Part 5 (1/2)
”All right then, you don't have to tell me. All the people making the big money don't want the little folks to know how much it is, like they're ashamed of their big salaries 'cause they know we aren't making nothing.”
”Well, how much do you make, Caleb? If you don't mind me asking.”
”No. I don't mind you asking.” Caleb paused for a moment, feeling a bit ashamed of himself. ”I don't make anything. I don't have a job. I'm out here looking, that's why I got the schoolboy getup on.” He reached in his pants pocket and pulled the tie out a bit so Benning could see.
”And how is it going?”
”It ain't. It's tight, man. I been all through this paper, and ain't nothing in here for me to do.” He tossed the paper to the seat next to his.
”And what is it you do?”
”d.a.m.n, you ask a lot of questions.”
”If I'm prying, just ask me to stop.” He placed his briefcase to his side and crossed his legs.
”Yeah, well, I do the basic stuff, you know, hands work. Lifting boxes, was.h.i.+ng dishes. Stuff like that.” Caleb looked away.
”So do you think-”
”What do you do?” Caleb interrupted, taking the spotlight off himself.
”I'm a manager and partial owner of a large computer software supplier downtown. Main Frame Software, you heard of it?”
”Yeah, I think so.” Never hearing the name before in his life. ”So what you doing on this side of town? You a bit far from the Gold Coast, don't you think?”
”I'm visiting a friend, she's sick.”
”Don't you have a car, making all the money you do?”
”Yes, I do, making all the money I do.” He smiled. ”It's in the shop getting the window replaced. Someone broke into it.”
”Mercedes, Lexus, BMW, something like that, right?” Caleb asked.
”Something like that.”
”Well, if you keep coming around places like this, it's going to stay in the shop. You don't belong out here, you think?” Caleb asked.
Benning looked out the window at what was pa.s.sing outside.
”Why don't I?”
”Cause you . . . you know. You rich. You got all that. These people out here, we don't have nothing. You never know, man. They might try and knock you over the head. If I were you, I'd be scared.”
”Why, are you scared?”
”Naw, h.e.l.l no,” Caleb said. ”I ain't scared. Besides, I don't have nothing. I'm referring to you.” He pointed a finger.
”Well, I'm sorry to say, but I disagree. I don't think that a man should fear places that his own people live in just because he has nice things. Besides you make it appear as though everyone here, or individuals without money, are bad people and can't be trusted.”
”Well, I almost want to say that's right,” Caleb said.
”I don't think you're a bad person, Caleb Harris. Are you?” He looked intently in Caleb's eyes.
Caleb looked back, then smiled and laughed a little. ”Very funny, I see your point, but I'm just telling you, you should watch your back, that's all. I'm just looking out for an old guy,” Caleb said, joking. ”You know, you're out of your element. It's rough around here.”
”I'm not as old as you think, but thanks for the gesture.” Benning stood, grabbed his briefcase, then looked out the window. ”Well, this is my stop. Interesting conversation. I wish we had more time to continue it.”
”Yeah, me too,” Caleb said, nodding his head.
”I tell you what.” Benning reached into his jacket pocket, took out a tiny leather folder, and pulled out a little white card. ”This is my business card. If you would really like to continue this conversation, give me a call and we can meet somewhere for lunch or something.”
Caleb took the card, looked it over. ” 'Main Frame Software, Joseph Benning, Dept. Manager.' Yeah, okay, I'll do that.”
”Good.” Benning extended his hand and Caleb shook it vigorously.
”Good-bye, Mr. Harris.” Benning walked toward the front of the bus, but stopped. ”Oh, yeah, and the remark you made about me being out of my element-I'm not. This is where I grew up.” He smiled at the look on Caleb's face and stepped off the bus.
He grew up here? Caleb thought. He's lying. He's making too much money to come from this. It couldn't be. He looked down at the card again. He held it with both hands, almost caressing it. Department manager grew up in the projects, that's something. Caleb felt good that he had met someone that had actually made it out of the wretched place, that is if the old guy was telling the truth. He was a cool old guy, and he had a lot to say. Caleb was genuinely sorry that they couldn't keep talking. He could have learned a lot from the man, or at least found out how much money he made. But he had already decided that he would call him. He would call him and they would do lunch. He really didn't have much else to do during the day. Caleb Harris and this important, rich, money-making old dude that grew up in the projects would talk.
Caleb felt good about himself, felt proud, as though he had accomplished a great deal. He wanted to tell someone, but he didn't feel like going back home. He wanted to celebrate, get a forty-ounce bottle of beer or something. He got off the bus, stepped into the liquor store, and grabbed a bottle of beer. Miller High Life, his favorite. He paid for it with loose change, then set off to find a couple of his friends. He knew they'd be hanging out on a nice day like this, because they had no jobs, either.
He took off down the street, carrying the bottle of beer, small paper bag covering it halfway, exposing the neck. It was almost two o'clock and the sun was getting warmer. It was pretty bright and it seemed to improve the looks of everything. Even the streets of the projects didn't look that bad. The abandoned cars, the bits of trash that grew along the curbs as if they were flowers that belonged there, the areas of hard-packed gray dirt where gra.s.s used to grow. Nothing looked as bad as it did on glum, dull days when the sun wasn't out. When Caleb saw his friend Blue sitting on a park bench with a couple of other guys, he said loudly, ”Hey, man, what's up with your black a.s.s?” They called him Blue because he was so black-so black that he was blue.
Blue looked at him weirdly, as if he had never seen Caleb happy. ”What's up with you? Finally win the Lotto or something?” He had a bottle of beer himself. He was sitting on the backrest of the bench, his feet planted on the seat. He reached down and grabbed the forty-ounce bottle from between his legs.
Caleb had known Blue since they were kids, the better part of his life, and like Caleb's, Blue's life seemed to be moving in every direction but the correct one. Blue's father hadn't cut out on him, but he was gunned down on his way home from work one day. Wrong place wrong time. So Blue knew what it was like to grow up without a father, and that was one reason the two of them were so tight. Whatever it was they were missing by not having fathers around, they found in each other, and Caleb could no longer count how many times they had saved each other's a.s.ses from sticky situations. Blue had always been there for him, just like a brother, even when Caleb's real brothers weren't.
”What you doing all spiffed up, looking like you coming from church?” Blue said, taking a swig from the bottle of beer. The remark provoked a chuckle from the two other guys, one standing and one sitting.
”Been looking for a job, man. Had to,” Caleb said, slapping Blue's hand.
”Sonya been riding that a.s.s again, huh?” He did his Sonya impression, raising the sound of his voice. ”You better get your a.s.s out there and find you a nine to five, or don't think about bringing your b.u.t.t back in this house!” He took another swig from his bottle, this time a longer one. Caleb could see the tight little ball in his neck go up and down as the beer slid down his throat. Blue pulled the bottle away and smiled, the gold tooth in the front of his mouth reflecting sunlight.
”Naw, it ain't nothing like that. I got responsibilities, that's all,” Caleb said.
”Well, did you get one? You find a job?”
”Naw, but I met this dude. Real cool dude. Grew up in the projects, got this software company, and make big cash. We talked on the bus. He got a lot to say, and I'm going to listen. I'm going to get a job from him, just listen to what I'm saying.”
”Yeah, all right, that's cool,” Blue said, with little enthusiasm.
”I'm for real. Look at this.” Caleb reached in his pocket and pulled out the card. He held it in front of Blue's face, not allowing him to grab it.
”Let me hold it,” Blue said.
”Naw, you going to get it dirty, bend it all up, just look.”