“So, what I see here right now, in the aftermath of this tragedy, is boundless opportunity. My brother and I have a plan for this island—a plan that will make all of you, and the constituencies you represent, very rich. Or, I should say, richer! Well, maybe except for you, Manny! This will make you and the governor rich, but not the actual people who voted for you!” He paused. Manny laughed. “You’re a sport, Manny!
“To the uninitiated, it could seem like we have competitive interests, but I assure you, if we focus on the larger goals, long term, all of us here will benefit. Further, I want to be clear, our plans have the full, absolute support of the current U.S. administration. Puerto Rico is effectively our playground as long as we don’t contest them awarding the contract for PREPA to rebuild the power grid. That’s apparently a nonnegotiable. It’s been promised to the nephew of a major donor, but it’s literally just a shell corp, Pedro, so I doubt you’ll have to even deal with them much.”
“Hold on for a second, Nick,” Dick chimed in. “No offense, Pedro, but PREPA barely seemed to be doing the job before Maria. Why would we let them oversee their own rebuild and with a shell firm at that? To me, this seems like the perfect time for privately owned solar energy.”
“Richard, you are wise beyond words!” Nick said as he slugged from his wineglass. “Yes, no offense, but Pedro, you and Manny have done just absolutely abysmal work here. The whole place is in the dark with no hope of fixing it anytime soon. But Richard, the truth is their customers are not your customers. I am your future customer. Kirk, Dieter, and Linda are your future customers, and, if my plan plays out, within five years, this island will be flooded with people like us. The hotels, the private estates, all of it, could be yours, Dick, to supply with solar power. Possibly working with PREPA. Right, Manny?”
Manny nodded over his half-masticated Luger’s steak.
“But Nick,” Dick offered, “shouldn’t the people here have an option other than PREPA? I’m seeing a big play to be made here to market solar to the population at large. I have the factories; I have the teams. It’s environmentally sound.”
“Richard, Manny and his friends are prepared to work with you to make it worth your while to limit your work to private estates such as mine. Isn’t that right, Manny?”
Manny again nodded. Richard noticed how little he’d actually heard Manny’s voice during the dinner or afterwards.
“Solar could be a major win for Puerto Rico, Nick. Could get them out from under a lot of this muck, it seems like.”
“Dick, what I think you maybe haven’t had a chance to absorb is that for Manny, this is a short-term play, but for you this is a long game. You see, everyone, FEMA? Reconstruction? Well, it’s going to be a long haul, if you know what I mean. Those who can’t stick it out will leave. Quickly. And there will be more Puerto Rico for the rest of us.”
This, seemingly, made Linda from the airline uncomfortable. “It’s not our fault that we’re the only people who run direct to Atlanta and New York! I fought for those routes for these people! I wasn’t trying to destroy anyone!”
“Linda,” Arthur cut in, “Linda, calm down. You aren’t doing anything wrong. It’s not your fault people are leaving. You’re just a bystander here to keep tabs on what’s happening. You’ve already put in the work, okay?”
Linda anxiously sipped her wine.
“What I was trying to express,” Nick continued, “was that there will be people with family on the mainland. Who knows when schools here will reopen? When grocery stores will get restocked? We didn’t get these steaks locally, let me say that. I mean, if you had another option, wouldn’t you go? Lots of land will be freed up. By my estimation, given the demographics of the island, lots of coastal land will be freed up. And people with less options will stay and people like us will find a very grateful labor force. And so—”
Arthur interjected, “By doing very little we can do very much to advance our interests.”
Dick laughed out loud. “Gentlemen, I’m sure you have friends at the highest level of this administration—”
“Richard, I’m loath to call those people friends, they’re more like thugs, but we do have an understanding.”
Everyone chortled.
“But,” Dick continued, “my point is that all of this is subject to congressional oversight. Of FEMA, of PROMESA. This stuff doesn’t live in a vacuum. And I know for a fact that there are certain members of Congress—”