The Waterfront
SW Washington, DC
I arrived at the motel a little after 8:30 a.m. Neko was standing on the landing. He appeared to be mad as hell. A bit of remorse for my actions crept in the back of my mind. I knew I shouldn’t have just rolled out without telling him where I was going. After all, I was the one who had made it clear that we needed to stay together at all costs. I knew it wouldn’t be in my best interest to tell him where I had been. I didn’t need, nor did I want, any more uneasiness between us. I got out of the car and walked up the stairs towards the room. Sliding the key in the slot and entering the room, Neko was right on my heels.
“So, it’s aight for you to up and disappear and not say anything? If I do it, I bet you would be ready to lose your fucking mind!” He hollered.
“No, I was wrong. I shouldn’t have left without telling you where I was going. I just drove around. I didn’t go anywhere specific. I needed to get my thoughts together. I got to thinking we don’t have a plan Neko. We don’t even know where we are going to go once we leave here. We haven’t even put any thought to the insurance money that Daddy left us either.”
At the mention of the money, Neko calmed down. Once we were inside the musty room I took a seat on the bed and pulled the policies out of the bag. “We need to make sure we handle this first before we leave,” I said dialing the phone number that was listed for the insurance company.
I lit a cigarette and waited through numerous options before I got to a live person. After verifying my information, the woman on the line verified the policy totaling one million dollars. She asked for a copy of the death certificate. I let her know I could fax that to her office. I jotted down some information and gave her my bank account information and she said that in about two weeks the money should arrive in my account. I inquired about Neko and she said she could only speak with him regarding the policy. I passed him the phone and I guessed that the lady on the line was taking Neko through the whole spiel she had taken me through.
Neko told the woman he had no bank account and that he would prefer that the money be sent to my account. The woman let him know a notarized letter needed to be faxed with the death certificate to ensure we were not trying to commit fraud. I made a mental note to make sure we got Neko a bank account as soon as possible. We both agreed that was a smart thing to do. Then it hit me to ask the woman holding our future in her hands if she could check the information for Pajay Clayton as well.
The kind lady on the line put me on hold for what felt like an eternity. I paced back and forth. I am sure I had worn a hole in the dingy carpet. Once she came back on the line she stated that she was not supposed to give me any information on that policy. I wanted to curse at her and call her ugly names for being so, “by the book.” Before I could part my lips and throw insults at her, she did tell me that someone had called inquiring about if the death certificate had been sent in for the policies? She let me know that was all that she could tell me, and I thanked her for her time and hung up.
I was glad that I held on to my anger just enough to find out that Pajay was trying to get her hands on what she thought was rightfully hers. I rubbed my temples because they had started to throb with the thoughts of that bitch trying to take money after she had destroyed everything my father had worked so hard to get it. Then she had him taken out, just to get the money. What was even more puzzling was the fact that she knew that she had money coming to her.
Every time I started to think about all the things that Daddy had hidden from me, I started to feel sick. I questioned if he ever loved me as much as he said he did. The kind of betrayal I was experiencing was unforgivable. My stomach was churning. I had been feeling awful lately. I was sure it was the stress due to the severity of the situation. I focused my attention on Neko trying to hold the sick feeling at bay.
“I guess we won’t be leaving here so soon after all.” I said.
He nodded and left out of my room without saying another word. I was really getting sick of people and their attitudes when all I was trying to do was my best to survive. I sat down to try and ease the queasy feeling. I had way too many things swirling through my head. I felt like such a loser having to run with my tail between my legs. The only thing that seemed to be working for me was the fact that I was about to be richer than I could even imagine, and the possibility of Dread coming with me. Just thinking of him made me smile to myself. The churning in my stomach was starting to slowly subside and I turned over to try and get some much needed rest.
I woke up a few hours later and from the looks of things it was growing dark outside. I had slept yet another day away. I scooped up my phone and checked for any missed calls and messages. It was the same things. Epps had called trying to get my location so he could “protect” us. He had left several voicemail messages and texts. I guess at some point, he would have figured out that his services were no longer needed. I had also received a text from Dread thanking me for an incredible evening and that he could not wait to see me again soon. The last text I had came from a number I didn’t recognize; and it read, “time’s up!”
I threw the phone on the bed and pushed the eerie message to the left. I knew it was from her. I just didn’t have enough energy to focus on who “she” was anymore. I figured the best thing for me to do was to lay low, collect our money, and get the fuck out of DC before the black sheep of the family killed us all. I laid there wondering what could have happened that had caused Daddy to never claim her. Apparently he knew who she was because he wouldn’t just leave money to some person he didn’t know. It didn’t make sense. Maybe her mother was just a one night stand. I let my thoughts run wild wondering of who Pajay was and where she had come from and why she was after me. I had always wanted a sister or brother and now that I had both; I wasn’t sure I wanted the sister. She damn sure didn’t want to be bothered with me, unless it was at my funeral.