Seeing Red - Chapter 3: Chapter 3

"What did you do?!" Lola barked, barging into my office as that kid with the ridiculous hair and sharp jawline stormed out, like a hurricane sweeping the coast.
"I made my decision," I answered. "Anna will fill the position and she will do it during the newest segment tomorrow evening."
Lola scoffed. "You don't have a clue what you're doing, Reece."
"I don't give a clear, blue fuck, Lola," I powered back. She tipped her neck to the side, silently asking me if I had just lost my mind. I hadn't! "She's passionate about it, she's qualified-"
"Tits don't qualify for jobs," Lola snorted. "That kid was qualified." She threw her hands up. "White people are crazy."
"By what community college?" I asked. "And now that's racist."
Lola scoffed and huffed at the same time. "You're going to make me take desperate measures," she said.
"I'm the CEO, Lola," I said. "My word is final and if you go against it, I'll find an executive assistant who falls in line."
She glared at me, with those smokey eyes, green and fierce and piercing and if I weren't used to women glaring at me like that, maybe  I would have been intimidated.
"Phone Anna and let her know she got the job," I demanded. "That is if you want to keep yours."
Lola looked me up and down, sizing me up like I was some sort of easy prey. And once she realized that I was a hawk and she was a lizard, she backed down and nodded. "Right away sir," she said before doing the Nazi pose.
I gawked, dumbfounded. "That's hardly fair!" I shouted as she exited, but did not close the door.
There was light chatter and soon, my best friend, Declan, in a white tee and plaid shorts, strolled in with a grin on his face.
He stopped and looked around, taking the shades off of his face. "This is crazy awesome," he admitted. "My Dad's office is still better though."
Declan Pmurt (the P is silent) Jr.is the son of a real estate god, who is one of the richest men in the world. He doesn't have a job, but he does regularly attend board meetings with his Dad. We essentially grew up together. He's just as much as a crazy, whoring lunatic as I am.
"So," he said, looking around before sitting in the seat in front of my desk, "how's it feel owning this thing?"
I scoffed. "It's not something I wanna do."
He laughed. "It's all fun and games when you're the heir to the throne. Money, girls...boys in your case, lavish parties and crap, but it's all business once you become the king." he sighed wistfully, putting his feet up on my table. I swatted them off. "I hope my dad lives forever."
I groaned. "Dude, I literally haven't done anything fun for this entire week."
"Let's throw a party then," he said, so nonchalant. "At your place. Invite the crew here and some babes, and just say it's a start of a new era party."
"I'd have to shake old people hands," I said, I shivered. "The liver spots alone."
"Then just bring moisturizer or something," he suggested. "Or like Raid but for the elderly."
"That's ageist," I noted. I didn't care either. "Fine. I'm bringing Anna."
Declan smirked. "You and Anna still 'friends'?" he asked,using those infamous air quotes.
I smirked right on back. "I don't think friends do the things me and Anna do," I said, grinning.
"My man," Declan hotted. "My fraternity brothah!"
(Dennis)
I've never wanted to commit third-degree murder so much in my life!
I barged back into work, throwing open the front doors like Beyonce did in the Hold Up video,only I had been missing the yellow dress, reggae beat and cheating, lying husband.
Niko immediately stared, as did everyone else. Just gray and black. Everyone looking. I had no idea what color I was at the moment, but I had a feeling it was red.
"Dude," he mumbled, coming over and placing a hand on my shoulder. "What in the name of our Lord and Savior, Rihanna's name happened?"
I sat down in my chair and let out a deep, deep breath of air. "I've never felt more disrespected  in my life. He's a prick!"
"What did you expect?" Niko asked. "He's young, he's rich and he's in a position of power. You give that sort of thing to any man and soon enough he'll physically transform into a dick,  screwing everything in his path."
"It's a miracle I didn't punch him in his surgically altered nose," I steamed. "But I don't think I'd want cops all over me."
"Not in this day and age," Niko warned.
I spotted Erika's door open at the corner of my eye, and while I didn't make eye contact, Niko did. He huffed. "That's for you," he said."Tell me how it goes."
I glared."You aren't coming with me?"
"I have heavy secondhand embarrassment , homie," he said. "You know that. So, if she's gonna chew you out, I'd rather not be there."
"Feed me to the wolves, then," I chided and stood. "But if it's a promotion or something, I'll remember who my real friends were."
Niko rolled his eyes. "Over-dramatic ass."
I walked to Erika's door and it opened for me before I got the chance to. Pete already was standing there,waiting on me. he closed it behind me.
At the conference table sat Erika, Susan and the secretary, and Erika's sister, Lola.
I slowly sat down across from them. Lola  looked pissed, Susan looked confused and I could not even read the expression clothed on Erika's face. Was I about to be fired?
"So, that could have gone better," Erika said. her voice wasn't made of stone, but it wasn't exactly made for a tampon commercial either.
"It's not his fault," Lola remarked, probably saving me from being crucified. I might have been Erika's de facto best employee and trusted adviser, but I was still an employee who had  majorly screwed up a mission. "Reece Red is an absolute asshole," she said. "I don't think I've ever met anyone as dense as he is."
"He offended me," I said. "He insulted not only my community, but asked me to conform to the rules of his company, which have racial undertones."
"That's why you're there," Erika said. "You are there to build a story about those racial undertones. It's your job to find the problems, report on them and then we can take down a major news corporation." She sounded more annoyed than anything.
"I highly doubt that would be enough," Pete said from the door. "It would leave a huge dent though."
Erika rested her palms on the table. She looked me deep into my eyes, softening them. I always knew when she was softening her eyes, masking her anger. I had taught her that. "I sent you in because I trust no one else," she said. "Lola is too close, Pete is white - no offense Pete - and you're great under pressure. I had no idea, you'd be too close to really do this."
It was like being scolded by your mother for failing a biology test.
"Maybe a different approach?" Susan suggested. "Picketing them? That old reporter said some really heinous things. We could picket them and get others to help."
"We can't afford to," Pete said, taking a seat next to me. "We had strong growth over the past few years, 4 quarters of back-to-back positive growth. Until last quarter. If we picket, that's money lost and we'd scare away potential investors with back-to-back quarterly decreases."
Erika sighed. "We can not let this go."
"I agree," Lola said. "Which is why I've taken things into my own hands."
Erika stared at her sister. "No manslaughter or kidnapping...or arson."
Lola rolled her eyes. "Bitch, it ain't none of those things. It's old fashion subterfuge."
"Whatever that means," Susan said. "So what now?"
Lola looked at me. "Finish your shift, honey, and then go home and wait for the doorbell to ring." She smirked. Her red lipstick was the only thing in this room I could see. "You'd be surprised you knocks on your door at night."
"Do we really have time for this cryptic stuff, L?" Erika asked.
Lola  shrugged. "It builds tension for the readers."
"What readers?" I asked.
She just smirked and winked.
"Okay, meeting adjourned," Erika said and looked over."If this pans out, I'm going to need you to be tougher," she told me. "Befriend him. Then we can expose him and his board."
I nodded to her. It was weird, but Erika was always a big sister to me. Erika was, in many ways, my idol
When the room cleared, she stopped me. "The road to justice is filled with holes and dead ends," she said. "My father and your father are counting on us."
"I know," I said. "Your father's death is still an open case that needs solving."
She steeled her eyes. "The man who killed him was protected by The Reds. Their money and influence got his killer off, because he was a family friend. Your father's case is similar." She held my hand. "We have to stay focused. We have to make sure justice is seen."
"I know. By the end of this, someone is going to prison."
I exited the conference room and headed back to my seat where a fruit basket sat on my desk. gray bananas, white strawberries, black peaches. There was a note.
'colors mean nothing if you've got a beautiful mind'  -Dee
"Lola!" I shouted. "I need more of this gin thing." I sipped some more. It burned my throat and my chest, but daaaang the feeling after was like heaven. "Loooooola!"
The door opened and I huffed. "Finally!"
But instead of Lola, it was a ball of leopard fur. Or well a ball wrapped in leopard's fur.
My mother threw her comically large shades to the side and I watched as it slid across the wooden floor. She took off her white gloves and slowly came to the rim of my desk.
I swallowed. "Hello, mother." I eyed the glass in my hand. "Apple Juice."
"Do you know what your father's biggest problem was?" she asked. Hailing from New Orleans, her old-timey bayou accent was as thick as ever. You could practically hear the gators growling when she spoke. "He only wanted one child," she said.
"Um," was my response. I placed the glass down. She smacked it off the table. Woah.
She placed her palms flat on the desk, staring down at me with her crystal blue eyes that I inherited from her.
"He didn't want any in-fighting after he died. So, he told me one kid. And you came out. What he didn't anticipate was that the one kid he got would be an insufferable, spoiled, womanizing, oft-gay brat and someday he'd lead us all to our doom, like some reverse Moses."
"That's a little harsh, Mom."
She slammed her hands against the table; it shook and so did I. My eyes widened, her eyes bled blood, or at least the fear that was currently choking me made it look that way.
"Listen to me Reece," she growled at a a low tone, placing an index finger in my face, "If you think you're going to be in charge of this company and run it into the ground, taking all of us with you, you've got another thing coming, baby boy. I don't particularly care about diversity, Hell I grew up in rural Orleans with my racist grandma, God ...or Satan...rest her soul...but you can't have some mayonnaise broad who doesn't know Tupac from a bottle of liquid hand sanitizer heading up the minority division of this company. It's Hiroshima in the business form."
"I know what I'm doing, Mom," I said.
She laughed. "The only thing you know how to do with any kind of accuracy, is pull out before she gets pregnant."
Ouch.
"You will hire that young man. You will offer him his own division to spearhead, and you will personally take him under your wing."
"Oh come on!" I countered, shouting at her. "That's not the least bit fair, Mom."
"If I have given you the impression that I have ever cared about fairness, then I apologize," she said. "This is business."
"It's my business," I barked, sharply at her. "It's mine. Dad left his shares to me, mother. I make these decisions, not you."
Mother blinked her eyes at me. Uh Oh. "Have...I ever told you the story of your birth, Reece?"
I rolled my eyes and leaned back in my chair. Here we go. "Yes, you tell it every year on my birthday. You might not remember, you'd be drunk by then since dad was hitting on Aunt Sophie."
She cracked a smile. "No, not the one crafted for parties and dinners," she said." the real one." Her smile faded. "The one where I sat on top of my dining room table and my doctor helped me give birth to you right there. Did you know I pulled you out myself?"
"No," I answered.
"Well I did." She leaned in. "I brought you into this world and I can take you out," she growled. "I'd have no problem dragging you back inside that cave you came from and pretended you never existed."
"Moth-"
"You listen to me, Reece. You will hire that boy, or I will see to it that your first month in this office will be as if Hell itself is an oasis in comparison. I will litter this office with scandal and rumor until they are calling you Stalin in The New York Times. I will burn it down to the ground. You want this kingdom so badly then you could be the king of its ashes."
I gulped. "You would do that to your son?"
"I'd do it to Jesus H. Christ," she answered. She picked up her gloves. "Hire him. Or I'm canceling every credit card, I'm returning every car, and I'm going to strip your house of the paint from its walls."
I swallowed. Fine. Jesus. Herbert. Christ. "Fine. I'll get Lola to call him."
"No," she said. "You will find where he lives and you will go there and beg him."
I scoffed. "What if he lives in...a less fortunate area."
She picked up her gloves. "Then I suggest knee pads for when you're bowing in reverence." She turned and started for the door, but stopped before leaving. "Dinner at the family manor. At 8."
"What if we went on a rampage like Beyonce did in that video?"Kenzie asked, as we turned onto our street.
"Then the police would be all over our asses," I said.
Kenzie bounced off of the curb and into the street. Little to no traffic would be coming this way during this time. Most of our neighbors were in the streets playing - mainly the kids. Some guys would be propped up on top of cars. Others would be playing ball in their yards.
Almost everyone knew us, especially Kenzie. "You right," he said. He took the basketball from a kid and scared him off, bouncing it. "Beyonce got away with it 'cause she lightskin," he said. "So you might be able to as well."
I rolled my eyes. "Would you like to hear about my day?" I asked.
"Did it involve some dl cat pounding you in the closet of your work?" he asked, nodding his head at a few boys who were gathered at one house in particular that he always hung out at. "Did he squirt inside you? Did you call out his name? Did his baby mamma catch you?"
I huffed. It was then I wondered if I should tell him about Dennis's gift to me at work.
"Aye, yo Dee!" Kenzie shouted and suddenly, I don't think I needed to.
Dennis, still in his busboy work clothes - a pair of tight slacks and a black vest that covered a white dress shirt, came over and gave Kenzie the Black Boy Salute - a well synchronized handshake, involving fist bums and whatnot.
Dennis was so tall. How he didn't try out for basketball was beyond me. But then again, Dennis was one of the few, if not the only, one of my brothers brothas that was actually heavily dedicated to academics. He usually never really hung out unless he was on a break.
"What's good?" Kenzie asked. "We playing ball later?"
"Not me tonight," Dennis said. "I'm going to be studying for this test I have tomorrow."
"Pshhh, nerdy ass fool," Kenzie teased and bounced him the ball. They were in the center of the street now, and I stayed on the sidewalk. I really didn't like causing any attention in these parts.
The neighborhood wasn't as bad as it could have been, but I wasn't he toughest looking cat. And my hair and clothes just screamed 'I'm a fag! Beat my ass!'
"You at least coming over for dinner?" Kenzie asked him. "My girl took my car so I'm stuck home until she get from by her cousin."
"Yeah, why not?" Dennis said and for the first time, he looked at me.
He looked at me and smiled. he smiled and my face shot itself into space. I avoided his gaze. My cheeks were burning so hot, they were melting my skin.
"Hey, Ashley," he said. Dennis voice was deep and smooth. Like almond milk. It just said every word so correctly. He could read me a lullaby comprised of just the dictionary and I'd fall asleep dreaming of what my life was like before him. It was nothing. It was that beautiful.
"Hey, Dennis," I answered. I could hear him moving closer. I looked over briefly. His hands were in his pockets and his head was to the ground when he hopped up onto the pavement next to me. Kenneth kept to where he was, watching us carefully.
"How you feeling," he asked. "Came to see you today, but I was told you were on a job interview."
"Yeah," I said. I frowned. Just thinking of that asshole was enough to irritate me. "That didn't end well."
His hands were still in his pocket. His dimple was out. he only had one and it was on the center of his left cheek like it was sun. His freckles just rotated around it.
"How have you been, though?" I asked. "We haven't talked in a while."
"I've been good. School. Home. Work. That's about all I do these days," he said. "You made up your mind about me teaching you basketball yet?" he asked. "Black boys that can't play basketball aren't really black boys."
"That's offensive," I said. We stopped. We got to my place. Two story home in a sea of one story homes. A collection of rocks in  patchy soil filled with singular rocks. "Just because I can't ball doesn't mean I'm not black."
he chuckled. He leaned against the rail on the steps as I opened the door. "Look," he began, "all I'm saying is we are lightskin tall ass boys, if we can't ball then we're basically gonna be seeN as white boys with like extra virgin oil or something."
"You all done being gay?" Kenzie asked, pushing me out of the way so he could get inside. "Harambe!"
Harambe meowed his way into the room, sauntering his little fat-self toward Kenneth, who sat down in the chair by the door and picked the gray cat up.
"This is why he's so big," I said. "You spoil him."
"He's fat because his metabolism is slow and he's a hungry guy," Kenzie fired back. "STOP FAT SHAMING."
I sat down on the long couch and Dennis sat right next to me. I could smell whatever cologne he was wearing.
"You should put him on a diet," Dennis said.
"I'm sorry?" Kenzie said. "I ain't remember Harambe saying shit about y'all being gay as fuck. So why y'all coming after him cause he got a little wait on 'em? Like Chill. Let him eat. He ain't judging y'all so y'all shouldn't judge him."
"That's a ludicrous defense," I said. "It's a freaking cat."
"He's right," Dennis said. I eyed him as weirdly as I could without wetting myself at his beautiful face. Like, stop being so cute. He laughed. "He is, though."
"Kenneth right about something?" Mom asked, stepping into the room from the kitchen. She took off her mittens and placed them under arr, wiping her brows. Her hair was in a messy bun. 'when since has Kenneth King been right about anything?"
"Ha-Ha, ma," Kenzie said, faking  a laugh. he let Harambe down.
"Good afternoon, Mrs. King," Dennis said.
Momma smiled. "It's been a while Dee. How's Mom?"
Dennis nodded. His head went to the ground for a split moment, but he looked back up with the smile. On this side, I could see no dimple, no freckles and no sun. "She's getting better."
"That's good," Momma said, smiling faintly. "We're all trying to recover." She looked over to me, and a big ass smile crossed her face. "Beautiful," she sang. "You didn't call to see how I was today."
"Sorry," I said, laughing as the doorbell rang. "Work was a bit of a mess."  I got up to answer it.
"Why?" she asked as I turned the knob.
And standing in front of me was Reece Red with a bouquet of roses in his hands. "He's why," I grumbled.