DUBIOUS by Tina Brooks McKinney

back if you have mine. If I’m in court and you’ve caught up on the work, feel free to use my office to complete your studies. I not trying to hold anyone down. As long as the work gets done, I’m happy.”
    “ Then it sounds as if we are on the same page. I’m a hard worker and take pride in my work. As long as I feel like I can talk to you, we will work out fine. So if you don’t require anything further from me, I’ll go back to my desk and try to untangle the mess I inherited.”
    “ Cool. Thanks, Talisa. And please call me Felicia, we are partners.”
    “ Alright, Felicia, let’s do this.”
    Talisa left the room, and I finally felt like I had a partner in the firm. As the only black partner, I knew they were waiting to get the skinny on me, so I never let my hair down. Until my divorce, they never had any ammunition. My job now was to do damage control. I knew Talisa would help me control this uncomfortable situation and rise above it, and I would reward her for her efforts.

 
     
     
     
    CHAPTER 12
     

Randy
     
    I was lying on the sofa, surfing TV channels when my boy Kelvin came home from work. I watched him out the corner of my eye, trying to gauge his mood. I’d been staying with him ever since I’d left Felicia, and I knew I was wearing out my welcome real fast.
    He only had a one-bedroom apartment so his living room had become my room. My stuff was stacked neatly in the corner. I tried to keep it out of his way because if he put me out, I truly wouldn’t have anywhere to go. My mother was deceased, and I’d never known my father. I didn’t have any sisters or brothers, either.
    “ What’s up?” I said.
    “ Everything is everything.”
    I chuckled. It was obvious he had been listening to The Michael Baisden Show on the radio again during his drive home. That was Michael’s trademark. Most callers used it when they called into the show.
    Kelvin was sorting through the mail, which I had forgot to collect. Mentally I kicked myself. I tried to make myself as useful as possible. But truth be told, beyond cleaning up after myself, I was useless. I didn’t know how to cook, and I drew the line at washing another man’s drawers. I couldn’t even wash my own clothes without messing them up. I had to throw away three of my best shirts because I’d bleached them by accident.
    “ Yo, dawg, you been sitting on the couch all day?” his tone was light.
    Honestly, I didn’t know how to answer the question. Do I tell him the truth or lie? “I went out for a minute. Had some errands to run.”
    He came into the living room and sat on the coffee table. My heart skipped a beat. I knew we were about to have the conversation that would change my living arrangements.
    “ Oh yeah? Find a job yet?”
    Damn, he didn’t pull any punches. “Uh, not yet, but I’m looking, though.”
    “ Look, dawg, you know you’re my boy and everything, but you are going to have to step up your game. I ain’t trying to keep a grown-ass man no matter how tight we are. You feel me?”
    “ Yeah, I feel ya. I really appreciate your taking me in and all, and I’m not trying to outstay my welcome. I just need a little more time to find me something.”
    “ What do you want to do?” his voice was coated with frustration.
    “ Honestly?”
    “ Yeah.”
    “ I miss my dog business.”
    “ I hear ya, but you can’t operate one in within two hundred miles of your ex’s.”
    “ Don’t remind me.”
    “ Do you have a backup plan?”
    Shit, I didn’t want to admit that I didn’t. In fact, I could not force those words out my mouth even if I wanted to. Sadly, I shook my head no.
    “ Have you considered sitting for your accountant’s test?”
    “ Naw, man, I don’t want to be no pencil-pushing, number-crunching nerd.”
    “ Well, do you have any other skills? What type of jobs are you applying for?” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.
    His face was so close to mine we could have kissed with very