I let out a long, aggravated sigh as I watched two United States deputy marshals walk out of my office. They’d just drilled me for the past hour about my friend Jay, who had apparently escaped from prison. I eased my 290-pound frame back behind my desk and into my chair, waiting until both men disappeared into the elevator before I picked up my phone. I dialed the only person who could possibly make sense of what the hell the deputies had just told me.
“Big Wil, what’s up?” Kyle, my best friend of more than thirty-five years, answered. There was a tentativeness to his voice that made me think he’d been expecting my call.
“Jay escaped from prison,” I told him. I was sitting on the edge of my seat, waiting to hear his reply. Kyle, Jay, our other friend Allen, and I had always been close, more like brothers than friends, but Kyle and Jay had a different kind of bond. I knew this news was going to hit him hard.
There was a slight pause on the line, which spoke volumes. Kyle wasn’t normally one to hold back his opinion. “Yeah, I know,” he finally responded. “The deputies raided my house about two hours ago. I’m still trying to calm Lisa down from the trauma of having all those men with guns seeing her naked.”
“Raided your house? What the fuck is going on?” I shouted. His wife being naked registered, but I didn’t want to touch that with a ten-foot pole. I did want to know why they felt the need to raid his house. I mean, couldn’t they have stopped by his office like they’d done to me? Or did they know something I didn’t?
“Jesus Christ, Kyle. You didn’t help him escape, did you?”
“Come on, Wil,” he growled angrily. “They raided my house because I’m the only one who has visited Jay regularly. I’m pretty sure I’m the prime suspect to have been his accomplice.” There was a hint of annoyance in his tone, and I understood the reason for it. He was sending me on a little bit of a guilt trip.
Kyle had been on my ass for the last year to go see Jay more often, especially since he’d pulled some strings to have him transferred to Danbury, Connecticut, closer to us. I’d gone a few times, but the truth was, I hated all the bullshit I had to go through. The guards treated us visitors like we were the damn inmates. I wasn’t about to get into that “you don’t visit him enough” argument with Kyle again, so I ignored his comment. Besides, we had a much more important issue to discuss at the moment.
“You didn’t answer my question, and those deputies who left here made it very clear that they think he had help. So right now, I need to know it wasn’t you.”
“No, Wil, I didn’t help him… but I’m not saying I wouldn’t if he’d asked,” he replied in a dead serious tone that quite frankly scared the shit out of me.
“What the fuck? That’s aiding and abetting a fugitive! They lock people up for shit like that. You could lose your family, your business, and more importantly your freedom behind Jay’s bullshit.”
“Wil,” he said in a low, calm voice. “He’s been in prison for ten years, and we both know he’s innocent.”
“Do we?” I asked. I wanted to believe Jay was innocent, but I had my doubts.
“What do you mean, do we? Of course we do. He’s our best friend, remember? He wouldn’t do anything like that.”
“Look, Kyle, I’m just saying, none of us know what went on behind those closed doors, but you’ve seen the evidence. That girl Ashlee was beaten up, there was evidence of vaginal injuries, and she had his semen inside her. Who are we to say she was lying?”
“I can’t believe what I’m hearing. Wil, Jay didn’t rape that woman. She set him up.” His voice rose with his anger.
“If you say so, man.” I really didn’t want to continue the conversation, and thankfully, I was given an out when I spotted a dark-suited figure headed toward my office. “Look, my director is headed this way. I’ll give you a shout after work.”
Malek Johnson, my boss of two years and fifteen years my junior, barely acknowledged my secretary Barbara as his short ass walked past her and into my office. Malek was one of those smooth-talking, brown-nosing Negroes who talked a good game to the white boys upstairs so that they thought he was a fucking genius, but he didn’t know shit. If it weren’t for me and the other department heads saving his ass all the time, he’d have been gone a long time ago.
“Everything all right, Wil? I heard you had a couple of cops come to see you.” He lifted an eyebrow in a fake gesture of concern, which made my stomach turn a little. Guess he was on a fishing expedition.
“Yeah, two U.S. marshals wanted to ask me a few questions about an old high school buddy who escaped from prison yesterday.” I laughed, trying my best to keep the mood light, in spite of the seriousness of the situation. Just the fact that I knew someone who had escaped from prison was embarrassing as hell. I swear I could see Malek’s smug ass suppressing a smirk. “But it’s nothing,” I told him. “They just wanted to know if he’d made contact with me.”
“And has he?” Malek asked sternly as he settled into the chair across from my desk.
“No, and I don’t think he will.”
“Good.” He nodded, folding his hands in front of him. “Have you taken a look at our stock price today?” I tried to read his facial expression and his body language, but he was impenetrable.
I shook my head. “Not since the merger rumors.”
There were a few rumors floating around about a possible merger or a buyout, but I had tried not to pay attention to them. Some type of shift was definitely in the air at the pharmaceutical company, but whether the change would be for good or for worse, I wasn’t sure. I just knew I couldn’t get sidetracked from what I was supposed to be doing. The best thing for me to do—the best thing for any of us to do—was to just keep doing our jobs and doing them well. That way, if a merger did happen, there was a chance we could remain employed.
“It’s no longer rumor,” Malek said. “The VP told me about it a week ago, and CNBC reported it today. Stock’s up almost ten bucks and climbing. A company guy like you probably made out well on your profit sharing alone.”
“I’m sure I’ve done all right.” I smiled, because he was right. I’d held on to every share I’d been given or bought since the day I walked in the door twenty-five years ago.
“And I’m sure you’ll continue to do all right, but there are a few people around here who won’t.” I wasn’t sure what he meant by that, but I was relieved that it seemed the bad news wasn’t directed at me. Either way, I didn’t want to jinx my apparent good luck, so I kept my mouth shut.
Malek continued, “Wil, I need you to do something for me.”
Even though I wanted him to think I was cool, calm, and collected, inside I was starting to become tense. Given the topic we were discussing, I could imagine several things he would ask me to do, and none of them were good.
I shrugged. “Sure, what’s up?”
His eyes were cast downward. That was not a good sign. It’s never a good thing when a man can’t look another man in the eyes. Finally, he made eye contact.
“Like I told you before, the merger is going to happen. At least that’s what they are calling it; but ultimately, we’re being taken over. It’s their CEO who’s going to run things, which means his people. Upper management is going crazy trying to look lean so they keep their jobs.” He looked out through my glass wall at several employees, the ones that I supervised, seated in their cubicles.
Dear Lord, if this man was in here to do what I thought he was about to do…
“What are you trying to say, Malek? Am I out of a job?”
He turned to me and shook his head. “No, but some of your people are going to have to go. I know you’ve been with the company awhile. Some of your employees have been working with you just as long. Which is what makes this so difficult.”
I swallowed hard, trying not to throw up. My stomach was doing so many flips.
“I need you to cut half your staff.”
“What?” I said in shock as I stood to my feet. I’ll be honest and admit that a part of me was overjoyed it wasn’t me being axed, but to have to deliver bad news to half of my employees—that was asking a lot.
“You can’t be serious,” I protested. “We barely get things done with the staff we have.”
“Well, figure it out, ’cause I’m serious as hell,” he replied, his tone all business and no sympathy.
“When do I have to do this?” I was beside myself.
“Tomorrow. Severance packages are being worked up as we speak, but we want all their IDs and computer passwords by tomorrow, end of day.” He stood up from his chair. “I’m sorry, Wil. I know it’s tough. Hell, it was tough for me just to come in here and ask you to do it, but our hands are tied.”
I looked out at my employees. Some of those guys were like family. I’d been to their homes for barbecues, they’d been to mine; I’d gone to lunch with them, and they’d shared some of their personal problems. A couple of them even looked to me as a friend. I couldn’t do this to them.
“Malek,” I said to my boss as he was headed to the door. “I can’t do this.” I pointed to the window. “I can’t do that to them.”
He looked at me with not even a hint of compassion in his eyes. “It’s part of your job, Wil, and if you can’t do it, then we can find somebody who can, if you know what I mean.”
The underlying threat did not go unnoticed. As much as I didn’t want to see my team out of work, I had to look out for number one first, so I was quick to say, “If that’s what you want me to do, then I’ll do it.”
The corners of his mouth raised, and then he said, “Thought so.”