Queenpins

Hard Sell

Prologue

I don't know how we did it. I didn't think that Ame and I would be able to pull it off - but we did. Right now, the two of us - as 'Hinotori' and 'Pudding' - were brought into the headquarters of Swingwell Trade and Freight Union. The beautiful Calliope Mori - and the bony stink-face with the bald spot called Death-sensei - walked us through the front doors.

Death-sensei kept glaring at me all the way through the lobby, but Calli snapped at him again and shut him up. Calli's probably got a tighter leash on Death-sensei than the leash Gura has on Bloop.

Still, if Irys' story is true, then that tight leash didn't stop Death-sensei from pulling off shenanigans under Calli's nose. Hopefully, Ame and I can get to the bottom of that - and the 'arms deal' I heard about too.

Isn't that right, Ame-senpai?

...

Kiara winked at Ame, and Ame winked back.

"Nice monologue." Ame praised in a whisper, "Short and sweet and to the point."

"You think so?" Kiara whispered back, "I'm glad - and I'm glad that you're feeling better, Ame-senpai. Good to have you back."

"Maybe I'm a Phoenix too?" Ame teased. She stuck out her tongue.

"You wish!" Kiara chuckled, "But you'd better tell me all about what was on your mind on our way home today, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah." Ame promised, "Let's get through today first, shall we?"

Kiara and Ame nodded to each other. With that, the two of them caught up with Calli and Death-sensei. They let the Queenpin of the Deadbeats and her Lieutenant show them around Swingwell Headquarters.

Unlike the Lemon Shark Fruit Cannery, the Swingwell compound was more of an office than a factory. There weren't any complex machinery that sprawled around the place, but there were cranes that unload cargo straight from the freight trains and forklifts that moved pallets of goods all around the place.

On the contrary, the most impressive feature of Swingwell, was the vast office space inside the building - rows upon rows of desks with seats, lamps and rotary telephones as far as the eye could see! Every square inch was packed tight with a Deadbeat gangster behind their desks to take calls and make calls.

Calli and Death-sensei walked them by those rows of desks. There, they heard the Deadbeats on the phone with their customers and suppliers.

Every Deadbeat working the phones was glib and charismatic. They were the type that could sell you a pen, rob you blind and then shake your hand over the telephone.

"A lot of our business here at Swingwell is done over the phone. We run a national operation - but our reach goes around the world." Calli explained to her two new favorite Deadbeats, "We gotta keep our customers happy. We gotta keep our suppliers happy. But most importantly...!" She clapped her hands and declared, "We gotta keep them coming back for more!"

Calli leaned over a desk and called out to her army of phonebook warriors to ask, "And why do our customers and suppliers keep coming back?"

All of the Deadbeats - and even Death-sensei - stopped whatever they were doing and answered in unison.

"BECAUSE IT'S ALL GOOD IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD!"

Calli applauded her vigorous workforce and let them get back to their work. The Queenpin turned around, patted Death-sensei's shoulder and then smiled at Kiara.

"I saw your rap battle with Death-sensei earlier, Hinotori." Calli explained happily, "You're a little rough around the edges. English probably isn't your first language, isn't it?"