Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 97951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 490(@200wpm)___ 392(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 490(@200wpm)___ 392(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
“Silva, listen to me. We’re having this talk, so let’s air it all out. It’s long overdue. I would’ve never said you were weak if you did all of that but we still stayed close. You instead allowed Grandpa to slander my name and lie on me. He turned us against one another, and he used you to do it because you were the most susceptible to his manipulation.”
“Len, not this again. Grandpa didn’t turn me against you.”
“Yes. He. Did. If he had never gotten in your ear, we wouldn’t even be havin’ this conversation right now, and all this time wouldn’t have passed with you ignoring my calls, ignoring me when I stopped by your house to speak to you in person, and then you sending me a long ass, awful text message tellin’ me to basically fuck off and go to hell. Yeah, you share some of the blame because you actually fell for it, but he got the ball rollin’.”
“Nonsense. He opened my eyes, Lennox. He told me what you did!”
“Oh, really? Well, did he tell ya how I told him that he was using and abusing our father to the point that Dad gets piss drunk far too often? Dad’s a functional drunk now! Had to hide his grief over Mama and drown his sorrows in a bottle. Did the old man tell ya how he threatened my life?! Whatever it is that you think I’ve done, Silva, it’s a walk in the park compared to the shit Grandpa has either orchestrated or carried out with his own two hands!”
“Grandpa would never hurt you and you know it! He—”
“Listen to yourself! Think about me, the real me, and who I am! Yes, I was an asshole after Mama died. I own that! But you know my fuckin’ heart, Silva! You know that wasn’t the person I wanted to be, I was going through some things and it became too much. I was too young for that kind of pressure. Some of that pressure came from the old man. He wanted me to be an enforcer. A score settler—to run the revenge show! Do you have any idea what that is and what it would entail?”
“He’d never do that to you! Grandpa is—”
“A MOTHERFUCKIN’ DEMON WHO HATED OUR MOTHER! He’s toxic! You don’t know him! Don’t you remember what Mama said? She said he was dangerous, Silva… Why can’t you believe that?”
“Mama said that, but she was stubborn, like you, and she was paranoid, Len. Do I think Grandpa is perfect and was a great guy to her? Of course not, but I can’t deny how good he’s treated me my entire life! Because of him, I am runnin’ a successful furniture design business. No loan was needed.” He knew that was a little dig at his good news, but he let it go. “He gave me the investment money. Tony has the awesome job he has in real estate because Grandpa pulled some strings. I’m grateful, and there’s nothin’ wrong with that!”
“When Satan gives us a gift that will cost us our sanity and soul, should we be grateful for that, too?” He heard her suck her teeth and imagined her rolling her eyes. “Anyone who gets in Grandpa’s way is bulldozed over. Shot in the head. Tied up and tortured. Set up and sent to prison for a crime they didn’t commit. House burned down to the ground. Do something to piss off old man Wilde? Boom! Kiss your life goodbye. HE. HURTS. PEOPLE!”
“And so did you!”
He swallowed, shut his eyes, and rested his forehead against the closed door. Placing his hand on the smooth wood, he waited for the other shoe to drop.
“He told me about you doing those… those things!” she spat.
“What things?”
“Contract kills!” she whispered. “My brother is a murderer! How dare you sit on a high horse!”
He rolled in the silence, his heart galloping to the point of pain. He stood straight and sighed.
“It’s complicated, Silva.”
“No, it’s quite clear, big brother. You killed people for money. How could you?!” Her tone was rough with angst. “I would expect that from some people in our family, Len, but not you… not you. Grandpa tried to help you out of that mess because I also know Daddy begged Grandpa to help keep you outta prison, and it worked. Grandpa put up the money and advocated for you, and now you betray him by not only talking badly about him, spreading lies and blaming him for all of your problems, but you didn’t even give him a chance! All he wanted you to do was help with his security company.”
He burst out laughing. “You can’t be serious. That’s like Hitler sayin’ he didn’t mean any harm, and he just wanted a few Jews to teach him how to make a matzo ball soup.” He started laughing all over again, not believing his damn ears.