"What's going on next door, hon?  What are they building?" Amy asked,

setting a bag of precious groceries down on the table.  She was

referring to the construction going on in the big corner lot next door. 

The air was filled with the sounds of construction-- men and heavy

equipment shaping the earth.

Her husband shrugged.  "How should I know?" he responded angrily. 

"Despite what you think, I'm not here all day."

It was starting already.  She hadn't been home for two minutes.  "Just

I thought there might be a job opportunity, so that's all.  How did your

search go today?"

Wendell threw the paper across the room angrily.  "There's nothing out

there-- nothing!"

Amy rubbed his back.  "Honey, it's just going to take a while-- that's

all!  Don't get so down on yourself.  It's all right!"  He was

getting so depressed these days.  It broke her heart to see him like

this-- his powerful frame bent over in frustration and shame.

His eyes glared at her.  "Everywhere I go, I get the same thing--

'Sorry, no openings.'  No construction jobs, nothing."  He was seething

mad, but she didn't rise to the bait.  It wasn't Amy he was mad at-- it

was himself.

"What about the list of contacts Bob Baines gave me to give you?  Have

you tried them all?"

Wendell ran a huge hand through his brown hair nervously.  "No-- I mean

yes I tried them all.  It was nice of him to offer to help but none of

the companies had work. Could you get me a beer?"

Amy scurried to the fridge, bringing him back a cold one.  She wanted to

say something-- he was putting on weight by drinking so much-- but she

held her tongue. "Here you go, honey.  Just go sit down and watch the

news.  I'll have dinner ready in a few minutes, o.k.?"  Wendell

clambered up and switched on the television.

As she prepared a meatloaf, Amy looked at the calendar on the

kitchen wall. Wendell had been out of work for four months to the day. 

Dully, she thought about how hard life had become since getting married. 

She was so tired all the time now, what with working at the bank

cleaning the small house and making dinner.  And later when they went

to bed, Wendell would want to make love to her-- and she would have to

say no.  She sighed.  They hadn't made love in weeks, practically since

she had started temping at the bank.  She never had the energy these

days and knew it was frustrating him to no end.  Soon.  He'll get a job

soon, she thought hopefully.

****************

Amy felt uncomfortable as she escorted the three strange men to Bob's

office. They were unlike the typical loan applicants, that was for sure. 

True, they wore expensive suits and were thoroughly polite (as much as

the language difference made that possible), but there was an edge to

them that made her skin crawl, a shark-like gleam in their eyes as they

scanned the bank offices-- and her.  She knew they were checking out her figure as she led them down the hallway.  All strange, but Amy reminded herself,  you didn't often have three South American businessmen doing business in Bentson County.  She could feel their eyes on her ass as she knocked on Bob's door.

"Your guests are here."  She opened the door and Bob greeted them in

fluent Spanish. Amy left the group, glad to be done with them, as Bob

shut the door firmly.  Bob was amazing. She had had no idea he was so

well-traveled and could speak Spanish so well. You just never knew all a

person's little secrets, she thought.

As she attended to her filing, she could hear raised voices from time to

time behind the great oak door.  Spanish words filled with anger, then

calm, then pleased. Must be a big deal! An hour later, Bob asked her to

come in.

"Amy, we need your help.  These gentlemen," he nodded toward the slick

young operators, "are with the Hemispheric Economic Development

Commission and represent some very major business interests.  Have you

heard of NAFTA?  Yes, well it has opened the way for institutions

like First Metropolitan and their organization to work together in each

of our respective communities.  These gentlemen are interested in

working with us to ensure their assets are invested widely in all kinds

of local businesses here in Bentson County."

Amy smiled and nodded at the men.  To her disgust, they openly leered at

her. One stared right at her chest and laughed, saying something in

Spanish to the other two. They all then laughed. Amy blushed.

"That's great Bob.  Can I go now?"  These guys gave her the creeps!

Bob nodded.  "In a minute.  We just need you to witness the agreement." 

He pushed a stack of papers toward her, all legalese and written in

incomprehensible bank English.

She picked up a pen, trying not to have her back face the three South

Americans.