The Ties that Bind (Kingdom) (10 page)

Later I came to understand that my father’s parents never thought that my mother was good enough for their son and my mother’s mother knew it and resented them for it. But that’s another story.

After all the people had left I was put to bed, by my mother I think. I don’t really remember. The next thing I do remember was being aware of loud voices coming from downstairs. My parents were fighting again.

At first I was too scared to go downstairs. So I crept out of my room and crouched down by the railings on the landing. From that distance, the voices were still unclear, but I could tell they were both extremely angry. I think I heard my name a couple of times, and that’s when I decided to venture closer. I remember my heart was beating so hard I could literally hear a ringing in my ears.

The first step down was the most difficult. My legs were trembling so much I was frightened I would miss a step and fall. I remember pressing my back against the wall for support as I made my way closer to the sounds of their voices. When I reached the bottom of the stairs, I rushed towards the table beside the living room door and hid under it.

I heard my father tell my mother to keep drinking. That drinking was all she was good for. She had been doing that a lot since M.J. died. Her voice sounded different, her words slurred, strung out like she had to really concentrate on what she was saying just to make sense. Of course I now realize she was completely intoxicated. But as an eight year old kid all I really knew was that my mother had changed in a short period of time.

For a few moments, I heard only mumbles coming from the room. It was as though they were whispering. I wanted to move closer, but I was frightened of discovery. Then I heard a slap. I think my mother slapped my father. That’s when she started shouting, she said, “
Hope killed her brother.
” At first I didn’t understand why she would say something like that. But she said it again. I ran, and as I ran I tried to push her words out of my mind. But they kept running through my mind. “
Hope killed her brother
.”

I must have made a noise because I could hear my mother calling my name as I ran up the stairs. I didn’t stop. When I reached my room, I turned the key and locked the door and hid under the bed.

She knocked on the door. She always did that. If nothing else my mother was always polite. She said that my room was my sanctuary, and as long as I kept it clean she wouldn’t invade my privacy. I remember cutting off my tears to scream at her to go away, that she couldn’t come in, that I hated her. No matter how much she pleaded for entry I refused. In the end, I just pressed my hands over my ears and attempted to shut her out.

I don’t know how long she stayed out there or how long I stayed under my bed. At some point, the sound of my father’s voice broke through, and I heard him calling my name. He was talking about breaking down the door if I didn’t answer him. When I heard his voice, I realized how much I needed someone. I felt so alone, so guilty… so scared. So I let him in.

As soon as I saw his face I knew he didn’t believe I’d killed my brother. I suppose I was a bit hysterical. I kept telling him over and over again that I hadn’t meant to do it that I hadn’t meant to kill M.J..

I can still remember my feeling of relief. He believed me. He told me that he didn’t think I killed my brother. He told me that my mother wasn’t herself, that I should ignore what I had heard her say… that she was just drunk. I don’t think at that time I even understood what being
drunk
meant. It took me about six months of living with her in that state to realize what the word meant.

To my young mind it meant falling down. It meant tears. It meant a particular odor that I came to associate with her nearness. After that night I didn’t really speak to her, she tried, but all I kept wishing was that she would go away and leave me alone.

I never told her what I had overheard that night, and I got Daddy to promise that he wouldn’t either.”

“Was that your idea, Hope?” Steve spoke for the first time since the beginning of Hope’s revelation.

Seemingly surprised at the sound of his voice, it took Hope a few seconds to answer. “Of course it was!”

“Why would an eight year old child ask her father to make that kind of promise?”

“I don’t know why… I just did. You’d do the same. Anyone would do the same thing.”

“Would they, Hope?”

“Yes.”

Steve’s look of skepticism gave Hope pause. “What are you trying to say?”

“I’m not sure. The only thing I’m sure about at the moment is what you’ve told me so far doesn’t add up.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about. You weren’t there”

“Maybe you’re right. But I know this much; this unhealthy obsession you have with your father and his inability to do any wrong doesn’t fit with the man I know.”

“You need to stop right there. I won’t have you say anything against my father!”

“Would you feel the same way if I were talking about your mother?”

“What do you think? You’ve met her!”

“Hope, you forget… I’ve met them both, and of the two, I like your mother better... way better.”

Steve could see that she was infuriated at his comment. So much so he could see the heat rising on her face.

“I don’t care what you think, and I’m not about to listen to you while you badmouth my father!”

“I hadn’t realized I’d done that. To the best of my recollection I only said I liked your mother more than your father.” Steve spoke with such calm he knew it irritated Hope further.

“You don’t know him, so don’t you dare judge him!”

“Badmouthing, judging. I haven’t done either of those things, Hope.”

“You said you liked my mother more than my father!”

“And I do,” Steve said with a wry laugh while he ran his thumb and forefinger down his goatee. Standing he looked down at Hope, amusement still in his eyes. “Come on, it’s time to pack up and go home.”

“Suppose I don’t want to go anywhere with you?”

“Then you can stay here. However, I feel the need to point out that I’m not your father, so the spoiled child act isn’t going to work with me. You are a grown woman, and it’s about time you started acting like one. So, you can come home and face the mess you’ve made, or you can stay here and call Daddy to come try to fix it. But, Hope, I think you may well find that Daddy is the cause of all of your problems.”

Giving Hope one final look, Steve turned and walked away, never once glancing back to see if she followed.

Chapter 11

The flight home was uneventful. Steve could tell that Hope was in a non-communicative mood, and it didn’t faze him. Under the current circumstances, he felt entirely justified in his actions of not bending to her little girl lost act.

He had meant what he had said, it was past time that she grew up. He could understand her confusion to the factors that surrounded the death of her brother and how the dynamics had changed within her family home, but as far as he was concerned, she was responsible for her own actions for the last ten years at least.

When they touched down in LA, Hope was still sulking, and Steve wasn’t inclined to try to coax her out of her state of mind. He had too many other matters on his mind. Chiefly, Percy Cox. The man was still badmouthing his company, and Steve knew if he was to retain his good name within the industry, it had to stop. He also recalled the look of disappointment that had crossed Ms. Ellis’s face when he had informed her that he was going to the UK. For some reason, which Steve was reluctant to examine, he felt intense embarrassment that she knew he was going to Hope’s aid.

Feeling under too much pressure, he pushed everything out of his mind apart from the thought of getting to London before Hope did anything that couldn’t be undone. Rubbing his hand over his face, Steve considered his options, unsure of what to deal with first.

As his car pulled up outside Hope’s condominium, Steve felt weariness settle over him. He was involved in battles that would shape the rest of his personal and professional life. The only question that remained was whether he was up to the task and the decision he had to make?

At that moment, he would have given all of his wealth to have just thirty minutes with his father. If ever he had needed counsel it was now.

Steve felt as though he were being battered on all sides, and he desperately needed someone he could confide in. Pulling himself up short, he snapped himself back to his reality. The decisions that he faced were his alone and he had to find a way to deal with them. He understood that keeping his company intact, and this situation with Hope, were both in the balance. But he was up for the task. Whatever obstacles he now faced would determine his future, and Steve intended to have the future his parents had set out for him.

The walk to Hope’s door had largely been conducted in silence. She was not inclined to broker conversation, and he was feeling the same way. He had said what he meant. Now it was up to her. If she wanted to move forward, she would have to put aside her childish petulance and approach hm.

Steve had a feeling that Hope was still withholding something from him. From what she had told him so far he couldn’t begin to fathom what it could be. Plus, he had too much on his mind to even contemplate all the possible scenarios of what was taking place within her family.

“Thank you for coming to get me, and for seeing me home.”

“You’re welcome. Are you going to be okay?”

“I already told you, it was Destiny who concocted that suicide story.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“I’m sorry, I know what you meant. Yes, I’m fine, or at least I will be.”

“Good, I’m glad to hear that. Take care of yourself, Hope.”

Without waiting for a reply, Steve turned and walked back towards the elevator. Although Hope was forever on his mind, he had other matters that also needed his immediate attention.

**********

Throughout the next two weeks, Steve was kept busy in his attempts to set up a meeting with Hope’s father. From what she had revealed to him he knew that he needed to get them all together in an attempt to get to the bottom of how she viewed her part in her brother’s death.

His first attempt at contacting Hope’s father had been met with Mason’s secretary running interference between them. When Steve’s persistence had finally resulted in his getting through to Mason, the older man had stone walled him, making excuse after excuse as to why they couldn’t meet.

Then there was Percy Cox. In the space of two weeks, Cox had managed to ramp up the negativity he had instigated against Blackman-King. Steve knew he had to take matters into his own hands, but at the moment he was at a loss of how to proceed.

Steve’s integrity had always been of paramount importance to him, no matter who he was dealing with. But Percy Cox was showing him that taking the moral high ground would not necessarily allow him the retention of his company.

With that in mind, Steve recognized when it was time to step away from fair means. Although it went against everything within him, he knew it was time to fight in the same way as his opponents, dirty.

Looking at the court papers that awaited him, Steve realized that he needed to take control of the way his life was running away from him. The papers that sat on his desk were the catalyst that set him on the path to begin making plans for the future. From now on he was in control of his destiny, no one else.

**********

Aviva strolled out of the kitchen, a bottle of water in her hand. As she turned the corner she spotted Jason, head bowed, heading towards his office, engrossed in something on the tablet he held in his hand.

Walking leisurely towards her man, Aviva couldn’t contain the smile that began to spread across her face. He had been sequestered in his office for hours, and to her way of thinking, he needed a break. She had just finished cooking their evening meal, not because she loved being the domestic goddess, but because she was a little tired of all the rich meals they had been eating of late.

For a moment, her mind turned to the absence of Mr. and Mrs. Drake. Before the thought could take root, Aviva pushed it from her mind, refusing to allow their treachery to take over her thoughts.

Unable to prevent it their whereabouts sprung into her mind. She had even gone so far as to ask Jason if he knew what had become of them. He had turned stern and informed her that their names were never to be mentioned again. Not really an answer, but one she knew she had to accept, for now. Coming back to the present, Aviva saw that it was close to 7pm, and as far as she was concerned, his working day was over.

She had been spoiled. They had just spent two blissful weeks sunning themselves with nothing more on their minds than when they would rise or the contemplation of yet another glorious sunset while swinging in their hammock. They had spent so much time in that thing that, Aviva had made up her mind that she was getting one for their home.

She could have stayed in paradise forever, far away from the often-polluted actions of her fellow men. But she knew Jason had a business to run and he had already taken too much time away from his responsibilities.

With the completion of Carlos’s album, Aviva was at a loss. The recent upheaval in their lives illustrated to her that she was not ready to venture too far from home. Jason had assured her that there was no rush, that she could take as much time as she needed. It seemed to her, even if he hadn’t spoken the words aloud, that if she chose never to work again that too would be okay with him.

Jason was spoiling her, he wouldn’t allow her to spend a penny, even though she had enough money saved to meet her needs. Writing music that sold, and sold well, was extremely lucrative, as all the zeroes in her bank balance showed.

Aviva’s gaze continued to track Jason’s every move. Just looking at the picture he presented never failed to make her happy. About to call out a greeting, her attention was snagged by the opening of the front door. Lost in contemplation of his business dealings and the security of his home, Jason’s normally razor sharp instincts were muted. As she stood looking at Steve and Hope, Aviva realized Jason was still unaware of who was standing in the doorway.