A Man In Full

Wes Jordan assigns Robert a “delicate mission,” his next project after crashing the André Fleet address. Wes wants Robert to tactfully approach Charlie Croker to testify to Fareek’s good character. Wes reveals that he has intel on Charlie that can force his hand. If Charlie is told that PlannersBanc will restructure his debt load in exchange for his endorsement of Fareek, Charlie might just take the deal.

Peepgass invites himself to Martha’s house in the fashionable neighborhood of Buckhead. The mansion, which Martha got in her divorce from Charlie, is huge and beautifully decorated. As Martha meets Peepgass in the living room, he notes that despite being older than him, she is pleasant-looking. Bowled over by Martha’s hospitality and tasteful lifestyle, Peepgass attempts to gain her confidence, telling her about Charlie’s impending bankruptcy. When Peepgass mentions Croker Concourse, the name triggers Martha since it was during the Concourse project that Charlie met Serena.

Reminded of Charlie’s betrayal, Martha tells Peepgass about Croker Concourse’s shady origins. Charlie used a series of clever ploys to obtain the land on which the building was constructed. When Charlie figured out that the next big growth in Atlanta real estate would be in the rural northern counties, he decided to buy 150 acres of cheap land in Cherokee. However, other real estate agents had already bought land in the county and raised prices. Charlie needed a way for the prices to fall. He discovered that Darwell Scruggs, an old racist classmate and a former member of the Ku Klux Klan, lived near Cherokee. He riled up Scruggs against a possible Black-rights march in Cherokee, and at the same time, he nudged André Fleet to hold anti-racism demonstrations in the area. A clash ensued between Scruggs’s men and Black protestors. The event blew up and made the news. Cherokee County gained a reputation for being the den of Klan members, and property prices plummeted.

Mai’s network gets Conrad to a town called Chamblee, outside Atlanta. Conrad’s point of contact is Lum Loc, a Vietnamese man. Lum Loc humorously refers to Chamblee as “Chambodia” and Meadow Lark Terrace, the apartment building he manages, as “Saigon West,” on account of the area’s large Vietnamese and Cambodian populations. Lum Loc puts up Conrad in a room at Meadow Lark and hands Conrad a new ID with the name “Cornelius Alonzo DeCasi” (517). Carrying the remainder of the money Kenny gave him, Conrad heads over to the highway to look for jobs.

Peepgass meets Herb Richman to propose a plan. Once Charlie hands PlannersBanc the deeds to four of his developments, including Croker Concourse, the bank will want to quietly sell off the assets. Peepgass can help facilitate the buy-off to syndicate of willing buyers, including Herb. Herb tells Peepgass he will consider the deal. A few days later, Peepgass goes over to Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas, where his Harvard business school classmate, Harvey Wyndham, runs a brokerage firm called Arthur Wyndham & Sons. Peepgass asks Wyndham to partner with him and broker the deal for the sale of Charlie’s properties. Wyndham agrees to Peepgass’s deal, sensing major wealth in the offing.

Meanwhile, a website breaks the story of Fareek Fanon’s assault of a young white woman. Roger and Fanon’s other lawyers—Don Pickett, who is Black, and Julian Salisbury, who is white—hold a press conference to address the news. Roger dismisses the news story as sensational since no charges have been brought against Fareek. The conference seems to be going well until Roger, hoping to impress a Black journalist in the fray, claims giant tarantulas want to bring down Fareek, a man who has risen from the disadvantaged neighborhood of English Avenue. The press seizes on the tarantula reference and asks Roger if he is referring to a white industrialist. Knowing he has made a faux pas, Roger asks the journalists to forget his remark about tarantulas.

Roger tells his wife, Henrietta, that he is worried about his poor performance at the press conference since the next day’s papers bear headlines like “Lawyer says: Tarantulas Seek Fareek” (546). However, as Roger heads over to work, several Black people compliment him for mentioning racial biases at the press conference. One young man even yells, “Gotcha back,” the same slogan used for André Fleet. Roger feels gratified and realizes that what he considered a debacle is actually a triumph.

Proceeding with Wes’s delicate mission, Roger visits Charlie with the offer of a debt restructuring. At first, Charlie is highly skeptical of Roger’s suggestion. Inwardly, he also worries that agreeing to Roger’s plan will be a betrayal of his friend, Inman. However, when Roger asserts that the reason Wes Jordan wants Charlie on his side is Charlie’s stature in Atlanta, Charlie feels flattered and begins to soften. He agrees to meet Fareek to see if the football star is worth vouching for.

Peepgass takes Martha out for dinner at a fancy restaurant. He tells Martha about the syndicate being formed to buy Charlie’s assets from the bank. Since Martha may stop getting alimony payments after Charlie’s financial collapse, she will need a source of income. It is only fair that Martha joins the syndicate. Martha is not very interested in making money off Charlie, but she is touched by Peepgass’s seeming concern for her well-being. Meanwhile, Peepgass has already decided to marry Martha so they can pool their money together in the syndicate. This way, he can also live in Martha’s beautiful estate and gain access to Atlantan high society. His resolve is strengthened when Jock and Adele Gilchrist, local real estate magnates, stop to say hello to Martha. For her part, Martha is surprised at Adele’s attention since Adele was one of the people who froze Martha out after Martha’s divorce. Martha realizes being seen with a good-looking man has raised her social capital.

Charlie and Fareek’s meeting takes place at the home of Buck McNutter, Georgia Tech’s head football coach. Like Charlie, Buck has a much younger, beautiful wife, whom the men ogle. Buck and Roger try to engineer a conversation between Fareek and Charlie, reminding Fareek that Charlie is the legendary “Sixty-Minute Man” of Georgia-Tech lore (577). Fareek wonders if the descriptor refers to Charlie’s ability to “keep a bitch happy for sixty minutes without stopping” (577). Charlie ignores Fareek’s comment and tells him that the moniker comes from making a straight play for 60 minutes in Division I football.

When Charlie describes his most legendary performance, Fareek asks if there were any Black players on the rival team. Fareek draws attention to the exclusionary history of football, but Charlie feels offended. The conversation goes south. Buck senses Charlie’s impression of Fareek is less than charitable and pulls him aside to tell him that he does not think Fareek committed rape. Buck believes Fareek’s version of the story, which is that the sex between him and Elizabeth was consensual.

Charlie receives a video cassette in the mail, branded like a movie tape. When he plays it, he sees the tape contains a documentary-like presentation on the history of Croker Concourse, complete with a voice-over, sinister music, and graphics. The serious-sounding voiceover tells the story of how Charlie got the land for Croker Concourse for only $200,000, 20 times less than its original value, by engineering a “duet” between André Fleet and Darnell Scruggs. The tape was sent by Harry Zale as a final warning to Charlie to pay his dues. If Charlie does not address the issue soon, the findings of the tape will be made public. Charlie is dismayed and briefly considers dying by suicide. Regretting his life choices and decisions, Charlie decides to call Roger and tell him that he is ready to take his deal.

Meanwhile, Conrad calls up Kenny to find out what’s happening in California. Kenny tells him that police are now actively searching for Conrad, and the FBI even visited Kenny to ask for Conrad’s whereabouts. Conrad tells Kenny he is sorry for endangering him, but Kenny says Conrad is his hero. Kenny hopes to see real life like Conrad did and end up in prison. Conrad chides Kenny that there is nothing cool about Santa Rita, where prisoners are mistreated.

Arthur Lomprey, the head of PlannersBanc, tells Harry Zale to cool off the Croker case for the time being. Peepgass is aghast when he gets the news since it throws his secret plans in disarray. He approaches Lomprey asking him to reconsider, but Lomprey tells him that backing away from Charlie is a “macro-decision” that has to do with the fortunes of PlannersBanc in the long run. Sensing Lomprey’s annoyance, Peepgass has no option but to leave the conversation.

Martha and Peepgass attend a program of the Atlanta Symphony that evening. During the concert, Peepgass’s mind drifts to the hole he is in. He is in debt because of the trouble with Sirja, and now the brokerage plan also seems to be languishing. Martha appears his only hope for the moment—his ticket into a comfortable life. For her part, Martha is aware Peepgass might only want her for her social connections and wealth, but she is ready to accept that reality. Peepgass and Martha hold hands in the dark, looking not at each other but at the violinists.

Roger and Henrietta are at the concert as well. Roger notices many people looking at him and whispers to Henrietta that he is now a recognizable figure because of his defense of Fareek. Henrietta retorts that people are looking at them because they are Black in an overwhelmingly white crowd. Roger knows Henrietta is partly right, but he is too: People do recognize him now.