Page 109 of Heart Of A Goon II

Even Inez was on her feet looking concerned.

“Then don’t be staring off into space like that,” my mother scolded.

I looked between all three of them and decided it was best to follow Khaos’s lead. “Dinner isn’t until later, I’m going back to sleep.”

“Eat your breakfast,” Boobie called behind me.

I’ve had her eggs and knew I was avoiding them shits at all costs. “Come on, Bando.”

“Aht aht… don’t feed him the food, Goo!” she whined.

Fuck.

PRESTON VANCE EATON

The day my father was taken from me was the hardest day of my life. Mostly because everything he had ever worked for was handed to someone other than his first-born son. Way before his hot new wife secured herself a sucker, or his other children, I existed. You would never know because he never spoke about his life in Atlanta.

Never mentioned how he married my mother and lived a different life here. A life that one would say was the perfect life. A doting wife, star athlete son, and a peaceful home. Golf on the weekends, and an outstanding member of the country club. My mother lived her life worrying about his peace more than her own, and the man was never home. It was always about business trips, but as an adult I was smart enough to know that meant he did his dirt somewhere else.

While Atlanta was home to me and mom, it had never been home for him. Only a stop on his rolling stone tour. When we received word that he was murdered, my mother stressed. She had only ever been his wife and lived to serve him. All of her friends were his. She didn’t know what it was like to work a job because she was a kept woman.

A weak woman.

My mother helped me early on discover that I didn’t want a weak ass woman as a wife. She didn’t know what to do and was lost when it came to trying to collect some of her husband’s fortune.

Only to find out that their marriage was a sham. Nash Eaton never married any one of his wives legally. Haven List was a bullshit business endeavor that my father was trying to cultivate in Atlanta.

He was trying to rival his brother’s Case House and quickly realize it wasn’t to be compared. Atlanta and New York City were like apples to oranges. Each city had things about them that made it unique, but selling peaches wasn’t one of them.

Haven’s List was abandoned before he could see the potential. He decided right then and there that if he couldn’t replicate it, he would just take it.

That was exactly what he did.

He took what he felt was owed. I had only met my uncle once when he was visiting Atlanta. It was right before he died, and my father allowed me to attend. At the time, I was a teen and excited he was allowing me to tag along. Business meetings were always off limits.

When he walked into the room, the entire room stopped to stare. He smelled like wealth, and not the kind my father had. Everything about his mannerisms were different from my father.

His security, a dark-skin man with a gray beard and hair stood nearby. I was so star-struck meeting him. He must have known about me because he greeted me by name. I didn’t think my father told anyone about me.

Although brothers with the same parents, they were different. He spoke about his children and wife. His eyes lit up when he spoke about them. He pulled his phone out and showed us the house be bought his wife their anniversary.

He was excited.

The estate was huge, so I knew that he didn’t just smell of wealth, he was wealth. His family would have everything and that should have been exciting for my brother. His baby brother found his way, and he was making major moves.

Wrong.

My father was angry. He sat at the dinner choking back his jealousy and anger for my uncle. I couldn’t understand why he would be upset? He already had all the things his brother was just now being able to afford for his family.

Then he died.

Life was good for a while. My Pops fed me little pieces of Case House, never letting anyone touch it. It was like his pride and joy, and he wanted his hands involved. I was tired of living like a trust fund baby. Always depending on him to shell out money to me.

My mother always told me to stop complaining and to be grateful. I wanted to be, but I also wanted to be a man too. I had gone to college and then back again, and I had nothing but small connections to show for it.

He was stingy and wouldn’t put me onto anything because of his fear of his new wife and his kids.

Kids that came after me.