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)
“Oh, is this funny to you? Well, it’s not funny to me, and I’m dead serious. The dead part you seem to know a lot about. He showed me the proof of your dirty deeds. The police had suspected you, and they were going to charge you with these crimes! They talked to Dad, who called Grandpa in a panic. Grandpa stepped in and saved the day, but the fact that you could do that… the fact that you could raise a gun and kill someone… many people… Oh my God, you’re a monster… You had been so loving and caring when we were growin’ up. You changed. People’s mothers die every day, and they don’t turn around and become killers. You broke my heart, Lennox.”
She was crying now.
He grabbed his forehead and massaged it. As this was transpiring, he saw a text flash across his phone from Nadia that simply read:
Had an eventful evening. Bittersweet
Sorry I couldn’t call you back. I love you
See you at my place in a little bit
“Silva, I hear what you’re saying. There’s a lot you don’t know or comprehend. It would take a long time to break it all down, but I’m going to address a couple of things right now, so that you have a better understanding because I can’t just let you say these things, then hang up.”
“Don’t waste your breath. It won’t change anything.”
“You need to hear the information I have to share before you determine that. You believed Grandpa with no pushback, didn’t you? Didn’t challenge him. Didn’t ask no questions. His words were bond, right? Yeah… I thought so. Now, the least you can do is give me the same damn courtesy.”
“Fine, Lennox, but just know that I find what you did unforgivable.”
“And I find the fact that you turned on me so quick is almost unforgivable, too. Now you listen here, and you listen good. I don’t have a lot of time right now. Also, you’re tired, and from the sound of things, highly misinformed.” She sighed. “I made a lotta bad choices after Mama died. I was hurtin’. You were hurtin’. Dad was hurtin’. Dad told me while I was tryna finish my classes that money was tight. He didn’t tell me right away why. It didn’t make any sense, but I was determined to finish that business degree. That meant I needed some money, and fast. Since Dad didn’t tell us why money was tight, I did some diggin’ and found out. Now I had two more reasons to get cash, Silva.
“Dad needed the dough. Come to find out, Grandpa and he had gotten into it right after Mama died. Dad blew up on him big time, said he disrespected Mama their entire marriage, and he’d never forgive him. Grandpa cut him off ’cause our father, for once in his life, stood up to him. Told him the truth. Grief had brought it on, Silva. Dad had lost—”
“The love of his life.”
“That’s right. We were living in that big fancy mansion, all the cars, expensive clothes and shit. Dad got fired, but those bills were still rollin’ in. I made a stupid decision to solve our problems. I got my hands on some fast, big money, doin’ the devil’s work. I admit that. I did it to help myself, you, and our father. The opportunity seemed to show up out of the blue, and right when I needed. A lot of the savings were gone because the bills were so damn high. Come to find out, too, Daddy was helpin’ others out as well, Silva. A lotta people relied on his assistance. He was generous and charitable, but it cost him a lot of the money that he had in reserves.”
I figure in some strange way, Daddy and Mama giving to all of those charities made him feel better about workin’ for such a horrible person: his own father.
“So, I stepped up to the plate, Silva. To this day, Dad doesn’t know I was the one payin’ the mortgage.” He pointed into his chest. “He thought it was Grandpa.”
“Oh… well I’m sure Grandpa corrected him and—”
“No, Grandpa didn’t correct his assumption. I know because when I told Dad after the cops came nosing around about my extracurricular activities, I then had to explain to him what I’d been doing, and why. That’s what got them talkin’ again—and then they mended their relationship and Dad was his accountant all over again… back under his thumb. All for greed. Did you even once, Silva, stop and think about why the police were talkin’ to Dad?”
She cleared her throat. “Well, he’s the father of a suspected murderer, and you still lived at home, so—”
“No. I was an adult. Grown. They came to him before they even came to me. He wasn’t my guardian. No interview. No ride down to the police station. Because they knew what family we come from, Silva! Cops get paid peanuts for the jobs they do! They wanted Daddy to give them some cash so they could make this shit all go away. It was blackmail! Besides, Grandpa has a reputation to uphold, right? He wants to be big time and come across as some messiah. Swoopin’ in to save the day. Dad didn’t have the money, and he didn’t want me to go to prison partially on account of me tryna help him out. The guilt would’ve eaten him alive. So, he went runnin’ to his daddy.”