Page 48 of The Aries Alliance
I reached into my leather bag and pulled out a notepad and pen, taking extra time to uncap the pen as I processed Skip’s word.
“Fix how?”
“He hugged a couple of women athletes. It was a misunderstanding, of course.” His eyes shot around the room and then back to me for validation.
“Of course,” Elbert echoed.
I sighed despite myself. What kind of bull was he about to ask me to do?
“What Skip is saying is that we need it to go away.”
Whoa.Elbert’s nervous chuckle turned my stomach.
I clasped my hands on the shiny oak table and kept my lips tight until I had the correct words to say.
“This isn’t a human resources issue. You should contact the Title Nine office since the incident with Will involves possible abuse of students.”
“How is workplace miscommunication abuse?” Skip stared at me like his words made sense.
“EFU’s first priority should be to protect its students. More than one has come forward, so the complaints need to move to the compliance office. I’m happy to facilitate that conversation.”
“Don’t you have a law degree?” Skip’s nostrils flared.
“I do, but as I said, Title Nine isn’t my jurisdiction. Those rules are in place to protect all of us.” I made a wide circle with my finger, indicating I referred to the three of us.
Skip huffed and flicked his wrist.
“Rules, smules. You’re the one who can get this job done. What do they call you?” Skip turned to Elbert and snapped at him repeatedly.
“The Enforcer,” Elbert said in a flat tone, his eyes never leaving mine.
I gulped, hating that nickname. I’d always been a rules guy, but to hear that come from the mouths of people who didn’t care about equity confirmed that I had crossed a line in my job. No wonder I had such a horrible reputation among Black people at EFU. I really was their enemy. Before I could process that more, the president continued.
“Do what you can so it doesn’t get out of hand. I trust you.” He showed me all of his canines, turning my stomach again.
I wrote down a couple of notes, then lowered my pen to the table. I was ready to leave.
“Is that all?”
“No . . .” he said.
I raised my eyebrows and observed the men as they looked at each other.
“Since you’re the only one familiar with Black issues on our executive team, I want to ask you for a personal favor.”
How many favors did this man expect me to do?
“What’s that, sir?” I bit the inside of my cheek as I focused on the large black mole on Skip’s chin.
“There’s a woman, a Dr. Scarlett Kane.” He looked down at the piece of paper before him. “Yes, Scarlett Kane.”
“What about her?”
The pitch of my voice rose.
“She keeps coming up on our radar, questioning legal counsel, compliance, and people in charge about how we do business. She’s quite the pest.”
“There’s no law against questioning processes,” I said, my voice cool and calm again.
