by S. K. Lessly
My eyes fell on two women that were also in the room. I couldn’t tell anything about them, except they both were very pretty and the same complexion as the guy with the frown. I could see they were related.
“Ah, Ms. Sayers?” My eyes went to a slightly overweight white guy with glasses, pale face and hair combed over, trying to mask the fact he was losing the hair battle with himself.
He moved to me and stretched his hand out to me. “I’m Mr. Dennis. I hope your flight was a pleasant one.” I forgot to add, I flew on his dime.
“Oh, yes it was. Thank you for the tickets and thank you for the ride here.”
“Oh, it was no problem at all. I couldn’t have you trying to get here on your own.”
“Yes, thank you.”
“Come sit down. We have a lot to cover, so let’s get started with introductions. I know you have a lot of questions. I hope to have them answered tonight.”
I moved hesitantly to the table and found a seat far away from the brooding man. I smiled at the two women who were equally dressed in expensive clothes. I looked down at what I was wearing and wished I actually listened to Maya and bought better clothes.
“Where have you been all these years?” the frowning hot black guy asked me.
“Greg, give the girl a chance to explain,” one of the women said, and then looked at me.
I looked around the room freaking clueless to everything and answered, “I’ve been in Miami…” I looked at Mr. Dennis. “Sir, you told me that you would explain everything, which is why I’m here.”
“Yes, Greg, can you please have a seat so we can get started?” the woman asked.
Greg reluctantly sat down but kept a heavy eye on me, quite frankly they all did.
“Ms. Sawyer… Georgia; can I call you that?” Mr. Dennis asked.
I nodded after hearing sucking of tongues, at my name I guess. “Fabulous. Okay, so as you three know, your father was not traditional, so he just wrote a letter with instructions on how he wanted his estate divided…”
Estate? What the hell is going on?
“He first addresses Gregory Junior, his son. “ Mr. Dennis cleared his throat and read, “‘I have a separate letter for each of my children, leaving them particular instructions and a portion of my estate. So I’m not going to waste time going over that. Gregory, you’re head of the family now. I expect everything to run just as smooth as if I was still there. We planned for this day, son, and I expect you to carry on the family. Make necessary choices and decisions with the backing of the entire family. Just because you’re the head, you still have to make moves, and it’s the neck that turns the head. Listen to your neck…’”
Yeah, I was lost, but I tried not to show it.
He continued. “But what I want to talk about is my daughter, Georgia.”
“What?!” I blurted.
Mr. Dennis looked at me and smiled. He then continued to read, “‘I know you, Greg, Dara, and Deidra have a lot of questions. Son, I know you’re looking as if you want to kill someone, but your anger is in the wrong direction. Georgia didn’t know anything about me or any of you. Out of respect for her mother, I stayed out of Georgia’s life. When I finally found her again, I didn’t know how to introduce myself as her father, so I continued to stay away. It was what her mother requested of me.’”
I, as you can image, was stunned. I didn’t know what to do or say, so I stayed quiet. The lawyer continued, “‘Georgia, I know you are wondering how I could be your father. My lawyer has the necessary arrangements to get your blood tested with mine for your proof, but I assure you, I am your father, and you are my daughter. I met your mom a long time ago, and I fell for her hard. She was a wonderful woman with a heart pure of gold. I was in Baltimore for about six months, and I spent all of my time with her. It was at that point I fell in love… I loved your mother.’”
Mr. Dennis paused, put down the page he read and started with the second page, “I had to go back to Philadelphia on other business and I promised her I would come back, but circumstances prevented me from keeping my promise. The next time I saw her, you were five years old. She told me she tried to get in contact with me for years, but I never responded. That’s when I told her that I had gotten married. I found out I was having a son and decided to make a life with his mother instead of her. She stared at me confused for a long moment. She never knew about my life here in Philly, and I never planned on telling her. That’s when she told me to stay away from you and her. The pain I caused her ate at me for years to come, and I regret ever putting her through that. But what I regret most is not being around you. I never got to see you that day I came to visit. I missed graduations, birthdays and holidays, and I feel horrible about that. I wish I could have done more for you, and I hope you know that…”
“Stop…” I cried out. I was crying uncontrollably as finally, finally I figured out what drove my mom to self-destruct. It was his rejection. Everyone looked at me as I stood.
Mr. Dennis called after me, “Georgia…”
I shook my head, “Enough, I don’t want to hear anything else that man has to say,” I bit out.
Greg Jr. stood, his eyes filled with anger, “You will respect my father…”
“I will do no such thing. That man turned his back on me on my mom…,” I started.
“Your mom should have kept her legs closed instead of trying to get a kept man…,” Greg spat.
“Fuck you!” I turned and stormed out of the room unable to control the tears, the anger and most of all the hurt I was feeling. See how my life ends up? I can never get ahead. It seems the moment I do, something knocks me back down.
I heard Mr. Dennis coming after me, but I saw a set of steps and took them. So glad I decided not to listen to Maya and get expensive clothes… my jeans, sneakers and “I love Cabo” t-shirt was just what I needed.
When I got to the bottom floor, I found the ladies room and hid there until I was able to stop my heart from beating out of control.
I threw water over my face and stared at myself in the mirror. My red, pained, and puffy eyes greeted me back. “This is so fucked up.”
“I’ll say.”
I jumped clear out of my skin as I saw… what was her name?
“Deidra,” she said to me as she walked completely into the bathroom.
I guess I should have escaped first instead of hiding.
I went to the paper towel dispenser and wiped my face.
Deidra turned out to be tall like me and actually a bit older too. She looked at me through the mirror and said, “You look like my grandmother… or rather our grandmother in her younger days.”
I didn’t reply. She sighed deeply and turned to face me. “I’m sorry for my ignorant ass brother. He’s so quick to use words to hurt people as a coping mechanism when he’s hurting himself. He lashes out and I’m not saying what he did was right or making excuses for his behavior, but I just wanted to first apologize.”
She shook her head and smiled. “Wow, you are a surprise, I tell you that much. I never thought you were out there because if I did, I would have tried to find you. I don’t know if my father ever tried, but I would have made him. I don’t know if you were alone growing up or how it was for you, but I can tell it wasn’t good.”
I squinted my eyes at her, and she added, “I’m a therapist. It’s my job to see in people’s minds. Anyway, I want to invite you back upstairs. I promise my brother will behave. I’m the oldest and quite frankly, I don’t care how you got here. You’re blood, and I don’t need a stupid test to see that. I can see it in your eyes that you’re a Sayers, but I understand if you want a test… I’ll even understand if you don’t want any parts of us too. But don’t make that decision based on that idiot upstairs. You seem like a pretty great person, especially when you told told Greg to fuck off. He’s not used to that, so I really hope you do stay around.” She put her hands up. “But no pressure… If you still don’t want any parts of my father or us right now, I totally understand. Just know you have
family waiting for you.”
Deidra turned around and left.
I looked at myself in the mirror again. I thought long and hard about what she said and well… Yeah, I went back upstairs.
*****
It was a cold, brisk Saturday night, and I was trying to understand why I was wearing this short ass dress in this freezing cold weather. For some reason, I was dressing like I was in Miami when I’d been in Philadelphia for the last few months. Dara of course said it wasn’t cold, but then I showed her the temperature in Miami in September and she just said, “Ah yeah. Well, okay, it’s cold.”
I’d been in Philadelphia the entire summer getting to know my siblings. I ended up getting the DNA test done just for my sake and Greg’s, and it came back ninety-nine point ninety-nine percent. I was Gregory Sayers’ daughter. In a matter of days, I found out I wasn’t alone. I actually had family.
So I stayed to get to know them and decided to teach a course online that year, allowing myself more time with my family. My family… that sounded so strange to say, but being around them wasn’t strange at all. I met my grandparents, and when my grandmother took one look at me, she just smiled and embraced me. She said, “I knew the moment I saw your eyes. You’re my grandbaby.”
So let me give you a rundown: My father never looked for me. I guess he assumed that I was well taken care of and didn’t imagine my mother would fall apart like she did. I was glad that my father let it be known in his letter that my mom didn’t know anything about his so-called family in Philly. It felt better knowing that my mom just trusted and gave her whole heart to the wrong man. She paid for it.
Wow, that sounds so familiar.
I shared some of my story with my siblings, not all of it but some, letting them know where my anger stemmed from. Greg, hearing what my mom went through never said anything else about her sleeping with a kept man. He stayed loyal to his own mother, which by the way I met one day. It was awkward, to say the least, but she was cordial to me. By the way, Greg is only older than me by four months.
I found out that Deidra was the mother hen of the group. She was three years older than I was, but she acted as if she was much older. She was married, but they didn’t have any kids as of yet. Her husband, Rafiq, was a cool guy. He worked in the family business that I later learned was real estate, both residential and commercial. Sayers Real Estate Inc. is a large company solely based in Philadelphia, but they were working towards expanding in the metroplex, New Jersey, and Delaware.
Rafiq was one of the residential sales guys working for the company. Greg, as you may have guessed, was acting CEO with a Board of Directors he reported to that consisted of their mom, our grandfather, who ran the business until he retired, Deidra, Dara and me. Yup, that’s right; I inherited being a stakeholder in the company. I was vested, whether I liked it or not. I could have sold my stock but once I sat in a few meetings, I wanted to stay.
Greg and I were as cool with each other as we could be, considering how we met. We figured out a way to co-exist and get along. I stayed out of his way mostly, and he stayed out of mine. I’d been staying at the family’s house out in King of Russia, but, after a month of staying there, I needed my own space. At times, I would just stay in the city and get a hotel room for a while. I still needed my space, and I was still learning my new family.
Dara was two years younger than me, and I had established a closer bond with her than with any of my other siblings. She was so feisty and full of fire. “She’s my idol,” I liked to say behind closed doors. She was everything I wasn’t; like her fantastic looks and smoking hot body. Guys turned their heads and broke their necks just to look at her.
Dara had been on a mission to get me over Gavin. I’d confided in her and told her all about both of my exes. I had to talk her down from making a trip to “whoop some ass.” She was amazing to me, and she was the main reason why I hadn’t left yet.
So Dara had been dragging me to every club in Philly multiple times a weekend. I’d danced and even went out on a few dates, but no one stood out to me. I won’t admit that in the back of my mind, every time I went out, I hoped I would see someone. I don’t want to sound pathetic but… Oh hell! I looked for Drake everywhere I went. I hadn’t told Dara about him because, well, there’s nothing to tell. I mean, I know his name. I could’ve tried to find him, but for what? He made it clear that he didn’t want anything to do with me, so there it was. What we had in Cabo was a fling; nothing more, nothing less.
“Girl, can you slow down? These four-inch heels you have me in are starting to hurt,” I told her and she slowed down for me.
We were going to this club on Delaware Ave. that she said was “guaranteed filled with hotties.” She said that every time we went out. Mind you, our definitions of “hottie” weren’t similar.
We had to park a few blocks from the club because Dara refused to pay for valet. She figured it should be free.
Walking two blocks from the club can really sober you up…
When we got to the club, there was a freaking line. But the music coming from the place was great. I started bopping my head, waiting patiently for us to get inside. The line I will say went quick, and the moment we got inside, she and I went straight to the bar. Dara could drink as much as I could, if not more.
That night, we got wasted and drank a few guys under a few tables. We danced on the dance floor and had a blast. I forgot about who I was. I forgot about my feet hurting. I didn’t even care when I was groped on the dance floor. I was so free, and I felt amazing. And that’s when I saw him…
He was in all black, head shaved, and a five o’clock shadow etched his perfect chiseled features. He was wrapped around a perfect ten, and when I tell you they looked like the perfect couple, I’m not exaggerating. She was beautiful. Long black hair with a dress short as hell and tight, showing a great pair of legs and perfect toned body. He was moving his hands all over her body, and she smiled and moved her hips along his crotch. The smile on his face showed that he was enjoying every movement. He never danced like that with me in Cabo. I mean, we danced together. Don’t get me wrong. But not like that.
Suddenly, I felt sick. I kind of stood there staring at them until, to my horror, his eyes left the beauty queen and fell on me. He stopped moving and just stood there, looking at me with shock on his face. He then started to smile and head towards me.
Well, I didn’t wait for the embarrassment; I left the dance floor and went straight to the front door.
I couldn’t tell you where Dara was. I just knew I had to leave. I hit the front door and started walking.
“Georgia!”
I heard my name, but I kept moving. My vision was getting blurred, and I didn’t know where the hell I was going, but I knew I had to get away from him.
“Georgia…” I think it was his voice, but I wasn’t sure.
I nearly collided with a car at an intersection and was pulled back quickly. Drake pushed me up against the nearest wall, but I wasn’t having that.
“Get off me, you son of a bitch. Don’t touch me…” I swung, and he backed off.
He looked so confused and hurt, but I didn’t let that sway me. I was hurt too.
“Okay, baby, I won’t touch you,” he said calmly.
I pointed at him. “Don’t call me baby! Is that who she is? Huh? Your baby?” I pushed him in his chest. Well, I tried to anyway. He was still fucking solid.
I continued defiantly. “Is that what you call her? “You men are all alike, you know that?”
I think my words started to slur, but I couldn’t stop my fury.
“Hey, you get the fuck away from my sister!” I turned to see Dara coming up to me.
I smiled and folded my arms.
Drake being Drake ignored Dara and said, “Can you just talk to me for a second?” He smiled, but I shook my head.
“I don’t have shit to say to you! Why don’t you go back to your ‘baby’? Or whatever she is to you.”
As if the cards to m
y life fell into place, the very beauty queen appeared. “Lincoln, what’s going on?”
She looked at me with disdain evident all over her face.
I looked at Drake. “Leave me alone, Lincoln.”
I turned and felt a strong grip on my arm. Then I heard a voice say, “Hold the fuck up a second.”
When Drake spun me around, I was so ready to light into him. Dara came between us, holding a black oblong object in her hand.
“Get the fuck back before I mace the shit out of you,” she fussed.
Drake stared at me hard before regrettably letting go of me and stepping back.
“This isn’t over, Georgia,” he said simply.
I shook my head and replied, “It is now.”
He didn’t say another word, so I turned and started to walk away. I heard Dara’s footsteps behind me, but I didn’t turn around to see if she was catching up. I was about to lose it right there on the sidewalk, and I refused to let that happen over him.
I thought Dara would drill me about Drake, but she didn’t. She stayed uncharacteristically quiet, but I was thankful for that. We went to the hotel that I booked for us, and I closed myself in the bathroom for a while just trying to get myself together. All this time I had been hoping to see him, but never did I think he would be with someone else when I did.
Chapter 11
Drake
“So what did she do?” Angel asked.
We had just come back from a meeting with his father and a few other bosses from a couple of families around Philly. I went to his father’s refrigerator and pulled out some covered dish sitting there and some water.
On the way back from the meeting, I told Angel about last night, only because of course he heard about it from Eleanor, the chick I was with.
“She didn’t do anything. She left with some woman that claimed to be her sister. But I know for a fact she doesn’t have any siblings… or at least that’s what she told me anyway.”
I grabbed some plates and started piling it with some anti-pasta seafood dish. Angel did the same, laughing. “Yeah, well, Elle said you were pissed.”
