She couldn’t help but smile at that comment. Abraham Martin had been described in a lot of ways—entrepreneurial genius and entertainment trendsetter were two that came to mind—but never had anyone referred to him as a fossil.
“That’s better,” he said. “I love it when you smile.”
Deborah could feel herself being swept back under the spell he’d begun weaving around her since the day they’d had lunch together four months ago, the first time she’d been face-to-face with her father. “We can’t go back, Abraham,” she said. “It’s too late.”
He shook his head. “It’s not too late. Not as long as you have breath in your body and I have breath in mine. We’ve lost a lot of years, all my doing,” he said. “But we don’t have to lose another day. You’re my daughter, and my business is your business. I’m not just offering you a job, Deborah. I’m offering you your rightful place as my child and heir.”
Chapter Two
You’ve got to talk to Michael, Mama Leah,” Josette said in the whiny high-pitched tone that made Leah’s skin crawl. They sat facing each other on the extra-long full-sized bed in the bedroom where Michael had grown up. “He’s changing. He’s started keeping late hours and he’s evasive when I ask him about what he’s doing. He’s cheating on me,” she said. “I just know it.”
Leah got up from the bed on the pretense of getting more tea. On days like today, she wished her son and Josette had never met, much less married. Raised by overly indulgent grandparents, her daughter-in-law gave new meaning to the word spoiled. Josette was a sweet girl, but Leah could only tolerate small doses of her when she was in complaint mode, as she was today.
Leah took her time dumping the tea in her cup in the sink in the adjoining bathroom, which had once been shared by her son and daughter but now, with its sweet scent of air freshener and the floral towels on the racks, only bore signs of her daughter. When she could stall no more, she returned to the bedroom and refilled her cup with fresh tea from the carafe she’d brought up earlier and set on Michael’s old dresser.
Taking a deep breath, she turned back to her daughter-in-law. “What can I say to Michael, Josette? I’ve already talked to him, and he says he’s not seeing anyone. He’s just working longer hours these days.”
“It’s more than that,” Josette said, lifting damp eyes to Leah. “He’s hiding something from me. I know he is.” She rubbed her hand over her protruding belly. “I’d leave him if I weren’t pregnant. I might leave him anyway.”
Thinking of her unborn grandchild, Leah pushed away her frustration, returned to the bed and sat next to Josette. “You don’t mean that,” she said, brushing her hand down Josette’s silky black hair. “You love Michael and he loves you.” At least, she hoped he did.
Still rubbing her belly, Josette said, “I used to think he did, but now I’m not sure. How could he love me and neglect to tell me something as important as who his biological father is? Why couldn’t he trust me with that information? If you love a woman, you trust her. You don’t keep secrets from her the way Michael has since the beginning of our marriage. Michael has never trusted me, and now I don’t trust him.”
Leah closed her eyes and said a quick silent prayer. God help her, but she’d wondered the same thing since she first learned that Michael hadn’t told his bride-to-be that the Abraham Martin was his father. She blamed herself. When they were young she began telling them that their father’s identity had to be kept secret. Now she wondered why she’d burdened them that way. How she wished she could change the decisions she’d made in the past! “It’s complicated, Josette. Abraham was never a father to them, not really.”
Josette lifted damp, light brown eyes to her. “Why didn’t you say something?” she asked, disappointment filling her voice.
Leah sighed. She had no excuse. Once again she’d allowed Michael to sweet-talk her concerns away. “I don’t know, Josette. Michael’s animosity toward Abraham had grown over the years to the point where the man’s name couldn’t be mentioned without starting a war of words. Then you came along and Michael seemed to mellow a bit. The two of you were so happy together. It was as if starting his own family was helping him to deal with his feelings for Abraham.”
“We were happy,” Josette said. “I thought we were soul mates. I bared my heart to Michael and thought he had done the same with me. Then I learn there is a whole other part of him that he didn’t even share with me. How is that supposed to make me feel? What else is he keeping from me?”
Leah didn’t know what to say. Her oldest child was becoming a stranger to her. “Don’t worry yourself so, Josette. It’s not good for the baby for you to get upset.”
“I know, but I can’t help it. I’m having a baby in less than five months, and my husband is seeing another woman.” She dropped her face to her hands and began to weep. “What am I going to do?” she muttered.
Leah prayed for wisdom. She pulled her daughter-in-law to her side and rocked her gently. “Everything’s going to be all right,” she said. “I’ll talk to Michael. You get some rest.”
Leah pulled back the covers and eased her daughter-in-law under them. She kissed her brow and tucked her in as she had done with Michael when he was a boy. “I love you, Josette. Now get some rest.”
Josette was asleep before Leah picked up the tray with the tea and closed the bedroom door. The front door opened as she reached the bottom stair, and Deborah burst into the foyer. Her youngest child didn’t enter a room, she claimed it with an energy that belied her petite frame.
“You’re home early,” Leah said to her daughter.
Deborah kicked off her Crocs and hung her shoulder bag on the coat tree. “I needed a break.”
“Rough day?” Leah asked, glad her daughter had taken off those ugly shoes, which in no way complemented the smart tailored pantsuit.
“Understatement of the year.” Deborah pressed a kiss on her mother’s cheek. “House guest?” she asked, inclining her head toward the tray.
Leah headed toward the kitchen, with Deborah following her. “Josette.”
“Oh,” Deborah said, taking a seat at the oak dinette table Michael had bought for the family when he graduated from college and got his first job. The new furniture had been a big deal for them.
Leah placed the tray on the kitchen counter. “Yes, ‘oh.’”
“So she’s left Michael again?”
Leah pulled a pitcher from the refrigerator, poured two glasses of lemonade, and handed one to Deborah. “Seems that way.”
Deborah took the glass, nodding her thanks. “What does that make—four times in the last four months?”
“I’ve lost count. She’ll be back home with him as soon as he comes and gets her. It’s become a ritual now. I think she leaves to get his attention.”
Deborah took a long swallow of lemonade. “I could strangle that boy, Mama. Josette is the best thing that’s happened to him, and he’s too stupid to realize it. I don’t blame her. I’d leave him, too. Unlike her, though, I’d go farther away than his mother’s house and I wouldn’t sit around waiting for him to come get me. I’d leave him for good.”
“Don’t talk like that, Deborah. You know your brother’s been going through a rough patch recently.”
Deborah rolled her eyes. “Yeah, he’s been going through it since he hit puberty. He’s a thirty-year-old man, Mama. He needs to grow up. We aren’t the only kids to grow up without a father. That excuse stopped working years ago. You don’t see me acting the fool the way he does, do you?”
Leah squeezed her daughter’s shoulder. “No, you’re the good child. You always have been.”
“Mama, don’t say that. You’re making excuses for Michael. Abraham has reached out to us, but Michael won’t reciprocate. I don’t know what he wants from the man.”
Leah could see that the conversation was going nowhere. She sat down across from her daughter. “Your lunch with Abraham must have gone well.”
Deborah rubbed her fingers down the si
de of her glass. “It was okay.”
“Just okay?” Leah coaxed.
“He bought me a production company, Mama,” Deborah said, awe in her voice. “He bought me a production company. Can you believe it?”
Leah gave her a big smile, wanting to be happy for her daughter, but her thoughts quickly turned to her son and how he might react to the news. Her children had always been close, and she hoped Abraham’s largesse toward Deborah wouldn’t change their relationship. But she worried about it because anything involving Abraham seemed to set Michael off. His sister’s good news could very likely send him into the stratosphere.
Chapter Three
Isaac Martin waited for his mother in the back of the church. She had just dismissed the weekly mid-morning Bible study group that she led. When she saw him, she smiled and headed his way, but Reverend Reeves stopped her and pulled her aside to chat for a moment. Several other folks stopped her before she reached him. In the meantime, he greeted those who saw him. Since this was his home church, he knew practically everybody. He hoped Reverend Reeves didn’t corner him today. His church attendance had dropped off significantly in the last four months and he knew the pastor had noticed.
When his mother finally reached him, she lifted her cheek for the kiss he always had for her. “Still the life of the party, huh, Mom?” he teased.
Saralyn Martin gave him a 100-watt smile that made her look more like his sister than his mother. “I see you had your share of admirers.”
He held up his ring finger and pointed to the ring. “I don’t have admirers anymore,” he said. “I’m married, remember?”
She slapped him on the arm with one of her recently manicured hands. “Nobody likes a smart aleck, son.”
He laughed. “So where do you want to go for lunch?”
“Honey, I’m sorry but I can’t go to lunch today. I need to get back to the office.”
He lifted a brow. “The office? Since when did you start going into the office? I thought charity events and cocktail parties took up all your time these days.”
“Except for this Bible study class, I’ve had to clear my social calendar,” she said. “Since you decided you were no longer interested in the family business, I figured somebody had to look out for your interests. That somebody is me.”
“Don’t start, Mom.”
“I’m not starting anything,” she said. “I’m telling you the truth. You shouldn’t have left your position at MEEG. That company is yours and you belong there, no matter what your father has done. Don’t forget that my father—your grandfather—started that company.”
Isaac hadn’t forgotten. He also knew that Ellis News was only a minor cog in the wheel that was now Martin-Ellis Entertainment Group. His father had turned a mom-and-pop newspaper into a multi-million-dollar entertainment conglomerate consisting of a couple of magazines, a film and television production company, and a television station. “Don’t start, Mom,” he said again. “I didn’t come here to talk about him.”
“I’m not talking about him,” she said, “I’m talking about you. You’re letting your disappointment in your father cloud your judgment. MEEG is yours. You shouldn’t be working for somebody else. It’s not right.”
Isaac sighed. The position as VP of Special Products at Infinity Games wasn’t his ideal job, but it was a soft landing while he decided what he wanted to do long-term. “It’s right for me, Mom. I can’t live in his shadow anymore. I don’t want to be with him or be like him. I have to become my own man.”
“By working for somebody else? That makes no sense. You come from a long line of entrepreneurs, men and women who took pride in building their own, not taking scraps from somebody else. Where did you get your ideas about work? You certainly didn’t get them from me, your father, or your grandfather.”
Isaac didn’t deny the entrepreneurial bent that flowed through his veins, but after learning about his father’s other children, he’d needed a break from the man, so he took the first decent opportunity that presented itself. With Infinity, he learned about gaming, an entertainment area that MEEG had yet to explore. Besides, working with his father and trying to meet his excessively high expectations had grown more stressful each day. He’d found himself popping antacids like there was no tomorrow. “You’re determined to argue with me, aren’t you?” he asked his mother.
She tucked her arm through his and guided them toward the sanctuary’s exit doors. “I’m determined to get you to see what’s right. There’s a difference.”
Isaac threw back his head and laughed. “You’re the perfect match for Dad. I have to give you that.”
She sobered and her steps faltered. “I used to think so.”
He hugged her to his side. “I’m sorry, Mom,” he said, mentally berating himself for being so insensitive. “I know this hasn’t been a walk in the park for you.” Though his mother had long known about his father’s infidelities, she’d been humiliated by his recent efforts to embrace his outside children.
“No, it hasn’t,” she said. “But you don’t see me walking away from all I’ve worked for. Now is not the time to be emotional.”
Isaac stared at his mother. She looked all prim and proper in her pale pink designer suit and matching heels, but her backbone was as solid and unyielding as the diamonds that adorned her ears, neck, and wrists. “I don’t know how you do it.”
“You’re not a woman,” she said. “If women fell apart every time a man did something stupid, that’s all we’d do. No, women have to be strong. When the man falls, we have to keep standing. Otherwise, there would be no family.”
“Okay, Mom,” he said. He could feel her winding up for a lecture and he wanted to cut her off before she got started.
“Okay, nothing. Yes, I’m angry with your father for his betrayal. I’m angered by the insensitivity to our feelings he’s showing with his ‘do the right thing’ campaign. I hate what he’s done to this family and I’m not sure I’ll be able to forgive him anytime soon. But what he’s done doesn’t take away from what we’ve built together. That company is as much yours as it is your father’s. Now is not the time to walk away, Isaac. I don’t know where your father’s head is these days but something tells me we’re both going to find out soon, and I don’t think we’re going to like what we hear. You need to stake your claim before Abraham starts dividing up the pie. Can you see yourself sharing MEEG with those interlopers, working side by side with them? I’d die first.”
“Since I’m not working at MEEG any longer, it doesn’t really matter to me,” Isaac said. “That’s a battle I won’t have to fight.” He wanted, and needed, peace in his life and his work. He knew that now. Let his half siblings have MEEG and the drama that was Abraham Martin.
His mother stopped walking and stared at him. “Now that’s the kind of crazy talk that keeps me awake at night. You’ve got to wake up and smell the coffee, son. We’re not just talking about a job here; we’re talking about your birthright, your heritage. Don’t be a slouch like Esau and give yours away.” She started walking again. “I blame your father for all of this. Why stir the pot after all these years? Our lives were going along fine the way things were. Now he’s bringing the infidels in among us.”
“You make them sound like the enemy.”
“In a way, they are. That woman had no respect for my marriage. She didn’t have one child with your father, she had two.”
Isaac could feel his mother’s pain, and his anger at his father grew. How could the man he’d held in such esteem all his life, the man who always spoke of the honor in being a husband and father, mistreat his mother this way, a woman who’d always stood by him? He thought about his own wife and wondered if he could ever do the same to her. He tossed the thought aside as soon as it formed in his mind. He’d never hurt Rebecca the way his father had hurt his mother. He hugged his mother to his side. “Let’s go pick up some lunch.”
She looked up at him. “You’ll come back to the office and eat with me?”
“Good,” she said, with that bright smile she gave when she got her way. “I need your advice on a couple of things.”
Isaac knew very well that his mother didn’t need his advice. She had just executed the first step in her efforts to recruit him back to MEEG. He didn’t have the heart to tell her that her efforts would not yield the results she wanted. He didn’t see himself going back to MEEG, not now, maybe not ever. And not even his mother, the brilliantly manipulative Saralyn “I always get my way” Martin, could change that.
Chapter Four
That’s it,” Michael Thomas told his staff of fifteen as he folded his portfolio closed. He watched as they left the conference room, giving himself props for having had the insight to bring each of them on board. The team he’d assembled was hungry, as hungry as he was, and their productivity showed it.
He got up, tucked his portfolio under his arm and made his way back to his corner office with its view of the Atlanta cityscape. Every time he walked into this office and looked out those windows, he felt good about what he’d accomplished. The Thomas Management Group was not yet where he wanted it to be, but he was way ahead of his own ambitious schedule. He’d been hustling music groups since he was a teenager. The hustling had continued through four years of college, where he honed the skills he already had and picked up some valuable new ones to round out his repertoire. He landed his first major record deal two months before his college graduation, and they’d continued to fall since then. In no time at all he’d have everything he wanted, everything he deserved. And he’d done it all without a rich daddy to back him up.
He glanced at the profile of the MEEG building clearly visible from his office. That building represented all that he wanted and would someday have. Right now he had to look at Abraham Martin’s midtown empire from the windows of his much less costly offices on Atlanta’s historic Auburn Avenue. But one of these days he’d own the MEEG building or one even better.
Sins of the Father Page 2