Black Buck(68)

“Hi,” I said, clearing my throat. “This is Buck Vender calling from Sumwun, is Bernie there?”

“Sorry, where did you say you were calling from?”

“Sumwun. I’ve exchanged emails with Bernie for a while now and wanted to catch him before the day started.”

After a pause, she said, “Okay, one second.”

Eddie walked through the doors, confused. “Buck, hey,” he said, placing a hand on my shoulder. I shrugged it off.

“I’m sorry about everything with your mom, but you have to come into the meeting. Rhett’s about to flip and Clyde’s going to come in here and it’s just going to be bad. You know everyone’s on edge.”

I didn’t look at him. I just clutched the phone tighter. “Sorry, honey, but Bernie said he’s never exchanged any emails with you and he’s a busy man, so maybe send him another and he’ll respond if interested.”

“Wait.”

“Thank you.” Click.

I found Stefan Rusk’s number. It went straight to his secretary’s voice mail.

Eddie sighed. “Alright, Buck,” he said, and walked off the floor.

I clicked the button for Barry Dee’s office. The phone rang.

Clyde and Rhett flung the frosted doors open and stormed toward me. “What the fuck are you doing?” Clyde shouted, nostrils flaring, looking like an animal ready to attack.

“C’mon,” Rhett said, ending the call. “Everyone’s waiting, Buck. I know you’ve been through a lot, but if you’re going to be here, you need to be here.”

Without looking at them, I dialed Barry Dee’s office again. When Clyde reached over to end the call, I smacked his hand away, and said, “If either of you touch that phone, I’m going to send you to the hospital.”

“I’m calling the cops, Rhett. He’s having a mental breakdown and is liable to do anything,” Clyde said, as he charged out the doors.

The phone kept ringing. Rhett leaned closer. “Don’t do this, Buck. I can’t save you if you don’t get in Qur’an now. The board’s done with us and I’m going to be canned at the end of the week. Don’t do this. Not now.”

Someone picked up. “Hello, Barry Dee’s office, this is Tracy speaking.”

“Hi, Tracy, this is Buck Vender calling from Sumwun. Barry in?”

Rhett shifted behind me, staring at my monitor. “Why’re you calling Barry Dee?”

“Yes, he is, Buck, but he’s incredibly busy. Can I take a message?”

People poured through the doors, surrounding my desk. Clyde smiled, shouting, “This is what happens when you think you’re bigger than the company! Cops will be here any second now.”

“No,” I said into the phone. “No message. But can you please grab him and let him know Buck Vender from Sumwun is on the line? I have incredibly important information for him that he’s going to want to hear, Tracy. Trust me. If he doesn’t take five minutes to talk with me right now, he’s going to regret it.”

“Um,” she said, sounding afraid. “Is . . . is Barry in trouble?”

“No, but we need to speak. Now.”

“Okay, hold on.” Classical music filled my ear and I turned to see the crowd of salespeople staring at me with mixed expressions: some looked around, confused; others had fear in their eyes and were biting their nails; a few dialed into my line to listen, signaling for others to do the same.

“Just hang up, Buck. Please,” Frodo said across from me. “Whatever you’re doing isn’t worth it.”

But it was. At that point, I had nothing else to lose. The company was going down. Ma was dead. Everyone I knew in Bed-Stuy hated me. And even my soldiers at Starbucks couldn’t face me.

“What do you want, Mr. Vender?” an energetic, raspy voice said on the other end.

“Is this Barry Dee?” All of the salespeople’s eyes widened, and everyone who wasn’t already listening on my line jumped to their phones. Even Rhett had a phone pressed to his ear.

“It’s not fucking Willy Wonka,” he said. “So you have five seconds to tell me why I have to talk to you right now at this moment.”

“Well, Barry, like I said, it’s Buck Vender calling from Sumwun and—”

“Hold up,” he said, laughing. “Vender? The kid who was on Rise and Shine, America? And the company with the, uh, what is it? The therapy that fucking kills people? Yeah, that’s it. Why the hell are you calling me?”

“Yeah,” I said, “that’s me. And I’m calling to make a deal with you, Barry.”

“And why would I want to make a deal with you, Buck? I have hundreds of people trying to sell me shit every day. So why the fuck would I want to work with you and a company that no one from here to San Francisco wants to touch with a ten-foot pole? You all have startup syphilis. And no one, no matter how hot a girl once was, wants to get syphilis.”

I took a breath. There was no turning back now. “What did you think when you saw me on Rise and Shine, America, Barry?”

“I thought your CEO was smart enough to use someone like you as a human shield and that you were pretty smooth.”

“And why do you think I’m calling you?”

“Because you have no other options and need someone to rehabilitate your image. But I’m getting real fucking tired of playing twenty questions with you, Buck. You better start saying something that keeps me on the line or I’m gone.”