by T. Styles
But she wasn’t stupid. Kerrick’s legend preceded him and she knew that he wasn’t a man who dealt easily with children outside of his marriage. She heard stories of Fran whose womb he had destroyed for the same behavior. Still, she was determined not to abort the child so there was a decision to be made. Stay with him and give up her baby or cut things off. Not believing in abortion, she chose the latter. And although she missed him, and he her, she felt resolved in her decision.
Some months later, Kerrick learned that she was pregnant. At first he sent Mox, Riley and Jameson to “get rid of the problem” but when he saw her, he was amazed that even while pregnant Bridget seemed to glow. Going against his rule, he allowed her to live. And he allowed her to carry his child.
He felt validated in allowing her to bear his child when he saw Lisa, and to his surprise, Lisa’s beauty rivaled her mother’s. As the years passed, Lisa grew into her gorgeousness. Her big stunning eyes and long black luscious hair made her sexually appealing to all men who encountered her. But she was a Prophet, which also meant she was off limits without Kerrick’s approval.
After Lisa was born, Kerrick placed money in Bridget’s bank account for their wellbeing, to ensure that his child would never have to go without. They didn’t have the classic rich Prophet lifestyle but it was a come up.
Things were going good and a year later, she got pregnant with boy triplets and this time she didn’t run, she let Kerrick know. Since Bridget handled his marriage so well in the past, never bothering to contact his wife, he allowed her another honor. On one condition. That she explained to them how important it was to keep their bloodline pure.
At first Bridget was disgusted at the idea alone. But Kerrick was a great orator and he explained that his lineage came from the kings and queens of Africa. In his delusion, he talked about how intelligent his older children were and how even in Roman times incest was accepted.
Before long, she was sold and when her children were born she allowed Kerrick to push the same rigid beliefs into their minds. As a result, Lisa had a son by her oldest brother Wagner, who she named Kerrick II.
Kerrick’s sex-starved energy made some wonder if there were any other Prophets out there that no one knew about.
As the new Prophets made themselves comfortable in the conference room, Lisa first, followed by the triplets Wagner, Porter and Jeremy, the other Prophets wondered what was happening. Each of them was beautiful and flawed.
For instance, one of Wagner’s eyes were cocked, due to wearing a pair of prescription glasses when he didn’t need them as a child, just to look like a local street killer in his neighborhood.
And then there was the middle child. Although as handsome as the other male siblings, Porter kept his top lip pulled down because his teeth were crumbled, due to not taking care of them.
Lastly, there was Jeremy, who lost his arm recently when his brothers and sister busted into an abandoned house where his mother was being gang raped. They successfully saved her but they got into a war with the gang that was looking for them at the moment. This was why Lisa, the girl Nine had seen in the photos Gates showed her, attempted to reach out to Nine by way of Leaf.
When Lisa first approached him, he doubted they were related. He was used to people trying to get close to Nine to access her money by claiming to share the bloodline. So he hid the matter from his wife for fear she’d get involved and be taken advantage of.
However, Lisa was persistent and suggested blood tests be taken. She was a Prophet and was willing to prove it. He could tell in her eyes that she wasn’t going away so he had the tests performed and was waiting on the results. So when Nine lashed out at him in the restaurant, he was willing to eat the L to make sure he kept fakes away from her because the tests had yet to come in.
Nine and the new Prophets stood on the other side of the table, next to Alice’s lawyer. Antonius and five other men stood outside of the door on guard. Upon first entering the office, Nine felt powerful but when she walked in and saw the faces of the family members she’d grown to love, it was as if a pin was stuck into her balloon.
She realized at that moment that she cared for them but the betrayal changed something in her spirit. She was starting to hate them. No longer was she going to be pushed over by those who didn’t deserve her love or money. If they wanted to bite the hand that fed them, then they would be on their own.
She looked down at Alice and the others and said, “I do not look like you. I do not dress like you or talk like you. But I am still your blood. I am still a Prophet and it is sad that you could not see it.” She sighed and looked behind her. “These are also your relatives. They are Prophets who grandfather took care of until he died and now they need my help.” She gazed back at the original Prophets. “Since you do not want my assistance, since you have aligned with someone who has nothing to lose, I am removing my hands from you. No longer will I give you money. No longer will I accept your calls. No longer will I be there when you are in need. The only exceptions to this rule are Noel, Bethany, Isabel and Samantha, because they were not involved in this betrayal. Do not try to reach out to me because I will not be accessible.” She paused. “And I suggest you all find somewhere else to live. Soon.”
Victory leaped up, cat hairs falling everywhere. “What do you mean find somewhere else to live?”
Nine stared into her eyes, looked down at Brett Jones and walked out, the new Prophets following.
“What does that mean?” Victory screamed to her.
When she made an attempt to follow Nine, Antonius pressed her back with a firm push to the center of her chest.
So she looked around him. “Nine, I love you! Don’t do this to me! It was all Alice’s fault! Please!”
****
After the meeting, Victory, Blake and Alice stepped out of the car and walked slowly toward Victory’s house. Victory’s jaw dropped when she approached the home she’d come to love. Just as the lawyer clarified when Nine left the meeting, every Prophet who betrayed her would need to find new places to live. Because plastered on their door was a notice to vacate the premises within sixty days.
Some years back, when his children were young adults, Kerrick purchased each of their homes in his name. He didn’t keep them in his name to enact some strange power. He simply forgot to give them the titles and they forgot to ask. And as a result, each property belonging to him was rightfully Nine’s because they were part of the estate. That included Alice’s mother’s condominium.
Victory snatched the sign off of her door, walked over to the steps and flopped down. She looked at the verbiage again, hoping it wasn’t as bad as the lawyer claimed.
It was.
As she wept harder, Blake sat next to her and pulled her into a one-arm embrace. He looked up at his niece and said, “This is all your fault! I hope you’re happy, Alice. Because of you, she took everything from all of us!”
Angry with Nine outwitting her again, she stepped in front of them. “I can’t believe you all are blaming me for this. This is just another example of her using her power against us!”
“If you aren’t to blame who else could it be?” Victory yelled gazing up at her. The sun standing behind Alice made it difficult for Victory to see her face. To see if she felt any remorse. “You should’ve left it alone. We might not have had it all but we had some.” She lowered her head. “Noel was right. She was a good person, Alice, and you were the only one she had a problem with. If only I hadn’t listened to you.” She shook her head. “Now it’s too late.”
“So I’m to blame for you not having any money saved up also?”
“I have some money, Alice,” Blake interjected.
Victory looked over at him, unaware of the secret. “You do?”
“Yeah,” he exhaled. “A few hundred thousand. I put it up in case something happened.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked him.
Silence.
In shame, she dropped her head already knowing the answer. Sh
e spent too easily and he didn’t trust her.
“Thank you so much, Blake,” she said hugging him. “Thank you.” For a second, relief passed between them before she focused back on her niece. “Just leave.”
“But—”
“Get the fuck out of here!” he screamed.
She swallowed. “I don’t have anywhere to go.”
“Not our problem anymore,” Victory responded.
Alice looked at her relatives once more and walked toward her car, which sat on the end of the street. Her heart was filled with so many emotions. Anger. Fear. Resentment. Guilt. She was so disappointed at not defeating Nine that it didn’t dawn on her until that moment that Victory and Blake were the only people who tolerated her. Now she knew how Isabel felt when she rejected her. Without them in her life, she had nothing.
Did being an outcast still make her a Prophet?
The moment she stepped to the driver’s side door, a white van pulled up alongside her. Without turning around, Alice knew what was happening. The door to the other van opened and a tall soldier stepped out and walked toward her. “Get inside,” he demanded.
She thought about running but knew it was no good. It was time to pay the cost. So she turned around, and eased into the waiting van to meet her fate.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
“This above all, to thine own self be true.”
- William Shakespeare
Nine walked into the room she’d just given Lisa within the Prophet mansion. Things were looking up since she placed Alice where she belonged, in a special place only she had access to.
Not only had she regained control over her money, she finally realized that she was in an illegal business, which required cash on hand at all times, and that she would never be caught in a similar position again. As it stood, five million dollars in stacks of one hundred and twenty dollar bills was tucked under her house, and was secured by a safe that not even the government could open.
Nine leaned against the doorway and noticed how happy Lisa, Porter, Jeremy, Wagner, Bridget and Kerrick II appeared as they looked around Lisa’s room. She’d already shown everyone else their spaces within the mansion and Lisa’s was the last stop.
After pushing the windows open and looking outside, Lisa took a moment to take in the beauty of Aristocrat Hills. She turned around and placed her hand over her heart. Overwhelmed with appreciation, she ran over to Nine and wrapped her arms around her body. “You have no idea how much this means to me and my family,” she said looking at her brothers, son and mother.
“We are all family,” Nine smiled. “That is why you are here.”
Bridget walked over to Nine and softly grabbed one of her hands. “The graciousness you’re showing us by sharing your home is…I can’t explain it.” She was at a loss for words.
“It is a huge house. Outside of my husband and son, we do not have the need for all of the space. The only thing I ask is that you refrain from going into the basement.”
“We’re clear on that,” Bridget said, wanting no problems.
Kerrick II pulled on Bridget’s leg and she picked the two-year-old up. The baby was a light-skinned version of her grandfather.
“Aren’t we, children?” Bridget asked.
They all nodded yes, no one trying to upset Nine. Especially after seeing how the others were handled at the meeting with being cut out of the fortune.
“You were the neglected one, weren’t you?” Bridget asked.
Nine exhaled and suppressed the sadness that lately seemed to plague her life. “I was, before grandfather gave me this home.” She looked around Lisa’s room. “I spent so much time inside of it that I am still trying to find my place in the world. Amongst people.”
“Kerrick spoke of you before,” Lisa said. “He spoke of you as if you were the reaper coming to take him away. And now he’s gone?”
“I guess a man should be careful about his predictions.” She grinned slyly. “They just may come true.”
“Why are you doing this?” Jeremy asked rubbing the nub of his missing arm. “You could’ve put us in an apartment and we would’ve been grateful. Why let us live here?”
“This place has over fifty different rooms. I could not live in all of them if I tried.” She paused. “And I helped you because…well, because you are just like me. Thrown away like trash when all you wanted was an ounce of grandfather’s love. Of anybody’s love.”
Nine walked deeper into the room and toward the window. She sat down on the large ledge and looked out at her vineyard.
“I helped you because I know what it is like to witness your mother love a man who could never love her in public.” She crossed her arms over her chest and looked over at Bridget. “Maybe this home is the place where the broken come to be repaired. To be healed. I guess we will have to wait and see.”
She looked down at the vineyard again, which secretly held Fran’s body. Every drop of wine produced by the Prophets would be touched with the soil of her flesh.
“I knew my father had money but I never thought it was like this,” Wagner said. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Well as my new uncles and aunt, the first thing we need to do is make you look like the money you possess. I am going to have my glam crew get you together and I have already made an appointment for you to get new teeth, Porter, and for you to get another prosthetic arm, Jeremy. After your appointments, you will all be taken shopping. We are Prophets and it is important that we always dress the part. We will show the others what a legitimate Prophet really looks like.”
****
Nine removed the large decorative pillows off the bed with Leaf and placed them on the chaise across the room. “Why do they have to live here, Nine?”
“Not you too,” she said rolling her eyes.
“What does that mean?” he asked pulling the comforter down on his side of the bed before sitting on the edge of it to remove his socks. He lay down and eased into the pocket of the covers.
“You sound like them. The Prophets who believe that just because they shared grandfather and grandmother’s blood that they are purer than we are.” She paused. “I will show them what it is like to be on the outside of my grace. They fucked up by coming at me and trying to take my money, and now they know.” She got into bed and nestled closely next to him.
“You’re like your grandfather in more than one way, Nine.”
“Meaning?”
“I saw what you’ve been building in the house. Finally.”
“You have not seen everything.”
“I’ve seen enough.” He maneuvered his body so that he was lying on his side and looking into her eyes. “You have two people, including Alice, under the house. In a prison that you made. Banker is going crazy and is acting like you used to. What’s going on?”
“Why would anybody be in prison? Because they deserve to be there.”
“Why not kill them?” he yelled. “You’re not a warden. And if you do this shit, it’ll come back on you in one way or another.”
“It already has,” she joked.
“Do you believe in karma?”
“You have got to be kidding me, Leaf,” Nine laughed. “You are speaking to the one person who lives, sleeps and breathes karma.”
“And yet you choose to imprison Banker and Alice anyway.” He pointed at his head. “Is there anything in your mind that realizes that shit is wrong? Don’t you remember how you felt when it was done to you?”
“What about their karma? How do you know they are not getting what is due them?” She lay on her back and looked up at the ceiling. “Grandfather, imprisoned me for most of my life. And look how I turned out. I want to give them a chance to be rehabilitated.”
“And if they can’t?”
“Then I guess I will have to put them out of their misery.”
“You’ve been planning this for a moment.”
She giggled. “Yes, but I originally thought it would be just Alice. Which is why I allowed her to li
ve after I warned her and she betrayed me anyway. Imagine my surprise when I found out that Banker was working with her. After I give them what they deserve, I will release them from their misery. Whether through pain or death.”
****
Nine thought she was dreaming when she was suddenly awakened by Leaf’s soft but panicky voice. “Nine, Nine, wake up, bae.”
When she opened her eyes and turned on the lamp, she saw Isabel sitting on top of him with a knife to his throat. The tip of the blade was shivering and she was straddling his waist.
Carefully, Nine eased out of bed and tiptoed behind Isabel. Her heart thumped in her chest as she noticed that with one slash of the blade she could end her husband’s life, killing Nine emotionally in the process. If ever there was a time to be cautious, now was it. “Isabel,” Nine said softly, “you cannot hurt him. Please.”
“But the colors are loud.” She paused, moving the blade two inches closer to his throat. “He wants me like the others and no other man will have me in that way.”
“Baby, I don’t—”
“Shhh,” Nine said placing her finger over her lips to silence him. He was liable to say the wrong thing and get himself killed.
In Isabel’s erratic mental state, earlier that night she eased into bed like she always had when Leaf was gone, before they got back together. And Leaf, believing she was Nine, moved to have sex with her before realizing who she was.
His touch made Isabel snap.
When he was speechless, Nine placed her hands softly on Isabel’s shoulders. She lowered her head and whispered into her ear. “Do not do this to me,” she said. “Do not take him from me. I love him.” She gazed down at her husband who was the most fearful she’d ever seen him.
