Serving Time

by Bailey West

  She looked up from the paperwork and checked her watch.

  “When did it get this late?” She said while stretching.

  “I don’t know, but we can call it a night and start fresh in the morning.”

  “Okay,” she mumbled while checking her phone. “I totally lost track of time. I was supposed to get my car and bring it here. Let me see if I can get a car to take me home.”

  “No need. I can take you home.”

  I’d sent Ray home when I realized it would be a late night. He parked my Escalade in the garage so I could drive myself home.

  “That’s not necessary, Samuel. I can get an Uber.”

  “I know it’s not necessary. I don’t mind. It’s on my way.”

  She didn’t say yes immediately, but after several minutes, she agreed.

  We organized our areas, collected our things and walked to the garage.

  I walked ahead to open the passenger side door for her.

  “Thank you,” she smiled. I waited until she situated herself before I closed the door. We rode in comfortable silence while making the short trip to her apartment.

  I pulled to the same side door where we’d met a few days ago.

  “Is this okay?”

  “Yes, thank you.” She reached to open the door.

  “I got it.” I motioned to her door.

  “I can get it myself,” she responded.

  “I didn’t say you couldn’t. I will open it.” We locked eyes in a war of wills. I hope she didn’t think she could beat me at this game.

  “Fine,” she mumbled while releasing her grip on the door handle.

  I got out and took my time rounding the truck to open her door. I reached in to help her with her bags. She watched me while slowly handing me her bags, then her hand.

  “Thank you, Samuel,” she said through pursed lips. She reached for her bags. I didn’t pass them to her. Instead, I motioned for her to walk ahead of me to her door. She waved her phone in front of the door, unlocking it.

  I let her step in then I returned her bags to her.

  “See you in the morning, Averie,” I smiled.

  “Good night, Samuel.”

  Averie

  I threw myself through my front door and landed on my couch.

  Okay, Averie you only have a few steps to get to your bedroom.

  But I still have to get undressed and take a shower.

  True but you will sleep better after you’ve showered and washed your hair.

  Natural body odor is attractive…

  To whom?

  I debated myself to sleep. I didn’t doze off, I just went to sleep. I woke up the next morning on the couch in the same spot where I sat when I came in, still fully dressed except for my shoes that I must have kicked off to put my feet up on the couch.

  Luckily, my internal clock woke me up in plenty of time to perform my morning routine. I undressed while walking to my bedroom. The forecast for the day was unusually warm for this time of the year. I chose a lightweight, hunter green pants suit and paired it with a yellow shell and green pumps. I navigated to my podcasts and chose one of the Bluette’s recent podcasts to listen to while I showered and got dressed.

  Zanetta presented the word fear in an acrostic format: forget everything and run. She said: “When life is going well for us, we have the best advice for others who are going through:

  ‘Stand strong.’

  ‘Look that devil in the eyes!’

  ‘God is in control.’

  ‘Stand firm and fight!’

  Then when we are facing a trial and it doesn’t seem to have a solution or end in sight, fear kicks in. We drop all those weapons, we told everyone else about. Fear means: forget everything and run. Trials are designed to hinder you, make you second guess yourself and kill you. They are not designed to make you better. However, we are connected to the supreme architect, so things that are designed to stop us, can’t stop us. Things that are designed to kill us can’t kill us. Why? Because when they encounter the blood, their purpose changes. It’s like that container of margarine. The original purpose of that margarine container is to hold margarine but once it encounters some of us, we change the container’s purpose. It no longer holds margarine it now holds leftover chili, soup or even hair pins. It’s the same with trials, they change from a tool to stop us, to a tool that makes us better and moves us forward.

  We can then move from ‘forget everything and run’ to ‘Father all is in thine hands.’ God’s got you.”

  I finished getting dressed. I knew the team would be going through boxes again today, so I packed a pair of flats for comfort. I drove my car just in case we worked late again. I didn’t mind riding with Samuel, and I really did appreciate his chivalry, but I could get myself home tonight.

  I arrived at VLG and was met at the elevator by Raymond.

  “Good morning.”

  “Good morning.”

  “The guards told me you were on your way up. Do you need help with your bag?”

  “No, thank you,” I smiled.

  “We are going into the conference room. Mr. Valentine had us move everything from the office you used yesterday. It was too small.”

  I followed Raymond to the conference room where Samuel, Xavier, and Morris where already working.

  “Good morning,” I said as I entered the room.

  “Good morning,” each man responded.

  “I’ve sent down for breakfast, so carve out a spot and jump in whenever you are ready,” Samuel instructed.

  I put down my things and surveyed the room and the boxes. Whoever transported the boxes from the office to this room did an excellent job of keeping the piles separate and indicating which boxes we’d already gone through.

  I located the box I’d been working in last night and went to work. Thirty minutes later, a table was rolled into the room full of breakfast foods; pancakes, waffles, bacon, eggs and everything else you could possibly want. I had purchased a couple of premade smoothie drinks to chug for breakfast. I kept those in my bag for later.

  The more we cataloged the information shared with us from the DA, the more we realized there was something more going on than just a simple drug bust. Princeton had been on their radar for a long time.

  “Sorry I had to leave you and El to all of this work yesterday,” Morris said.

  We’d moved around the room a lot. In our current seating arrangement, Morris was seated next to me.

  “We made it just fine.”

  “I have two daughters. Their mom and I were together for years but we broke up, and she got with a guy that introduced her to a faster lifestyle, a lifestyle I didn’t want my girls involved in. I am in the process of petitioning the court for full custody of my girls.”

  “You want to take little girls away from their mother? Unfortunately, the Courts are biased in these types of cases. It’s hard to prove a case where the courts would agree to remove young females from their mother.”

  “Yes, I know. I’m not doing it because I think she’s a bad mother but because her judgment has been skewed when it comes to them lately. I can’t sit back and have something happen to my daughters, and I didn’t do anything to stop it.”

  “Has she shown a pattern of neglect?”

  “I’ve been called to the school at least once a week for the past month to pick them up because she was late. I asked her if I could just take over the responsibility of picking them up after school and she told me no. My oldest daughter called me and told me that she and her sister were at home with one of Tony’s, that’s her boyfriend’s name, friends. Her mom and Tony were gone. I lost my mind trying to get to that house to get my girls. I have a bad feeling about this whole situation, and I need to get them out of it. You are correct though; the court doesn’t favor men taking children. A lot of people would assume that I am tired of paying child support, so I am trying to figure out a way to get out of it. That’s not the case. I will take my girls and still give her the same amount of mon
ey per month. That’s not a thing for me. I’m not asking for her to give me anything and I am open to a liberal visitation agreement, I just want them to live with me.”

  I can’t stand a bum ass parent; male or female. Why would a woman want to leave her children with a dude she doesn’t know? They are little girls, anything could happen.

  “I will break the law to protect my kids, so I hope it won’t come to that.”

  He pulled up his pictures on his phone and showed me a picture of two beautiful little girls. Both had caramel colored skin and huge brown eyes. They were smiling and holding hands while sitting on a couch.

  “They are beautiful, Morris. They are going to make a substantially positive impact on this world.”

  I believed in speaking positive affirmations over young women. If we tell them from the beginning they can accomplish their dreams, goals, and aspirations then they will believe it. Not only will they believe it, but the atmosphere will change and adapt to make those positive words a reality.

  “Thank you. I’m working hard at keeping them safe.”

  “I have some thoughts on it. We can definitely sit down and discuss some ideas. I think it can happen for you.”

  “I would appreciate any help.”

  “For sure. Little girls are my kryptonite.”

  I left the conference room to go to the restroom and found the entire floor deserted. Everyone except Samuel and I had gone home.

  Morris and Xavier left earlier to go and interview some of Princeton and Deyshonda’s neighbors in the hopes of finding character witnesses for the trial.

  I looked at my watch and realized it was almost ten o’clock. I went into the beautifully decorated women’s lounge and used the restroom. They had a poop spray feature attached to the toilet. I’d never seen that before, but if you hit the poop spray button before pooping, it releases a spray into the toilet which neutralizes the smell. It works! I’ve ordered some for my house and the office since discovering it.

  I glanced at myself in the mirror over the automatic sinks while I was washing my hands and thought I saw my mother, but it was me.

  “Ugh…I need to get more rest! I’m looking more and more like mommy!” I chuckled to myself while I dried my hands and exited the lounge. There was a loud clap of thunder, and then the entire floor went black. I froze in place not knowing what to do.

  “Averie?” I heard Samuel call, but I couldn’t see him.

  “I’m here!” I called back. This would have been horrible if the lights had gone out while I was sitting on the toilet.

  “Don’t move! I’m coming for you,” Samuel called again.

  It had been raining all day. It seemed to have really picked up after dark. I’d noticed the thunder but didn’t pay much attention. I stepped to my right until I bumped into the wall outside of the women’s lounge.

  I saw a small light rounding the corner and then the tall frame behind it.

  “Are you okay?” He asked stopping in front of me.

  “Yes, I’m fine. Are you okay?”

  “Yes.”

  He reached for my hand and gripped it tightly in his as he led me back to the conference room. I know I was supposed to be scared or nervous in this unfamiliar building with no lights, but I have to say I was very comfortable with Samuel. Very comfortable.

  “Grab your things, we can go to my office. The generator should kick on soon.”

  He pointed the light toward the table so I could see my things. I grabbed my purse and phone. He gathered some things and then came for my hand again. I had a flashlight on my phone too, but I let him lead me. We arrived at his office just as the generator turned on. All the lights didn’t come on, but there was enough light to add a nice soft glow to his office.

  I placed my things on a couch and then went to my phone to make sure I hadn’t missed anything from my family.

  Everything okay? – Dad

  My dad had sent a text to the family group.

  We are good. – Kerem

  What’s going on? – Ken

  Bad storms – Mom

  Vee? – Dad

  That text had just come through giving me time to respond promptly. If I hadn't seen this, they would have deployed the National Guard to find me.

  I’m good. Power out but the generator is on. Do you guys have power?

  No - Key

  Yes – Dad

  If it’s not on by noon tomorrow, come home – Dad

  Okay

  K – Key

  “Everything good?” Samuel asked.

  “Yes, just checking in with my family.”

  “They good?”

  “Yes, they are fine. My dad is trying to get us to come to their house. He doesn’t know we will build a bonfire in our living rooms before staying at their house.”

  “It’s that bad?”

  “Not bad, Mom can just be a little mother hen-ish.”

  “Ah, got it.”

  Samuel

  “I have some good news and some bad news which would you like first?”

  The weather had been unseasonably warm for this time of year. Saint Louisans knew that when the weather is unseasonably warm, we should anticipate thunderstorms or tornados. Luckily today, it was just thunderstorms. Severe thunderstorms but nothing that would tear people’s houses from the foundations. This building hasn’t lost power in years, so the storms must be formidable.

  “Bad, please. Bad news always makes the good news better.”

  She sat forward waiting for me to continue.

  “Bad news, we are on the fortieth floor. The only way to get out of here is to walk down all forty flights of stairs. When we get to the bottom floor, there is no way to be sure the doors will work since they are automatic, and the power is out.”

  “We are stuck?” She exhaled a deep breath and sat back on the couch. “What’s the good news?”

  “There is plenty of food in the kitchen. The culinary team prepared it for us, but I hadn’t requested for them to bring it in because I got lost in work.”

  “So, we won’t starve and have to choose which one lives and which one dies?” She smiled.

  She was coming out of work mode and relaxing. In this short time of knowing Averie, I’ve observed two distinct modes; work and play. When she is working, she is all about business. She doesn’t smile much. She doesn’t make jokes or have any time for playing around. When she is in play mode, she smiles a lot, and her wit is on full display.

  “It’s not necessary to decide who lives or dies, but if we did, how would we go about it?”

  “Easy. It would just take one question: salt or sugar on your grits?”

  “That’s not right. You are the one asking the question so my answer will be wrong no matter what it is,” I deduced.

  “Not necessarily. There is only one right answer.” She got up from the couch and took two legal pads from my desk. “Here,” she handed me one and kept the other one. “Write down your answer.”

  I grabbed a pen and scribbled my answer on the paper. I added a couple of swirls so she wouldn’t be able to guess what I was writing. She apparently had the same thought process because when I looked up, she was still writing.

  “Okay,” she smiled. “Reveal.”

  We both flipped our pads at the same time.

  “See! Salt! You would have to go.”

  “Grits are not supposed to be sweet!” I challenged. “It’s not dessert!”

  “Who wants that texture in their mouth without sugar? Yuck! Yes, you would be the sacrificial lawyer. We can’t have you perpetuating the savory grits fraud.”

  “Lucky for me, I guess, we don’t have to decide. Are you hungry? Would you like to eat now?”

  “Does a smart person put sugar on their grits?” She snickered.

  “Come on let’s see what food they prepared.”

  I led her down the dimly lit hall to the break room area. I opened the refrigerator and pulled out a large aluminum tray and sat it on the counter. I went bac
k in and pulled out two more.

  “Let’s see, this is baked chicken, mashed potatoes, and green beans. The microwave may work.”

  “I don’t need the microwave, where are the plates or we can go caveman style and eat from these pans with forks.”

  I passed her a plate. We both filled them then went back to my office.

  “Do you have any comfort liquor like Hennessy or Courvoisier? You know something that makes you want to wrap up in a blanket and watch old movies?”

  I went to the panel on the wall and tapped it revealing my bar.

  “Yasss!” she smiled and snapped her fingers.

  We fixed drinks and settled down to wait out the electrical repairs.

  “You are single, correct?” She asked me after we finished eating.

  “Yes, I am.”

  “By choice or did you run everyone away?”

  “By choice,” I laughed. “I know how to act right if necessary.”

  She raised one of her eyebrows looking at me with skepticism.

  “After I was released from prison, my life started moving rather quickly. I went to law school, graduated early and started working with Louis Flowers. He passed and left this firm to me. I’ve worked hard at making this law firm what it is which means I don’t have a lot of time for extracurricular activities and most women I meet don’t understand my grind. It’s a choice. It’s one less thing I have to worry about,” I shrugged.

  “You haven’t had a serious relationship since you were released from prison?”

  “I’ve had relationships, but they didn’t last once they learned my schedule and where they fell on my list of priorities.”

  “Damn, where did they fall on your list of priorities?”

  “At least fourth.”

  “Fourth! Chicks stuck around for that?”

  “No, not usually,” I answered honestly. “I did have something with one woman who seemed to understand my grind, but she was…is married.”

  “Married? So, you were the side dick?”

  “I didn’t know there was a term for it.”

  “I just made it up, but it fits, right?”

  “I guess I was,” I smiled. “I didn’t know she was married.”

  She side eyed me, “You didn’t know?”