Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 136731 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 684(@200wpm)___ 547(@250wpm)___ 456(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 136731 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 684(@200wpm)___ 547(@250wpm)___ 456(@300wpm)
Speak of the devil.
I turn to Miguel. “Is there anywhere I can speak privately?” I nod down to my phone. “This is important.”
Miguel stands, holding his hand out to Ling. “I would be happy to take Miss Ling for a tour of the house.” Smiling like a kid in a candy store, Ling takes his hand and moves to his side. Miguel looks over at me. “The house is large. The shortened tour will take at least fifteen minutes.”
I nod my appreciation. “Perfect.”
Once I’m left alone, I answer. “I was wondering when you’d call.”
The irate woman on the line yells a rushed, “Are you out of your damn mind, Julius?”
It’s so good to hear from her I don’t even bother admonishing her for cussing at me. Instead, I smile. “I take it you got the delivery.”
“The delivery?” I hear the astonishment in her voice. “The delivery?” She pauses a moment before shouting, “A delivery is a bunch of flowers or-or-or a new DVD player. A fruit basket is a delivery, Julius. This is not a delivery. This was freight. Cargo! A goddamn shipment, Julius!”
Chuckling through my nose, I divert attention away from me. “Are you gonna yell at me all day, or are you gonna let me speak to my niece?”
“A car, Julius. It was a car.”
My smile dampens. “Why do you keep saying was?” After a moment of silence, I close my eyes, and grit out, “Tonya, tell me you didn’t send it back.”
A sigh, then a defeated, “No, I didn’t send it back. But I should’ve. And if she hadn’t seen it, I would have.” My sister sounds tired as she tries to argue with me. “You can’t do things like that, Jules. You aren’t responsible for us. You need to stop buying things for us—things we don’t need, mind you—because you have guilt. Unwarranted guilt.” Her voice softens. “You’re not responsible, sweetheart. You never were.”
My chest tightens at her softly spoken words. “You saying she isn’t going to need a car?” Silence. “She’s sixteen now. Any day now, you’re going to take her, and she’s going to get her license. And before you argue, she will get her license. She’s smart. Like her mama.”
She growls and I know I have her. “But a Mercedes? What sixteen-year-old needs a Mercedes? Sixteen-year-olds need a bomb. A rust bucket. Not a fifty-seven thousand dollar car.”
I grin. “You went on the damn website, didn’t you? You probably calculating how many budget dinners you could afford with that money.”
She doesn’t laugh, but I hear her smile on her whispered reply. “Nine thousand one hundred and twenty-five.”
Laughing, I shake my head. “You’re not on a budget anymore, Tonya. You can live a little. Buy clothes, visit a spa, get your hair done, go see a movie without smuggling in premade popcorn.”
Sniffles. Then more sniffles. “I love you. You know that, don’t you?”
I sober immediately. If there is one thing I would never question, it would be my sister’s love for me. “I know it. I feel it. And I love you more, tater tot. Now let me speak to her. Gotta wish my girl a happy birthday.”
A quick shuffle of the phone sounds through the speaker before my niece, Keera, comes online, screeching, “Oh, my God! Oh, sweet baby Jesus! LORD JESUS! Like, oh my God! I can’t believe it! It’s amazing! I don’t believe it! Oh, Lord!”
Quelling my laughter, I try sounding like a father figure should. “You best stop using the Lord’s name in vain, Keke. Birthday or not, you hush now.”
Using her inside voice, she still rushes out her words, but uses a milder tone. “The delivery guy asked for me. By name. And Miosha was over at the time. My stars, Uncle Jay, she was pea green with envy. Like, super green. Before I’d even signed my name, the entire school knew about my new car. Popular people I’d never spoken to at school suddenly started saying hi to me. Boys are trying to talk to me, too. You have no idea what this has done for my popularity.” She adds a whispered, high-pitched, “Epic.”
Boys?
My brow dips into a frown. “Boys? You tell those boys your Uncle Julius knows people that’ll put ‘em on a blacklist for life, girl.”
She laughs softly. “I remember the rules, Uncle Jay. No dating till after high school. And I’m totally okay with that.” I hear the smile in her voice. “But it’s nice to have the attention.”
My heart swells with pride.
I love Keera like she’s my own. And Tonya was right. I do feel responsible for the both of them, but not in a burdened way. I would lay down my life for the two of them.
Keera’s a smart girl. She’s going to do great things in life. I can feel it.
Now, Tonya is smart too, but Keera was unplanned, and Tonya had her young. Keeping her meant there was no time for studying. My sister was thrust into work with a toddler by the age of sixteen.