Siobhan comes in last. She looks at each of us. “All right, guardians. You have achieved your transformation from trainee. Now, you need to put to work all that you have learned, absorbed, and experienced. Bow your heads.”
We look at each other with confused looks. I guess a bit surprised at how spiritual Siobhan sounds.
Siobhan is irritated by our looks, rolls her eyes, and growls. “Bow your heads!”
That’s the Siobhan I know and love.
Siobhan closes her eyes. “Dear loving God. We are your servants first and foremost. Please give each of the guardians the wisdom and knowledge only You can to make decisions and choices for the salvation of humanity. Amen.”
There is a pause. Then Siobhan raises her head. “Now. You know in your heart what you need to do. Don’t lose your focus out there. There will be distractions, temptations, and illusions to try to trip you up. Know that God will be there. Call to Him. He will have your back.”
Siobhan walks over to Angela and Nick, who are standing next to each other, and pull them toward her. Ezra grabs Nate’s and my hand and pulls us into this growing huddle. Once all of us are included, we just hold each other arm on arm in silence.
As we leave the facility one by one, I can feel that we all have an unspoken understanding to not say goodbye, not look at each other. Just know that we may meet again sometime, somewhere.
Ezra and I are the first to ascend. The elevator seems larger than before, even though logically I know that it can’t be. My pulse quickens while in the elevator. I am anxious about leaving the safety of the facility. We reach the parking lot.
“Jesca. Breathe. You are fine. Put on your sunglasses. Your eyes will need protection from the sun when we ascend. You will need to wear them for a few days.”
The glasses are huge and covered most of my face. Hideous really, but necessary. Siobhan gave everyone a pair before leaving.
We swiftly walk to the car and put our bags in the trunk. Ezra starts the ignition and begins driving. It feels like we are driving forever.
It didn’t take us this long in the descent, did it? Surely we are almost out.
“When are we going to be out?”
Ezra replies, “Just a few more minutes.”
I take a deep breath in and sigh. I start to fidget with my hands.
Ezra hands me a stick of gum. “Here chew on this. It might help distract you a bit.”
The grey, greenish tint of the dashboard begins to change, lightens to a soft rose color.
My eyes are drawn up to my side window.
The first thing I see is reddish, brown dirt. Then a cactus. Another one. Then hills in the horizon. Then sky with soft, thin, stratus clouds. The colors of everything around us are dull, because of the extra coating on the lenses of the sunglasses. I want to feel the air. I hesitate as my hand reaches for the button to put down the window.
Ezra sees my movement. “Go ahead.”
I look over at him. He smiles at me and winks. That small gesture relieves me enough to venture to open the window.
I slide the glass down slowly. I feel a small, warm breeze that whips a few hairs across my face. It feels amazing on my skin. Like it is breathing life back into it after being kept from fresh air for so long. I roll down the window further. My hair begins to whip more quickly around my face. I pull it back with one hand and hold it to the side. It must have grown at least three inches since I was in the facility. I put my other hand out the window to feel the breeze, the sunlight.
“You all right, Jes?”
“Yeah. It’s going to be fine.”
Chapter 31
Samson Crest wakes to a whispering in the courtyard outside of his suite.
Sam mumbles and stumbles out of bed as he makes his way toward the voices. I work too hard for the paid help to disrupt me. Now which one am I going to fire today. Gardener, pool guy?
He creeps to the window in an attempt to catch the idiot that woke him at ten in the morning.
“They know I work late.”
He rubs his grey eyes and scratches his head with annoyance, shifting the shutters to get a glimpse. He sees Xander in his pajama pants and no shirt and a disheveled young lady in a sundress. She is playing coy and giggling, while Xander is holding her hand between his. He is holding her gaze with his hazel eyes.
Sam whispers to himself, “Xander. Of course!” Sam shifts his gaze to the girl. “Oh, c’mon, hon. The morning after is a little late to be playing coy.” Sam flips the shutters closed and puts his tan robe and slippers on.
Xander kisses her hand and waves her off. Sam watches the rest unfold from the porch off of his suite. Xander runs his hands through his dark brown hair. A wide smile develops, then it’s quickly replaced with tight lips and a deep wrinkle in his forehead.
Sam interrupts Xander by knocking on the wood decking he is leaning against.
“There’s my boy. I take it you had a good night and a good morning?”
Xander is caught off guard and spins around with a hint of a smile. “Yeah, it was a good night. The club did well! We had some heavy hitters come in around 10:30, and they kept the flow of traffic running all night.”
Sam laughs and pulls his robe taut across his lean chest. “Xander, I was talking about the beauty that was exiting the building just now.” Sam points toward the departing young lady carrying her sandals through the side garden gate.
There is a waiting car Xander had arranged for. “Oh, yeah. She was truly unbearable. Blah, blah, blah is all she did from the moment we left the club until the moment I crashed from her ranting.”
Sam’s look becomes confused. “You mean you didn’t…” Sam walks down to the stairway to the deck.
Xander scoffs, “Between the blah, blah, blah, and getting in at 5 a.m. No, not interested!”
Sam smirks. “Okay, stud? Then why so charming this morning?”
Sam heads to a lounger next to the pool and lies out.
Xander joins him. “Well, being the stud that I am, you should know that she was one of our heavy hitters’ best friend’s niece, and she needed a place to crash. I wasn’t about to leave a piece of future revenue out in the streets of Miami at 4:30 in the morning, Dad.”
Sam laughs softly with his eyes closed, letting the warm morning sun touch his face. His graying light brown hair ruffles in the breeze. “Xander. Always thinking one step ahead. You are one awesome young man. You remind me so much of me when I was in my twenties.”
Xander closes his eyes and reclines back on the lounger next to Sam. He jokes, “How could you possibly remember, that was so long ago.”
A very tall butler walks over to them. “Good morning, Mr. Crest.”
Sam and Xander both look up at the butler and address him in unison. “Good morning, Daniel.”
Sam and Xander drink their coffee and take in the exotic landscape around them, the saltwater pool with numerous waterfalls and a grotto. The multiple palms throughout the garden, peppered with bright bougainvilleas and fragrant gardenia.
“So, Xander, what are your plans for today?”
“I have some low-level errands to run. I wanted to catch up with my boys. Grab some lunch with Christian and Zach. You remember them from the fraternity.” Xander had attended the University of Miami.
Sam nods. “Yes. Chris and Zach. Didn’t they go to Pendleton Preparatory with you as well?”
“Yep. Anyway, real low key. Tonight I will be getting in to the club around 9:30, 10.” Xander is about to explain why, but Sam waves him off.
“Xander, I appreciate your checking in with me. But I know you take care of business. When you became general manager of Club Helion two years ago, you earned it. You have proven to be not only a great son, but an exceptionally talented leader in our corporation. Will you need a ride to Helion before I head to Meridian?”
Xander squints at a passing plane above. “No. I’m taking the Panamera in for an oil change and wash while I’m out today.”
“How are you liking it?”
>
“The car? It’s awesome, Dad! Remember the first time we met?” A wide smile spreads across Xander’s face as he looks over to Sam.
Sam is lying there with a big smile across his face. “That was the beginning of my life. I could never forget that day, man.” Sam opens his eyes and looks at Xander. “You were checking out my silver ’99 Porsche 911.”
“And now I’m cruising in my very own Porsche. I never imagined—”
Sam interrupts him. “You deserve it, Xan. You work damn hard.” Sam’s face becomes serious then. “You have turned your life around since…since we met.”
“You had a lot to do with that, Sam.”
“Yeah, but your leap of faith, that had a lot to do with it also. You chose to get into my car. You chose to change your life in that instant.”
Xander nods and puts his head down.
Sam yawns and stretches. “Daniel! I’m going to retire to my room for a few more hours. Can I expect lunch around noon?”
Daniel immediately appears behind the men. “Of course, Mr. Crest. Lunch will be prepared and on the veranda at noon.”
Sam looks at Xander and puts a hand on his shoulder. “I will see you tomorrow, then. We have a 1:30 meeting with a few of my associates about a venture we are trying to pull into Miami from overseas.”
Xander’s attention becomes heightened. Curiosity creeps into his mind since this wasn’t the first overseas associate meeting. The past four months have encompassed at least three, each with a different group of associates. Xander was only allowed to make a brief appearance as general manager of Club Helion.
Xander takes this opportunity to test the waters of the meeting’s significance. “Do you want to have a pre-meeting conference over an early lunch tomorrow?”
Sam pats Xander’s shoulder. “That’s my Xander. Always one step ahead. Catch you later, my boy.”
Sam’s response was predictably vague. When it came to these meetings, Sam always dodged Xander’s requests to be involved.
Xander leans back, feeling a little deflated as Sam walks back to his suite. Xander closes his eyes again and sighs.
I sure have come a long way. He is thinking back to the time before he met Sam. The numerous shelters he stayed in night after night. He would put them on a rotation so the staff wouldn’t report him to foster care. They caught on eventually. He thought back to the foster families he lived with. The yelling, the anxiety, and the fear of beatings.
Xander’s peaceful, content face becomes hard and serious.
Chapter 32
I put my hands over my face and groan. I shake my head as I try to shed all of the baggage I just brought back up to the surface. I open my eyes and feel the swollen feeling of tears. I don’t dare let them spill.
I distinctly remember being taken from Grandmother’s home when I was five years old. Her name was Nina. Nina Fosston. She had passed in the middle of the night. It was sudden, her heart. I can still remember her smell. The mixture of flowers and cocoa butter.
I was always safe in her arms.
I close my eyes again and lean back against the lounger, remembering her hands over mine at night as she prayed over me.
I am continually amazed at how long I made it with the abuse. Something, someone kept me alive and safe. I prefer to think it was my grandmother watching over me.
Then I met Samson Crest.
I was walking up Sunset Drive, and this guy pulled up in a car and offered me a ride. He said that he had something important to talk with me about. He looked nervous. He kept looking around, like he was searching for someone. He freaked me out, so I kept walking and tried to ignore him. SW 80th street, then Kendall Drive and he still followed about twenty feet behind me.
He didn’t look grungy; he was clean cut and shaven. That is the very thing that shot up a red flag for me, though. He looked like a cop or an officer of the court. No way in hell was I going back into the system. I had two more years until I was legally an adult. I picked up my pace. He got stuck behind a bus. I started to run. As I crossed Old Cutler Road, I dodged into a shop and watched from the window until he passed. I left the shop quickly and headed south on Old Cutler to Arvida Parkway and entered the Gables Estates. It was a private, exclusive, and gated neighborhood. It had a sidewalk gate for residents to enter. I pretended that I was supposed to be there and entered the gate after a woman walking her dog came through. I pulled my hood tighter over my head as I strolled more slowly.
I heard a car pull up slowly next to me. My eyes rose and gravitated to the sound of the engine. A ’99 silver Porsche 911 Carrera. A distinguished-looking man in his 40s, black slacks, and a deep blue, long-sleeve shirt was driving parallel to me. I kept walking, but kept the car and the man in my peripheral vision.
I heard car tires screech. I turned back toward the main gates. The guy following earlier hopped out of his car, passed through the sidewalk gate, and was walking quickly in my direction. I stopped and looked at Mr. Porsche. He stopped the car and rolled down his window.
“Looks like you could use a ride.”
I looked behind me again. The stalker guy was about 100 feet out and was pulling something from his side pocket and waving at me.
“You better come with me.”
Those simple words seemed to be filled with trust and honesty to me.
“Hop in, kid. Let’s get you out of here.”
I was in his car and we were driving away in less than five seconds. The side mirror reflected a man putting his hands on his head in frustration.
“My name is Samson Crest. Call me Sam.”
“My name is Alexander Fosston. You can call me Xander.”
I gave him my grandmother’s surname, not mine. After my parents died, Nina Fosston was my parent.
From that day forward, Sam and I were inseparable.
He took me into his home, no questions asked. He accepted me. He taught me everything he knew about life and business. He gave me confidence. Sam nurtured me. And that was something I hadn’t experienced in years. I trusted him.
Sam’s first mission was to talk me into enrolling at Pendleton Preparatory High School. His confidence in me was intoxicating and addicting, I agreed.
As the days turned into weeks, then months, the past started vanishing from existence. Sam wouldn’t let me forget, though. Sam reminded me that my past was going to develop my character and inner strength.
It was my senior year when Sam asked to be a permanent part of my life as my father. He explained that the adoption process would be conveniently accessible due to his ‘connections’.
“I have always wanted to be a father. To be able to watch my child grow, blossom, and succeed. I want to commit to be your father, your guardian.”
I was blown away by Sam’s evident unconditional love for me.
I attended the University of Miami with many of my buddies from high school prep. Sam was well off, if it wasn’t evident enough. He did not hide his wealth. And he taught me to not hide it, but to wield it as a tool of power and entitlement that gains respect.
Popularity was never a strength of mine, until I met Sam. The confidence I developed made friendships and romantic relationships come easy. I was on the fast track to graduate college in three years, plus two years for my masters in business administration. By the time I was twenty-three years old, I had my masters and was introduced to Sam’s business. When I was younger, I would repeatedly ask Sam what he did.
“I am an investor and entrepreneur.”
That was it; that was all he gave me. Never anything more no matter how much I asked.
“What does the corporation invest in? The clubs around town?”
Sam would look at me softly. “You will have many years to focus on our business. Right now, enjoy life a little. You have had many years of sorrow. Savor now, while the universe has given you an opportunity to have some fun and be a kid.”
I did. Every moment of every day was for my enjoyment, my success, my entitlements. And here I
am with so much to live for. So much ahead of me. It’s all mine.
* * *
Xander’s cell phone rings. He must have dozed off. He opens his eyes and pulls the phone out of his pajama pocket to see who it is. Zach. Xander picks up with a smile, while looking out over the deep blue pool and the lush landscape.
“Zach. We still on?”
“Yeah. Chris and I are on our way. Be there in about thirty minutes.”
“Great, man. Some hoops then lunch still good?”
“You got it!”
“Sweet, man. See ya.”
Xander puts the phone back in his pocket. He sits for a little while longer, just taking in the fresh air and the tangible beauty all around him. He slowly closes his eyes again and sighs.
Behind those eyes, just under the surface, something grabs his curiosity again. It is regularly festering in his mind lately. A few weeks ago, Sam had approached Xander with a proposition after the departure of one set of the overseas investor meetings. Sam wanted Xander’s involvement in the business to become more ‘hands on’.
Xander remembers.
“Hands on? You mean like opening another club?”
Sam paced back and forth like a lion all pumped up with adrenaline before a kill. “No, Xander, it has nothing to do with the clubs. This is a separate endeavor altogether. A key investor in our company has asked for my most trusted advisor to carry out some research.”
Xander looked a little perplexed at the vagueness. “Okay?”
Sam slowed his pace and turned to Xander. “You need to travel to Georgia. And you need to keep tabs on a couple of people.”
“Why?”
Sam raised his hand toward Xander to stop any further questioning. “There can be no questions asked, yet. The less you know right now, the better. If you were to…to be intercepted, it would unleash a hornets’ nest of chaos on our family and corporation.” Sam’s eyes were blood shot and dead set on Xander’s agreeable response.
Xander carefully studied his father. Sam was never this serious about a duty from Xander; it was intimidating.
Piercing The Fold Page 16