Page 59 of Meet Me in the Garden

They rise, and I go to the kitchen. I fill three glasses with ice and pour the last of the tea into them for Adele and Claire and me, set the empty pitcher in the sink. A thousand records, in the trash. When I turn to go, my reflection is clear and sharp across the shiny floor.

TWENTY

IREQUEST A MEETINGWITHMike on Monday. He has a corner office, bigger than Al’s and Bernard’s. I’ve only been here for brief performance reviews, have never before initiated a meeting, and he eyes me across the table, plainly curious.

“Thank you for making the time to meet with me, Mr. Harrison. I promise not to take up too much of it.”

“Sure, Odette. What’s on your mind?”

I sit straighter, look him in the eye. “I wanted to ask you how the Finishing Department is doing overall. As supervisor, it’s important to me to know.”

He studies me through his glasses. “Naturally. It’s doing well. Very well. One of my strongest departments.”

“Good,” I say. “I thought so. It’s just that I’ve heard that the Listening Department has made a few mistakes. That batch of ruined Johnnie Ray records… such a shame.”

“Yes,” he says. “That was a sorry situation to say the least.”

I lean forward in the chair. From the other side of the desk, he leans in, too. “Us girls in Finishing. We’re very efficient, you know. And detail oriented.”

“True.”

“If a few of us were to move over to Listening, we could do good work there. The girls who stay in Finishing could train some new hires easily—and I suspect that having just a few of us girls in the booths, really giving it our all—could make quite a difference.”

Mike taps his pen against his notepad. “I’ll keep it in mind.”

He calls me into his office two days later, tells his secretary to close his door, gestures for me to take a seat at his desk. Tells me that the job is mine.

I don’t believe it at first. Too easy, too fast. But he goes over the specifics and it’s true. The raise: five dollars more per week. The transition: I’ll choose two girls to bring over to Listening with me and he’ll promote Janine to Finishing supervisor. The need for discretion: It was Ed who signed off on the faulty master, leading to disaster, and he’s now being transferred to the plant in Connecticut. “It’s a shame, but there’s no way to restore confidence after a mistake of that magnitude,” Mike says. “I’m sure I don’t need to impress upon you how significant of a position it is to work in Listening.”

“I understand very well,” I say. “And I assure you I will give it my all.”

“I know you will, Odette. I know you will. And now I have a little surprise.” He presses a button on his desk.

His secretary’s voice: “Yes, Mr. Harrison?”

“Okay, Kimmy, send them in.”

The door opens, and Al and Bernard appear, Al with roses and Bernard with a box of chocolates.

“This is so nice,” I say as they hug me. “It’stoonice.”

“Claire’s fixing her gumbo to celebrate,” Bernard says.

“How long have you all known?”

“Since yesterday,” Al says. “Almost killed us to keep the secret.”

Mike leans back in his chair and smiles. “Look at you three. I have to say, I feel a sense of pride—in Columbia Records for investing in people from all walks of life, colored people and foreigners, knowing that a good work ethic is a good work ethic no matter who it is that’s working. I saw talent in you, Al, and knew you could help us makesense of processes that we’d been struggling with. And Bernard, your strength of character, your loyalty, are unparalleled in this company as far as I can see. And Odette—quick to learn, smart as a whip. And strategic. I see that. You dress as neat as a secretary but think the way a man thinks. You keep track of what’s what. I’ve had to fight a few fights for each of you. Some people aren’t ready for colored managers yet, or a female in Listening. But I could not have more faith in the three of you.”

Next to me, almost imperceptibly, Al stiffens.

But Bernard smiles, extends his hand. “Thank you, Mr. Harrison,” he says. “That means the world, really.”

When we get to Bernard’s house, Claire and Adele and Sebastian and the five children in their matching school uniforms are waiting out front for us. They see us pull up and they wave and Nathalie and Clément rush to me in the car, opening the back door and climbing in, showering me with hugs and kisses.

“We’re so proud of you, Mommy,” Nathalie says. “The first Listening girl!” She’s been calling meMommyfor months now, but it still feels fragile and precious.

“Wait till you see the banner!” Clément says. “Come on, come on.” And where they were just pushing me farther into the car, now they’re dragging me out of it, each of them with one of my hands so I fear I might fall flat on the curb.