Come on, man. Hurry your ass up and get me the fuck out of here.
I was sitting on a metal bench in a room filled by about thirty degenerates, wishing that my thoughts would somehow reach Allen and make him get there faster. It had been almost an hour since I’d called, so I didn’t know what could be taking him so long. The CO in charge had already made it clear that anyone who didn’t get bailed out soon would be shipped off to Rikers Island on the next bus. I still couldn’t believe that after all the shit I had talked about Jay, I was the one sitting there like a fool, charged with aggravated assault.
“Nice suit.” The sarcastic voice was coming from a man standing up next to me, leaning on the wall. He was giving me the once-over with a slight chuckle.
I sat there on that bench trying not to look intimidated, but who was I kidding? I was afraid. Yeah, I could probably hold my own if I had to go toe to toe with one of these guys, but that wasn’t the part that scared me. I was in here with some real suspect-looking dudes. Half of them looked homeless, and the other half looked like card-carrying gangbangers. Shit, I even heard the guy who was eyeing my suit tell another dude that he wasn’t to be fucked with because he had AIDS. I wasn’t sure if that was true, but it was enough to make me give him a wide berth and a hell of a lot of respect.
I looked down at my suit, noticing the bloodstain on it for the first time. It must have been from when I busted Malek’s nose. I still couldn’t believe that I had gone off the way I did. How the hell could I have done something so stupid? Then again, that asshole deserved everything he got. After using me to lay off half my staff, that son of a bitch turned around and fired me. He probably knew all along that he was going to let me go. Yeah, he deserved to get his face busted. Too bad for me, the law said that being the one to bust it meant I deserved to be locked up.
“Excuse me!” I jumped up when a female CO opened the door to bring two more people into our cell. “Can you tell me if my friend is here to bail me out?”
“He’s going to have to bail you out from Rikers. Paperwork’s already been done, and everybody in here has been transferred to Rikers.”
Her words devastated me.
“But he’s on his way down here! They can’t just transfer me when someone is coming to bail me out. That’s not fair.”
She laughed. “Well, unless your friend is a miracle worker, your ass is going to Rikers. We’re about to load y’all on the bus in five minutes.” I watched her walk away, shaking her head.
The worst part was that I already knew Allen wasn’t persistent enough to ride over to Rikers once they bused me over there. I should have called Kyle. He would have talked shit, but at least he’d make sure I slept in my own bed that night.
“Hey, suit, you got a cigarette?” It was the man posted up on the wall beside me.
“No, I don’t smoke,” I replied as politely as I could, not looking for any trouble. “They probably don’t allow you to smoke in this place anyway.”
He snickered. “Oh, so you follow rules but just break the law, huh?”
Even the guy sitting next to me laughed at that one. I wanted to laugh—to keep from crying. God, I hoped Allen would find a way and figure this out, because I didn’t know how much longer I could take this. I buried my face in my hands and said a silent prayer.
“Duncan. William Duncan. You’re out!” a loud voice boomed.
I snapped my head up and looked to the ceiling as if the voice had come from God.
“You staying here or what, Duncan? Let’s move it.”
I saw a CO standing at the door, staring at me. He’d already told me twice, and I’d be damned if he was going to have to tell me a third time. I jumped up off the bench and made my way over to the door. “The other CO said all our paperwork was transferred to Rikers.”
“Somebody just pulled a rabbit out their hat and got your charge dismissed, and you’re complaining?” he asked, rolling his eyes.
“Oh, no, Officer, not at all.” I nearly jumped out of my skin when I realized that he had just said my charges were dismissed.
He allowed me to step out of the cell, and then he locked the door behind us, escorting me down the hallway. I didn’t know how Allen got my charges dismissed, and the truth was this smelled like Kyle must have had a hand in it, but right now I didn’t care who had done what. I was just thankful to be going home. I could only imagine how much someone had to pay to get me out of there, but I was most definitely going to pay him back. He wouldn’t have to take me on Judge Judy. I would pay him back in full with interest… as soon as my black ass got a job.
The depressing thought of my unemployment slowed my stride just a little. This mistake was going to cost me a fortune in legal fees. How the hell was I going to tell my wife? I swear on everything I love, I thought about asking the officer to just take me back to that cell and lock me up again so I wouldn’t have to go home and face Diane. That cell was probably the lesser of two evils compared to the doghouse wifey was going to have me in.
The officer pushed open a door and pointed to the counter. “There’s some paperwork you have to fill out to get your property back.”
I heard a voice behind me say, “That’s all been taken care of, Officer.”
I turned around to discover that neither Allen nor Kyle had come to my rescue.
“Uncle LC. You did this?” I should have known. Kyle was definitely successful, but I don’t think he had the connections to get my charges dropped.
“Let’s just say I have a few friends in the NYPD. The name Duncan comes through the system and they give us a call.” He handed me a brown paper bag that I assumed had my watch, cell phone, and wallet in it.
I wasn’t surprised in the least that LC Duncan had low friends in high places. But who was I to complain, considering it was all working out to my benefit right about now? I guess this is what they call eating humble pie. “Thank you, Uncle. I appreciate this. Today has been the day from hell. The last thing I needed was to spend the night in this place.”
“Yeah, I heard you lost your job.”
He sat down and pointed to the seat next to him. As much as I wanted to get the hell out of there, I owed him at least this much, so I sat down. His entire demeanor shifted back to his usual commanding presence as he squared his shoulders and held his head high. My head dropped, knowing I was about to get a lecture of some kind.
“Wil, you’re a very smart man. I know we haven’t seen eye to eye over the years, but I just want you to know, you always have a place in our family business.”
As much as I dreaded the thought of what was to come as Diane and I struggled to survive on unemployment benefits, I couldn’t bring myself to accept work from Uncle LC.
“Look, I appreciate what you did today,” I said, “but your business destroyed my parents’ marriage and ruined my childhood, and now it’s killed my brother. I’m not Trent. I promised myself I would never get involved.”
“I understand, and I’m not asking you to do anything outside of your comfort zone. I’m looking for a professional to run Duncan Motors’ customer service division. It’s a position advertised in all the papers and with several headhunters. I’ve got Ivy League guys interviewing for this job, Wil, but I think you’d be perfect for it, not only because you’re a customer service expert, but because you’re family.”
Although it sounded like a legitimate enough job offer, I still couldn’t bring myself to say yes. I shook my head slowly. “Uncle LC, I—”
He lifted a hand to stop me before I could turn him down. “You don’t have to give me an answer now. Sleep on it, talk to your wife for a few days. I promise we won’t hire anybody until we speak to you.”
I nodded, feeling torn. Life was about to get rough without my salary, but considering everything I knew about my uncle and his business, I didn’t know if I could take the risk of getting involved with him, even in his legitimate car dealership. I stood up to leave, signaling that as far as I was concerned, our conversation was done.
“Can I drop you off at home?” he asked, sounding surprisingly not insulted.
“No thanks. I called my partner, so I’m gonna go find a bar and have a drink while I wait for him.”
He followed me out of the building, and before we parted ways he left me with this: “The job pays two hundred fifty K a year, full benefits, with a matching 401(k) and a California T Ferrari to use as your company car.”
Man, this guy sure knew how to tempt a brother. “I’ll get back to you after I talk to my wife,” I said. Things had changed, and I now had a very tough decision to make. Right now, though, I just wanted a good stiff drink.