heard of him. Davis McClinton.â
âWho hasnât heard of him? I mean, that brotha is the big dog. I heard he might be the first black billionaire. Is that true?â
âPossibly,â I said, feeling very small that I had lied about my plans to Basil. I just didnât want to spend the evening watching him fawn over some beautiful playmate of a woman.
âMaybe we can get together for breakfast or lunch. It might be hard for you to meet Talley because sheâll be in nursery school,â Basil said.
âIs she a teacher?â
âA teacher?â Basil asked with a deep laugh.
âDid I say something funny?â I asked.
âWho do you think Talley is?â
âYour new lady,â I said.
âTrue, but itâs not what you think,â Basil said.
âWho is she?â
There was a brief pause and then Basil said proudly, âTalley is my daughter. Ray, Iâm a daddy.â
âWhat? When did this happen? The last time I spoke with you, the biggest thing in your life was telling your father the truth about you. Now youâre a father? I canât believe this,â I said.
âItâs a long story, but I canât tell you how happy I am, Ray. Talley is just beautiful. Sheâs changed my life.â
âSounds like it. Whoâs the mother?â I asked. I hadnât read anything in the entertainment magazine about Basilâs ex, Yancey, having a baby. Besides, she knew the real deal about Basil, and I didnât know a lot of women who would knowingly take a chance with a man who slept with both sexes, unless you were Michelle Adams, Trentâs babyâs mama.
âRosa. Remember the flight attendant I used to hang with? Itâs a long story, and I canât wait to sit down and tell you.â
âAre you still hanging with her?â
âNo, not like that, but weâre cool. Trying our best to be great parents to our daughter,â Basil said. I couldnât believe how mature and serious he sounded. Maybe this parenting thing was more powerful than I could have ever imagined.
âLet me give you my number. Iâve got to run, but I canât wait to meet your little girl,â I said.
âDo that,â Basil said.
I gave Basil my office numbers and suggested that we get together soon. I didnât know if I was looking forward to seeing him, but I knew it was something I had to do.
9
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I tapped gently on Raymondâs office door and I heard a voice say, âCome in.â
When I walked into his office, I smelled the strong scent of food, like somebody had been slaving over an oven or grill.
âZola, glad you could make it. I hope you like ribs,â Raymond said.
âI do,â I said as I looked to my left and noticed a table with a red and white tablecloth covered with a wooden picnic basket. There was a bottle of red wine standing beside the basket with two wine glasses. I hoped my new boss wasnât trying to get me drunk in the middle of the day and try and have his way with me. I would hate to have to sue him for sexual harassment during his first month.
âGreat. I thought instead of going to a noisy restaurant we could have lunch here in my office. I want us to have a chance to get to know one another,â Raymond said as he pulled out a chair. Hmmm, I thought to myself, I like this. Raymond was a gentleman, unlike that fool Seth Matthews, who held the position of CEO before he went wacko and was quickly escorted out of the building.
âThank you.â I smiled as I took my seat. âWhateverâs in that basket smells good,â I said.
âI hope so. I ordered ribs from a place around the corner called Virgilâs. Bristol said they have great food, although Iâm sure their ribs arenât as good as the ones we cook down in Alabama,â Raymond said.
âSo, youâre a Southern boy. I should have known,â I said, wondering if
Dori Hillestad Butler, Jeremy Tugeau, Dan Crisp