Condominium (31 page)

There was a chorus of groans and hisses. She glared around at them all. Somebody said, “Those guys are suit-proof, Sally.” Another said, “What they’re doing to us is legal.” Another said, “What about the Boston tea party?”

She continued, angrily, “A lot of people around here talk about law and order all the time, but apparently they don’t believe in it. Brian and I will pay our monthly check to the Association as before, in full, and if the Association decides to hold it up and not pay those contracts, then that’s between the Association and the people who expect the money. When this matter comes to a vote, we do not intend to vote. We will abstain, and we would hope other people will follow …”

Her last words were lost in the shouts of disapproval. McGinnity banged the gavel and said, “We are supposed to be ladies and gentlemen here, and I will expect courtesy and consideration for everyone’s point of view. Santelli, you were doing a lot of shouting.”

The man stood up, fat, bald and sweaty. “If you are on a courtesy kick, Chairman, how about Mister Santelli for openers.”

“Mr. Santelli, do you have a comment to make, or would you rather sit around yelling?”

“Sure, I’ll make a comment. The only thing that works in this world is leverage, right? You got some, you use it. If we get nine or ten people not paying, they will pick us apart. Like in the old story about trying to break the bundle of sticks. We got to protect
each other in this thing. What we don’t need is a lot of people like Mrs. Kelsey, so scared of breaking the law she’s about to wet her pants.”

“Order!” McGinnity yelled, banging the gavel. “Order! What’s the matter with you people. Can’t you talk nice?”

Brian Kelsey was trying to get close enough to Santelli to hit him. He was being restrained.

Frank Branhammer was on his feet and working his way toward the door, tugging his wife along, holding her by the wrist.

“Where the hell are you going, Branhammer?”

The big man stopped and glowered at McGinnity. “There’s no point in hanging around. You’re never going to give me a chance to say a goddam word. Besides, I don’t care what the hell you do. I’ve said all along I bought my place and I agreed to pay eighty-one fifty a month, and I been paying eighty-one fifty a month, and I don’t give a shit what you ass holes decide, I keep right on paying eighty-one fifty a month, so fuck off!”

And he was gone, banging the door behind him.

“I demand to be heard!” a woman yelled.

“So be heard, lady,” McGinnity said. “Give your name.”

“Linda Furmond. Mrs. Gerald Furmond. Apartment One-E.” She was tall and very erect, with gaunt cheeks, a forehead peeling from sunburn, and fierce, bulging, blue eyes.

“Go ahead, Mrs. Furmond.”

“My husband and I have been saved. We got the message of the Lord loud and clear three years ago next Sunday. We reside in the Lord in eternal love and bliss, and acknowledge his son, Jesus Christ.”

“Mrs. Furmond, I don’t think this is the time or place …”

“Please let me finish. I want you to understand that I do not hate that pathetic creature who just left our midst, dragging his
pitiful wife along with him. I do not hate him. I wish only that I could save him from the black depths of hell where he is going to fry in unimaginable torment for all of eternity. So what I am about to say is not revenge for his loosing his foul tongue upon us. You said that the lawyer said that it would be wise for us all to be paid up on the deficit before we make our confrontation. Mr. Furmond and I have paid up our share of the deficit, and I apologize that we were unable to pay the full amount on July first, but had to wait until the fifteenth. How much of the four thousand is owed by that man who left, by that creature who left, for certainly he is less than a man in the eyes of the Lord?”

David Dow found the figure and showed it to McGinnity, who said, “I guess it’s not confidential, not after his final instructions to us. Four hundred and forty dollars and sixty cents.”

“Is he the only one who absolutely refuses to pay?”

David Dow nodded. McGinnity said, “Some people are having a lot of trouble with it, but they are going to come around as soon as they can.”

Mrs. Furmond said, “Then I move that you take the appropriate legal action against that creature with all possible haste. I move that you file a lien against his apartment, as you have the authority to do, and that you either get the money or have him evicted by the sheriff.”

“Second!” said Brooks Ames loudly. “Who needs him as a neighbor?”

“Any discussion?” McGinnity asked. “None? All those in favor raise their right hands and keep them there while Mrs. Gregg counts.”

“I make it twenty-four in favor,” she said.

“Opposed, same sign.”

“Three,” she said.

“With thirteen abstaining. Mr. Secretary, will you research the kind of notification we have to deliver to Mr. Branhammer, who has to sign it and so forth, and when you have the dope, we’ll get together and do what has to be done at this preliminary stage. I want to make it clear there is going to be no nose-to-nose confrontation between any officer of the Association and Branhammer. I don’t want anybody getting hurt or killed, and I think he is capable of it. David tried to explain the situation to him and got nowhere. He left before Branhammer completely lost control. Now as to this vote, I want to point out that when it comes to amending the Declaration of Condominium, we need thirty votes in favor not just twenty-four, and—”

“May I speak to that?” a young man said, standing in the rear of the room.

“Name?”

“McKay. Gregory McKay. I am an attorney-at-law, and I own … my wife and I own numbers Two-E and Two-F.”

“What did you say you wanted to speak to?”

“I would like to direct your attention to chapter 711 of the Florida statutes, known as the Condominium Act, subchapter ten, paragraph one. ‘An amendment of a declaration shall become effective when recorded according to law.’ And paragraph two says, ‘An amendment shall be evidenced by a certificate executed with formalities of a deed and shall include the recording data identifying the declaration.’ Sir, would you attempt to record an amendment stating you will not pay legal contractual obligations?”

“Take it, Hadley,” McGinnity said.

Forrester spoke slowly and carefully. “What we have here, Mr. McKay, is an amendment to the Golden Sands Declaration of Condominium. As you know, all declarations are similar, but not exactly alike. Ours has this statement in it, regarding the Association:
‘It shall have the power to execute contracts, deeds, mortgages, leases and other instruments by its officers.’ I believe that power is as stated in the statutes. We would like to add this sentence, directly following ‘its officers’: ‘The officers of the incorporated Association shall have the right to renegotiate any contract with any supplier of a commodity or a service, or any lease agreement, for the benefit of the members of the Association whenever in their judgment the cost of the commodity, service or lease is excessive, or the item, service or facility provided is inferior to what could reasonably be expected to be obtained in the open market, and in the process of such renegotiation the officers of the incorporated Association shall be free to exercise their own best judgment as to the steps to be taken to achieve such renegotiation, even to bringing suit to have the matter adjudicated in a court of law.’ ”

Hadley Forrester put his piece of paper aside and said, “Of course, when the Articles of Condominium were drawn up by Mr. Traff, Mr. Liss’s attorney, who was at that time an officer of the Association, it could have been an oversight that such powers of renegotiation were not clearly put forth. We, your officers, feel we would like to have that power. But before putting it to a vote we thought it only fair to let everyone know how we intend to make use of those powers insofar as the recreation lease and the management contract are concerned. The Declaration forms a part of every deed, and so this amendment will form a part of every deed, provided we can get a two-thirds favorable vote.”

As McKay still stood, his expression strained, McGinnity asked him if he had any further comment.

“Just this, sir. If this passes, I am being mousetrapped. I cannot afford to maintain the two apartments I own, and I don’t see how I can sell them if they are subject to the litigation your actions will
surely bring. Anyone else who wishes to sell will be in the same boat. It isn’t fair.” He sat down.

“That screwed up the game plan,” McGinnity whispered to Forrester.

“Go ahead now, then,” Hadley suggested.

McGinnity nodded meaningfully at George Gobbin, sitting placidly, half smiling, in the midst of uproar and turmoil. George hopped up at once and was recognized.

“Mr. Chairman, I have listened carefully to the amendment as proposed by you officers of our Association. I want to say this. You have worked long and hard in our best interests. We all trust you to go on doing so. I do not think it is fair that you should be handicapped by the fact there is a gap in our Declaration where that amendment really and truly belongs. You shouldn’t be handcuffed in your attempt to right wrongs. And we are protected by the fact it gives you the authority to renegotiate in only one direction. Down. Let’s face it. Marty Liss set us up. We were pigeons. This is our chance to show him we’re not that dumb. I move that we consider the amendment as read by Mr. Forrester. And I hope we pass it by a big margin.”

“Second the motion,” several people shouted.

“Seconded by Ross Twigg,” McGinnity told Mrs. Gregg. “All in favor signify by raising their right hands. Remember now, one vote per apartment, except for Higbee and McKay, who are voting two each, and Mr. Wasniak, who’ll be voting nine proxies. How many total votes is that, Mrs. Gregg?”

“Uh … forty.”

“All right. Keep those hands high. No. Let’s not do it that way. Everybody in favor, get up and move over by the windows. What? Yes, couples too. Everybody in favor. Except the people at this table. The officers are all in favor and how are you voting the proxies,
Stanley? In favor. Right. So that’s fifteen yes votes right here at the table, when we include you, Mrs. Gregg. I’d appreciate it if you’d vote one way or the other. You’ve got the right to abstain, of course. I would just personally appreciate a vote from everybody. Now then, let’s see who we’ve got left. You, Mr. McKay. That’s two against. And you, Julian. Two more. Mrs. Kelsey, are you going to … Ah, fine. Thank you. Okay, if we have forty, then we have thirty-six in favor, four against.”

“Thirty-five. Mr. Branhammer left.”

“Right! We count him as abstaining. One abstem … The hell with it, we’ll count him as absentee, along with the other seven absentees. Thirty-five for, four against, eight absent, totals forty-seven. Your officers really and truly appreciate this from the bottom of our hearts, folks. You make our task easier. Yes, you can go back to your seats. Now I want to report on what we’ve found out about the project behind us, which isn’t too much.…”

Thelma Mensenkott stood up slowly. She was in the middle of the front row. She was a quiet woman, bigboned and self-effacing, speaking quite pleasantly when spoken to. Most of them knew she was about thirty years younger than her husband, and that his first wife had died of some kind of cancer. Her mouth worked and no sound came out. Jack Mensenkott tugged at her, whispering, “Thelma, honey. Sit down, honey. It’s okay, honey.”

She twisted away from his grasp. She stared earnestly at McGinnity. She had laced her fingers together, holding them so tightly her knuckles whitened. There had been muttered conversations, the sounds of people shifting in the chairs, rustling the papers which had been handed out. Gradually all these sounds stopped as everyone became aware of the tension and strangeness of the woman’s silence.

For a time she had seemed to be trying to break her own silence.
Now her mouth was still. Her face was emptied of all expression. McGinnity realized she was staring at a spot a couple of feet over his head.

Jack Mensenkott stood up beside her and put his arm around her. “Sit down, honey,” he said in a low voice. “Please.”

There was no sign she had heard him. He glanced around at everyone and shrugged apologetically and said, “I think … I think we better go. She wanted to say something about … everything being cleared off that land. But I guess …”

He had to physically turn her. People made room for her to pass. If he kept pushing her along, she walked. If he stopped pushing, she stopped walking. His face was red.

When the door swung shut behind them, there was a concerted sigh. Carlotta Churchbridge, who had been sitting on the other side of her, said, “I think I’ll go see what I can do to help. She wanted to speak to this matter. It’s important to her. When they cleared that land, something strange happened to her. They’re right next to us, you know. She was making a study of that jungle. It was ruthless and wicked, wiping it all out like that. May I be excused?”

“Run along, dear,” Mr. Churchbridge said.

Hadley Forrester said, “I think we should have another meeting when we’ll have more to report on the construction, Pete. It’s almost four o’clock and—”

“Wait! Wait a minute!” Julian Higbee said. “I’ve got to say something about this thing you’re going to do, about not paying Frank West and Sully.”

Pete looked at his watch. “We can give you a couple of minutes.”

Julian Higbee looked smaller in clothes. He wore a long-sleeved shirt jacket in off-white, with a blue collar and blue pockets. The sleeves covered his big brown meaty arms, and his gray slacks hid the
thick powerful legs. His carefully coifed auburn cap which was usually brushed and sprayed across his forehead was in disarray. He had been running his hands through it. He wore a frown of concern.

“I don’t know where to start. Look, I know everybody here. What I mean to say is, okay, I got off on the wrong foot around here because the way it was in the beginning, like it still is over at Captiva House next door, was squeeze out the last dime. I mean if I could skip some kind of maintenance, or put in a big bill, or scrimp on parts, anything like that, then I looked better to my boss, Mr. Sullivan. You can see how that is. Gulfway Management has got like thirty-four condos, eleven motels, a couple of car washes. They got a cleaning service, lawn service, linen service, and some franchise distributorships in beer and soft drinks and vending machines and so on. And it is all run the same way, in a good business way, like make the most you can out of everything. It is all on long-term contracts.”