Chapter 4
A scoff exited Gary’s mouth as he shook his head while staring at Norman.
One thousand pills of oxycodone were missing, and these two were the only ones in the lab late last night.
Gary and Norman had been the best employees for over eight years.
These two were the leads on the lines and had always made sure things ran smoothly in my absence.
How one thousand pills went unaccounted for was beyond me.
I waited for him to tell his side of the story because I was a millisecond from slamming his face into this table.
I tried to give these men grace being that they had proven themselves in those eight years.
I was also working on my temper so that I wouldn’t hurt anyone.
We were about to see if the effort was pointless.
“Mr. Crawford, I can assure you that it has to be a mistake. I wouldn’t dare risk my job when I’m making more than what a regular nine-to-five worker is making. I wouldn’t do that. This company pays me too well to ever overstep in that manner,” Norman assured.
“And I left before Norman because I had an emergency and had to get home.”
I closed my eyes and thought of an island—a place where there was peace and tranquility.
Once I knew my nerves were calm and that I could speak without crashing out, I opened my eyes and nodded at them.
“Go on home for the day. Until this matter is resolved, you both are on temporary suspension—without pay.”
“Mr. Craw?—”
“We’re done here. Please exit my office.”
They both stared at me, then stood from the table, leaving out the door.
I leaned back in my chair and looked out at the rising sun.
It was eight in the morning, and already I was feeling like the day was too long.
I really didn’t want to fire Norman and Gary, but if those pills weren’t accounted for by the end of the week, both of their asses were getting the fuck out of here.
I didn’t do liars or thieves. If they could steal, they could lie, and they both went hand in hand to me.
The tap on my door pulled me from my thoughts as I spun around to see my assistant, Chase, standing in the doorway. She sauntered inside, placing my coffee mug on my desk along with the files I asked for.
“Grand rising, Mr. Crawford.”
“’Sup, Chase?”
“Another glorious morning. Mr. Saunders called. He wanted me to let you know that he’s interested in the property on Chatham Street?—”
“I’m not over the real estate anymore. Call him and let him know that Moses will be his point person from now on.”
“I did, but he’s requesting that you be the one to show him the property.”
I shook my head and sighed. “Fine. What else?”
“Your son’s mother is on line two, and your father and brothers are waiting for you in the conference room.”
“Is that all?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Thank you, Chase.”
“No problem.” She left my office as I picked up the office phone, answering the line.
“What is it?”
“Good morning to you too,” Jalea said in a sass.
“I have a busy morning, Jalea. What do you want?”
“I need you to pick MJ up from school today.”
“You know I can’t do that. What will you be doing that you can’t go get my son?”
“Since you’re not trying to help my sister, I have to help her find somewhere to lay her head. They had to sleep in her van last night, Si.”
My anger was starting to rise again after trying to keep calm. It was way too early for people to be pissing me off.
“Jalea... if my son is not picked up at 3:05 p.m., I’m going to personally stop whatever I’m doing to come to wherever you are and knock ya head between dumb and common sense.”
“You are the worst human being on the planet. I don’t even know why or how I deal with you. It’s called co-parenting. If I can’t pick him up, then that’s what you’re there for! My sister needs me, too, Messiah.”
“Again, when the clock strikes 3:05 p.m., and my son has not been picked up, I’m going to personally see to it that you will be catching the fucking bus from now on.”
“Fuck you, Si!” She hung up.
I shook my head, placed the phone back on the receiver, grabbed my coffee, and then left my office to head to the meeting.
When I walked inside the conference room, Papi, Mo, Mike, and three other people I didn’t recognize sat at the grandiose table.
There was a breakfast buffet against the far left of the room, and I headed toward it.
I didn’t realize how hungry I was until the smell hit my senses.
“Good morning, son,” my father greeted first.
“Good morning, Papi. Brothers…” I nodded to them.
“’Sup, bro,” Mo replied.
I placed my toast in the toaster and turned toward them.
“Messiah, this is Corina Evans, Houston Little, and Ester Lumas. They are the realtors at Crawford Realty,” my father introduced. I looked at Corina as she shifted in her seat uncomfortably.
“Nice to meet you all. Messiah Crawford.” I walked over to them, shaking their hands. “Papi, you can start. I’m listening,” I urged, going back to the buffet table to fix my food.
“Okay. As you all know, Oliver is no longer with us. While I was grooming him to take over as CEO at the company, his unfortunate demise has now set us back. Since I don’t feel like grooming yet another person to take his position, I will ask each of you to tell me why you would be a good candidate to run the company. ”
Houston spoke up first as I sat down at the other end of the table. He explained how he’d sold over ten thousand homes and never fumbled a sale. Ester said the same thing, except she’d only sold around six thousand homes. Corina sat up in her chair, once again, shifting uncomfortably.
“Do you have to use the restroom?” I asked her.
“N-no, sir. It’s my knees. I fell on them pretty hard yesterday.”
“Mm. Continue.”
“Well, while I’ve been in real estate for only four years, I have sold over twenty-five thousand low-income homes and over five hundred multimillion-dollar homes in the city. My ability to sell my clients their dream home is why I feel that the position as CEO should go to me.
“I used to shadow Oliver, so I’m much more hands-on than my other colleagues.
I know what will sell, and what will not.
Not to take away what they have done for the company, but I can assure you that I’m much more fluent in this field than they are.
My résumé and numbers speak for themselves—even with their time in the company. ”
I stared at her, trying to figure out what it was about her that was rubbing me the wrong way. She seemed genuine. The fact that she’d only been in real estate for four years and sold almost thirty thousand homes was impressive. However, something just didn’t seem right with her.
“Being a CEO is a huge position to fill. What sets you apart from Ester and Houston, aside from how many houses you’ve sold?” Papi questioned. I could tell the others weren’t too happy about what she’d said.
“I have the degrees and the aptitude to make executive decisions. And again, I know what will sell at a certain price and what won’t.
I have been watching everyone closely. Out of the four years I’ve known them, I’ve made more deals than Houston and Ester put together.
I’m not trying to shade you, Huey and Ester, but let’s be honest…
Do you or Ester feel as if you could oversee twenty-five employees, set strategic directions, and make critical financial decisions? ”
“Are you insinuating that we’re incompetent?” Ester asked, appalled.
“No. I’m just saying, as Oliver’s right hand, I feel as if I have more of an upper hand here.”
“Okay. I’ve heard everyone’s statement. I will make my decision sometime this afternoon. Meeting adjourned,” Papi announced.
Everyone stood while it took baby girl almost five minutes to get up from her seat.
“Must have been some nasty fall,” I commented, watching her.
“Yeah... I can be clumsy at times.” She chuckled lightly, grabbed her rolling walker, and left the room.
“She may have the credentials, but her crippled ass can’t sell no houses walking like she’s auditioning for The Walking Dead ,” I stressed just as the door closed.
“That ass is on Houston, Texas, though. I’d make her ass walk straight,” Mo jested. Papi gave him a stern look. “My bad.”
Papi shook his head. “Maybe if you stopped thinking with your little head, you’d get some damn work done around here. Focus, Moses.”
“A’ight, dang. I was only complimenting the lady.”
“What do you all think?” Papi asked.
“I guess ol’ girl is the best candidate. Her sales record is impressive, and aside from her crip walk, I think she could run the day-to-day operations. The other two didn’t even speak up when she was throwing all that shade,” I voiced.
“I agree,” Mike inserted.
“Me too,” Moses followed up.
“All right… then it’s settled. Let Maddie know to call her this afternoon to deliver the news.” Papi was about to stand, but I stopped him.
“Hold up, Papi. We have a problem.”
He frowned as he sat back down. “What’s that?”
“One thousand oxies are unaccounted for. Gary and Norman were in charge of the lab last night. I placed them on temporary suspension until we get to the bottom of this. I also told you that we need to get those cameras fixed in there, and Henry has yet to come through,” I told him.
“Oh, I took the pills,” Mike said.
I frowned. “For what? You know if you take anything out of the inventory, you have to log it in,” I told him.
“I forgot… Was rushing because Trevor ran out. My bad,” Mike replied.
“You know better than that, Michael. It’s already over thirty employees in the lab. We can’t afford to make those types of mistakes. We also need to have those cameras back working,” Papi interjected.
“I know. It won’t happen again.”
I shook my head as I finished off my breakfast sandwich. “You niggas stay being reckless. Gary and Norman was about to get fired for nothing.”
“It ain’t that deep, nigga. I told you I took them, so what’s the issue?”
“Ain’t shit,” I dismissed as I stood and headed for the door.