Page 23 of Pride and Protest
“When you’re a billionaire, everything is slumming,” Dorsey said, wearily eyeing Jennifer for a split second.
Liza whistled in her head.Yass, drama.
Jennifer’s eyebrows creased at that. “My family has produced five senators, one president, and three business tycoons in three hundred years in America. They built this country,” she said coolly. “And they did it without owning one slave, without shipping one job overseas, and without an ounce of corruption.”
Her blood was bluer than his, and her privilege went deeper. He was an adopted child of a wealthy family. He did nothing but luck out of some godforsaken Asian peninsula.Yes, you’re obscenely rich, but I’ll always belong here, I’ll always be white, she was telling him. He deserved to be taken down a notch, but Liza wondered how many microaggressions Dorsey had to field from families like this.
Jennifer squeezed Liza’s wrist and smiled. “You really bring out the beast in Dorsey, don’t you, Liza?” It was as if she was realizing just this moment that Dorsey was an asshole. “I guess I don’t need any help getting my blood flowing anymore.”
“You guys are so boring.” David emerged from a dark corner, drunk, with swollen lips and pants in a semi-tent. Liza looked away—that was none of her business.
“I say we play a little game.” Janae, wonder of wonders, was up and not yet pulled into the darkness. Maybe she really was happier. Or the fake champagne had done its job. Her lipstick was completely kissed away, and her bra strap sat high on her shoulder, a sign of overcorrection.
“How about Never Have I Ever?” Jennifer suggested.
“No,” Liza and Dorsey said at the same time again, then looked at each other.
“We don’t know these people, Janae. We maybe shouldn’t tell all of the family secrets just yet,” Liza said with a look to her sister.
“And I have zero tolerance for games,” Dorsey added.
“Gosh. What are we up to now? How many things are we going to add to this list of things Dorsey doesn’t tolerate?” Liza asked.
“DJs,” Dorsey said. His delivery was so dry that she once again did not know if he was joking or serious.
“Okay, let’s play a game,” Liza said, never taking her eyes off Dorsey. “I think hide-and-seek is just the thing to—how did you put it, Jennifer?—get the blood flowing.”
ACTION OVER DELIBERATION
I hope you all are staying safe in this weather. thank you for joining me tonight. It’s so weird to call into my own show, but I am stuck, y’all! We’re gonna play a prerecorded quiet storm session for y’all. I hate that I can’t be live. But you can! Show me your winter cozy poses and make sure you use the hashtag #Bennettblizzard so I can see all of your pics,” Liza said.
An hour later, Liza was huddled underneath a desk, enjoying herself despite the circumstances. Dorsey sat out the game in favor of reading what was no doubt a terribly pretentious book. But Liza thought everyone was having more fun because of it. Even Jennifer had an impish grin on her face as she ran to hide, instantly looking more like her more carefree brother in that moment. Liza struggled to keep her eyes open, because every time they closed, she saw Dorsey’s trembling thumbs over her collarbone. What if Jennifer had not come in when she did? Would she have moved his big shaking hands overher breast? Would he have taken her cues and pushed her against that damn floor-to-ceiling window? She wasn’t against a rough, quick tumble.Liza, he’s not the hot waiter. He’s the rich asshole who is destroying your neighborhood. Focus.She found it strange that she had scarcely thought of WIC this whole time. Normally, when she liked a guy, she would be halfway through their imaginary wedding ceremony by now and constantly thinking of him. But her fear for her sister was foremost in her mind. She was glad she had come to at least intercept the liquor.
Liza saw the redEXITsign aglow and smiled. No one had thought to go to theotherfloors. Before David finished counting, she was out and down the stairs to the eighth floor. They would be forever looking for her. The eighth floor was some kind of tech start-up. The atmosphere was fun and inviting. Cool little cylindrical pods that looked like giant aspirin pills lay at the ready for any hardworking developer who wanted to catch a nap. Liza thought once again that she was in the wrong business. There were no naps in international studies or DJing. And there certainly wasn’t a fully stocked fridge. She found a desk and crawled underneath it and laid her head on the interior file cabinet. The next thing she heard was the door click open. Liza covered her mouth to keep from laughing.Has someone finally found me?
“Everyone’s drunk or sleeping. I thought I’d tell you before you hid here forever.”
Liza jumped at the sound of Dorsey’s voice. She saw those hand-stitched leather shoes stroll toward the desk, and she wanted to save herself the indignity of crawling out from under it. But he squatted down and tilted his head.
“You coming out?” Dorsey said.
“Yes,” she grumbled and crawled out from under the desk.Dorsey took Liza’s hand to help her up, and she slipped out of his grasp as soon as she steadied herself. He stood with a rigid and formal posture next to her.
“Why didn’t you play?” Liza searched for one of her soggy shoes.
“I told you I have no tolerance for games. It’s silly.”
“You sound one hundred and seven.”
Dorsey kicked the missing ballet flat to her from underneath the chair. “I’m an adult. At least thirty.”
“At least?” What kind of a loon didn’t know his age?
“My birth year is a little fuzzy.”
Liza slipped on the shoe. Thankfully they didn’t still squelch when she walked. “I had a friend who was adopted, and she got to choose her own birthday.”
“I did too.” Dorsey pointed to a nearby fancy bagel toaster in the kitchenette.
