“Everything is fine. You know I wanted to talk to you about my older brother. I would have recommended him for the job initially, but he has a record and I know you’re strict on that.”
“Okay. Well you know what, I trust your judgment. If he is capable of managing the complex, hire him. We can make an exception this time. Just this time,” I said firmly.
“Really!” she gushed out.
“Yes,” I said in a distracted tone.
“Thank you, Alexis. I will let him know. He is a really good worker.”
I looked at Santana and tried to figure out something fun we could go do today. Maybe a nice drive to San Diego would be cool. To get our minds off what had happened the night before.
“Will you be okay on your own today? I need to take the day off.”
“Oh sure!”
“Great. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
I ended the call.
Santana yanked me so I fell back in his arms. I laughed. “You feel like driving today?”
“If that will put a smile on your face, yeah.”
“Let’s go to Sea World.”
“I ain’t never been. I always wanted to go though.”
Aww. My baby missed out of so much growing up. “Well, get up. We will go today.”
He looked at me and said, “And you question how much I love you. How can a nigga not? Man, you are that bitch. Never doubt that shit.”
I smiled deeply at him.
We took a quick shower together, got dressed, I packed a few snacks, and we set out for Sea World.
Chapter 22
The next day, I was refreshed and cheerful. I had managed to put the incident with my sister and Santana behind me. Anytime the image of them screwing flashed before my eyes, I remembered his words: how he said that he loved me and no other bitch mattered. I am that bitch.
When I got to my office, I noticed that Marisol was acting very strange. I thought it was weird because I was at a point where I had no more issues with her and I was happy she was working for me. Yet, I couldn’t ignore how bizarre she was acting.
She didn’t bother saying good morning to me, first off, and she had this odd look on her face when we made eye contact, while she talked on the phone.
As I sat down at my desk, I heard her whisper into the phone, “She’s here.”
I set my stuff down. “Morning.”
She ended the call quickly, placed her hands together, and took a deep breath. “Alexis, we need to talk.”
I arched an eyebrow at her. “Okay. Talk.”
“As you know, I have been assisting you for the past month and a half, and I have been really doing a lot of your work. Which I don’t mind. I wanted to make things easier on you and your father. So one thing I did was start ledgers for every complex. I started each one from year to date. I wanted to make sure every account was properly balanced and all funds and expenses were accounted for. The problem was, I noted there was a huge withdrawal taken out of the Cerritos complex. Then what was odd was there were staggered amounts taken out of the other accounts and the huge sum taken out of Cerritos complex was put back. This was fine because it was put back. But the staggered amounts of withdrawals taken out of all the accounts had no receipts or invoices to explain what the withdrawals were for. What was funny was that when I added the amounts together just to have a total of missing assets, it equaled the amount that was taken out the Cerritos complex.” She pulled off her glasses. “Then there was another withdrawal for ten thousand.”
I was startled by all she knew. But I kept my cool. “What are you trying to say?”
“I think I’ve said it. You’ve been stealing from your father.”
I stood from my seat. “You ungrateful bitch! Who the fuck do you think you are, implying that I would steal from my father?” I raged.
She placed a hand to her chest. “Calm down.”
“I’m going to personally call my father and have him escort your fat, nosy, slandering ass off the premises.”
Her eyes got watery and her lips trembled at my insults. “Well, he is already on the way. I called him. I am no longer comfortable working for him knowing what I know about you.”
“First off, I didn’t steal anything from my father! Secondly, the one who will be in hot water is you.” I aimed a finger at her. “You have obviously been snooping and found some kind of way to access the accounts. Probably so you can steal to feed your bastard children.”
She gasped. “How dare you call my kids bastards! And if you want to know, your father gave me access to all the accounts. He trusted the both of us. Maybe that was the mistake. You can’t be trusted.”
“Get the fuck out of my office!”
She stood to her feet. “I will wait outside until your father gets here so he can see for himself what you have been doing!” She walked out.
I panicked and loaded up my computer. I had to figure out something so my dad didn’t discover that I had taken $20,000 from his accounts. Maybe I could show that the money was pulled to that bitch’s building and convince my dad that she had taken it. But I was shocked to discover that when I tried to log on, it said, Access denied!
Now I was filled with fury. I wanted to kick her fat ass.
Yes. I knew that I had taken money from my father, but it wasn’t her place to spy on me. I had every intention of giving my father his money back! With her meddling, I was going to have to come up with a lie to tell him!
My father walked into my office with that bitch in tow.
“Daddy, she is lying and spying on me. Give me a chance to explain. I think she took the money and is trying to frame me!”
He held his hands up at me and said sternly, “Be quiet.” She went behind her desk and he followed her over.
“But—”
“Marisol has worked for me for over ten years. And she is a good employee.”
As she went over all the ledgers and each account they accompanied, I sat there looking stupid. My father looked so disappointed in me. I looked away.
“What do you have to say for yourself?”
I put my head down. “I needed the money and I had every intention of putting it back. I’m sorry.”
“Baby, you are my first born and I love you. But you stole twenty thousand dollars from me and you were willing to put it on Marisol, an innocent person. What if I were to believe you and fire her? Her family would be out on the streets. Did you know her husband is back in the hospital? I don’t know what you were thinking, baby. If you needed extra money, depending on what it was for you could have come to me.”
Key words: depending on what it was for. If I had told him it was for Santana’s debt he wouldn’t have given it to me. That’s why I took it.
“I don’t know what is going on in your head, but, baby, I’m going to have to let you go.”
I gasped. “What? Daddy, no.” Tears started slipping from my eyes even though they were closed.
“I’m sorry, baby. Marisol is going to cut you a check, but it will be for four weeks’ pay to hold you over until you find another job.”
I was bawling as my father spoke.
“I don’t know if you did this fo . . .” He stopped speaking and cleared his throat. I knew he was finally going to go in on me about Santana.
But he didn’t. He said instead, “I hope no one is negatively influencing you. But I know you’re grown and you are going to make your own decisions no matter what I say. I just hope you remember all the things your mother and I have taught you.”
“Give me another chance,” I begged.
“I can’t. The fact of the matter is that when it comes to finances, I will never trust you again. You are still my baby.” He started crying between words. “I love you. But you have to go. I have too much going on. There are things eating at me . . . I don’t need this.”
I covered my face with my hands, feeling horrible for letting my daddy down so bad that he didn’t even want to look at me. I bowed my head and cried into my forearms.
> He continued to speak. “In two weeks, your mother is throwing our anniversary party. She said you don’t return her calls so she wanted me to let you know that if you bother to show up, not to bring Santana.”
I was no longer listening to my father. My focus was on Marisol. “I hope your husband dies!”
“Alexis!” my father shouted at me.
I grabbed my purse, not bothering with my attaché case, and ran out of his office. I threw myself into my car and sobbed for a good fifteen minutes before I drove away.
Chapter 23
I had to go on a series of seven interviews before I was able to get a job. And it wasn’t where I hoped to get one. Instead of a job at Chase Bank or a position as a CPA, I was hired at Nick’s Checks Cashing on Atlantic Boulevard, in North Long Beach. I brought home peanuts: a measly $650 every two weeks. When I worked for my father, I was making $55,000 a year. After I paid Santana and my car note, our insurance and cell phone bills, not to mention all the utilities, I barely had anything left to last me until the next payday. Good thing my father wasn’t making me pay rent at his house.
The employees at the job were extremely ghetto and rude. At least once a day, one of the jealous bitches would call me a stuck-up bitch. When I told my supervisor, Manny, an older Hispanic man, he told me to deal with it on my own. The two who gave me the most problems were a fat chick named Mona, who had three kids to feed but she was worried about me, and an average-sized, plain-looking Jane named Keana, who had two kids. They were always talking shit about me and what made it harder was the fact that Mona and Keana were on my shift, so I had to work with them. The men who worked there were mad that I couldn’t give them the time of day. Despite how they treated me, I never showed them that they were getting to me. I would come in with my head held high even though all I would hear were snickers from the booths next to me. I knew it was jealousy. It must have just killed them that they couldn’t look like me, dress like me, and have a nice car like mine.
There was always a lot of tension when I went to work. Part of the reason they didn’t like me was because I didn’t associate with those bum bitches. In my opinion, they just weren’t on my level. Both of them lived in the Carmelitos, located not too far from our work site. Their conversations always consisted of their kids and, of course, their different baby daddies, child support, and how many food stamps would be on their EBT card. I thought they were so pathetic and it wasn’t my fault that I was better than them. I knew judging by their conversations that I made better decisions than they did. Also, I actually had a man. Those miserable bitches didn’t. And it wasn’t my fault that I didn’t grow up in the projects and my mother didn’t have a case number. So work life was miserable for me. Even my days off were bad, Tuesday and Wednesday. I hated that. When I worked for my father I was off every weekend and could take an extra day if I wanted to.
And although things were good between Santana and me, I would be a liar if I said I was completely happy. I missed my friend Arianna and my family, minus my sister. By my not working for my father and not going to church, I felt completely alienated from my family. I wished they would stop being stubborn and my mother would accept the fact that I was staying with Santana. That’s why I was surprised as hell to get a text from my friend Justin, saying he was back in town and that he wanted me to meet him at his favorite place for lunch: Roscoe’s on the eastside of Long beach. Needless to say, I was super excited to see him. He said he wanted to fill me in on how the tour was and catch up with what was going on with me. I was super proud of him. So I agreed to meet him around one P.M.
My lunch break couldn’t come fast enough. I hit the 710 Freeway and got to the Roscoe’s in a good ten minutes. Justin was already there and seated, looking at a menu.
I rushed over to his table and he stood, laughing, looking as handsome as ever. Justin was tall, lanky, and dark skinned. He wore skinny and neat dreads and had the prettiest smile.
“It’s so good to see you!” I exclaimed.
“You too.”
We sat down across from each other. “So how was the tour?”
He threw his head back laughed and clapped his hands. “A lot of fun. I love working for Trey Songz.” He went on and talked excitedly about the tour, the different stars he saw, what it was like from state to state, the culture of the people, the food, the night life. It sounded very exciting.
“Congrats. No one deserves it more than you.” I winked at him.
“Thank you, babes . . . So. The beautiful Alexis.” He studied me for a minute before saying, “I invited Arianna to lunch too, but she refused to come. It confused me a little bit. And of course I heard about what happened with Dannon.”
“A lot has gone on since you’ve gone, and as much as I love you, I really don’t need your judgment or advice.”
He used his index and middle finger like he was zipping his lips.
“I’m in love. His name is Santana. He is fine, sexy, manly, and he loves me. Dannon was all I had ever known as far as a man. You know that. But for some reason, Santana awakened and started something in me at the same time. It is hard to describe, but I fell for him hard. I haven’t quite come down yet. It’s like he put a spell on me, that, honestly, I don’t want him to break.”
The waitress came over and took our orders. I quickly looked at the menu and ordered Scoes Special #12. Justin ordered the same. We both ordered glasses of orange juice to go with our meal.
“I didn’t think that Dannon would take the breakup so bad and would kill himself. But everyone wants to blame me for it. To be with Santana, I have to choose between him, and my family and friends.”
“Well, you’re my friend, I love you, and I don’t know Santana to judge him or go by what people are saying. Lord knows I have my skeletons.”
“What do you mean?”
He looked at me and took a deep breath. “I have something to tell you and I’m going to need you not to judge me. Because it’s a big one. No one knows yet, not even Arianna.”
The waitress came with our orange juice. I took a sip of mine and waited to see what he was going to say.
“What is it?” It couldn’t be anything bad like what I was dealing with.
“I’m in love with a man.”
My juice splattered from my mouth.
Justin threw back his head and laughed.
“Wait! Did I hear you right?”
“Yes, baby. I’m gay.”
“How? When?” I asked this because Justin had dated girls when we were in school and even girls in the church.
“I have always known. But I couldn’t tell you. We all grew up in the church. You know what the Bible says about homosexuality. So over the years, I tried to convince myself that I was just confused. But after the tour, I pretty much accepted that I am gay. I met a guy on tour. He’s a drummer for several concert venues. Alexis, I feel like I’m in love with him. I don’t know what my family will do to me if they find out. So please don’t mention any of this.”
“I’m not. I swear. I will take it to the grave. But what are you going to do?”
“I mean, I am just now accepting that I am gay. I have fought this for years. So for the time being, I’m going to keep it a secret until I feel I’m strong enough to handle it if my family, friends, and the church reject me. So right now, call me a punk, but I don’t plan on telling them. I will live my regular life here and when I go back on tour, I will get to be with my babe. Like a secret love. But I had to share this with someone. I didn’t tell Arianna because you know she can’t hold water. “
I laughed and the more I thought about it, he was going through the same thing I was. In order to be loved and accepted by his family he felt he couldn’t be true to himself. I guessed I was stronger because I was able to be true to myself, that was for sure.
The waitress brought our food and we dug in. “Now tell me about this guy. What is his name?”
“Rahiem.”
I smiled as his whole face lit up.
Chapter 24
Justin called me on one of my days off and asked if I wanted to hear his demo. Since Santana was at school and I was home, bored, I said yes. I had nothing else to do but clean up and cook something for Santana. With my limited pocketbook, it was hard to keep making the gourmet meals I used to make. I could only do it a couple days a week and the other day shit was more basic, like meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy, or spaghetti. Santana often complained that I was losing my touch, and if it wasn’t what he wanted he either picked at his plate or never finished it. But there was really nothing that I could do but keep applying for other jobs. The fact of the matter was, the economy was in a bad condition and there weren’t many jobs out there. The inability to fix things often caused me to panic and fear I would lose him because I wasn’t holding things down like I did before.
“Is taking care of me too much for you now?” he had demanded the night before.
“No.” I did my best to give him some good head, although I was overworked, underpaid, and tired.
So when Justin offered to get me lunch from Claim Jumpers and bring it over, I jumped at the opportunity to order Santana filet mignon, a lobster tail, and a loaded baked potato.
“Only because I love you, will I get it,” Justin joked. But I was sure he was expecting me to order a simple burger and fries or a sandwich and salad. And yeah, I ate a sandwich but it didn’t come from Claim Jumper. I made a bologna sandwich with mustard and ate it well before Justin got there.
When Justin came with the food and chowed down on his tri tip sandwich with steak fries, I took my food and put it in the oven, saying I no longer had an appetite. He said nothing. No judgment, anything. That’s why I loved him.
The Demise of Alexis Vancamp Page 13