Any Way the Wind Blows - E. Lynn Harris [79]
I walked to Fiftieth and stopped in at Saks Fifth Avenue, where I quickly spent over three hundred dollars on new scents and various facial products I had only dreamed of being able to use. I left Saks and stopped at Versace, where I didn’t buy anything because even the doorman acted snobby. I moved over to Banana Republic, where I dropped seven hundred dollars in fifteen minutes on sweaters and slacks.
I had the most fun at my last two stops. First, I picked up a beautiful pen and silver cardholder for Wylie from Tiffany’s. My last purchase was three pairs of nylon mesh underwear from Gucci. Never before had my ass been caressed by underwear that cost one hundred and ten dollars, but my ass had earned them.
Before catching a cab uptown, I stopped in an American Express travel office and bought a first-class ticket to Santo Domingo for the following week. I had a feeling I might need to be on the DL when Basil figured out who was responsible for his outing. I saw no reason why I shouldn’t surround myself with gorgeous men while figuring out my next move.
Judgment Day
Kendra buzzed me on the intercom and told me my sister, Campbell, was on the phone.
“Put her through,” I said. I moved the forms I had been studying to the right of the desk and leaned back in my chair, then pressed the speaker button.
“What’s the good word, baby sister?”
“How you doing?”
“Great. What about yourself? How is Austin and my little man Cade?” I asked.
“Everybody is doing good. We miss you, and I must say, we even miss Brooklyn. But I’m getting used to Pittsburgh. I mean, the real estate market out here is really good, and there aren’t a lot of women of color selling high-end real estate,” Campbell said.
“You know you can come back to New York anytime you want to,” I said.
“I plan to visit sometime this summer. Are you sure everything is okay?” Campbell asked with some concern in her voice.
“Yeah, everything is cool. Business is great. Social life is okay. I have no complaints. Why do you ask?” I wondered if Campbell had heard Yancey’s song.
“I was just asking because I got a strange call last night,” Campbell said.
“What kind of call?”
“Some woman, or it could have been a man pretending to be a woman, called and asked if I was your sister. When I asked who was calling, this person just repeated the question. So I hung up the phone. A few minutes later, the same person called back and said, ‘I have some information about Basil Henderson you need to know, especially since you have a young son.’ When I asked again who I was speaking to, they got smart and told me to shut up and just listen. So I hung up again,” Campbell said.
“Did they call back?”
“No, but it was really eerie. When was the last time you spoke with Yancey?”
“Not that long ago. Did it sound like Yancey?”
“Not really. I was just wondering who had a reason to be mad at you, and Yancey was the first person that came to mind,” Campbell said.
“Yancey is too busy with her career to worry about me. I wouldn’t call us friends, but I think we’ve both moved on,” I said.
“That’s good. I just wanted to make sure everything was okay. Last night made me wish I had caller I.D. or something so I could find out who’s playing games with me and my family,” Campbell said.
“Yeah, you need to step into the new century, sis,” I said. Before Campbell could respond, Kendra used the intercom to tell me Daschle was on the phone with an urgent call. I was hoping he had finally agreed to meet with the tutor I’d found.
“I know you’re right. Give Cade a call when you get a chance. He asked about you this morning,” Campbell said.
“I’ll do that this evening. Hey, gotta go, sis. I need to take this call,” I said.
“Okay. I’ve got to get out