannot sue anyone because he has just frightened you, providing no more evidence than stating you were rudely shouted. It´s completely unacceptable. However, things became life-threatening at the beginning of this year when he quitted the Belgian company on January fourth. We had a skype meeting during which -I deluded myself, to say the least- Sammartino would possibly review his conduct in search for a reconciliation with me. I was wrong; the situation got worse. We were in the middle of the meeting with both cameras switched on, when the fury overwhelmed him and then, Voilá Madame, he resigned to the job hurling a series of insults at me, which cannot be repeated in front of a lady like you. I looked at the screen eyes-frozen, unable to react. There was no reaction from my side. In any case, I was glad to be far away from Colombia by then. That day was my wife´s birthday, whom I left in Cali at home. I call her immediately after the surmenage of Adolfo Sammartino. I tell her the whole story; she then commands me to stay still in Malaysia, she begs me not to get back to Cali. Otherwise, I would be in danger. I did what I was told and remained there working in Kuala Lumpur. However, I remained thoughtful about the mental health of my ex financial manager. He didn´t have his head on straight, he might become a public danger. I have had sleepless nights going round the bed because Adolfo Sammartino was still the financial manager of my Colombian companies, you know. By the way, please include this fact in the statement. He had been granted a working visa through my Colombian companies; his visa was thus in force; in some way I had worked as his sponsor for his working permit thus I became -since the signature of the working contract- responsible for him during his stay in Colombia. According to law in my quality of employer.
“In the event Adolfo Sammartino did cause a big scene, a public scandal so to speak, finding grounds for expulsion or deportation, the employer within the term of thirty days following the commission of the act object of sanction –Houdet was reading a piece of paper after putting on his glasses- must send the offender back to his country of origin or to the last country in which he lived in, covering all deportation expenses as well as that of his family and beneficiaries. This regardless of the employer´s right to take any legal actions derived from the failure to fulfill the contract, such as its termination, breach, cancellation of visa, etc.
“I was obsessed with this matter. The picture of holding responsibility for a mad man running loose on the streets, my mind simply couldn´t stand it.”
“Until now, la Cuéllar, I´ve given you an account of a private scandal. Me, away from Colombia; him, the quitter, here in Cali. I was told by my Colombian partner that on January fourth Adolfo Sammartino had plundered the office and took home the computer he was using, apart from many other work items which belonged to the company although they were in his possession in his character of trusted staff. To leave the desk empty, to rob a computer, these are crimes, an abuse; I let you know these facts so that you can keep track of the sequence of events, while I form in my mind the overall picture before taking action. There is a footage of the plunder from the surveillance cameras, an additional record of a “still private” scandal. In Kuala Lumpur I carefully watched the tapes provided by my Colombian partner. Mon Dieu, Miss Cuéllar, so nasty things were getting that I was about to call the police. If a non-believer like me starts making reference to God, it means a situation worsening. What was Adolfo Sammartino looking for? What was his goal? Look, I am not a headlong-decision maker guy, I think over the facts from different angles prior to proceed. What did I do next? -you may wonder. I stayed in Asia awaiting my ex financial manager´s next move. Between January fifth to January twenty six, Adolfo Sammartino kept silent. Then, he reappeared.
“There are thirteen hours of time difference between Colombia and Malaysia. At eleven o clock that twenty sixth of January I was about to go to bed, when I receive an email from Adolfo Sammartino. In the subject line of the email was written “Farewell letter for everyone”, the title was indeed aligned with his resignation to the company hence, totally innocent at first sight. Up to that point, all went well. But afterward, I checked up the recipient email list of twenty-two people, which included many of my Belgian friends, officials of the Belgian and Colombian banks I have been working with, even my father and major suppliers and customers of my companies, who share (or shared, I don´t know now) a high esteem for me, made part of it. I froze up. Just being aware that many close acquaintances and friends had already read a letter written by a crazy guy, put my fingers on ice. In my opinion, life is a project to which resources and enthusiasm are allocated in order to reach a goal, whereas love is a thought that oozes emotions. If you are adrift in the sea of emotions, if love is your innermost feeling and you act thereupon, you ultimately get lost. Despite my saying, unknown emotions were swarming around my mind for the first time in my sixty-two years of existence. I went to bed and tried to get some sleep. No way. My attempt to free reason from the influence of the emotions crowded round my intellect, was doomed to failure. So that´s why I decided to read the letter. To cut the story short, Adolfo Sammartino made me look like an ass before all the email recipients, calling me a miserable, avaricious, pathetic, cunning and speculative boss. In the end of the letter, he notified me a death threat. Words more, words least, he warned me that the Sicilian Mafia is watching me over, and if I dare cause any harm to him, the Mafia will cut my breath off and me into pieces. I wanted to know whether my father had read the letter, so I tried to reach him on the phone. No answer. I rushed to the airport, bought a ticket Kuala Lumpur-Brussels at the airport counter. I made a short visit to my father and then journeyed to Cali. From Cali airport I came to your office straight away.
- What it started as a private scandal had turned into a public mess, with undreamed commercial and personal consequences. Such extreme cruelty was too much for me, it´s because of the extreme cruelty I had been gone through that I stand up for my rights as a Colombian resident and present my case before the guarantee court -said a trembling Marc André Houdet.
Marina Cuéllar, expert short-hand typist, took note of the account highlights so that she could later set up the statement of Marc André Houdet.
Cali heats up at noon. Not only in relation with the city weather but also with the temperature of the office where Cuéllar and Houdet were interacting.
- Your case is atypical, Mister Houdet. A multilateral public scandal thanks to which your reputation has been tarnished across several countries. I dare to say with certainty that you are a global citizen against whom false charges has been placed. The experience I´ve gained over the years enables me to quickly figure out the moral attributes and ethics of the claimants. I entertain no doubts that you are an honorable, upright, honest and a squeaky-clean businessman.
“Not impeccable to the full extent of the word -she mentally reversed her statement-, Marina Cuéllar thought that his style of clothing needed an update, it was out of fashion, his trousers were too short for him while his short-sleeve shirt would probably be a leftover from his rebellious hippie period.
- Before making the final decision, Mister Houdet -Marina Cuéllar emphasized as she purposefully adopted a demonstrative tone of voice- it´s my duty to show you the range of possibilities defined in the existing legal procedures.
“Our penal code enables any Colombian citizen or resident to accuse offenders of defamation and libel. When someone is dishonored, libel is established; according to my understanding, in your case libel has occurred because of the infringement of your social status. Which harms the reputation you have gained over your working life, abiding by the law through your public behavior, right? The offender may be accused of slander in the event of you being accused of a false crime. This crime is more serious than the libel, so it deserves severe punishment. If the evidence you provide ends up to convince the judge that a gross violation of your intimacy has been committed -a reprehensible action against you, to say the least-, I would like you to know that the offender will be more scared than you are feeling today. Anyway, it´s up to the judge to legitimize the means of proof that you are to submit. You have one year counting from January 26th, date of commission of the crime, to stand a claim, otherwise the timeline to file a claim will expire. If you prefer to take a milder step prior to going to court, you can issue a public petition -to be submitted to a prestigious national newspaper- aimed at pushing the offender to withdraw his humiliating words. If the offender agrees on calling his words back through a public pronouncement in the same newspaper, and you accept the apology, no criminal proceeding will be implemented.
Marina Cuéllar suddenly came to a stop. She slightly flattened her hair in wait for the claimant´s final decision.
Marc André Houdet, lost in his daydreaming, plunged into somnolence. He couldn´t spell a word. And so stayed for a long time.
The secretary of guarantees would never ever go for her daily coffee unless some useful work had been done first. The intake of caffeine was somehow a prize for executed tasks. At sharp noon Marina Cuéllar was heading for the kitchen carrying a personalized teacup in her hands. In so doing, she had left Marc André Houdet behind, for she knew that claimants like him need an atmosphere of loneliness to decide on whether to file a claim or not. Before that, their cerebral hemispheres must have a hard time -the left-one owner of intuition, the right-one owner of logic- struggling to overcome the other. She had gone to the kitchen with the hidden purpose of giving the Belgian time as well as of making room for him to find ways to bring the Argentinian before court, as while her being absent he could hatch a plan in this sense. With a steaming cup of coffee in her hands, Marina Cuéllar returned to her desk fifteen minutes later.
- I still hesitate, la Cuéllar -Marc André Houdet said to her confidently-. If the threaten comes to be true and I am indeed being watched by the Sicilian Mafia, it would be both unwise and foolish for me to bring an action against Sammartino for, if I do so, my life would be at risk. Because I should assume that my pursuers, the mafiosos, will inform Adolfo Sammartino about my claim and…
- And… the Colombian Secret Services will put you under his protection -Marina interrupted him-.
- Just one more thing.
Now the foreigner stopped cold and stroked his chin with his right hand. He turned his head towards the window as if he were digesting an intellectual defeat.
- I put on the table another fact I forgot to mention earlier, a fact witnessed by Elmer Murillo, one of my engineers in Malaysia. The Honduran engineer Elmer Murillo, friend of Adolfo Sammartino, received from the latter several emails between the fifth and the twenty fourth of January. In those messages it was expressed the intention of the Argentine to fly to Kuala Lumpur to settle accounts with me, face to face, it was specifically described the method to get the settlement accomplished: the recruitment of Elmer Murillo to help him beat me to death and together dump my body into the Andaman Sea.
- That´s really serious, Mister Houdet -exclaimed Marina Cuéllar-. I assume you know that emails may be used as legal evidence to accuse offenders.
- So serious the situation was that I spent a week hidden in Indonesia, where I own another company. Once in Jakarta, I thought there were suspicious movements around me, like hunters chasing me. I was doubtful of the realness of my seeing, since my reason and mind were clouded with terror, which allowed me not to think clearly. From Jakarta I went back to Kuala Lumpur on January twenty fifth. After the reading of the farewell of Adolfo Sammartino (next day) and further examination of the pros and cons, I came to the conclusion that I would be safer in Belgium. But once in Belgium I realised that the Colombian secret service will take better care of me than his Belgian colleagues, you could imagine how hard for the Belgians officials in charge would be to believe -being them such a stiff-minded rigid people, staying deeply rooted in their fixed way of thinking- in a south American tall-tale like this, regardless of any strong evidence you might provide them. That´s all, Miss Cuéllar.
- It´s up to you, Mister Houdet -Marina said-. If you accept an advice, I would file a lawsuit, Mister Sammartino deserve to be presented a complaint against him. As a Colombian resident you have the same rights of the nationals, the same guarantees. Do not make the mistake of believing that our secret services are not as efficient as the Sicilian Mafia. Throughout the last fifty years of the history of Colombia the services have been dealing with professional goons, moped assassins, gangsters and the like. D.N.I. agents are always ready for war, for undercover missions, espionage, counterespionage, in this frame of work we are better than the Sicilian Mafia so far.
- What´s the D.N.I.?
- Colombian Secret Services, the initial in Spanish.
Marc André Houdet stood up and get closer to Marina Cuéllar and offered her his hand to shake, but instead he was caught by surprise when she placed her head on his chest. Marina Cuéllar had to make a big sacrifice staying there, as she could hardly bear his stinking corporal aroma. The Belgian seemed not to use deodorant on a daily basis. Not this time at least.
- I want justice. I want justice to be imparted impartially -remarked Marc André Houdet.
Marc André Houdet was invading Marina Cuéllar with his dragon breath, so bad it was that -if she had any- she would have shared mentholated sweets with him. She had no choice but to resist.
- Do you want me to be in charge of everything? -the secretary of the tribunal reacted, making a great effort to conceal her embarrassment.
The Belgian claimant was not used to be in so close a contact with the opposite gender. Due to overwork, taking into account those sixteen daily hours he devoted to the management of his companies, he had no time for sweet caresses and pampering. Based on a crystal-clear agreement they set up from the very beginning, Houdet was exempted to fulfill the commonly most-desired marital duty, paving the way for his wife to make love freely with other men. Love as a righteous thought while casting emotions aside.
Because of an unexpected phone call, he detached from Marina Cuéllar.
- The call of duty. I have to go, Miss Cuéllar. I will make contact with you soon.
Marina Cuéllar gave him her personal card, and then he left the office of Constitutional Guarantees at hasty pace.
“So long I succeed in improving his personal hygiene, this guy will me mine -Marina Cuéllar prophesized.
----------------------------------
Remark: Episode 24 is the last one of PART THREE of this book. I reckon that in three weeks, I will be in position to upload episode 25, the first one of PART FOUR, which opens the window for the denouement of the story: the last part. AFTER YOU, COME THOU is a piece composed of thirty-two episodes and an epilogue.
