The olive crop at American Olive Growers in Durham, California, was excellent. The innovations in picking the olives into the puffy bag kept the olives from bruising, as frequently happened just by shaking the tree to loosen the fruits.
Max Zinn and Carlos Perez inspected the olives as they fell into the bin. Visual inspection suggested the olives were ideal for pressing into extra virgin olive oil. American Olive Growers only made extra virgin olive oils. Other growers made extra virgin olive and regular (hot) oils. While the heated oils are generally best for cooking, the extra virgin oils taste more refined.
Max’s goal was to have one of the top five extra virgin olive oils in the United States. The taste tasters for EVOO can be very subjective; Max knew that even if American Olive Growers had the best extra virgin olive oil in the universe, they might not be in the top five because of judges’ tastes.
*****
Tina Martinez wondered about having a date with Max Zinn this weekend. She had been quite daring to approach Max and see if he wanted to see her again.
He had approached her in Sacramento as a lonely man who wanted female companionship. She knew now that Max knew she wasn’t a hooker. Plus, she knew Juan Garza, the man killed on American Olive Growers’ property. Even though he was married, he had dated and then abused, slapped, hurt, and burned her with his cigarette.
Did Max Zinn like her? He seemed gentle when they made love in Sacramento and thought she was a prostitute. Had he picked up other prostitutes over the years? Could he be trusted?
He had said she could work on her paper while visiting. She will see.
*****
The Bluff County Sheriff’s Office didn’t have any leads. Although they had a motto, “Justice will be served,” maybe justice had been served. A lousy man had been killed. Should the department spend time and money researching who acted well for the community? Deputy Jose Hinojosa was double-minded - Juan Garza, a man who cheated on his wife, abused his wife, abused other women, and was a thief - was dead. Finding the killer might take months. Yes, a murderer was on the loose - but maybe it was more like a vigilante - doing the work of justice outside the law.
It was put on the ‘back burner.’ If something relevant to the case came up, the department would investigate, but until then, no extra time or money would be invested.
Deputy Hinojosa thought that someday they would find the man who sold Juan Garza the heroin, which might lead to who killed him. They would just go on - with this as an open case.
Deputy Hinojosa attended Juan Garza’s funeral and talked briefly with Yesenia Garza. She had changed from the first time he had met her. She had accepted the fact that Juan was a bully and a wife-beater.
Deputy Hinojosa also visited Max Zinn and Carlos Perez at American Olive Growers to tell them the shooting on their property had been classified as a cold cases file. If Maz or Carlos ever got new information, give him a call.
*****
As soon as the University of California at Davis students left, the olives were taken to the oil processing facility on the grounds of American Olive Growers. It was imperative to crush the olives as soon as possible.
There was a crew there to inspect the olives. The bins were loaded onto a conveyor belt and cleaned of any leaves or debris. An ultraviolet scanner inspected the olives for hidden defects in their new facility.
Then, the olives were crushed. Traditional methods used stone wheels to crush the olives (pits and all), but Max’s group used stainless steel rollers to crush the fruit. About forty pounds of olives will yield one gallon of olive oil. After crushing, the pulp is put into a centrifuge and spun. The pulp has oil and water, and the centrifuge separates the oil from the water. The resulting oil was whisked away and stored in stainless steel vats for a month. After a month, the oil was bottled in dark bottles - since clear bottles may allow light contamination.
The acidity level must be under 1% to be labeled as extra-virgin olive oil.
For the next month, olives were picked and taken to be pressed; then, the oil was extracted from the water and stored.
American Olive Growers had numerous vats for storing the finished oil in the building on the oil extraction facility. Two crushers fed the pulp into the centrifugal devices. The ages-old processes of hand-crushing and stirring the pulp to separate the oil and water had been replaced by modern methods.
Staffing for picking, inspecting, crushing, and extracting the oils was less than the traditional methods - and more uniform. Max Zinn wanted every batch of extra virgin olive oil to be the same - less than 1% acidity and with the taste that makes extra virgin olive oil in high demand.
After a month, the oil is bottled and shipped off to distributors. Max had a slight advantage as the Camposi family had an excellent distribution system. Some olive oil was labeled “Camposi-American Extra Virgin Olive Oil.” the rest was labeled “American Olive Growers Extra Virgin Olive Oil. The oils were in different-shaped bottles - the Camposi-American brand was priced at $98 a liter, while the American Olive Growers brand was priced at $88 a quart.
Max intended to raise the price once the brand was recognized as one of the top five American Olive Oils.
*****
The Manzanillo olives generally came in from 0.2% acidity to 0.3%. The Frantoio olives were slightly more acidic, from 0.26 to 0.35%. The oils were in the Premium Extra Virgin Olive Oil category, where the acidity levels were under 0.5%. Max would wait until the judging as a top five olive oil before pushing to the Premium level. The premium price was higher than standard extra virgin olive oil, and the number of buyers was fewer. Max and Carlos had discussed this -and had opted to stand on the EEVO level.
Harvest went on for a month. Some olives ripened to the right stage quicker than others on the same branch.
*****
Max and Tina had exchanged several emails about the weekend. Tina would come down on Saturday. They would have lunch together at the American Olive Grower’s cafe, and then Tina would have all afternoon to write. Then, they would go to Los Compadres Restaurant in Oroville at about six o’clock. They did have dancing at Los Compadres Restaurant on Saturday night, and Max had promised Tina a night of dancing.
Max suggested Sunday Mass at the Newman Center at the University of California at Chico. He didn’t know if Tina was religious or Catholic but invited her. He liked the Newman Center as it was a younger college crowd and more informal.
Tina had agreed, although it had been a couple of years since she went to Mass (for her grandfather’s funeral).
Then Max had suggested hiking at Butte Creek Canyon Nature Preserve, and Tina had agreed. They had decided that Tina would go back to Davis by five o’clock.
*****
Tina had visited with Inez Sanchez on campus.
Tina said, “I said yes when Max Zinn asked me for a date. Was that stupid or okay to accept his invitation? I slept with him in Sacramento a month ago when he thought I was a call girl.”
Inez answered, “That’s a tricky challenge. What does your heart say?”
Tina said, “Well, he does intrigue me. He is good-looking, attractive, and interesting to talk to. He seems both confident and understanding. He was very nice to me in Sacramento.”
Inez said, “Do you think it could be a long-term relationship?”
Tina, “Well, I’m 25 and think he is 32. I’m older than most college girls. I graduate in May, and if it works out, and if we get along well, I think it could be a long-term relationship.”
Inez laughed, “And Tina, he is rich. Does that interest you?”
Tina blushed, “Well, that’s better than some poor guys here on campus who want to date me.”
Tina changed the subject. “What should I wear?”
Inez asked, “What are your or his plans?”
Tina answered, “On Saturday, he wants to go to dinner and dance. On Sunday, he wants to go to church and then hiking. I haven’t been to church for a couple of years. I don’t know if he is super devout. I have some spiritual values, but I’m not sure that includes attending church every week.”
Inez said, “Well, I’d suggest you go to church with him. You’ll have time to discuss religious values after you go. And, for clothes, I’d recommend a lovely dress for Saturday night - but probably loose fitting so you can dance. No heels - it’s hard to dance in heels - unless you want to kick them off—Sunday, something casual for church, and jeans and a pretty top for the hike. “
Inez added, “I have to go to class in five minutes, but definitely stop by on Monday so you can tell me how it went.”
Tina laughed, “I’d do that for sure.”
*****
Tina left Davis at 10:30 on Saturday morning. It was about an hour and forty minutes to the olive grove. She pulled in a little after noon. She went into the office, and one of the staff said that Max was in the processing facility, and then she walked with Tina to the processing building.
They found Max talking to some of the press people. He welcomed her and excused himself from the conversation.
He walked her through the facility - showing her the press and making of the olive pulp, then the extraction centrifuge, and he pointed out the aging vats of olive oils.
He was pleasant. He didn’t try to kiss her. His welcome was a polite side hug. It seemed like he was just a little uncertain about how to act in front of Tina. She thought that’s kind of natural. The last time we were together, he didn’t know my name, and we were in bed naked.
Max was self-conscious. He hadn’t dated much, and here was a girl he liked and didn’t quite know how to act. He tried to smile and inject some humor. He asked, “How are Popeye cartoons and Italian specialty shops alike? Both have Olive Oil.” (Of course, he knew that in the Popeye cartoons, the name was Olive Oyl). Tina had heard the joke before but laughed like it was her first time.
They walked back across the parking lot to the company cafe. They stopped at Tina’s car to get her suitcase and computer. He ordered a BLT sandwich, and Tina ordered a Caesar Salad.
Lunch was casual, just getting to know each other. Max talked about growing up in Connecticut and spending summers in Italy. Tina didn’t have those experiences but spoke about her Bakersfield and Santa Rosa grandparents. They discussed college life, hobbies, music interests, and casual topics.
Max got them a shot glass of olive oil with raspberry flavoring. Tina liked it. She knew some people drank olive oil, but she thought it was a salad dressing or a cooking oil.
After lunch, they went to Max’s house behind the office. Max showed Tina her room, with a bed, desk, and printer. He helped Tina get online and left a sheet with the WiFi password, and he left.
Whew, Tina thought. I didn’t know if he wanted me to share his bed again. But I do have my bedroom and a place to work.
*****
(Okay, it is 11:00 on Friday night. This is not a good place to stop, but I must stop!!)
