Troublemaker

by Trice Hickman

  “Seems like we’ve been driving forever, Dad.”

  “I need to make another stop,” Maxx said.

  Victoria had been afraid that her ninety-six-year-old uncle Maxx would have considerable trouble traveling in a vehicle for several hours, but so far, with the exception of his frequent requests for bathroom breaks—because he refused to wear Depends—Maxx was as lively, alert, and eager as any of them.

  “All right, Uncle Maxx,” Tyler said, “we’ll stop at the next exit.”

  Victoria leaned over against Ted and whispered into his ear. “You okay?”

  Ted had been unusually quiet during most of the drive and Victoria didn’t know whether he was tired, frustrated, or just plain disinterested. His behavior was puzzling and she wanted to find out what was bothering him.

  When she’d told him about the trip and that it would be a good opportunity for them to bond and have fun since they hadn’t been on a vacation in quite some time, he’d nodded with mild enthusiasm. As they had drawn closer and closer to the weekend, Victoria had noticed that he’d seemed to become more despondent by the minute. This morning, when Tyler had come by their house to pick them up, Ted had acted as though he didn’t want to go, but knew he had to out of obligation to their daughter.

  “I’m fine,” Ted responded.

  “You sure? You’ve barely said two words since we got the road.”

  “I’m just taking in the view as we drive and thinking about a lot of things.”

  “Like what?”

  Victoria watched closely as her husband’s forehead wrinkled with a look of frustration.

  “Just a lot of things.” Ted looked in front of them at Tyler, Samantha, Chase, and Uncle Maxx, then let out a deep breath. “Let’s talk privately once we get settled in.”

  Victoria nodded and didn’t say another word to him until they rolled up on the sign written in big, bold calligraphy that said, THE SMALL PROPERTY.

  Victoria felt an overwhelming sense of nostalgia mixed with love, gratitude, and pride when she looked upon the house that her grandfather had built. She was still in awe that the son of a sharecropper had been able to amass a small fortune and build such a grand house during a time when black folks didn’t even have the right to vote. That alone was a testament of the type of strength and determination that ran in her blood.

  Victoria remembered hearing stories about Isaiah Small when she was growing up. Although Isaiah had lacked formal education, her father had said that Isaiah was one of the smartest men he’d ever known. “Your grandfather taught me more about business than Wharton ever did,” he’d told Victoria, referring to the business school he’d attended, and where she’d followed in his footsteps, obtaining her MBA.

  Victoria was proud of the fact that she was born of people who possessed prodigious will and impenetrable determination. That same moxie had helped her start her own event planning and catering business almost three decades ago, and what was now pushing Alexandria to break out on her own and pursue her artistic dreams.

  “Wow!” Samantha said with excitement as she got out of the SUV and wiped her sweaty brow from the summer heat. “Victoria, this place is fabulous. It looks like one of those Southern luxury estates you see in the magazines. Girl, we’re gonna have a good time this weekend for sure!”

  Victoria nodded. “That’s the plan.”

  “This old house is just like I remember it,” Maxx said as he looked at Victoria. “Your daddy and I used to spend many a day hangin’ out by the pool out back. Yes, sir, we had some real good times. Ain’t a day goes by that I don’t miss him and your mama.”

  “I know. Me too.” Victoria felt a rush of sadness, but it quickly dissipated when she heard the sound of her daughter’s voice.

  “You made it!” Alexandria screamed with excitement as she ran out to the front porch with PJ right beside her.

  “Yes, we’re finally here,” Victoria said as she gave her daughter and future son-in-law a warm hug.

  “PJ and I already settled into our rooms, thanks to you, Mom.”

  Victoria had instructed the cleaning service to leave envelopes on the foyer table with each person’s name written on the outside, and a greeting accompanied with their room assignment on the inside. She’d planned this weekend with the same meticulous care she used when orchestrating events for Divine Occasions.

  “I hope I got a room with a view,” Chase said with a smile and a wink as he dragged his roller bag up the steps.

  Samantha cut him a look. “Don’t be so concerned about what you can get. You need to thank your Aunt Victoria and Uncle Ted for inviting us on this trip.”

  “Your mother’s right,” Tyler chimed in. “You need to thank them.”

  “Thanks, Aunt Victoria and Uncle Ted,” Chase said.

  Victoria nodded and smiled, always amazed at how a sixteen-year-old boy could sound and look the way Chase did. She was sure that his Barry White–sounding voice was one of the reasons that girls couldn’t resist him. Added to that, he was well-built with a handsome face and a smile like his father’s that could charm the skirt off a woman.

  “You’re more than welcome, sweetie,” Victoria told him. “Now why don’t we all find our rooms, unpack our things, relax a bit, and then meet back down here so we can go to the town square for the evening festivities.”

  Once Victoria and Ted put away their things, they walked onto the balcony off the side of their master suite, which overlooked a large pool surrounded by a beautiful garden tucked in between peach, apple, and pear trees. The air was sweltering outside, but the gorgeous view made the heat tolerable.

  “This was my grandparents’ bedroom,” Victoria said. She pointed her hand in the direction to their left. “My grandma Henrietta planted those fruit trees over there. She spent the summer harvesting them to make preserves for the winter months. Daddy said there was nothing like eating his mother’s homemade buttermilk biscuits topped with sweet fruit preserves. She was an excellent cook, and legend has it that she served better meals than any of the restaurants in town.”

  Ted smiled. “You definitely get it honest. Everything you cook is delicious.”

  This was the first time all day that Ted had seemed excited about anything. Even though his lighter mood had been brought on by the thought of a good meal, Victoria was glad that he seemed a little more at ease. She didn’t want to dampen the mood, but she knew they needed to talk about whatever was going on with him, and she decided that now, standing close together amidst nature’s heat and beauty, was as good a time as any.

  “Ted, you’ve been distant from me for a while. I thought the idea of us spending time together, connecting as a couple and as a family, would make you happy. But instead you seem irritated and preoccupied. You’ve been practically moping around for the last two weeks and you acted as though you were being held against your will on the drive here. I don’t want any secrets or walls of silence between us, so please tell me what’s going on.”

  Ted sighed and looked out at the beautiful garden and trees down below. “Like I said earlier, I have a lot on my mind and I have to make a really tough decision that I know is going to drive a wedge in the middle of our family.

  “I’ve decided that when I retire in two years I’m not going to let Christian run ViaTech, or even hold an executive position. I don’t want him involved in any managerial aspects of the company.”

  Victoria stared at her husband in silence. Although this was a major decision and would most definitely cause some hard feelings between Ted and their son, his news didn’t surprise her, and in fact, she would have been shocked if Ted’s future business plans included Christian at all.

  A part of Victoria felt sorry for her son. Running ViaTech one day had been Christian’s dream since he was a boy, and it was one of the primary reasons he was entering Columbia University’s MBA program. Victoria knew her son believed that by virtue of birth, it was all but written in stone that Ted would pass the business along to him when he retired. B
ut now his dream would become a nightmare once he learned of his father’s plans.

  Victoria noticed a faraway look in Ted’s eyes but couldn’t place the emotion on his face. She knew that what he’d just told her was part of the reason he seemed bothered and distant, but she also felt there was something else he wasn’t telling her, and that piece of information was the real reason he’d been off kilter for months.

  “Your father was lucky,” Ted continued, breaking Victoria from her thoughts. “Even though you never wanted to run Queens Bank, and he didn’t have a son to pass it onto, your cousin Jeremy, albeit an asshole, stepped up and is leading the company with as much vigor and integrity as your dad did. And now, Jeremy’s grooming his oldest son to take the helm in a few years, and judging from what I’ve seen, the young man is going to do a fine job.” Ted paused and tensed his face into a look of disappointment. “But I can’t say that about Christian. I love our son, V. But the honest, gut-wrenching truth is that I can’t and don’t trust him, and I’m certainly not going to let him get a hold of ViaTech so he can run everything I’ve worked hard to build into the ground.”

  Victoria swallowed hard. “I can’t say that I’m shocked, or that I object to anything you’ve just said. I’ve lain awake so many nights praying he’ll leave the drugs alone and hoping he’ll give up the alcohol and wild women. But he hasn’t, and until he does, neither you nor I can entrust anything to him.”

  Ted let out a deep sigh and shook his head. “You can say that again. If he wasn’t my son I’d have him arrested.”

  Victoria saw the vein in Ted’s right temple pop up, and she knew that only happened when he was seriously pissed. She braced herself for what she knew was going to be a bad revelation. “What in the world did he do now?”

  “A couple of weeks ago I found out that Christian forged my name on some financial documents and received a rather substantial loan.”

  “Are you kidding me?”

  “I wish I was, but you know I don’t kid around when it comes to money.”

  “If you found out about this a couple of weeks ago, why are you just now telling me?” Victoria instantly thought about how Tyler had confessed that he’d been keeping secrets about Chase from Samantha. Little did she know that Ted had been doing the very same thing in their marriage. Her mind quickly raced with thoughts of what else he was keeping from her.

  “It took a while to confirm it. I had to do an investigation without getting a lot of people involved, otherwise Christian might be under indictment right now.”

  “Oh my, Lord,” Victoria whispered, shaking her head.

  “When I confirmed what he’d done, I was so angry I needed time to sort out my feelings and figure out the best way to deal with him before I mentioned it to you. Our son reminds me a lot of my brother Charlie. Only I’ll give Christian credit in that he’s much smarter and far more cunning than Charlie could ever hope to be,” Ted said in frustration.

  “What kind of child basically steals from his parents? And what in the world would make him think that he could get away with doing such a thing?”

  Ted looked out the window in silence, and then back at Victoria. He let out a deep breath and slowly spoke his next words. “A drug addict will do anything, V.”

  There. He’d said it. Victoria knew their son drank and partied too much, and yes, he used a fair amount of drugs as well. But until this moment she’d never thought of Christian as an addict. At that moment all the worries she had about her marriage took a backseat to the problem facing her son. Her expression went from disappointment, to worry, to fear.

  Ted took her hand in his. “We have to face reality. Christian looks good, dresses and presents himself well, and by the grace of God, he manages to maintain his grades, stay in school, and carry on a normal looking life. But he’s a functioning addict, and if he doesn’t get help he’s going to end up like the guys in the street who’s addiction is obvious. I’ve seen a fast decline in him over the last six months, and I intend to talk to him about it this weekend.”

  Victoria knew that every word coming out of Ted’s mouth was the truth. “It must be bad if he’s stealing from you.”

  “I was so mad I could’ve wrung his neck with my bare hands. If it wasn’t for the fact that he’s my son I would’ve pressed charges. He has no idea that I know what he did, but he will when I see him.”

  “I knew Christian had his issues, but . . .”

  Ted gently placed his hand on Victoria’s shoulder. “This is the reason I’ve been stressed and preoccupied. I didn’t want to burden you with it, especially with you planning Alexandria’s wedding, coordinating the breast cancer walk, and all the other things you have on your plate.”

  “But Ted, he’s our son. You could’ve told me. What he did wasn’t only illegal—it was immoral . . . to betray your family. We need to get him some help.”

  Ted wrapped his arms around Victoria, drawing her in close to his body. They held each other in the warm summer heat, connecting in a way that Victoria hadn’t experienced with him in a very long time. “I love you, Ted,” she said.

  “I love you, too, V.” Ted kissed her softly, squeezing her around her waist until a wide smile came to her face. They stood in each other’s arms for a few minutes, enjoying a silent embrace.

  But as much as Victoria loved sharing this tender moment with Ted, something didn’t feel right about it. A mixture of sadness, happiness, and confusion settled in her stomach. She was sad because she knew her son was headed down a very dangerous road that was paved with disaster. She felt happy because Ted was holding her the way he used to, and it felt good to her senses. But she was also confused because while she enjoyed being in his arms, his explanation about why he’d been distant from her didn’t ring completely true.

  Victoria knew that the weight of Christian’s drug use and the crime he’d committed as a result was heavy on Ted’s mind, but she didn’t feel it was the reason he’d lost his interest in making love to her. She’d been married to him long enough to know when things were awry, and right now, she knew that something wasn’t right, and she was determined to find out what was really going on before the weekend ended.

  Chapter 15

  Allene

  To say that Allene was overjoyed to see Alexandria was an understatement. She was sitting in her rocking chair on the front porch when Alexandria and PJ arrived. Seeing her great-great-granddaughter in visions was one thing, but being face-to-face with her in the living, breathing flesh was a completely different experience.

  Allene could clearly see a lot of herself in the young woman. Other than the fact that Alexandria’s complexion was light caramel color and Allene’s was a deep onyx hue, they both possessed the same impressive height, distinctively squared shoulders, thick hair, and keen facial features that nearly everyone in the Small family had inherited from Susan Jessup, the beautiful young slave girl with the gift of prophecy who was the backbone of their very existence.

  As Alexandria walked up the steps to the large wrap-around porch, she paused and looked directly at the rocking chair where Allene was sitting.

  “Is everything all right?” PJ asked.

  Alexandria smiled wide. “Yes, everything is just fine. That’s my grandma Allene’s rocking chair, and before her, it belonged to her grandmother, and her mother, a woman named Susan Jessup,” she said, pointing to where Allene was presently sitting.

  “Is she here? I mean, right now?”

  Alexandria nodded. “She most certainly is. But she’s going to give us time to settle in. She and I will talk later tonight, when we’ll be able to communicate more freely and without time constraints. We have a lot to discuss.”

  “That’s right, baby girl.” Allene spoke in words that only Alexandria could hear. “You and PJ go on in and get prepared for everybody that’s gonna be comin’ shortly. Believe me, you’re gonna need your rest for when your brother gets here.”

  Alexandria sighed, knowing Allene was right. She looked dow
n at her feet with deep concentration, and then back up toward her grandma Allene’s empty rocking chair. “All right, Grandma. I can’t wait to see you tonight.”

  Allene smiled with satisfaction and gratitude. It made her feel good to know that Alexandria had been listening to, and learning from, everything that Allene was teaching her. She was picking up on all the little signs, being careful to pay attention so she could make the best decisions possible and use her gift for good. Allene had been proud of her son, Isaiah, and his son, John for all their accomplishments. They’d been the lights of her life. But the love and pride she felt for Alexandria couldn’t be put into words.

  Not only did Allene feel a special bond to Alexandria because of the gift they shared, her heart swelled with emotion every time she thought about how kind, loving, and selfless Alexandria was. She was about to be a new bride to a surgeon with a demanding schedule, and a new mother to a child who had health challenges and might be plagued by physical illness for the foreseeable future. But even in the face of this, she didn’t think twice about accepting the demands both would place on her as she also worked to carve out a new career path of her own. Alexandria wanted to do these things because she knew that her role as wife and mother would benefit two very special people whom she loved.

  PJ had always longed to experience the genuine love of a woman, which was something he’d never felt from his own mother, who had never wanted children and had only gotten pregnant to trap Parker into marrying her—which hadn’t worked. Alexandria had come into PJ’s life and healed his wound, showing him that not only was he worthy of receiving unconditional love from a woman, he deserved it. She was also going to fill a huge void in young Gary’s life when, in a few months, she became the mother he’d never had but had always wanted. Alexandria was going to nurture him, protect him, and care for him as if she’d birthed him herself. This was the power of love and family that Allene valued and held close, and she was glad that Alexandria did as well.