Going Down (25 page)

I led Tyhedra up the stairs to the bedroom and laid her down on the side of the bed. I leaned forward and kissed her thighs. The closer I got to her pussy, the more Tyhedra would squirm. I began sucking her lips gently, then gliding my tongue slowly along her lips, up one side and down the other. Then I made circles around her clit with my index finger.

I gently slid one finger inside of her. I moved it in and out slowly. Making small circles around her clit, keeping pace with my other finger. The circles became smaller and smaller, then I massaged her clit lightly.

I slid my tongue around the edges of her Brazilian bikini wax, then I spread her lips. Her back arched as I stuck my tongue inside her, moving in and out slowly and gently. She rotated her hips. I spread her lips with two fingers and with the tip of my tongue, made small circles around her clit. As the circles got tighter, her clit got harder, her moans got louder. Tyhedra reached out and held my head in place. I must have sucked her pussy for a half an hour, but I couldn’t make her cum.
 

When Tyhedra pulled me on top of her and guided me inside her. “You’re dick is so hard.”

Tyhedra closed her eyes and grinded her hips in a slow, almost methodical motion. I reached for her face and pulled her toward me. I rolled Tyhedra over so she was on top. She leaned back slightly and swayed side to side, rubbing her nipples. I put my hands on her hips and planted my feet on the bed. I arched my back and quickened my pace. Tyhedra placed her hands on my chest. She sat up straight and ran her fingers through her hair. Tyhedra began to pound her body into mine. I felt her fingernails dig into my chest, and then they slid around my throat. I never had a woman fuck me so hard. I tried to fight the urge to explode, but I couldn’t. My whole body seemed to lock and Tyhedra milked every bit of cum out of me.

“Damn it!” Tyhedra said and rolled off of me. Then she looked over at me. “What did we just do?” she said as if what we had just done was a dream, and she had been jerked back to reality. Tyhedra got out bed. “I’m sorry, Chris.” She smiled at me. “I don’t know what came over me.”

“No, it was my fault. I got a little carried away.”

“I think we both did,” she said smiling, backing out of my bedroom slowly. I followed her out of the bedroom. When I got to the living room, Tyhedra was getting dressed. To be polite, I put my pants back on and we talked about it and agreed it shouldn’t have happened, and that it would never happen again. But I knew I’d want more.

I opened a message from Albert James, the managing general partner. It was to advise me to be prepared to interview for the account manager’s position at two o’clock that afternoon. I viewed the news with a combination of relief and trepidation. Although I felt confident, I was still a little anxious about an interview by committee. The interview would be with Albert James and two other managers. Minutes seemed to pass like hours waiting for interview time. I was slated to go first followed by Brent, and Peggy would close the show.

When Linda came into the office, I stood up and put on my jacket. “Well, it’s show time. How do I look?” Linda straightened my tie.

“You look—well—let’s just say I’m glad that you’re not interviewing with any women,” Linda said as we started out of my office.

“Why’s that?”

“Baby, that tie is terrible.”

I laughed. “Where are you going?”

“I’m gonna walk down with you. If that’s all right with you, of course.”

“Who are you, my priest? Coming to give me my last rights before my execution?”

“I guess you could say that,” she said as we arrived at the conference room. “When you come out of there, you’ll be one of them.”

“There goes that sellout shit again.”

“You know better than that. I’m just playing with you. You know I just want the best for you.” She tried to straighten my tie again. “That’s not gonna help. So, you ready?”

“I’m always ready,” I replied, knocked on the door, and entered the conference room. Seated at the conference table was Albert James, flanked on either side by William Berry, the manager of the data entry group and Dan Frazier, Director of Human Resources. Albert smiled at me and said “Come on in and have a seat, Tavarus. Let’s get started.”

They kept me in there for more than an hour. The questions came non-
stop.You
know, the standard interview questions: Where I wanted to be in five years, and how I would handle certain situations? The questioning got tough, but it didn’t matter. I felt like I was in the zone. Answering each question with confidence and poise. Once they were finished, I thanked them for taking the time to interview me. I left the conference room with a good attitude. Brent was seated outside awaiting his turn. “How’d it go, Tavarus? They sure kept you in there a long time.”

“They had a lot of questions, Brent. But I’d say it went pretty well. Good luck to you,” I said, as Brent entered the conference room.

I went back to my office to find Lester seated at my desk waiting for me. “Come on in and shut the door, Tavarus,” Lester said taking liberties with my office, but that was just the type of guy Lester was. “How’d it go?”

“I think it went very well,” I said and sat down across from Lester, as he rocked back in my chair.
Why don’t you just put your feet up, too?
I thought, but thought better of saying.

“Yes, I’m sure it did. Everybody here thinks a lot of you,” Lester said. “But let’s lay our cards out on the table. Stop pussyfooting around. Let the shit fly.”

I smiled. Lester always had a way with words. “So what’s up, Lester?”

“You’re not gonna get this one, Tavarus,” he said flatly.

The good feeling I had escaped me, like hot air from a balloon.

“What?”

“There are gonna be some changes made around here very soon, Tavarus. Changes that will affect the way we do things around here. I don’t particularly like them, or agree with them for that matter. But no one cares what the fuck I think anyway. I’m letting you know this because I respect you. I like the way you carry yourself, the way you do your job, and because I don’t think you’re one of them babies running off, crying to the goddamn
EEOC
. And if you did, hell, I’d just deny this whole conversation ever happened. And I’d probably shoot you.”

“So who is gonna get it?”

“For the time being, that’s need to know. Ah hell, it doesn’t matter. That candy ass Brent’s gonna get it.”

“Brent?” I said in shock. “Why him? I could take Peggy getting it before Brent. At least she’s good accountant.”

“That remains to be seen,” Lester said with a smug look on his face. I suspected that Lester’s comment was sexist in nature. “But that’s another matter entirely. What is important now is you.”

“So what happens now, Les?”

“Albert is going to tell you personally that you didn’t get the job. Then he’s gonna ask you to get Brent up the speed on the accounts.”

“That takes nerve, but I can do that,” I said. It really wouldn’t be so bad training Brent. It might be fun exposing Brent as being incapable. That way, everyone would see the mistake they made passing me over in favor of Brent. It would be a small measure of satisfaction, but I’d take it.

“I know you’re sitting there thinking how much fun you’re gonna have exposing Brent as the blithering idiot he is, but I’m not finished yet.”

“What now, Les?”

“You know we’ve lost some clients over the last year.”

“Some big ones too.” And they were going to lose some more if things worked out as Linda outlined, I thought, but again thought better of saying.

“So we’ve made retention a priority. The thinking is that the account manager would be in the best position to monitor the mood of the clients, and if he felt one was shaky, he could take steps to keep them happy, which makes that a kiss-ass position and makes Brent perfect for the job.”

“That’s a pretty picture you’re painting.” Now it was me displaying the smug look. “But what does all that have to do with me?”

“Albert is going to ask you to continue to handle the administrative functions.”

“Do the job without the title and the money, that’s what you’re saying, ain’t it, Les?”

“That’s what I’m saying, Tavarus.”

“That sucks, Les. That’s bullshit and you know it.”

“I know it’s bullshit, Tavarus. But you do this for us and I give you my word, better things are in store for you here. You just have to be patient,” Lester said as he got up from my chair. “This conversation never happened, Tavarus,” he said as he left the room.

I sat numb, looking out the window. “What just happened?” I said out loud. I got up and walked over to the window. Trying to make sense of what I had just heard. “Now let me get this straight. I just interviewed for the job I’ve been doing for the last seven months. While the interviews are still going on, Les tells me that not only am I not going to get the job, I have to train the guy who got the job over me. But then I still get to do the paperwork. And to add insult to injury, I get no money.” I slumped down in my chair. “You just got fucked, kid. No foreplay, no Vaseline.”

I sat motionless for a moment. Playing the scene with Les over and over again in my mind. I thought I should have said something, made a stand. I should have told Lester to kiss my black ass and thrown him out of my chair. I should have quit right then and walked out. “But I didn’t. I sat there and took it like a good boy.” My mind drifted into nowhere, unable to focus on anything, but thinking about everything all at once. One fact circled around and around through my mind: Black man in America. The no win scenario.

I thought about being a baby, as Lester put it, and go crying to the
EEOC
. “For what?” On paper Brent would be the best choice for the position. He had twenty years of experience compared to my seven. UCLA graduate with a master’s in finance from Stanford. If I pushed the complaint I would lose, and then where would I be? “Broke, out of work, and black balled. I don’t think so.”

I felt disappointed in myself. As a child growing up in Detroit, my father always stressed the fact that a Black man in America has to live by a different set of rules then the rest of the country. He must be as good as his competitors to be considered, and twice as good to be selected. He taught me to stand up for myself and never accept anything from anybody. And most important, to accept discrimination with dignity and honor. However, it must be fought on all levels, wherever it is permitted to exist. My father told me that it is a life-long battle and the victories will be few and far between. “How do I fight this one, Pop?” I wondered.

I was so deep in the zone that I didn’t notice Peggy when she had walked into my office. She hit a runway turn to display her outfit. “Well, how do I look? Tavarus! How do I look?” she said with her power smile in full effect.

“Huh?”

“Earth to, Tavarus. Where are you? How do I look?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. You look outstanding as always, Peggy. I’m sure you’ll knock them dead.”
Not that it will do any good. She could walk in there naked and it wouldn’t matter,
I thought. It was a done deal. “Good luck to you.”

“What’s wrong with you, Tavarus?”

“Nothing. I just have a lot on my mind.”

“Did the interview not go well or what?” Peggy said as she sat down and crossed her legs. Giving me an eyeful of thigh.

“It went very well, as a matter of fact. I was a little apprehensive about an interview by committee, but it flowed. I got into a good rhythm. And the way they kept firing questions, you just start responding.”

“Now you got me scared.” Peggy stood up. “Well, I gotta go. They’re waiting for me.”