Before I Let Go (6 page)

“Damn, B. You
still
don’t get it, do you?”

Brendan just stood there and shrugged his shoulders.

“That ain’t a woman right there. That’s a nigga,” Nate said, pointing at the still body.

“Whatever.”

“I’m telling you. The guy you beat for the money came upstairs and told the chick I was talking to that you had just whipped him for some dough on the pool tables. Then he said that you were getting all worked up by a transvestite who was going to suck you off and hit you for your money.”

“And you believed that I couldn’t tell a woman from a man? You believed that bull?”

“Watch this.” Nate said, as he bent down and pulled Candy’s dress up to reveal a pair of snug-fitting panties. Nate grabbed her underwear and pulled it to the side and revealed nothing but bush and booty. “Oh, snap,” he screamed out loud, as he staggered backward. “B, this is a woman. Oh, damn, damn, damn.” Nate shouted and clenched his fist while doing his best imitation of Florida Evans on the episode of
Good Times
when James died. “That fool didn’t know what the hell he was talking about. I ought to go back upstairs and kick his ass.” Nate paused and looked down at Candy sleeping like a baby. “She still ain’t moving…damn.”

Brendan stood there waiting to see what the champ was going to do next. After a few seconds of watching the expression of perplexed anguish put a stranglehold on Nate’s face, Brendan broke the short silence. “Look, man, let’s get up out of here before somebody comes in here and accuses us of trying to rape this chick or something.”

The idea was more than a little appealing to Nate, who replied, “Yeah, c’mon, let’s roll.”

The two of them sped out of the room and up the steps. When Nate and Brendan reentered the living room, Shue was in the corner talking to a couple of guys. One of them looked strangely familiar to Brendan for some reason. Shue saw them and signaled for them come over. Brendan was about to walk over there when Nate grabbed his arm. “Nigga, what you gonna do? You know we’ve got to leave up outta here.”

“Well, man, I can’t just leave Shue up in here without telling him I’m leaving first.”

“Look, hurry the hell up. I’m headed toward the car. Give him your keys if you got to. I’ll drop you off at your crib. But don’t stay up here until we get an assault charge.”

“Okay, alright already.”

“Dude, I’m not playing with you. I’ll knock your ass out, too.”

Brendan laughed, “Who are you supposed to be, Debo or somebody?”

“Just hurry up. Oh, and ask Shue if he knows what a nordenus is.”

“A what?”

“Never mind, just do what you got to do so we can bounce.”

Shue nodded at
Brendan and asked, “Where’s Nate going? I wanted to introduce both of you to my friends here.” Then he turned back to the group he was standing with. “Anyway, guys, this here is my cousin, Brendan.” Shue then placed his hand on the shoulder of the guy who was standing closest to him. “Brendan, this is Stuart Hall, and this here is his partner, Glenn.”

It dawned on Brendan who Stuart Hall was. He was the sportscaster from Channel 6 news. Brendan thought,
What was the world coming to? A sportscaster packing fudge. Who would’ve thought?
Brendan exchanged pleasantries with Stuart and his partner. What was a trip to Brendan was that Stuart Hall seemed pretty comfortable with people knowing he was gay, judging from the way his friend was all up under him.

After less than a minute Brendan pulled Shue to the side and told him what had happened in the basement. Shue had responded with an “Oh dear, that’s ugly.” And quickly told Brendan to go ahead, and that he’d catch a ride with someone else or catch a cab if need be.

Brendan started to turn away, then grabbed Shue’s arm. “Hey, cuz.”

“Yeah, what is it?”

“Nate said to ask you what a nordenus was.” Brendan asked with a puzzled looked, wondering if he had pronounced it correctly.

Shue burst out laughing. “Why, did someone call him that?” He was still laughing.

“I don’t know. Why? What is it?”

Still grinning, Shue leaned over to his cousin and said, “It’s a cock-sucker that has no lips.” Shue tapped Brendan as if to say “get on” and walked back to his friends.

The visual image of that brought a smile to Brendan’s face, but he figured he’d keep it to himself and maybe use it on Nate one day down the road.

Brendan saw Nate
sitting out in front of the house waiting impatiently with a gorgeous woman sitting next to him in the car.

“Ain’t this a bitch?” Brendan said to Nate as he walked around to Nate’s side of the car and looked inside the window.

“Don’t act like that, B. You know I was only looking out for you. I would hope that you would do the same for me.” Nate smiled at Brendan. He knew Brendan was pissed off about Nate screwing up his action and now getting himself a prize for the night. Nate knew it wasn’t fair, but the sooner people learned that life wasn’t always fair the better, he believed. “B, hop in. I’ll give you a ride up the street to your car.”

Just as Brendan opened the door to get in, a voice yelled out from the steps in front of the house, “There he is. That’s one of them right there.” There were two very big men standing next to Candy at the top of the steps as she pointed toward Brendan, who was at least forty yards away. In an instant, Brendan was in the back seat of the car, and Nate’s foot had slammed on the gas pedal. They were up the block, lights turned off so that no tag number could be seen, and around the corner before Candy and her rescuers could make it to the street.

Nate barely came to a complete stop at Brendan’s car. Brendan wondered if he was expected to jump out of a rolling vehicle. The two said their good-byes as Brendan quickly climbed out of the back seat.

“You gonna be alright.” “I’m straight.” “I’m out, then.” “Me, too.”

Nate sped off again. Brendan did the same.

I
could hear my phone ringing as I struggled to get my keys into the door of my apartment.

“Hello, you have reached Cory Dandridge. Please leave a brief…” the answering machine had started before I could pick it up. After racing through the door and to the phone, I dropped my luggage and shopping bags on the couch as I picked up the phone, cutting the machine off simultaneously.

“This is Cory,” I announced.

“Hey, baby,” she said.

I recognized the soft, raspy voice on the other end of the line and responded, “What’s goin’ on, baby girl?”

She started in an apologetic tone, “Did I catch you at a bad time?”

“No, not at all. I was just walking through the door, but actually I’m glad you called. I should have been home an hour ago, but my flight was delayed coming out of La Guardia. The airport security will delay a flight at the drop of a hat right about now.” My tone changed when I remembered the news from my trip that I wanted to tell Paula. I began with, “Baby, guess what. I have some news that I’m really anxious to share with you,” and asked, “Do you think that you’ll be busy in about an hour or so?”

“Well, Marvin is out with a client playing golf, and I’d like to get out of here before he comes home. So if you want to see me I need to leave out now.” Paula continued in a humble manner, “You know, so I don’t have to go through any changes getting out of the house.”

I understood perfectly. So, after exchanging a few minutes of small talk I told her to come on over, even though I had wanted the hour to shower and maybe straighten the place up a little. I said, “Okay. I’ll see you shortly, then.” I hung up the phone and plopped back onto the couch. I wasn’t feeling so tired I needed sleep. It was more that my mind and body just needed a break from the nonstop motion I had endured during the past few days.

I’d just gotten back into town after three days in New York meeting with a relatively new digital security corporation that my company was attempting to buy out. In the relatively short time that I had been working for Pavillion I had grown accustomed to the aggressive manner in which we attempted to buy out smaller companies. After 9/11 most of the security companies were trying to expand to meet record demands for high-tech security. Our unspoken mission seemed to be to take over small companies that were doing something right before they became tomorrow’s competition. Our researchers, or spies as most people called them, had alerted us to a new company, Hakito Electronics, that was on the rise. PSC research had informed the board of directors that this company was on the brink of introducing a variety of cutting-edge software that made innovative use of wireless technology. PSC knew that this software would allow them to put a virtual stranglehold on the digital security industry.

I was sent to New York because, not only was I the assistant director of the sales and acquisitions department, I was the top salesman for eighteen months running as well. At worst, I would sign a contract for them to use our satellites for all of their business, but George Bell, my glory-stealing supervisor, was positive that I could convince Hakito Electronics to sell us controlling interest in their company. I did exactly what was asked and made my pitch very aggressively, to convince them they needed PSC. To my surprise, though, it turned out that the only thing they were convinced of was that they needed me to join their company as soon as possible.

The meetings were extremely tense and heated. I actually believed that their board had decided collectively to hate me before I had even started my presentation. After the second day of meetings, I became quite frustrated with their stubborn refusals. I was quite indignant, I’m sure, when I expressed PSC’s plans to delve into their market, which would cause a divide in the available profit margin for the next few years, until the supply for the cutting-edge software and digital programming chips that they produced increased. PSC, I’d explained, could afford to lose money, if need be, for a few years on this venture, but under those circumstances, a smaller corporation like Hakito could end up going bankrupt.

They wouldn’t budge from their stance, more than likely because they knew that when they began heavy production the previous year in their new digital technology division they had virtually cornered the market. Their extensive research and knowledge of the future of the industry enabled them to recognize the idleness of the threats I delivered. They had the patent rights on their side. It would be at least two years before they would have to share their superior design secrets. By that time they would surely grow in worth from a multimillion-dollar company to a possible billion-dollar one.

I was truly surprised that, after the meeting hadn’t gone as well as I’d hoped, instead of throwing me out of their boardroom, the entire clan of management heads invited me to lunch. I admired their good sportsmanship and agreed to join them. As we dined at Benihana on East Fifty-sixth Street, the surprises kept coming. Jamison Hakito, the nephew of the company’s founder, told me that both he and his uncle found my no-nonsense, borderline rude approach to business to be just what their company needed.

As lunch went on, Jamison continued complimenting me. He admitted to me that he had spoken with a headhunter I’d used back in Atlanta and was impressed with my background and credentials. I was impressed that he had been thorough enough to research me before I’d come up. Before I finished my pepper steak, he flat-out offered me a job.

Although they nearly sold me then and there when they told me all of the ways I would benefit from joining them—generous stock options, executive privileges, and the like—I told them I needed some time to think it over. They told me to take a week or two to get back to them, but they had two positions to fill immediately, and if I wanted either I should let them know as soon as possible.

I hated to imagine what Mr. Bell would think about me leaving PSC when I told him of their offer, if I decided to take it. He would probably assume that I had gone there and seen an opportunity to sell myself and run with it. Nothing would have been further from the truth.

I basically made up my mind when, on the ride back to my hotel, Jamison told me that one of the positions available was as head of the sales and production team in their Washington-Baltimore offices.

It was like fate was calling me home. I had thought about moving home for the past few months, since my mom had suffered a mild stroke. She wasn’t sickly, but it was just that Mom, even at fifty-five, had a tendency to overdo it. My older sister, Brenda, was there to check in on her, but she had enough pressure just trying to raise her children, Tory and Kyle. With this job offer and the chance for me to move back home to the metropolitan area, suddenly it seemed things were falling into place.

As I sat on the coffee-colored love seat, I looked out the balcony door. I was enjoying the feel of the cool leather on my naked back as I noticed the beautiful November day that Atlanta had been blessed with. I began to think about how much I would miss the city and the people if I elected to take the job with Hakito Electronics. It was so pleasant in the area near Phipps Plaza, where I had made my home. The thought of actually leaving made me feel a bit nostalgic. Since coming to Atlanta to get my master’s degree at Georgia Tech I’d made so many good friends, and none greater than Paula. I guess that’s why I was more than a little anxious how she would receive the news of the job offered to me while I was in the Big Apple.

It was getting
close to when Paula should have been arriving at my apartment, if she had left her house immediately, as she’d said. My mouth was getting a little dry, so I rose from the sofa to get myself a glass of Welch’s white grape juice. While up and moving around, I opened the balcony window. On the way to the balcony I stopped and turned on the stereo. I reached into my packages and pulled out the new music I’d scooped up from Best Buy. I emptied the CDs out and ripped off the plastic covering. I loaded them all into the player and started the Glenn Lewis disc first. I read the cover to see which song I had seen the video for on BET in the hotel. That song first, then I figured I’d check out Mary J.’s joint. Ja Rule and Ludacris would have to wait until later.

The breeze blowing into my living room felt so inviting that I stepped out onto the balcony and decided to sit out there until Paula arrived. I turned the music up loud enough so that I could hear it on the balcony.

It was at least 65 degrees and unbelievably comfortable on the balcony. While resting one leg up on the rail, I lay my neck down on the plastic back of my lawn chair. I closed my eyes, but I could see the rays of bright sun turning the inside of my eyelids to orange covers. With the perfect amount of wind blowing across my face, I was beginning to drift into deep relaxation mode. I almost didn’t hear Paula at my door, but rose quickly when the second series of knocks came.

I opened my
door and saw Paula standing there smiling. She was as beautiful as usual. She had her hair down instead of in the usual pulled-back style she sported to go along with her classroom image. She stepped into the foyer and greeted me with a hug and a soft kiss that made me feel warm inside.

“Hey, handsome, I’ve missed you.” She kissed me again.

“It’s only been four days, baby,” I replied, as I gently squeezed her hands and pulled her to the couch.

“I know, but it always seems so much longer when one of us is out of town.” She went on, “Answer me this: How come when we sneak off for a couple of days, time always goes so quickly?”

I scratched my head and acted like I was deep in thought. “I don’t know. Maybe time just flies when you’re getting done.” I smiled, and she offered a frowning, disapproving look before walking off.

Paula went into the kitchen to fix herself a glass of spring water. I heard a package opening and she reentered with a handful of Girl Scout cookies.

“I know you don’t mind, these being your favorite and all.”

I replied, “Just don’t get too crazy with ’em. Even though you did buy them.”

She ignored me as she made her way back into the kitchen for a second handful. While she was in the kitchen I walked into the bedroom to retrieve the Manolo Blahnik boots I had brought Paula back from Manhattan. As I was pulling them out of the bag, she walked into the doorway of the bedroom.

“Watcha doing?” she asked.

“I’m looking for a little something I picked up for you.” I pulled the Bergdorf’s shopping bag out.

“Oh, wow, thanks, baby.” She opened the box so she could take a good look at the boots. “One thousand dollars. You paid one thousand dollars for these boots?”

“Oh damn, how did you know? I pulled the receipt out of the bag, didn’t I?”

“There’s another one right here on the side of the box.”

“Oh, sorry. I told them it was a gift and to remove all of the tags.”

She shook her head, smiling in disbelief at my generosity, and walked into the bathroom. As I finished putting away the rest of the clothes in the garment bag, Paula walked out of the bathroom clad only in a black lace bra that made her breasts stand straight up and a pair of matching thong panties.

I knew what time it was and welcomed the advance. I pulled the covers back and she slid seductively into the satin sheets and lay on her stomach directly in front of me. My view was superb as I undressed quickly and joined her.

We spent the next couple of hours enjoying each other by giving each other massages between bouts of making love. When eight o’clock rolled around, she got up to get dressed. As she slid her shoes on she turned to me and woke me with a kiss on the forehead. Then she asked me whose music had been on the CD player earlier.

“This cat named Glenn Lewis. He just came out, but he is blowing up.”

“That CD is nice. I think I’ll take it with me.” She grinned. I shook my head no. “I promise I’ll bring it back.”

“Just like you brought back Jill Scott?” I swiped.

“Now, you knew you weren’t getting that back. That was the CD of the year. Plus, I gave you the fifteen dollars for it.”

“Did not.”

“Did too.”

We went back
and forth until I grabbed her and pinned her down on the bed and kissed her for a while. As our clothes began to fall off again Paula placed her hands on my chest to push me back.

Then in a curious tone came…“Oh, Cory, I almost forgot…. What’s the news that you wanted to share with me?”