by Pepper Pace
Nicole was shocked but quickly concealed it. “Oh…really?”
“Oh my god! He’s funny. He’s sexy. And he watches me so hard. Girl, I’m going to get him!”
“Kendall, Isn’t he old enough to be your father?”
“He’s only 39 or 40. That’s not old. And besides he doesn’t look it.” She leaned closer to Nicole. “I heard he’s rich, used to have his own investment agency. He was married and everything. But she died, real horribly; killed-”
Nicole’s brow furrowed sharply. “What? Kendall, how’d you find this out?”
“Fred told me. When Marty was out.”
Fred? “How would he know about something like that?”
Kendall shrugged. “I don’t know. I know that Fred quit another job to work for Marty when he first opened this place. Maybe they go way back.”
Nicole felt sick. Fred wouldn’t make up something like that. But why would Marty mislead her about his marriage because he sure made it seem like his wife had just dumped him for his partner.
Kendall looked at the clock. “I gotta get back on the floor. Nicole, what I told you has to stay between you and me.”
She nodded absently. “Okay, but what do you mean she died horribly?”
“She was attacked, beaten, maybe even raped. I gotta go!” Kendall hurried out of the office.
Nicole shook her head in disbelief. Marty’s wife was murdered? But why didn’t he tell her ? Maybe…it was for the same reason that Nicole herself had never mentioned Alicia.
About an hour later Marty came in. “How’s it going?”
She had been so absorbed in her studies and thoughts about Marty’s wife that she jumped.
“Good, but I’m so behind on everything.”
“Well, don’t work too hard. How’s your head? You don’t have a headache, do you.”
“No headache.”
“Good. We’ll cut out of here in about another hour, okay?”
She nodded. “How’s Kendall working out?” She tried to keep her voice neutral.
“Real good.”
“You know I’m coming back, Marty, and I want my job back.”
He chuckled. “I’m not replacing you, Baby Girl. She’s just filling in.”
“I hope she knows that.”
Another hour passed and Nicole needed to hit the restroom and to get something to take her medicine with. Fred was working Marty’s station, it was pretty slow and he was working on a meatloaf. Kendall wasn’t at her station and she didn’t see Marty.
“Hey Baby Girl.” Fred said looking up briefly. “You’ve been studying pretty hard in that office.”
“Yeah, Fred. I got a lot to get caught up. Look at you, though. I hear you’re the man with being in charge and all.”
“You better recognize!” They both laughed.
She looked around. “Where’s Marty and Kendall?”
“Getting stock.” Nicole thought about how tedious getting stock had always been for her. Keeping the station replenished with fresh condiments, lunch meats, salad makings and bread was time consuming. She decided to help, itching to do something a little physical.
“I’ll catch you later Fred.” She went into the walk-in, but didn’t see anyone. The first part was the refrigeration unit, and then behind that was a second door which led into a much smaller freezer unit. Rarely did she need anything from the freezer, most of her station was fresh. They must be out back getting carryout cups and trays. That could be pretty time consuming. She was about to leave when she heard a shuffle from the freezer. She opened the door and peeked her head inside.
Nicole’s mouth fell open.
Marty had Kendall against a stack of boxes, their bodies pressed together intimately, her arms around his neck and his hands gripping her buttocks while his pelvis rotated sensually against her. They were kissing wildly, unaware that they were being watched.
Quickly Nicole let the door shut silently and then she backed away in shock. She stumbled over a box on the floor and silently stormed out of the walk-in. Her mind was crowded with so many emotions that she didn’t know which one to process first, and then it became clear that the hurt took precedents over everything else. The hurt was sharp like a knife in her heart.
Nicole went back to the office allowing the door to slam behind her as the only acknowledgement to her anger. She turned on the computer and stabbed out the keyboard in order to save her work and to close out of the programs. Her mind kept going back to the sight of their hips grinding and she felt sick with the hurt.
To hell with it, she thought to herself angrily; humiliated. All this time she had thought Marty’s reserve was based on his high moral: not to make a move on an employee and someone under his care. But obviously that wasn’t the case. Obviously being employed by Marty didn’t stop him from screwing you! How long had it been going on? Was it new?
Then it was true. The feelings she had were one sided. A tear slipped down her cheek and angrily she swiped it away. She was not going to cry—not over him, not when she had cried so many tears in her life.
Nicole wasn’t surprised when the door swung open. She didn’t look up from the computer as Marty stood silently in the doorway. Finally he cleared his throat.
“Were you just in the walk-in?”
Nicole looked at him briefly but didn’t respond. She pulled a disk out of the computer and shoved it in her book bag.
Marty closed the door behind him and then rubbed his shaved head with both hands sighing. “I know what that must have looked like. But…it wasn’t.”
“Can we go?” She said, shoving the rest of her things in her book bag.
“Nicole…”
“I’ll be in the truck.” She said, moving past him and out of the office. Nicole went out the back door and didn’t say a word to anyone. Marty’s truck was locked so she climbed into the bed and waited for him to come out, trembling, wanting to scream at him or smack him. But scream what? Smack him for what? Choosing the pretty white girl over the beat up black woman on public aid?
She eyed the nearby road wistfully. She wanted to be running down that road to her apartment! She wanted to be away from these people and their uncontrolled lust and then she choked back a cry.
In her entire life, all Nicole ever had was herself and then Alicia. She never grew up depending on anyone; parents, friends and especially not a man. Her sole mission in life for the last couple of years had been to better her circumstances, not physical comfort—but to be a better person. Marty had been a brief interruption. But now, she was putting herself back on track!
By the time Marty returned to the truck she had herself under control again. Once she got her things she wanted nothing else from him. And she intended to play it cool because she wouldn’t give him anymore than that. She jumped down from the flatbed and once he unlocked the door she climbed in before he could open her door. He watched her while he started the car and she knew he was dying to speak so she just turned on the radio and looked out the window. They drove in silence.
He pulled into the drive-way but didn’t cut off the engine.
“Nicole, Kendall is not who I want to be with-”
“Marty, I want to go home.”
He swallowed, his shoulders sinking. “Okay…But Nicole-” She turned to him suddenly.
“Thank you for everything. I want to get my things, and after that will you just take me home?”
He stared at her seeing only a cold, blank expression on her face. He finally turned off the engine and handed her the keys. Wordlessly she went into the apartment and quickly gathered her things, ignoring the pang in her chest. There were a lot of good memories in this home. But she refused to humiliate herself anymore by thinking of them or of Marty. If Nicole was accomplished at anything, it was putting unwanted memories behind her. He was just a man that had done her a favor and that’s all.
The drive to Nicole’s apartment was quiet. Marty pulled into the parking lot but gripped her hand before she could jump ou
t of the truck.
“Nicole, if you need anything, let me know. I mean it.”
“Thanks.” She said while pulling away, not even looking at him; in such a rush to be away from him that she practically ran to her apartment. He didn’t even have time to get out and help her with her bags. She had them and was gone.
As soon as she had the door closed behind her Nicole began to shake. She leaned her back against the door and closed her eyes surprised to feel wetness there. She was just too disappointed to fight back the tears any longer.
~***~
Nicole had dumped the smelly items in her refrigerator and did the laundry before she even noticed that she had a number of telephone messages. Who would be calling her? She didn’t have any friends anymore and her family was a joke.
She listened anxiously to the recorded voice of Mr. Rodriguez of District 12 Police. They had found the woman that had hit her, or rather she had found them. Apparently the poor lady had been looking for her.
After the accident she had been too frightened of moving Nicole so she had gone looking for a pay phone. Even after she had found the telephone she couldn’t tell the police how to get to the site of the accident. When she finally got back to the accident site with the police Nicole and the bike were gone.
Officer Rodriguez had left the woman’s phone number for Nicole to contact her concerning Insurance issues and instructed her on how to get back in touch with him in case she wanted to press charges. Nicole’s heart lightened. That lady hadn’t screwed her! The world wasn’t full of fucked up people with fucked up agendas!
The last thing on Nicole’s mind was pressing charges. After all, an accident was an accident. But if she could, maybe the insurance could get her bike replaced, and not to mention the out of pocket hospital and medicine expenses.
Nicole called Miss Westmoreland, the woman who had hit her, and she really was a nice motherly type. They exchanged insurance information and Miss Westmoreland insisted on paying for a new bike out of her own pocket. Nicole didn’t feel comfortable with that, but trying to change the mind of a motherly-type with a guilty conscious was impossible so before they hung up, the two made a date to go out bike shopping the next morning.
That night when Nicole finally went to bed she was exhausted for the first time in a long while. The strain of seeing Kendall and Marty together not to mention the move made sleeping difficult. A big part of her wanted to quit her job so she’d never have to see either of the two again. But it had been a while since she’d gotten a decent paycheck and there was rent and living expenses to think about. Besides, the big reason she had chosen THE DOWN HOME CALABASH was the flexibility in hours. She could get her 40 hours a week spread evenly over the weekend. How many places allowed you to do that?
Eventually she fell into a restless sleep. She dreamt about the past, but it was Marty and not James that she was with. Alicia was with them and it was the way Nicole had always wished it could be…Mommy, Daddy and Baby. She awakened the next morning with tears on her cheeks.
Miss Westmoreland picked her up bright and early the next morning and insisted on taking her out for a big breakfast and then they went to the sporting goods store. She replaced Nicole’s mediocre bike with a state of the art European Tour-de-France racer. Nicole drew the line when Miss Westmoreland tried to purchase the matching helmet. Although it was out of her price range she bought it herself to appease her. They ended their day by stopping at the grocery store where Miss Westmoreland craftily paid for Nicole’s purchases by mixing them with her own and paying for them on her credit card.
It made Nicole nostalgic for a mother. She had to wonder if this is the way a normal Mother would be. Nicole had never had one or been one. Her mind slipped back to the past and once more she could see the drug paraphernalia spread out on the cocktail table. James was nodding and Alicia…
She picked up the telephone. She had one purpose and one purpose only, and that was to move ahead; even if she had to live in a crappy one bedroom efficiency, even if she had to work with Marty and Kendall and their budding love affair.
Despite her resolve her palms began to sweat as the phone began to ring. She hated that she felt the least bit of nervousness at speaking to Marty. She refused to entertain that it wasn’t nervousness but anticipation.
With relief she heard Fred’s voice instead of Marty’s.
“You know you don’t need to come back so soon,” he said.
“I feel better and I need to get back to work and school. What’s the schedule like Friday?”
“Kendall was scheduled at your station. But she’s here now. I’ll let her know to either take the day off or do prep. Guess what?”
“What?”
“Marty made me manager. And I got a big-ass raise.”
Nicole screamed and jumped up and down happily.
“It’s about time!”
“Yeah, it was right on time. The dang fool went and broke his hand so he’s out today.”
Nicole felt an unwelcomed jolt. “Marty broke his hand? How?”
“You know Marty. He probably punched a wall or something.”
“Alright Fred.” She said, forcing thoughts of Marty out of her head. “Are you going to be in tomorrow?”
“I’m not supposed to be, but I’m like a doctor on call…”
Nicole chuckled. “I hear ya. Well I’ll talk to you later.”
Friday evening Nicole strapped on her new helmet and tentatively sat on the bike. As she pedaled into the street she dry swallowed and realized that she was afraid. She looked at the busy traffic, heart hammering in her chest. With sweat pouring down her back she kept pace with the traffic. Her thighs burned a bit from a lack of exercise but after a few moments her confidence returned in small baby steps.
With the better bike she was at work in next to no time. She chained it out front and walked through the back door removing her helmet.
“Hey, Nicole.”
“What’s up Baby Girl?” She heard the familiar greetings and instantly felt at home. This restaurant was more than a job to Nicole; it was her family--her only family anymore.
Marty was grilling T-bones, some burgers, and making a deep fried catfish, expertly juggling each task even with the cast on his hand. He didn’t raise his eyes once to greet her.
God he looked good, she thought. He was just wearing the same clothes he always wore; jeans and a t-shirt with the sleeves cut off. But somehow his arms looked bigger and the tattoo on his bicep stood out more. His shaved head gleamed still retaining the summers tan, smooth and newly shaved. Marty’s goatee even looked…better. And not to mention his muscled legs in the faded jeans…booty looking like it should be pinched…full lips looking like they should be kissed…
Nicole’s cheeks felt suddenly warm. She inhaled slowly and approached her station.
Marty paused long enough to glance at her. “Baby Girl, I need two banana puddings.” Although his tone was flat, the use of the nickname surprised her. At his house he called her Baby Girl, or Baby, all the time—but had never done it at work.
“Thank you.” She replied and quickly plated the desert.
Fred gave her a quick hug. “You ready to take over?” She smiled and nodded. “Okay, then I’m outtie. Yo, Marty. Call me if you need me.” Fred said as he headed out the back door. Marty just grunted some reply. It Looked like he was back to his old self.
“Nicole.” Marty said. She turned to him, heart racing in expectation.
“Yes?”
“You’re going to need to do some stock. We’re almost out of 10 inch lids and carryout trays. Also bring back some condiments; salt, pepper and ketchup. When you get back make salad dressing.
“Okay.” He turned back to the grill and plated some burgers. She went out back to the shed a little hurt that he was so impersonal. Didn’t he care how she felt anymore? He was setting the stage. It only made it easier for her to play the game.
The next few hours went just the same. He wasn’t mean to
her, nothing like that. But she couldn’t stop remembering evenings on his oversized sofa watching movies and munching popcorn, laughing and going for walks…not to mention the feel of his rough hands again as they stroked her breasts. But, at the same time, she could still see him in the freezer kissing and moving his body intimately with Kendall in the way she had hoped-
With a grimace she closed the door on the memories of good times with Marty.
11:00 couldn’t come soon enough. She hurried to leave bidding everyone goodnight. Marty was staring at her so hard that she hesitated; remembering how he had said that he didn’t think it was safe for her to be riding her bike at night. But when he didn’t speak she silently strapped on her helmet and left. Marty no longer had a say in her well being.
