The woman stepped back her entire body extended out and away
from Johnny as if she just learned he had a horrible infectious disease. She
then turned suddenly around hurrying into the house and back again so fast that
Johnny never stopped staring out towards her direction while Rooskie hung over
him. When she returned she had a baggie with lumps of brown in it and threw it
at him hitting Johnny in the groin as she lashed out at him furiously now “ What did I tell you?! You never ever look to me for anything! I do my part I get my cut you
do your part you get your cut period! I got this from one of my religious
suckers and god only knows what it is so I can spare you
that. Now get the hell out of here and go take care of what you need to or you
won’t be feeling hunger ever again.” Johnny rummaged the bag open barely
hearing the woman as he lapped up the brown lumps that were small brownies.
They went down easily the sugars releasing from their baked tombs where
staleness had taken over. As he popped the last one in he felt Rooskie’s foot
hit his thigh like he was kicking a grungy dog out back out into the street. He
looked up at the woman and her hand was up with her beautiful finger pointed to
the street. Johnny rose up slowly the
sugar giving him back some energy and began walking towards the street again
not sure where to head. The woman and Rooskie went into the house before he even
hit the curb.
The street was quiet except for birds whose early morning
song could be heard before the noise of the city began again. Johnny walked
towards the boulevard deciding that he would try to beg for some money to eat
this time. He needed to get his strength up to go after the DJ and make that
plan work so he could have money again. He knew Tara left but knew that he
could still crash there because the landlord would have to evict him. But
without Tara paying for everything he knew he couldn’t stay long and that he
needed to find someone else now to take care of him. Even if the DJ paid
quickly with the next act he was going to play on him he wanted to spend that
money on himself for luxuries not for necessities as for Johnny he would always
make that someone else’s job. Arriving at Hollywood Blvd he headed towards the
eateries to find his hand out wondering how hard it would be. Tourists were
starting to meander about and Johnny made a quick $20.00 begging and another
$50.00 lifting the wallet of one the people who gave him a few dollars that Johnny
looked at as sympathetic suckers. Having enough for more than one meal for the
day, he quit begging and ordered a feast of more than he could eat. He sat down
to eat it joyfully as he looked forward to squeezing the DJ and getting
thousands at one time again into his hands. People walked back and forth the
streets getting more crowded as noontime approached. Soon Johnny’s belly was full
so he threw all the uneaten food from his feast into the trash and set out towards
the radio station studio. He felt very ready to cash in on this one and with
his new found energy he knew he could make this work.
As he entered the studio doors Johnny could feel that he
belonged here. This was his destiny and this was the first step. Johnny imagined himself a rock star walking
in with his entourage as the receptionist began making calls after Johnny told
her why he was there; to make his sexual assault complaint against Brian the
DJ. Johnny made sure to keep his face
serious and his posture weak like he thought a real victim would act and he was
certain he was doing it perfectly. After
a few minutes a woman came out in a tailored grey business suit her hair pulled
back and as she walked she had her arm extended to Johnny instead of swinging
with each step. Johnny stretched his hand out meekly barely gripping her hand.
She introduced herself as Ms. Becky Adams and told Johnny she was the head of human
resources at the radio station and she would take Johnny’s complaint. Johnny followed Becky through the back door as
people sitting around in the office bowels of the station stared at Johnny as
they walked by. Johnny kept his posture weak staying the role to make the plan
work. Becky turned into one of the large
offices that lined the cubicle pool that filled the center. She motioned her hand for Johnny to sit in
the chair as she took her place behind her desk. Becky questioned Johnny for a
few minutes about his complaint about Brian and Johnny enjoyed the way she
seemed to be lapping it up hook line and sinker. He was careful not to show
this though as he continued to play his role wishing he could make a tear for
an even better effect. Becky picked up
the phone and began dialing before politely informing Johnny that she would be
doing so to follow up on his issue. Her politeness made her attractive to
Johnny and he began thinking about whether she could be his new provider. He knew he did not look his best at the
moment but as he thought this he followed through with a glance at her hand for
a wedding ring. He was pleased when he found none.
As Johnny had these thoughts Becky made the call she needed
to take this to the next step and end this quickly or take it as far away from
her hands and decision making as possible. She liked her position and didn’t
want anything to rock the boat especially handling a sexual case against one of
the stations DJs. She took her job seriously and wanted to do the right thing
in every situation she faced. She had this position for the past year and so
far corporate had agreed with all of her assessments and there were no real
problems. Becky called Brian to ask him about his version of his meeting with
Johnny so she could make quick decision that could put an end to this. She knew
what protocol was and this was part of it. Brian was willing to come down and talk
to her and she was thrilled. She thought Brian was sexy and handsome but didn’t
think he would ever go for someone as corporate as she was. When he walked into
the room she felt herself hold her breath for a second.
He stopped at the door way of her office and didn’t step in.
He placed his hands on each side of the door and she could see his muscular
figure pushing its way out of his shirt. He pushed his head through alone and
looked to his right. At that second his entire demeanor changed so quickly
Becky was thrown off her poise. “What the fuck is this degenerate doing here?
This cocksucker tried to claim I wanted him sexually which is a totally
disgusting thought first of all and second of all I’m not into fellas FELLA! You little motherfucker you think
you are going to do something to me? Fuck you asshole!” Brian was pumped and
angry and suddenly Becky wanted to quit her job as she stood frozen behind her
desk not wanting to get in the way of Brian’s rage. What seemed like only
seconds later security guards wrestled with Brian to stop him from pulverizing
Johnny with his bare fists.
As they dragged Brian out Becky felt her eyes well
up as she watched with dismay feeling badly that this time she had made the
wrong decision and now Brian was gone because of it. She knew enough of the
corporate positions here to know that even in metal rock you get fired if you
get physically violent to the degree Brian did at the office. As she hung her head once the vision of Brian
being dragged away disappeared she looked over at Johnny and noticed he was
smirking. He began to speak clearly unaffected by what had just occurred by
fear “Of course the station will be taking care of my needs now that I have
been accosted by the very man who accosted me before sexually! My demand to
settle this peacefully is $50,000, you fire the DJ Brian for discrimination and
sexual assault and you play my music on your station for 6 months at least! Do
that and we won’t have any more problems from these events but if you don’t pay
I will make sure that I take Brian down and this WHOLE RADIO STATION DOWN!” Becky realized
that she had a bigger problem on her hands than the human resource department
handles and called up to legal. Before long but what felt like forever to Becky, two attorneys from the legal
department came into her office looking like they had the same day as Becky thus far and she wondered about that as they took Johnny away with them.
Becky was relieved but sad. The day had started so well and how it would end she
never could have guessed. She lamented that whatever little chance she could have had with Brian
was well over now as she got back to work to create the very report that would bring Brian's job to an end.
