Althena Book 2

44. Schedule

Wednesday, I focus on school. I do what Monte said. I just want to be a normal teenager. No more cartel. I'm not even going to think about it. During cheer practice, we get our prizes. Tadita won't let us open our boxes until we get home though. I run in the door with my huge box.

Monte takes it. "What is this?"

"Cheer prizes."

The boys have some men in the dining room with them.

Mike winks at me. "We'll look in a minute. We're finishing with the casino contractors now."

"We're looking at 50 million dollar start-up costs."

"Can I take donations?"

"We don't care how you get the money. We need it to work on the project. We can start with 10 million."

"There's at least that on my phone." I hand it to him.

Mike rubs his face. "Why?"

"Because you kept sending it."

"There's 17 million on here."

"Take that and start."

"No." Mike grabs my phone. "Actually yes. You don't need that much on your phone account. We'll pay the rest out of an actual account."

"Do I need donations?"

"No. Your father left you more than that."

"Sweet. How much is on the card in my wallet?"

Conner bounces his head off the table a few times.

Drogon nods. "We'll show you how to check that stuff later."

I grab my box and run to the living room. The boys come in after a few minutes and I rip the box open. "I GOT. A color changing cup. Key chains and clips." I toss them out of the way. "T-shirt. Socks. Sweater. Hairbands. Sports bag. Water bottle. A stuffed cheer thing." I pull out a box. It looks like a nice camera.

"Give me that. Do not throw it." Mike takes it. He sits down and I pull out a laptop. He gets right back up and takes it.

"Laptop case. And my ticket for the cheer camp. I got everything." I run and sit on Drogon. "Thank you. I love you."

"I love you too."

"Are you gonna let me go?"

"We'll work something out with the school."

"I hope so. I really want to do this."

"I know, babygirl."

Cyrus smiles at me. "What's your favorite prize?"

"Sports bag. It says cheer on it. Now I don't have to carry my boring one. And my t-shirt and socks and water bottle and hair ties and everything matches."

"That looks like a nice camera." Conner takes the box.

Mike records with it. "It is nice. Do you want it, woman?"

"No. But I like the idea of a laptop. I can keep my school stuff on it. And write reports. They would always be there instead of those little sticks. A lot of people at school carry them."

"You don't want the camera?"

"I want to do stuff not record stuff. My phone has a camera if I need it anyway."

"That's true. It's nicer than the ones we have here though. We'll keep it for when we need to record you girls again. And a laptop is a good idea for you. I'll get it set up for you tonight."

"Thank you."

Lila comes in with Mrs. Kayode. She hands Cyrus her camera. "I don't need that and nobody is answering the door."

"I forgot the girls are on the boat. I'll send a helicopter for them." Drogon pats my butt.

Mike nods. "I'll keep an eye on the door."

We go to the basement and all the girls show up.

"I need a follow-up interview. So many people have given me more questions for you."

"Maybe someday. I need a break for now."

"Yea, that was a lot. People feel like they know you a little better now."

"I guess I didn't notice it, but they don't stare as much."

Lila smiles. "They wave more and point less."

"That's good progress, girls. You did a good thing." Mrs. Kayode stands up. "Now we need to set the dates for these trips. You made the money. We need to pick days for the amusement park, zoo overnight, beach trip, and camping trip."

"Our cheer camp is the 3rd weekend of June. We can't do anything then."

"Clayton's birthday stuff is the 2nd weekend in March. I can't do anything then."

"Is everyone ok to do the amusement park next Saturday?"

"Yes."

"Do you want to do the camping trip in the summer?"

"No, it's too hot then."

"How about the weekend after the amusement park, we go camping?"

"That's perfect."

"The zoo overnight is scheduled for the first Saturday in April. I had to schedule that with the zoo. So, that is set in stone. Everyone keep that weekend open. So, for the beach trip, summer?"

"No. It's too hot then."

Lila jumps up. "ON SUNDAYS, WE CAN SWIM WITH DOLPHINS. LOOK." She gets out her phone and shows the pictures. "It doesn't cost anything."

"How about we do the beach trip on the last weekend in April. March is already filling up."

Haddy smiles. "We'll make that work."

"Good." Kayode gives us each a paper with the dates on it. "Make sure your guardian or parents see those. I do need them signed and returned. All 4 of them."

"My guards have to do everything with me."

Saray sits up. "Can they get in the theme park without a ticket?"

"It's not like anybody can stop them."

Kayote smiles. "We have no say and they follow her. They'll be fine. We'll make them sleep in tents at the camp."

I laugh so hard. "That is gonna be hilarious to watch."

Lila nearly spits out her drink. "Make them bring their own porta-potty."

We end the meeting laughing about all the stuff we can do to them. The boys are sitting around the table with casino plans. I give Drogon my papers.

"Amusement park. That'll be fun. Camping trip. You cheer on Friday, babygirl. You'll miss something."

Lila looks at hers. "We can go after the match. We can still stay 2 nights that way. And we'll be there all day Saturday. Kayode said the guards can sleep in a tent outside."

I lose it again. "They have to take a porta potty."

Cyrus smiles at me. "You going to make them s**t in the woods, woman?"

I laugh so hard I can't even lift my head up. The rest of them laugh with me.

"Alright. I'll put down that we'll bring you after the match that Friday. Zoo overnight is only a Saturday. The beach trip is the last week of April. Will you still be cheering then?"

Conner shakes his head. "Even if we win everything, the season is over halfway through April."

"So, that is fine. When is the cheer competition and cheer camp?"

Lila checks her phone. "Competition is the second week in May. Prom is the third week in May. Camp is the third week in June."

Mike gets his phone out. "Sync that to my phone. When is the choir concert?"

"I'm working on it." Drogon is fixing his calendar. "It's the Thursday after Clayton's birthday party."

"f**k, you guys are busy." Monte shakes his head.

Mike nods. "And they still find time to get into trouble."

Lila laughs. "That's what we're good at. I need to go home though. See y'all later."

"Have a good night." I rub my face. "How's the casino coming?"

"Good. We're working on the layout of the slots. The contractors are working on reinforcing the floor and securing the vault for a few days. They have to do that before we can start on anything else."

"How long until we're open?"

"About 4 weeks. We'll know more as they work. It's a guess at this point. A lot of walls have to come down. 3 entrances need to be turned into solid walls. We'll get there."

Monte sits by me. "I'll be there for the next few days making sure they get the vault and bank area right. I'm going to put a break room in the basement for the guards too. I'll run 10 at a time on 8-hour shifts, but they will need a break in the middle."

"Yea, just stagger the breaks." Mike writes something down. "We're not using the basement for anything else. Give them a nice one. Can probably make it a break room for all the employees. Put a few offices down there."

"I can do that. I can wall off half of it." Monte gets a paper and starts drawing. "Nobody will see the vault. I'll put an entrance to the offices here. Top security on that door. You'll have to go through there to get to the vault or the offices."

"Put couches and stuff for them. Some vending machines or a kitchen even. I know they'll get hungry. 8 hours is a long time. Some bathrooms. Nothing with flashing lights. That's going to hurt everyone's eyes after an hour. We'll all need breaks. I need an office too. It's my casino."

Mike winks. "Who gets offices, woman?"

"Me, Conner, because he helps," He cracks up laughing. "Monte. Who else needs one?"

"The rest of us, babygirl."

"Yea, that's fine. You help too. You can each have an office. What goes in the vault?"

"About 5 million dollars. You need to be able to pay the people that win. You'll want to keep an average of 5 million there. The customers who lose money, that money goes to your vault. When they win, you take the money out."

"They can go to the vault?"

Monte shakes his head. "The bank that people use will be right above the vault. It will have $100,000 in it. Say someone wins $5,000 on a slot machine. They take their ticket to the bank. The bank gives them $5,000 and keeps the ticket. Now, if too many people win one day, the bank will run out of money. They will have to call someone with access to the vault to get them another $100,000."

"Then how do I make money?"

"Most people aren't going to win."

"And will the bank and vault be safe?"

"Yes, it will be heavily reinforced with electronic locks that use eye scanners. State-of-the-art security system with cameras everywhere. Bullet-proof glass around the bank part. Bars around the entire thing. Motion alarms on the vault and hallways outside it. Alarm buttons for the bank tellers. If the power goes out, there will be a generator inside the vault to power it."

Cyrus stares at him. "You are not messing around."

"No. I'm not. It's Mystical Moon that is on the line if someone breaks into it."

"How do I pay people with cash in the vault? Do you get cash instead of a check?"

Monte smirks. "No. Say you keep 1 million in the vault. 100k in the bank. At the end of the day, you make sure the bank has 100k. Make sure the vault has 1 million and deposit the rest into a bank. You write payroll from that account."

"We're not going to do that every day, but yea, that's how it works, babygirl."

"Do I pay you or do I pay each of the guards?"

"You'll pay me. I pay them. They don't work for you. They work for me."

"You have to pay them fair."

"What's fair?"

"More than $1 an hour."

Conner cracks up laughing. "$20 an hour is about fair for security work. He's giving you. f**k, you're making me math. 10 guards constantly. 240 hours of work a day. That's 7200 hours a month. Times $20 an hour. $144,000 a month. Not counting his pay."

"What is his pay?"

Conner shrugs his shoulders. "200k a year."

Cyrus rubs his face. "He was doing so good before."

Mike nods. "We'll do 300k a month total. That'll pay for fuel and everything. You can sort out wear and tear on the helicopter. Pay yourself and the guards. Leave some for raises for them. You are not getting a raise from us until we make some real money."

"That's my first bill? 300k a month?"

"Yes. Electricity will be high too. That's a lot of lights and machines to run. Not 300k a month though. Not that high. Security will be your highest bill and it should be. You'll have a water bill for running the sinks and bathrooms. You'll also need to pay the general staff. You're looking at about 500k a month total. Anything you make over that, is profit."

"Do you think I'll make that much?"

All of them, "Yes."

"Good deal. Let's eat something. I'm hungry."