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“You’re diabolical, Andre. I like it.”
“I learned from the best. My father was too soft on her.
“Do you think she suspects anything?”
“My mom is too clueless and sentimental. She still thinks I’m her perfect little boy. I could steal her dentures and she’d find a way to justify it.”
They hung up and I stayed seated on the garage floor holding the phone with trembling hands.
My own son, my only son, the baby I had carried for 9 months. The child I had stayed up with when he had a fever. The boy I had defended from every teacher and principal who complained about his behavior.
That very child was now planning to steal everything I had and lock me away in a home to die alone. But something else was bothering me. Andre had mentioned that he had learned from the best.
What did he mean? Marcus had never been cruel to me. Never.
The hidden folder. That night, I decided to go through the boxes I hadn’t unpacked yet. They were mostly Marcus’ papers, work documents, old bills, family photos.
But at the bottom of one of the boxes, I found something that took my breath away. It was a folder marked Andre confidential in Marcus’ handwriting. Inside were letters, printed emails, and handwritten notes.
It’s a secure investment. I’ll pay you back in 6 months with interest. Mom can’t know because you know how she gets about money.”
Marcus’s reply was handwritten on the margin.
“Andre, this is the fifth time you’ve asked me for money this year. What is really going on? And don’t tell me it’s for an investment because the other four times you said the same thing and I never saw a penny back.”
I kept reading.
There were documents showing that Andre had constantly asked Marcus for money over the last 5 years. always with different excuses. Job problems, a medical emergency for Kiara, investments that turned out to be scams, hidden gambling debts.
Continue reading…
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