Going Down: An Erotic Tale of Murder

by Glenn, Roy

  I stood up and shook Ben’s hand. “You’re right, Ben: It did sound like a credit to your race speech,” I said with a smile. “But I appreciate you saying it. I learned a lot from you and Al. And honestly, knowing that I earned your respect means a lot to me. But it’s time to move on. I couldn’t respect myself if I stayed.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Chris

  As far as business goes, these last few weeks have been pretty good, if I had to say so myself. With Tyhedra’s help I’ve been able to make so many new contacts, and most of them, I feel confident, will eventually turn into clients. The only weak spot that remains is TMG and Ivan DeVito.

  In spite of Tyhedra’s direct involvement in the account, it still remains a problem. I have to say this about her: Tyhedra knows her stuff. The training that she gave Kim on the reporting functions was exemplary. Kim feels more confident about her position and I believe she has gained a lot from Tyhedra’s poise and professionalism. Each morning she attends the meeting, whether I’m there or not. The other managers seem to have accepted her and feel a lot more comfortable about coming to her with their issues, instead of waiting until I get there.

  The only sour spot was Ivan and those reports. He insists on reviewing them daily, and only with me or Tyhedra. As I expected, she had Ivan eating out of her hand, but it’s become a problem because it is taking too much of her time.

  “Chris, I know I said I would work with Ivan until he gets comfortable addressing his issues with Kim, but he just doesn’t seem to want to move in that direction,” Tyhedra said to me on our way to see a client that we planned to joint venture with.

  “I know, Tyhedra, but please, try to hang in there a little longer.”

  “You don’t understand. I make an appointment with him to do a review. First, he keeps me waiting for no less than thirty minutes. Then when he does get around to it and finally calls me and Kim in, it’s the same thing every time—he’ll ask questions, and I let Kim answer every one of them. I have to say, she’s getting good.”

  “I think so too. I’d like to get them to the point where she takes over this account in more of a supervisory role and I hire somebody to do her job.”

  “I don’t know when that’s gonna be.”

  “What makes you say that?”

  “Ivan. After she answers his question, he’ll make some notes and move on to his next point. I let her run the whole show. Unless he asks me a direct question, I don’t say a word. Not one word.”

  “I know where this is going, but go on.”

  “Then Kim asks if he has any more questions; he says no and we get up to leave. Then he says, ‘Tyhedra, there’s something I need to ask you. It will only take a minute.’”

  “And it never takes a minute.”

  “No!” Tyhedra said much louder than she needed to. I could tell Ivan was getting to her. “All he wants is to ask the follow up questions that he could have and should have asked Kim. And that’s another forty minutes out of my day.” Tyhedra folded her arms across her luscious chest and pouted for a few seconds. “And you know I blame you for this, don’t you?”

  “Me? Why me?”

  “Because you dragged me into this. I’m at the point right now where I’ve finished his system review and he was satisfied with that. I billed him for my time and they paid my invoice. And by the way, I billed them for the time I spent on your evaluation and for training Kim.”

  “Thank you. I had noticed that I hadn’t gotten an invoice from you. I appreciate that.”

  “No problem. But you owe me one. Anyway, like I said, I’m ready to walk away from it now.”

  “Why don’t you just bill him for the time you spend with him?”

  “Because he is so annoying and the way he looks at me makes my flesh crawl.”

  “Good reason.”

  “I think it’s time we pop the tittie out of his mouth.”

  “What do mean by that?”

  “Let Kim go in there by herself.”

  “I thought about that, but all he’ll do is call me.”

  “And when he does, you give him your firm voice and explain to him that you have completed your contractual obligation to me and TMG, and refer him to me if he has any questions.”

  “Then he’ll start blowing up your phone.”

  “You let me worry about that.”

  “Consider it done. As of tomorrow, Kim is flying solo with Ivan.”

  The rest of the day went over great. When we got to the client that we had planned on joint venturing with, he was in such bad shape that he was ready to sign a contract right away. Tyhedra broke out her laptop, drew up a contract, printed it out, and we had a deal. After that, we followed up on a few more promising leads and decided to call it a day.

  “I don’t know about, Chris, but I am starving,” Tyhedra said and we drove away.

  “I tell you what: since I owe you one, why don’t you let me cook you dinner tonight?”

  “You can cook?”

  “Yeah, trust me. I’m really good at it.”

  “Okay, you’re on.”

  I stopped and picked up a bottle of wine and headed for the house. While I prepared our meal, Tyhedra made a few phone calls to follow up with some of the potential clients that we didn’t get to that day, and made appointments for the rest of the week. Then she wandered into the kitchen I told her what we were having. “Well, I just hope you like it.”

  “I’m sure I will. Since you did the cooking, the least I can do is serve,” Tyhedra suggested.

  “Don’t let me stop you,” I said, and took off my apron. I got out two glasses and a corkscrew, and left her to her work. I went in the dining room, lit a candle, and dimmed the lights.

  When Tyhedra came out of the kitchen, I was seated at the table. “Dinner by candlelight. Nice touch,” she said, and placed the food I cooked in front of me.

  We discussed business and sipped Pouilly-Fuisse wine over dinner. After dinner, we finished the bottle of wine and talked. To that point, most of our conversation had been about business. Mostly we talked about me and the things that I wanted out of business and life in general. When it came time to move on to talking about her, Tyhedra quickly changed the subject. I know some people don’t like to talk about themselves, so I didn’t make an issue of it.

  Tyhedra held up her glass. “I propose a toast to our new joint venture.”

  “To us,” I said, and our glasses came together. Some of it spilled on her jacket. “I’m sorry,” I said quickly. We both stood up at the same time and bumped into each other. The wine in my glass spilled on me.

  “I should do something with this before it stains,” Tyhedra said and began unbuttoning her jacket. I stood there frozen as she looked in my eyes and slowly unbuttoned each button. Tyhedra wore only a black lace bra under her jacket. I slipped her jacket slowly off her shoulders, allowing it to fall to the floor. I paused to admire her beauty. Tyhedra took a step closer and unbuttoned my shirt and ran her hands across my chest.

  I ran my fingers through her hair and began kissing my way down to her neck, and then biting her gently on the shoulder.

  “Ahh,” Tyhedra moaned. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled. “You should take that off,” Tyhedra slid my shirt off of my shoulders.

  I ran my tongue along the lace of her bra while I reached behind her back. I unhooked her bra and slid it off of her arms slowly. I stopped for a moment to admire her body. Her breasts were firm, and her nipples grew harder as I ran my tongue across them. I pulled down the zipper on her skirt and eased it down as Tyhedra wiggled her way out of it. She kicked out of the skirt. Her panties were black lace to match the bra. “You are so beautiful,” I said, and dropped to my knees.

  “Thank you.”

  I ran my tongue along the edges of the lace and down the inside of her thighs. Tyhedra held my head in place as I ran my tongue up the seam of her panties. Tyhedra moaned quietly as I slid them off.

  I led Tyhedra up the stairs to the bedroom and laid her
down on the side of the bed. I leaned forward and kissed her thighs. The closer I got to her pussy, the more Tyhedra would squirm. I began sucking her lips gently, then gliding my tongue slowly along her lips, up one side and down the other. Then I made circles around her clit with my index finger.

  I gently slid one finger inside of her. I moved it in and out slowly. Making small circles around her clit, keeping pace with my other finger. The circles became smaller and smaller, then I massaged her clit lightly.

  I slid my tongue around the edges of her Brazilian bikini wax, then I spread her lips. Her back arched as I stuck my tongue inside her, moving in and out slowly and gently. She rotated her hips. I spread her lips with two fingers and with the tip of my tongue, made small circles around her clit. As the circles got tighter, her clit got harder, her moans got louder. Tyhedra reached out and held my head in place. I must have sucked her pussy for a half an hour, but I couldn’t make her cum.

  When Tyhedra pulled me on top of her and guided me inside her. “You’re dick is so hard.”

  Tyhedra closed her eyes and grinded her hips in a slow, almost methodical motion. I reached for her face and pulled her toward me. I rolled Tyhedra over so she was on top. She leaned back slightly and swayed side to side, rubbing her nipples. I put my hands on her hips and planted my feet on the bed. I arched my back and quickened my pace. Tyhedra placed her hands on my chest. She sat up straight and ran her fingers through her hair. Tyhedra began to pound her body into mine. I felt her fingernails dig into my chest, and then they slid around my throat. I never had a woman fuck me so hard. I tried to fight the urge to explode, but I couldn’t. My whole body seemed to lock and Tyhedra milked every bit of cum out of me.

  “Damn it!” Tyhedra said and rolled off of me. Then she looked over at me. “What did we just do?” she said as if what we had just done was a dream, and she had been jerked back to reality. Tyhedra got out bed. “I’m sorry, Chris.” She smiled at me. “I don’t know what came over me.”

  “No, it was my fault. I got a little carried away.”

  “I think we both did,” she said smiling, backing out of my bedroom slowly. I followed her out of the bedroom. When I got to the living room, Tyhedra was getting dressed. To be polite, I put my pants back on and we talked about it and agreed it shouldn’t have happened, and that it would never happen again. But I knew I’d want more.

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Tavarus

  I opened a message from Albert James, the managing general partner. It was to advise me to be prepared to interview for the account manager’s position at two o’clock that afternoon. I viewed the news with a combination of relief and trepidation. Although I felt confident, I was still a little anxious about an interview by committee. The interview would be with Albert James and two other managers. Minutes seemed to pass like hours waiting for interview time. I was slated to go first followed by Brent, and Peggy would close the show.

  When Linda came into the office, I stood up and put on my jacket. “Well, it’s show time. How do I look?” Linda straightened my tie.

  “You look—well—let’s just say I’m glad that you’re not interviewing with any women,” Linda said as we started out of my office.

  “Why’s that?”

  “Baby, that tie is terrible.”

  I laughed. “Where are you going?”

  “I’m gonna walk down with you. If that’s all right with you, of course.”

  “Who are you, my priest? Coming to give me my last rights before my execution?”

  “I guess you could say that,” she said as we arrived at the conference room. “When you come out of there, you’ll be one of them.”

  “There goes that sellout shit again.”

  “You know better than that. I’m just playing with you. You know I just want the best for you.” She tried to straighten my tie again. “That’s not gonna help. So, you ready?”

  “I’m always ready,” I replied, knocked on the door, and entered the conference room. Seated at the conference table was Albert James, flanked on either side by William Berry, the manager of the data entry group and Dan Frazier, Director of Human Resources. Albert smiled at me and said “Come on in and have a seat, Tavarus. Let’s get started.”

  They kept me in there for more than an hour. The questions came non-stop.You know, the standard interview questions: Where I wanted to be in five years, and how I would handle certain situations? The questioning got tough, but it didn’t matter. I felt like I was in the zone. Answering each question with confidence and poise. Once they were finished, I thanked them for taking the time to interview me. I left the conference room with a good attitude. Brent was seated outside awaiting his turn. “How’d it go, Tavarus? They sure kept you in there a long time.”

  “They had a lot of questions, Brent. But I’d say it went pretty well. Good luck to you,” I said, as Brent entered the conference room.

  I went back to my office to find Lester seated at my desk waiting for me. “Come on in and shut the door, Tavarus,” Lester said taking liberties with my office, but that was just the type of guy Lester was. “How’d it go?”

  “I think it went very well,” I said and sat down across from Lester, as he rocked back in my chair. Why don’t you just put your feet up, too? I thought, but thought better of saying.

  “Yes, I’m sure it did. Everybody here thinks a lot of you,” Lester said. “But let’s lay our cards out on the table. Stop pussyfooting around. Let the shit fly.”

  I smiled. Lester always had a way with words. “So what’s up, Lester?”

  “You’re not gonna get this one, Tavarus,” he said flatly.

  The good feeling I had escaped me, like hot air from a balloon.

  “What?”

  “There are gonna be some changes made around here very soon, Tavarus. Changes that will affect the way we do things around here. I don’t particularly like them, or agree with them for that matter. But no one cares what the fuck I think anyway. I’m letting you know this because I respect you. I like the way you carry yourself, the way you do your job, and because I don’t think you’re one of them babies running off, crying to the goddamn EEOC. And if you did, hell, I’d just deny this whole conversation ever happened. And I’d probably shoot you.”

  “So who is gonna get it?”

  “For the time being, that’s need to know. Ah hell, it doesn’t matter. That candy ass Brent’s gonna get it.”

  “Brent?” I said in shock. “Why him? I could take Peggy getting it before Brent. At least she’s good accountant.”

  “That remains to be seen,” Lester said with a smug look on his face. I suspected that Lester’s comment was sexist in nature. “But that’s another matter entirely. What is important now is you.”

  “So what happens now, Les?”

  “Albert is going to tell you personally that you didn’t get the job. Then he’s gonna ask you to get Brent up the speed on the accounts.”

  “That takes nerve, but I can do that,” I said. It really wouldn’t be so bad training Brent. It might be fun exposing Brent as being incapable. That way, everyone would see the mistake they made passing me over in favor of Brent. It would be a small measure of satisfaction, but I’d take it.

  “I know you’re sitting there thinking how much fun you’re gonna have exposing Brent as the blithering idiot he is, but I’m not finished yet.”

  “What now, Les?”

  “You know we’ve lost some clients over the last year.”

  “Some big ones too.” And they were going to lose some more if things worked out as Linda outlined, I thought, but again thought better of saying.

  “So we’ve made retention a priority. The thinking is that the account manager would be in the best position to monitor the mood of the clients, and if he felt one was shaky, he could take steps to keep them happy, which makes that a kiss-ass position and makes Brent perfect for the job.”

  “That’s a pretty picture you’re painting.” Now it was me displaying the smug
look. “But what does all that have to do with me?”

  “Albert is going to ask you to continue to handle the administrative functions.”

  “Do the job without the title and the money, that’s what you’re saying, ain’t it, Les?”

  “That’s what I’m saying, Tavarus.”

  “That sucks, Les. That’s bullshit and you know it.”

  “I know it’s bullshit, Tavarus. But you do this for us and I give you my word, better things are in store for you here. You just have to be patient,” Lester said as he got up from my chair. “This conversation never happened, Tavarus,” he said as he left the room.

  I sat numb, looking out the window. “What just happened?” I said out loud. I got up and walked over to the window. Trying to make sense of what I had just heard. “Now let me get this straight. I just interviewed for the job I’ve been doing for the last seven months. While the interviews are still going on, Les tells me that not only am I not going to get the job, I have to train the guy who got the job over me. But then I still get to do the paperwork. And to add insult to injury, I get no money.” I slumped down in my chair. “You just got fucked, kid. No foreplay, no Vaseline.”

  I sat motionless for a moment. Playing the scene with Les over and over again in my mind. I thought I should have said something, made a stand. I should have told Lester to kiss my black ass and thrown him out of my chair. I should have quit right then and walked out. “But I didn’t. I sat there and took it like a good boy.” My mind drifted into nowhere, unable to focus on anything, but thinking about everything all at once. One fact circled around and around through my mind: Black man in America. The no win scenario.