Influence

by Carl Weber

  “Kwesi, listen to me. You must tell that man whatever it is that he wants to hear so that you may leave this horrible place and get back to school. I do not have the resources to bail you out. You have class and finals to prepare for. This is not your fault, and he understands that.”

  “Father, you want me to lie?” I asked. “Say something I know is not true? Where is the honor in that?”

  My father stood and said, “I want you to do whatever you must in order to save yourself and this family, Kwesi.” He turned and walked toward the door, then said, “Mamfatou, let’s go.”

  “Kwesi.” My mother hugged me.

  I hugged her back. “Mother, I’m so sorry.”

  She pulled my head closer to her and whispered in my ear, “I love you, Kwesi. Be careful and remember your faith. Do you understand? Remember your faith.”

  I nodded.

  “Remember your faith, Kwesi,” she repeated again as they exited.

  Desiree

  25

  The twenty-minute drive from my place to my father’s felt like forever because of the proverbial elephant in the back seat of the SUV. Perk and I had barely spoken two words this morning, ever since he informed me that we’d been summoned to my father’s Riverside Drive estate. Normally, we’d be fighting over what radio station we were going to listen to, or debating politics and social issues, but today, things between us were awkward. He didn’t even protest when I reached for the radio and switched from the Breakfast Club to Urban Talk Radio.

  “So, we’re just not gonna talk?” I finally reached down and turned off the radio.

  “What do you wanna talk about, Desiree?” Perk asked, his eyes staring straight ahead and his face looking defiant.

  “I don’t know. Let’s talk about Trump, the weather, or how about my brother’s fucking case?” I answered sarcastically. I’d known Perk since my father rescued him from his crack addicted momma and daddy back in junior high school. He was as much a Hudson as any of us, although we never adopted him. Perk had attended Howard University on a football scholarship, although he’d had offers from USC, Penn State, and Florida. After college, he had a short stint in the NFL as a linebacker for the Eagles, until he blew out his knee. That was when Daddy brought him on as the lead investigator for our legal firm.

  “You do know he got arrested yesterday, and you haven’t said a word about it.”

  “That’s because your father asked me not to.”

  “Huh? Why?”

  “You’re asking me what Bradley Hudson is thinking?” He laughed, and I had to chuckle as well. He took his eyes off the road for the first time since we’d left the house, and he stared directly at me. “But if you really wanna talk, let’s talk about this little game you played last night.”

  “Forget it. We don’t have to talk,” I said, dramatically reaching for the volume button.

  Perk and I had always been close, probably closer that we needed to be. I knew it was a bad idea to go into his room the night before, but I would have been tossing and turning all night if I hadn’t. Perk was usually an early riser and was almost always out of the house before I even woke up, so the last thing I expected was for us to be sharing a ride to my father’s house this morning.

  He turned the music back down and said, “Naw, let’s chat now.”

  “I’d rather not.” I reached down, but he covered the buttons with his huge hand.

  “You’re a trip. You know that, right?”

  “How?” I turned toward him and waited for his answer.

  “Because you are mind-fucking the hell outta me,” he said gruffly.

  I don’t know, maybe it was ego, but I liked the way that sounded. I placed my hand on his thigh. “It wasn’t your mind I was fucking, Perk.”

  “See, that’s exactly what I’m talking about.” He moved my hand. “You’re playing games.”

  “It takes two to play the game we played last night, and I wasn’t the only participant. You could have said no.” He remained silent, which amused me. We both knew damn well that no man would say no when he woke up to a naked woman on top of him. “I didn’t see you hesitate to put that condom on when I handed it to you.”

  He deflected with, “You’re only doing this because Lena’s interested in me.”

  “You can date who you wanna date, Perk. That ain’t my business,” I said. Truthfully, the last thing I wanted to hear was Perk talk about Lena, some random hood rat he’d met at Starbucks. They’d been dating about a week. As far as I was concerned, she wasn’t a threat to me, because as I’d proved last night, I could have him any time I wanted him.

  “Good, because one day you’re going to walk in my room, and she’s going to be lying there.”

  This time, it was my turn to be silent, but not for long, “You better not let that bitch in my house, because that’s the day I’ll catch a case.”

  “That’s my house too—and why she gotta be a bitch, Des?”

  “Because I don’t like her, and I think you can do better.”

  “You don’t even know her!” he replied.

  “I know her type, but if that’s who you want, I don’t give a shit, as long as it’s not in my house.” As I sat back in my seat, I realized I should’ve left well enough alone and endured the ride in silence.

  “It’s funny how you don’t wanna be with me, but when I start dating other people, all of a sudden you wanna start back fucking,” he said.

  “Perk, why do we keep going through this each and every time?”

  My phone rang, and without even looking at it or my watch, I knew who it was. I ignored the call and continued my conversation.

  “Because you know I like you, Des. That’s why. And I know you’re feeling me too, but you got so much shit with you. At least Lena acts like she wants me.”

  “Perk, we’ve gone over this enough. Yes, I like you. I enjoy being around you, and yeah, I enjoy fucking you too, but I’m not ready for what you want. I don’t want to be in a relationship,” I told him.

  “Five years of fucking is a relationship,” he said matter-of-factly.

  “No, it isn’t. Why do we need a title? Don’t you understand that once you put a title on it, that’s when shit gets weird?” I tried to explain. My main reason for not wanting to be in a relationship with Perk was that, although we did work together and live together, my family had no idea we were sleeping together. I knew that if we became involved in a full-fledged relationship and then we were to break up, it would make his working at my father’s firm very difficult. I didn’t want that for him or me. “Titles put restraints on things.”

  “Restraints, like not being able to bring people to the house I pay rent on?” He smirked as he made his point.

  Again, my phone rang, and I decided to answer, mostly to avoid responding to his question.

  “Hello.”

  “Good morning, beautiful. How are you?” Jerri greeted me.

  “Good morning,” I said.

  “You know I woke up in my feelings because you didn’t call me last night like you promised. Then I remembered everything you had going on yesterday and figured you were tired and went straight to bed, so I forgive you,” she said. Her sweet tone almost made me feel guilty about the gratifying time I’d spent with Perk instead of calling her.

  “I know. I apologize, and I appreciate your understanding.”

  “Well, you can make it up to me by letting me make you breakfast this morning.”

  “I can’t. I’ve already left for my dad’s house. We have a meeting about my brother’s case,” I explained, looking at Perk from the corner of my eye to see if he was paying attention to my conversation. He seemed to be more focused on the traffic in front of us.

  “Oh, okay then.” Jerri’s disappointment was obvious. “I guess I’ll talk to you later.”

  “Sounds great. I’ll speak with you soon,” I said cheerfully.

  “Damn, you’re sounding quite professional this morning. Is there someone with you?” Jer
ri asked, picking up on my tone.

  “Yes. I’m with Perk, our firm’s investigator.” Sometimes the truth was the best lie.

  “Okay, that I can live with, because that sweet ass belongs to me and me only.” Jerri laughed loudly.

  Again, I glanced over at Perk to make sure he hadn’t heard anything she said. “I’ll talk to you later.”

  “Enjoy your day, beautiful.”

  I ended the call.

  “Can I ask you a question?” Perk asked, causing me to become nervous. Maybe he had been eavesdropping after all.

  “What?”

  “Are you seeing someone else? Is that what it is?”

  I frowned and tried to play dumb. “Huh?”

  “Is that what the problem between you and me is?”

  “God, no, Perk. That’s not it at all. You are way overthinking this.” I touched his arm, and he looked at me. I gave him a reassuring smile and told him. “Perk, we’re cool.”

  Fortunately, he dropped the subject, and we spent the remainder of the ride laughing and talking as if things were back to normal.

  Several cars were parked outside the house when we arrived, along with a couple of TV vans. This was becoming way bigger than I’d expected. As prominent as my father was, he hated the press when he couldn’t control it, and this was probably driving him bananas. Perk ignored them and pulled into the driveway. As soon as he parked the car, he hopped out and headed for the front door.

  “You’re not gonna open my door?” I called after him.

  “You’re not my woman, remember? We’re cool. Make sure you hit the lock when you get out, buddy,” he said. I couldn’t tell if he was joking, but I locked the door nonetheless before closing it.

  “Hey, everybody!” I said when I walked into the dining room, where the entire family was sitting. I hugged my brother Langston’s girlfriend, Simone, and gave a kiss on the cheek to my mother and my brothers. I was headed to greet my father, passing by my stepmother, Carla, who I touched awkwardly on the shoulder. I didn’t feel comfortable hugging her, especially with my mother there, but a handshake would’ve been a little too formal.

  “How are you, baby girl?” My dad smiled after our brief embrace. He peeked out the curtains and asked, “Those bastards still camped outside? They didn’t bother you, did they?”

  “No, they didn’t, Daddy,” I told him. It had been easy enough to ignore their shouted questions when I headed into the house.

  “Well, now that everyone’s here, we can get started,” my father announced.

  “Why don’t we go into the study so Iris can clear the table?” My mother stood and suggested. We all followed her lead and were about to walk out when she turned toward Langston’s girlfriend and said, “Simone, why don’t you stay here with Iris, hun? All this legal talk is just going to go right over your head.” Poor Lang just kissed her and began following us. “Oh, and Iris, you might want to wash this tablecloth. It has stains.”

  I noticed the look Carla gave my mother as she leaned over to my father and whispered loudly, “Does that wench realizes she’s no longer the woman of this house?”

  “It’s fine, sweetheart,” my father answered. “She’s just trying to be helpful. She knows.”

  “She better act like it. I’m trying to be tolerant for Langston’s sake, Bradley.”

  Lamont looked over at me, and I could see him trying to contain his laughter as we went into the study.

  Michael

  26

  I stepped into the foyer of the home of Bradley Hudson, and it reminded me of why I’d become a lawyer. His place had to be the grandest home I’d ever been in. I still couldn’t believe I was standing there after just having met Bradley Hudson a few days before. Like I’d promised, I called him the afternoon we met, and after a half-hour interview, he hired me with no hesitation. It sure made me feel good, to say the least. This felt like the start of a whole new trajectory for me. As part of the Hudson firm, I knew I was on my way to success. I called my employers this morning to quit, and now here I was, staring at the luxury in amazement as I followed the housekeeper into a large den.

  “Mr. Hudson, Mr. Butcher is here,” she said, stepping aside so that I could enter.

  Bradley Hudson sat in a comfortable chair with half a dozen people around him. His son, Lamont, sat to his left, along with a beautiful young woman who was obviously his daughter based on the resemblance. Next to her was a football-player-sized guy, while off to his right sat two attractive older women and a young man who had to be his youngest son.

  “Michael, come on in.” Bradley stood, offering his hand, which I shook. “Everyone, this is Michael Butcher, the newest member of our team.”

  “Hello.” I smiled. They all greeted me warmly, and no one looked even slightly upset about a virtual stranger coming into their midst and being introduced as already hired. Bradley was obviously in charge, and I guess they all trusted his judgment without question. I was introduced to everyone by name, and the two older women quickly clarified their positions as the wife and ex-wife as I sat down.

  As if I’d been an employee for years, Bradley got right back to the discussion I assumed they’d been having before I entered. “Well, Langston, why don’t you tell us everything that happened from the beginning?” he said to his son.

  Langston described his recent arrest—which, of course, I knew about from all the news coverage—starting from the moment he was pulled over. He hesitated a little before he admitted they’d been smoking pot in the car, and again when he had to admit he’d mouthed off a little to the cop, but for the most part, he made it through without his parents having a heart attack.

  “Sounds like a legal search.” Lamont said what I was thinking.

  “On the surface, everything seems like it was done by the book,” Bradley agreed. “The marijuana gave them cause to search the car. The white officer seemed like he was going to give them a break. They were all Mirandized. There are no loopholes anywhere.”

  “There’s always loopholes,” Lamont replied. “Nobody is perfect.”

  “Exactly my point.” Bradley turned to the big guy. “Perk, what do you think? You hear anything in Langston’s story that we can use to our advantage?”

  It was subtle, but I could see him glance at Langston and then hesitate. “Nah, but I’d like to get a look at those cops’ body cams.”

  “I’ll put in a request. See if I can get a copy today or tomorrow,” Lamont told Perk, who nodded his approval. “I’m also going to make a motion for a bail reduction hearing for Krush and Tony.”

  “No, you’re not,” Bradley informed him.

  “Huh?” Lamont looked confused, as if his father was suddenly stepping into his area of expertise. “So, you’re going to make that motion?”

  “No.” Bradley looked over at his daughter. “Des, that’s what I need you to handle. Lamont’s a little opinionated when it comes to these boys. Can you handle it, or should I give the job to Michael?”

  I watched Desiree glance from her brother to me, then back to her father. I was surprised to hear my name even mentioned, but a crafty lawyer like Bradley was probably just using me to motivate his daughter and son. And it worked.

  “Yeah, I got it, Daddy,” she said.

  “Good. That leaves you, Michael, to find out everything you can about these cops. Perk will help you, but I want you to do the leg work.”

  “What about me?” Lamont asked.

  Bradley said, “I need you to find Kwesi Adamako and his lawyer, and find out what he’s saying to the prosecution. The DA’s office is playing some type of game with this kid, and I want to know what it is.” He turned in Langston’s direction. “Life on the line, is Kwesi friend or foe?”

  “Friend,” Langston answered without hesitation. “Kwesi wouldn’t do anything to hurt me, Dad.”

  “Langston, we don’t know what people will do when they’re under the pressure of a long jail sentence. I just want to make sure the story he tells is the same as
yours,” Bradley explained then turned back to Lamont. “Let’s treat him as a friend for now, but I need some answers about this kid today.”

  “Let me talk to him and—” Langston started.

  The ex-wife interrupted. “Honey, let your brother handle this. He’s going to do what needs to be done to protect you and your friends, but you have to stay out of the way.”

  “Your mother’s right, Langston.” Bradley’s words caused the ex-wife to break out in a huge smile, which put a sour look on the face of the new wife. I was figuring out quickly that this was not one big, happy blended family.

  “Thank you, darling.” The ex-wife stood and placed her hand on Bradley’s shoulder. She didn’t look in the direction of the new wife, but I could tell she was doing it just to piss her off.

  “Perk?” ex-wife said.

  The big guy sat up. “Yes, ma’am.”

  “We need to know where those drugs came from. Two kilos of heroin couldn’t have come from some corner boy,” she said. “And don’t leave any rock unturned. This is my son’s life on the line.”

  Perk nodded. “I’m on it, Jacqueline.”

  “What do you need me to do?” Langston asked, sounding sincerely eager to help in his own defense. We all turned our attention to Bradley for an answer.

  “Uh, well . . . right now, son, we don’t need you to do anything other than stay away from the press,” Bradley said, sitting up in his chair. “Your girlfriend’s in the other room. Go spend some time with her. We’ll let you know when we need you.”

  Langston frowned helplessly. That was our cue that the meeting was over, and we all began to disperse. If this first day was any indication of what it would be like with the Hudsons, then I knew I would never have another boring day at work.

  Langston

  27

  “Your mother hates me, doesn’t she?” Simone sighed and rubbed my chest as we lay naked in the middle of the bed. “It doesn’t matter what I say or do. The woman just hates me.”

  “That’s not true, boo. She likes you,” I said—even if it was stretching the truth—as I nuzzled my chin on the top of her head. Her curly hair smelled like a combination of coconut, flowers, and my sweat.