Going Down (26 page)

“They called you already?”

“About fifteen minutes ago. I’m just making them wait,” Peggy said as she left the office. I looked at my watch and did the math. They couldn’t have had too many questions for Brent. On the other hand, why should they? After all, it was a done deal.
 

About four that afternoon Albert James stopped by my office. “Are you busy, Tavarus?” he asked. Then continued before I could answer. “If not, stop by my office.”

“On my way,” I said as the door closed behind him. “Show time.”

I walked down the hall to Albert’s office wondering how I would respond. Knowing where this conversation was going, I wondered if Lester’s off-the-record visit was in an official or unofficial capacity. Would Albert simply want my answer to what Lester had said earlier? I hoped not. I wanted Albert to lay it all out for me. I wanted to look surprised and then offended, when Albert made his foul offer. I thought about my father’s words about dignity and honor. I took a deep breath and knocked on the half-opened door to Albert’s office. “Come in, Tavarus. Shut the door and have a seat.

After dispensing with the pleasantries, Albert laid out the proposal, which I reluctantly accepted after being told there would be no salary increase. Naturally, Albert was a little smoother than Lester, but the point was still the same. With one exception: Albert didn’t hint at better things in the future if I complied. His selling point was: “We need you to carry the ball. The team needs you, Tavarus. I’m sure you won’t let us down.” Albert said as he ushered me out of his office. The whole thing took less than ten minutes.

I returned to my office and began to organize my things to leave for the night. Suddenly, Peggy burst through the door. “I don’t believe this,” she said furiously.

“I guess you heard,” I said calmly.

“Do you believe this? That asshole can’t even tell the difference between a debit and a credit.”

“Are you pissed about something, Peggy? ’Cause I’m sensing a bit of hostility coming from you.”

“Damn right I’m pissed. Brent is an idiot.”

“Blithering idiot.”

“Right, and a kiss ass.”

“That’s why he’s got the job.” I smiled at Peggy. “Maybe you’re not kissing the right ass, Peggy,” I said with a hint of sarcasm.

“What are you trying to say, Tavarus?”

“Lighten up, Peg. All I’m saying is the boy plays golf with Albert and them. I don’t know what we were thinking. The job was his from the start.”

“I guess you’re right,” Peggy sadly admitted.

“I’ll see you in the morning,” I said as I walked past her.

“Where are you going?” she asked.

“I’m going to get drunk and pass out in some woman’s arms.”

“Wait a minute.” She jumped up and followed me out of the office. “Mind if I go with you?” She smiled and looked me up and down. “I need a nice stiff one myself.”

I kept walking, appearing to ignore her comment and the implications behind it. Peggy was about to set it out for me. I stopped walking and looked at Peggy and said to myself, “Decide now, Tee. You gonna fuck Barbie or not?” I wasn’t sure. “Sounds like you’re volunteering for the job.”

“You never can tell, I just might be.” Peggy rushed to her office to get her purse and quickly joined me at the elevator.

We went to the first bar we got to and sat down at the first empty table we could find. It just happened to be in a dark corner. Go figure. “What are you drinking, Tavarus?” Peggy asked as the waitress approached.

“Remy Martin,” I replied. “Straight up with a water back and twist of lemon.”

“What’s that?”

“What Remy? It’s cognac. It’s good stuff.”

“I’ll have one too,” Peggy said. She was still clearly shaken by today’s events. “If you had gotten the job, I could have dealt with that. You’ve been doing the job for months. But Brent, my God, he’s only useful if you don’t know where the party is. We went partying one night and he knew all the spots. But he is such a jerk. So full of himself I almost gagged. Now I work for this asshole. I know he’s gonna be all over me now.”

“Why is that?”

“I just know how he is, that’s all,” Peggy answered without answering. I started to ask the question again, but I really didn’t care. I really didn’t want to be there with Peggy talking about the job.

The waitress returned with our drinks. I reached for my drink. “Don’t go anywhere,” I said. Then I turned up my glass and drank it like water. “Make the next one a double.” Peggy followed suit. Then grabbed her glass of water. “That burns a little going down.”

I laughed. “For future reference, this is sipping liquor.”

“I can tell you right now, there is no future in that drink for me. Bring me a
sloe
screw against the wall.”

“A what?”

“It’s a combination of a
sloe
gin fizz, a screw driver, and a Harvey wall banger. It’s good, you should try one.”

“Nah, I try never to change horses in the middle of the stream.”

Peggy leaned forward and smiled alluringly at me. “Suppose the horse throws you off. Do you mount the other horse and ride?”

My eyes opened wide. “Maybe. But only if the horse knew I was just there for the ride.”

Peggy leaned back in her chair. The bluntness of my answer put her off, but only for a minute. She knew she had set the tone by picking up on my ‘Pass out in some woman’s arm’s’ line. I could pretty much guess what was going through her mind.

“Decide now,” she was probably saying to herself. She looked over at me. But can she fuck me tonight and work with me in the morning? She decided to back off the obvious flirtation for the time being and talk about something else. “That’s how they did you. They just rode you, knowing all the while Brent was their boy,” she said, managing to turn sexual innuendo into something work related. I admired her for her ingenuity.

For the next few hours, I sat through Peggy venting, and four more doubles. After her fourth screw against the wall, Peggy was in a mood I wasn’t accustomed to seeing. She had taken off her jacket and had unbuttoned the top button a while ago. The second worked itself loose from her laughter. She didn’t seem to care. Gone was the smooth and highly-polished, edged Peggy, the accountant, portrayed in the office.

I had decided an hour ago that I was going to drink and have a good time with Peggy, and that was that. However, now, under the influence of alcohol, her naturally aggressive tendencies seemed more predatory, more sexual. I liked aggressive, powerful women; it was one of my weaknesses. I looked Peggy over. With her blouse unbuttoned, Peggy exposed her cleavage. More cleavage than I had given her credit for. Peggy was an attractive woman, black or white. “You know something, Peggy.” I pointed at her, glass in hand.

“What’s that, Tavarus?”

“You’re kinda fine. For a white girl.”

“Just what’s that supposed to mean?”

I scanned the room with my eyes. “Let’s just say you carry around a bit more tangible assets than your average white girl, Peg.”

“Are you trying to say that I have a big ass, Tavarus?”

“I mean, you don’t have a big, ‘jiggling baby’ sistah kind of ass, but compared to the rest of these slouches. I mean, look at them. They’re all suffering from white woman’s disease.”

“From what?”

“No ass at all.” I held up one finger. “Look, no-ass-at-all.” Pointing at women as they passed by our table. “No ass at all. No ass at all. No ass at all.” Peggy laughed. “This is usually the point where I’d ask what was up with that, but I can’t ask you. ’Cause you’re carrying a little something.”

“I know. Did I ever tell you that I used to do a little modeling when I was in college?” Peggy asked, knowing the answer was no.

“No, Peggy, you never mentioned that before,” I replied, becoming more intrigued by her. I motioned for the waitress.

“I remember one designer I worked with saying that I would never make it as a runway model, because of the way clothes hung off my ass.” The waitress arrived. “Bring me an Absolute Citron shooter.”

“Just water for me thanks,” I said.

“I’ve always been a little self-conscious about it until I started working here. Some of those women in data entry put little old me to shame,” Peggy said, laughing through her best southern belle accent.

“Mind if I ask you a personal question, Peggy?”

“Depends on how personal, Tavarus.”

“Is this the most Black people you’ve ever been around at one time?”

“Yes,” Peggy said reluctantly.

“I could tell. Having to work with all those
sistah’s
has changed you. You’re not the same California girl you were when you got here three years ago.”

The waitress returned with Peggy’s shooter. “Don’t go anywhere.” She shot it. “One more time, honey.”

“You ought to take it easy on those.”

“I don’t want to feel, Tavarus. I don’t want to think about anything. I don’t want to feel. I don’t even want to know.”

“Know what, Peg?” I asked.

“See it’s working, ’cause I don’t know.” Peggy stood up. “I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere.”

After a while, Peggy made her way very gingerly back to the table in time to meet the waitress. Peggy broke out the plastic to pay the check, ordered another round, and drank the one she had. Then she leaned forward and kissed me on the cheek.

“What was that for?”

“’Cause I felt like it.” She smiled. “I wanted to see if I’d like it. I was aiming for your lips, but you turned your head too quick.” Once again, the waitress arrived with drinks. “I hope you don’t mind. I took the liberty of ordering you another drink.”

“Why would I mind? You were going to take liberties with my lips, how’s a little drink gonna matter?” I raised my glass. “To Brent.”

“To Brent. May his reign be short and disastrous,” Peggy said.

“Here, here. I second that motion.” I wondered if my soon-to-be partners would consider including the high-powered white girl on the team. It would be a strong move and would improve their access to clientele. The raised glasses came down empty once again. Peggy put her glass down and grabbed the table to steady herself. That last citron shooter took her over the edge.

“I need to get some air, Tavarus,” she said. I stood up, extending my hand to help Peggy get to her feet. I led her outside and walked her to her car. After a while, Peggy caught herself. She took another deep breath. “I’m all right now, Tavarus. Thank you.”

“Are you going to be all right to drive home?”

“I don’t think I should.
APD
likes hanging around here.”

“I know that’s right. They probably make a fortune on DUI cases around here,” I said, part of me regretting that I’d asked.

“Would you mind driving me to my apartment? It’s not too far from here. I can call a cab and pick up my car in the morning.”

This time it was me who needed the deep breath. She wasn’t that drunk, but she didn’t need to drive. I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if something happened to her because I let her drive. “That’s cool, where do you live?” I asked as we started for my car.

I opened the car door for her. “The Estates at Phipps. You know where that is, don’t you?” Peggy replied.

“No.” I laughed and closed the door. I came around to the driver’s side and got in.