The small corner store restaurant was a microcosm of Philadelphia culinary, which of course included Italian Water Ice, hoagies, cheese steaks and few other hometown goodies. After a very busy morning, I was hungry as hell and starved for good conversation. Zackary and Michael would handle the conversation part with ease, and a Darlene cheese steak would fill my stomach to the brim. Before I entered the restaurant, my cell phone blew up, and I thought about not taking the call until I saw who was calling.
“Sup, Nique?” I asked before I backed away from the front door.
“I love the way you Philly cats say that. Anyway, I was just calling to see if you wanted to have lunch with me today. I know it’s a little late, but I thought I’d give it a try anyway. Are you down, because I know a great place?”
Hearing Nique’s voice once again was something of a delight that I didn’t expect to experience so soon. I tried not to appear relieved or sound over enthused about her calling me, but I was all those things and some, so I decided not to hide it.
“What’s gonna happen when I really start being charming?”
“I’ll probably call you corny in some politically correct way. So how bout lunch?”
“Sounds great, but I’m sort already doing lunch with Zach and Michael. Can get together tomorrow?”
“Okay, I guess that’ll give me a chance to get all prettied up and everything.”
“You don’t need a whole day for that. A couple of seconds and you’re fine with me.”
“Positive reinforcement will get you everywhere Omari.”
“Lemme write that one down. Positive reinforcement will get me…”
“You’re so silly. Anyway I guess I’ll let you and your boy’s get to gossiping.”
“Men don’t gossip, they discuss things. There’s a difference you know.”
“Yeah, right. Give me a call tonight, okay?”
“I’ll do that,” I said before I eventually found my way to Michael and Zackary.
“Wha up bro,” Zackary muttered after devouring a huge piece of his sandwich.
“Work and more work, but I’m still drama free.”
To my surprise neither of my friends joined me on our usual cheer, so I took a seat and scanned both of their faces before I said. “Just lemme order my food before...”
“We already ordered for you,” Michael said without looking me in the face.
“If this is about me being late.”
“Have you read or even seen the morning paper Omari?”
“You know I don’t read that crap, why?”
“I forgot you’re an AP guy.” Michael replied calmly.
Again, both of my friends refused to look at me, which meant something bad was about to go down. I cleared my throat and jumped out there with two feet.”
“Okay, what’s going on?”
Zackary stopped eating long enough to lay the morning paper out in front of me.
“I guess Councilmen Longman’s wife finally caught his ass red handed huh.” I asked after I read the front cover.
“That’s just the tip of the iceberg.”
“What does that have to do with me?”
Michael finally looked up at me before he spoke, “I shouldn’t be telling you this, but his wife told the reporter that Longman’s been dipping into the wrong money pot. Which means, eventually, there’s going to be a federal investigation Omari?”
“The wrong money pot, once again, what does this hafta to do with me?”
“Mrs. Longman has accused her husband of spending government money on his mistress. Now you put two and two together so we can all skip the bullshit.”
“Look, he hired me to cater a few of his parties, and a couple of romantic dinners for him and his wife. I don’t know anything about all that other stuff.”
“Did you actually see his wife at any of those dinners Omari?” Zackary asked with prodding eyes.
“No.”
“And there it is,” Michael replied as if he was judge and jury.
“It was always a setup and go type situation, why?”
Looking discouraged, Michael reached over and handed me a fully typed letter and said, “Here’s the full manuscript, and keep in mind that my paper published only half of this crap this morning, the next installment will be in tomorrow’s paper. And trust me; you’re not going to like what you see.”
“I don’t see how this has anything to do with…” I said before I started reading the manuscript. “Would somebody tell me why this woman is talking about me as if I was in cahoots with her husband?”
“That same woman has all of her husband’s receipts for the last two years and counting. And as you can see, she doesn’t remember taking part in any of those romantic dinners.”
“Oh my God,” I groaned as I continued to read.
“On top of all that, it doesn’t help you one bit that…”
“That your newspaper can’t stand my ass? Yeah I already figured that part out.”
“Why couldn’t you’ve just taken that catering contract last year Omari?”
“Why don’t your employers tell the real truth Michael? C’mon man, we’ve been over this a million times, and I’m not going to change my mind or my beliefs. Screw this, and screw them, but if it’ll make you feel any better, I wasn’t aware that I was helping this man cheat on his wife.”
“That’s not what most people are going to think.”
“Screw them, because I didn’t know this creep was stealing from the government, and as far as I’m concerned, it’s not my job to ask those sorts of questions. Furthermore, if your people see this as an opportunity to get back at me for not taking their business, well screw them too.”
“It was never about you not taking their business Omari, it’s how you handled it,” Zackary added as if the whole affair had happened yesterday.
“Fuck ‘em. It’s my business, and I’ll do with it as I see fit!”
“Excuse me, but weren’t you the one that took part in that widely publicized demonstration.”
“And I’d do it again if I had the time.”
“Just out of curiosity Omari, what exactly did you say on TV that day?”
“I called them a bunch of heartless Nazis…what.”
“No he didn’t, what he said was…”
“Excuse me Michael, but I know what I said, I was there remember?”
“He said: those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.”
“Well said, but for the record, some people call that having a pair Zach.”
“Everybody I knew called it crazy.”
“Because that’s how they pay their mortgages, don’t trip.”
“Regardless of how people pay their bills, if I was you, I’d call my lawyer.”
“I will,” I said before my lunch arrived hot and steamy.
After I finished off lunch with Zackary and Michael, I immediately contacted my lawyer and explained my situation to her. Expectedly, Sharon was already on the case, which finally explained why her retainer was so damn high.
Sharon C. Cooper was a Sun Tzu disciple, who believed a good defense was nothing but a damn good offense in disguise. Naturally aggressive, and generally out spoken, this Chicago native handled all of my legal issues with a cutthroat vigor. This meant I usually had to curb Sharon’s sly, over the top, aggressiveness whenever I needed her services. Nevertheless, she was still one of Atlanta’s best up and coming lawyers that everybody wanted on their legal team when the shit hit fan. She was that good, and I knew I wasn’t going to be able to keep Sharon’s services to my self if everything in her professional life went the way she had planned.
After discussing a few of the legal maneuvers that I had at my disposal with her, we decided that a wait and see approach would be safer for my company and me. Feeling relieved, I headed for my two o’clock consultant job.
My day finally came to an end after I had accomplished everything except Jill Jones’ Monday Nigh
t Football party. Then again that project was pretty much covered because I had already pre cooked the food, and purchased all of the needed party favorites. I just needed to be at Jill’s mansion before she did, which meant I had about two and half hours of free time before I was slated to perform, with that in mind, I called up Cece.
“Hey Cece, it’s me Omari.”
“Figured you’d be calling me.”
“I’m not even going to try and figure that out, anyway,
I was wondering if I could meet this Greg guy before I go and do Jill’s party.” “That’s what I figured; Greg should be at our recreation center.”
“Are you talking about that newly built recreational center named after yours truly?”
“Yes, I’m talking about the new Omari Willingham recreational center.”
“Cool, if anything important comes up, hit me up on my MDA.”
A couple of minutes later I pulled into the recreational center that bared my name wondering about what I was going to say to this Greg guy. Outside of the normal set of are you fit to work for me questions, I wasn’t sure what I was going to ask. Undecided, I parked my truck and headed for the recreation center. Once inside, I greeted the volunteer policeman standing guard at the front door before I made my way to the main office where I found a rather attractive young lady manning the main office as a dozen so children buzzed excitedly around her.
“If I tell you guys one more time...”
“C’mon Ms. Shepard, just one more game and we’ll be out,” a little girl with long legs begged.
“Can’t do it, tonight is bingo night, so if ya’ll don’t wanna see some of your grandparents up in here actin’ crazy, I’d advise ya’ll to leave while you have the chance.”
The children grew quiet and gave that some thought before they all decided it was better for them to go home than to sit there watching a bunch old people carrying on. As they all filed out, I walked over to the lady’s desk and tried to introduce myself, but was stopped in my tracks by a ringing phone. As a result the young lady waved for me to wait while she answered the call. Thirty seconds later, I had her full attention.
“I was told that I could find Greg here, is he here?”
“Okay and you are?” She asked skeptically.
“Just a friend and you are?”
“I run the place, and Greg’s kindda busy right now, so can I take a message?”
Deep down, a part of me wanted to tell her that it was mostly my hard-earned money that made this place possible. However, I didn’t want to come off too top shelf, so I explained what I wanted.
“I’m here to talk to Greg about a job, but if he’s too busy I can always come back later.”
“You’re Mr. Willingham aren’t you?” She asked with big eyes.
“That’s me.”
“I’m sorry about that Mr. Willingham.”
“It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not, because I should’ve been a little more…”
“It’s okay, and your name is?”
“September. September Shepard.”
“Well September I really would like to talk to Greg, but if he’s too busy…”
“No that’s okay Mr. Willingham, I’ll just…”
“You can call me Omari,” I said before I took a quick peek at the basketball court. “Man, that’s a really nice basketball court.”
“Probably the best in the whole city, but you already know that right? Anyway, Greg’s in the weight room giving a class, but I’m sure he won’t mind me interrupting.”
“Out of curiosity, what is he teaching?”
“He’s teaching a group parents on how to master the Internet. It’s a real good class, and to be honest with you Mr. Willingham…I mean Omari…he’s been a godsend since he’s been here. I mean the kids here love him to death, and besides, I just don’t know where I’d be without him.”
“That’s good to hear. You’re a volunteer right?’
“Yes sir and I love every minute of it too. I guess you can say I’m blessed to be here.”
“Good to hear, but if you don’t mind me asking, what do you do for a living September?”
“I teach World History over at Crim High.”
“Really, so you’re a teacher during the day and a gym rat in the evenings?”
“Amazing, I’ve never thought of myself as a rat.”
“I wasn’t actually calling you a rat; it was just a…
“Joking, I was just joking.” September said with a mile wide smile.
“I knew that. Well I’ll wait here for Greg if you don’t mind,” I said before I took a seat.
September gave me a nervous but infectious smile before she hurried out of the office. As soon as she was out of sight, I stood up and walked over to the laptop that was on the corner of her desk and quickly accessed the network that it was connected too. In no time I discovered that the network’s architecture was sound and the security programs that protected it were up to date and performing perfectly. At first glance, the whole thing looked like my work until I found a protocol glitch that was going to cause a few problems down the line. Instinctively I took a seat and immediately started working the problem before Greg and September returned.
“He’s sitting in front of my computer…my bad…his computer.”
“Technically, this computer belongs to the church September,” I said as I continued working the problem. “I just advised them about where to buy it.”
“Oh okay, so how’d did he log on to our network without a password Greg?”
“That’s a good question September. How did I manage to log on to your network without the having the proper password Greg? You are Greg right?” I asked a medium height cocoa brown man that stood in front of me.
“Last I checked that was my name, and as far how you got in. I’m guessing you typed in September’s name.”
“Exactly.”
“Damn, that’s my fault Mr. Willingham.”
“Its okay, most people tend to…”
“I know, but Greg has begged me to change that.”
“I understand, so how long have you been here helping her Greg?”
“Why you wanna know that for?” He replied with an attitude.
“Because Cece Douglas asked me to talk to you about a job, that’s why.” I replied with a matching attitude before I corrected the protocol problem. “I take it you designed and built this network from scratch?”
“Originally, the Pastor and his wife wanted you to do it. But I guess they couldn’t wait on you, so I did it. If that’s a problem, I can always tear it down.”
Slightly agitated by Greg’s offish attitude, I looked him in the eyes and said, “Excuse me September, but can we have a minute.”
Before September made her exit, she walked up to Greg and whispered something into his ear. This told me all I needed to know about September and Greg. In short, September loved and probably advised Greg on everything. While Greg, the archetypal brother who was down on his luck, wisely adhered. Why not, nothing he’s done up to this moment had worked.
“I wasn’t trying to be officious; in fact I think you’ve done an exceptional job with what you had here. So do us both the favor and drop the fucking attitude.”
Greg bit down on his bottom lip and closed his eyes in frustration before he gave me his full attention. “I’m listening.”
“I’m going to do you a big favor by keeping it real with you.”
Greg looked and acted like a lot of Black men whose life didn’t pan out the way that they had planned it. His slumped shoulders, weary eyes, and lowered head were the telltale sign of zero confidence. I’ve seen a lot of brothers like Greg in my life time, I have even been where he’s at, so I had a pretty good idea what I was going to say next.
“First things first, you screwed up in the past, get use to it and then get over it. Secondly the girl may be yours, but everything else here belongs to the church. Oh, and that funky ass attitude isn’t going to ge
t you anywhere but where you are now, and you can stay there as far I’m concerned. And lastly, don’t you ever openly express your frustration like that to anybody, you’re way too good for that, understand?”
Greg nodded okay before his eyes met mine.
“Good man, so if you wanna get your life together on the for real for real…give me a call and maybe we can work something out,” I said before I headed for the door. “Oh and Greg, if you don’t call me in a reasonable time frame, like tomorrow morning, honestly, I don’t wanna see you back here or anywhere near this place. I can’t afford to have failure hovering around these kids, understand…good…talk to you later.”
I hated being so nasty with Greg, but I had a lot to offer him outside of receiving a weekly paycheck. In the end, he and I both knew that Black men don’t usually get second chances handed to them on a platter unless they can sing, run, or dance. With that fact in mind, I felt good about what I had said, and was about to drive away from the playground until September came out of nowhere and suddenly tapped on my window.
“I’m sorry I didn’t say good bye, but I sort hafta be somewhere and…”
“It’s okay Mr. Willingham, I just wanted to…”
“I swear September, if you call me Mr. Willingham one more time.”
“Okay, thanks for talking to Greg Omari, and I promise he’ll call you in the morning.” She said before she headed back to the recreational center.
I guess that was the moment I discovered what Greg had already knew about September. Not only was she pretty and wise, but she had this uncanny way of leaving you feeling like you just had a good weekend or something. I examined the feeling closely and cautiously before I headed back to work.
Staring in that know it all mirror
A couple nights later, I was in bed and on the phone with Nique. The subject matter was about some silly book titled, Why Black Men Love White Women. My state of mind before that conversation took place was a combination of restlessness, and horniness. I should have found a way to tell her this, but I didn’t have the heart, so I played my part in this verbal dance until Nique said something that caught my interest.
The Other Side of My Kitchen Page 8
