When Walls have Ears

I was not supposed to hear them, but I did. I was not trying to be there, but I was.

It was a Friday; quiet, calm and slow. I was caught up on training, supply issues, and most things in general so I took a walk to stretch and get the blood flow back in order.

I was the presence they felt but never saw. Not always anyway. If I wanted them to see me, they would. If not, then they did not.

The outside was clear, cool and empty. Machinery hummed along, unbothered by everything and the cameras watched silently, tracking my every move. All normal things really.

Back inside, I found myself at the far end of the building, the “West End” we called it. That was where it was a little more chaotic, a little more relaxed, what someone would consider “a gentlemen’s club” though calling this lot “gentlemen” was a stretch. Only a couple of them deserved that level of respect.

I crept closer, hearing the hum of a microwave, the door of a refrigerator and raised voices in heated conversation.

“You may as well say it with your whole chest and be done with it.”

“Yeah, we’ve all seen it.”

This was not lunchroom conversation; this was an interrogation.

“You do not understand. I cannot.”

“Hasn’t stopped you before.”

“Its different. Do not ask me how, it just is.”

“You are scared of her, and we all know it. I bet $50 she knows it too and is too nice to say anything.”

I heard a chair scrape against the floor.

“I am not scared of her! In fact, I am going to find her right now and tell her!”

I dove into an empty office and hid in the dark, holding my breath so he would not find me. Fortunately, I had tricks and ran back to my office before he could get there. I dove under the desk to delay him while I collected myself.

“Esther?”

Deliberately, I hit my head on the desk.

“Ouch! Oh hey, what brings you up front?”

“You good?”

“Yeah, I thought I dropped something. Guess not, what do you need?”

He took a long look at me, too long and I saw something I could not name. Certainly not properly.

“I was going to ask you something, but I forgot.”

I waved him off, “No worries, I will be here if you think of it. Or leave me a sticky note if I am not. Text is a possibility as well.”

He thanked me and went back to the outer lands. I crept back to the door and listened.

“So, did you tell her?”

“Not exactly, no.”

“Liar, you chickened out.”

“It wasn’t the right time or place so not appropriate.”

I heard howling laughter and my blood boiled. He was being teased, and I was not fine with this.

“Listen to him… appropriate… that has never stopped you till now, and I’ve been here 10 years.”

“I got 12 and it aint stopped him then either.”

“Man… you do not get it. She is different.”

“A woman is a woman is a woman. They all the same.”

I heard a whistle that I knew to be one of the older folks. He only did that when things started to get out of hand or veering off into questionable legality.

“Easy now, you are about to be out of line talking like that. You also have not had best of luck in that department so maybe let us not talk on something you do not have experience with.”

If that was not the politest “stay in your lane” I have ever heard…

“Now, Bran is right. Some women are different; you cannot treat them all the same. Just like a truck, right?”

I heard reluctant agreement.

“You going to drive his truck the way you drive yours?”

“No sir.’

“So, what makes you think you can treat Esther the same way you treated that one young lady you were seeing? What was her name?”

“Ayla. Her siblings told me if I disrespected her, I may as well dig my own six-foot-deep hole in the ground and save them time.”

“Yet you still acted stupid, didn’t you? Over a ball game?”

I remembered this. He (we called him Jr) had invited his girlfriend over but forgot about a college ball game that was on television that evening. He forgot himself, said dumb things to her in heat of the moment and she called it off. He tried calling her the next day to ask if she was serious, she said she was and hung up on him. We all saw the text.

“When you show me who you are, I am going to believe you and you showed me exactly that. If you get that out of hand during a ball game and justify it as the reason for speaking that way to me, what happens when it is not a ball game?”

I returned to my desk to finish some odds and ends, also known as looking busy.

The end of the day arrived and slowly, folks left. Some left in groups, saying they would meet up later that evening, others left solo but declined to join due to prior commitments. One vehicle stayed, and I had to find out why. Staying late meant permission, a reason, communication.

Quietly, I crept down the halls and found my target in his manager’s office, so I took my place in the empty one next door to listen. Wrong? Yes. Inappropriate and invasive? Yes. Was the motive good? Maybe. Part of me wanted to know whether he was fine or not. The other was pure curiosity.

“John and Brantley are right you know. Esther isn’t like Ayla or Lynnie or that other young lady you were seeing for a couple of weeks.”

“Kate?”

“Was that her name?”

“It was.”

“Right. Look, I get it, you’ve got something you need to sort out but this crew? They don’t have that ability. We’ve all seen it.”

He wasn’t wrong. This lot had all the emotional range of a potato and that was insulting the potato.

I watched as he left the office but headed towards mine and not the parking lot. He had something in his hand as he walked. My phone buzzed, letting me know there was movement at my desk. I opened the app and watched as he appeared in frame and set something down on my notepad where I had been taking notes during a training session.

He left the space, went out the front door and moments later, he was gone.

The something? A river rock worn smooth by the elements. I smiled, set the rock with the rest of the collection and headed home myself.

My phone buzzed again, a text message.

“Hey, sorry to bother you but I just remembered what I wanted to ask you. Could we get lunch sometime next week? Need the advice and alternative perspective.”

Lunch? With me!?

“Sure, let me know what day. I’d be happy to help! Have a good weekend!”

“Thanks, you’re the best. See you Monday!”

Secrets were safe this time.