by Jade Kuzma
“…I am in a good mood.”
“Hmm… The only reason I can think of anybody being in a good mood around here is because they’re quitting.”
“Ha! Don’t worry. I’ll be here for a little while longer to keep you company.”
“Don’t hang around for me. This place is dead. Girls like you come and go. It’s just another pit stop before they get to where they’re really headed.”
“Speaking of which, you might wanna give the old man his food.”
“Good catch.”
She winked and spun around to take care of the order.
I lost track of time in the kitchen as I worked. I kept expecting Ruth to eventually run out of orders but she didn’t stop. It was the busiest day in the diner ever since I’d arrived. By the time things started to finally slow down, I was almost disappointed because it felt like I was only just beginning.
I got busy cleaning things up and getting ready for another possible rush.
“Lacey.”
Ruth stood near the entrance to the kitchen and leaned up against the door.
“What’s up?” I said.
“There’s someone here who wants to see you.”
Ezra…
My thoughts immediately shifted to him and I couldn’t fight the smile that came to my face.
“Ezra?”
“Who’s Ezra?”
“The guy who came in the other day. In the suit. He wanted to compliment me on the BLT I made for him—”
“Oh. Him. No, not that guy. But he is wearing a suit.”
“Who… Who is he?”
“Didn’t say.”
“And is there a reason he wanted to speak to me?”
“Said he wanted to compliment the chef. You know, in all my years working at this place, I’ve never heard someone want to talk to the cook. You’re special, Lacey.”
“Yeah,” I sighed. “Or maybe he just wants to complain about the food.”
“There’s only one way to find out. Don’t worry. I’ll clean up around here.”
I took my apron off and stepped out of the kitchen. I immediately noticed how much cooler it was in the rest of the diner. I wiped the sweat from my brow with the back of my hand and looked around. There were only a few other people but even if it was crowded, it wasn’t hard to spot the man that Ruth was talking about.
I slowly walked toward him and got a better look. Middle-aged. A pair of sunglasses to hide the rest of his face. Greasy gray hair slicked back over his head. He looked like one of those assholes who made a lot of money and enjoyed flaunting it.
“Hello,” I said.
He was looking out the window and slowly turned toward me. He took off his glasses and narrowed his eyes. The sly grin forming on his face made me uncomfortable in a way I couldn’t describe.
“Are you the chef?” he asked.
“I’m just a cook.”
“Cook. Chef. What’s the difference?”
“Cook just makes the food that people order. Chefs do a lot more preparation. They…”
I cut myself off and laughed when I realized what I was saying.
“…You didn’t ask to speak to me so that I could explain the difference to you.”
“No, I didn’t. What’s your name, sweetie?”
“…Lacey.”
“Lacey. I’m Jamie. It’s nice to meet you. Why don’t you have a seat?”
“I don’t think I should—”
“It’s important. It’s about our friend.”
“Our friend?”
“Ezra.”
My throat shifted with a swallow as soon as he said it. The grin left his face. I knew something was wrong. The serious look in his eyes was enough.
“How do you know Ezra?” I asked.
“Have a seat, Lacey.”
He held his hand out. I reluctantly took a seat across from him in the booth.
“Are you from Ivory?” he asked.
“Answer my question—”
“I’ll answer all your questions,” he interrupted me. “It’s very important what you say to me now.”
What’s this guy up to?
I thought about pulling my phone out and sending Ezra a message. Maybe he could tell me what the hell was going on. But as suspicious as Jamie looked, he wasn’t going to try anything. At least, I hoped he wasn’t.
“What do you think of Ivory?” he asked.
“It’s… nice,” I said. “It’s different from the big city.”
“I agree. I didn’t know what to expect when I came here. Figured it was some small town with a bunch of backwater hicks who still haven’t discovered electricity. Turns out that it’s just a quaint town. You know, there’s a place… Golden Hills. That’s where all the rich folks hang out. It’s kinda funny that there are still rich folks in a town like this, don’t you think so, Lacey?”
“I suppose,” I said without laughing.
Jamie nodded and leaned forward.
“I’ll tell you a secret,” he said. “I came here because I plan on being one of those rich folks living in Golden Hills. The same goes for Ezra.”
“How do you know Ezra?”
“I work with him.”
“You work with him how? Are you in real estate?”
“Real estate,” he said with a chuckle. “I guess we’ve all got a little bit invested in real estate. Nothing better than some diversity in your portfolio. But no, I wouldn’t say I’m in the real estate business.”
Jamie was telling me so much without saying it exactly. I was clenching my jaw so hard that it started to hurt.
“What did Ezra tell you?” he asked.
He widened his eyes but I didn’t respond. He sighed a deep breath through his nose and shook his head.
“Listen,” he said. “I’m sure he told you some story about wanting to open up a restaurant. The truth is he didn’t come to Ivory to do that. He came here to make some real money.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because it’d be good for you to get away from him while you still can. It’d be good for him to get away from you so he can focus on his business, his real business.”
“And what is his real business?”
An obnoxious smirk curled on the corner of his lips that I wanted to slap off of him. He slowly started to nod.
“He never told you,” he said.
“He never told me what?”
“I know him well. He is a business partner after all. You two have gotten quite close. Spending late nights together. Drinking. Dancing. Probably fucking—”
“That’s none of your business.”
“Let me make one thing clear, Lacey. I care about Ezra. And if you care about him, too, you’ll stay away. I mean, you don’t know the man like I do. After all, he never even told you what he does.”
The grin on his face grew so wide that it was frightening. He leaned back in his seat and spread his arms across the cushions.
He still wasn’t telling me what Ezra was up to. He was just letting it simmer inside of me.
Calm down, Lacey. Don’t let him get to you.
“You’re lying,” I said.
“Why would I lie?”
“Maybe you’re not Ezra’s business partner. Maybe you’re some asshole from the city with some vendetta against him.”
“Maybe I am. But there’s an easier way to find out.”
“And what’s that?”
“Ask him yourself.”
He moved forward, that big, stupid smile still on his lips.
“Ask him what he’s really doing in Ivory. Ask him what kind of man he really is. You’ll get your answers—”
“Get out.”
“Lacey. I don’t think you should—”
I jumped up from my seat and pointed toward the exit.
“I said get the fuck out.”
I breathed hard, trying to maintain my composure.
Jamie sighed as he got up from his seat.
“All right,
all right,” he said.
He reached into his jacket and pulled out a small wad of bills. He left a few dollars on the table then straightened his tie.
“The food was really good,” he said. “I did want to compliment it. I figured it would be nice for you to hear the truth from someone for once.”
I wasn’t looking at him. Just the thought of what he was suggesting made me sick.
“If you ever come near me again, you’ll regret it,” I said.
I could feel his eyes on me. A disgusting stare that made me tremble on the spot.
“I can see why Ezra likes you so much.”
Jamie whistled to himself. I waited for the whistling to stop and the door to close.
I closed my eyes and sighed a deep breath to gather myself.
“What the hell was that all about?”
Ruth suddenly appeared next to me.
“Lacey, you all right, honey—”
“I’m fine,” I said as I put my hands up. “I’m fine. I’m… I’m gonna go finish cleaning up the kitchen. Take care of this table for me.”
“Yeah… Sure…”
I headed back to work but I was too distracted to get my thoughts off of what Jamie said. I considered calling Ezra right now to get some answers but I didn’t want to do it over a phone call or a text. I needed him to tell me to my face. The truth was waiting for me tonight.
Chapter 16
EZRA
Lacey gave me a call at the start of the night. The usual enthusiasm I heard in her voice was gone. She told me everything was fine but I knew that wasn’t the case. I’d get my answer soon enough when I saw her.
I couldn’t get to her fast enough. I raced through the streets and got to her place, a small apartment in the middle of town. The door was open slightly when I arrived.
Lacey’s place wasn’t anything extravagant. It was mostly empty because she’d just arrived in town, not that I gave a shit one way or another.
The lights were off but it was easy to spot her next to the window. The way the moonlight shined made her look as gorgeous as she always did. Porcelain skin that seemed to glow like she was an angel.
But the look in her eyes… Just a blank stare as she looked out into the distance. She was motionless. She wasn’t even fucking blinking.
I took a few steps toward her.
“How was everything today?” I said.
“Fine. Just fine. It was busy today.”
“I hope you didn’t work too hard.”
“I’d rather work hard than not at all. Moving around the kitchen means that I don’t have to figure out a way to pass the time. Better than standing around.”
She just kept staring out the window to the point that it was starting to bug me. I knew I had to do something.
“Lacey—”
“How about you? How was your day?”
“My day? Nothing special. I just finished up some paperwork and started cleaning out the place. It’s gonna take a long time until it’s in the right shape. There’s so much fucking dust.”
“I figure someone like you would hire someone to do it.”
“That’s an idea. Figured I’d get started on it.”
“But you do have the money to hire someone to clean the place up for you, don’t you? All that money you made in… real estate…”
She slowly turned her face toward me. That same fucking blank look. Eyes as cold as I’d ever seen them before. She almost looked like another person.
“That’s how you made your money, right?” she said. “Real estate in the city.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. I didn’t have to think twice to know what she was getting at. Apparently, she felt the same way.
“I got a visit from someone today,” she said. “Someone who said he knows you.”
“…Jamie.”
Her throat bobbed up and down as she swallowed.
“Then it’s true,” she said. “He does know you.”
“What did he tell you?”
“Just that you’re not the man you claim to be.”
“I am the man I said I am. You can’t completely trust a man like Jamie. Whatever he told you—”
“He told me to ask you for myself. Said that you two were in business but never said what that business was. I figured there was no point in getting it from him because I wouldn’t believe him anyway. But you…”
She slowly got up from her seat. The way the moonlight cast a shadow on her face… She was still gorgeous but in her eyes, there was a confusion like she didn’t know what to think.
“Lacey—”
“Dammit, Ezra!”
She let out an exasperated sigh and shook her head. She broke suddenly, the first sign of emotion I’d seen this entire time.
“Just tell me the truth,” she said. “If this… This… Whatever it is. If it’s anything, you can’t keep it from me.”
The frown on her lips finally got to me.
It’s time…
I sighed through my nose and shifted my eyes to the ground.
“The truth,” I said with a nod. “Okay. The truth.”
I looked her straight in the eye as I started.
“My grandparents lived in Ivory but my parents lived on a farm not far from here. I spent my whole life working with my parents making ends meet. Around the time I turned 18, I had a decision to make. I could keep going to school or do something else. I figured I would go to the city and make something of myself. This isn’t anything I haven’t already told you before.”
“Go on.”
I nodded again.
“It was tough. I made ends meet taking up minimum wage jobs all over the city. Dishwasher. Busboy. Courier. Janitor. Shit, you name it, I did it.
“I stayed at this apartment complex along with a bunch of other people who didn’t make shit. One day, I met the guy who owned the building. Some rich motherfucker who didn’t give two shits about the people who lived there. He’d come around and collect his rent and be on his way. That’s when I saw what the real hustle was. That’s how I could make some real money. Buying property and just renting it or flipping it. A place like the big city, people were always looking for a place to stay.”
“Then what’s Jamie talking about? If you’ve got another business besides real estate, what is it?”
Lacey was listening intently.
“Buying property isn’t cheap,” I said. “I needed money. So, I ran into some people. Talked to some gangsters and cartel members looking for a loan to get started. None of them had anything for me because I was a stranger. That’s when I met Jamie. Said he’d give me the money I needed. All I had to do was do some work for him.”
“And what kind of work is that?”
I didn’t wanna say it. Just from the way she was trembling, there was no telling how she would react.
“What kind of work was it?” she repeated. “Just tell me the truth—”
I swallowed and clenched my jaw.
“He asked me to deliver weight for him.”
“I see…”
“I never knew where it came from or who was paying for it exactly. I was just a middleman. I started making money just like how I told you I did after though.”
“Then what are you doing in Ivory? What’s this business he’s talking about?”
“There’s a lot of competition in the city. Triads. Yakuza. Cartel. Mafia. Everybody’s fighting for their own piece of the drug trade. Drug lords are always going to war. But in Ivory, there’s a monopoly. It’s going through one small group. Jamie told me to come down to Ivory with him. Get a piece of it. He…”
“He what?”
Lacey’s voice was shaky. I took a step toward her but she put her hand up.
“Don’t come near me. He what, Ezra?”
Dammit…
“He told me that we needed to open a business. A business so that we could launder all of the money we were making.”
“A restaurant…”
“…He neve
r said what kind of business. He left that up to me. But—”
“So, you’re a drug dealer. Everything else was a lie.”
“It’s not a lie, Lacey. I’m opening up a restaurant. I’m not a drug dealer.”
“You just said you’re opening up a restaurant as some cover.”
“Not for him. I wanted to open it up for myself when I thought about it.”
“Right,” she scoffed. “You really expect me to believe that? After you’ve kept everything from me?”
“I made a mistake. I admit that getting involved with Jamie was wrong. I was young and stupid. I didn’t know what I was doing.”
“That’s your excuse? Ezra, you were moving drugs—”
“I didn’t know! I didn’t know, okay? I should’ve never trusted, Jamie. He gave me my first payday. I’ll admit that. But I built myself up. I made my own fortune through real estate. That was legitimate. That was real.”
“Then why are you still doing business with him?”
Lacey’s lip was quivering. She was shaking so much that I thought she was gonna pass out.
“I’ve asked myself that over and over,” I said. “The answer is the same every time. I owe him.”
“Ezra, he’s a drug dealer. You don’t owe him anything.”
“You’re right. I can see that now. I see that in you. Lacey, you’re all that matters to me. You and this restaurant… We can do this. I can walk away.”
“You expect me to believe that? After you’ve kept everything from me?”
I wasn’t sure how to respond. Lacey was so pissed that there was nothing I could say to calm her down.
“Just tell me this,” she said. “When we met, did you tell me that you were opening a restaurant to try and impress me or was that something you wanted to do for yourself?”
“Lacey, I want to do this. I can’t do it without you.”
“I don’t even know who you are.”
I took another step toward her but she moved back and reached behind her waist. In the blink of an eye, she suddenly had a pistol pointed right at me.
I blinked my eyes in disbelief as I stared down the barrel of the gun.
“Don’t come near me,” she said.
“A-are you really gonna shoot me?”
“If I have to.”
She swallowed again. She was breathing hard like her heart was racing inside of her chest.