Chapter 5
“Mr. Ambassador, what you’re proposing to give those Jews is ridiculous. They don’t need all that land to be partitioned to them, they should be told they have to live where they currently reside. Besides, there are people living there who would not appreciate having to share,” stated Gregory Evans, complaining to the British Ambassador to the new United Nations about Palestine while looking over the map of the proposed partition of Israel between the Jews and Arabs.
“Well, we have a mandate to create a homeland for the Jews, ever since the end of the First World War, and our Balfour Declaration favored re-creating Israel. My government has been trying to limit immigration, but the United States is pushing us to let thousands of refugees into Palestine immediately. Harry Truman has the audacity to demand that we open up Palestine, but his government recommends that there be no Arab or Jewish state. Now, that ship with Holocaust survivors on board is causing some embarrassment for us, so my government is going to have me bring the issue up at the next Security Council to recommend statehood,”
“If you do this, there will be war, I will guarantee you that. This will not stand!”
“Are you threatening to bring the world to the brink of another war, Mr. Evans?”
“Of course not, but I have interests in the area who are not pleased with this development, and they are threatening war. You and your people best take heed of this warning, because it will not end well for you or your Jew friends,”
“And you best watch yourself, young man, otherwise, you’ll anger all the wrong people with that belligerent attitude of yours. Now, if you don’t mind, I have things to attend to. You know where the exit is, correct?”
Gregory was not pleased that the British Ambassador wouldn’t listen to him, nor was he pleased with the heavy-handed way he was treated. If he could get away with it, Gregory would have the Ambassador killed, but that wouldn’t stop history from marching on. This partition nonsense was angering his Arab associates, especially the oil-rich ones who thought the United Nations was about to take away parts of their countries that just happened to have oil underneath the surface. Some Jews were taking it upon themselves to go to Palestine without any kind of official permission, including the passengers on board the SS Exodus. It gave the British a black eye that they didn’t want to repeat.
By the time Gregory approached his office he decided it would be wise to take a wait-and-see approach. The proper course of action was what he needed to think about now.
In the meantime, he was in the midst of courting Wayne Thompson’s daughter, Evelyn. She took the whole business very seriously; shopping for wedding dresses, wedding rings, where they would have the wedding, the reception, and even the honeymoon. If Gregory had his way, the only wedding ceremony would be in front of a Justice of the Peace without having to spend money on such unnecessary trappings, but he had to make Thompson and his daughter happy, otherwise the business deal would be off.
Now that they were nearing the wedding date, Evelyn was about to graduate from Harvard, and Gregory felt like he was being dragged from one end of New York City to the other when it came to the wedding plans. Even though Evelyn had people for this who could do all the shopping for her, she preferred doing everything herself. Now they were at a fitting for the dress Evelyn had picked out. Gregory sat down on a couch, bored out of his mind while Evelyn was being fitted for her dress.
Evelyn came out of the changing room with the dress she wanted on, and was directed to stand on a platform, while some of the service people began to take her measurements. Gregory saw that other women were being fitted around the store, but noticed there were no other men, bored like him, sitting and watching their fiancée’s mess around with their dresses. While Gregory admitted to himself that Evelyn was rather attractive, especially in the dress, he still really had no desire to be married, but he supposed that Thompson was right about Gregory needing to carry his legacy on.
“Gregory, what do you think so far?” Evelyn asked, as she was being poked and prodded by the women who were doing the measuring.
“What do I think of what?”
“My dress, silly,”
Gregory shrugged his shoulders, “Oh. I think it’s nice. What do you think?”
Evelyn knew Gregory wasn’t as into this as she was and she really tried to ignore the signs she saw that indicated he really didn’t want to get married, but this was one of those times she felt like calling him out on it.
“Gregory, will you please pay attention and please be a little more engaged. I know that you probably think this whole thing is silly and unworthy of your attention, but at least humor me. I could always complain to Daddy you know. If I do, you know he won’t be happy,”
“Seriously?” he asked, with an arched eyebrow and then folding his arms across his chest.
“Yes. Daddy wouldn’t have a problem canceling that little business deal between the two of you if he thought you weren’t treating me right. If you want to have your way, sometimes you have to let other people have their way,”
“So you know about me taking your father’s business in exchange for marrying you?”
“You bet. Being the oldest, I should have first rights to the business once Daddy dies, but if you weren’t in the picture, he’d rather hand it over to my younger brother, which is not fair. This deal evens everything out. So if you don’t do what I want, the deal is off like that,” then she snapped her fingers to indicate that she could end this whole thing at the snap of her fingers.
“Fine. I like your dress, you look lovely, and I look forward to getting married.” Gregory deadpanned, barely containing his sarcasm.
“Your attitude could use some improving, but that’s better. Ladies, how much longer is this going to take?”
“We’ll be finished with your measurements in five minutes, Miss Thompson. Please be patient,” answered the chief dress maker.
“I believe I have been patient. Now Gregory, I think our next stop should be Tiffany’s, since I would love a new necklace. Would you indulge me?”
“Yes, Dear.” He turned his head away and rolled his eyes. He remembered he should inform her of something he had to do, “Evelyn, I’m probably going to have to go out of town soon. I have some business to take care of overseas. It won’t affect the wedding plans,”
“Can I go?”
“I don’t think it would be a good idea. I would need you to be blissfully unaware of what of my business dealings are if what I’m planning to do fails. That way we have plausible deniability and all of that. Can you stay behind and not ask questions?”
“I suppose, but it won’t be any fun not having you here, being the sourpuss that you are. When you do go, buy something for me from wherever it is, will you?”
This girl is getting on my last nerve, but it’s for a worthwhile cause, and I will do something eventually about this impertinent girl and her father, Gregory thought to himself, and then said out loud, “Ok, I’ll bring you something back. In the meantime, you get that dress properly fitted and then we’ll go to Tiffany’s to buy you whatever your heart desires.”
Evelyn squealed with delight hearing that Gregory would indulge her with whatever she wanted from Tiffany’s or any other store if she had mentioned it.
The better he knew Evelyn, the more he realized that she was a very manipulative person, a quality she must’ve gotten from her father, because Evelyn’s mother was sweet and kind by all appearances. If Gregory didn’t have so many different things going on that consumed him and his lust for power, he thought Evelyn would’ve been the perfect mate, but as it was, she was in the way, and her use to him wouldn’t last for long. How long? Gregory hadn’t decided that, but he knew that he would know when it would be time.
Evelyn knew Gregory wasn’t happy with this situation, but she got some pleasure out the fact that she could manipulate him, mostly by threatening to talk to her father. She wasn’t worried about the possibility Gregory would get rid of her
or her parents; because her father had made it known among their circle that if anything happened to them, the suspicion should be placed on Gregory Evans, and she was sure that he had probably heard about it through the grapevine. While it probably went against his nature, Evelyn thought Gregory would do the right thing for her, and she would test that theory out as many times as she could get away with. For now, she would enjoy her shopping trip, and then watch him leave for whatever overseas business he had to deal with.
A week later, Gregory was ready to leave for the Middle East. He had the weapons suppliers scheduled to meet him in Damascus. The various leaders of the Arabs in and around Gaza would also meet with him to discuss sending the Jews packing. There prepared to immediately declaring war on them the minute the United Nations gave them any land in Palestine. They would try to make it impossible for any Jew to live anywhere in the Middle East.
Gregory thought the whole thing in general was ridiculous. He didn’t understand why anyone would fight over a city like Jerusalem or all of that dead wasteland. The city wasn’t part of any major trade routes and it was in the middle of a desert on top of a mountain, but humans had fought over it for thousands of years. The spiritual warfare that involved Jerusalem, and the Middle East, in general, escaped Gregory’s understanding. He cared only about the energy deposits underneath the Middle East.
Manipulating tensions between the Jews and the Arabic Muslims would be easy. The Arabs seemed to have regressed in technology from their advances in centuries past and now seemed more like Stone Age primitives. With the Arabs’ predilection for fighting to the death, mostly through suicide charges if they were losing, Gregory thought they would beat the Jews easily enough.
Landing at the Damascus airport, Gregory was met by Alexya Demetryev, his contact with the Soviet government. They shook hands and Gregory asked, “How far is your government willing to take this?”
“Are you asking if they want to start a world war?” asked the Russian, in a heavy accent.
“Yes. Are they willing to go that far?”
“Nyet. My government is willing to poke and prod the western powers, supply weapons to these so-called freedom fighters, and be the thorn in the side to the United States, but they do not want another world war,”
“Ah, I see. So your government is going to basically counteract the United States. Let’s say they were to intervene in the Korean Civil War, would you induce the Communist Chinese to take part in that?”
“Officially, no. Unofficially, yes. My government wants to maintain a Cold War, if that’s the correct phrasing, with the United States. No actual military clashes between the two super powers, only covert actions, designed to weaken the United States from the inside. Our strategy is long-term, because we know the American people are weak-willed and easily distracted. They will succumb to us, eventually,”
“Excellent. Your contacts in this area, are they ready to deploy when the time comes?”
“Dah. They’re also looking forward to meeting their benefactor, the American who chooses to run contrary to his government. You are becoming known, my young friend,”
Gregory’s mood darkened, and his eyes narrowed as he said, “That’s not good, not good at all. I’m trying to be the power behind the scenes. When people think of me, I want to be a shadow, an urban legend, someone everyone thinks is a myth. I want you, or one of your lackeys, to make it known that my name is to never be mentioned, otherwise, there will be consequences. Understand?”
“Your meaning is crystal clear. Are you ready to meet with the various Arab leaders now?”
“Yes, yes, I’m ready to meet with the primitives.”
As Evans was driven through Damascus, he found the city to be terribly lacking in charm. He saw it as an ancient city that was dirty and flat out rundown. The work ethic of westerners is much better. Their cities are generally cleaner, nicer. Rome was ancient, but didn’t look anything like this, Gregory thought.
Luckily, this would be his last trip to Syria, when he did have business meetings in the area, usually regarding oil, they would all be in Saudi Arabia. The Saudis were clean and were also control freaks, and Gregory liked them. Why can’t the entire Middle East be run by the Saudis, why were the primitives the ones controlling everything? wondered Gregory. Thinking about the answer to that question would drive him nuts if he thought about it for too long, so he thought about something else.
They came to a building on the outskirts of the city, where there were armed guards standing out front, ready to take down anyone willing to challenge them. Gregory and Demetryev exited the car and went inside.
They found the men they were looking for in a large room on the second floor. Gregory introduced himself, using Demetryev as a translator (Gregory, of course, needed no translator, but it was better if not everyone knew that). Gregory talked about the United Nations’ plans for partition and how he was going to give the Arabs fighting the Jews money to keep up the fight so they could buy the weapons they needed. He convinced the men that they would win the day and they would have sole ownership of the Middle East when all was said and done.
As Gregory was about to leave, one of the Arab fighters asked, “Will the United States or any of the western powers come to the Jews’ aid?”
“I doubt it. The British don’t really have the power to do anything; all they want to do is withdraw from the area. The United States verbally supports the new Jewish state, but I don’t see them supplying weapons anytime soon. What of the Arab League, will they also attack the Jews?”
“I’m sure they will. We have a right to this land, the Jews do not. If they force us into full-on war, they will be massacred!”
“Good, keep that attitude up. I will watch how this situation develops and act accordingly when the time comes. I wish all of you good luck with this venture.” Gregory walked out and got into the car that was still waiting for him.
At the airport, as Gregory and Demetryev were about to go their separate ways, a messenger from the Russian Embassy rushed over to Demetryev, gave him a piece of paper, and then rushed away with Demetryev’s permission. The Russian looked over the paper, and said, “The United Nations has voted. There were thirty-three votes for Resolution 181, the Partition Plan, thirteen against, ten that abstained, and one that was absent. It appears the United States used their influence to convince other countries to join them, with the exception of India, who voted no because of the pressure from the United States. They were angry with how the votes were lined up. Looks like the Middle East will be exploding shortly,”
“Good, good. Excellent news. Tell your government I look forward to working with them again when and if another time comes like this. Now I’ve got to go. Thank you for your help.” Both men shook hands and went their separate ways.
The next day, violence erupted in the area. In less than a year, the Arab forces were falling apart, as the Jewish forces were strengthened by those who fought in the Second World War. The Arab League decided to join in, which caused thousands of casualties, but Israel held onto the territory they were mandated to have, while Jordan took over the West Bank and Egypt took over the Gaza Strip.
Gregory was surprised that the Jews managed to win, but he knew there would be other opportunities to make money off of more wars in the area. Nothing was really settled, as both sides continued to attack each other.
Back home in the United States, Gregory was greeted by Evelyn, who asked, “Did you get what you needed done? Do you have to go back any time soon?”
“Yes, everything’s taken care of and I don’t need to return to the area for a while. Are your wedding plans finished yet?” Gregory asked, with some impatience in his voice.
“Oh yes, they are. All we need now is the groom,”
“The wedding’s not this minute is it?”
“Stop being silly, Gregory, the wedding is two days from now, on Saturday, like it has always been. You’re not getting cold feet are you?” she arched an eyebrow, trying to
see if Gregory would take the bait.
“No, I’m not getting cold feet. What a preposterous notion. You should know by now that I stick to my agreements, whether I’m at an advantage or not. I bet you’d like me to run away, that way you can stab your brother in the back and take control of your father’s business yourself. Am I right?”
Evelyn shrugged her shoulders, not expecting Gregory to have zeroed in on her motivations so quickly. This man is shrewd, she thought, so I better be more careful about voicing my thoughts, otherwise, I might give him a reason to get rid of me. Then, she decided to use her feminine wiles, which probably wouldn’t work on him, but Evelyn figured she’d try. “Now, now, Gregory, I wouldn’t do that. I enjoy being with you,” she said, as she twirled his tie around her fingers, batting her long eyelashes, and doing her best to get him flustered, “and I can’t wait ‘til our honeymoon. If I wasn’t such a good girl, I’d have you right here and right now. But, alas, too many people would talk, so we can’t. But, I can do this….” She planted a full lip kiss on Gregory, who started squirming as he felt she violated his personal space by touching him inappropriately. As he was about to give in, she finally released him. He seemed to have turned a couple of shades of red and his hands were sweating. Apparently, that kiss embarrassed him.
“What was that?” he managed to stammer out a few seconds later.
“It was to show you that I mean business when I marry you. I’ll thaw you out eventually. Now, let’s go get something to eat, I’m sure you’re starved after that long trip.”
Two days later, Gregory and Evelyn were married in lavish ceremony at Central Park, with hundreds of guests attending. After the Reception, which was quite a drunken affair, the two went on their honeymoon, to Paris, France. They stayed in Europe for a whole month and Evelyn managed to get Gregory to loosen up a bit, but not enough for him to change his plans.
Six months after the marriage, Wayne Thompson signed over the business to Gregory. Now all Gregory had to do was to wait for the appropriate time, when no one was expecting a thing, to rid himself of the Thompson family.
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