Royce (64 page)

“Hey, hey, hey baby,” he said softly, “Come here,” he pulled her to him and held her.  “Baby I just don’t want to have to leave,” she said tearfully. “Oh baby, it’s over, this will be our home.  We’re home, okay.  The only way we’ll leave is if we decide to move,” he did have a flash back of dead bodies when he walked out the bedroom, even though nothing remained of that night. 

The front door had been repaired; the walls painted years ago, but memories reminded him of what happened here.  And they could move if they wanted.  Bobby had kept the company very profitable and he didn’t know that next week his father’s lawyer would contact him and advise him his father left him roughly one fourth of his estate totaling one hundred and fifty million dollars, that was the amount left each of them, him, his brother, his sister and their mother minus the twenty-five million he’d left to Hennie and the rest to various charities. 

Royce dug in at the office and Joy cleaned and redecorated.  “The baby beds are out, there will be no more of those,” she teased, “I will not have a baby in my forties,” and Royce laughed, “Well we make beautiful children together.  One or two more won’t hurt and we can afford them,” he teased now that they were rich beyond his wildest dreams. “You better put that thing away and get a vasectomy or something.  We are not having any more children,” he was teasing, but he kept it going, “Why baby, I love these when you’re pregnant,” he caressed her breast, “Royce! Are you serious!”  He had to stop this, “No baby, I’m just having fun with you.   We’re getting to old for diapers and bottles and late night feedings.”  “Good because I was worried for a minute.”

He’d been gone for ten years and he came back ready to help Bobby continue building the business.  There was a huge economic downturn in America and across the world and some of their businesses might not make it and they were looking to acquire others that were dirt cheap, and now he and Joy were adapting to American life again.  The hustle, bustle and fast pace, TV alone had their minds reeling from over stimulation.  Reality TV had taken over and they didn’t understand half the shows which they thought were outlandish and unbelievable, life in America was like being on steroids, everything way out of proportion and he still hadn’t been to see his mother.

She had called and so had his brother and sister.  His brother and sister called asking questions and they said what he thought his mother should’ve, “Royce what happened, you’re my little brother and I’ve been worried about you for years.  You were never far from my thoughts and I had no idea what made you take off like that.  Please help me understand,” his brother Tommy said and Royce could hear the pain in his voice and he could also hear the pain of him not wanting to see them too and his brother was hurt by his actions. 

“I’m sorry Tommy I couldn’t tell you or anyone why I left.  There was a threat to my family’s life, people were out to assassinate them and we had to leave,” and he heard the intake of Tommy’s breath, “No Royce!  You were sure of this?” 

“Yes…,”

“But we could have helped you, helped you with this Royce,” his brother said in his anguish and he knew his brother had no idea the threat came from his father and his next words confirmed it.  “All you had you to do was let me and dad know Royce, you didn’t have to do it alone,” and Royce didn’t know if he should tell him or not, was he ready to know the truth? 

“Do you want the truth Tommy, and are you ready to believe it?”  He asked him. “Of course I want the truth.”

“Okay, what if I told you our father was behind the attempts on my wife and children,” and Tommy said aghast, “That’s preposterous!  He wouldn’t do a thing like that!  Why would he?  It doesn’t make sense!  … I don’t know what would make you believe something like that.  I’m sorely disappointed in you Royce.  You and I both know that couldn’t be further from the truth.   I want to see my brother, I missed you and I’d like to know what happened, not some fabricated story that involves father, okay,” and Royce knew he wasn’t ready, “Okay Tommy, I’m so busy right now but I promise when it slows down I’ll come up okay,” and he could hear Tommy’s smile, “Okay little brother, I can’t wait to see you,” and he had a similar conversation with his sister, but unlike his brother she just showed up one day.

“I haven’t seen my baby brother in over ten years you think work is going to stop me,” she came smiling in his office one day and he hugged her and despite himself he teared up.  She’d gotten older and she looked the most like their mother, actually Tommy and her favored a lot, both had light brown hair, but where Tommy’s eye’s were hazel, hers were green and even though he had dark hair and blue eyes like his father his smile was all his mother’s and so was his sister’s. 

They hugged each other in a warm embrace, and then she sat down opposite him. “You look good Royce, so tell me what happened, what happened to you?” 

“Well Alice Ann, that depends if you want the truth or not?”  “Of course I want the truth, we all want the truth.  We’re your family and we love you.  What happened and did Tammy have anything to do with it?” 

“Yes and no, she started it all, it was her who hired the first hit man, but the reason we left was because there was another threat and this time it wasn’t her but the person she’d been working with all along…it was father,” and Alice Ann gave him a skeptical look, “You expect me to believe that Royce, come on,” she paused and looked at him, “I know whoever you were talking too.  The prosecutor or police, someone put that in your head and you do believe there was a threat or you wouldn’t have left, but I can’t believe it was daddy, it just doesn’t make sense Royce,” she looked at him, really looked at him, “You were his favorite and you know it,” she said playfully but also serious.

“Okay Alice Ann,” he knew she wasn’t ready either, “So what’s been happening with you?”  He changed the subject.

“Not so fast, are you home now, is everything alright?”  “Yes, I’m home now and we’re fine.”  “Good so when are you going to see mother?”  “I don’t know…,” he looked at her, “Is Tammy still at the ranch?”  “Royce look, one has nothing to do with the other.  We’re your family and mother misses you.  She hasn’t seen you in ten years and her having Tammy at the house shouldn’t matter under those circumstances,” she looked at him and gave him a look, “Gosh, you’ve always been stubborn,” she shook her head again, “Just like daddy, gosh he was stubborn too.” He pursed his lips, holding back what he really wanted to say, “Royce she misses you, go see her,” she said plaintively.

“I will see her okay, I can’t say when but I will see her,” and now Alice Ann pursed her lips, “So that’s it, that’s how it’s going to be?”  He nodded.

And the next day his mother called, “Royce don’t be angry at me for allowing Tammy to stay here and saying awful things about your father to your brother and sister, he wouldn’t hurt you.  I know you understand that.  Tammy’s presence shouldn’t be the deciding factor here Royce, I’m your mother and you should want to see me regardless of who’s here or not.” 

“I know mother, but it does, you know what she did to me.  She tried to have my wife and children murdered and I think in this case her presence does matter,” he said matter of fact, “Look mother I will come see you.  Just let me clear off a few things on my plate and I’ll come okay,” he knew that would placate her and he knew his family wasn’t ready to hear the truth and until they were he wasn’t going to pretend.  Until they believed what he had to say he saw no need in seeing them and smiling acting the part of member of the family, and he hadn’t made contact with Dillon or Karen either.

He knew they were with Tammy in this.  Bobby told him they were at her parole hearing defending her so he thought it best he leave well enough alone and to his surprise Dillon came knocking at his door one Friday.  “Your secretary said it was okay for me to come in,” he said as he knocked on Royce’s open door, and Royce hardly recognized him.  He’d grown so much, he was a man now, he was tall like him and had filled out, his brown hair thick and he had his blue eyes and smile.  Royce went to him, he’d worried about him so much, and he cried as he hugged him and he knew he’d sacrificed Dillon.  He didn’t fight to keep him and let him go with Karen and Tammy when he knew in his heart Dillon didn’t feel the same as they did.  He cried and Dillon cried as they held each other. 

“I had to come see you dad,” he said after they’d cried a river. “I’m glad son, I didn’t think you wanted to see me.” “No, no that was never it,” and Royce cried some more, he knew why, he wanted to be there for his mother and sister, he was being the good guy in a bad situation. “Come on, let’s get out of here.  I know Joy would love to see you and wait until you see the kids.” “And Deon, I want to know all about Deon,” Dillon said and Royce hugged him and walked out the door.

“Joy!  Joy baby, look who’s here!”  Joy came from around the corner and screamed loud, “Dillon!  Oh my god Dillon!”  She went to him and hugged him so tight.  She hugged Dillon so tight, the kids came running in at her outburst.

“Oh my god Justin! Christopher!” Dillon couldn’t believe how much they’d grown and he saw the little girl, “Oh god dad, Ms. Joy you have another child!”  And he smiled and was happy and for the rest of the evening they hung together, talking, laughing and sharing and at dinner he said, “As always Ms. Joy that was wonderful.” “Thank you Dillon”  “I love the house,” and he saw Ms. Joy in everything, her flare for decorating and he smiled.  This reminded him of happier times, times he loved spending with his father and Ms. Joy.

And that night when he was in the guestroom Joy came to check on him, “You have everything you need Dillon?  I brought some extra pillows for just in case.”  Joy was so happy to see him, and he’d asked about Deon and Lindsey, and he was thrilled for both of them and she could see the love he had for them, especially Deon and she gave him his number and told him, “Please call him Dillon he’d love to hear from you.” 

She wasn’t happy with how things were with Royce and his family; he’d taken his stance and sometimes when he made up his mind an earthquake couldn’t change it, so Dillon coming to see him was a good thing.  She saw Dillon looking at her, looking at her with tenderness and she went to him and touched his hair, “You look so much like your father,” he smiled and she could see something was on his mind, “Is everything okay Dillon?”  He looked at her and she could see he wanted to talk but didn’t know how. “Dillon you could always talk to me.  We’ve always had that,” and he opened up.

“Was it hard Ms. Joy, hard being on the run like that?” 

She smiled, “I’m not going to lie to you, yes.  Yes it was, but I had your father and he had me.  We had each other and sometimes he had to be strong for me, I leaned on him and sometimes I had to be the strong one and he leaned on me.”

Royce was standing outside and he heard her and he smiled at her words, “But through it all we were together and did what we had to because we love each other, we love our family.  We did it because we knew no other way and now…,” she chuckled, “I don’t think your father could get rid of me if he wanted too.  I’m so connected to him…,” she stopped to look at Dillon and Royce was beyond happy, “I hope that answered your question.”

“Yes…, so how do…How is it…so you feel safe now, you don’t think anyone is after you anymore?” 

“No, we’re safe now, I think it died with your grandfather.” “But how do you know, I mean…my mother…How are you sure?” 

And Joy couldn’t answer that, all she knew was Jameson said so, and she had so much faith in him.  Unlike Royce she thought he was superhuman, that he was always there at the right time from the moment she saw him in this house cleaning up dead bodies and in Spain she thought he did his job.  He sent the assassins away and in South Africa he captured the assassin, and in Italy after the letter came he had them out of there and safe in France so fast she didn’t have time to blink, so to her if there was something going on she knew in her heart that Jameson would have never left them.  His absence meant they were safe.

As Royce listened he couldn’t answer that question either, and he hoped and prayed Tammy wasn’t up to anything and he felt a call to Jameson coming on, “Well we do hope it’s over Dillon, I pray to god it’s over,” she said looking at him and now she wondered, but she knew Jameson would come if there was a new threat, he’d promised them that.  “All I know Dillon is we had protection all those years.  Very good protection and our protection has said it’s over,” and he smiled, “Okay, that’s good,” that’s what he was looking for,
who told them, how did they know?

Dillon did want to know and he wanted to know badly, part of the reason he came this weekend was to know.  He was like his father in so many ways and the first woman he fell in love with was Ms. Joy.  He loved her smile, he loved her beautiful smooth skin and the soft way of her personality and the way she did things, the way she loved them, and she was so beautiful to him.  And unlike Karen he knew his mother did wrong, he’d heard her in the library. 

They’d gone to the ranch to visit their grandparents, since the divorce his mother had been doing that a lot, going there to shore up their position with them.  He knew that, that’s all she said on the drive up.  “This is about our future, your legacy in this family.  Dillon you are to carry on the Harrington legacy, it’s you they’re counting on, you hear me,” and he’d nod, but he’d heard her that night talking.  At dinner his grandfather who scared him really with his stern manner said, “I don’t agree with what your father’s done.  He should have never thrown away the family.  Keep the family together, so I want you to know I don’t agree with what he’s done,” he said in his stern voice, and he saw his mother gravitate towards his words, and after dinner when his grandfather went to the library for an after dinner drink and to talk on the phone as he always did he saw his mother go in and ease the door shut.

He went behind her and stood close to the door, close enough so he could hear.  His grandmother said he was a quiet child and she was right, he walked quietly, and half the time no one knew he was close by until he appeared.  He leaned his ear to the door, and he heard his mother saying, “I agree with you I don’t like what he’s done either.  He’s ruining the legacy of this family,” and he heard his grandfather say, “I couldn’t agree more,” and it sounded like he was taking a big gulp from his drink, “He’s ruining this family, I mean marrying a negra, I don’t understand it.” “I know, the legacy of this family is ruined, just ruined with what he’s done,” his mother agreed, “If you could do something about it, would you?”  “Of course I would, but what’s done is done now.  I wish I had known he was going to marry her or I would have surely done something to stop it.  Threatened him with disinheritance, which I still might do,” his grandfather said in his angry stern voice, “For what he’s done, he doesn’t deserve to be a Harrington as far as I’m concerned,” he was still angry and Dillon could hear his ice clinking as he drank his drink.