Page 11 of Lost Little Boy
I’d seen the man at corporate functions and had no doubt he was an ass-kisser, but he kept the customers coming back, which was all my old man cared about. I knew neither my father, nor my sister, would believe me if I told them what I’d heard Jenkins say.
“Jenkins, take your kids and leave.” I was about ten seconds away from bashing that motherfucker in the mouth.
Daphne Cruz stepped forward. “Mr. Jenkins, I’m afraid I’ll have to alert Human Resources that you’re accusing a member of the Grassley Industries’ staff of accosting your children. I’ll also have to inform them of your track record of picking up your children late with the smell of alcohol on your breath when you finally show up.
“Until the head of HR decides whether your children are still eligible to attend the center, I can’t have Bertie and Bennie here.” Daphne stepped over to the door and opened it. “Please leave, Mr. Jenkins.”
The asshole looked at me. “She’s discriminating against me and my boys because they’re on the autism spectrum. That janitor tried to take advantage of them. I’m filing charges with the police.”
I stared at the asshole. “Go ahead, but how will you pay your legal bills when you’re out of a job, and Mr. Castlesues you for harassment and anything else I can think of? Tread very carefully, Jenkins. Your job is on the line, but you go ahead and file any charges you want. I’m going to encourage Mr. Castle to contact Human Resources himself to file a workplace harassment suit against you. Don’t show up here tomorrow. You’re on administrative leave until you hear from HR.”
Jenkins stared at me for a moment before he laughed. “You can’t do shit to me. Your sister loves me, and your father thinks I’m a genius. I’m not in your division,Wexler. Good luck getting me fired.”
Breaking his fucking jaw was my first instinct, but I knew that would only look bad for me. “Call the police,” I said as I turned to Daphne.
“Police? Yeah, Miss Cruz, call the police. Let’s get this shit show off the ground.”
“Gentlemen, please let’s not escalate the situation. It’s best to handle it through Human Resources, don’t you agree, Mr. Grassley?” Miss Cruz turned to me and lifted an eyebrow.
Odds were, she was right. “Yes, Miss Cruz. Good idea.” I turned to Jenkins. “Take your kids and leave. HR will be in touch.”
He herded his kids out of the center, and I turned to Miss Cruz. “Thanks, Miss Cruz. I’ll take it from here, but expect a call from HR.”
She nodded, and I hurried out of the center to see if I could catch Perry. I didn’t see him at the bus stop in front of the building, nor was he walking down the sidewalk toward the Metro Station. I rushed to the stairs and charged up to my office to call the switchboard.
“Grassley Industries. How may I direct your call?”
“Hi, Pearl. It’s Wex Grassley. Can you get me the home address for Perry Castle?” I hoped the desperation in my voice didn’t come through. I didn’t want to be the topic of tomorrow’s watercooler discussions.
“Why?”
“Because, Pearl, it seems as if my father has been harboring a homophobic asshole, and Richard Jenkins confronted an innocent young man this evening, threatening him. I’m trying to keep the company from being implicated in a hostile work environment situation. I need to talk to Perry Castle.”
Her fingers tapped the keyboard before she gave me the address. “Thank you, Pearl. I appreciate it.”
A few minutes later, I put the address into the car GPS and followed the directions the mechanical voice spouted. When I arrived at Kinwood Run Apartments, in SouthArlington, I looked around. It wasn’t very fancy, but it didn’t seem to be too shoddy.
After wandering around for a few minutes, I found the right building and pressed the buzzer next to the correct apartment number. “Yeah?”
It was a female voice. Did I hit the right buzzer?
I glanced at my phone again to see if I was at the right address. “Hi. I’m looking for Perry Castle.”
“Perry—for you.”
An instant later, I heard Perry’s soft, timid voice. “Hello?”
“Perry, it’s me, Wex. Can I come up and talk to you?” I didn’t want to scare him, but my tone was tense. I needed to relax or he’d run for the hills, and I didn’t want that.
“Uh, I’ll come down. Gimme a second.” The intercom beeped to signal the call was over.
I leaned against the banister on the stoop and scanned the neighborhood. There was a playground in the center of a four-building grouping, and there were about five kids playing.
Watching them swing, go down the slide, and climb the monkey bars reminded me of how happy Perry had looked as he was making those clay flowers with the Jenkins twins. His smile was genuine when the boys and he were counting. Did he have any desire to work in education or withchildren? If he did, I would have to ensure Richard Jenkins’ accusations got no traction at all.
The door opened, catching my attention. When Perry walked out, his hair wet, I had to fight the urge to hug him. “You took off on me. I wanted to take you to dinner to talk about the camp.”
“It’s a stupid idea, sir. I’m sorry I bothered you, but I’m sorrier that I caused a problem in the workplace. I can look for another job, Mr. Grassley. I’ll submit my resignation in the morning.”
