“Your bills be like…you ain’t going out this weekend.” Unknown
“This house is in Dad’s name. Holy Rock added an additional amount to his annual cash salary to cover his mortgage payments, and a housing allowance is designated to cover his mortgage insurance, utilities, real estate taxes and maintenance, but records show that Holy Rock has been paying the utilities, insurance and maintenance in past years,” explained Xavier like he was a professional businessman and CPA. Fancy felt proud once again listening and watching her son.
“Yes, but I’m not the one who handles our finances. Hezekiah has always handled the money aspect of things, and it’s worked out so far so good. I mean I’ve never really ever wanted for anything that he hasn’t provided.”
“Yeah, but you just got that medical bill, and looking into the disability insurance provided by Holy Rock, for some reason it’s lapsed. I’m still looking into that. But according to the disability papers, Dad should be receiving a percentage of his salary since he is disabled.”
“I think that’s it.”
“What do you mean, Ma?” Khalil said as they sat around the dining room table eating Chinese food, drinking wine and chatting it up.
“Your father stopped accepting a salary and opted instead to receive love offerings. He said he fared much better than being paid a set salary. And as far as I know, I think he was right.”
“Yeah, but the thing is, that means he probably was responsible for paying his own insurance and all the expenses of the house, mortgage, cars, etc.” said Xavier.
“Oh, my God. Surely Hezekiah maintained the bills. He’s always been so good with managing money—at least I’ve always thought so I guess because I’ve rarely ever seen a bill even before he took over as senior pastor.”
“The one good thing I discovered is that he had written in his pastoral contract that if anything happened to him that you or one of us would take over as Senior Pastor of Holy Rock.”
“Now that part I clearly remember because Hezekiah told me that on several occasions that if anything should ever happen to him that I had the power to step up as senior pastor or appoint one of you or anyone else of my choosing to replace him. Thank God, he’s still alive even though he is physically incapacitated.”
Khalil spoke up. “Mane, I don’t know how daddy convinced the senior elders and trustees to agree to that, but hey, it is what it is and it looks ironclad too.”
“So what about you and Dad’s personal accounts? You straight, Ma?”
“I haven’t had to max out my credit cards, if that’s what you mean.” Fancy giggled slightly, feeling the effects of her third glass of wine. “And as far as our bank accounts, I haven’t checked to see what we have, but then again, it’s not like I have many expenses either. My nails, my hair, clothes, groceries, going out to eat, stuff like that but I mostly use my credit card for that. When I do want to spend cash, I’ve never not been able to get it when I need it. Like I said, Hezekiah has always been a great provider even when he did wrong.” She took a forkful of her Vegetable Chinese rice and then followed it up by taking a bite of a vegetable spring roll and washing the food down with another swallow of expensive white wine.
“I’ll look into it some more but in the meantime, I need you to check you and Dad’s bank accounts,” Xavier told her. “Can you go by the bank tomorrow? I can go with you, if you’d like. Or you can call; whichever is easier.”
“No, we can go to the bank in person. If I need to pay that bill, then I might as well go pay it tomorrow while I’m out. But what about Medicare? Can he get that since he’s disabled?”
“We’ll find out more about that when we go pay his bill. I think he might be able to get it though, now that you’ve mentioned it, and maybe even some type of Medicaid assistance,” Xavier said, sounding much older than he was.
“I think some of that depends on your income, but no worries, Ma. We got you.” Khalil added to help reassure her.
True to her word, Detria had made contact with George and told him about Hezekiah’s need to see him. She and George signed Hezekiah out for a half-day visit.
He may not have been able to do much of anything, but it still felt amazing to be out of that nursing home and rehab facility and sitting in his downtown condo.
Sure, George had been a snake and a crook from what Fancy and his sons told him after he had the stroke, but then again, Hezekiah knew that at the end of the day, if the price was right, he could rely on George to do what he needed done. Today he needed to get away from Primacy Parkway Nursing Home and it was George that made it happen—well, George and Detria that is.
As far as he knew, Detria wasn’t sleeping with Khalil anymore, and even if she was, at this point Hezekiah could care less. He needed her for what he needed her for and that was a little of her money and whatever honey he could get from her. As things were now, honey to him could mean only a kiss or letting him feel up on her since his manhood had suffered when he had the stroke. He tried not to think about his incapacities because if he did he would find himself in a deep well of depression like he had experienced quite a bit lately.
George had brought him a little something something to help him get in a better mood. They sat in the condo and Hezekiah and Detria took a couple of hits from a blunt. Before long, Hezekiah was laughing and feeling better than he had in a long time.
He used his tablet to tell Detria that he needed her to pay George until he could get back on his feet. Detria was reluctant to do it at first, but stroke or no stroke, Detria knew better than to make trouble with Hezekiah, especially since George was back in his corner. Bad things could easily happen and she didn’t want to be caught up in any unnecessary drama, nor did she want to find herself laid out in an alley or up in a hospital. George could be scandalous like that. She knew right off the bat that George had planted those drugs in Hezekiah’s car. Initially, he had planned for Khalil to be driving the car with the tail light out, get pulled over, and then he was going to make sure that his juvenile record was revealed. He already had someone working with him on the inside who he knew could help him. George was not one to sit back and let somebody screw him over like dem McCoy boys were trying to do.
He had a good attorney to fight his case and he had also told Hezekiah about what his sons were trying to do. At least he told him his version while Detria took another draw from the coke-laced blunt and kept her mouth shut. She leaned in occasionally and kissed Hezekiah full on his lips to appease him, while George assured Hezekiah that as long as he was paid, that he would take care of things on the outside for him.
“I’ll keep an eye on your boys for ya. I’m telling you, you won’t be too pleased with the stuff they’re trying to pull. And I hate to say it, but Fancy is in on screwing you too, and not in a good way. They don’t want you to get better, man. Why do you think Fancy was in such a hurry to get you out of the house and put away at that nursing place? She’s going to claim that you are mentally incapable and unable to handle your own affairs.”
“She’s already made that clear,” Detria said as she laughed for no reason, and passed the laced blunt to Hezekiah.
George had a bottle of his favorite whiskey that he was indulging in, but he held back, not wanting to get too inebriated to the point he would be unable to drive Hezekiah back to the facility.
“What do you mean?” George asked, looking at Detria.
Detria directed her reply to Hezekiah as she eased closer to him. “Khalil told me that Fancy said that you were losing it and soon you would no longer be mentally able to handle your affairs. Honestly, I can’t believe George was able to sign you out of the nursing home today. From what I understand, your little wifey has control over everything.”
“Money talks,” said George. “You should know that better than anyone, sweetheart,” he said.
“So you paid somebody at the nursing home to turn a blind eye?”
“Whatever it takes,” George nodded and smirked.
Hezekiah laughed himself this time. “She doesn’t have the power she thinks she does.” It felt good to laugh, to relax, and to be around people who understood his plight. Sure, George was a snake but the woman who he believed to be his biological mother all of these years used to tell him and her oldest son it’s better to have an enemy who you know hates you instead of a friend who secretly stabs you in the back and puts you down. George was the enemy and his ‘friends stabbing him in the back’ were his wife and sons. What a terrible thing.
Hezekiah was going to make them pay and he would use Detria and George to bring them the kind of justice that they deserved for turning their backs on him. He didn’t plan to be down forever. He was already improving and his speech was getting better, too. The day that Fancy and his sons would see him again, he planned to be back to his old self.
“So what’s going on with Xavier’s case?” George asked Detria while they sat at the table across from Hezekiah in his wheelchair.
“He’s going to get him off, but this should be a sign to Xavier and Khalil just how easy it can be to get caught up.”
“Yeah, that’s what this was all about.”
Hezekiah smiled wickedly. “Lessons hard.”
“Yeah, you got that right, partner,” George agreed and grinned. “It’s good to know people in high places.”
“Or people who have an extra set of keys to your ride,” said Detria, chuckling and looking at George and then over at Hezekiah.
George had keys not only to the condo but he had a set of keys to Hezekiah’s and Fancy’s cars, too. It hadn’t been much that he didn’t have privy to as Hezekiah’s former head of security. Knowing the power he had, he could have easily made things far worse for Xavier by planting a larger quantity of drugs in the car than what he did, but he basically wanted to test the waters first and hopefully let them young boys know that they were messing with the wrong guy. And to have Hezekiah on his side, and of course Hezekiah’s little side-piece Detria, then he could only rise to the top like cream. Detria was paying for George’s attorney too and just as Xavier was assured of getting off, George had just as much assurance that he wouldn’t do a day behind bars himself. He expected to get probation if anything, with a suspended sentence and he could easily deal with that. He was glad he still had a few favors that he could call in from some of his law enforcement friends. It paid to not burn all your bridges. He took another drink of the brown liquor.
“One thing I’m glad about is that the house is in your name so if your first lady isn’t careful, she could easily find herself on the streets. All you have to do is say the word, and it’s good as done. And no one would suspect you had a thing to do with it.”
Feeling the full effects of the laced blunt, Detria and Hezekiah laughed almost uncontrollably. “You’re smarter than the average bear,” she teased George.
“Go on and finish that blunt,” he said to Hezekiah. “Y’all are high enough and I need to get you back. I don’t want them sending out the dogs for ya,” he said and laughed.
Hezekiah and Detria continued to laugh and make funny remarks. They took a couple more hits of the blunt and relaxed until it was time to call it a day and head back.