Chapter 18 #2
“Girl, you’ve been working hard at raising them knuckleheaded twins and you’ve still been showing up to help my ass with classes and renovations. If nobody sees you, baby, I do. I appreciate you and I know you ain’t a gold digger but shit you messing with a real nigga for a best friend,” I said.
Stella snickered at my corny ass and Marsha laughed too. She wrapped her arms around me and murmured thanks then went back to eating.
I didn’t tell them I’d gotten two deposits in two separate accounts, one from the resort to my business account and the other directly from Armond to my personal account.
I didn’t know how he got hold of my bank information, but I was grateful regardless.
I sent them money from what he sent me. The other money would be saved for our next retreat somewhere extravagant and for a longer amount of time. Four days just wasn’t enough.
“You got everything you need for your trip?” Marsha asked.
“You mean her move? That hoe ain’t coming back,” Stella chimed in.
“Don’t do me.” I laughed.
“Naw, don’t try to play us out. Jeffrey popped up. It’s not that safe for real anymore,” Stella said.
“He hasn’t popped up or called me since our trip though,” I replied.
“Okay and? We’ve seen that baboon ass mofo pop up after a whole damn year of no contact. You need to do you, boo,” Stella said.
“I mean, I hear you. Did you see my security outside when you came in?”
“Yeah, but…”
“I’m feeling pretty damn safe right now but I am looking for a place out there. I wanna be near my sis,” I explained.
“And we want that for you too, boo,” Marsha said. “Look, you know I’ma be wherever you are. Just say the word.”
“Stamp. I can sell a house anywhere,” Stella said.
“Y’all always riding for me.” I smiled.
“Well bish you pay me better than any bish or nigga, so guess what? You my pimp now. I’ll even call you mami or madam,” Stella replied.
Marsha and I burst out laughing. These two were complete fools with it, but I loved them miserably.
If the tables were turned, I’d run to the sun with their asses too.
I wished I could take them with me on my trip, but the last thing I wanted was Dillan feeling like we were leaving everything up to him.
He already felt a way about Marsha going on vacation without him.
She needed it though. She was all about her boys, day in and out.
He needed a break too. He worked very hard. Maybe I’d set him up for a guy’s trip.
“What you thinking about? You all silent over there and shit,” Marsha said.
“Girl, bye. I’m thinking about how much I’m going to miss y’all while I make this trip.”
“And you better,” Marsha said.
“No bull,” Stella said.
“I invited y’all, so bye,” I teased. I knew they couldn’t come when I asked but I did try. I always invited them along, no matter where I was going, business trips and all.
“Whatever. Just know things will be handled while you’re gone. Your spots are in good hands,” Stella said.
“Thank you.”
“So do you have everything you need for this trip, bish?” Marsha asked again. I rolled my eyes playfully and she nudged me as I took a bite of my food.
“Yes. I believe I do. No wait, I gotta run by the grocery store and get some snacks. You know I gotta munch on my flight.”
“Naw you wish you were on that private jet getting munched by Armond,” Marsha said.
Stella laughed then went back to texting on her phone. She never texted while eating. She said it was her alone time so that left me curious. I didn’t want to intrude but since she didn’t respond to Marsha’s banter it was clear she was distracted in the best way.
“Who you boo loving with over there?” I asked.
“Huh?” Stella said, still texting.
“Bish, she said what new hoe you texting?” Marsha said loudly.
Stella placed her phone down and we all laughed.
“My bad.”
“Answer the question, hoe,” Marsha said.
“Alejandro.” She beamed.
“Oh shucks now,” I replied.
“Yeah, we’ve been talking since before we left. He’s funny as heck. I really like him.”
“Okay, is he going to fly you out or what? How y’all gon’ swing that?” Marsha asked. It was what I was thinking.
“We ain’t on that right now but whichever way it goes, we can both afford to fly out.”
“Okay, baller,” I deadpanned. It was clear that she wanted us to mind our business so I retreated. Marsha was the nosy bee. She didn’t care.
“Moody bish. Go get some more food. You ain’t you when you’re hungry.”
“Hoe, I don’t need a Snickers bar,” Stella griped. “I’m good.”
“I ain’t say Snickers, bish, I said food. Cling to your stomach ass shit.”
“I’m not about to do that when we ’bout to head out to this showing. What do I look like farting up the place? They’d run out of there so fast and say eff that stank ass lady,” Stella said.
I giggled then stood to throw my food away. I stretched then felt my stomach churn. This was unlike me. I never had problems with Gator Pit. Maybe I was just exhausted from all the painting. I was glad the paint wasn’t strong. I would’ve thrown up for sure.
“You okay?” Marsha asked.
“Yeah, yeah. My stomach must be too full.”
“Mmmhmm, them damn beef ribs,” Marsha said.
“Oh whatever. You know you be smashing them too,” Stella said.
“Maybe I just need to shit. Ever think of that?” I asked.
They both got silent and made stinky faces. We all burst out laughing. I grabbed my phone and headed to the bathroom in my office. My stomach didn’t hurt enough for me to poop but I was going to take the time to call and thank Armond.
I went to his name and got stuck on a picture we took in Puerto Rico before Jeffrey ruined my trip. I looked different. No bags under my eyes. No weariness on my face. Just living in the moment and happy with a complete stranger. I smiled then went about connecting us.
“Ah, if this isn’t a pleasant surprise,” Armond said after picking up on the first ring.
“Is it?” I asked. He knew I would be calling after that drop.
He chuckled then told someone he’d be right back. I heard his heavy footsteps then the shutting of a door made me jump from how loud it echoed.
“Damn, are you at a castle, Armond?” I joked.
“Close enough,” he said nonchalantly.
“Thank you,” I rushed out.
“What? Why are you thanking me and why does it sound like you’re panicking? What’s wrong?”
“Huh?”
I didn’t know why I was suddenly nervous. My heart was thumping something wicked. The door closing reminded me of the singular time Jeffrey locked me in our basement. I was down there for a week.
I shook the memory off then looked at myself in the mirror. Calm down, girl.
“Brandy, what’s wrong, baby? You were just excited and now… I don’t know what the fuck to think.”
“I’m good. Sorry. Uh, I was calling to thank you for the money you sent.”
“You mean the money I sent back to you while you were in Puerto Rico?”
“Huh? No, I just checked last week and…”
“You sure you checked the right account? I mean, seriously, why do you have three bank accounts, woman?”
“I’ve always had to be careful. One time Jeff took out two grand without saying a word, knowing I needed it the next day. After that I started another account he didn’t know about, and of course my business has its own account.”
“So you’re saying he still has access to one of your accounts?”
“No. Not anymore. I took him off my account when I filed for divorce. I put my mom on the account in case anything ever happened to me though.”
“Brandy…” he sighed.
“I know but I took care of it.”
“Did you though? When’s the last time you withdrew anything from that account?”
“Maybe a year or so. I just put money in. I don’t take money out.”
“Okay, well that’s bullshit. You have transactions as close as a month ago. Go to the bank, take everything out, and close that account. How much should you have in there right now?”
“About seventeen grand. That’s my ‘in case of shit’ account.”
I heard him clacking at his phone and it made me nervous. If he told me anything less than the amount I knew was there then I’d probably shit bricks. How could he still have access to my account? Shit, when was the last time I even looked at that bank card?
“Honeybee…your account currently has three thousand dollars. I’m transferring it right now. Check your business account in a few minutes.”
“Three thousand!”
“Yes. That motherfucker has been milking your pockets and living off you this entire time. I see you once had nearly a hundred thousand in it. When did you move the majority?”
“Last year.”
This shit was stressing me out. I sat on the toilet and held my tummy. I was cramping and sweat started to build on my forehead. I felt like I was going to be sick and I didn’t know which way it would come out.
“Baby, I got you. Don’t let this shit stress you. I can hear the strain in your voice. I’ll take care of it. Matter of fact, I’m gonna have Amelia fly down with the jet and you can use it for your trip to Colton. Kick back and relax. Sound good?”
“That would sound better if you were on the jet,” I mumbled.
“Unfortunately, I can’t depart from my current duties, but I’ll make sure you see me soon, baby. You know I miss the fuck out of you.”
“Yep. I know. I miss you, Armond. And uhhh… thank you for figuring that out for me. I won’t ask a stupid question like how you gathered my account information. I’m just grateful you did. I really hadn’t checked that account in a long time.”
“Like I said, I got you, Brandy. Look, I gotta step off. Check your account. I’ll call you as soon as I’m out of here. You cool with that?”
“Of course,” I replied somberly.
“Pick your head up, beautiful. No need to hang that head ever again. I’m going to take care of you and make sure nobody harms you in any way.”
“Okay. Soon?”
“Soon.”
We ended the call and I went right to the toilet and hurled all the good food I just consumed. There was no way this man had been living off me and I didn’t know. How the hell did I not know?
“Sis?” Marsha called out.
“Mhm,” I replied, then found my face back in the toilet.
“I’m coming in,” she replied.
She fiddled with the handle then rushed in. She kneeled beside me and pulled my hair back. I flushed the toilet then rested on my arm.
“What happened, girl? Was it those beef ass ribs?”
I let out a light chuckle and shook my head. I didn’t even know if I had it in me to tell her what Jeffrey had been doing this entire time. Shit made my stomach churn again. Thankfully I was done. No urges to puke again.
I sat up and looked at Marsha with tears in my eyes. I really couldn’t contain my anger. I was that angry crier people thought were weak cuz I cried, when in actuality it displayed how much I tried to contain myself from unleashing.
“Stella had to head out. She tried to wait for you to come out,” Marsha said softly.
“It’s okay. Really. I uh…”
My words got stuck in my throat. Jeffrey was someone I didn’t like bringing up and until eight weeks ago I hadn’t mentioned him in a year. Now he was always coming up in conversation and I was ’bout sick of it.
“This motherfucker been robbing me the whole time,” I said as I finally stood.
“Who? What you talking about?”
“Fucking Jeffrey. I called… Wait, let me brush my teeth first. You don’t need to smell my breath like this.”
“Thank you for your consideration,” Marsha said, then laughed.
She rubbed my back as I rinsed my mouth then went about brushing my teeth. I was so glad I brought a toiletry bag in here. I just knew I’d be having a couple late nights here with the renovations and knew I’d need to freshen up.
Once I finished, I led Marsha back to the break room and plopped down in my seat. The aroma of BBQ filled my nose and I ran my ass right back to the bathroom and vomited again.
“Oh yeah naw. Let me throw this shit away and spray. Matter of fact, you need to go home, boo.”
“Yeah, I agree,” I moaned after I got out what I could. I belched and it tasted like collards. I was so mad Stella’s money was wasted. I rinsed my mouth out with mouthwash then went about gathering my things so we could head out.
“Come on, boo. I’ll drive,” Marsha said.
“Girl, you better not make me throw up with that wild shit you be doing on the road.”
“You don’t say nothing when we’re running late and I still get us there on time.”
“Okay but we ain’t going anywhere but my house. Take your damn time, okay?”
“Fine, fine. I was going to anyway with your sick ass.”
“Thank you, Marsh.”
“You know I got you, boo.”
Once I settled in the passenger seat, I pulled out my phone and went to my bank app. The second I signed in, my phone fell to my feet.
“Girl, what the fuck?”
“Armond just put mad money in my account, girl. Jeffrey’s been stealing money from my ‘in case of shit’ account and Armond just quadrupled what I lost. That man…”
“Is a good motherfucking man, okay! Yes, boo. I’m so glad you met him. Jeffrey’s dusty ass been doing entirely too much for too long to get away with it. I’m sure Armond would beat his ass to dust over you.”
“I mean I haven’t seen Jeffrey at all so I wouldn’t be surprised if he already has.”
“Stick with him, boo. He’s good for you.”
“Oh trust, I’m not letting up.”