Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 73556 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 368(@200wpm)___ 294(@250wpm)___ 245(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73556 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 368(@200wpm)___ 294(@250wpm)___ 245(@300wpm)
“You weren’t in his army. Did he still want you to treat him like a general?”
“My daddy knows how I’ve felt about him for years. Didn’t make it a secret. He said I was a screw up, and I said so was he. I blamed him for my failures in life, though as I matured, I realized some of the things I’ve done in this world ain’t all his fault. I gotta be a man about it, ya know…” Dad looked down at the ground and grunted. His complexion deepened as he ran his fingers through his straight tresses, pushing a few insubordinate strands away from his face. “But it’s hard being a saint, Roman, when all you saw was the sinner. I can’t protect you from him too well behind these bars. Power is addictive, but you must resist. Don’t join his company. It’ll be the worst decision of your life.”
“I told you, I told Mama, I told Dakota and Jordan that I didn’t want no part of Grandpa’s enterprise. Besides, deep down, Grandpa hates me and always has. He said I was tainted. A smart ass. A know-it-all. He said I was the only person who fit the bill of bein’ arrogant, greedy and spoiled, but still poor White trash all at the same time. After that trouble in the Marines, he said I shamed him, too… After you, of course.” Daddy grinned then chuckled—what he said was true as a bell that can’t be unrung. “But it never stopped him from wanting me. That’s what always bothered me. How can you hate someone, call them the black sheep of the family, but want them around?”
“He don’t hate you. He admires you. He sees your potential… you’re special.” He boldly met his gaze. “I ain’t got it. Dakota ain’t got it. Jordan ain’t got it. You got it.” He winked at him. “We all know what it was when we see it… just can’t put words to it.”
“I wish I knew whatever ‘IT’ is, so I could pretend to no longer have it.” He laughed dismally.
“The Devil is a good talent scout, son. You can’t hide your gifts from him no matter how you try. He ain’t got to like you to use you, boy. Your grandfather ain’t want me in his family company, either, and that’s why he thinks I hate him. Rejection. Rejection from the likes of him is a blessing. That isn’t it at all. I never saw it as an honor to be chosen, as my brothers who were handpicked did. All they could see was the money and power. The price for that is too high. You must sell your soul to party in hell.”
“I know he didn’t want you and you didn’t want him, but did you sell your soul, Daddy? Speak to me. Tell me the truth, man to man.”
“I know you’re talking about the money. Sometimes, even when money was tight, which was most of the time, I’d get my hands on something. Right before your birthday, or before Christmas, to make sure y’all had a good holiday. That wasn’t from Cyrus. I never asked my papa for a dime. Don’t matter where it come from… but it wasn’t from him.” Dad grunted and shifted about in his seat.
“You never saw him as an option? Not even once? From my understandin’, he helps take care of his children that he doesn’t employ, too, just not all the time.”
“Look here, Roman. I’ve done a lotta stupid things in my lifetime, but my judge of character is always top notch. I know an evil motherfucker when I see one. You borrow a red cent from my father, you may as well have borrowed a billion dollars. It all means the same. Your grandfather had what he needed and then some, to be successful. But he got greedy. He wanted all the money. All the power. All the control. All the women he desired. He wanted to be worshiped and looked up to. Feared. Daddy is a swindler, a schemer, a phony, and wicked to his core. Sly as a fox and slick as a serpent. He pretends to be a friend when he’s a foe, and he pretends to be a Christian when he worships Satan and does his bidding. That cross around his neck might as well be upside down. He’s a trinity, all right. He ain’t nothin’ short of the Grim Reaper, the fallen angel, and the unholy ghost.”
The air thinned out at that moment. It felt like standing upon a mountaintop, perhaps ready to jump to one’s death. Roman wasn’t certain if his father was speaking figuratively or literally. Either way, it all came out black in the wash.
“Funny you should bring the old man up, Daddy. Your father is puttin’ the squeeze on me.”