A strategy meeting Is a meeting of minds. — Max Mckeown

None of the Davenports went to work as usual the day after receiving the dreadful letter from the government house. Ramona cashed in on one of her sick days, explaining over the breakfast table that the thought of going in despite the threats against herself and her family was actually making her feel ill. On Gael’s part, he couldn’t hunt without breaching the government’s stipulations, while Lolita simply expressed feeling emotionally deflated by the entire ordeal. 

Instead of working, the three stopped by Lolita’s shop in the afternoon just to tidy things up and get rid of some junk. They essentially consolidated the place to prepare for the choppy waters ahead. 

When Iris Jaramillo showed up to work, Lolita graciously sent her home while still paying her as if she’d done her shift. Vigorously opposing Iris’s attempts not to take the money, she all but shoved her out the door while saying “you can repay me with dinner”. Having sent the young lady home with a laugh, Lolita locked up the shop, and they headed to the house to prepare for dinner. 

For Gael, preparing only consisted of dressing in one of his nicer jackets and grooming himself, but of course, Ramona took a good deal longer than that. One would have thought she was preparing for a date, seeing how much care she took in preparing her makeup and picking an outfit for the occasion. Her shower alone must have taken an hour, or at least it felt that way. 

And then Lolita scrambled in the kitchen to prepare a few different desserts to bring along, no matter how much Gael insisted the Jaramillos were sure to make enough food. She simply refused to arrive empty-handed. By the time Ramona finally emerged from her beautifications, Lolita stepped out of the kitchen with a fresh apple pie and a tray of muffins. 

Gael led the way out the door, helped the women up into the truck, and then took the wheel. They rolled down the familiar Steelfort streets with pink skies overhead. Traffic was sparse, and most intersections gave them the green light to pass through without delay. Compared with the difficulties they’d been enduring as of late, the drive proved to be easier than most. 

Near the outskirts of the city, Gael stopped at his first red light, and a sleek black car eased to a halt in the lane on the right side of the vehicle. Something about the vehicle’s movement caught his eye, so he glanced over. He eyed a heavyset woman in the driver’s seat, peering intently inside the truck’s cab with her neck craned out her open window. Her gaze alit on Ramona, and that appeared to excite her. The woman beckoned for the window to be rolled down, which Gael reluctantly did. 

“You certainly look sick.” the woman remarked in a mocking tone, “Deathly ill, in fact.” 

Ramona pursed her lips. “I really wasn’t feeling well this morning, Mrs. Aleric. I’ll probably be okay to come in tomorrow morning.” 

“Any underlying health conditions I should know about? We do want to give Mr. Ortega a healthy bride, after all.” 

“Just a bad morning; that’s all! Have a good night.” 

Mrs. Aleric tsked. “It won’t be your last bad morning if you stand in my husband’s way. He didn’t rise to the top by showing kindness to subordinates, you know. Try any funny business, and mark my words, you’ll regret it.” 

The light turned green, and with one stern look at Mrs. Aleric, Gael stomped on the gas pedal. His truck lurched forward into the intersection, and he quickly left the black car far behind. He far exceeded the speed limit in his frustration, which soon took the Davenports outside Steelfort’s walls. 

After a few minutes of threading through the narrow dirt lanes threading through the woods, Gael pulled the truck to a stop in front of a long house that displayed a certain simplistic beauty befitting its spot amid nature. The paint job wasn’t perfect, and some minor repairs here and there awaited a free weekend to mend, but it overall gave off a homely appearance. Most houses in Steelfort served as people’s abodes despite their aesthetic, but this was a place Gael would actually be proud to live in. 

He cradled Lolita’s deserts in his arms as he led the way up the Jaramillos’ front porch and to the door. With his hands full, he nodded for Ramona to do the honors, so she formed her hand into a fist and rapped on the door. All three Davenports exchanged a glance as they waited for a response from within. 

Then the door swung open, and Gael’s gaze descended to meet a familiar face. 

Paloma's face lit up in surprise as her eyes landed on Lolita's face. 

"Oh my word, Ms. Lolita!" 

Lolita grinned and pulled Paloma in for a hug. "It's nice to see you again, dear!" 

"It's a pleasure." Paloma smiled and pulled back. 

"And it's definitely a small world!" Ramona chimed in. "Who would have thought?" 

"I know right?" Gael agreed. " Our lives have been intertwined for so long and we didn't even know it."

"That's very true. Please come in." A friendly smile graced Paloma’s features as she beckoned them to enter. 

“Thanks for having us,” Gael said, wiping his boots off on the doormat and then stepping inside. “Hopefully we can find solutions to our problems together.” 

“I hope so too,” Paloma said, eyes growing somewhat absent for just a moment. After Ramona and Lolita stepped through, she shut the door. “Last time I checked, dinner wasn’t quite done, but by the time you meet all my brothers and sisters, it should be ready.” 

Gael chuckled. “You do have a lot of them.” 

Paloma nodded, opening a door that led to the Jaramillos’ living room. Immediately, a host of savory and spicy scents hit Gael’s nose, causing his hunger to increase. He smelt dark meat sizzling in the kitchen, even though he couldn’t see it yet. 

More immediately, a group of Paloma’s siblings awaited introduction in the living room, so she went through a lightning round to acquaint everybody with everybody else. Of course, Iris was no stranger to the Davenports, as they’d seen her earlier that very day, but the rest left positive first impressions. One sister named Alexa offered to take the desserts Lolita had made off Gael’s hands, which they readily agreed to. 

Iris’ eyes trailed Alexa walking off with the apple pie and muffins with a smirk on her face. “With that much dessert, I think you want to make us fat.” 

Lolita laughed. “Better to have too much than too little, isn’t it?” 

“With things the way they are right now? Definitely.” 

Alexa had barely disappeared around the corner with the desserts before a man emerged who must have been the man of the household, just by the way he carried himself. He stepped over with a great smile on his face and reached for a handshake with Gael. 

“I’m pleased to meet you all; I’m Timothy. You must be Gael.” 

Gael shook his hand with heart. “That’s me. Nice to meet you. This is my mom, Lolita, and my sister, Ramona.” 

“A pleasure to meet you all.” Timothy’s gaze fixated on Lolita for a moment, “I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done for my daughter.” 

“Which one?” Iris chimed in. “There’s a lot of us.” 

“You, of course,” Timothy replied with a chuckle before turning back to Lolita. “I understand times haven’t been easy for you either, but your kindness is much appreciated.” 

“Well, you’re very welcome. No good person sees a need and doesn’t try to fill it.” 

“Very true. Anyway, I came to say dinner is served. Come follow me.” 

The Davenports and Jaramillos formed a single-file parade as they followed Timothy to the dining room where Alexa had already found a seat beside a woman who must have been her mother. Gael’s mouth began to water as he glanced over the glorious display on the table, a plate piled high with corn tortillas in the middle, surrounded by all sorts of ingredients to fill a taco with. In little glasses, bowls steamed a variety of peppers, grilled onions, and refried beans with cheese in another and an array of salsas to pick from as well. No one taco could contain all the fillings that had been prepared. 

After Timothy led the two families through saying grace, the chaos began. Everybody converged on the ingredients in the middle to put tacos together, and sometimes two would end out grabbing the same spoon by accident. Though the process turned out a bit disorderly, before long, everyone had a taco or two on their plate, and the sound of teeth crunching down on corn shells filled the dining room. 

“This is really good,” Gael remarked, feeling the flavors dance in his mouth. Especially the tiny seeds in the sala added quite the spicy kick that ignited a fire on his palate. “Thank you all.” 

“No, thank you.” Timothy said emphatically, “You folks have done a lot for us, and we’re just now getting around to paying back the favor.” 

“I guess I can’t argue with that. But honestly, what would really help is if we come up with a solution to the problem facing both our families.” 

“That was the main reason Paloma mentioned for you coming here, so of course.” 

Gael swallowed a big bite full of meat before speaking again. “So, we were talking yesterday and came to the conclusion our best way to stop the deforestation is to make it hurt Newt’s wallet.” 

“Hmm, would that really stop Aleric’s agenda, though?” 

“I think so. He may have power, but he can only accomplish his goals if he has people helping him. In this case, he needs Newt.” 

“From everything you’ve told me,” Paloma spoke up, “Newt only will do anything if it benefits his bottom line. He might even tell the government to shove it if their demands mean he loses money in the long run.” 

Iris squinted. “That would mean costing him so much money that it would exceed what he would gain from the profits of the mall they want to build. I’m sorry, but I don’t think we have what it takes to make that much of an impact.” 

Timothy rose up, having already wolfed down two tacos. As he snatched up another pair of tortillas and plastered them with beans, he eyed his daughter. “I think you’re forgetting how shortsighted Newt can be. As far as he’s concerned, only the budget for the next month or two really matters.” 

Gael nodded. “So whatever we do to him has to have huge impacts in the short-term. And that’s where I think we got stuck yesterday.” 

Timothy chuckled. “Well then, it seems we need to get unstuck.” 

“Not for long. I think I know our way of solving this mess.” Iris blurted out. 

All eyes settled on Iris in that moment, and all chewing ceased. Nobody asked for her to clarify, likely because the question hanging in the air was so obvious. The silence thickened as she reveled in her suspenseful pause. 

“It’s easy,” she declared, “It’s no secret Bolivar Ortega doesn’t want this deforestation to happen any more than we do, and Newt won’t do anything that costs him more than it profits. So, we need to get Mr. Ortega to sue Newt’s company.” A slow smirk formed on her lips. 

                          ★★★★★

Yay, hurray! 🎉💃

I believe we have found a solution to the problem.

What are your thoughts on Iris's idea?  Do you think it will work?

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Until next time, strategize for the future.