Olivia's Mine (28 page)

It was the first time he had cried since it
happened almost ten years ago. The tears poured out of him. Lucy
sat him down on a log on the beach and put her arms around him.

“It’s okay,” she said. “I understand.”

“I knew you would,” he said.

“Are you going to be okay?” she asked.

“Yes,” he said, and took her hand. “Let’s go
back and get some coffee to warm up.”

“I must have scared the hell out of you that
Easter dinner at Olivia and Frank’s. When I left the house like
that.”

“You did,” he said. “I didn’t know what I had
said.”

Lucy told him the story of Akiko’s origami
birds.

“I won’t tell if you don’t tell,” he
said.

“Promise?” she said.

“Yes,” he said.

“Well, I know one way to keep your mouth
shut,” she said, and kissed him passionately.

Jimmy looked at the new bicycle in
disbelief.

“Is this for me?” he asked.

Jimmy, Olivia and Akiko stood outside the
store, admiring the bike.

His mother lowered her head. The Yada’s had
not been able to afford such an extravagant gift for Jimmy’s
thirteen birthday, despite wanting to.

“Well, sort of,” Olivia said. “Technically it
belongs to the store. So if you quit...” Olivia lowered her voice,
“...or if you get fired, it comes back.”

“Oh, I won’t get fired,” he said.

The new blue bike was a big shiny
two-wheeler, the nicest bike Jimmy had even seen, and certainly the
nicest bike anyone had in Britannia.

“It has a basket on the back so you can carry
the groceries. And a bell on the front so you won’t run people
over,” Olivia laughed.

“Wow!” Jimmy said excitedly.

“And I think it would be all right if you
borrowed it to go to school, and on weekends,” Olivia added. “Just
as long as you take good care of it. It is store property.”

“Oh I will, I promise,” Jimmy said.

“Well then you’d better get to work and
deliver Mary Alice her milk. Happy Birthday Jimmy, or should we
call you Jim now that you’re all grown up?”

“Jimmy,” Lara McMichael called from up the
road. “Is that a new bicycle?”

Jimmy smiled at Lara, then turned to answer
Olivia.

“No, Jimmy’s still good.”

Akiko heaved a sigh of relief.

Jimmy hopped on the bike and rode off. He had
often borrowed the McMichael girls’ bicycles and taken them for a
spin. Christina had taught him how to ride. But this one was
special. It was a boy’s bike.

Akiko turned to Olivia.

“That was very kind.”

“He’s a great kid Akiko,” Olivia said. “I
would be truly blessed to have a son like him some day.”

In that moment it was hard to tell which
woman was prouder of the young man, as he rode up next to Lara
McMichael. Though teenage years were upon them, and Lara was
slightly older than Jimmy, (which can make a difference at that
age), the two had remained best friends since their childhood. He
showed off his new bike with pride.

“He is getting jealous, you know,” Akiko
commented.

Olivia did not understand.

“Lara McMichael. She has many young boys
vying for her attentions already. Jimmy of course, loves her
dearly, but it can never be. She will eventually break his
heart.”

“One never knows what the future will bring,”
Olivia said to her friend. But in her heart, Olivia knew Akiko was
probably right.

“She’s going to be a handful, just like her
sister,” Olivia said.

“Yes,” Akiko agreed. “I am glad I have a
boy.”

Last summer, Christina McMichael had
announced her intentions to enter the Copper Queen beauty pageant.
The problem this presented was that none of the other girls her age
wanted to enter the contest for fear of losing. The organizers
spent hours convincing the girls that it would be a fun time, when
they knew themselves that Christina would undoubtedly win. And win
she did, surprising no one. The fact was, she was a kind, smart,
beautiful nineteen-year-old woman whom everyone adored despite her
last name. She had never shown any interest in running in the
competition in previous years, but this year she had a reason. She
wanted to impress the new young doctor Alex Thompson, who was
joining Dr. Van den Broek’s practice in preparation for Dr. Van den
Broek’s retirement. And impress him she did.

Olivia and Akiko watched the handsome young
couple sharing some fish and chips as they passed by the
storefront.

Time was passing quicker and quicker, she
thought to herself. The town had grown, and while still isolated,
it had just about everything they could want: a new school, a big
library, the movie theatre, and a billiards hall. Jason even rented
the movie theatre out to the performing arts group that had
recently been formed. This winter they were going to present
Shakespeare’s “As You Like It”. The whole town was looking forward
to it.

“Akiko, could you do me a favour?” Olivia
asked. “Could you open the store tomorrow morning for me? It’s
Lucy’s day to sleep in, but I’ve been a little tired lately and
McMichael has asked if I could come in early over at the mine. I
would really appreciate it.”

Akiko had never been asked to open the store
by herself.

“It would be an honour, Mrs. Olivia,” Akiko
said.

Sarah came running into the store.

“Are they here yet?” she asked excitedly.

“They’re in the back,” Olivia said. “I’ll go
get them.”

A few moments later Olivia returned with the
Eaton’s shoe box. Inside were white satin covered shoes.

“They fit like a glove,” Sarah exclaimed as
she tried them on. “I just can’t believe it! Everything is going
perfectly! I can’t thank either of you enough!”

Her wedding was less than two weeks away and
the talk of the town. Sarah had asked Akiko to be her Matron of
Honour, with Olivia taking the less glamorous role of bridesmaid,
but Olivia didn’t mind. It meant so much more to Akiko Sarah had
taken Akiko with her down to Vancouver to shop for her wedding
dress, and Akiko had stocked up on a few dresses for herself while
she was away. She firmly announced to Harry upon her return that
she was taking at least one trip down to the big city each summer.
Akiko had discovered the Hudson’s Bay department store.

“You will be a beautiful October bride,”
Akiko said.

“I hope it doesn’t rain,” Sarah sighed.
“October can be so chancy. I don’t want anything to spoil my
wedding day.”

McMichael stood on his veranda, sipping the
last of his coffee before he headed off to work. It was going to be
one of those days, he thought to himself; he could just feel it. He
had awoken with a headache that despite taking aspirin, was not
going away. He could see Olivia making her way over to the office,
dressed in blue. He liked her in blue, he thought to himself,
knowing by the end of the day such glimpses would be fewer.

The price of copper had dropped considerably
the past six months, dropping from twenty to fourteen cents a
pound. Although he delayed this day as long as he could, it had
finally arrived. He was going to have to cut his staff by about
forty percent. It meant drastically reducing the new concentrator
shifts. It meant shutting down the mine’s tramway and the new
electrical railway that had been installed. The writing had been on
the wall for weeks but the men had been blissfully unaware. That
was part of the reason he had recently given a rather generous
donation to help complete the new recreation hall. He wanted the
townspeople to have some form of inexpensive recreation in case the
situation worsened.

“At least we don’t have to shut the mine down
totally,” he thought to himself. The ore at Britannia had silver
and gold in it, enough to keep the other sixty percent employed.
For now.

His first appointment of the day was coming
up the street.

“What is it McMichael?” the sergeant
asked.

“We need to do something about Ruby.”

Ruby’s house of ill repute had been
functioning behind blind eyes ever since the officer had first
arrived, so Wolanski was confused by McMichael’s sudden interest in
it.

“What exactly are you asking?”

“It’s time to get her to leave town. She and
her girls and that hulk of a man she uses as a bouncer.”

Wolanski had always thought McMichael had a
financial interest in Ruby’s establishment, making him turn a blind
eye.

“Rudy,” McMichael started, using the
officer’s Christian name for the first time, “I might as well let
you in on it. There may be some trouble over the next little while.
I’ve got to lay some men off today. Let’s just say more than one or
two. I want the bar to stop serving alcohol for the next month. I
mean that. You catch anyone drinking, you throw them in jail.”

Rudy’s expression turned solemn. He knew what
layoffs would mean to the community. The mine was the employer that
all the other businesses relied on. There would be a lasting
trigger effect if the layoffs were as big as McMichael was letting
on.

“When times were good,” McMichael started to
explain, “as much as I abhor Ruby’s line of business, it kept the
men for the most part, happy and out of my hair. It helped them
deal with their depression and loneliness that the isolation of
Britannia Beach often spawns. But they could afford it then. And
Ruby and her girls would spend the money for the most part here in
Britannia. But the men, they’re not going to be able to afford it
now. I’m not going to have families starving because the men are
throwing their money away on unchristian opportunities. Ruby’s time
to vacate the premises has arrived.”

He handed Wolanski an envelope.

Rudy looked at it cautiously. Was McMichael
trying to bribe him?

McMichael had read Wolanski’s mind.

“The envelope is for Ruby,” he assured him.
“It seems the bank has taken this opportunity to foreclose on her
mortgage. It’s all laid out there in black and white.”

“How convenient,” Wolanski said.

“Funny how that happens. Still, it’s a legal
eviction notice. And just to make it clear, I’d like you to escort
the occupants of the house to Frenchie’s boat this evening. There
will be no room for them at any of our hotels. I think Ruby will
get the message.”

Olivia walked into McMichael’s office.

“You wanted to see me sir?” she asked.

McMichael motioned to Wolanski that their
conversation was over. Rudy tipped his hat to Olivia as he left the
room.

“No coffee?” Olivia asked, peering into the
canister where it was normally kept.

“Sarah says she’s run out. I don’t know what
the hell is wrong with her lately.”

“The upcoming nuptials, I presume.”

“Please, have a seat,” McMichael motioned to
her.

She sat in the big oak chair he had pointed
to.

“Olivia, first let me say that this
conversation is to go no further than this room.”

“I understand Mr. McMichael,” Olivia
offered.

“I want to commend you on the job you did
with the concentrator. Not just for your Uncle’s interests, but
also for the mine and myself. You and Sarah worked marvellously
together. And on-site...I would not have believed you would have
been able to handle that rag-tag group of men I gave you to install
the damn concentrator. God knows they weren’t my best workers, I
couldn’t spare the good ones to give you. But you pulled it off,
and for that, I take my hat off to you.”

“Thank you sir,” Olivia said.

“Now, please, let me finish. Now that it’s
installed and working properly, I really can’t afford to keep the
men working any longer.”

“I understand sir. I didn’t think it would
last forever.”

“I said let me finish, Olivia.”

Olivia became silent.

“I meant what I said. I really can’t afford
to keep the men working any longer. The price of copper has dropped
so much I’m afraid I’m going to have to lay off all the men who
have been working on the concentrator.”

Olivia sighed. If only her men were laid off,
then they would attribute their downfall to her.

“And you want me to do that for you?” Olivia
said. She supposed that would be part of her job.

McMichael paused. If it had been one of the
men interrupting him, he would have thrown him out of the office.
But instead he found his voice becoming gentle.

“Well, I could do that and then bring you
back in here and tell you that you were next out the door. I
suppose that would be rather cruel, but it would get the job
done.”

Olivia’s face remained expressionless. She
had known her job was ending soon and it appeared now was the
time.

“I have a problem Olivia. With fewer men on
shift, I also need to reduce my supervisory positions by one. All
the remaining supervisors are going to have to step up to the plate
and give one hundred and ten percent. It’s come down to you and
Frank. It’s a toss up for me, quite frankly, and I never in the
world would have imagined I’d be in this position. You’re better at
the job than he is, no doubt about it. The men hate working for
you, just like they hate working for me, and there’s something to
be said for that, although it’s probably for far different reasons.
But Frank, he’s a man.”

Olivia’s blood flowed nervously in her
veins.

“So here’s the deal Olivia. I’ll fire all the
men, if you decide who goes or stays, you or Frank. I can’t let you
continue on as a supervisor, but you can be my assistant, with all
the same responsibilities. You’ll never be bored.”

“And do the same work? Manage the men?”

“Yes. I’ll pay you a fair wage. More than I
do Sarah.”

“Mr. McMichael, you know I’ve enjoyed working
here at the mine. You know what I can do for you. Sarah and I
managed to save you thousands of dollars by re-scheduling the
concentrator shifts. We saved several hundred man-hours. Surely you
recognize my contributions were more than ‘assisting’ you.”