When I got to Al’s office he was waiting for me. Standing in the hallway outside of his office talking to Ben. As soon as they saw me, Ben walked away. “Come on in, Zack, have a seat.”
“I’ll be right there, Al. Just give me a minute to get my notes.”
“That won’t be necessary, Zack. Just come on in and close the door,” Al said, and now I was worried.
Meetings with Al never begin unless you have all your account notes. Al hates it when you answer any of his questions with the words “I don’t know.”
Always, always be prepared when you walk into a meeting. I knew something wasn’t right. I sat down and looked at Al; he was flipping through some papers. After a minute or two, he dropped the papers on the desk. “Shit,” he said and looked at me. “Tell me about your trip to Bandexx, Zack. How did they receive you?”
“I thought they were very receptive to the proposal, they didn’t ask many questions, but I got the feeling that they were interested. You saw my presentation, Al. I don’t know why—.”
Al held up his hand to stop me. “That’s not what I’m asking you, Zack. I’m sure the presentation went fine. What I want to know, Zack, is how they received you. Unfortunately, I think you know where I’m going with this.”
“Unfortunately, I do.”
“I talked to Dean Cabot this afternoon. He said that his board simply wasn’t impressed with your presentation.”
“That’s bullshit, Al, and you know it!”
“I know that, Zack. I know your presentations are always excellent.” Al got up from behind his desk and stared out the window. “I knew that something was wrong when he said that they were still interested in doing business with us.”
“What!”
“Yeah,” Al said, turning to face me. “Dean said that they would welcome the opportunity to listen to our presentation again. Perhaps I could send another salesman that would be more to the boards liking.”
“Don’t send any more niggers out her
e, Al, and we can do business.”
Al smiled and laughed a little. “He didn’t come right out and say that, but that was the point I got from it.”
“I don’t believe this.”
“I’m sorry, Zack—sorry that things like this still go on. I hate to do this to you, Zack, but I’m turning the account over to Ben. I’m sending him out there in the morning. You’ll still get the commission for the sale if it goes through, plus a percentage of the future sales. Turn all your Bandexx materials over to me and we’ll brief Ben on it.”
“Yes, sir.” I stood up and stared at Al for a second or two, then I started for the door. I was beaten, all the way around, I was beaten. “You’ll have the materials and my resignation before I leave today.” And closed the door behind me.
I sat in my office, separating what was mine from what was theirs. What was worth keeping and what I was trashing. I typed up my resignation and was about to call Angelique and break the news to her, when Ben appeared at the door. “Mind if I come in?”
“Not at all, Ben, come on in. The Bandexx materials are over there on the desk,” I said, without looking at him.
“Zack, I wanna say something to you. It’s probably gonna sound like a credit to your race speech, but I’m gonna go with it anyway,” Ben said and he sat down. “When you started working here nobody thought you would last a week. Hell, we even started a pool on how long you’d last.”
I looked up and smiled. “How long did you think I’d last, Ben?”
“Seven months, twenty-three days.”
“Sorry to disappoint you.”
“Don’t be. All you did was come in here and out work and out hustle, every swinging dick in there. Earned everyone’s respect.”
“Who won?”
“Al. The day he hired you, he told me that one day you would give me a run for my money. And I’ll be damned if you didn’t. He saw something in you none of the rest of us saw. I didn’t think you would. I couldn’t see past your color. And I’m ashamed of myself for that.” Ben stood up and extended his hand. “I respect what you’re doing here. But I wish you would reconsider, Zack. Be a shame to lose you because of some peoples ignorance.”
I stood up and shook Ben’s hand. “You’re right, Ben: It did sound like a credit to your race speech,” I said with a smile. “But I appreciate you saying it. I learned a lot from you and Al. And honestly, knowing that I earned your respect means a lot to me. But it’s time to move on. I couldn’t respect myself if I stayed.”
Chapter Twenty