They're Not Like Us

Chapter 11 A Couple of Girls at Happy Hour

Walking into the French Quarter Bar on the first floor of the Arlington Towers Mall, Jill is looking for her friend. There she is, Deidra, seated at a table in the corner.

Jill said, "Hey girl, sorry I'm late, have you been here long?

"No, I got your text telling me that you will be delayed, so I went shopping at a couple of shoe stores. I even took time to take my purchases and lock them up in my car. That was a safety precaution, just in case, I am totally wasted when I get up to go home. I wanted to make sure I don't leave my shoes."

Laughing Jill said, "Been there done that."

Deidra said, "Your text said that Kenneth was furious about some properties. Did it have anything to do with Camelot?

"No, these were some warehouses that the buyer had committed to buy them all. Now he wants to take them one at a time. That shifts the risk of him going belly up, from him to us. I told him that we can do that, but if we do, we will consider the damn things still on the market. Meaning if we get a chance to sell one or all of them, we will do it. He hit the sealing and called Kenneth, who agreed with me. So, that's what the day has been like."

Smiling Deidra said, "There have been days that I miss being on a job. I don't think today would be one."

Jill said, "Tell me about it. I completely understand. How have things been going with you? How is Brian?"

"He is out of town. He has been doing some consultant work and training. A friend of his that served on the Navy Seal team with him has started a mercenary business. He recruits and trains soldiers for hire. Sometimes when he has a class of recruits, that need training, he calls Brian to help. Those schools can be anywhere in the world. The length of a trip can vary, sometimes a week and there was one for a month. I saw Brian's airline ticket for this trip, and it was for somewhere in Tanzania, wherever that is."

Jill asked, "Does he like it?"

"Oh hell yes. He loves playing soldier and he has not told me, but I think he likes having extra money in his pocket."

Deidra did not tell Jill, but Brian's payments are off the books, so he pays no taxes. Those payments are also not in his pockets. Per their agreement, all money going into that house goes to pay expenses.

Changing the conversation away from her, Deidra asked, "Are you still seeing that guy that Travels all the time?"

"Yeah, but that's getting a little old. He is never in town long enough to have anything that could pass for a relationship."

"How about Kenneth, are you still letting him visit?"

"Yeah, and that's getting old also. Just the other day, I thought that it has been more than two years since I had a real boyfriend. These two substitutes one that comes around when he is in town and the other that lurks in the shadows waiting for the days he is not in town do not make one whole boyfriend."

They both started to laugh. It was then that the waitress stepped up. They placed their orders. Then went back to laughing. Deidra said something about having a boyfriend not always being a good thing.

Both ladies are having a good time. When they made the date, they knew that they were going to enjoy themselves. They have only known each other for a little over a year, but they have become good friends. The start of their friendship was a bit shaky. Since then, they both have admitted that jealousy was the problem, but they worked through it.

They were still laughing when Jill asked, "What's been going on at Camelot?"

Deidra said, "Well, let's see... the black guy, Marcus Williamson has moved in and everyone has met him. I think that we all can agree that the world did not come to an end.

Last month he threw himself a housewarming party. There were about fifty guests. It looked to be about sixty percent Black and the other forty percent, seem to be equally divided between Whites and Hispanics.

If you are noticing that I have a lot of information, there is a reason. Terri, Annette, and I were on the phone on a conference call, from start to finish. All three of us were watching from different viewpoints. Ooh, it looked like they were having a good time. The music, talking, and laughing was loud, but never offensive. There was not a problem with parked cars on the streets. Brian told me that Marcus had asked your construction company boss for permission to use a portion of their lot for valet parking."

Jill said, "I knew about that, but I had no idea it was Marcus Williamson."

Deidra continued, "That valet parking operation worked as well as a five-star restaurant. The party did not at any time cause a problem. It started quieting down at about ten and it was over at midnight.

At one point I commented that he was being respectful of his neighbors' rights. Terri disagreed and mentioned that she thought he was protecting his friends from us. She said, she thinks that he was concerned about us not being on our best behavior. She also thought that he was afraid that we would be unfair to his friends and embarrass him and ourselves.

We all admitted that she was probably right. We also all admitted that we sure wished that we had been invited to that party"

Jill laughed out loud and said, "Did it look like it was fun?"

"Hell yes, from start to finish, the music was great, the dancing was better. I must admit, I even enjoyed myself just watching it, from across the street."

Shifting gears but still dealing with Marcus Williamson Deidra said, "One thing that everyone, men and women have noticed is the parade of women that goes through that house. They are mostly Black, but there have been Whites and Hispanics, and I saw one Asian. I think she was the cutest one of all of them.

There was one multi-night guest, that stood out. She was Black and very attractive. Only Annette and I saw her. She had been there for two maybe three days. One day, I was having my morning coffee, while I watched TV, and there she was on the screen. She was on the Good Morning Metroplex Show. Before I could dial Annette, she was calling me. The UPS guy was at my door at the same time, so I asked Annette to record it.

The lady's name was Valerie Edwards. I remember her name because I wrote it down. She was an ex-network news reporter that lives in Paris.

Her reason for being on the show, she was in the middle of a cross-country tour promoting a documentary film she produced. The subject is American ex-pats living in France. It is scheduled to air soon.

Jill said, "That's right, the fact that he lived in France was on his credit investigation report."

She continued, "The more I hear about this guy, the more interesting he becomes.

Deidra did not say anything, but to herself she thought, Tell me about it. You don't know the half of it."

Their night moved on and there was more drinking and more laughing. After They had wrapped their night up Deidra remembered buying shoes. There were a couple of seconds of panic then she remembered they were safely stored away in her trunk.