CHAPTER 10
RICHARD
The cafeteria in our building had a great menu and the food was excellent. It was a little pricey, but I still ate lunch in it at least two or three times a week. There were a lot of other places to eat that were within walking distance; and with Cleveland being so close, we had a lot of options.
Several of my male friends worked in the vicinity, so I occasionally went to lunch with them. With all the holiday activity going on, it had been a couple of weeks since I’d spent time with Steven Pardee, my closest male friend. Steven owned a house in Cleveland and worked as a loan manager at Mandell National Bank directly across the street from us. He’d been my best man and his wedding gift to us had been an all-expenses-paid two-week honeymoon in Mexico City. He’d also been one of Margaret’s pallbearers. “Hey, brother,” he greeted when I dialed his number. “What’s up?”
“How was your Thanksgiving, Steven?”
“Well, it was nice but not what I expected. Our oven conked out before the turkey finished cooking and we had a dozen guests coming.”
“What did you and Cynthia do when they arrived?”
“Oh, they were all very understanding. We offered to treat everybody to dinner at that buffet on Pike Street. It was the only place we could get a reservation for such a large group. My cousin Jimmy and his wife and son decided to go eat at her folks’ house, but everybody else wanted to go to the buffet. Jimmy’s brother DeShawn, the wrestler, went through the line so many times, the manager threatened to make me pay for him again.”
“I thought it was an all-you-can-eat-for-one-price place?”
“It is! But that’s for normal people. Jimmy’s monthly grocery bill is more than his mortgage.”
“Tell me about it. I’ll never forget how much he ate at my Memorial Day cookout last year. That was the first time we didn’t have any leftovers to eat the next day.”
We laughed. “So, what are you up to today?” he asked.
“I was hoping you could come over and have lunch with me in our cafeteria. Or we could go someplace else as long as I’m back by one.”
“I wish I could go. I’m about to go into our weekly staff meeting in a few minutes and they never end before two. Want to hook up after work for a beer or two?”
“Not today. I drove in and I want to dodge as much of the commute traffic as possible, so I’ll be taking off right at five.”
“I heard that. Well, maybe we can have lunch later in the week.”
“That’s cool. I’ll talk to you later.” I didn’t bother to call any of my other friends. I went to a Mexican restaurant on the next block. Five minutes after I sat down with my two beef burritos and Diet Coke, somebody tapped my shoulder.
“Do you mind if I share your table?” It was Regina. She worked as an accountant for a construction company two blocks over, so we often ran into each other on our breaks. She had a tray that contained two tacos and a tall glass of iced tea. As usual, she was dressed to the nines.
“By all means.” Even though there were three other empty chairs at my table, she plopped down in the one next to me. “Did you get your car taken care of?”
“Thank God, I did. But I’ve decided to trade it in real soon. I don’t want to get bamboozled by a sly car salesman and end up with another lemon, so I might bug you to go car shopping with me.”
“Uh . . . yeah.” I scratched my neck and looked around the room.
“I know you’re probably as busy as I am, so I’ll wait until January or February. Unless you’re available this Saturday.”
“No, I won’t be. I promised Marva and Carol we’d put up our tree earlier than we did last year. We’re going tree shopping first thing Saturday morning. After that we’re going to get some of our other shopping out of the way.”
“Hey! I was going to do the same thing. Mind if I tag along?”
People accused me of being too nice and passive for my own good, which was the reason I usually got myself in situations I would rather have avoided. But this time, I decided to be a little more assertive. “I’m sorry. The girls made me promise we’d spend some quality time doing fun things alone that day.”
“Oh. Well, I can understand that. I probably wouldn’t have enough spare time anyway. I’ll be busy getting my house in order. Brad Burris—the man I was with when I ran into you at the steak house last month—he’s coming over either Saturday or Sunday to help me hang my outside lights. You know how I always like to have the most lavishly decorated house on the block every Christmas. And I can’t do it all by myself.”
I nodded. “Uh-huh. I helped you decorate your house last year,” I said, groaning at the thought of how I’d spent several hours that day catering to Regina. We laughed. I don’t know what made me look around the room but when I did, I spotted Felicia and Pam at a table near the front.
Regina and I finished our orders and got up to leave. I had paid for my lunch when I picked it up, but she still had to pay for hers. We had to walk past the cashier to get to the exit, so we headed in the same direction. Before we reached the counter, she stopped in her tracks. “Oh my God! I just remembered I have only two dollars on me until I go to the bank this afternoon. Richie, can you get me on this one?”
“No problem.” Felicia probably wouldn’t have even noticed me if Regina had not grabbed ahold of my arm and started giggling about how embarrassed she was about not bringing enough money to cover her lunch. Before we reached the exit, with her still holding my arm and giggling loud enough for people to hear, Felicia turned her head and gazed around the room with a preoccupied expression on her face. When she saw me, her head stopped turning. I nodded. She gave me a weak nod and an even weaker smile.
“Look who’s here,” Regina whispered. Before I could respond, she did the last thing I wanted her to do: She steered me in Felicia’s direction.