Evangeline drove me to the airport. It was nice for her to do it and insisted on doing it even when I told her I could just get myself an Uber. Other than the fact that I could handle getting myself to the airport, I didn’t want to give Curtis the chance of seeing her again. I knew that despite the warning, my sly uncle would still try to squirm his way between Evangeline and me.
I made sure to kiss her in front of Curtis to rub it in his face that she was mine. I wasn’t possessive but the thought of Curtis coming in between us didn’t sit well with me. He could take all the other girls I’ve screwed and had fun with, just not Evangeline. I wasn’t even sure what made her different from the other girls I’ve been with. It just felt like that.
The flight to New York was uneventful. We arrived in the penthouse that the family owned and I was resting in my room. Curtis was out- probably looking for a girl to screw- and Papa had a business meeting to attend to. It was only Nana and me left in the penthouse and I was sure she was resting up in their room until I heard her outside my bedroom door.
I got up from the bed and opened the door. “Hi, Nana.”
She smiled and walked into my room, looking at my already messed up bed and the phone sitting on my bedside table. I was actually waiting for Evangeline’s call after I sent her a text that I was already in New York. I knew she was busy- she told me when she drove me to the airport that she had a ton of things to do this evening- and that she was going to be the one to call me hence why I was waiting for my phone to ring.
“Why didn’t you bring Evangeline? I was hoping for a day out with that pretty lady,” Nana said, sitting on my bed.
I sat beside her and chuckled. “She’s busy. Papa did spring this at me at the very last minute.”
“Because he knew you wouldn’t come if you had to give much thought about it,” Nana told me, with a small smile on her face, “Is that the only reason why she didn’t come? Or you didn’t want her to? Your grandfather told me about the incident last night with Curtis.”
I sighed and knew that she was gonna bring it up at one point. Nana hated seeing Curtis and I fight. If my Dad was Papa’s favorite child, hers was Curtis. “He bought her a dress, Nan. We both know him well enough to know what he’s up to.”
“He’s done it a thousand times. What makes this time different?”
I looked at my grandmother and then thought of Evangeline. I thought of the girl with fiery red hair and beautiful green eyes. She was beautiful as she was intoxicating. But more than the physical attraction I had for her, it was the way she was the completely lured me in and sealed the deal.
“She cooks for me. She listens to my ramblings about the most absurd and random things. She talks to me like I didn’t come from a big, wealthy family. She sees me, Nan,” I whispered and knew that as my heartbeat raced and thumped louder, I was slowly on the verge of admitting that I’ve fallen in love with Evangeline, “She likes me because I’m Everett, Nan, and not because of who my family is. I’ve never met a girl like that.”
The smile on Nana’s face made my eyebrows furrow as she reached out and touched my hand. “You sound just like your father when he first met your Mom.”
The mention of my parents washed the smile off my own face. I knew the story well enough. “I’d rather not have you compare us with them.”
Nana squeezed my hand. “You’ve heard your parents’ story from the rest but never from me.”
She was right about that. Every time my mother was brought up, all my aunts could say was how bad she was of a person. Nana never added anything to the conversation and I always thought it was because she was a good person. I never imagined that there was a different version.
Nana patted my lap with her other hand and intertwined the hand she was holding with hers. I felt like I was six years old again and she was about to tell me a story before bed. “Your mother worked for the other business.”
The moment she said it, I looked at her with so much surprise. “You know about it?”
“As grouchy as your grandfather can be, the most admirable trait about him is that he is honest and true. He told me everything his family did when we were just dating,” she said softly, “I’ve tried for years to convince him to let it go but he wouldn’t.”
I honestly thought that Nana didn’t know. I wanted her not to know. But here she was now, with a sad and guilty shine in her eyes and I knew that just like me, she couldn’t have done anything about it. “You said my mother worked at the brothel?”
Nana nodded sadly. “Clara came from a poor family. Her father died early and her mother married a man who was useless. Clara couldn’t finish school because of the financial crisis her family had. Your father found her in the streets crying after being fired at a salon.”
“And dad offered her to work as a prostitute?” I asked with complete disgust.
Nana laughed and shook her head. “Oh heavens no. At that time, he simply asked if she could pretend to be his girlfriend for the next few hours so he could get out of the tight situation he was in with another girl fawning at him. He offered to pay her. One of your grandfather’s associate spotted them and Eddie told him what was going on, thinking that Adam was a good old family pal and that he could trust him.”
“It was Adam who offered Clara the job at the brothel and since she was in such a tight bind, she agreed. But she and Eddie continued to see each other; had conversations and talked but she never mentioned anything to him. Eddie didn’t know about this until they met at the brothel when he was asked by Victor to check on things. He was furious.”
There was a fond smile on Nana’s face as she recounted the story. “Edward was so angry because he thought that with the money he had given Clara as payment for pretending to be his girlfriend, he thought she could get herself into another decent job. He took her out of the brothel and made sure she got herself a decent job.
“It was then that he realized he had fallen in love with her.”
“And I guess that’s where I come in the picture, huh?” I asked, trying to imagine my father going door to door to his friends’ businesses just so he could ask if my mother could work for them.
Nana nodded and then the smile on her face slowly vanished. “But Adam was furious. He liked Clara too, you see, but she never agreed to go to bed with him. She would make excuses and when he found out that it was because of Edward and that he was the one who removed her from the brothel, he pulled out his shares. The brothel suffered.”
Suddenly, I remembered the other things I was told, the ones I never shared with anyone, the secrets I found out about my family. I waited for Nana to say more but she just sighed sadly and simply said, “And then your Mom left after she gave birth to you. Without any explanation. Edward was devastated but he couldn’t continue on to be depressed because he had to take care of you.”
I clenched my fist. This was the part I knew too well because my aunts repeated them over and over to me. But the thing was, I knew the truth that none of them did. I knew why my mother left. I knew who gave her the ultimatum. I knew because I searched for answers when I went to her funeral. No one expected me to come. But my mother had and she told me the truth with the letters she wrote for me.
Because the one who destroyed my family was none other than my own grandfather.
But Nana didn’t need to know that. I just sighed and then lied on the bed, looking at Nana who looked back at me with her warm eyes. “But that never meant she didn’t love you. She was so excited to raise you, Everett. She told me about the things she wanted you to experience.”
I knew that because mom mentioned it in her letters but it was nice to know that Nana knew about it too. It meant that they had a relationship and that mom wasn’t completely hated by my father’s family. She patted my lap.
“Go get some sleep, Everett. We’re having dinner with the Brolens later.”
I could only nod and then closed my eyes for a nap as Nana made her way out. As soon as I heard the door lock, I stared up at the ceiling and thought about the time I flew to where my mother’s wake was. I could still remember it clearly. I could still remember the surprise on people’s faces when they realized that I was her son.
And then they gave me the letter that she had meant for me to have.
I wasn’t sure when I had fallen asleep but I woke up with my phone vibrating on the bed. Evangeline was calling. With tired eyes, my hand searched for my phone somewhere on the bed and answered when I finally found it. “Hello?”
“Hello, sleepyhead,” Evangeline’s voice filled my ears and I couldn’t stop the lazy smile from forming on my face when I heard her, “I miss you.”
My heart melted at her words. “I miss you way worse than I imagined and it’s only been a day. I think I’ve spent too much time with you.”
“Separation anxiety,” she said laughing, “You better not be out scouting New York girls there, Ev.”
“I’m a faithful man,” I told her, “And I’m serious about you.”
I could just imagine her smiling at what I said and we continued on talking about how her day went. I told her about the conversation I had with Nana and pondered if I should tell her the knowledge I had of my mother but refrained from doing so. I trusted Evangeline but that information scarred me when I found out about it. She met me as a broken boy, I didn’t want her to think that I’ve become bitter and angry because of that information.
I wasn’t sure how long we’ve been talking but there was a knock on my door and Papa came inside. He was still wearing a suit but different from the one I’ve seen him in earlier when he went out for a lunch meeting. “Uh, I gotta go, babe. I’ll call you later tonight?”
“Okay,” Evangeline said, “But if I don’t answer, it’s because I’m asleep. I’ll see you soon, baby.”
Papa stood in the middle of the middle of the room, seemingly unsure of what he was supposed to do. He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his dress pants and nodded at me as a greeting. “Your grandmother told me to wake you up so you could get ready. We’ll leave in half an hour.”
I didn’t move from the bed. My relationship with my grandfather has never been tainted as it was now. I wasn’t sure if he realized that I knew what he had done to me, what he had cost me just so he could continue to have his empire. I was unsure if he realized that besides the brothel business going against my principles, I didn’t want to continue a business that cost me my mother.
“Okay,” I said, after a while. I stood up and shuffled to the closet that I knew was stocked with suits and fancy clothes, things I’ve worn my entire life until I left home and was left with an option to choose what I wanted to wear and now rely on the fashion guru that my aunts loved to hire. I picked out a simple brown suit and was ready to head to the bathroom to take a quick shower and freshen up when I heard Papa call my name.
“Everett.”
I turned to look at him. He looked odd standing in the middle of my room. Rarely was I left in a room with my grandfather and I could count on one hand how many times that had occurred. “Yes, Papa?”
He let out a long exhale that he must’ve been holding the entire time and then sat on my unmade bed. I remained rooted to my spot but he didn’t beckon me to sit down. “Your grandmother told me you had quite a talk.”
“I assumed she was clueless about the brothel.”
Papa smiled; a rare occurrence too. “Honesty is one of the foundations that our relationship is built. I told her everything when we were dating.”
“She mentioned that.”
“I don’t want you doing the same thing with Evangeline,” he said, bluntly, “She told me that you were in love with that girl, even if you haven’t admitted it out loud. She reckons it’s a grandmother’s instinct.”
I looked at my grandfather and wondered if he told her about how he ruined his own son’s relationship and put him into depression. “So you don’t want me to build my own relationship with honesty? Is that what you’re trying to tell me here? I don’t think that’s a good advice, Pa.”
He sighed and tried to adjust the cuffs of his suit. “That’s not it, Everett. Evangeline’s new in your life. You just met her. You don’t know what her background is. You’re not sure if she’s someone you could fully trust.”
“I think,” I began to say, “That I have good judgment and in my opinion, Evangeline’s someone I can trust.”
Papa didn’t respond to that and I headed back to the bathroom but he called me again. “Everett, there’s another thing I came here to talk to you about.”
Again, I turned around to face him. “What?”
“Louisa talked to you about Clara. Her version of your mother. She absolutely adored Clara,” he said quietly and then sighed, “As much as I say that the foundation of mine and Louisa’s relationship is honesty, there’s something I’ve never told her about.”
My heart began to race. Was he confessing? “What would that be?”
“I drove your mother away. Gave her money to move in a different country, far away where Edward couldn’t locate her,” his voice was so soft and quiet and I could even see guilt in his eyes, “In my mind at that time, it was either I lose the business my family had worked hard on and had survived on, or lose the woman who was my grandchild’s mother. I knew we could afford to raise you. I didn’t think that by paying her to go away would cost me my son.”
I clenched my fist, trying my best to remain calm. No matter how long I’ve carried the burden of this truth about myself, hearing it coming from Papa’s mouth was a strike harder. “Why are you telling me this?”
“Because she had wanted to be your mother but I wanted her out of our family. You deserved to know this truth, Everett,” Papa said slowly, “And I want you to understand the measures I would take to keep this business going. That’s how much this business means to me.”
I was at lost for words. I wasn’t sure if he was apologizing or sending me off with a warning. As I stayed rooted and shocked on my spot, he exited the room. It took me five minutes to calm myself and collect my thoughts before I proceeded to shower and change. In front of everyone else, I knew we needed to put up a front and act like he just didn’t confess to me that he ruined my family and threatened me of what he was capable of doing as long as the business continues to run.
I didn’t want to imagine what kind of things my grandfather could. I didn’t want to imagine him doing bad things. Growing up, he was the man I’ve looked up to and made sure I made proud. But this wasn’t something that I could just move forthwith, this held consequences that would scar me for the rest of my life.
Because those women in that brothel deserved better. They weren’t toys for boys to play with. They should never sell their bodies like that, no matter the reason. If my grandfather wanted to help those kinds of people, he should’ve hired them for the real estate company even if they didn’t have the credentials or helped them out. I didn’t know how he could do it but he was a smart man, he could’ve thought of something. Just not this.
The rest of the night flew by for me. The dinner with the Brolens remained uneventful and I was remained quiet the rest of the evening. I knew that Papa noticed but he didn’t mind me or put me on the spot. All night long, I just simply wanted to call Evangeline and tell her everything that happened, the talk I had with Nana, Papa’s confession.
But as I tried to call my girlfriend, her phone remained unattended and I figured she must’ve been asleep by then so there I was, after dinner was over and we were back in the penthouse and I was back in the confines of the bed I was going to sleep in, staring at the ceiling with my grandfather’s words echoing in the back of my mind.
Just as they repeated in my brain, I thought of Evangeline, how he didn’t want her to know, how it was a subtle threat that he could possibly eliminate her out of my life if I backed out of this or if I tell her. Suddenly, I feared for her and what Papa could possibly do to her. I never pegged my grandfather to be a dangerous man but with his words, the possibility remained and it scared me.