Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 97951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 490(@200wpm)___ 392(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 490(@200wpm)___ 392(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
She was quiet for a spell. “…He really did all these horrible things, Lennox? Don’t respond, ’cause it’s not a question. It’s me sayin’ it aloud. We’re talking ’bout the same Grandpa who cleaned my scraped knee when I fell ridin’ my new bike he bought me on my 7th birthday. The same Grandpa who told me I could be anything I wanted to be when I grew up, then introduced me to a lady who was one of the first female firefighters in all of Houston… He taught me how to ride a horse, then bought me a pony for God’s sake! I still have the picture of him holding me when I was born. He was actually cryin’ tears of joy like he’d just won the lottery.
“He was like… Santa and Mr. Rogers rolled into one person, only he was my grandfather, and I loved him… I loved him…” She sniffed – fighting emotions he didn’t get a chance to have in life. Grandpa hadn’t claimed her for his evildoings. He marked me with the letter of the beast. “My mind knows the truth now. It’s my heart that’s broken.”
“Yeah, finding out the hard, ugly truth tends to do that.”
“I knew that, uh, Grandpa had dirty dealin’s in the business world. How could I not?” She chuckled miserably. “…But I didn’t think he’d do anything like this to family, you know? Not to Daddy. Not to my brother.” She cried for a bit, then cleared her throat. He didn’t interrupt, just let the dust settle. “I gotta mourn who I thought he was, and accept who he actually is. I need to get on a plane and go to Mama’s grave again. Visit her. I know she’s been seeing this… I have to apologize to her for me thinking she was bein’ dramatic.”
“No you don’t. She knows you were still a kid back then, Silva. You didn’t know any better.”
“…But you did. We’re only three years apart, and I’m an adult now. I should have known better. How could I be so blind?!”
“Three and a half, but who’s counting?”
“You know what’s so crazy to me? Roman said it so matter-of-factly, you know? What happened… Like he was describin’ a bad job interview with a negative CEO. Like it was no big deal. It showed me just how traumatized he was, Len, and he doesn’t even know it. Showed me how traumatized y’all are, really. ’Cludin’ Kage. I wanna tell you that I’m sorry. Sorry won’t fix this, all this time we’ve been estranged, but I’ll say it all the same because it’s long overdue.”
“Thank you. I accept your apology. It wasn’t all your fault, though. I could’ve been nicer. I made it easier for Grandpa to drive a wedge between us because I had been actin’ up. If we’d not been bumping heads at the time, it would’ve been harder for him to pull us apart.”
His sister was quiet on the other end for a long time. He gave her that space. That silence. He figured it was a lot to take in.
“So, I guess I shoulda asked you this at the beginning of the conversation, but I’ve been up all night, runnin’ on fumes. Not thinking straight. Sleep deprived ever since I spoke to you and Roman.”
“What do you want to ask me?”
“What have you been up to? How’s life been treatin’ you?”
“Life’s been difficult at times, baby sister, but it’s got some really pretty silver linings, if I say so myself.” He glanced at his reflection in the rear-view mirror. He was all smiles.
“Yeah? The gym, right? I can’t wait to see your plans for it. You know I want to help with design and things like that—if you need me of course.”
“Yeah, that’s an idea that’s worth exploring. The fitness center is definitely one of the things going right, but there’s something else, too. I ran into an old friend. Girl from when I worked at The Red Rooster. Always had a yearnin’ for her.”
“Oh, really? This is more than a fling, huh? You were always a ladies man. I used to hate when my friends would gush over you when they’d come over. ‘Oh, your brother is so dreamy!’, ‘Lennox is sooo cute!’ I’d say, ‘Gross!’ To me, you were the same big brother who’d fart in my face and would run off laughin’, leave the kitchen a mess and watch a bunch of gross, gory movies at high volume, and then laugh about all the killing. Let’s not talk about your porno DVD collection. Must’ve been hundreds of them. You were disgusting.” She giggled, and he couldn’t help but follow suit.
“Yeah, I guess I was kinda gross back then. This is the real deal, though.”
“What’s her name?”
“Nadia. We met about ten years ago at the restaurant. Both of us worked there. You might remember me talking about her sometimes.”