By appearance, one wouldn’t have guessed that I was the owner of the company. I was dressed casually in a white tee, Amiri track shorts, and a fresh pair of Uptowns. I looked more like a patron than owner. Which likely was the reason why they didn’t seem fazed by my presence.
“I’m not sure if I’m speaking a foreign language or if your comprehension skills are just lacking,” the woman berated Brandi, “but what I’m telling you is this was an illegal tow. And if you don’t get me my fuckin’ car, we’re gonna have a problem.”
Brandi stood from her ergonomic chair she forced me to buy for comfort and brought her face to the Plexi glass, speaking directly into the intercom. “Actually, your English is very clear, but if it’s anyone lacking in the area of comprehension, that would be you, love. And because I’m aware of how fucked up the public school system was growing up, I’ll explain what I’ve already explained to you over the phone once more. Your vehicle was towed for nonpayment. In order to release it, Sullivan Towing needs proof ofactiveinsurance. Once you have that, you pay for the tow. It’s that simple. But thatproblemyoumentioned we’re going to have, you can take that up with the problem solver behind you. He’s the owner.”
Both of their heads whipped in my direction.
“You’re the owner?” the guy asked skeptically.
“I am.”
“Well, good,” the woman interjected, stepping over to me. “We need to speak to someone in position because this bi…”
“Whoa,” I cut her off with a wave of my hand and could see Brandi start to move as if she were about to come out front. I held my hand up for her to stay put. “You might wanna chill on the disrespect because that’s not gonna get you nowhere here. This is a place of business, and if you can’t conduct yourself in a respectful manner, getting your car back will be the least of your worries.”
“You threatening us?” the guy asked with his chest puffed out, not knowing that I would cave that shit in.
“Nah.” I stepped forward. “I’m letting y’all know what it is.”
While I ran a legit business with A1 customer service, this shit could get different at any time with me. It was the sole reason I kept my interactions with disgruntled customers to a minimum. But Brandi’s text let me know that she’d reached her limit, and it was my job as owner to shut shit down. This wasn’t Tremont Towing. I didn’t mind knocking a nigga out and handling the mess later.
“We just wanna get our car and get this shit over with.” His tone was even, letting me know he had some sense.
“And we’ll be glad to hand it over to you once we get what we need from the insurance company. Get that settled, pay for the tow, and we all can go about our day with no further issue.”
“Aight, man. I’ll call ‘em now.”
“Cool. Y’all can handle that outside. We gotta clear out the negative energy y’all just brought up in here.”
They looked at each other then back to me. Neither one argued, just walked out mad as fuck.
“Buzz me in,” I said to Brandi. Walking around back, I entered the office where she stood.
“It’s a good thing you came when you did because had that bitch word flew around here again, you would’ve been down your best employee.”
“And you know I couldn’t have that.” I gave her a half hug.
While I was the owner, it was Brandi who kept my business running smoothly and me out of civil suits. She had the patience I lacked to deal with people. The guys both loved and respected her despite her being a female in a predominantly male field. They knew Brandi ran a tight ship, but at the end of the day, she was fair. The hands-on approach she took to everything with Sullivan Towing was the reason I paid her well. And putting up with me as a boss was a bonus. So I heard.
“Where’s Clarke?” I asked, wondering why the new dispatcher we’d hired recently wasn’t present.
It was her idea to hire someone to solely man the dispatch station so that she could handle the customers at the window and the influx of calls we got throughout the day. If it helped things run more efficiently, I was cool. And so far, it had.
“Called out. He said he had a fever and felt like he was coming down with something. By the way, he was coughing on the phone. I was more than happy to excuse his call out. Won’t be pulling up here to give a bitch Coveisha.”
I chuckled. “The hell is Coveisha?”
“Oh, Covid. I gave it an ugly name because it’s a fucked-up sickness.”
“Makes sense. How you refer to yourself as a bitch but just was about to take that lady head off for calling you a bitch?”
She put her hand on her hip and nodded. “Precisely. Unless you’re one of my girls, a nigga putting me through the mattress, or THAT precedes the word, then you betta tread lightly.”
Her logic made sense to me, so I didn’t question it further. “Heard you. You need any help around here today?”
“Ummm, it hasn’t been too busy today. There is some paperwork I need to get to, so if you could manage dispatch, that would be cool.”
“Got you.” I checked the board for assigned routes and got to work.
