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“Come on back, the cook prepared breakfast. She’s here, she also felt it was better if you and I talked alone.”
“The cook?”
“Yeah, a lot has changed since I was released from prison. Initially, I returned to the same ole, same ole, but eventually, I realized I was too old for this life. My brother left me a letter in the belongings you brought to me, but I could never bring myself to open it. I went the next day, opened a safe deposit box, and put all the things I couldn’t deal with in that box. I opened an account and ensured there was enough money to keep it paid for years. He made me promise to take care of you, and I let you go. I was so angry that you lived and he died that I didn’t care if you lived or died.”
“You offered me a place by your side,” I say.
“And had you taken it, I would have killed you where you stood. It would have told me that it was just about your position and the perks and not my brother. But I could tell you loved him when I offered. You looked like you would be sick to your stomach when I suggested it,” he says. “One day, after almost getting killed, I went to the bank to see what Supreme left for me. Did you know he invested? He was taking money and making investments. I didn’t even know he knew about that type of stuff, but from the complete unsurprise on your face, I can tell you did know.”
“I didn’t know he has actually invested, but he talked about investments all the time.”
“He invested in my name when I figured out what to do with the investments, I found out I was a millionaire, a multi-millionaire, to be exact. I gave my lieutenants money to get out of the game before they ended up in prison or dead and decided to buy a home away from the city in a house me and my brother always dreamed of, and that is how I met my wife. She worked in the real estate office I went through to find a house. It was love at first sight. She got me turned around. Well, she helped a lot. Now, she and I have our own real estate company, helping black people buy homes so they can have a better life and help establish generational wealth. So their sons don’t have to grow up like me and my brother did.”
“I was the older brother. I should have been looking out for him, taking care of him, and instead, he died but still managed to take care of me. Anyway, he left something for you, too. I have carried it with me, hoping that I could one day find you and give it to you. If my radar isn’t completely off, I know your boyfriend is going to be here on the first thing smoking when he realizes you left without him.”
“We are just friends, and how do you know he didn’t send me by myself,” I ask, and Daniel laughs immediately.
“That man would not have let you out of his sight, and he especially wouldn’t have sent you here by yourself. And you can say friend all you want, that man is as much a friend to you as you were to Edreece. And I don’t care what you’re about to say,” he says, cutting me off when I open my mouth to dispute his words.
“You have no idea what you are talking about, but yeah, he will probably be on his way here as soon as he realizes I am gone.”
“Well, eat up so I can give you what you came here for,” he says, and I notice the omelet, sausage, and waffles set before me. My stomach instantly comes online when the scent hits my nose, and I dig in.
“You were hungry,” he says, smiling at the empty plate. This is the most I have spoken to Daniel in my entire life.
“Yeah, I guess so,” I say. I realized how fast I finished my food. It was good, but it’s not a Jaasiel breakfast.
“He’s the best, right? I haven’t found a better chef yet,”
“Hmmp,” I reply as I move deeper into his house.
“You have a better chef back home in... where do you live now?”
“I’m in Mississippi, and he’s not my chef. He’s Aryan’s brother, and I hate to tell you he puts your chef to shame, and so does his protégé,” I tell him.
“Well, I can’t lure the brother, but maybe I can lure the protégé,”
“Doubt it,” I tell him, following him into his library.
“This is gorgeous,” I say, spinning around likeBelleinBeauty and the Beast™.
“Yeah, this is one of Royce’s favorite spots.” He leads me over to a table in the middle of the room to see a hugeSentry™safe sitting on it.
“He left this for me?” I ask, and he nods at me. “Do you have the code for it?”
“No, but here’s the letter he left for you. Maybe it’s in there. I am going to leave you to it and wait for your dude to show up,” he says, laughing as he walks out. I take a seat at the table in the heavy leather chair; the envelope is shaking as I open it to read the last words Edreece left for me.
“Brooklyn,my Majestic,
If you are reading this letter, then it means the streets finally got me, and I am dead. I do not want you to live with any guilt. You gave me so much joy and happiness during the years we have been together. I hope you find love, Brooklyn. You deserve it, and I hope it’s a lot less dangerous than you being with me has been.
My love for you was boundless, but even though I loved you with everything in me, I couldn’t give you the life you deserved until hopefully now. I took the money and invested it, little by little off of hunches and with your encouragement. Hopefully, in a few years, they will be worth something, and they can give you the life I couldn’t give you.
I bought stocks and bonds for myself, you, and my brother. I also left you as the beneficiary of my stocks and bonds. If I read the market right, you should be pretty well off. As I write these words, I cannot imagine life without you, even the afterlife. I will be here waiting for you when it’s your time years and years from now, but until then, live, baby, take whatever money this made and live! Don’t be responsible with all of it, splurge a little.
I will always be looking out for you until we are together again.
Love,
