Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 81488 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 407(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 272(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81488 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 407(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 272(@300wpm)
“You told me that your grandfather, my son of a bitch father, has the goods on you. Your journal. He obtained it illegally, but that’s beside the point. The law turns a blind eye to my daddy. They always have. They always will.
Police may let him get away with murder but we, his ostracized sons and grandsons, do not. I have something I have always kept as a sort of ‘get out of jail free card.’ What I mean is: I have something from your grandfather that could shut him down. I always figured that if he came after me, or tried to threaten me into doing some shit, I could use this to make him back off. It’s a silver bullet for a wolf. If nothing else, it could buy you some time. At least for a little while. You need help. The police won’t help you. Most of the cops are crooked around those parts, and accept bribes, but there are a few good guys left, like Officer Newton and Lieutenant Marshall.
They always treated me fairly, even when I was out shooting my gun and behaving in a disorderly way. Anyway, I hid it inside of there when y’all was just babies. My father don’t play fair. You need something to even the scales. I am not going to put in this letter what it is, but I will tell you where to find it.
The back bedroom, under the floorboard towards the closet. I’ll be more specific later. You cannot tell your mama what you’re doing. Not because I care about her knowing, but because of that husband of hers. My daddy may have bought him too, for all I know. Whatever you do, don’t try to get the item while her husband is home, in a house that I bought. FUCK HIM. I don’t know the man like that—and he may squeal and fuck everything up. I don’t trust him. He was a crooked bail bondsman, and now he’s a crooked jail house officer. That bastard stole my wife. I hope he rots in hell.
“He ain’t steal your mama. They was already divorced.” Phoenix chuckled. “Uncle Reeves is somethin’.”
“I know. He still loves her though.”
Phoenix twirled his cigarette around between his fingers, two of them caked in dirt from a car he said he’d been working on earlier that evening. I thought he’d stopped smoking.
“I can understand that… Lettin’ a good woman go is something not everyone can just get over,” he stated solemnly, then tapped ashes onto the asphalt. “Is that all to the letter?”
“There’s a bit more.”
Just be discreet about it. Don’t tell your brothers, either. When you get the item, I want you to review it and then call me when time permits. Obviously I won’t be able to respond back to you. I just want you to tell me if you found it or not. I love you. One day I hope to talk to you again soon. I took my voice for granted. I used it to curse out people, hurt my children and my wife with verbal cruelty. Now, I just want the chance to tell my boys that I love them again and not have them only read it in an email.
Love,
Daddy
Roman folded the letter and placed it back inside his jacket pocket. Phoenix tossed the butt of the cigarette down and stomped it with his black boot.
“So, I imagine that you’re reading me this confidential letter because you need my help in some fashion?”
“Yup, that and I missed you, and I know you can keep a secret. You’ve never betrayed me.”
“And I won’t ever betray you. Listen to me. My advice is to do exactly what your father says. No deviations. You say Grandpa has your journal?” He shrugged. “Well, you definitely need some leverage. He’s playin’ dirty, so you gotta get filthy.”
Roman nodded in agreement. “I spoke with Kage and Lennox, knocked around some things. Garnered some ideas. Now, I’m speakin’ to you. I have a plan. Just giving it the final touches. Depending on what this is that my father is talking about, I may have to revamp that plan accordingly.”
“You’d better. Never go against him without thinking it through, and having a back-up in case something goes wrong. That’s how I was able to quit working for him fairly unscathed. I worked it out well in advance. Now he wants me back, unfortunately, and I have to go through this shit all over again—only this time, it’s ten times worse because he has a point to prove.”
“Everything is a magic trick or an illusion when it comes to our grandfather. Appearances. How things look… What’s seen with the naked eye. I might need you to be an extra set of eyes and ears during the final curtain call, too, Phoenix. You worked directly with him at one point, and I need some more answers.”