Page 13 of Dirty News
It was longer than any class I’d ever had to sit through. And Ashton must’ve thought so too as he groaned, “Eighthours?”
“Only eight hours,” Artimus said, trying to make it sound less horrible than it reallywas.
“Okay, tomorrow I can plan on being bored for the entire day.” I got up once again, ready to go home and drink the remainder of this dayaway.
Artimus wasn’t about to let me take his news poorly. “Duke, I expect all of you to be good sports about this. My goal is to make a difference in this industry, and I will do that. I can be stubborn when I need to be. I warn you; I’ll be holding fast to the decisions I’ve made about thisnetwork.”
“I get it, Artimus.” I didn’t like it, but I did understand that the man had a vision. Whether I agreed with him or not, the network belonged to him, and he aimed to change the world—using us to show people that it could be done. “It’s just not going to be easy, that’sall.”
He smiled at me, amazingly enough. “Nothing great ever is. Don’t you twoagree?”
“Sure,” Ashton said as he got up too. “I’m gonna go home and get a drink, maybe call up some of my old girlfriends to see how things are going with them. If I have a girl already, then I won’t be tempted to break any of yourrules.”
“Great thinking, Ashton.” Artimus seemed to think Ashton was ontosomething.
That had me wondering something. “Arti, you got agirl?”
He shook his head. “No. It’s been a while since I’ve dated anyone. My last relationship ended badly. She left me for one of my business partners, little money grubber that she was. I should’ve been happy she left me, but it all felt unfinished. I wanted closure that she wouldn’t giveme.”
Artimus wasn’t an old man. Maybe forty, if that. It made me wonder just how well he’d fare under his own rules about no messing around in the workplace. “So, you think you can keep yourself in check with all the pretty ladies who’ll be around,boss?”
“I’m taking the classes too, Duke. I don’t think I’ve got anymore willpower than anyone else.” He shook his head, looking serious. “This is very important to me. You see, I’ve got three younger sisters. Two are actresses. The stories they’ve told me made me sick to my stomach. Men who had power over them telling them they had to do certain things to get the parts they wanted. My youngest sister was only nineteen when a man we’ve all seen on the national news told her he needed someone to help him take his mind off his demanding job. He’d make it worth her while if she’d stop by his office around nine each night, before he had to go home to hiswife.”
I had to interject, “I hope she told himno.”
Artimus nodded. “Oh, she did. And then he told her if she liked her job—at a company he wasn’t even associated with, I might add—then she’d do what he askedher.”
Still, I knew she had the right to say no. How could he get her fired? She didn’t even work directly for him, after all. “I still hope she saidno.”
“She said no and she left his office. An office she’d only been called to because of what he wanted from her, she later found out.” Artimus looked down, his eyes dropping. “She found a text on her phone the next morning before heading to work. Her supervisor told her that her services would no longer berequired.”
“But how did he manage that?” Confusion riddled Ashton’svoice.
“He knew people. People who would take him at his word, whatever word he used to have her fired. People who have power know how much they have, and they know how to use it to their advantage.” Artimus looked grim. “I just want to make a difference. And you should want thattoo.”
Well, there was no arguing with that, wasthere?
ChapterSeven
Lila
The next morning saw the entire staff of WOLF, including the owner and his assistant, gathering in a lecture hall on the NYU campus. Professor Higgins, an anthropologist, was there to talk to us about sexualharassment.
Before the lecture began, we were all briefed by Mrs. Baker as to how we’d be conducting ourselves while working for WOLF. She began by telling us that there would be a strict no-dating policy between WOLF staff members. And that meant not even the smallest of relationships, not even a one-night hook up. No romance, no flirting, no physical contact that wasn’tnecessary.
I sat five rows behind Duke in the auditorium-style lecture hall. Nina sat next to me. We’d all been given pens and pads of paper to take notes. There wouldn’t be a test, but we were encouraged to write down things we didn’t knowbefore.
Professor Higgins started the lecture. “Good morning, WOLF staff members. Mr. Wolfe has asked me to advise you all on sexual harassment, what it means, how it works, how it demeans a person or persons, and how to avoidit.”
To say I was bored just didn’t cut it. I knew what it was. And I knew how to curtail it. I’d been in college, a place where young men weren’t quite men yet. I’d met a lot of men that hadn’t quite gotten past their boyish phase, most not capable of not sexually harassing females. And I knew how to let them know, in no uncertain terms, when I was interested and when I wasn’t. And if I wasn’t, they’d better watch what they said to me, and God forbid any one of them actually touchme.
Dad and my older brother, Lonnie, had been sure to teach my sister and me how to defend ourselves if necessary. She and I had both gone off to colleges in other parts of the U.S., far from our home, and Dad wanted us to know how to take care ofourselves.
Our mother had made sure we knew how to cook, clean, and tend to ourselves if we found ourselves sick. Dad had made sure we knew how to be firm with the opposite sex, and how to stop unwanted advances if we weren’trespected.
A knee to the crotch, an elbow to the ribs, and a well-placed headbutt were all it would take, Dad had told my twin and me. And Lonnie had allowed us to practice on him, always the devoted bigbrother.
The professor droned on, “The EEOC, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, defines sexual harassment as verbal or physical sexual harassment, unwanted sexual advances, and requests for sexual favors. Now, Mr. Wolfe has informed me that no type of sexual advances will be allowed at his place of business—whether unwanted or consensual. This means that you all must refrain from things like flirting, openly looking a person over.” He stopped and smiled. “Ah, but you all are in an industry where some of you will have to be looked over, now aren’t you? Of course, if your hair, makeup, and wardrobe people look you over, that’s different. Unless they make you feel uncomfortable by leering at you with lust-filledexpressions.”
