- “ Let’s take a brake from the golf game Charles. Here have a cigar. I know that you don’t smoke, but just try one please. It’s the best in the world; it is hand wrapped in the island of Cuba. Pretty soon, it won’t be as exclusive as before with the influx of American tourist over there.”
-“ Thanks.” As Charles puffed on the fragrant cigar, he the heat of the morning sun, mingled with his light perspiration, and the scent of the bittersweet tobacco.
- “ Let’s take a walk Charles. We are very happy to have you as part of our team. We have mutually agreed on one thing. We would like for you to move up in ranks. But, as you know by now, there must be merits involved. Surely I don’t have to tell you that moving up a level will bring inherent benefits. You will have more clout in the group, as well as in the business world. Before we promote you though, there is something you must ‘sacrifice.’”
With a sinking feeling, Charles asks what it would entail.
- “You know free enterprise should not be curtailed, but sometimes one must keep in check the competition. Your brother Pablo has become a force to reckon. His research and marriage of natural medicine incorporated into medicine, is hailed by many. But, that is simply not good for a lot of businesses.
My God, there is a reason for HIV, and for him to have found a cure for it, well, it goes against what God intended. Somehow the undesirables have to be contained! With his fabulous breakthroughs in medicine, he is solely responsible for taking patients away from hospitals, and hailing him as a hero. He is driving the price of prescription drug way down, cutting into out profit margins. We just can’t have that!
We have to support each other Charles! We need you to kill your brother Pablo. That will be the sacrifice we require, for you to ascend in our organization, and to really, move up in the world as well.”
Charles was about to puff on the delicious cigar when he heard this, and he halted the process. He was an ambitious young man, who had lofty aspirations in politics, as well as in the finance world. But this seemed, just too harsh an obligation to execute.
To stall for time while he mulled over his options, and the scope of such an endeavor, Charles brought the Cuban cigar to his lips to puff on it some more. The afternoon breeze mingled with the flavor of the tobacco in his mouth. He could smell the faraway shores of La Havana.
To be continued…
