Just Right: A Something Just Ain't Right Novella Read online

  “Why should I? Because you say so? It’s not even his company to begin with.”

  “It might not have been before, but it is now,” He said as he walked over to us. He had a duffel bag in his hand as he came closer. “I’m buying the company from you. I was also able to secure a copy of the deed from the company. It was a legit deal, but it was under lock and key there. It was never in the safe deposit box as Sophia indicated.”

  Melinda moved from Hayley and went to Lamar. “What’s that?” she asked while pointing to the bag.

  “It’s to buy you out. You’ll have your money and I’ll have the company.”

  She glanced at the bag then at Lamar. I glanced out the window, wondering where the hell backup was.

  “Fine, I’ll take it, but on one condition… you call off your hounds.” She said while staring at me.

  “I never said I called the police.”

  “I’m not leaving here until it’s safe for me to. I can disappear and you won’t hear from me at all.”

  “Even me?” Demetria asked.

  Melinda stared at her and sighed. “Baby girl, you have everything that you could ever ask for. You don’t need me here. I need to live my life and this will help me do that.”

  Demetria sighed. “But you’ll be on the run. You won’t be able to enjoy yourself or the money you have.”

  “I’ll be able to enjoy it. That’s if Morgan here lets me go. If he doesn’t, I will make everyone’s lives a living hell.”

  “I call your bluff. You don’t have it in you. If you wanted to you would had killed all of us right now.”

  “Give me time and I will.”

  “What about the robberies? You got someone to do your dirty work so you wouldn’t get caught. You’ll turn them in to save your ass, so you don’t have it in you to do anything.”

  “I don’t, but like you said, I’ll get someone to do it. I know a lot of people, so don’t underestimate me.”

  She grabbed the bag from Lamar and I grabbed her by the waist. We began to struggle as the bag fell on the floor.

  Backup finally arrived as I reached behind me for my cuffs. She wrenched as I slapped them on her wrists. “That’s the risk I have to take.”

  I gave her to two officers as I watched Demetria untie Hayley. She thanked her before coming to me.

  “That was interesting,” she said while watching Melinda being hauled away.

  “It definitely was. Are you okay?”

  She smiled. “Of course. This was lame compared to what I’ve been through.”

  “And to think I was coming here with MJ. I knew something was wrong, that’s why I left him with your mom.”

  “I’m glad you did. He didn’t need to witness this.”

  Lamar walked over to us and gave Hayley a hug. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. What I want to know is how you found the deed and where did you get the money for it?”

  Lamar gave a hesitant look before speaking. “I got a loan from a friend.”

  “A loan from a friend? I hope you didn’t sign away your life like Dad did.” Hayley said.

  “Trust me, I wouldn’t have done that. In fact, Dad is the last person I want to associate myself with. This is now my business, so he has no say so. Hell, he never really did.”

  “You still haven’t answered how you found the deed.” I said.

  Lamar sighed. “After the talk we had with Dad, I knew something wasn’t right, so I contacted your mom, Morgan.”

  “What?” I didn’t think Lamar would go to such great extremes to save the business, especially if he talked to my mom.

  “How were you able to talk to her? She’s in a maximum-security facility.”

  “Let’s just say I have connections. Anyway, she told me that it was never in the safe deposit box. She figured she could say that not only to throw Melinda off, but also because you would never look there. Although you had valuables inside, you wouldn’t have gone through any documents. In her words, you’re lazy and have a short attention span.”

  I gave a crazed look and sighed. I guess she really didn’t know me.

  “She told me to look in the place that I would least expect. Somewhere that I was close to, yet, was still unfamiliar with, so I did some digging and realized it was in the safe inside of Dad’s office the entire time.”

  “Wow. He knew about this the entire time and didn’t say a word.” Hayley said.

  “Exactly. Dad knew the entire time. He was just tired of the business and wanted someone else to take over the shit he caused. That’s why I’m starting with a clean slate. I can’t have him apart of the corporation or my life.”

  Hayley sighed. “I agree. I feel the same way. Now that she’s being hauled away, how will you get her to sign?”

  Lamar smiled. “Simple. In fact, I don’t need her permission to buy her out.” He said as he held up the deed. We looked at it, noticing she didn’t even sign on the correct line on the deed.

  “She signed on the wrong line. Wow.” Hayley said.

  “The company was never hers to begin with. I guess everyone was either too occupied or careless to notice.”

  “I’m sure Sophia noticed it, that’s why she went to great lengths to hide it.” Hayley said.

  “All to protect your dad.” I said.

  “Now all I have to do is go through the proper procedures to legally have the company in my name. It’ll probably be a lengthy process, but it’ll happen.”

  “What if she actually took the money? What would you have done?” I asked.

  Lamar shrugged. “I knew she wouldn’t, especially since I knew she was going to jail.”

  Hayley glanced at Lamar. “I really hope you didn’t do anything crazy. We don’t want to bail you out of any mess later.”

  Lamar smiled. “I’m fine, sis. Don’t worry about me. Just be concerned about your husband and son now.”

  He gave Hayley another hug before walking out. I was going to tell him he would need to stay for questioning, but I’ll get him down to the station later.

  I also noticed Demetria was gone. She probably went to be with her mom.

  Hayley put her arms around me as I held her close. “I’m sorry.”

  Hayley gave me a confused look. “Why are you apologizing?”

  “Because of everything that went down I feel as if I am partially responsible for bringing so much drama in your life.”

  Hayley smiled. “I guess I should apologize to you too since my dad is the reason why everything has happened. If he didn’t meet your mom, then maybe she wouldn’t have gone insane.”

  “It’s no point in blaming our parents for what happened. It’s up to us to try and fix whatever issue they caused and move on.”

  “How when it keeps coming back to haunt us? As long as we’re associated with them, we will always be a part of their crazy games.”

  “Maybe so, but what if we cut everyone off permanently? The ones who have hurt us the most, we should just let them go. No ties, no association; just live our lives without all the bullshit. I’m willing to do that with my mom, if you do the same with your dad.”

  Hayley took a deep breath. Even though she told Lamar that she’s done with her dad, I know deep down that this is hurting her. The fact that he lied again only reopened old wounds that weren’t fully healed. But maybe it’s time to let the negativity go, even if it is family.

  “Let’s do it.”

  I gave her another hug as an officer approached us. I told him to give us a few minutes and he nodded. I know this is a hard decision, but we can’t keep letting people interfere in our lives. We need to take control of everything we have. We’ve worked too hard to let anyone destroy our present. Now, it’s time to say good-bye to our past, and say hello to a drama-free future.

  Hayley

  After being questioned by the police, I decided to go to my parents’, not only to pick up MJ, but also to confront my dad. As I was leaving the station, Morgan was trying his best to convince me
not to do it this soon, but I had to do it. Like he said, we need to take back our lives, so this conversation is long overdue.

  “You sure you want to do this now?” Morgan asked.

  I looked at him and nodded. “I need to do this.”

  We pulled up in the driveway as a wave of nausea went through me. I don’t know why I was so nervous. I thought I was going to throw up as I took long, deep breaths to calm my nerves before getting out of the car.

  The front door opened as my mom, Ophelia, and MJ walked out of the house. He came to us and Morgan and I gave him a hug.

  “Hey, honey. Lamar told us what happened. I’ve been trying to call you, but it just went to voicemail.” My mom said. She put me in her arms and gave me a huge hug, which felt really good right now.

  “I’m okay, Mom. In fact, I need to talk to you and Dad. Is it okay if Morgan watches Ophelia for a bit?”

  She looked concerned as Morgan gave me an encouraging nod. He went to take a walk with the kids as the two of us went inside.

  “What’s going on? You look pale, Hales. Are you sure you’re okay?”

  “I’m okay, Mom; physically anyway.”

  “Did you at least go to the hospital to get checked out?”

  “She didn’t hurt me, unlike some people,” I said while staring at my dad. He was sitting on the couch as I walked towards him. My mom still looked confused as she put a hand on my shoulder. “How much did Lamar tell you?”

  “Not much, but he sounded pretty upset.”

  “Well, let me fill you in on what’s been going on and how dad was involved in the entire scheme.”

  He gave me an intense look as I got into his face. He tried to get up, but I pushed him back down.

  “Hayley!” my mom exclaimed.

  “Did you know that Steven Corporations is owed by Demetria’s mother after Dad signed off on his rights to own the company?”

  My mom looked at my dad. “What? What is going on, Cedric?”

  “Dad didn’t tell anyone that the company wasn’t even his. He fell behind on the rent, so of all people, Sophia led him to getting a loan from a sponsor. Little did he know, he was signing off on his ownership, or did you?” I asked while staring at him.

  He didn’t speak, so I continued.

  “You know the robberies that were going around town? Turns out they were connected to Demetria’s mom since she hired some thugs to find the deed in safe deposit boxes. Morgan’s mom mentioned the deed was supposedly sitting in Morgan’s box for years. Of course it’s not true. It was never there.”

  “Is all of this true, Cedric?” My mom asked. She looked sad as she came closer to him. A part of me felt bad for doing this, but my mom needed to know the truth. She shouldn’t be kept in the dark about my dad’s misdeeds once again.

  “Why are you doing this?” my dad asked me.

  “Because you wouldn’t have told the truth! She deserves to know!”

  “Which I would had mentioned in my own time!”

  “When? When another incident occurs? When Ophelia is kidnapped because the person behind it is looking for a damn document!”

  “You better watch your tone with me, Hayley!”

  “And you need to put your family into consideration, something you haven’t done in years! Because of you, Morgan has been living with guilt for years. I was shot, your wife was kidnapped, and two criminals broke into my home today and I was held at gunpoint! But on top of all that, you gave a company to your son knowing it wasn’t yours to begin with. Well, supposedly. You knew that Melinda signed on the incorrect line on the deed. Did you do that to take her money?”

  “Hayley, I know I have made a lot of mistakes, but I’m trying to change. I’m trying to fix the problems that I have caused.”

  “No, you’re not. If you wanted to change, you would have told us from the start about everything, but you didn’t.”

  “Only because I felt I put you all in enough mess!”

  “But you could have warned us! What if MJ was home when Travis or Demetria’s mom showed up? Have you thought about that? Of course not, you’re not even concerned about your own kids!”

  “Hales, you have to understand why I did this. I did it to protect you and Lamar.”

  “Bullshit! You did it to protect yourself!”

  My mom was still speechless as she watched the scene unfold. Although these were my parents, I couldn’t see how my mom could be with a man like my dad for so long.

  “Stop it! Please, both of you just stop.”

  She looked at my dad as he looked away from her. “Look at me, Cedric!”

  He slowly stared at her as she was on the verge of tears. “After all we have been through. After I have asked you if you were hiding anything else, you looked me in my face and told me that there were no more lies. I trusted you, so how could you do this to me?!”

  “I’m sorry. During that time, we were in a bad place. I was behind on the lease and I was running out of options; so yes, I did ask Sophia for a loan. She didn’t have it, so she talked to Caroline, who asked Melinda for it. Did I know the company was going to be given to her? No, but at the time, I did what I had to do to protect the company. When Sophia mentioned that Melinda signed on the wrong line, we figured we could get away with me still owning the company; that’s why she hid the deed in the safe in my office. We figured no one would look there.”

  “Wow. Just the idea that you went to her for anything is baffling to me! Why didn’t you come to me?! Your wife! Not the woman you were screwing around with!”

  “That’s why I didn’t tell you. You would have judged me. That’s all we have ever done in this relationship was judge each other. That’s why I went to Sophia, because she didn’t care if I’d screwed up. She liked the person that I am, and not tried to make me into someone that I wasn’t.”

  My mom scoffed and I shook my head. This was unbelievable!

  “I can’t believe I’m hearing this.”

  “The truth hurts, doesn’t it?”

  In an instant, my mom threw her hand back and swiftly slapped my dad across his cheek. The hit was so severe; he lost his balance, almost falling on the couch.

  “I can’t believe you! After everything and this is how you treat me! After all the lies and deceit, how could you be so cruel to me?!”

  My dad didn’t say anything as I came over to my mom.

  “I guess I should say why I’m really here. From this day forward, I will no longer associate with you. MJ will have no association with you. I can’t have someone as toxic as you in my life. You have done nothing but terrorize us, and now, it’s has to stop.”

  “I’m not the one you should be upset with. I made mistakes, but it’s not at the extent that you’re saying.”

  “Yes, it is. You are sorely the reason why Sophia went crazy all of those years ago. You continued to use and manipulate her, making her think that you loved her, and now, she’s in the loony bin because of it. I don’t condone with what she did, but you have to take responsibility over what you created.”

  “Hales, you can’t say that I was the one responsibility for Sophia going crazy. She was like that way before I even entered the picture.”

  “But you contributed to her destruction.”

  “You can’t say that you don’t want me in your life.”

  I shook my head. “I can’t do this anymore with you, Dad. I’ve tried to be supportive and pegged you as the victim, but you’re not. You’re no better than Travis, Caroline, or even Sophia. So please, don’t even ask about me anymore. I’m done with you.”

  I hugged my mom, letting her know I’ll talk to her soon before leaving. Once I walked outside, I saw Morgan coming to me. He put me in his arms as I started to cry. I didn’t want MJ to see me like this, so I quickly regained my composure.

  “I know that took a lot out of you.”

  I nodded. “But it needed to be done. I don’t know what my mom is going to do, though.”

  “I’m sure she’ll make
the best decision for her and Ophelia.”

  “I really hope so.”

  “Mommy,”

  I looked down as MJ gave a bright smile. I smiled and picked him up. He wrapped his tiny arms around me, which made me feel good.

  “Even MJ knew you needed a hug.”

  I continued to smile as I looked at Ophelia. She didn’t know what was going on. I just hope my dad has the little sense he has left to do right by her. He certainly didn’t for Lamar and me.

  I looked at the window and saw my mom staring at us. I gave her a tiny smile as she went to the door. I took Ophelia’s hand as we met her halfway.

  “I asked your dad to leave. I can’t be around someone who continuously lies.”

  I nodded. “I understand, but what about your relationship?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know yet. It’s too soon to tell what will happen.”

  “Just know that Lamar and I are here for you. Whatever decision you make, we will support you.”

  I continued to hold her, wishing there was an easier solution to all of this. I just hope we all are able to get pass this.

  Morgan

  After the scene at Hayley’s parents’, I had to figure out a way to uphold my end of the deal. Although I had the resources to keep people like Travis and even my mom away. I wondered was it good enough for them not to interfere in our lives? But as a promise to Hayley, I had to do what was necessary to see if this goes through.

  I did go to Serge and requested a restraining order on both Travis and Melinda, and even my own mother. I couldn’t take a risk with her, especially if she tries to break out of prison and come hunt us down. Even though she’s in a maximum-security facility, I still wanted to be safe. Besides, if any of these people try to come back, I wouldn’t hesitate to shoot them, especially if they’re on my property. I don’t know why I haven’t done this sooner; I guess I thought the law would protect us, but sometimes you have to put the law into your own hands. That, and with a restraining order, I have a better chance of not being punished if anything does go down.

  With Travis, I did find out why he was involved with finding the deed. Turns out he was being blackmailed for a previous incident with Demetria’s father. I don’t know what the incident was, but I’m sure it must have been bad for him to be blackmailed. Doesn’t matter now since he’ll be in prison for the rest of his life, I probably won’t even need the order on him knowing Demetria’s mom, she might have someone waiting on him to finish the job.