Kya & Xavier: It's Always Been You (Life As We Know It Book 1) (17 page)

Xavier Lee

I was starting to believe I had
insomnia because no matter how hard I tried I couldn't shut my mind off long
enough to actually go to sleep. The only time I actually every got any real
rest was when I was with Ky. If she was lying next to me I could focus on her
which allowed me to shut down and be at peace.
Well sometimes anyway.
As usual I was going to be late for class,
thank goodness I had Professor Taylor because he wouldn’t give me a hard time.

This was the first time I had a class
before ten since freshman year and to add to it coach changed our conditioning
to 7:00 in the morning. I was struggling to get to class on time but I refused to
take a class at night so my only option was 9:00. I had to take Sports Medicine
this semester to stay on track for graduation and that was definitely a
priority.

I gave up on going back to the dorms
after conditioning to get ready for class so now I just showered and dressed in
the locker room which left me roughly thirty minutes to grab something from the
café and get to class. On the days I actually did make it to class on time I
was usually so darn tired that I would fall asleep and miss most of it.
Professor Taylor had already warned me that if I didn’t get my shit together I
was on track to fail his class. This was going to be a long semester because
doing this three days a week was killing me.

I was praying that coach changed our
conditioning back to late afternoon and then on top of that I was barely
getting to see Kya. She always had early classes so she was usually done by two
but by then I either had to work at the rec center, practice, study or a game
which meant that for the past few weeks we had barely been together. We still
had two more months left in the season and for the first time I was actually
ready for a break. All of the upperclassman on the team kept telling us that
shit got real sophomore year and now I was starting to see why. I barely had
time for anything but class and basketball and it was starting to get old real
fast.

When I reached the building where my
Sports Medicine class was and saw most of the people that had class with me
standing outside I did a small prayer as I walked towards the group hoping that
class had been canceled. That would be the only reason why they were not
currently in the lecture room.

“What’s up, please tell me class in canceled.”
I asked Brian a tall frail red headed kid that sat near me most days. He pushed
his glasses up on his nose and then answered. “Yeah there was a note on the
door. Test this week but class is canceled. We’re going to the library to do a
group session if you want to go.”

“Thank god.” I mumbled. “I’m going
back to my dorm and going to sleep before my 11 o’clock class. I’ll catch up
with you guys next time.” I lied. I hated study groups and I usually did better
when I studied alone. For the most part I was pretty smart just a major
procrastinator.

It was cold outside and a layer of
fresh snow was on the ground but it didn’t affect my driving because the campus
crew was really good about keeping the streets clear. I backed out of the spot
I was parked in and slowly made my way towards the dorms but when saw who I
thought was Chelle walking I pulled up next to her to see if she wanted a ride.
It was cold and I would have felt bad leaving her out there like that.

“What’s up, Chelle? Where you
heading?”

“Jefferson, my car won’t start so I’m
going to meet Shauine.”

I unlocked the doors. “Come on I’ll
take you.”

She climbed in, dropped her book bag
on the floor and pulled the seatbelt to buckle it. “Thanks Zay, I knew you
cared.” She said jokingly and smiled.

“I do what I can.”

“I haven’t seen much of you lately.
That girl must have you on lockdown.” She said I’m sure referring to Kya.

“Nah, classes this semester got me on
lockdown.” I said not wanting to get into a debate with her about my
relationship with Kya because I knew that she was just fishing for information.

“What’s your major?” She asked.

“Sports Medicine with a minor in
Physical Education.”

“So you wanna coach?”

“Yep ever since the first time I hit
the court. I knew that’s what I wanted, my own team on day.”

“So you're not one of those I'm going
straight to the NBA ballers?”

“Nah, I'm a little more realistic
than that.”

“You’re good enough, don’t count it
out.” She smiled.

“But there are hundreds of others
just as good or better.”

“So, Coach Adams, huh? I can see that
but you’ll still have to teach something though, right?”

“Yeah my focus is Math.”

“Math eeewww.” She said and frowned
“I suck at math.”

“It’s not that bad. Just logic and
formulas.”

“Exactly. Too much for me.” She said
and laughed.

“So what’s your major then?”

“Nursing.” She said confidently.

“You do realize Nursing requires a
lot of Science which is full of Math formulas and logic.” I said teasing her.

“Yes smart one, I do but it’s not as
bad as majoring in math so I think I can handle it.”

“Well good luck with that.” I laughed.

“Plus now that I know you’re a math
guru, I’ll just come to you when I need help.” She said and then placed her
hand on my leg.

“I can barely find time to keep up as
it is, I don’t know about that.” I said making sure she didn’t find an offer in
anything I said.

“We’ll just have to see about that.
She said “You might be able to fit me in.”

I pulled up in front of Jefferson and
put my Jeep in park.

“She unhooked her seatbelt and picked
up her book bag. “Thanks Zay, I appreciate it. My knight in a Wrangler Jeep.”
She looked at me and winked.

“No problem.” Was all I said. I refused
to entertain her flirting and plus this was cutting into my nap time so I was
trying to get her out as fast as I could.

A few minutes later I was at my dorm in
my bed. I set my alarm for 10:45 and closed my eyes but the minute I felt myself
drifting my phone vibrated. I tried to ignore it but it vibrated again so I
picked up my phone to make sure it wasn’t Kya. I had a voicemail and it wasn’t
a number that I recognized but it was a number from home so I decided to listen
to the message.

“Xavier, this is Gracen Mitchell calling
on behalf of Donnell Nixon. Please give our offices a call soon as you can in
regards to the trust fund set up for account holder Leigh Alexandria Adams. Our
office has put a hold on the account and we need to speak with you as soon as
possible. You can reach Mr. Nixon in the office until 2:00PM today.”

Donnell was the lawyer assigned to
the trust funds that my mother had set up for me and my sister with her life
insurance policies before she died. She made sure none of it went to Johnny and
instead split it between me and Leigh. My aunt had been in charge of the
accounts immediately after my mother passed but when I turned eighteen she
signed them both over to me. Aside from buying my Jeep I hardly ever touched
mine but I occasionally used the money in Leigh’s account whenever my aunt
needed extra help taking care of her. The money didn’t matter to me and I would
give it up in a heartbeat if I could have my mother back.

So much for me going to sleep I
thought and redialed the number that had just called me.

“Davis and Associates,” a women said
when she answered the phone.

“Hello, may I please speak with
Donnell Nixon?”

“Hold just a minute sir and let me
see if he’s available. May I ask who is calling?”

“Xavier Adams.”

“Just a minute, Mr. Adams.” She said
politely and then put me on hold.

“Xavier, how are you son?” Donnell
asked in his usual professional tone. He always sounded like he was in the
middle of a debate.

“I’m good sir, how are you?”

“I’m doing well. How’s your season
going so far?” He asked like he did every time we talked.

“Pretty good. We’re about fifty fifty
on the season so far.”

“Well you still have time to pull
ahead.” He said, “the reason I called is because we have a little issue with
your sister’s account. Nothing serious but something we need to deal with.”

“Okay.”
What now I thought.

“Looks like there was a complaint
filed citing misappropriation of funds for this account and since she’s a minor
and the account is a trust my offices have to investigate.”

“What does that mean?” I asked not
sure what he was saying.

“Looks like Johnny filed a petition
to become the executer for your sister’s account under the guise that you are
misappropriating the funds in her account. He requested it for both accounts
but since you’re twenty there was nothing he could do about yours, however with
your sister only being thirteen he has the right to request a review.”
Maybe legally but other than that he really
doesn’t.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” The
words flew out of my mouth without any thought behind them. I immediately felt
enraged but caught myself because I realized that I was still on the phone and
didn’t want to be disrespectful “I apologize, please excuse my language.”

“It’s quit alright son, I completely
understand. We have frozen the account and you will not have access to it until
we officially review the transactions for this account. I have already done a
preliminary review and everything looks fine. You’re doing a great job managing
the money and I don’t see there being an issue so we should have this cleared
up in a week or so. Honestly this whole thing is pointless but we are legally
obligated to follow procedure and investigate.”

“I understand.”

“In the meantime you still have
access to your account just in case you need anything and I’ll be in touch with
you to let you know when we have all of this resolved. Like I said don’t worry
too much about this.
 
It’s just a lot of
paperwork which we will handle on our end and I will call you if I need
anything from you.”

“I swear, it’s always something with
him. I just wish he’d leave us alone.”

“I know you’re frustrated but let me
handle this. I promise I’ll have this taken care of in no time. Just focus on
school and try not to worry. I’ll be in touch.”

“Easier said than done but I
appreciate it.”

Donnell understood and I knew that
but it still didn’t make things any easier. He had seen the worst in Johnny
when he originally took over the accounts after my mom passed. She had managed
to keep the policies a secret from Johnny by having my aunt make the payments
in her name. She used my aunts address so that everything was sent there
keeping it away from Johnny but when he found out he lost it and went ballistic.
He made several trips to Davis and Associates both drunk and sober neither time
getting the results that he was looking for. My mother never could protect me
physically from Johnny but she did financially. She made sure that I would
never have to depend on him for anything after she passed and I was glad but I
wished she was here instead. I was finally old enough to defend her but it was
too late and no amount of money could help me shake the feeling that I let her
down.

I decided to call my aunt to see if
she knew what was going on.

“Hey baby.” She sounded happy to hear
my voice.

“What are you up?” I asked.

“Just washing a few loads and then
I’m going to start on dinner.”

“It not even lunch yet, and you’re starting
on dinner.” I knew my aunt was always cooking or baking something so that was
normal.

“Your sister has a game tonight so
I’m going to bake a lasagna so that we don’t have to worry about dinner later.”

“Oh okay. I’ll call her before she
plays. 7:00 right?”

“I think so, you know I can’t keep
up.” She said and laughed.

“I talked to Donnell today.” I said
and then paused to wait for her reaction to see if she knew what was going on.

“I figured he would call you soon.
They sent a letter here for you.”

“I swear it’s always something with
that man. I really wish he would just leave us the hell alone. If I thought
giving him the money would make that happen, I’d give him every penny I swear it’s
not worth it.”

“I know baby, that’s my brother and I
love him but he’s got a lot of demons and he’s trying to drink them away.”

“Nobody forced him to live the life
he’s living. It was his choice. He destroyed my mother and any chance he ever
had of being a part of my life or Leigh's.”

“Baby your father is doing the best
he can. It doesn't make it right but he doesn’t know any other way. He’s doing
to you what our father did to him, trust me I was there and I know it was rough
for him. Just try to make peace with it and you be a better man than he was and
when you have kids you do things differently and turn things around for the
Adams men.”