Fall Guy (1st Place)

Cesar sighed and looked at the stack of discombobulated papers in his inbox. Mindless stamping and verification of mortgage foreclosure information every day wore upon him. His mind wandered to an image of him behind the wheel of his new Mustang.

“Cesar?” Sara inquired as she popped her head inside his cubicle.

“Wha…. Oh. Yeah, Sara. What’s up?”

“Mr. Thomas would like to see you.”

“The boss? The big boss would like to see me?”

“Yep.”

Cesar grabbed a pen and notepad, smoothed his hair, and set off for Mr. Thomas’s office. He swallowed hard and opened the door.

Clarice, his secretary, waved him through as she pulled a thread through her needle-point. “Go on in.”

Cesar glided through the doorway and saw Mr. Thomas, hands folded, behind his desk. “Have a seat, Cesar.” The large company emblem of a maple leaf loomed behind him.

“Cesar, do you recall a foreclosure for a Ms. Anita Veritas?”

Cesar’s mind raced. He expects me to remember one of hundreds!? “No. No, sir. I ….”

“I thought not. Verification of information is vital to the integrity of Maple Mortgage. Your stamp and initials are on her form.” Mr. Thomas flung a paper-clipped stack at him.

“Yes, I mean the company expects us to verify forty apps per day and…”

“Cesar, we have to let you go.”

“But Mr. Thomas… I just bought a new car and…”

“That’s not my problem. The press is all over us robo-stamping these foreclosures and….”

“Now wait. Ms. Veritas did you say?”

“Yes.”

“I remember her. She lived down near the bankrupt housing project. Wasn’t your family in charge of that?”

Mr. Thomas’s eyes narrowed into slits. “Are you threatening me?”

“Depends. Are you trying to make a menial clerk be your fall guy for the press?”



Flash Story
Limited to 300 Words
Must contain the words: Needle, Leaf, Wheel