After All (19 page)

“
You got a phone call on
line two.”Her jaws worked on a big wad of chewing gum. “It's Mr.
Batiste.”

“
Here, get started on
straightening these out. Just record 'em as completed and put 'em
on my desk.” Opening a folder, Buster pushed a stack of work orders
in front of him.

Dominic began placing a check mark on a
blank line indicating repairs done on housing units. He set aside
each one in a second neat file. Buster went into his office and
closed the door.

“
Hey, Ike. What's goin' on.
Yeah, he doin' okay. Nah, far as I can tell it don't bother him one
bit that we business partners. His daddy told him, but he says he
took the job and he's gonna keep it. Yeah, I bet his old man is
pissed off.”Buster cackled.”But the kid's gonna come in real handy.
Uh-huh. You gonna do what? Damn, man! You always
schemin'.”

***

“
Knock, knock.” Marcus
strolled in.

“
What you doin' still here?”
Lonnie gave him a stony stare. “It's after six o'clock.” He checked
the Rolex watch on his wrist.

“
I noticed you were burning
the midnight oil and thought you might need a little
help.

“
You thought wrong. Go
home.” Lonnie closed a file as Marcus came closer.

“
I'm just trying to be
helpful. Looks to me like you got your hands full.” Marcus took a
seat in the chair opposite him.

“
Say, man, who asked you to
sit down?” Lonnie's lip curled. Standing, he leaned forward, his
massive fists planted on the desk top. “Get out.”

“
If you say so.”Marcus
lifted his hands as if surrendering. “Just thought you'd like to
know, a couple of competitors are giving three of your boys a cut
to steer customers to them.” He continued to sit completely relaxed
in the chair. “You're losing a big chunk of profits.”

“
How you found all this out
so fast? You only been workin' here a coupla weeks. You supposed to
be one of the office boys.”

“
I didn't stay in the
office. I notice things. One of them offered me a deal.” Marcus
crossed an ankle on his knee.

“
So why didn't you take it?”
Lonnie eyed him with suspicion. In his world, not taking advantage
of someone else for personal gain was the norm.

“
That's pocket change. I
want real money.”

After several seconds of examining
Marcus, Lonnie stood straight. “What you got in mind?”

“
I think we can come to a
reasonable agreement. One that will be profitable to us both,”
Marcus said. The corners of his mouth lifted slightly as Lonnie sat
down again.

Chapter 8

Michelle stood on the balcony, and took
a deep breath. Pulling the sash of her velour robe tighter, she
gazed around at the vista spread before her. The morning had dawned
crisp and clear with a cloudless sky. Rolling hills still thick
with foliage surrounded the bed and breakfast. In the distance a
lake sparkled with reflected sunlight. A plume of smoke rose from
the chimney of one of the lovely old homes tucked away somewhere in
the woods of West Feliciana Parish. The air was fragrant with the
smell of burning oak. Lilting bird song provided the perfect
background music to such a lovely day.

“
It's all yours,
baby.”Anthony came out of the bathroom wearing pajama pants only.
His broad chest covered with the same curly, dark hair on his
head.

“
In a minute. I'm enjoying
the scenery.”

Wrapping his arms around her from
behind. He rested his chin on her shoulder to stare down the front
of her robe. “Um-hum, what a view.”

“
I'm talking about the
hills.” Michelle gave him a playful slap.

“
So am I.”Anthony brushed
her neck with his lips.

“
Cut it out or we'll be late
for breakfast.”Michelle began to breathe faster as his hands roamed
over her body.

“
They serve breakfast until
ten thirty. It's only a quarter to eight.”

“
Somebody might see us out
here.” Michelle let out a tiny gasp as one of his hands found the
soft inside of her thighs.

“
Then let's go back inside,”
Anthony whispered.

Anthony tugged her away from the
balcony towards the large canopy bed. With one quick motion he
pushed the robe down on her shoulders in thick folds as he kissed
the cleft between her breasts. Michelle sank to the bed pulling him
with her. They teased each other, relishing the erotic sensation of
touching without consummation until both quivered in a delirium of
passion. In concert they moaned at the fiery contact of flesh on
flesh. For what seemed an eternity they moved as one with lingering
strokes. But these soon gave way to the frenzied motions of lovers
lost in ecstasy. And then they shared the wonderful moments of
merely holding each other, savoring a dreamy state of love made
complete.

“
Now what time is it?”
Michelle snuggled against his chest with a sigh of
satiation.

“
Umm, who cares?”Anthony
made no move to look at his watch.

“
I do. I've worked up a big
appetite.”

“
So have I.”Anthony slipped
a hand beneath the covers to cup a full breast.

“
For breakfast, you rascal,”
Michelle giggled.

“
Oh, right. I guess we have
to get out of bed sometime.”Anthony gave a mock frown.

In a happy playful mood, they dressed
in warm sweaters, jeans, and comfortable boots. After a hardy
breakfast of grits and eggs, they ventured onto the walking paths
that wound through the forest. The cool snap of weather in the
first weeks of November had resulted in a wonderful pallet of
colors. Strolling hand in hand, they admired the leaves of deep
reds, gold, and light green swaying in the breeze. They spoke in
hushed tones as if doing otherwise would be disrespectful to the
peaceful setting. After more than two hours they returned to the
inn and their room.

“
Chelle, you keep outdoing
yourself. This was a great idea.”

Anthony hugged her tighter as they sat
in front of the fire in the small sitting room of their suite. Pale
fall sun rays slanted through the window. Their bags were packed,
yet they dawdled not wanting to leave the magic of three glorious
days alone.

“
Thank you, sir. We aim to
please.”

Anthony looked around with a wistful
look.”Now we have to get back to the real world.”

“
Unfortunately.” Michelle
took a deep breath before dragging herself from his arms to pack
the last of her things.

The thirty minute drive back to Baton
Rouge was spent in cozy silence. Arriving at his apartment complex,
Anthony maneuvered his car next to Michelle's. He put her bag in
her trunk before they went upstairs.

“
Too bad the weekend has to
end.” Michelle stretched out on the sofa, her head in his
lap.

“
Yeah, but we can plan more
great times. And not just on the weekend.”Anthony curled a thick
tendril of her hair around one of his fingers.

“
I'm going to be tied up for
a while on this big assignment. That's why it was so important to
me that we have this weekend. I really appreciate you making time
for it.”Michelle touched his cheek with her fingertips.

“
Don't thank me. I was being
very selfish when I said yes.”

“
Still, I know you have
pretty big projects of your own.”Michelle smiled up at
him.

“
Cedric is the perfect
partner. Having him allows me time off. So what's the grand story
you're working on?”

“
Uh, it's on public
housing.” Michelle sat up, her relaxed mood vanished.

“
Really? Say, I caught the
end of your profile on that family trying to improve conditions at
the project where they live. It was great.”

“
Yeah. I've got an idea,
let's go out for Chinese.”

“
Sounds good. You know my
uncle has done some work on a couple of the housing
projects.”

“
I know.” Michelle looked
away. The last subject she wanted to discuss was Ike or public
housing. Not today, not with Anthony.

“
In fact, he's had a hand in
making more than a few livable, though there's little profit in it
for him.”

“
Humph, not hardly,”
Michelle muttered.

“
What?”

“
Let's not get into this,
Anthony.” Michelle tried to ignore the bile rising in her throat.
To think Ike had the nerve to act as though he performed noble work
for the poor! She started to stand but Anthony placed a hand on her
shoulder.

Anthony's brows drew together. “You got
a funny look on your face when I mentioned Uncle Ike doing work on
those housing projects.”

“
The units could be in
better shape.” Michelle clenched her teeth suppressing the urge to
say what she really thought.

“
What's that supposed to
mean?”

“
Nothing.”She wanted to
close this discussion. “Let's go to that new restaurant on Chimes
Street. House of Hong Kong.”Michelle reached for her
jacket.

“
No wait a minute. I want to
know what you're implying.”Anthony caught her arm.

“
One of the big problems the
tenants have is getting repairs done right or at all for that
matter. From what I've seen, they have a right to be
angry.”

“
My uncle didn't invent the
problems with public housing projects, you know.”

“
And he's not doing much to
make it any better either.” Seeing the stiff set of his jaw,
Michelle regretted her words instantly.

“
That's not fair. Uncle Ike
has done a lot of good work. I've seen what he's done to a few of
them.” He stared at her hard.

“
Okay, forget it.” Michelle
looked away.”Let's go.”

“
No, I want hear these
accusations being thrown around without proof.”

“
The problems are very real,
Anthony. The tenants have legitimate complaints.” Michelle turned
to him.

“
A lot of the damage is
their fault. I've been to some of those apartments.”

Michelle bristled. “So have I. Most of
the tenants are people who just want to be treated with respect.
The Housing Authority could do more to deal with the few trouble
makers, but they won't. Any property needs constant maintenance to
keep looking decent. There's a lot of normal wear and tear. But
some of our esteemed Black entrepreneurs are taking advantage of
poor people.”

“
Is that so?”Anthony's face
became a rigid mask.

“
They get contracts that
could help our community. What do they do instead? Stuff their
pockets at the expense of people who don't have the power to stop
them.” Michelle's voice had risen.

“
You can't miss any
opportunity to dump on my uncle. Talk about using poor people for
personal gain. You just want revenge. You don't give a damn about
the tenants.”Anthony glared at her.

“
I'm a reporter. It's my job
to inform the public. Information empowers people so they can't be
pushed around. That story came to me. I didn't even know your uncle
was in any way involved,” Michelle yelled at him.

“
Bull! You did the same
thing when you were on the radio. Oh yes, I heard those reports you
did for KSAL on construction industry rip-offs.”Anthony stabbed an
accusing finger at her.

“
I can't help it if your
uncle and his scum ball friends keep crawling out from under every
rock that gets turned over in this town.” Michelle jerked on her
jacket.

“
I can't believe this. No
matter how I try, just mentioning Uncle Ike gets you started all
over again. You've got a real problem, sweetheart.”

“
You're right. My problem is
I give you too much credit for having the sense to someday see him
for what he truly is.”

“
So much for not trying to
make me choose between you two. It's obvious you haven't grown up
as much as you think.”

“
I don't need this.”
Michelle snatched her purse from the coffee table.

“
Neither do I.”Anthony
leaped up from the sofa.

“
You insisted on talking
about Ike,” Michelle said angrily.

“
After you made it a point
to let me know you had something to say about my uncle.”

“
I'm outta here. It's
obvious this isn't going to work.”

“
At least that's one thing
you've got right.”Anthony shouted.

Michelle stormed out slamming the door
behind her.

***

“
You insulted the man's
uncle, and you're surprised he took offense?” Shantae cocked one
eyebrow at Laree over Michelle's head.

“
I saw that,” Michelle
snapped.

It was three days later and all three
were at a popular soul food restaurant and bar near downtown. A
stereo system tuned to the local R and B radio station blared as
waiters maneuvered between tables with loaded platters. The smell
of fried chicken, fried catfish, and meat loaf filled the dining
room. It was separated from the bar by a thin sheet of painted
plywood that cut the large room in half. Raucous laughter filtered
through the clink of dishes. The bar was jumping. A man dressed in
a gray wool jacket stared at them trying to make eye contact. They
had been studiously ignoring him and his two friends for the past
half-hour.