D
eborah 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 man to your family than he was to his.”
B
anished 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.
“A good night’s sleep will serve her well. She’ll be fine in the morning.”
Isaac pulled his already loosened tie from around his neck. “She won’t be fine until
Dad gets better. Their marriage wasn’t perfect by any means, but they’ve been together
for thirty years. If he doesn’t pull through, I don’t know what she’ll do.”
Hesitantly, Rebecca reached out and touched his arm. She was heartened when he didn’t
recoil at her touch. “Abraham’s going to be back and as good as new before we know
it. We have to believe that, Isaac. We have to have faith.”
She read the stress in his tired expression and wanted to pull him into her arms.
She searched his face for some sign that an embrace would be welcomed, but he turned
away from her. “Are you hungry?” she asked.
He shook his head. “I’m tired. I guess I’ll go to bed, too.”
She wasn’t sure where he meant to sleep and she wasn’t sure how to ask.
He stepped close to her and whispered, “Since Mom is here, I’d
like for us to pretend that nothing is wrong between us. I don’t want her to worry.”
His words hurt. “So you’ll be sleeping in our bed tonight, with me?”
He met her eyes. “Only because my mother is here. We’re not even close to fixing what’s
wrong between us,” he said. “I don’t want you to be confused by this show we’re putting
on.”
“Oh, I understand,” she said, fighting back the defeat that seemed to surround her.
“You’re being very clear.”
“You can’t be angry with me,” he said, eyes wide with surprise.
“Of course I’m angry,” she said, folding her arms around her chest. “You’re being
unreasonable. Michael is just some man from my past. I had no idea he was your half
brother.”
He lifted his arms in exasperation. “There’s more to it than that. He’s a man you
slept with to further your career, a man who happens to be my half brother.”
Rebecca looked away. Though she’d asked for this conversation, she didn’t relish having
it. “I can’t change the past, Isaac.”
“And I can’t change the uncertainty I feel about you and our marriage.”
She glanced down the hallway, his words breaking her heart. “If you don’t want your
mother to hear us arguing, you’d better keep your voice down.”
He took a deep breath. “I have one question. Did you really not know he was my half
brother?”
She recoiled from him. “Of course I didn’t. How can you even think that of me? I know
you’re angry, Isaac, but now you’re just being cruel.”
His eyes darkened. “We look a lot alike,” he said. “How could you miss the resemblance?
Are you saying you never noticed it?”
Rebecca wished she could lie. “Sure, I recognized similarities in you, but that didn’t
mean anything. Like most women, there
is a type of man that I find attractive. You and Michael both have that look.”
“Yeah, right.”
“I’m not lying,” she pleaded. “Why would I lie?”
“That’s what happens when trust goes,” he said, turning away from her. “Everything
sounds like a lie.” He cleared his throat. “You should start looking for someplace
to live. I want you out of here as soon as Dad’s better.”
Rebecca absorbed his words like a body blow. “You don’t mean it.”
He turned back to her, fire in his eyes. “Yes, I do mean it. And I want you out of
the MEEG Building, starting tomorrow. Gail Rivers can take over mom’s PR duties and
yours. She’d probably be next in line for the top job anyway if you weren’t married
to the owner’s son.”
“You’re going too far, Isaac.”
He shook his head. “I only wish I could get you out tonight. Don’t you see that I
can’t trust you?”
“Of course you can trust me. You wouldn’t have any of this to hold against me if I
hadn’t told you about Michael and those gifts. And I told you so that you’d know how
he really feels about you. I was trying to protect you, Isaac. If there is anybody
you can trust, it’s me. I’ve always had your back.”
He studied her. “You know, a part of me believes you’re sincere, but I can’t even
trust my feelings for you.”
“Yes, you can,” she said, tears streaming down her cheeks.
He brushed his hand across his head. “I can’t keep talking about this,” he said. “I’m
tired and I’m worried about my father. I don’t have energy for anything else.”
“Not even our marriage?”
He snorted. “What marriage?” Then he turned and headed in the direction of their bedroom.
M
ichael Thomas strode into the hospital after midnight. The hallways were quiet, just
as he suspected they would be. Abraham’s room was out of direct eyesight of the nurses’
station so he had no problem simply walking into the room. He hesitated a moment near
the door as he looked at the older man in the bed, his father.
He shook his head. No, not his father, but the man who had impregnated his mother
and paid the price with steady but measly duty checks. He walked closer to the bed.
The light from the machines monitoring Abraham’s vitals cast enough light for Michael
to clearly see his nose and his chin in the older man’s face. It hurt to look into
the face of the man he hated and see himself. It almost made him hate himself.
Almost. The irony of it was that, with his dark complexion, he looked more like Abraham
than the cherished son, Isaac, did.
Isaac looked more like his mother, took his complexion from her. He wondered if that
drove the old man crazy. He hoped it did.
“You better not die, old man,” he whispered through tight lips. “You better wake up
so you can see me when I bring you down. You’re going to pay for every tear my mother
cried, for every time my sister wished for a father who wasn’t there, and for every
moment you loved your other son and refused to acknowledge me. What goes around, comes
around. You reap what you sow. Vengeance is mine—Michael Thomas’s—and I will repay.
You can count on it.”
Michael stood back from the bed, folded his arms across his chest, and stared at the
old man. He exerted all his energies willing him to wake up. Nothing would have made
him happier than to have the old man wake up so he could repeat everything he’d just
said to his face.
He waited. And waited. And waited.
“Not tonight,” Michael said. “But one of these nights you’re going to wake up, and
I promise you, I’ll have a big surprise waiting for you. Count on it.”
With those words, he turned and left the hospital.
Death had better not try to cheat him, he thought. Abraham Martin had a debt to pay,
and he was going to pay it.