Good afternoon. It is I Gigi the parti poodle here to introduce chapter eleven of my story Certified Sadistic Accountant. We got our first snowfall of the year this week. It has been quite slushy where we are but around us are places which are getting hit harder. It’s hard to believe I went for my first walk with my novelist a couple days ago since her ankle debacle and now it is treacherous out there.

This week we watched the Emmy Awards and were heartbroken that Better Call Saul received no statues. In fact, the show has never won an Emmy despite being nominated for fifty-three of them over the course of its run. This was most disheartening as my novelist, and I considered it the best American show on television this past year. We thought it should have taken home awards for Best Drama Series, Best Lead Actor in a Drama Series for Bob Odenkirk, Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for Rhea Seehorn, Outstanding Picture Editing For A Drama Series, Outstanding Writing For A Drama Series for S6.E13 ∙ Saul Gone. We are confused as why S6.E7 ∙ Plan and Execution was not nominated for writing as that was the episode we would have awarded with the Emmy. This is most disheartening for a show which was consistently brilliant, never once losing its way and did the unbelievable: it nailed its ending. Perhaps it’s another sad instance of realizing it is not cream which rises but rather mediocrity. Until time passes and everyone forgets about the mediocre.

On the upside, we are delighted at all the awards The Bear took for the Comedy Series catagory including Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Lead Actor In A Comedy Series for Jeremy Allen White, Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series for Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series for Ayo Edebiri. We are also delighted at all the awards the fantastic Beef won for limited series including Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie for Steven Yeun, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie for Ali Wong, Outstanding Directing For A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie, and Outstanding Writing For A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie. We were also delighted that Paul Walter Hauser won Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie for playing the very creepy Larry Hall in the fantastic Black Bird and the wacky Weird: The Al Yankovic Story winning Outstanding Television Movie.

And now after all that exposition here is chapter eleven of Certified Sadistic Accountant. Enjoy!

Certified Sadistic Accountant

by

Gigi the parti poodle

Chapter Eleven

Thursday. Seven-fifteen A.M. Curtis pulled into the parking lot of the Dupree Tax Agency. He killsed the engine and stared at the building. He’d spent the entire night plotting. He went over his plan in his head again just like he had at midnight, two A.M. and four A.M. He wanted some coffee, and he wanted it now. Curtis unlocked the car door and strode up to the entrance. He took a deep breath and exhaled. Today was going to be different. 

He marched into the building and headed for the break room where he examined the level of beans in the coffee machine. He filled it, which didn’t require much effort. As Mr. Dupree said, only he and Curtis drank the house coffee. He brewed a cup for himself and added his usual quota of milk. He started to add regular sugar and then decided to be adventurous. He grabbed two packets of raw sugar, ripped them open, and poured them into his coffee. Yup, he thought, next step a Harley Davidson. He strutted out to his desk and waited. Five minutes later Mr. Dupree and his lovely daughter Fia entered the building.

“Good morning, Curt,” Mr. Dupree said sporting his London Fog trench coat and his usual suit and tie.

“Good morning, Mr. Dupree,” Curtis said.

“Hi, Curtis,” Fia said taking off her Ralph Lauren Lambskin Moto Jacket.

“Good morning, Fia,” Curtis said eerily.

Fia gave him a strange look as she went about hanging her jacket on the coat stand behind the receptionist desk. “Oh,” she said noticing the coffee cup he was holding. “I would have filled the beans last night before I left if I knew you’d get here before we did.”

“It’s fine. I filled the beans when I came in.”

“Thank you. That was sweet of you, Curtis.”

Mr. Dupree headed into the breakroom to get his coffee.

“Flying solo today.”

“What?”

“This is your first day not shadowing Bexley.”

“Oh. Yes, that’s right. I guess I am flying solo today.”

Curtis smiled mischievously. “You’ll do just fine. In fact, you’ll do better than fine.”

“Thank you.”

“Absolutely.”

There was a long pause and then she said, “I’m going to see what else needs to be done in the break room…”

“Say, Fia.”

“Yes?”

“I was wondering if you could help me at lunch today.”

Fia gave him a puzzled look.

“I was hoping you could help me figure out what to get your father for his birthday.”

“Yes,” she said surprised. “That’s kind of you to remember.”

“I’m running out of ideas.”

“He’s hard to buy for.”

“Lunch then.”

“Yes, lunch.”

“Good.”

Fia hurried into the breakroom. Curtis gazed out the front window waiting for his fellow accountants to arrive. He opened his drawer, put on a headset, and listened to heavy metal music. Five minutes later they appeared, each holding a pastel coffee cup from The Steamed Bean.

“Hey, Cook the Books,” Lance said nonchalantly as he strode to his desk. “Ready to try and win that big competition?”

It angered Curtis the way Lance spoke to him as if nothing had happened. But he kept his cool and said calmly, “Not try. Do.”

“What are you, Yoda now?”

“I’m going to win this time.”

“Well, alright buddy. Game on.”

Curtis’s eyes shifted to Makenna and narrowed. She looked as cool as ice standing there in her designer boots and full-length London Fog raincoat. “Good morning, Makenna,” he said unable to help himself.

Makenna turned towards Curtis and in that precise moment he saw a flicker of shock in her eyes. And that was all it took for Curtis to know she was guilty. Not that she had remorse for killing Haven, He knew she was incapable of feeling remorse. But she did fear getting caught and that one flicker, that one surge of concern for her own well-being could not be mistaken.

“Good morning, Cook,” she said with malice.

“Cook the Books says he’s going to win Accountant of the Year,” Lance said.

Makenna stared at Curtis as if she were a spider examining an insect in her web. “Did he?”

“I just believe in good honest work,” Curtis said.

“It isn’t just good honest work that makes you a winner.”

“You’re right. Sometimes it takes a little bit more. And maybe I’m distracted.”

“What’s distracting you?” Lance said smugly. “Bexley?”

“No. My dog died yesterday.”

“What?” Fia said returning from the breakroom.

“My Yorkshire Terrier. She somehow got loose yesterday, ran out into the street, and got hit.”

“Oh, Curtis! I’m so sorry.”

Curtis looked at Makenna and said, “I guess I didn’t lock my house up as well as I thought.”

“Your mind’s been on Tax Season.”

“Maybe,” Curtis said noticing the flash of discomfort flicker in Makenna’s eyes.

Lance glanced at Makenna then at Curtis. He took a pull off his espresso.

“It’s terrible losing a pet,” Fia said. “I had a chihuahua when I was a kid. She was white with blue eyes. I took her everywhere. But when she turned fifteen, we had to put her down. It was awful. Broke my heart.”

“Yeah,” Curtis said with a lump in his throat.

“Well,” Makenna said heading for her desk. “I have a client coming in at eight. Sorry for your loss, Cook the Books, but I have a contest to win.”

“Yeah, me too,” Irving said.

“Time to kick some ass,” Grady said.

Lance glanced at Curtis then put his laptop in his docking station and focused on his monitor.

Curtis turned to his computer screen and smiled. He was nail on about these guys. All he had to do now was put his plan into action.

MY BOOKS

You can check out my books Chicane and all five installments of the Musicology book series Musicology: Volume One, Baby!, Musicology: Volume Two, Kid!, Musicology: Volume Three, Twist!, Musicology: Volume Four, Sweetie! and Musicology: The Epiquad on Amazon in Kindle and Paperback editions. You can also check out Musicology’s web site at www.musicologyrocks.com and vote for who you think will win Musicology!

STREAM OF THE WEEK-TETRIS (2023)-APPLE TV+

STREAM OF THE WEEK-TETRIS (2023)-APPLE TV+

This week’s pick is an exciting and entertaining film based on the true story of how one very determined young businessman bet everything he owned and the safety of his family on getting the rights to the enormously popular videogame Tetris…from the Russian government.

In 1988, Henk Rogers (Taron Egerton who received an Emmy nomination this year for his excellent work in Black Bird ) a likeable young businessman for the company Bulletproof Software while trying to sell his video game at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, spots another game called Tetris for which the rights are apparently owned by Mirrorsoft. Henk plays the game for five minutes and realizes this is the hit of the future. He buys or at least thinks he buys the Tetris rights for PC, console, and arcade in Japan. But he is wrong. Apparently, the rights for Tetris were obtained for the company by Robert Stein (Toby Jones) who works for Media Tycoon Robert Maxwell (Roger Allam) and his son Kevin Maxwell (Anthony Boyle).

Henk then manages to get a meeting with Nintendo who are finishing up development on their newest product the Nintendo Game Boy. Henk tells them Tetris would be an excellent game to bundle with the new handheld device and says he will find a way to get the rights to Tetris to make it happen. Henk flies to London to meet with Robert Stein and offers $25,000 for worldwide handheld rights as the Game Boy. But Rogers double-crosses him and sells the handheld rights to Atari for $100,000.

Henk then obtains a tourist visa, hops a plane and flies to the Soviet Union to obtain the rights from the original source, which turns out to be a more harrowing journey than he imagined. He hires a young woman named Sasha (Sophia Lebedeva) to be his interpreter who translates between Henk and the Chairman of ELORG Nikolai Belikov (Oleg Stefan). Nikolai tells him because all the rights to Tetris are property of ELORG, or in other words the government of the Soviet Union, and only released PC rights to Robert Stein and no one else legally owns any rights to the game, including the young creator Alexey Pajitnov (Nikita Efremov) and the rights Henk obtained are illegal. 

Rounding out the cast are Ayane Nagabuchi as Roger’s wife Akemi Rogers and Igor Grabuzov in a standout performance as the sinister head of the department of foreign trade of the Soviet Union Valentin Trifonov.