. . . and get down like that with my son’s teacher. That’s ... that’s nasty!” “Only if y’all get down,” was Linda’s heady response.
“You never know, Grace, it could be the best kinda nasty you ever had the pleasure of getting down with, seeing as how thoughtful and strong he is. After you’re done, then you could get him to beat up Edward.”
Grace choked on a sip of ice water. “Uh, now you’re speaking my language.”
“It sounds like music to my ears.” Linda began snapping her fingers to the beat of an oldie but goodie. “Happy feelings,”she crooned. “Where’s Frankie Beverly when you need him?”
“I’m sayin’.” Grace bobbed her head to the rhythm going on inside it. “Thanks so much Linda, you didn’t have to get out of your warm bed to drag me out of mine.”
“That’s what you think. How else was I going to find out if you got some last night? Shelia called me twice already asking if I’d heard anything yet. Wait until she gets wind of your baby-daddy drama and Mister Super Sexy convincing you to jump out of your drawze in the front seat of his car.”
“Bump that, those were not my panties,” Grace objected. “Uh-uh. No.”
“Did you wear panties with that dress last night?” When Grace didn’t answer Linda got what she was looking for. “All right then, the panty hose may as well have been your drawze. Either way you chalk it up, that man had you all up in his vehicle, with ... what? Yo booty ... out.”
Both Linda and Grace were doubled over and gasping for breath when Shelia arrived and hopped into the booth with them. “Okay, what I miss?” She rattled off. It was difficult to make out Linda’s abbreviated version amid the unbridled hooting and hollering going on. “Uh-huh, uh-huh,” Shelia uttered, listening intently but only catching about every fourth word. “Wait, who had their booty out?”
22
Let’s Talk About It
Grace spent the remainder of the weekend extremely confusedabout André’s father and the strange way he’d seemed to pop up out of thin air after all these years. For the first time since her son was a toddler, Grace felt nervous about everything he did. She paid closer attention to André’s metamorphosis into a young man. She remembered the joy she got watching him maneuver his way around the basketballcourt. She replayed each of their conversations over the past month and also noted his introduction to puberty, his flirting with cheerleaders, his increasing male bravado, and his more mature style of carrying himself than she was accustomedto. Grace lost a great deal of sleep over allowing Edward to slip back into André’s life after he was already half grown. No matter how many ways she sliced it, her son would soon be facing issues best tackled by a man, but Grace had serious reservations about his father fitting that bill. Regardless, Edward had engineered a smashing comeback,and she’d have to find a way to accept it.
Throughout Monday, Grace received e-mails from associates seeking details stemming from the incident at the hotel. Rumors were swirling around, including wild tales of her alleged arrest and attempted assault. She did the best she could to squelch them at every turn, but she had herself to blame. Edward’s unfounded remarks and arrogant attitude should have been addressed differently, better, she thought after sending an e-mail to Patrik, the director. Grace explainedthat she was just fine and that it had only been a misunderstandingblown out of proportion. What a mess!
Grace hid in her office for most of the next week, ducking phone calls and doing what she could to improve her frame of mind. Taking a break from her seclusion, she stood in her office doorway and peered out of it. Chandelle was fussing at some poor soul on the phone about her cable bill; AwkwardBob was watering the plants, this time dressed in a lime green Vera Wang jumpsuit; Ms. Pearl was making a great impression by bringing freshly baked goodies every day; and there was not one sign of Pretty Ricky manipulatingfemale employees with his meet-me-in-back-of-my-van routine.
When Marcia happened by, Grace stopped her and decidedit was time they had a chat about nothing in particular. “Marcia, pop in for a minute. Have a seat and take a load off.” As Grace circled her desk, Marcia grew increasingly pensive. This wasn’t like her boss to make time for idle chitchat. Because Grace had always been strictly business, it was unnerving to get invited in to roost without any apparent goal to speak of. But Grace didn’t realize this when she asked, “Tell me, Marcia, how’s it going?”
Marcia placed a handful of files on her lap and followed Grace around the desk with a weary eye. “Uhm, how’s what going, Miss Hilliard?”
Grace realized she wasn’t any good at office small talk, but she’d already committed herself. “Oh, I don’t know. How’s life?”
Shuddering at the thought of something bad coming out of an impromptu discussion with senior management, Marciabegan to hyperventilate. “Uhhh. Whe www. Uhhh. If you’re going to fire me, just come out with it, because I think it’s cruel to beat around the bush and torture me with head games.”
Grace dumped a half-eaten sandwich into the trash can, then she flew around the desk waving the sandwich bag out in front. “Marcia, calm down! Marcia! Marcia! Breathe. Nobody’stalking about firing you.” The nervous assistant held the bag over her mouth and panted until her breathing returnedto normal.
“What? You didn’t pull me in here on the chill-tip to let me go?”
“On the chill-tip?” Grace repeated, noting the white girl’s slick usage of street talk. “I’m not sure what you thought, but I did honestly ask you to come in so we could just ... visit.”
“Well, I don’t know,” Marcia answered with a hint of trepidation. “You’ve never wanted to just ... visit before, so I figured this was one of those new corporate methods of catching employees off guard and sticking it to them before they had a chance to go postal.”
“I can see that this is very upsetting to you, and perhaps this wasn’t a good idea,” Grace surmised correctly. “Let’s just pretend that it never happened, and go back to the way it was, when I didn’t make time for you.”
“That’s something I can live with as long as I’m still employedbecause you’ve been acting kinda strange since that meltdown you had outside the Grande Hotel.” Marcia coveredher face with her hands after letting it slip that she also knew about Grace’s all-out tantrum. “I’m sorry, please don’t fire me!”
Grace’s face was tight enough to tear. She slammed the door and threw both hands on her hips. “Em, put your hands down,” she ordered as quietly as humanly possible. “Now, tell me where you heard about my ... meltdown.”
“You called me Em, now I know I’m gonna get canned.”
“Not if you tell me what I want to know.” Marcia began to sniffle, but Grace refused to let her cry her way out of the situation.“Be strong, Em. Be strong.”
“I knew coming in here would lead to something bad,” Marcia cried. “I just knew it. If I tell you how I heard about it, I’ll have to tell you who I heard it from, too.”
Grace stood over her, about to lose her cool again. “That depends on what you’ve heard. Out with it.”
Marcia peered up at Grace like a frightened squirrel about to give up her favorite nut. “Okay, but for the record, I’m not a rat. I’m telling you under duress.”
“Duly noted, now spill it!”
“All right, here goes. The other day, I was minding my own business and having lunch at the mall. Then up came Ricardo from the delivery route.”
“Pretty Ricky?” asked Grace.
“Yeah, that’s what they call him. So, he wanted to get to know me better, and I was on my lunch break. This led to that, and before I knew it, he was telling me how he overheardthis paralegal talking about you as some lawyer who’s tied up in an ugly marriage gone south, child-support money, and your meltdown at a highbrow fund-raiser, which otherwisesounded very nice.” Marcia held her right hand up, cautiouslyblocking her face in the event that Grace had another of those meltdowns she’d heard about.
“Quit that. You don’t have to be afraid of me!”
Grace yelled. “Relax. I’ll work this out like I should have in the beginning.”
Marcia wanted to retreat when Grace’s eyes grew dim with resentment. “Miss Hilliard, can I go now?”
“Yeah, we’re through here. Thanks for stopping in.”
Marcia bolted for the door with her files in hand. Grace stopped her in midstride. “One more thing! Stay out of the back of Pretty Ricky’s van. And if you didn’t know, that’s nasty.”
Marcia hid her face with the stack of files and cowered behind it. She thought of lying about her encounter with the delivery guy, but knew that Grace had the goods on her. “Yes, ma’am.” Too ashamed to continue the conversation, Marcia whined before leaving, “Is there anything else?”
“Yes, please send gifts to Mr. Allen Foray, he’s in the Rolodex, and Mr. Wallace Peters over at John Quinn High. You can call there to get the address. Send something nice from me, but not too personal. And Marcia, I owe you. Thanks.”
“Yes, ma’am,” was all Marcia could say before scurrying off down the hall.
Grace returned to her leather chair, rocking in it slowly and contemplating what to do about this newly acquired bit of information. She wanted to assume Edward had put her business out on Front Street but she couldn’t be sure that it wasn’t her own bad actions that spearheaded her character assassination. Since it was impossible to rewind the tape with Edward, Grace figured it was best to revisit their discussionabout André. That is what Edward had approached her about, she reasoned. That’s what she’d grant him, a nice, quiet talk about their son.
Since Marcia was busy arranging gifts to be mailed out, she had her hands full. Grace didn’t know the first thing about tracking down Edward, but she remembered him mentionthat he’d been in town for three years. She decided to run a Yahoo query for his name, just as if he were a prospectiveclient. A quick search proved successful. The first article she opened discussed how Muriel Swenson, the wife of DallasCounty Assistant District Attorney Edward Swenson, filed for legal separation two months before citing irreconcilabledifferences. Grace almost cheered his misfortune, but caught herself. Just because he wasn’t man enough for her when she needed him didn’t mean he hadn’t given his all to make the marriage work with this Muriel person. Besides, that wasn’t Grace’s issue—straightening out the situation on her side of the fence was. Before signing off, something told Grace to scroll down further and see what else Edward had been up to, but she didn’t. Later on, she’d wished she had.
“Dallas County Courts please,” Grace requested from the directory assistance operator. “Yes, the Assistant District Attorney’soffice. Thanks.” She jotted down the number, then promised herself not to get rattled this time around. “Take a deep breath and keep your chin up.” The phone rang three times before someone answered with a down-home country twang.
“Dallas County Courts, how may I direct ya call?”
“Yes, could you forward me to ADA Edward Swenson’s office?” Grace told the woman quickly before changing her mind. “Thank you.” While she waited, she doodled hearts on her steno pad.
“ADA Edward Swenson’s office,” answered another voice, warm but more direct than the first. “Hello, this is the AssistantDistrict Attorney’s office,” she announced after Grace neglectedto speak up.
“Uh, yes, I’m trying to reach Edward Swenson,” Grace said finally. “Is he in?”
“Miss, is this regarding a pending case?” the gatekeeper asked.
“No, it’s of a personal nature.”
“Personal?” A few seconds passed before the gatekeeper asked, with a more aggressive tone, “Who is this, and exactlywhat is this about?”
Grace was at a loss for words. The gatekeeper’s warmth had suddenly evaporated altogether. “Excuse me?”
“I asked who you were and what you wanted with District Attorney Swenson.”
Holding the phone like it was a hot curling iron, Grace took a defensive posture. “Obviously, I’m not familiar with City Hall protocol, but I don’t see how who I am makes a bit of difference about whether he’s in or not. Is he or isn’t he available?” Another stint of silence rolled by before the questioning continued.
“If I’m going to tell Mr. Swenson that he has a call waiting,I’ll need your name for the record, won’t I?”
“I know one thing. All this is not necessary just to speak with a city official,” Grace snarled. “Maybe I should be takingyour name to report your funky attitude to Mr. Swenson.”This is harder than trying to talk with the president, Grace thought, although I don’t know why anyone would want to talk to his sorry butt either.
“Who should I say is calling, miss?” the gatekeeper proddedagain, with the bad attitude still very much evident.
“You can tell him that Grace Hilliard would like to speak with him, if that’s not asking too much.”
“Did you say Hilliard? Grace Hilliard?” the woman repeated.
“That’s right.” Grace was feeling herself now. She was also willing to bet that after Edward heard her name, he’d jump through flaming hoops to get at the telephone. Then, Grace heard a familiar sound, a click on the other end as the gatekeeper hung up in her face. “Hey! Hello? Hello?” I know that chick did not just hang up on me! “Marcia!” Grace shouted after hitting Marcia’s extension then the intercom button. “Marcia, get me the Dallas County Courts back on the line. I don’t know what’s going on down there. Buzz me when you have ADA Edward Swenson on the phone.” Grace couldn’t sit still while steam came out of her ears. “Some silly receptionist thinks she’s going to get away with slammingthe phone down in my face,” she said aloud, seething with animosity. “I ought to take my behind up to the courthouse.Then we’ll see how tough she is. Ig’nant chick.”
Marcia buzzed her back within seconds. “Miss Hilliard, he’s on line two.”
“Who, Edward?” Grace couldn’t believe how quickly Marcia had gotten to him and also how amicably he’d agreed to hold.
“Yes, ADA Swenson’s on two,” Marcia confirmed.
“Thanks, I’ll take it. Hello, Edward?”
“Grace?” a deep voice asked, with a certain amount of concern behind it.
“Yes, Edward, this is Grace. I didn’t mean to bother you during office hours but I felt that we, I uh, needed to apologizefor what happened the other night.”
“This doesn’t sound like Grace Hilliard,” he joked.
“Don’t be silly Edward,” she countered. “One silly city employee per day is enough to get on my last good nerve. Who was that phone checker, anyway? You know she hung up on me?”
“Well, she takes her job seriously, and says that you were being evasive and wouldn’t offer any information.”
“Then how did she know who to tell you I was then, huh?” Grace made some snap assumptions. “That overprotective paper pusher wouldn’t be the cause of your impending separationwith Morticia, now, would she? Or the same one who’s been running around telling all of my business?”
“That’s insane. The girl who took your call is a paralegal. She helps me out with the calls from time to time, and no, nothing is going on between us,” he protested. “Regardless of what you might think, I’m a happily married man, but you wouldn’t know anything about that.” Grace had a chip on her shoulder the size of a small country. In not so many words, she was asking for Edward’s worst, and she was getting it.
“You’re right,” she admitted, with a reluctant chuckle. “No I wouldn’t. This is just like old times, huh, Edward?”
“Not all of our old times were like this, Grace. It was the end result, though. And listen, I can’t let you get away with being the bigger person. I could have chosen my words more carefully, but Muriel and I have been working out a minor snag with my long hours away from the family. I shouldn’t have let that get in the way when I ran into you. It’s been a long couple of months.”
“Now that, I understand. See, for my son André, it’s been a long lifetime of wondering if his father cares about him, cares if
he grows up to be something, or if his father is worth the mental energy it takes to forget he has one.” It was Edward’sturn to check himself. Grace couldn’t see why he refusedto concede that his firstborn was part of his family, too. However, Edward’s true intentions were as plain as day if she’d only paid attention to what he said.
“I guess I deserved some of that. Okay, all of it. We should have had conversations like these years ago. Maybe then, things would have been different. Why don’t we get togetherover dinner and map out some terms? It isn’t too late, you know.” If Grace didn’t know better, she would have thought he was hitting on her instead of trying to mend fences with his child. “By the way, I saw how chummy you were with my frat brother when he interfered.”
“And?” Grace uttered, more perplexed than ever. “That’s got what to do with André?”
“Just how serious is it between you and Wallace? I mean really, Grace, you could do better.”
“Better than what, Edward? I know you’re not insinuating that your brand of better is worth mentioning.” Grace put her hand over her mouth, as she felt sick to her stomach. “Is that why you all of a sudden fell from the sky after all this time, because your dutiful wife is tired of your idea of better? Your wife is leaving you, and you want to have a pissing contest with Wallace over me? Too triflin’, Edward.”
“Grace, I was excited to hear that you called, and, yes, the paralegal has gotten it in her head that my marriage hitting a rough spot has given her the opportunity to step up next. I’ll fix that, but come on, you and I do have unfinished business.”
It was then Grace realized that Edward’s intentions concernedher love life more than they did with atoning for his lack of guidance in their son’s life or apologizing for shirkinghis fatherly duties. Grace had never felt sorrier for any man than at that very moment. More so, she was determined to shield André from ever feeling like she did then, empty to the core. “Say his name, Edward,” Grace demanded calmly. “Since we’ve been discussing our son, you haven’t once said his name. I want to hear you say your son’s name. Say it! André! Say it! I want to hear you say that your name is Edward,and your son’s name is André.”
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