Read Online Was it Good for You Too? by Naleighna Kai - Free Book Online

she snapped. “You don’t want them here because they’re Black?”
    â€œI can say one thing,” the round man who looked the most like something from outer space said from behind the manager. “Nothing’s wrong with her hearing.”
    Tailan had suffered the indignity that came along with being mixed raced most of her life. These loathsome creatures were nothing new to her, but it wasn’t just about her. Besides the four males, she had a bus full of women, professional women—mostly professional anyway—to worry about.
    She scanned the store and noticed some alarming issues. One—there were a couple of men fiddling with shotguns like they intended to purchase them. But the weapons department was in the back of the store, not in the women’s section where the men were casually standing. Two—the two snot rags standing behind the manager were wearing the store’s security uniforms. They were in on this! From the looks of it, they were frothing at the mouth to start some mess.
    Delvin came to her side, and the tension around her spiked to new levels. Delvin’s presence propelled all three men to take a cautious step back. Time moved like molasses as she sensed Delvin doing the same thing she just had—sizing up the situation. Seconds later, his speaking glance let her know that he’d reached the same conclusion she had. “How can I help, Ms. Song?”
    God bless him. The man could play it cold and direct like nobody’s business. “Get the authors back on the bus,” she said so only he could hear. “Now!”
    Delvin pivoted, aiming in the direction of the autographing area. Tailan gripped his arm to hold him still for a moment. “But don’t alarm them. Nice and easy—but quick .”
    He gave her hand a tight squeeze and seconds later, he was at Michelle’s and Derek’s side, relaying the information. Next, he told Karyn, Terry, and Elona, and soon everyone went into full retreat mode.
    Tailan cut her eyes back to the men in front of her. They were celebrating their victory with handshakes and back slaps. She wanted to knee every one of them in the rubber parts. But that was only a temporary fix to her problem. This store alone brought in more book sales than five combined, and it was where they’d done their heaviest promotion. She sized them up, never revealing a single flicker of emotion on her face. Did they really think she was going to take this lying down?
    Dummies!
    â€œFellas,” Tailan drew their attention back to her with a perfect brilliant smile. “Now that I know how y’all do things ‘round here ,” she lifted her phone, propped her hand on her hips and declared, “how about I return the favor and show you how we do things where I’m from.”
    Tailan snapped around and walked away. Over her shoulder she announced in her best southern drawl, “This ain’t over boys.”
    She put the phone to her ear as though she was making a call. When she was out of range, she quickly saved the recording of her conversation with the manager and his posse and forwarded it. Next she flipped through her directory, found the number to the local radio station, and hit the send button.
    Three minutes later she was connected directly to the host during the commercial break. “Damaris, I need you to get someone from your sister station—the television arm. Get them down to the Woodland in Fort Wayne right away. And if you have any pull with one of your competitors, get them in on it too. We’ve got a serious story brewing here, and I need all the coverage we can get.”
    â€œCool,” Damaris replied. “Robin’s near that area, and I’m on my way. I’ll call Ron Spoon. He’s been trying to take me out to dinner since we left college. I’ll owe him one, and you’ll owe me one.”
    â€œDone! Make it happen, Captain!”
    Fifteen