“Stop it.”
“You mean that speech?”
“Just stop.” Amanda stepped forward and shouted out to the adults and children in the yard. “C’mon, everybody! Come eat before it gets cold!”
Flynn reached out and touched her ass. She swatted his hand away deftly, turned, and quick-stepped toward the screened-in porch.
“When you start a company,” said Flynn, “you’re thinking about yourself. Your wife and kids, maybe, if you’re lucky enough to have them. But my point is, you open a business to make money. That’s your goal.”
Flynn was on the deck, a shot of bourbon in hand. He was no longer acting, but in fact was now half drunk. Amanda stood beside him, concerned, loving, patient, and somewhat proud. He had built the business and earned the floor. For his troubles, he could be sentimental and smashed for one night.
Below them on the grass stood the employees and their companions, looking up at Flynn. Whatever they were feeling, and it ranged from loyalty to indifference, they were paying attention and respect. Some were finishing up their plates of food, some were still drinking, and others were completely sober. Isaac had Maria and his kids close by. The other children were running and playing in the yard.
“What you don’t expect, when you get yourself into this, is the feeling of responsibility and affection you get for the people you employ and have the privilege of working with every day. Now, I’ve had many employees over the years. For most of them, they and their wives and children have been better off and had better lives after coming to work for me. That’s quite an accomplishment. It’s the one I’m most proud of, you want the truth.
“I’m also very fortunate to be able to work with my family. You know my lovely and extremely capable wife, Amanda.” Flynn reached to his side and squeezed Amanda’s arm. “And my son, Chris, is an integral part of our installation team. But they’re not the only ones I’ve come to think of as family. I’m thinking of Isaac, of course, who has been with me for a long time. Isaac, you know this company doesn’t work without you.”
“Thank you, boss,” said Isaac, his posture erect.
“But it’s all of you, really,” said Flynn. “Friends and family are what we’re about. Together, we are gonna prosper. When we do a job and do it right…”
“It’s money for all of us,” said Chris under his breath, a rush of affection for his old man washing over his chest.
“It’s money for all of us,” said Flynn. “I know we’ve had a little downturn in business this summer. Hell, everybody’s taking gas in this economy. That’s nothing but a blip on the radar screen. So we didn’t make much money this month. But I promise you…” Flynn paused dramatically “… we will tomorrow.”
“Yes!” said Hector, too emphatically.
“Easy, Mary,” said Ben.
“ You Mary,” said Hector, with a lopsided smile.
“That’s it,” said Flynn. “See you at work on Monday.”
There was some mild applause as Amanda turned to him, put her hand around his waist, and kissed him on the mouth.
“Damn, I’m good,” said Flynn, a lock of black hair falling across his forehead. “Henry at Agincourt had nothin on me.”
“Save some of that bravado for the bedroom.”
“For real?”
“Yes.”
Chris said, “We’re taking off.” He was standing at the foot of the stairs, watching his parents, waiting for them to finish.
“You’re not driving, are you?” said Amanda.
“Katherine is,” said Chris. “Don’t worry, she barely drank.”
“That’s one lovely young woman,” said Flynn.
Chris nodded. They watched him join his group, saying good-bye to Ali, who was still talking to Lonnie.
“He’s the effusive type,” said Flynn.
“Come on,” said Amanda. “Help me clean up.”
Chris, Ben, and their girlfriends walked out of the backyard.
Two men, one large and one small, sat in a black Marquis, parked down Livingston, a good distance from the Flynn home. The old Mercury, though well maintained, was out of place among the late-model imports of Friendship Heights. Sonny Wade and Wayne Minors had not been here long and did not intend to stick around. They had come to check out the business address for Flynn’s Floors and were surprised to discover that it was a residential location.
“Party’s endin,” said Sonny.
“For them it is,” said Wayne.
A young white couple and a young black couple moved across the front yard of the colonial and came to a stop near a white work van. It looked like they were about to split up.
“By God, look at the titties on that redhead,” said Sonny.
“I’d make a tunnel outta them bad boys,” said Wayne.
“And what would you drive through the tunnel?”
“You know what they say about little dudes.”
“They got little pricks?”
“Ho,” said Wayne.
Sonny picked up a cheap 8? 21 monocular he had purchased at a surplus store and put it to one eye. “Our gal Mindy said it was a black and a blond, large and young. They’re both big. Could be them.”
“What you gonna do, walk up and ask ’em?”
“Keep your eyes on the white boy.” Sonny handed the monocular to Wayne, picked up his cell from the red velour seat, found the number he was looking for in his contacts, and punched it into the keyboard.
They waited.
“He’s answering,” said Wayne with a short giggle.
“Hello,” said Sonny. “Is Chris Carpet there?”
“Who is this?” Chris’s annoyed voice came through the speaker.
Sonny hit “end” and took the monocular back. Looking through it, he said, “Boy’s staring at his phone like it’s gonna tell him somethin.”
“But now he’s got your number on the caller ID.”
“Why would I give a fuck? He’s the thief. He stole from me. What’s he gonna do, go to the law?”
“Should we follow him to where he’s goin?”
“I’m thinking,” said Sonny, stroking his walrus mustache.
Katherine took Chris’s keys and the two of them got into the white van. Ben and Renee walked toward her black Hyundai, parked up by 41st Street.
“That coon’s really got some size on him,” said Wayne.
“The white boy looks like a tougher nut, though,” said Sonny, squinting. “The way the other one walks, all loose… somethin about him says soft to me.”
“You know what they say: Cut a tall boofer, he falls like a big tree.”
“I got Mr. Carpet’s number,” said Sonny. “We can get hold of him anytime. Let’s follow the black one and see where he goes.”
NINETEEN
Ben and Renee woke up late on Sunday and spent most of the day indoors, lounging, ordering in, and making love. They watched a Martin Lawrence movie that Renee had brought with her and several innings of a Nationals game on cable. Ben walked her to the parking lot in the early evening and kissed her good-bye through the open window of her Hyundai. They had laughed all day and were right for each other in the bedroom. He was thinking that she might be the one.
Ben went back to his apartment. On his nightstand he found a paperback novel, Blood on the Forge, that he had been struggling with at first but getting into of late. He rubbed his fingers over the handsome cover. To him, it was like touching gold.
He was challenging himself these days to take on reading material that was a bit more difficult. Ben knew who he was and where he wanted to go. He was never going to be accomplished by society’s standards, or rich by anyone’s, but he was comfortable with his limitations. For many, life was about the pursuit of status, but it was not so for him. Ben’s was all about the quest for knowledge, and his vehicle was books.
He thought of work as a means to acquire food and shelter. Friends and Renee kept him socialized and sane. He tried not to stress on his broken childhood or troubled teens, and mostly managed to steer his mind clear of dark places. He was past that, and looked forward to learning something new every day.