Page 33 of Memphis

“I thought you wanted to be a cop or something.”

“I did; maybe I still do. Never said I’d be at this job forever.”

Silence from Daddy. Sniffles from Lilith. A hung head from Umber. I moved to hug them, too, but my daddy held onto me, softly saying, “You be careful. You might be mean, but you ain’t invincible.”

I chuckled. “I will, Daddy. You be careful, too…with Aunt Pauline.”

My daddy actually blushed. I was happy he had her around to make him feel better.

My sisters left their seats, and soon, all four of us were locked in a tearful hug. I mean,Ididn’t cry, but they did.

Six monthsinto this new life and I’d already earned fifty thousand dollars from one assignment, an easy one at that. I didn’t even have to leave the state, and it helped that the target was this grimy loan shark guy who abused his wife. He had so many enemies, the police would never figure out who shot him in his office late that night. I was in and out in minutes. No witnesses. No evidence left behind. I was really good at this.

So, I was truly taken aback when I answered the door to my relatively new home to find my boss standing there dressed in khakis and a white button-down shirt, brown rimmed glasses, neatly trimmed hair and beard. He was older than me by a few years, but not by that much. I could tell because he had this maturity about him that told me he’d seen and experienced more than I had at that point.

“You gonna let me in, Miss King?” he asked, his voice vibrating in my ears. His energy enveloped me, making me acutely aware of any vulnerabilities I may have possessed even though I couldn’t name them. The way he looked at me, the way he smelled? It all made me feel so weak.

I hated it.

“Why are you here?” was how I chose to respond, my eyes glued to his.

He smiled. “This feels a lot like déjà vu, you know?”

Nothing from me.

“You think it would be good to discuss business in your doorway?” he asked.

He did have a point, so I reluctantly let him in, offering him a seat on my couch. I settled on the opposite end of it from him.

“You know, Miss King—” he began, but I cut him off.

“My name is Memphis. Call me Memphis,” I said.

“I like King,” he replied.

“Well, thank you, but Miss King sounds like an old woman. I’m not an old woman.”

“Oh, I know that.”

Rolling my eyes, I repeated, “Why are you here?”

Turning his body to face mine, he said, “I’m your boss. You’re supposed to be nice to me.”

“Thisisme being nice.”

“Okay, King…just wanted to congratulate you on a job well done. That was a clean extermination.”

I nodded. “Yeah, it was.”

His laughter was so loud and boisterous that I nearly joined in. “I really like you—the attitude and all. Hell, I might be in love.”

I frowned, adjusting my posture to mirror his. “What kind of boss are you? This has got to be illegal, you flirting with an employee.”

He flashed another smile which induced another twitch between my thighs. “King, this whole company is built on illegality.”

He did have a point…again.

Scanning the living room, he shared, “Looks good in here. I like what you’ve done with the place.”

---