Sins of the Father

by Angela Benson

  He pulled her close again. “I’m tough. I can take it.”

  She met his eyes. “Can you take Saralyn Martin? She’ll enjoy running my name down to your congregation.”

  “Let me handle Sister Martin.”

  Saralyn and Abraham were big shots at Faith Community, where Melvin pastored, and they wielded a great deal of influence. If her relationship with Melvin became common knowledge, she had no doubt Saralyn would use it against him. She’d either try to ruin the relationship or try to get Melvin kicked out of his job. Maybe she’d try both. Looking at Melvin and the naive smile he wore, Leah decided to change the subject. “Now that I’m feeling better, I’m getting hungry. Still wanna fix me lunch?”

  He met her eyes. “You’re going to have to stop hiding one day, Leah. You insult God when you reject His forgiveness. And you insult me when you think gossip will change my feelings for you. That’ll never happen.”

  “I know,” she said, but she really didn’t know. “Now let’s go eat.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Deborah sat in her plush leather desk chair in her twelfth floor office in the MEEG Building in downtown Atlanta. The first floor lobby, while lush, gave no hint of the luxury found on this floor. She’d first come to this building when she and Michael were in high school. Both of them were curious about their absentee father and thought a trip to his building would offer some insight. They had read about MEEG in the papers and in the magazines their mother tried unsuccessfully to hide from them. She’d returned from the trip in awe of the wealth her father had amassed. Michael returned angry at what he considered the scraps Abraham tossed their way when he obviously had so much more.

  As she sat taking in her surroundings, from the gold nameplate on her massive mahogany desk, to what she suspected was museum-quality art on the walls, to the magnificent view of the Atlanta skyline through the floor-to-ceiling windows, she couldn’t help but acknowledge that Michael had been right to be angry.

  While they had not been poor growing up, neither had they been well-off. Sure, Abraham provided money, but both she and Michael had needed scholarships and loans to get their degrees. They’d both gone to Georgia State in downtown Atlanta and lived at home to keep expenses low. Looking at the opulence that was MEEG, she had no doubt that Abraham could have easily paid their full ride. Why hadn’t he?

  A knock at her door got her attention, and she looked up to see a smiling Alan standing in her doorway. “How do your like your office?” he asked.

  To be honest, she thought it was a bit of overkill. “Let’s just say it’s a few stories, not steps, up from my cubicle at Pearson Entertainment. I’ll have to invite some of my old colleagues over here so they can see how the rich live.”

  Alan walked fully into the room and slid easily into the guest chair in front of her desk. “What can I say? Abraham and Saralyn believe in going first class all the way.”

  Except when it came to us, she thought. “So I see. It’s going to take some getting used to.”

  He chuckled. “Believe me, it won’t take that long. Did you get everything taken care of in Human Resources?”

  She nodded. “Very efficient group. I didn’t have any problems. I’m now an official MEEG employee.”

  “Don’t be modest,” he said. “You’re more than that. You own a part of this company, or you will one day.”

  She shook her head. “I still can’t believe that. After all these years, Abraham remembers he has two other children. It doesn’t make sense.”

  “I don’t know,” Alan said. “Sometimes a man reaches a point where he has to take stock of his life. When he doesn’t like what he sees, he tries to right some of his wrongs.”

  Alan’s choice of words stung. Somehow they made her and Michael seem like the wrongs, when Abraham’s desertion was the real wrong. “Is that what you think Abraham is doing?”

  He nodded. “Don’t you?”

  A part of her hoped that it was more than duty driving him. She wanted to believe that he cared for her and Michael. Maybe it was wishful thinking. “You said you’ve known him for twenty-five years. Did you know about us?”

  He shook his head. “Not until earlier this year.”

  So Abraham had kept them a secret from the people who’d known him longest. That knowledge made her heart ache, if only a little.

  “I’m sorry,” Alan said. “I shouldn’t have been so matter-of-fact about it.”

  Deborah realized then she was wearing her emotions on her sleeves. She’d have to watch that in the future. “You don’t have to be sorry. How did you end up working for Abraham?” she asked, seeking to change the subject.

  “It’s a long story.”

  “I’ve got time,” she said with a grin. “I’m the boss’s daughter.”

  He chuckled. “You’re going to be a breath of fresh air around here. I’m glad to have you on board.”

  “Thank you,” she said, “but you haven’t answered my question.”

  “Pretty and sharp, too.”

  Deborah lifted her brow at the “pretty” as she wondered if Alan was flirting with her. Not that she’d mind. In fact, he was just her type. She glanced at his left hand. No ring, but that didn’t mean anything. “Are you married, Alan?”

  “No, why do you ask?”

  “Because I think you’re flirting with me. Are you?”

  “Would you mind it if I were?”

  She wasn’t ready to answer that one yet. “It would depend on why you’re flirting with me. You still haven’t answered my question.”

  He chuckled again. “Abraham may not have raised you, but you definitely have his genes. Like you, he gets what he wants.”

  She leaned back in her chair. “Does that mean you’re going to answer my question?”

  “Do I have a choice?”

  “I guess not.”

  “Your father and I were classmates at Morehouse. He looked me up when his business began growing and made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. I’ve been with him ever since.”

  “You must be good at what you do.”

  “The best.”

  She laughed. “And modest, too.”

  “That’s something else you’ll learn about your father. Modesty is not a trait he possesses nor is it one he respects. He’s self-confident to the point of being arrogant, and respects self-confidence in others.”

  “I’ll have to remember that.”

  “You won’t have a problem. Abraham would not have bought Running Brook and put you in charge if you didn’t have traits he respected, daughter or no daughter. It’s not in his DNA. Ask your half brother, Isaac. Abraham is a hard taskmaster and he has high expectations.”

  “I have a lot to learn about him, don’t I?” she asked, praying that she’d have the opportunity.

  “Don’t worry about Abraham,” he told her, as if reading her mind. “He’ll probably be kicking around here long after you and I are gone. He gives new meaning to tough.”

  “There’s so much about him I don’t know,” she confessed. “And I want to know everything. You’ve known him a long time. What kind of a man is he?”

  Alan leaned forward and rested his palms on his knees. “I think you already know the kind of man he is. He’s driven. He’d have to be to build MEEG. He can be selfish. He’d have to be to have ignored you and your brother all these years. What kind of man is he? He’s human, with all the flaws and frailties we humans have. Sometimes he does the right thing; other times, he does the wrong thing. To his credit, he’s a man who admits his mistakes when faced with them. He’s just a man, Deborah. Take what he has to offer, but don’t expect more than he gives. He’ll undoubtedly disappoint you, but then so would any man. Rarely do fathers live up to the expectations of their daughters.” He sat back in his chair and studied her. “Did that answer your question?”

  Deborah nodded. “Thank you.”

  “No problem,” Alan said, standing. “Why don’t I take you home and you can get a fresh start in the m
orning. I’ve arranged for you to meet with the current Running Brook team at ten A.M. They’re a good group but you’re not going to want to keep them all. We can talk about all that tomorrow. You’ve had a full day.”

  Deborah dutifully followed him out of her office. Alan had answered some of her questions but raised many more. There was still much she wanted to know about Abraham, and she also wanted to know about Alan. But she’d have to wait until another time to ask. She didn’t want to scare him off by asking too much too soon.

  Chapter Twenty

  Deborah knocked on her brother’s front door. After learning that Alan lived in Buckhead, she called to make sure Michael was home and then asked Alan to drop her off at Michael’s house. She wanted to tell him what Abraham had done, rather than leaving it to the lawyer. Her brother answered on the third knock.

  “Took you a long time to answer,” she said when he opened the door wearing sweats and a T-shirt. “You may want to consider increasing the number of days you exercise each week.”

  He kissed her cheek. “Please. You can’t give me exercise tips. When was the last time you made it to the gym?”

  She followed her brother down the stairs to the recreation room, where the fifty-inch plasma was blasting some sports talk show. She kicked off her shoes, tossed her bag on the first chair she saw, then raced to her brother’s favorite recliner.

  “Beat you,” she said, falling into the chair.

  Michael laughed. “Girl, you need to grow up.” He went over to the minirefrigerator and pulled out two bottles of water. He tossed one to her and then walked over and sat on the end of the weight bench. “So, what brings you by?”

  She twisted the cap off the water and took a sip. “Can’t a sister visit a brother without having a reason? I wanted to see you.”

  “Right,” he said, taking a swig of his water. “I know you went down to MEEG today. How was it?”

  “So you’ve talked to Mama, then? What else did she tell you?” Maybe her mother had told him the news and she’d be spared the duty.

  He put down his bottled water and picked up two dumbbells. “She just said you were starting your big-time job at dear old dad’s company today. So how was it?”

  “It was all right.”

  He did a couple of bicep curls. “Tell the truth, girl. I know it had to have been a trip. Do you remember when we went down there when we were kids?”

  “Yeah. Well, if you thought the lobby was something, you should see the twelfth floor offices. I knew Abraham had money, a lot of money, and that MEEG was a huge business with a lot of different holdings, but I guess it really didn’t sink in until I saw that floor. You know, it’s one thing to think someone is rich; it’s a whole other thing to see how the rich live. It’s a different world, literally.”

  “Yeah, the old man is loaded, but you’d never know it from the crumbs he gave us.”

  “I hate to say it, but you’re right.”

  Michael lay flat on his back on the bench and continued his bicep curls. “Yeah, I’m right. I’ve been right about him all along. That man doesn’t care a thing for us. He just wants to ease his conscience now that he’s getting older. It’ll be a cold day in hell before he uses me for that purpose.”

  “Are you angry with me for spending time with him, for taking the job?”

  Michael rested his dumbbells on the floor, sat up, and looked at his sister. “I’m not going to lie,” he told her. “I was angry with you at first, but now it doesn’t matter. I say get as much out of the old dog as you can. He owes us. Big-time.”

  Deborah didn’t believe Abraham owed them, but she did feel that he could have done better by them. “Maybe he’s starting to pay us back,” she said, deciding to jump right to the main issue. “Did Mama tell you that he gave us seats on his board of directors?”

  “What? You and mama are on his board? I don’t believe it.”

  “I couldn’t believe it either, but it’s true. We found out this morning.”

  “Apparently, he didn’t think enough of me to add me to his board. What a poor excuse for a man. He knows I’d outperform that pansy boy of his, Isaac. Well, Abraham never did anything for me in the past, and I don’t need him to do anything for me now. I can make my own way. Forget Abraham Martin.”

  Though he’d never admit it, Deborah knew Abraham’s slight hurt her brother. “It’s not as bad as you think, Mike. Abraham did think of you. Mom’s seat on the board is really yours.”

  “What kind of crap talk is that? If the seat were mine, I’d be sitting in it. You’ve got to stop believing everything that old man tells you.”

  Deborah hated when Michael talked about Abraham this way. It seemed to make light of her feelings for her father. “It’s true. Abraham doesn’t trust you to have control in MEEG. He thinks you’ll do something to damage the company because you hate him so much.”

  Michael snorted. “Maybe the old man isn’t as stupid as he looks. I’d love nothing more than to bring him down.”

  “But the company is our legacy now, too, Michael. Why would you want to bring it down?”

  “I didn’t say I’d bring the company down. I said I’d bring Abraham down.”

  Deborah didn’t see the difference but she saw no value in pursuing the topic. “Anyway, Mama and I go to our first board meeting on Friday.”

  “That ought to be interesting,” he said. “Maybe I’ll drop in.”

  Deborah’s antennae of concern shot up. “But you’re not on the board yet.”

  Michael shrugged. “What are they going to do? Kick me out? I doubt it. I am Old Boy’s son, in case you’ve forgotten.”

  Deborah hoped Michael was joking, but she couldn’t be sure. She decided to change the subject. “Have you been to see him?”

  He shook his head. “Why would I do that?”

  “You should have gone before they put him in the coma. You’re going to regret you didn’t if he doesn’t wake up.”

  “Oh, he’s going to wake up, all right. That old man won’t go down that easy.”

  “I hope so.” She got up, walked over, and sat next to her brother on the bench. “I don’t know how I feel about him, Michael. Sometimes I’m just happy to have a dad in my life. Then when I think about how he’s treated us, I’m angry.” She leaned her head on her brother’s shoulder. “I’m pretty messed up, aren’t I?”

  Michael pressed his hand against her head. “Both of us could probably do with some time on a psychiatrist’s couch. How could we not be messed up, given how we grew up?”

  “But Mama did a good job with us, even if Abraham wasn’t around.”

  “That’s the thing, sis,” he told her. “Abraham was around. He was always there. He just wasn’t with us. Sometimes I think we would have been better off if we hadn’t known who he was.”

  Deborah considered her brother’s words and wondered what her life would have been like had she not known all these years that Abraham was her father. “I don’t know.”

  He chuckled. “You’d probably still be dating older men.”

  She raised her head and slapped him on the shoulder. “Enough with the psychoanalysis.” Her brother was right, though. She didn’t need a psychology degree to know that her affinity for older men was somehow tied into having an absentee father. She just accepted it as who she was. But Michael had his own demons. “How’s Josette and where is she?” she asked.

  “Nice segue, sis. My wife is fine. She’s out doing baby shopping, which seems to be how she spends most of her time.”

  “Be honest, Michael. You can’t lie to me, either. How are you two? Josette thinks you’re having an affair. Are you?”

  He shook his head. “No. How many times do I have to answer that question? I’m in the music business. A lot of my work happens in bars and clubs in the late night, early morning hours. What about that is so hard to understand?”

  Deborah wasn’t sure she believed him. “Just don’t do to Josette and your baby what Abraham did to us. Be a better ma
n to your family than he was to his.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Banished from the hospital by her husband, Rebecca sat flipping through magazines in her living room when she heard the door open, followed by the voices of her husband and mother-in-law. She patted her hair in place before heading toward the door. She wanted to look her best for her husband. She was leaving no stone unturned in her quest to win back his trust.

  “I can stay at my own place,” she heard her mother-in-law say. “You don’t need to babysit me. I’m a big girl.”

  “I know you are,” Isaac said. “I’d just feel better if you’re here with us.”

  Rebecca met Isaac’s eyes when she reached them in the foyer. There was no welcome in them. She smiled anyway. “We’re glad to have you with us, Saralyn. Besides, having us all together makes it easier for the hospital to reach us if they need to.”

  Saralyn yawned, belatedly covering her mouth. “Well, I’m too tired to argue. Just point me to the bed and I’ll be out of your way.”

  “Are you hungry?” Rebecca asked. “I prepared a light snack just in case.”

  “All I want right now is a bed.”

  “I put clean linens in the front guest room,” she told her mother-in-law, “and left a tray of fruit, cheese, water, and juice on the dresser, in case you change your mind about eating. I also went down to your apartment and picked up a change of clothes for you, something to sleep in, and your makeup case. It’s all in your room.”

  Saralyn leaned over and kissed her cheek. “You’re a good daughter-in-law, Rebecca. Isaac is very fortunate to have found you.” Then she turned and gave Isaac a similar kiss. “Good night, you two,” she said, heading off toward the guest bedroom.

  “She’s wore-out,” Isaac said, his eyes following his mother down the hallway.