“You know what your problem always was… you don’t listen to yourself when you talk. Like even if you don’t admit the truth. The way you say it… it’s as clear as day what the real truth is.”
“Well, good thing actual confessions are needed within the court.”
“Good thing that I don’t need a court. I just needed one person.”
He smirks and my head turns once I hear a creak on the floor.
“Patrick.” I look back at Hugo then back at a distraught him. “What’s going on?”
He doesn’t respond. He just looks at me like he doesn’t love me anymore.
“You did it, didn’t you?” he asks.
I take a step towards him.
“I don’t know if you heard right, but I explained that Rebecca is sick.”
“Shut up!” His mouth is gaping at me and I feel the spit cover my face. “I hear the way you say it. It’s like you don’t care… you did it. It all makes sense… that says a lot of how much of a fucking idiot I’ve been!”
“Patrick, listen to me.” I grab his arms but he pushes me off. I stumble back and the way he look at me is hurting me more than it should. I look back at Hugo and he looks at me like I’m nothing and I realize I’m losing them. I’m losing them both.
“You’ve destroyed my sister. You’ve destroyed everything! You get the fuck out!”
“P-Patrick,” I stammer over my words raising my hands up begging. “I did it for you. I did it all for you.”
“I’m gonna go because… if I stay… I will kill you.” He backs away from me, no longer able to look at me. “I suggest you get a lawyer.”
He quickly storms out and for the first time I am left without a back-up plan or anything.
“It wasn’t about getting justice through the law,” Hugo says as I sit on the steps not being able to stand any longer. “It was about making you face what you fear the most… being alone. Once Patrick gets the word out about you… you’ll become a social pariah. Especially when I release the information about the Black Card Club to the cops and every news media. None of the victims will be outed, of course. Not even you because you were a victim too. Then you made others victims. But the police will be told that you’ve been blackmailing these men for your own personal benefit since you were sixteen.”
“I forced them to end the club once I found those video files,” I defend myself.
“Then you made them pay you instead of doing the right thing. You used it to drive Gabriel crazy. Just because they don’t do it amongst the club does not mean they haven’t stopped… but I will be stopping them.”
“So that’s what you are now?” I laugh harshly and I don’t understand the wetness surrounding my eyes. “Some savior. It doesn’t matter what you do. Your just gonna spend your whole life trying to make yourself into something you’re not?”
“No. I’m gonna be me.”
“And you are what I made you.”
“I am. And more. And less. Maybe it’ll create a good balance for me.”
He walks past me heading out.
“You can’t leave me. You will never be rid of me!” He keeps walking and I keep fucking crying. My heart dropping with every tear. My knees and hands trembling with pain and rage. Fear crawls in me like a virus and blinds my natural instinct of finding a way out of this. There is no way. How could there not be a way out of this? How could they do this? How could they leave me? “Hugo!” I call out for him. “Hugo!” Still no answer. “Gabriel!!!!”
21
HUGO
I walk into my home and see everyone who has ever been loyal to me sitting around, staring at the fireplace, or watching tv, or sleeping. Cody, Poppy, and Jaz are the ones still up. I see my niece and nephew in their pajamas sleeping between August and Karlie. Juliet is sitting in a chair, her head tilted to the side. I walk to her and she opens her eyes. Once she sees me, she quickly stands up. I let her know everything is okay by nodding my head and in return she smiles.
“I told you to let me trust you.”
I laugh a little and wrap my arms around her.
“I love you,” I whisper to her as everyone else wakes up.
“Hugo.” Karlie stands up in her sweats. “What happened?”
Before I answer, my phone starts vibrating. I see a number that is unfamiliar but decide to answer anyway.
“Hello.”
“Hi, is this Hugo Mandrake?” A woman is on the other line.
“This is he.”
“Hi, this is Leslie Mallord. I am a housekeeper for your grandmother. I’m sorry to have to tell you but… your grandmother has passed.”
You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.
JULIET
Apparently Hugo and August are in the will, so that’s why Hugo and I are currently holding August’s hands. We promised him we would sit in the back and so we do. We listen as the priest talks of faith and God and the life of Mrs. Voncliff. There are hundreds of people here. Distant cousins, people of Manhattan, Hugo tells me. People hoping to get their hands on the fortune. The funeral is boring, not because funerals are genuine fun but you can just tell that in this room no one knew who Goergette Voncliff was and no one cared. They are just here to be here, to say that I went to the funeral of the old woman who died alone. Whose son created the Black Card Club. A club that spent years violating young girls. Everyone knows now and of course they are horrified. CNN released certain parts of the videos with the victims’ faces blurred out, but powerful men have been arrested and they will be convicted because they were still doing it, only without the club’s protection. A former athlete has already shot himself because of the release. I wonder how Hugo feels about the truth coming out. I don’t think it makes him happy, I think it just makes him feel sort of responsible for all the mess he’s inherited from his family.
HUGO
I’ve only heard of Cousin Herald. Herald Voncliff who rules Washington. Always endorsing Republican candidates. I think he was the only one who kept in touch with my grandmother; therefore, he will probably get the most of her fortune. I don’t even know why she put August and I in her will, but I figure we will just get the rest of mother’s inheritance or maybe less. The last thing I said to my grandmother was that she was going to die alone and she was a failure as a mother. I don’t regret those words… but oddly I do regret not knowing more about her. Maybe it’s the family connection. Maybe it’s the fact that I understand. I understand that we all start off good. We all start off kind. We all have a beginning and then we have an end. The in between is what changes us. The in between is what gives us purpose. It’s the high risk stages of life. In the beginning my grandmother was a sweet child with stars in her eyes. In the beginning she was free. Then in between she was given a choice. A choice that is always forced upon people like us. Do we stand against them or do we keep our mouths shut.
I’m sitting here with August in the corner of the room. Herald is sitting upfront, brushing off his suit as if he’s getting ready to accept an award. The lawyer pulls out the will. He’s smiling along with everyone else in the room. I don’t know them. They didn’t introduce themselves and I wasn’t going to introduce myself or August. These people are not family. They are strangers, strangers I will never see again.
“To my loving family,” the lawyer states. “Although most of you have not contacted me in the past years, I will miss you all. To my darling nephew, Herald, thank you for always keeping me company and sending those adorable kitten paintings. I leave you those same paintings. I hope they give you great pleasure.” Herald’s mouth drops as others snicker. “Truthfully, my darling family, I have called you all in here to witness my will and testament just to infuriate you and to hopefully redeem what is left of anything that can be redeemed of me. In saying, I, Goergette Voncliff, bequeath my estate, all financial and realty property, all shares of my company, all trust assets I have inherited from my deceased parents and grandparents, the Voncliff estate, and finally the remaining trust of my dec
eased daughter, Susannah Voncliff, to my darling and wonderful grandsons, August Mandrake and Hugo Mandrake, and my great-grandchildren, children of my deceased grandson, Gabriel Mandrake. Each portion of the inheritance will be split equally among the four. The grandchildren will receive their full inheritance at the age of twenty-one years old.”
What the fuck?
“What the fuck?!” Herald is outraged along with the rest of room. “She left it all…” He points to us. “To them?!”
“Her estate is worth billions… so are her shares,” a woman whispers to herself.
August leans into me and whispers. “Hugo, does this mean we’re richer than we already are?”
“This has to be a mistake,” I insist.
“Damn right it is,” Herald adds.
“I promise you it is not,” the lawyer says. “Mrs. Voncliff fell ill days ago before her death and asked me to make preparations.”
Herald and the others scoff and whine and storm out. The lawyer packs up and comes to shake my hand. I reluctantly shake it still in shock.
“Congratulations, boys.”
He leaves out and I notice someone else still in the room. She’s in the other corner. She’s the only one with real tears in her eyes. She’s also smiling and glad for August and I. She’s the caretaker.
“Congratulations, boys,” she says standing up and she begins to walk out, but I stop her grabbing her arm.
“She wasn’t ill,” I say. “You helped her kill herself, didn’t you?”
She thinks to herself before sadly smiling back at me. “She wanted you to know… that at some point she was a better person.”
I let go of her arms and let her leave along with her secret.
“I don’t get people, Hugo,” August says all of sudden.
“Neither do I.”
JULIET
“Hold on… she left you everything?” I’m trying to figure out what the bloody hell is going on. “Your grandmother left you everything?”
“Yes,” Hugo and August both answer. August is studying the palm of his hands and Hugo is just staring at me with the dumbfounded look on my face.
“And to Oliver and Suzannah?”
“Yes,” we both answer again.
“Why?”
“I guess to prove something. Redemption.” He shrugs and sits back once the car pulls off from the estate.
“Well… how do you feel about it? Inheriting it all and her death and… well everything?”
“I don’t know truthfully… I just know what I’m gonna do with it.”
“What?”
“I’m gonna help the victims of the Black Card Club.”
He says it like it’s not a big deal. Like nothing is honorable about that and something tells me he doesn’t want to hear it. So I just kiss him and then I tell him,
“I love you.”
He lets out that deep breath and presses his forehead against mine, satisfied with the words I gave him.
“So what now?” I ask.
“Karlie and the kids are leaving today, so I’ll go say goodbye to them.” Something seems to bother him. He glances at August and then back at me. “We need to make a few stops first.”
HUGO
First stop is somewhere risky. I’m not shocked that I am allowed to come up, but I am shocked to see Rebecca Townsend open the door to her brother’s condo.
“Hi,” she says, shocked to see me, yet nervous and relieved. She looks different. A little bit better than the last time I saw her. Color has come back to her face and even though she is still wearing the same oversized t-shirt and shorts—much different from her usual attire—I can sense life reviving in her.
“I didn’t expect you to be back,” I say to her as she lets me in.
“Well, I’m not. I mean I am, but just to leave with my brother.”
“You’re returning to Boston?”
“Yeah, but Patrick thinks it would be good if we both went away for awhile. Our brother is gonna meet us too with my nieces and nephew. A sibling retreat.”
“Basically peace without your mother.”
“Yeah,” she sadly nods. “She’s… trying, but I just…”
“You need her to just get off your back.”
“Yeah… I spoke to the police. Told them everything. I even remembered something… I remembered Chad’s face and… it turns out that Chad blabbed to his junkie friends about Scarlett paying him to…” She closes her eyes and exhales. “To rape me, so I mean it doesn’t matter now that he’s dead, but at least everyone will know that you’re not guilty.”
“I want everyone to know that you’re gonna be okay,” I say to her. “And you will. You will be okay. It will be hard. It will be terrifying and sometimes you will want to give up.”
“I know.” She smiles as if there is something I don’t know. “That woman. Your friend. Karlie Fairchild. She called me. She told me everything. Everything Scarlett did to her, and to know from someone who has survived it all… it helps. She even suggested women survivors groups in Boston, so when I get back I’ll be going. She even suggested family support for my mom.”
“Good.” I let Rebecca see me smile because this news brings incredible joy to me. A feeling I am still trying to get used to.
Rebecca bites her lip nervously before saying, “I know you have a girlfriend, but… sometimes I wish you were the person I lost my virginity to.”
“I’m no more worthy than Chad. And don’t worry about labels. As far as I know, you are still pure and one day… you will meet a guy. A guy who won’t be perfect… but he will be worthy and you will know.”
She smiles as if hope has come to find her and she hugs me. Of course I’m not good with hugging, so I just stand there, awkwardly patting her back. She kisses me on the cheek just as her brother comes in.
“Bye,” she says and goes to her room as Patrick looks at me in a not so welcoming way.
“What are you doing here?” he asks with this attitude.
“That doesn’t fit you,” I say.
“What?” he asks, confused.
“The attitude. The demeanor of being cold and angry. It doesn’t fit you.”
“Listen, I don’t have time for this.”
“It’s because your heart’s broken. It’s because everything you thought you knew is a lie. It’s because you have worked so hard at being both a good person and being a person that does what he is told… and you have failed. That’s that. But you have not failed your sister. You have not failed even your mother...”
“Or the father that isn’t really my father?”
I didn’t expect him to know this.
“My mother, after I informed her of the truth, finally gave me the truth. A truth you knew. A truth even Scarlett knew. A truth I will tell Rebecca during our getaway.”
“Good… you should.”
He scoffs at me and shakes his head. “This is bullshit. Me getting some sort of righteous wisdom from you.”
“It is, but someone’s got to.”
He looks out the window of his prized condo. A condo he had worshipped along with his fiancé.
“I thought my life was right,” he confesses. “I thought my life was right.”
“It is. It just got invaded. I told your sister she will be okay… and she will.” He looks at me and I give him one last truth. “And so will you.”
“You know Scarlett skipped town.”
“Not shocked.”
“Those accounts that held money from the club members have already been withdrawn apparently. She’s going to get away with everything, isn’t she?”
“Maybe. No matter what, she’ll be alone. She can’t come back. Not now. Everyone knows and that’s what really hurts her.”
Patrick looks down at his feet and something tells me he’s gonna have a tougher time than Rebecca with recovery.
“Be well, Patrick,” I say my goodbye and head out for the door.
“You too, Hugo.”
I stop once I r
emember something very important.
“Also, that NeoLock deal. Karlie handled it with Edward Harper and it turns out he’ll need two investors. You should be getting a call today.”
He smiles a little and shakes his head before responding.
“You know… you say I’m a good man. But I’ve always been a blind man. Hopefully now I won’t be. Hopefully now I’ll be more like you.”
This statement piques my interest. “What’s that? An asshole?”
“No… a good man who isn’t blind.”
I’m in a church again. It seems fitting before my next stop. An older woman walks past me and a priest smiles as I come close. He looks to be in his early forties. Dark brown hair with a receding hairline and brown eyes. He has one of those smiles that is rare in a middle aged man. Meaning it isn’t creepy.
“Can I help you, son?” I know his voice.
“I’ve come to receive my Hail Marys, Father.” It now registers to him.
“I see your soul is still protected by the Lord.”
“Yes.”
“Are you here for confession?”
“Yeah, but I guess the booth isn’t needed now that I have come in view of you.”
“Not what you expected?”
“I predicted older.” He gestures to the row next to us and we both sit.
“So… have you figured out all of God’s answers?”
“A few.”
“Like what?”
“Love. Why love is existent.”
“Good.”
“I’ve also learned that God is a very forgiving God.”
“Indeed he is.”
“Hopefully he continues because I have to tell you, father… it is only rare when someone is worth forgiving in this world.”
His eyes narrow at me as if he sees right through me, like Juliet. “Do you need to forgive anyone?”
“Yes.”
“Is that why you’re here? To figure out how to forgive them?”
“No, I know… I think I just needed to create a calm before the storm. A church seemed appropriate.”
Reckless Karma (Sinners & Saints #2) Page 24