The Joneses

by Shelia M. Goss

  Jason leaned over. “Miss me? Or better yet, do you miss my money yet?”

  He placed his hand on my knee. I knocked it off. “I wouldn’t do that if I was you.”

  “You can make things up to me. Meet me at our spot in about two hours.”

  “It will be a cold day in hell before I let you touch me ever again.” I looked him in the eyes and didn’t flinch.

  Jason laughed. “Hope, I don’t know who this man is you’ve been seeing, but dear, don’t get the big head. Once mine, always mine.” He winked his eye.

  “I know I didn’t hear what I thought I heard,” Lovie said.

  He caught Jason and I both off-guard. I looked up with a shocked expression on my face.

  Jason stood up. “It depends on what you heard.”

  “Sounds like you were threatening my sister.”

  “No, man. LJ, what have I done to you? You seem hell bent on accusing me of something. First it was the money, and now your sister.”

  Lovie looked at me. “I’m not talking to you. Hope, is he threatening you?”

  “No.” I lied.

  I felt the room closing in on me. I left Lovie and Jason in my dad’s office by themselves.

  I ran into my dad near the front door. “Dad, I’ll get back with you on dinner.”

  “Pudding, you don’t have to go,” my dad insisted.

  “I promised Charity I would pick something up for her.” I told another lie.

  Being close to Jason made me ill. I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. I headed straight to Tyler’s office. The receptionist at the front desk said, “We don’t have a Williams Construction in this building.”

  “Are you sure? Because this is where he told me he worked.”

  “Ma’am, I’ve been working in this building for fifteen years and I know everybody here.”

  I left the lobby, and went and sat in my car. If Tyler lied about his place of employment, what else was he lying to me about?

  CHAPTER 35

  Lovie

  I sat in my dad’s seat, while staring at Jason. I refused to leave him alone in his office.

  Jason rubbed his face. “I should sue you for hitting me.”

  I responded, “Go right ahead, and then we can tell my dad why I knocked you the hell out in the first place.”

  “Son, you need to stay out of your parents’ business.”

  “You forget. This is my business, too, and I will die before I let you or anyone else come in and destroy what my parents have built, and that includes their marriage.”

  Jason clapped. “I could tell you some things about your parents that would have you eating those words.”

  All of the tension I was feeling settled right in the middle of my chest. “Jason, I’m not my dad. I see you for the snake you are.”

  “If you only knew the whole story, you might change your mind.”

  “I know enough. In fact, follow me to my office.”

  I stood up and walked out of the room with Jason on my heels. I went to my office and pulled out several documents out of a huge brown folder. His eyes bucked when he read over the documents.

  “Where did you get this?” Jason stuttered.

  I leaned back in my chair and smiled. “You did a good job covering things up, but not good enough.”

  “What you have here are trumped-up documents.”

  “We can handle this one of two ways. I can give it to the authorities, and let them decide whether they’re authentic, which you know may lead them to check into some of your other clients’ accounts.”

  Jason shifted in his seat. “What’s the other option?”

  “I’m glad you asked.” I picked up a sheet of paper with the amount of money I calculated he owed and handed it to him. “Or you can transfer the amount of money you owe my dad to his account within the next twenty-four hours. I don’t have to give you the account number. You should know it by memory.”

  He looked down at the sheet of paper. “Twenty-four hours. That’s a lot of money.”

  “Not my problem. Steal from one of your other clients if you must, but in twenty-four hours when I check the balance on the account, it better have a deposit.”

  “I’ll see what I can do.” Jason stood up.

  “Tick-tock. The clock is ticking.”

  I watched Jason walk out. I picked up the phone and dialed Hope’s number. “What was that all about in Dad’s office earlier?” I asked as soon as she answered.

  “Lovie, I told you nothing. Now drop it,” she snapped.

  “I can tell when you’re lying, but I’ll drop it for now.”

  I hung up the phone. If I find out for sure that Jason had been messing with my sister, he’s as good as dead.

  My mom’s incoming call interrupted my thoughts. “Is Jason still there?” she asked.

  “No. He just left.”

  “Good. I came by there earlier, but saw his car and kept driving.”

  “After tomorrow, I hope our financial problem will be resolved. I threatened to report him to the Feds if he didn’t return the money he stole.”

  “How did you do that?”

  I picked up the papers and placed them back in the brown folder. “Let’s just say I showed him some documents that appeared to show proof he stole from us.”

  “Lovie, what did you do?”

  “Well, I sort of created some documents that looked authentic, but really weren’t because I’m still waiting on the copies to be sent to me.”

  “You are your mother’s son.”

  “Glad that you are pleased with my methods.”

  “What did Royce say?”

  “He’s not aware of anything…not yet, anyway.”

  “Don’t tell him anything until the money’s been deposited. In fact, let’s all get together so you can share the news with the entire family tomorrow night.”

  “Sounds like a plan to me, Mom.”

  We ended our call. I sat back in my chair, leaned back, and closed my eyes. The tension in my chest eased.

  CHAPTER 36

  Lexi

  Thanks to Lovie, the Joneses would be celebrating tonight. I’d been in the kitchen cooking all evening. I wanted things to be just right for our celebration. I couldn’t wait to meet Hope’s new boyfriend.

  Royce walked in the kitchen and wrapped his arm around me. “I don’t know if that’s you smelling good or the food.”

  I playfully hit him. “You know it’s me, so stop tripping.”

  I faced him, and we kissed. The buzzer on the stove went off interrupting our intimate moment. “I better get back to the food. So, you did confirm with the kids, right?” I asked.

  “Yes, darling. They should be here any minute.”

  “Good. I need to have a talk with that daughter of yours. Why am I the last person to know about this new guy?” I turned the buzzer off and removed the roast pan from the oven.

  “I just found out about him myself.”

  “You should have called me the moment you found out,” I said, as I opened up the cover and the steam almost hit me in the face.

  “You know now. Lighten up on me, baby.”

  I looked up and saw Royce’s smile. It reminded me of why I loved him. No matter how gloomy things got, he had a way of brightening up my life. I loved that man more than life itself. The doorbell rang.

  “Keep them out of my kitchen, please,” I said as Royce left to answer the door.

  I hummed a Whitney Houston tune as I placed the food on serving trays.

  Lovie walked in. “It’s official. We’re in the money,” he sang.

  I did a victory dance. “Yes. Thank you, baby.” I hugged him and we twirled around. “I can’t wait for you to tell Royce.”

  “Me, too. He’s been looking so depressed lately,” Lovie responded.

  “Now, if I can only get him to get Jason out of our lives for good.”

  “After tonight, I’m sure there will no longer be a problem.” Lovie patted his pocket. “I got the p
apers from the broker. This letter is all the proof I need.”

  I hugged Lovie again. “You just don’t know how happy you’ve made me.”

  “Mom, you’re squeezing me to death.”

  I laughed as I released him. “There’s the doorbell again. That must be your sisters.”

  “I’ll go find out,” Lovie said.

  I carried the food to the dining room table. Charity, Royce, and Lovie were standing in the room. “I see Hope is late as usual.”

  Charity got up to assist me. “She’ll probably be extra late since she’s bringing a guest.”

  Lovie said, “This should be interesting.”

  Royce said, “Please don’t give the guy a hard time.”

  We all looked at him. I said, “This is coming from the man who thinks that no man is good enough for his girls.”

  “I was right about that Scotty, wasn’t I?”

  “Yes, but please don’t bring up his name to me ever again.” Charity followed behind me to the kitchen.

  “So what can you tell me about this guy?” I asked, as I handed her the tray with the rolls.

  “Nothing. I was supposed to meet him a couple of nights ago, but that didn’t work out.”

  I picked up the roast pan. We walked back to the dining room. Royce got up and assisted me by placing the pan on the silver cooling rack so it wouldn’t mess up the gold tablecloth.

  The doorbell rang. “I don’t know why you all insist on using the doorbell when you have keys,” Royce said, as he pushed his chair back.

  “Dad, I got it,” Lovie said.

  Royce remained seated as Lovie went to answer the door.

  I sat down and waited for Hope to enter with her mystery man. I exhaled the moment they walked through the door.

  “Everybody, I want you to meet my boyfriend. Tyler this is my family. Everybody, this is Tyler.”

  Tyler smiled and looked around the room. “Nice to meet y’all.”

  Charity blurted out, “This is who you’ve been seeing?”

  “Charity, don’t be rude.” I looked at Tyler. “Come, sit next to me.”

  Hope said, “Yes, so you’ll be close to her when she starts bombarding you with questions.”

  “I can see where Hope gets her beauty from.” He picked up my hand and kissed the back of it.

  Hope turned to Royce. “Dad, you’re not going to say anything?”

  “I have a lot to say. I just don’t know where to begin.” Royce sounded like he had a frog in his throat.

  CHAPTER 37

  Royce

  So Tyler wasn’t lying. He’d figured out a way to infiltrate his way into my daughter’s life. He was quite the charmer. Lexi laughed at some of his corny jokes. The only two people who didn’t seem to be enjoying his company were Charity and me.

  “Tyler, what high school did you go to?” Lovie asked him.

  “Marshall High,” he responded.

  Charity said, “I was under the impression you grew up in Shreveport.”

  Hope interjected, “He was always here, so you might as well say he grew up here.”

  Lexi placed her drink down. “So, what type of work do you do? It’s going to take a man with a big account to keep my daughter happy.”

  “Mom. You’re making me out to be some kind of gold digger.”

  Lovie started singing, “I ain’t saying she’s a gold digger.”

  “Lovie, that’s enough,” Lexi said.

  “Son, didn’t you have a big announcement to make?” I asked, looking in Lovie’s direction.

  “Yes, but…,” He looked at Tyler. “I think I’ll wait and tell you later.”

  Tyler said, “Don’t mind me. If things go right, you never know, I might become part of the family.”

  Charity spat out her drink.

  “Son, if you’re getting that serious with my daughter, you and I need to have a talk.” I stood up. “Follow me.”

  “Dad, be nice,” Hope pled.

  I led Tyler into the living room. I turned to make sure we were alone. “Have a seat.” I went to the bar and poured myself a drink. I didn’t bother to ask him if he wanted one.

  “You have a beautiful home.” Tyler looked around the room. “I didn’t expect anything less.”

  “Tyler, let me get straight to the point. What the hell are you doing with Hope?”

  A smug look crossed his face. “Do you really want to know the answer to that?”

  I bent down and got in his face. “I’m going to say this once, and please don’t have me repeat myself. You need to leave my daughter alone. This fight you claim you have with me is with me. Leave her and my family out of it.”

  Tyler laughed. “You don’t dictate what I do. It’s in your best interest to do what I tell you to do or…,” Tyler held his hand up and looked around. “You could risk losing all of this.”

  “Your threats are no good here. I suggest you go back in there, tell Hope you had an emergency or something, and get the hell out of my house.”

  Tyler stood up. “I have no problem going back in there with your family and exposing you for the liar and cheater that you are.”

  “What happened between your mother and I was our business, and I will not be blackmailed by her ungrateful son.”

  “You’ve never done anything for me. Because of you, I lost my mom.”

  “You keep saying that, but your mom made her own choices. If you knew your mom as well as you said you did, then you would know didn’t nobody control Ruth Ann, but her.”

  Tyler seemed to be thinking about what I was saying. “It doesn’t matter. You broke her heart and now I’m going to break yours. Do you want to lose your daughter or your wife? I’ll let you decide.”

  “I’m losing neither.” I refused to back down, or give in to a blackmailer.

  “You’re going to lose something alright. But I’ll decide when and who.” Tyler stood up.

  “I need to speak with my family in private. I’ll escort you out and tell Hope you’ll call her.” This was my house, and nobody controlled anything here but me. I went and opened up the front door and escorted him out.

  “Don’t think this is over,” Tyler said, as he walked down the driveway toward his car.

  I slammed the door shut.

  Hope came up behind me. “Dad, did you kick him out?”

  “No, he had to leave. He’ll call you later. Follow me back to the dining room so we can hear Lovie’s big announcement.”

  Hope paused. “But, he could have at least said good-bye.”

  “He’s very rude. I don’t like him.”

  “But I do and that’s all that matters.” Hope walked ahead of me and took a seat.

  I rubbed the top of my head and took a seat back at the head of the table. I looked at Lovie. “Tyler had an emergency.”

  “I’m sure he did,” Charity responded.

  I looked in Lovie’s direction. “Son, I understand you had some news you wanted to share with the family.”

  Lovie stood up. “Tonight’s a night of celebration. Mom, the champagne.”

  Lexi popped open the cork on the champagne and we all poured glasses. Lovie held his glass up. “Tonight, the Joneses’ financial portfolio has been restored.” Lovie looked at me. “Tonight, Dad, I’m happy to announce that not only is the original amount of money you invested back in your bank out, but you’re twenty-five percent richer.”

  Tears of joy fell down my cheeks. I got up and pulled him into a bear hug. “Son, I don’t know what to say. I didn’t expect to get this emotional. You have made me so happy. Y’all don’t know how many sleepless nights I’ve had due to this fiasco.”

  I returned to my seat.

  “I can imagine because I’ve worked day and night to figure out what happened.” Lovie looked around the room. “I hope y’all don’t mind, but I need to talk to Mom and Dad alone.”

  Charity stood up. “No, I don’t mind. I need to make a quick run somewhere anyway. Hope, if you want, I can drop you off at home.�
�

  “Sure, since my ride abandoned me.”

  Lovie’s news meant one thing. My best friend betrayed me.

  CHAPTER 38

  Charity

  It took every ounce I had not to slap the crap out of Tyler when he walked in the dining room with Hope. I glanced at Hope sitting in the passenger seat. She was clueless that her so-called boyfriend was my lover and had been for months. I tuned her out as she whined on and on about him.

  I headed to our place to drop her off, but made a quick U-turn. Hope’s body shifted to the right hitting the passenger door. “Slow down. You’re going to kill us both,” she yelled.

  “Somebody might die today, but it’s not going to be me.”

  “What’s your problem?” Hope looked at me. “You’ve had an attitude all night. Oh. I know what it is. You’re jealous aren’t you? Jealous that I’m happy.”

  I gripped the steering wheel. “Hope, you have no clue, but you’re about to find out.”

  I jumped on the interstate and got off on the exit that would take me straight to Tyler’s place.

  “Wait, how do you know where Tyler lives?” Hope asked.

  I parked the car and exited the door without saying anything else to Hope. She jumped out and rushed behind me.

  “Charity, talk to me.”

  “No. I’m jealous of your happiness, remember.”

  By now, we’d reached Tyler’s door. I knocked on the door. Tyler opened it. I didn’t wait to be asked in. I walked right past him. Hope stood in the doorway.

  Tyler said, “You might as well come in. This might take a while.”

  I crossed my arms and tapped my feet. “Tell her.”

  Hope looked at Tyler. “Yes, Tyler, tell me because this whole scenario is making me feel uneasy.”

  Tyler walked up to Charity. “Listen, baby, we can talk about this. Alone.”

  “Baby? Did you just call my sister, baby?” Hope ran up to Tyler and started hitting him. “I can’t believe you’ve been cheating on me with my sister!”

  Tyler yelled, “Get your sister!”

  I didn’t move. Tyler deserved every punch, and I dared him to raise up and try to hit her. I grabbed Hope’s arm. “That’s enough. This joker owes us some answers.”