DANCING WITH THE ICE LADY. Ken Salter
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saying his sweet goodbyes to Gloria Simmons and offering to accompany her to her coal-black E-type Jaguar I’d noticed in the parking lot. Marcie motioned for me to hush. Neither of us wanted Nate to know we were in conference together about him. We waited until we heard Nate’s footsteps retreat back upstairs.
“Is Mrs. Simmons connected in some way with the current power struggle to control city hall in Oakland?” I asked.
Marcie paused before replying. “No, but I think Nate got her case through a recommendation from one of the black members on the Oakland City Council.”
“Why would a black politician recommend Nate when there are so many up and coming black lawyers in Oakland who’d give an arm and a leg to get her as a client? It doesn’t add up.”
“I’m glad to see you can still reason with your head, R.C. Saundra and I thought maybe your reasoning powers ended somewhere below your belt when it comes to the Simmons bitch. If you keep asking the right questions, you’ll start to see that she’s here to use Nate in some twisted power game she’s playing with her husband’s family and her current lover.”
Marcie’s last statement surprised me. “Who’s her lover?”
Marcie laughed. “That’s what our little in-house investigator is supposed to find out.”
I was getting the drift of what she expected off me. She was no fool. She must have known Nate would forbid me to share info with my co-workers. If I was reading her correctly, she expected me to unravel Mrs. Simmons’ true motives for choosing our office and whatever game she was playing. It was even possible the whole divorce/separation investigation was a ploy to get information she could use for some ulterior purpose. If so, it made sense to use a law firm outside her circle, one that employed a black investigator.
Marcie seemed to be thinking along similar lines. “Find out what’s going on inside the funeral home and why the Simmons woman is unable to get the information herself and you’ll be well on the way to answering your questions. Try not to lose your objectivity with either Nate or the woman. Nate’s already cut Saundra and me out of the loop and he’s drooling at the mouth like a fifteen-year-old with his first scent of pussy. He’s not capable of objectivity and the Simmons bitch knows it; she has him wrapped around her little finger. That’s why you’ve got to keep your wits about you. Nate’s the perfect fall guy for whatever scheme she’s hatched. She’s got him figured for a menopausal male who hasn’t had much action between the sheets; someone who’ll die for her if necessary for a good blow job. You, too, better watch your young black ass or she’ll take you down with Nate in the bat of an eye.”
Marcie’s lecture was interrupted by the phone. Marcie listened briefly and hung up abruptly. I could tell from the light on the console Saundra had called. “I gotta go,” Marcie muttered. She looked me straight in the eyes. “If you’re smart, you won’t tell Nate about our little talk, even if he asks you directly. Consider what I’ve said carefully. When you figure out what the Simmons bitch is up to with Nate, then you’ll have a tough decision to make about where your loyalties lie. Both Saundra and I sincerely hope it’s a decision you’ll be able to make with your head and not your pecker.” She paused to let her words sink in.
“Even though you may think you know something about women, you still have a lot to learn when it comes to a real black panther like the Simmons woman. You’re going to have to learn to say ‘No’ and I’m sure it’s not going to be easy. You’ve seen her effect on Nate. He’s like a dog on a leash that’s got a whiff of a bitch in heat. It’s hard to watch because Nate is playing with fire that will burn him. When the time comes, you’d better be smart enough to side with us. Now I gotta go, so scoot out of here before Nate sees us.”
I slipped into my office. I needed to make some calls to try and clean up loose ends on cases before Gloria Simmons summoned me. I heard Nate’s footsteps on the stairs as he left for the day. I had no time to mull over Marcie’s concerns. It was possible that her dire concerns were exaggerated and motivated by jealousy of a young rival.
I also thought Saundra was overreacting. Gloria Simmons was not a woman of color she could respect. Mrs. Simmons traded on her sexuality to get what she wanted while Saundra worked for everything; Saundra owed favors to no one. I was going to have to figure out who was right and suffer the consequences if I was wrong.
Chapter 3
IN MY UNSETTLED DREAMS I WAS BEING VAMPED AND duped by a series of women sirens all of whom presented different faces of Gloria Simmons. The shrill ringing of my phone rudely ended my less-than-sweet dreams; I was relieved to put them behind me.
“The boss expects to see you at 9:00 A.M. sharp, so don’t be late,” Marcie warned. “You got that through your thick head? Say something so I know you’re awake.”
“Thanks for the call Marcie. Don’t worry. I’ll be there. Is there anything else I need to know before meeting Nate?” Marcie’s voice didn’t sound hostile, but it wasn’t super friendly either.
“No, you got the picture. Just remember what I said when the time comes.” She rang off without further ado. She’d elected to keep her own counsel and keep the ball in my court. I couldn’t expect any sympathy from Saundra either. I was definitely on probation until I came up with the goods on Gloria Simmons and clued them in. I was between a big rock and a nasty, hard place.
I hurriedly shaved, showered and tore into a couple of energy bars from the health food store. I washed them down with gulps of O.J. from the carton. The day was off to a shaky start. Hopefully, it would get better.
Saundra was busy with a new client when I popped through the door. She gave me one of her “you in deep shit” looks as I scooted past her work station and the sad-eyed woman she was tending to. I grabbed the pile of pink message slips and mail from my box that Saundra had sorted and read. I dumped everything on my cluttered desk and headed up the stairs to Nate’s office.
His door was open and he was seated behind his desk with his nose in a file folder. He looked like shit. His fleshy face was blotchy and the big bags under his eyes sagged badly. He looked like he’d been on a two-day bender and desperately needed a shot of Scotch to pick him up. I couldn’t help thinking of the sorry-eyed waif Saundra was attending to and he would have to interview. Nate was going to have to get sobered up quick and back in the saddle if he was going to get through the morning.
“Sit down, R.C. Did Saundra tell you what happened yesterday with Toni Perkins?”
His words caught me by surprise. “No, Saundra didn’t mention anything about the Perkins’ case this morning. She was busy with a client. I met with Toni yesterday and everything seemed OK. She seemed more pissed off about Benny’s new lawyer than being kept waiting.”
Nate didn’t appear too interested in probing me about my session with her, so I waited for him to spit out what was on his mind.
“What an ungrateful bitch! I tried to explain to her that the private agreement they made violates public policy and is, therefore, unenforceable. That cocky piece of shit actually threatened me! Can you believe this crap?”
I was surprised by what he said. I thought Saundra had diffused Toni’s anger and eased her out the door. It sounded like he’d had a run-in with her. “I thought she’d cooled down after meeting with me. Saundra was going to make her an appointment to see you next week when I left.”
“The bitch waylaid me in the parking lot. Can you believe that? I work my butt off all day and when I drag my tired ass outta here to go home, I get jumped by her and her butchy girlfriend.” Nate was working himself up to a boil. I needed to redirect his negative energy.
“She was OK when she left. It must have been her girlfriend who pushed her to make a scene. A good row with you probably plays well on the home front.”
Nate wasn’t about to be mollified. “The bitch gave me an ultimatum.