Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 109178 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 546(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109178 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 546(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
“If my grandparents find out that my mother had sold her body for money soon after she moved here, it would be a disaster. This all happened before she became a wife. Mother. A doctor.”
“Well holy shit. She went to medical school?”
“Yeah. She was a family medicine physician. She decided to stay home and raise a family, so she left the clinic she was at and started a private practice, halftime. She became the doctor that she wanted to be. Her plan was to return to work fulltime after my sister and I were both out of high school. But, she died. If it gets out what she did, Kage, her life as an escort, that will cause enough chaos to remove her from the mausoleum. It would bring such shame to that side of the family that they may even be run out of town. I know it sounds like something from the 1800s, but this is just how it is. I can’t let him do that to them. I can’t let him ruin my mother’s name. Me going to prison pales in comparison to that. I can do time. I don’t want my mother to do time like that, from the grave, too.”
“So Aaliyah was a prostitute?” Kage smirked and shook his head. “I wonder how Grandpa got a hold of that tidbit?”
“I have no idea, but you know he can find out just about anything he wants.”
“Yup. He’s a resourceful son of a bitch. I remember he hated Aunt Aaliyah somethin’ fierce, too.”
“He hated my mother because she was strong-willed and told him to fuck off. She didn’t like his ways, or his politics. She disagreed with my father working for him, too. She saw that Grandpa was taking interest in me, and she made sure my visits were supervised from that point on. You know how grandpa is. He doesn’t like strong women. He doesn’t like independent women. He doesn’t like anything or anyone that stands up to him. She walked into a hornet’s nest when she met and fell in love with my father.”
“Speakin’ of dear ol’ dad, what does my weaselly Uncle Scott have to say about all of this?”
“He wants me to sing like a fucking bird. He is terrified of me going to prison, his only son, and he doesn’t want his wife’s name dragged through the mud. He called me and begged me to just do what Grandpa says so we can move past this. But I can’t, Kage.” His tongue was heavy with burden and grief. “I just can’t.”
“And you shouldn’t. All I can tell ya, because each of our situations is a little different, is that you have to play the hand the way he doled out the cards. The key to winning this game with Grandpa is to get a running head start on your next move. One thing I know about him is this: He hates defiance, but he respects a calculated maneuver. So much so that if you figure out how to get him off your back, he’ll let you go, top dog. He lets us know that in his own way, too. Double check the paperwork.”
“That means I need to figure out his weaknesses, just like he figured out mine. I know his ego is inflated. That’s a weakness. He’s narcissistic. That’s a weakness, too.”
“Yeah, but those aren’t the type of weaknesses that can be exploited and dismantled quickly though. You have to find something personal to you and him, Lennox. Look at the shit you two have in common, versus how you differ. Think outside the box. Your situation, in my opinion, is less complicated than mine, because there’s far less bad blood.”
“That might be true but I’m not backing down, and he hates that.”
“Wouldn’t matter anyway. Backing down from him doesn’t work.” Kage stood up slowly. The man was tall and lean, with a muscular build. He was so sinewy that when he stood in that semi-dark room with only a few lanterns and candles lit, and the setting sun’s rays filtering through the window, he looked like an eerie tree. His eyes were electric with hatred, and his smile infused with evil joy.
“How would you know? I can’t ‘magine you backin’ down from nothing. Not even from a mudslide sure to suffocate you with a cold, clammy hand.”
Kane ran his tongue along his upper teeth as if trying to fish out a piece of gristle. “It’s elementary, little cousin. We know he don’t respect no fuckin’ body who follows his commands. He didn’t like your mother, my Aunt Aaliyah. But he damn sure respected her backbone. Few ’round here have one.” He slipped a knife out of his jeans pocket and began flipping and flicking it around like some toy.
“He don’t respect her or he wouldn’t be pullin’ the stunt he is now.”