“You don’t understand.”
“I understand. I was in classes with a man in his seventies. He was going to school for the first time.”
In his seventies? Suddenly, she felt ashamed. That man wasn’t scared. She was. What sense did that make?
“What course of study would I take?” Kate asked, still apprehensive.
“What do you have an interest in?”
Kate had been sitting around the house so long she was afraid the only thing she could major in was television shows. “I don’t know.”
“You don’t have to know right now.”
Kate began to seriously consider the possibility of going to college. Seth and Tatum would be married soon. She wouldn’t be taking so many trips to their house. Though she was positive they would welcome her, she wanted them to spend time together. Besides, she needed grandchildren to spoil, and as far as she was concerned, the sooner the better.
She was retired now. She didn’t have anything to do, besides bingo. All her friends were busy with part-time jobs or babysitting grandchildren. Then there were the other group of friends just waiting to die. They had resigned their lives to boredom until they slipped away into the dark and were buried. Kate was determined not to be that way.
“You know there’s no age requirement on learning,” Tatum said, trying to convince her.
“True,” she said, not fully convinced.
“Kate, you wanted Seth to fulfill your dream of going to college. Now this is your own chance to fulfill your college dream.”
It was remarkable. Kate Carter, a college student. She repeated it to herself until it sounded feasible. This could happen. It was possible.
Kate smiled. “What do I have to do?”
Tatum excitedly told her, “I’ll show you.”
“Are you all right?”
This wasn’t supposed to be happening. Gabby doubled over in pain. She was at the nightclub waiting for Ralph. She didn’t want to, but Ralph had said he had some good news.
This Mrs. Rapport woman was getting on her nerves. She continuously hovered around her like she was going to steal China or silverware. Gabby needed help, but she wasn’t going to ask her. She needed Seth.
Gabby went to Seth’s office and Mrs. Rapport followed.
“Are you all right?” Mrs. Rapport repeated, concerned.
Gabby was cramping. Something was wrong. It was the baby. God, I need Seth.
“Leave me the hell alone,” Gabby said through her clenched teeth as the pain became unbearable.
“Can I do something for you?”
“Is Seth here?”
“No.”
“Where is he?”
“He’s not here.”
“Where,” Gabby screamed in pain, “is he?”
Mrs. Rapport glanced around like she was looking for someone to rescue her.
“I don’t know.”
Gabby turned and pushed the manager out of the way. “I’m out of here. Tell Ralph I had an emergency.”
Seth wrapped his arms tightly around Tatum as they lay in bed. Tatum rested her head on his chest. They didn’t talk, just listened to the soft music. Seth wrestled with the question.
When will you tell her?
He needed to let her know he’d fulfilled his promised. Ralph would be the owner of Score by tomorrow.
“I did it.”
Tatum looked up. “What did you do?”
He stroked her face. “I settled the lawsuit with Ralph.”
She smiled. “I can’t wait until Ralph has the manager’s job. Mrs. Rapport was awful.”
“He’s not getting the job.”
“Ralph chose money?”
“I’m giving him Score.”
Tatum stared at him. “You can’t be serious.”
“The deal is I’ll finance his purchase of the club by being a co-signer. That way, I’ll be responsible.”
“Whose idea was it?”
He looked away. “Mine.”
“Are you really sure about this?” Tatum sat up. “Maybe we shouldn’t get married. Maybe we should see how things go.”
“Whoa.” Seth sat up with her. “Where did that come from?”
“I’m not going to let you resent me years later for this.”
“I won’t.”
“You can’t be sure.”
“I’m positive. This has nothing to do with you. I have to pay for what I did.” Seth shook his head. “Ralph and Karla were right. I’ve played with a lot of people’s lives and now I have to pay for it.”
“You make it sounds like..”
“I make it sound like what the hell it is. I fucked up. But as long as I have you…”
“So…I’m the prize?”
“Listen to me. I fucked up a lot of people. Gabby’s out of her mind thinking I’m the father of her baby. Ralph had to sue me to get what he was promised.”
“And Karla,” she reminded him.
“No, Karla’s problems are only fifty percent my fault and fifty percent her own. You know that.” He didn’t let her respond, too angry at himself. “Do you know how it feels to be the one who can’t be trusted? Damn it, I’m like the guy who promised forty acres and a mule but didn’t deliver.”
She glanced away. “
I never saw myself as a racist until you came along.” He knew it was selfish, but he couldn’t help it. “I thought I was just fucking misunderstood, not a bastard. The deal I made with Karla did make you into an object, but that wasn’t the goal. I felt helpless because I couldn’t connect with you.”
“Because I only saw your skin color.”
“Something like that,” he said, “I wanted to be with you, so I made the deal. I mixed business with pleasure and now, I have to pay.”
“Are you drunk?” she asked.
He grinned. “I’m drunk on you.”
“That’s obviously a good thing.”
“You’re the best thing that could have happened to me.”
She pointed at him. “You’re giving up the one thing you wanted to define you. You worked so hard to have Score. You opened that club because you had something to prove.”
“Yeah, but I was taking the easy way out by opening Score. I was trying to prove that I wasn’t a racist instead of just understanding what everyone was saying.”
“You mean, hiring people of color as managers.”
He nodded.
“I thought you said you hired the best applicants?”
He tensed. “I wasn’t lying, but…”
“But?” she questioned.
He rubbed his eyes. Seth felt her shift positions, he guessed, to get a better look at him. With a sigh, he decided he couldn’t start lying now. If Tatum was going to revert back to her old self, she would do it now.
It’s not like you’re not giving her a reason, you bastard.
“Seth?”
He stared at her, reached for her hand, but stopped short when she crossed her arms over her sheet covered chest.
Here we go.
“Babe, think about this way. You’re watching a person fight five people with guns. You can leave or call for help. What would you do?”
“I’d help.”
“If you applied the same analogy to my situation, I didn’t do anything. I didn’t make an effort to hire or recruit minorities and that’s worse than being a racist. You changed me. Like I said, I fucked up. It just wasn’t with you, but I screwed a lot of people.”
“Then why did you promise Ralph the job?”
“He was the best candidate.”
“So you’re telling me you somehow stopped thinking that blacks should be in the back and whites should be up front?”
“I’m saying you taught me how ruthless I can be and doing nothing about the lack of minorities in management positions at my places was just as ruthless. In the end, I have to quit being the ruthless bastard and start treating people like my equal. I was supposed to hire him and I didn’t.”
“So…yo
u were prejudiced?”
“I was more worried about making money than doing something productive. I fucked up.”
“Did you turn a lot of blacks down?”
“No.” He glanced at her. “But I didn’t make an effort. Which is just as bad.”
Seth leaned over, placing his elbows on his knees. She kissed his shoulder, hugged him. He stared at her. “You ruined me,” he joked.
“Don’t give me so much credit.” She smiled. “You did most of the work.”
He gave a humorless chuckle. “Be there with me tomorrow?”
“I don’t know where else I’d be.”
Chapter 21
Tatum promised Seth she’d meet him at Score, and she was running late, although she realized later nothing could start without her because she had the paperwork.
Grabbing her briefcase, Tatum opened the office door and nearly crashed into Karla.
“What are you doing here?”
“I need to talk to you,” Karla told her.
Tatum closed the door. “Can’t this wait until later?”
“No. I have to tell you this now.”
“Is it life or death?”
“No, but…”
“Then it can wait. I have to get this paperwork to Score before the press conference.”
Karla stepped in front of her, blocking her way. Tatum tried to reason with her. “Can we at least discuss this on the way?”
“No. If I don’t do this now, I’ll lose my nerve.”
“Well, tell me while I lock the door,” Tatum suggested.
“I think Gabby’s pregnant with Ralph’s baby, not Seth’s.”
Tatum was glad she’d finished locking the door by the time she’d heard the news, or she would have forgotten. “Are you sure?”
“No,” Karla said honestly, “but Ralph told me they’ve been sleeping together since Seth and Gabby broke up.”
Ralph and Gabby. Tatum tried to wrap her mind around the news, but she couldn’t. Ralph had never told her about the relationship, but then they weren’t best friends either.
Tatum smiled. The information cleared Seth. She wasn’t relieved, however, for in her heart she had trusted Seth. Now that she knew the truth, what was she going to do? Tatum could confront Gabby or tell Seth. Then she realized her only option. She had no other choice.
“Are you busy right now?”
“Girl, I haven’t been busy in months.”
“Follow me to Score in your car.”
“Why?”
“It’s time to make Gabby gab.”
“I’m sorry Paul.” Adam paced nervously. “My paralegal is usually not late.”
The five men waited for the most important papers to arrive. They’d signed the financing papers with Paul Kim, the representative from the bank.
The Korean man nodded. “I don’t mind. The longer I get to spend in Cincy, the better.”
“You’re from Cincinnati?” Adam asked, trying to make conversation.
“I grew up here and went to the university.”
“I did too.”
Paul laughed. “Class of ‘99.”
“Class of ‘94.”
Ralph boasted. “I got my M.B.A in ‘93.”
Seth remained silent.
“Yeah,” Paul told him. “A degree is a degree.”
Seth changed the subject. “You didn’t have to fly all the way here to settle this. I’m sure someone at the bank could have done it.”
Paul shrugged. “This was a personal project of mine. I believe in minority ownership.”
“How did you hear about this?” Ralph asked.
“We go way back.” Paul pointed to Seth.
Seth joked, “You were just a lowly mortgage processor back then.”
“Hey watch it.” Paul pretended to be insulted. “I’ve come a long way.”
“You like sunny California?” Adam asked after glancing at his watch.
“I can’t complain,” he said vaguely.
“Are you here to settle the deal and going back home?”
Paul opened his mouth to speak, but the door opened. Tatum rushed in with papers in her hand. Adam hurriedly greeted her and took the papers. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…”
“We’ll talk later,” Adam told her with a curt nod.
Tatum thought about slipping out of the office and trying to find Gabby. She knew Gabby would be around here. The woman probably had an agenda that depended on the men around her, what their circumstances were or were not. She’d be welcoming her new role in Ralph’s life or continuing to pawn her child off as Seth’s.
The men conversed. Seth signed the paperwork, then handed the pen to Ralph. He did the same.
“You feel out of place when no one wants your signature.”
Tatum jumped. She didn’t realize the handsome Korean man was standing next to her.
She smiled politely. “Yes.”
“Paul Kim,” he said, holding out his hand.
“Tatum Fox.” She shook his hand.
Paul studied her. Tatum grew nervous. She wasn’t sure why he was looking at her like that.
She shifted in her stance.
“I’m sorry to stare. You remind me of someone.”
She shrugged, not knowing what to say. He didn’t remind her of anyone.
“Fox.” His voice sounded odd. “I knew someone named Fox.”
“Really?” Tatum tried to sound interested. She wanted to call Karla. She needed to know if her friend had found Gabby.
“Do you know Myra Fox by any chance?”
“She’s my…” Tatum stopped in mid-sentence, her mouth agape. She stared at him like he had stared at her. “You’re her…”
“Her what?”
“You…”
“Hey, are you trying to make the moves on my fiancée?” Seth interrupted.
Tatum glanced at Seth’s smiling face.
The men shook hands and began to chat. Paul seemed visibly distracted by his previous conversation with Tatum.
“The press is here,” Adam yelled toward the three of them.
“You’re coming with me?” Seth stared down at Tatum like he was looking for reassurance.
She nodded. “I’ll be there in a minute.”
Seth kissed her before joining the other men. Tatum expected Paul to follow the men out of the room, but he didn’t. He continued to stare at her. Ask me whatever you want and then get out of here.
“So you know Myra,” he asked.
“She’s my cousin.”
“Cousin?”
Tatum knew he was surprised because of her relationship with Seth. She cut to the chase. She had to get out of here.
“I know it seems odd because I’m with Seth and Myra felt she couldn’t be with you because you’re…”
“Korean,” he said, resentful.
“I can’t go into it because she told me a couple of private things, but I can say this. We used to think the same way. I changed my mind. I think in her heart, she’s changed her mind.”
Tatum left before he could ask another question. She had to find out about Gabby before she joined Seth at the press conference.
She ran upstairs to the nightclub and found no one. She tried a couple of places before she heard, “Get out of my way.”
Tatum rushed to the kitchen area and found Karla and Gabby standing opposite each other, prepared for battle. Gabby saw Tatum and screamed, “What the hell do you want?”
“Simple,” Tatum told her. “I want you to recant your previous story.”
“Recant?” She laughed. “I’m not on trial.”
“You aren’t pregnant with Seth’s baby.”
“Yes I am.”
“Please, be honest. You want to pawn your baby off on Seth because you love him more than Ralph.”
Gabby stared at Tatum, shocked.
“Just admit it, Gabby. For some reason, you think you can pawn this half-Hispanic and half-black child off as having a white father. How stupid are you?
”
Gabby tried to leave, but Karla grabbed her arm. She tried to pull away, but Karla’s grip was too strong.
“Get your hands off of me,” Gabby screamed.
“Tell the truth,” Karla ordered.
“Aw, isn’t this cute. You’re trying to get into the tramp’s good graces by playing the bully. It’s not going to work, so get your hands off of me.”
“Admit it.”
“What are you doing?”
The women glanced toward the door. Ralph, Adam, and Seth stood in the doorway. They looked confused.
“What’s going on?” Ralph added.
“I wanted to go to the press conference to support you and these bitches ganged up on me.”
Ralph snatched Karla’s hand away from Gabby’s arm and protectively wrapped his arm around her.
Seth looked confused. “When did this happen?”
“A while ago,” Karla told him proudly. “They’ve been together since you and Gabby broke up.”
“She’s pregnant with Ralph’s child, but she keeps trying to pass it off as yours,” Tatum explained.
Ralph moved away from Gabby so he could look at her. “You’re pregnant?”
Gabby glanced at Seth like she expected some outraged reaction. He stared at her. She waited for his expression to change.
Gabby glanced at Tatum. She then moved away from Ralph who was still staring at her and looked to Tatum. “I hate you, you bitch.”
“I didn’t do anything,” Tatum replied.
“You’re the one who got knocked up with one man’s baby and blamed it another,” Karla commented.
Gabby slapped Karla so hard tears burst from her eyes. Karla lunged forward, ready to do physical damage, but Ralph stopped her. Gabby seized the opportunity to race toward Tatum.
She’d known Gabby wanted revenge, so she braced her body for the blow, but Seth was too quick. He stepped in front of Tatum, incurring Gabby’s wrath until Adam pulled her away from his client.
“You’re the fucking reason I lost my baby, you bitch. If you would have just let us be, then I wouldn’t have stressed so much. I love Seth and he would have learned to love my baby.”
Ralph walked past Gabby with a bitter expression on his face. She grabbed his arm to stop him, but he tugged his arm away.
“Don’t. My sister will be at your place to pick my things.”
The Score Page 26