“What do you mean by that? Hell Marcus, just put her on. I want to talk to her.”
“Can’t, she’s taking a piss. Anyway, the reason I called was to congratulate you again on your kid. Fuck, I thought you were just kidding that night in the elevator in order to save yourself. The old, my wife’s pregnant so please don’t kill me, trick. There really is a new Jameson coming into this world?”
“Everton,” I say.
“Hmm, okay. Whatever. I’ll be dropping your wife off at the penthouse in a of couple hours,” he pauses. “Man, I love these games. This is fun, isn’t it? Too bad it all has to end. So... congrats on knowing how to breed like all the other good little rabbits in this world, and I hope you have many more, and remember to name one of them Mark, after me. Okay?”
“What?” The word passes out of my mouth in a ghostly puff of air.
“Hell, you’re not very bright, are you? My sister married a moron. But, that would make sense ‘cause women tend to marry their fathers, and our father was an idiot.”
“Wait, what did...” and with that, he’s gone. I call back but it goes to voicemail. “Oh my god,” I exhale. “Oh fuck,” I pace. “Son of a bitch, I can’t believe that bastard was in my face for two days and I didn’t even know it was him.”
“Who? What happened?” my parents ask.
My legs are jelly as vomit rises from my stomach. “Like father, like son,” I whisper. “He’s Mark Jameson... Sophia’s brother.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
“I need a moment alone,” I request after listening to my parents, up in arms over how deranged Marcus... Mark is. They’re cautious, and my mother still wants to find what hotel they’re in, but for now all I want is a second to catch my breath... and drink.
They finish cleaning the bar and back rooms while I sit in my office chair, with my desk drawer open and a bottle of bourbon staring back at me. My splints tap the wooden desk creating a ricochet of echoes in the empty lounge below. With clouded thoughts and my body, heart, and mind all numb, I open the bottle and swallow my medicine. Man down. I’ve just disappointed everyone in my life, but do I really give a shit that Soph will be upset about the liquor? I don’t know. Something tells me I should be angry with her, yet she did nothing wrong. She had no idea the person who I called Marcus was her brother.
Or did she?
She mentioned the name Marcus Wild sounded familiar. What the fuck is that about?
A mouthful of bourbon travels down my throat and warms my stomach. I realize another Jameson has wrestled me to the ground. Paul sexually abused me, and then he set me up to create porn with his son? How sick is that? And now I’m married to his daughter? Goddamn, I’ve been with all three of them sexually. I can’t believe this shit.
“Cove!” my father yells. “What’s the plan? We’re finished down here and walking in circles, waiting.”
I push away from my desk, take another swallow of bourbon and enter the darkened stairwell, then down to the bar.
“What are you doing? Damn it, you’ve been so good,” my mother declares. “Put it down.”
I open a bottle of beer and walk toward the back door. “We’re going to Haverty’s.”
“What about Sophia?” my mother asks as my father takes his keys from his jacket pocket.
“She said she was fine. I’m supposed to trust her, right? What the hell is she gonna do, take off with her brother, hang out in Vegas, and work for Jameson Industries? I doubt it. Mark terrorized me, and if she leaves with him, then fuck her. But that’s not going to happen unless she’s been lying to me since day one, and if that’s the case, she can go.”
“Cove!” my mother yells.
“Well? Are we really going to drive to every hotel in the city? What the fuck? I love her to death, and believe me, it’s killing me that she’s not here, but I have to believe the message she left is the truth. She’s okay. If she was with someone she didn’t know we’d already be out that door searching for her, but she’s talking to her asinine brother, probably about his business, their father, and family shit.” I chug the beer and my father snatches it out of my hand and slams it on the bar.
“Get in the fucking car,” he says on his way out. “And don’t take that tone with your mother.”
I follow them into the rain with my head hanging low while checking for Haverty’s address on my phone.
“Where does he live?” my father asks as he unlocks the doors of the Escalade.
“His file on my cell says South Dorene Avenue, house number thirty-four, but that can’t be right.”
“We’ll see soon enough. Why did you decide to check on him anyway?” he asks.
We pull out and I stare at the raindrops rolling down the window. “I’m worried about him, for one. It’s not like him to take off. Plus, Mark’s been fucking with my head. He asked why I’ve never been to Haverty’s house, and he also said he was trying to teach me a few things about life; that I needed to be a man and take care of my family and friends. He was trying to tell me something in his own sick fucked up way. Challenging me, perhaps.”
“I don’t understand,” my mother says. “He was testing you? Why?”
“I’m only guessing right now, but when I think about my interactions with him, I’d say his strategy was to get me to have a look at what’s important in my life.”
“So he’s like the Ghosts of Christmases Past, Present, and Yet to Come?” my mother asks.
“If you ever meet him, which I hope you don’t, just don’t say that in front of him... the shithead already has a superiority complex.”
I shake my head when we pass two young children who can’t be older than five, walking alone in the dark with bare feet. They’re enjoying the rain with mouths wide open catching the rain on their tongue. I remember doing that when I was their age, but never without my parents in tow, especially this late at night. It’s worrisome because we’re getting into the rail neighborhood, as it’s called. Literally, it’s on the other side of the tracks.
“Is Mark friend or foe?” my father asks.
“He’s definitely not a friend.”
“Cove,” my mother cuts in. “How can you say that? He’s Sophia’s brother, you have to like him. What he did was foolish, but boys will be boys.”
“You have no idea what you’re saying. Trust me. Can we not get into my relationship with Mark Jameson right now? My mind is on Haverty,” I gaze out the window at the boarded up houses and get a pit in my stomach, no, it’s more like a boulder. “This has to be the wrong address?”
My father parks in front of an abandoned building, and across the street is a shotgun style house that should be condemned. Shit.
“How much do we pay him?” my father whispers.
“More than this,” my mother replies.
I don’t see the Escalade, but will assume if this is his home, that he parks it elsewhere. “Stay here with Mom,” I say to my father. “If anyone bothers you just drive away.”
My mother studies the house then reaches into the back seat and grips my knee. “We should all go in together.”
The place is falling in on itself and I wonder if the bourbon has affected my vision. No, I’d need a lot more alcohol in my system for my eyes to distort a house this much. “I understand what you’re saying, Mom, but from Haverty’s point of view I doubt he’d be comfortable if the entire Everton family walked into his home. I don’t want to embarrass him.” I examine the front again and sigh. “It’s bad enough I’m showing up here unannounced. I’m going in alone.”
“Be careful,” she says. “You don’t even know if this is his home.”
I nod as I exit the Escalade and cross the street. There’s a strong odor of dog shit coming from the empty lot next to the house and I see a few dog toys left in the weeds. The bottom floor windows of the house are either boarded up, or covered with black plastic, and the wood on the front steps is more like a sponge than solid material. I take out my phone to call Haverty and a second later a ring from his cell sounds from the inside. Dear God, this is his home. With my phone back in my pocket, I step around two dog bowls and tap lightly on a wooden door.