Smoke

by Meili Cady

  After the men left, I stayed at the table to talk with Lisette for a few minutes.

  “Wait, so, you’re not coming with us?” I asked her. This was not how I thought this would go. She’d said that we’d be traveling together.

  She frowned and said, “No, sweetie, I can’t. I wish I could, but I have meetings in town I have to attend. That’s why I need you to go for me, to make sure everything runs smoothly and to keep an eye on the boys.”

  Lisette told me that David was going to hand me two thousand dollars in cash before I flew back to L.A. “Wow,” I said, “that’s a lot. I don’t know what to say. Thank you.”

  She smirked and said, “You deserve it. What did I tell you? You’re working for your best friend. You’ll never have to worry about money again.” She warned me not to talk with any of the guys about how much I was being paid.

  “I just don’t want anyone getting pissed because you’re making more than they are,” she explained.

  “Yeah, that makes sense,” I agreed. Lisette knew that I wouldn’t say anything if she told me not to. She could count on me for that. If I had gone against her wishes and found out what the other guys were getting paid, maybe it would have been enough to make me leave, or at least wise up about where I stood with her. Many details like this I would only learn years later from the pages of an article in Rolling Stone magazine.

  “I need you on the flight,” Lisette said. “We’re going to have a lot of luggage, and I don’t want anyone to bother us. It’s no one’s business. David can’t be on the plane because he looks like a goddamn gangster. But if it looks like the bags are yours, it will make more sense, and no one will harass us. You need to play it up like a diva. You can do it. You’re a good actress. This could be the role of a lifetime for you.”

  When I left the hotel, I had a different feeling about Lisette’s new business than I’d had before the meeting. At the Ritz, when she’d first spoken about offering me the job, I hadn’t put much thought into it because I honestly didn’t think she would follow through with the offer. I thought I’d literally never hear about it again. She’d been so flaky in the last year. I was surprised when she turned out to be serious about it. Pleasantly surprised, mind you, because God knows I needed the money.

  When she told me that she’d be working with David, I assumed that she just wanted to bring one of her new “boy toys,” as she called them, on board to expand some casino work she was already doing for her family. She’d said for years that she constantly went back and forth to Commerce Casino in L.A. for family business, so it seemed logical that this operation would be tied in some way to that.

  I’d never questioned what Lisette did in business because she was bred by the founding family of one of the most successful companies in the world. Samsung was a company of such stature that it was in everyone’s backyard. Half my friends owned Samsung electronics. If the people who ran the company had been using certain methods for years, as Lisette said, it was likely commonplace in that pocket of society. When Lisette first told me that I shouldn’t “ask any questions” about what we’d be doing, I’d initially thought that she was following some business protocol by not divulging “confidential” information. Now I wondered if she was trying to protect me from knowing something that I wouldn’t want to know. It was like when I found that gun in her condo. She felt that she had a logical reason for having it, but it made me uneasy to find it in her drawer. I was beginning to think that she must have very specific reasons why she wanted to keep me in the dark about the details of her work. Probably because, as she’d said, I wouldn’t understand a lot of things that were typical of the world she’d grown up in, the world of “big business.”

  Lisette had spoken casually about her family using a hit man in certain areas of work when “it comes to that.” She’d told me that they called the contract killer “Angel,” which I found mildly disturbing because Angel was also her pet name for me. She joked that she had Angel “on speed dial” but said that he was called upon only in “extreme cases,” and that usually it wasn’t to kill someone, only to “rough them up,” like breaking bones. When I heard this from her, I was stunned. I didn’t know how to process the information coming from my best friend. It sounded like something out of a Martin Scorsese movie about gangsters. It was difficult to find a place for it in my perception of reality. It would be one thing if it seemed real and it was in front of me, but when you hear that kind of thing over cocktails during a sleepover, it lands on you differently.

  Lisette had always reveled in being mysterious and secretive, but this was a step beyond that, even for her. I was her closest friend and even I didn’t know what she was planning. I just knew that I was to be a part of her plan.

  ANGEL I NEED YOU TO COME TO THE BANK WITH ME TODAY. THIS WILL BE YOUR FIRST OFFICIAL JOB TASK ;).

  On the Wednesday before our first trip, I didn’t know what to expect as Lisette drove us to a bank in Beverly Hills. When we parked, she opened her Chanel purse to show me that she’d brought what appeared to be a substantial amount of cash, neatly stacked and rubber-banded. “This is what forty thousand dollars looks like,” she told me before we got out of her Bentley. “That’s incredible that it all fits in there,” I said. “I would have thought it would take up more room.” Lisette had always carried large amounts of cash, but I was sure this was the most I’d seen her with. It didn’t surprise me that she would want to handle everything in cash, as she’d often joked about being partial to it, but I’d never seen her pull it out of her purse and tell me the amount that was there.

  In line inside the bank, Lisette whispered to me as we waited for an available teller. “Just follow my lead, sweetie,” she said. “You’ll do this on your own from now on, so pay attention. I come here all the time, so this should be easy for you once they know that you work for me.”

  This was already unlike any job I’d ever had, but I’d suspected that working for Lisette would be just as unconventional as she was. She delighted in mystery and keeping things playful in a sense. I liked that about her, like she was always holding the cards but would give me a wink to tell me it’s all okay and it’s just for fun. She was the kind of girl who’d exude an air of mystery even when she told you what she’d had for breakfast, and somehow you’d be intrigued.

  Lisette greeted the teller in a high tone. “Hi, sweetie, how are you?”

  He looked happy to see her. “Good afternoon, Miss Lee. I’m good. What can I do you for today?”

  Lisette motioned to me, placing her hand on my arm. “Have you met my assistant, Meili? We need to do a wire transfer to JetSetter Charter. We’re flying to Miami for a party on Friday. Just a weekend. I need a break.” Lisette pushed a smile, along with her lie. Her British accent was particularly heavy today.

  “Man, I’m jealous,” the teller said as he took her cash and filled out a form.

  “Maybe we can take you with us one of these times,” Lisette told him. He blushed. When he handed Lisette the slip of paper with a pen, she slid it over to me. “Just put all your information down,” she told me. “Hmm?” I asked, trying to be subtle about my confusion so that the teller didn’t pick up on it. Lisette pointed to the paper. “Fill it out.” She turned back to the teller and continued their conversation. I was uncomfortable putting my name on something that I didn’t understand, especially when attaching it to a large sum of cash that didn’t belong to me. With the teller as a witness, I tried to act like this was business as usual.

  Why couldn’t this be in Lisette’s name? I didn’t like lying to anyone, even strangers. This didn’t feel right, but I didn’t want to fail at my very first job assignment from Lisette. I didn’t want to risk Lisette’s faith in me that I could do the job, let alone risk losing the payment to come that I desperately needed.

  “Just always tell them we’re going to Miami for vacation, or something like that,” Lisette said once we were outside of the bank. “And if you can, make sure it’s a teller who has seen
us in there before. It’s better if they already know us.”

  “Okay,” I said. “So I’ll be doing that before every trip then?”

  “Unless you can find us a jet company who will just give us a plane for free,” she said, a little irritated.

  “Sorry, I just want to make sure that it’s okay. I mean, isn’t it bad to have a bunch of money go through my account? Like for taxes?” Maybe Lisette felt protected by Samsung when it came to finances, but I knew well that my banking history was full of overdraft fees, and that it would seem beyond unusual to anyone if I suddenly put forty thousand dollars, in cash, no less, under my name for anything at a bank.

  “The money doesn’t register if it’s only in your account for two minutes, babe,” she said. I could tell that I was annoying her, but I needed to understand this. I needed some reassurance going forward. I needed some reason to believe that everything my gut was telling me was wrong and overcautious. I wanted to believe that this was all okay.

  “Wouldn’t it be better to do it through your account?” I asked. “I mean, obviously I’ll do it, but I’m just wondering if it looks weird to the bank to have that much money going through an account that’s been overdrawn like ten times this year.”

  I’d hit a nerve with Lisette. She rolled her eyes in frustration, then looked at me with a tight jaw. “Okay, do you want to work or not?” She underlined every word with direct hand gestures. “Because I’m not going to pay you for doing nothing. Other than riding on a fucking private plane, this is your only job task. Do you have any idea how many girls out there would kill to be in your position? I’m doing you a favor and you’re already complaining.”

  I decided to back off. She’d offered me a job I needed, and I’d immediately questioned her. “You know that I’m grateful to have this job,” I said. “I didn’t mean it like that. Of course I’m willing to work. I’m just still learning what it is that you want me to do.”

  “Okay,” Lisette said, calming herself. “This is what I want you to do. It’s not rocket science. A monkey could do it. Trust me, you’ll be fine.” Lisette knew more about these things than I did, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that what I’d done wasn’t necessarily “on the up and up.”

  When I came home after the bank, my roommate, Brie, was sitting on the couch with her sketchbook. “Hey, love!” she said. “Sorry about the mess, I’ll clean it up later.” Brie had the day off, and judging by the colorful crystals that were spread across our coffee table, she’d been working on her jewelry line. “Don’t worry about it,” I said. Brie knew what a clean freak I am, and she was always considerate about keeping things nice around the apartment. We were able to finally get a couch and a little bit of furniture recently from a friend who was moving, so the place was starting to look more like a home.

  “Oh, I like this one,” I said as I picked up a necklace from the coffee table. Brie had filled a long tube of crin with purple crystals, and they sparkled through the black mesh like fish scales in the water. “This is gorgeous.” I held it in between my fingers. “It’s squishy too! I love it!” Brie ran into the kitchen and came back holding a bottle of Two Buck Chuck from Trader Joe’s in one hand and two glasses in the other. “I bought some wine to celebrate your new job!”

  Brie and I took our wine outside and talked while we shared a cigarette. I told her about the money transfer at the bank today. “I don’t know, Miles,” she said. “I think that it gets reported if you deposit more than ten thousand dollars at once.”

  “But it wasn’t really a deposit,” I said, ashing into a coffee cup. “It was a transfer, and she said it won’t get reported because it was only in my account for a few minutes.”

  Brie thought as she took a drag from the cigarette. We both watched as the sun disappeared into the smog of the Hollywood skyline. Brie blew a final puff of smoke into the air and tossed the cigarette in the coffee cup. “Well,” she said on our way back inside, “Lisette would know a lot more about this stuff than I do, but I’d just say be careful because that’s a lot of cash. I know she’s your friend and she’s looking out for you, and I know that she wants to keep her work private and all—which I still think is weird, but whatever. I’m just saying be careful.”

  EARLY FRIDAY MORNING I DROVE downtown to meet David, Ko, and Henry at David’s penthouse on Wilshire Boulevard. Per instructions from David, I left my car in guest parking in his downstairs garage; I’d be back to collect it tomorrow night, Lisette had assured me. David’s building was surprisingly fancy. It was just as nice as the place Lisette lived in, only more modern. Lisette’s building was stuffy and reeked of old money.

  After leaving my car, I went to the lobby to wait for an elevator. Henry showed up next to me and we took the ride together. Wearing a black suit with a tie, he looked like a groomsman at a wedding.

  Lisette told me to wear my hair down and “dress like a diva.” I wasn’t sure what a diva would wear, so I just went with jeans, boots, and a basic black top. I’d also brought a scarf and a black-and-white-speckled winter coat because David told me that it would be cold where we were going. I packed my toothbrush in a plastic baggie inside my purse, but I wasn’t able to bring a change of clothes, however, because Lisette told me that I couldn’t bring any luggage—there wouldn’t be room for extra bags on the plane. I saw that Henry had no luggage either, so I guessed that he got the same note from our girl.

  “How are you doing?” Henry asked me as the elevator carried us up. “Good,” I said. “A little tired.”

  “Yep,” Henry said, “it’s pretty early. At least I guess we’ll be back by tomorrow night.” Henry definitely seemed to have the same level of security clearance as I did with this whole arrangement. I wondered if he knew where we were flying to today, but of course I didn’t ask him. Lisette told me not to engage in much conversation with any of the men and to keep talk about my personal life to a minimum.

  Henry knocked on David’s door. We heard someone check the peephole, then the door swung open. Ko looked sweaty and out of breath as he greeted us. “Come on in, guys,” he said. There were about seven suitcases standing around the kitchen of the penthouse apartment. Ko was lining them up near the door, struggling to move them, as though they were extremely heavy. I wondered what could make them so heavy. After seeing how easily forty thousand dollars fit into Lisette’s purse, it was difficult to believe that it could be all money in the suitcases; maybe it was coins, or perhaps casino chips. I wondered for a moment, then I brushed it off. If Lisette didn’t want me to know, then I wouldn’t spend time racking my brain about it.

  We were on the seventeenth floor with an impressive view of downtown Los Angeles. David walked in from one of the bedrooms, his eyes glued to a cell phone in his hand. He nodded to us and said, “What’s up, guys? It’ll be just a minute before the limo gets here. Chill for a second.” He disappeared back into the bedroom. Henry and I stood in silence in the kitchen. In the living room the television was turned on to a football game. A tall, bulky Mexican man with a shaved head and dark, stoic eyes walked into the living room from another area of the apartment, wearing jeans and an oversized T-shirt. He looked at Henry and me, intently observing us as he sat down on David’s couch in front of the television and propped his bright white sneakers on a coffee table and grabbed the remote. Before turning his attention to the game, he tilted his head to acknowledge us. I wasn’t sure how to respond to this gesture, so I attempted to tilt my head back to him in a similar manner, though I probably just looked like I had a neck cramp.

  I texted Lisette. She told me to keep her posted along every step of the trip. “I want to know everything as it’s happening,” she said. “Text me when you get there, when you’re leaving, everything.” In my text message, I let her know that I’d made it downtown and that I was waiting with the guys for the limo.

  Lisette wrote back.

  PERFECT, ANGEL. ENJOY YOUR FIRST RIDE ON A PRIVATE PLANE! TEXT ME WHEN YOU’VE LANDED. LOVE YOU ALWAYS.


  David returned from his room and announced that the limo was downstairs. Indicating the man on the couch, David turned to Henry and me and asked, “You guys meet Jose?” Henry and I shook our heads. The man on the couch glanced up at us from the game. David said, “Jose, this is Meili, Henry.” Jose gave us a head bob, then went back to watching the television without uttering a word. I’d never heard Lisette or David mention anyone named Jose before. He could have been uninvolved and merely a friend of David’s who just happened to be at his apartment this morning, but it seemed unlikely for a total outsider to be present today, given how secretive Lisette was.

  Jose stayed on the couch as Ko, David, and Henry rolled the suitcases through the hallway to the elevator. I helped by holding the door open for them as they passed, all of them struggling with the weight of the bags. We took the suitcases downstairs and outside to the back of David’s building, next to the valet and the entrance to his parking garage. There was a side street in the back where a stretch limousine waited for us at the curb, the driver standing at attention by the limo door. He immediately offered to help with loading our luggage into the limo. The trunk had limited space, so most of the bags were placed on top of the leather seats inside.

  The suitcases were loaded and it was time to head to the private airport in Van Nuys. David stayed at the curb as Ko, Henry, and I climbed into the limousine, cramped inside because the luggage took up most of the available seating. David leaned over the open limo door and said, “Okay, guys, I’m gonna head to LAX soon for my flight. I’ll see you later tonight.” He closed the door and we were off. I texted Lisette to let her know. THE EAGLE IS IN FLIGHT, I told her. WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? she responded. WHAT EAGLE? ARE YOU HIGH? I laughed out loud as I texted her back and looked up to see Ko and Henry staring at me. I stifled my laughter and set my phone aside, trying to maintain some form of professionalism. I looked out the window and watched the scenery pass by us as we drove from downtown L.A. to the Valley.