I was working from home when the doorbell rang. It was Ken, a friend of my oldest son, a guy he'd played basketball with in high school. He was wearing a suit and tie. I wasn't sure what he was doing here. My son had his own place now.
"Hey Ken," I said. "You looking for Brian?"
Ken shook his head. "Came to talk to you, actually."
"OK," I said, and opened the door. He walked right past me like he owned the place, went into the living room, took off his suit coat, tossed it over the couch and sat down in the middle of it. Weird. I sat down in a chair across from him.
"So, what's up?" I asked.
He smiled, but it was a creepy, predatory smile. Ken was part black, had that mocha skin, tall guy, probably six foot six, broad shoulders, narrow hips, shaved his head these days.
"You know what I do these days, right?"
I shrugged. "Something with computers," I said. "Brian always said you were a bit of a tech wizard."
Ken just nodded, didn't say anything. I was getting really uncomfortable.
"Um, look, Ken, I've got work to do, so-"
He cut me off. "How's Sara?"
That threw me. Sara was my mistress, my latest one, anyway. See, I'm pretty good looking for a guy pushing 50. I work out, take care of myself, got a George Clooney vibe I'm told, and I've always had a way with the ladies. And it's not like my wife, Mary, was enough for my sex drive. She always took that Catholic shit too seriously, more so the last several years. She hadn't given me a blow job in better than a decade and she sucked at it then. Now it was the missionary position maybe twice a month if I was lucky.
"Sara?" I said. "Sara who?"
"Sara you fuck her a couple times a week at her place over on View Street Sara," Ken said
I tried to tough it out. "I don't have a clue what you're talking about, Ken."
He shrugged again. "If that's how you want to play it. But see, that computer shit? It's not just work. I love to hack for fun, just pick somebody, get into their system, check out all their secrets. Decided to take a peek at you a couple days ago. That gmail account you keep, the one you use to arrange your fun with your girlfriends? User name is BigRichard, right? Password is King1918?"
I was fucked. If he'd been in that account, then he knew all about Sara. And probably all about the last couple girls, too.
Ken leaned forward, his arms on his knees. "Can't figure the wife'd be too happy about any of that, would she? Especially seeing as she's all like miss Catholic nun these days. Man, what would she think about Cindy? She used to babysit for you guys. She's like what, 20 maybe? Those picture she sent you? Man, and that thing where she's talking about you fucking her up the ass while she's bent over your kitchen table?"
I couldn't think of anything to say. Ken went on.
"But the real problem is what is your father-in-law going to think. He do love his little girl, don't he? And you may be the big-shot president at the company these days, but he still owns it, right? Man, word of this gets out, I'm betting you're divorce and unemployed in about 48 hours. And pretty much broke, too."
Well, I thought, maybe not 48 hours, but yeah. I'd be ruined.
Ken sat back, put his arms along the back of the sofa and smiled that creepy smile again. Time to see what I could do here.
"Well, it looks like you have me in a corner here, Ken. But you're here talking to me, so I'm guessing you want to work something out. I'm guessing you're looking for money."
"Your first guess is right," he said. "Your second guess is wrong. I'm about to close a deal with Google on a new ap. Soon as the lawyers get it papered up, I'm looking at seven figures, and the first one ain't a zero. I don't need your money."
"I don't understand," I said.
"You don't need to. You just need to do what your told. Now strip."
I paused, trying to make sense of that. "What?" I said.
Ken help up his cell phone. "I've got a PDF file with everything I downloaded off your system in my phone. It's attached to an email to your father-in-law that lays everything out for him. All I have to do is hit send. I said strip. Now."
I didn't know where this was going, but I didn't see a way out. I stood up and unbuttoned my shirt, took it off. I stepped out of my shoes, then opened my belt.
"Take that belt off and hand it to me," he said. I did.
I dropped my pants and stood there in just my briefs.
"Strip means naked bitch," Ken said. He'd bent my belt double and was holding it in his hands. I took off my briefs and stood in the middle of my living room totally naked in front of this black guy half my age.