Chapter 23

Jared
Yesterday I spent all day feeling sorry for myself. I crawled into bed after my heart walked out the door and cried. I cried for Laynie, I cried for my mother, I cried for our child we lost before we were blessed with. I barely ate, didn't shower, I just walked around the entire house going through the motions.
Here is where I pushed her into the wall, here is where I called her useless. Here is where I told her to get away from me. I let myself go through every memory of pain I put her in. I re live every bit of agony and let myself relish in it.
Today is the day I right all my wrongs. I knock on the door to my father's office and wait for him to answer. I march right past his secretary as she screams at me to stop, so I know he is in here and I know he was informed I'm here. Security has not come to escort me out yet so it seems like he wants to see me.
Someone opens the door and I walk in to see my father at his desk on the phone. I look to the body guard with sunglasses on and built like a damn rhino holding the door open for me. Raul is his name. I remember him blocking the door while two men pummeled me when my father revealed his secrets to me. He couldn't let me go back to work until he knew I wouldn't go running to the police.
I give him a stern look and glance back at my father who is now off the phone and meeting my gaze. I walk closer to him until I am a foot away from his desk and start.
"Did you sign over the paperwork for your company yet?" I ask him in a firm voice. I don't want him to know I don't have my memory back just yet. I need to see if he will reveal anything to me.
"No son I have not. I am waiting on you to come to your senses about this. You are my only child, it must be passes down to you. I did not build it from the ground up just so you can act like a fool with it." He finishes.
"I am no fool father. I don't want anything to do with it. I'll start my own business.Something that is not linked to you. I want nothing to do with you or your business." I say.
"With your memory shot you may not remember coming to me and practically begging to be a part of this business, but you did. You wanted to be under my wing and I allowed that. I shared things with you that you can't take back. Losing your memory is the only thing keeping you alive." He narrows his eyes delivering the final blow.
"No father, the only thing keeping me alive is the hope that one day, I will be there to see you take your last breath. You don't deserve to run this company, what you deserve is to rot in jail for your extracurricular activities." I say with a smirk.
My father flinches under my words and stands up quickly. He adjusts his tie, looks to Raul and gives him a head nod. Just like last the last time. Raul leaves the room and locks us in. I turn back to my father and see his eyes narrow.
"Welcome back son. You seem to have your memories back now. I almost didn't believe you until I called the hospital to confirm it. So, when are you ready to start?" he asks while resuming his seat.
"Maybe you didn't hear me father. I have no plans of staying in this god forsaken company with you. I'm getting out." I say with cringed teeth. The man can try the patience of a saint.
"There is no out boy. Don't you not remember the last time? When you found out about the side business, I persuaded you to stay. With a little love from Raul and his brothers we gave you quite a lesson." He sneers.
He is talking about the day I found out why my father really wanted me to stay. The day everything changed between me and Laynie. I was so excited that my father finally wanted a part of my life. He wanted to pass down the company to me. I later found out it was all a set-up.
My father is a drug lord. He uses the contracting business to help distribute the drugs and hide them in certain new buildings. It's all a ruse. The FBI was getting wind of his activities so he had to find a way to not link himself to the contracting side of the business. He passed it down to me as a means to an end.
"I remember all too well father. When the FBI started catching on, you needed someone to pass the company down to. Selling it suddenly would be too risky. So, you called me out of the blue and acted like the father I always wanted. Offered me the job and the company, making it seem like you were going to retire." It was the worse day of my life.
"You made a choice boy. A choice that may benefit me, but was ultimately yours." He states rising again from his chair.
"Yeah, great choice dad. I find out about your real job and you have Raul and the fucking merry band of brothers kick my ass. Do you have any idea what I did to my wife after I got home that day. Do you know how much hate I had walking around? Do you know how much I despise you for what you did to my mother? You turned me into you!" I say screaming now. I hate this man.
When I found out that he was really just running drugs. I lost it. I was so happy that he would want me to work for him and give me the company. It was just a lie. I was just a mule for him. He needed it to look like he was a devoted father that passed the company down to his son. That story of me when I was eight was absolute bullshit. He had Raul and his two goons beat me up right here in his office in front of him. After much persuasion, I finally went along with it. My nose was clean and kept out of the real business. I would just do my job and go home. The only problem was I hated who I saw when I looked in the mirror.
I hated who I was, and in turn hated Laynie. She was perfect but I had just too much anger. By the time I laid my hands on her the first time I knew there was no going back, the darkness had won and I lost my forever.
"Good." my father says dragging me from the past. "You needed some balls when it came to her. Your wife is supposed to do as you say." He recites.
"Oh, like yours did?" I'm so close to letting the darkness take over and hurting this man.
"So, were back to that? Your mother is gone, let it go. I have." he says boldly.
The day those three idiots attacked me and Laynie in our home, the day I came home early was the day I finally let him in on the darkness that clouds my judgement. I was at a job cite and one of dad's clients came in. He was angry and bitter about some deal he got cut lose on. He started spouting some shit about my father and how he was always a snake. Even to Maggie. I flipped. I Took the man in my office and questioned him. I needed to know how he knew my mother. After three hours of him talking I learned more about my father and myself.
My father used to beat my mother. Not always but enough for people to raise an eyebrow to. By then he was high up in the rankings of the drug business and everyone used him. So, no one ever said anything. At first, I thought this man was lying. There was no way he hurt my mother, I would have seen something. But it was true. I think deep down I always knew. Certain things make perfect sense when you get older than they did when you're a child. The little bruises around her neck, the broken ankle that she blamed on tripping in heels. Everything.
He told me that my father was going to have her killed because she found out about his business, but by then she had the results from her cancer. He just let it take its toll. I lost my mind. I kicked him out of my building, off my cite and I stormed to my father's office. It was around noon so he would be there.
I walked past his secretary and right into his office. He was in the middle of a very important meeting with a drug lord when I pounced on him. I let the darkness take over. I grabbed him by his perfectly ironed collar and scream.
"You son of a bitch. How dare you hurt her. How dare you call yourself a husband."
The irony was not lost of me but I was too worked up to worry about my marriage. This fucker had hurt my mother.
"We are done, you hear me, I'm out of this fucking company. You can have it. I want nothing to do with it or you. Leave me the fuck alone." I pushed him back and walked away. I needed to get home.
It wasn't until later that night when I had two guys beating me down while some asshole put his hands on my wife, the same wife I had hurt just hours before, that I knew I was in trouble.
"Yes, she is gone." Returning to the present. "But I'm here now, and I plan on bringing you down." With that I grab my phone and lift it up to show him I was on a call the whole time.
His eyes narrow and he gets ready to press the button on his desk to summon Raul. I punch him the face before he can. He stumbles to the floor at the same time as the door busting open and Detective Stephanson and Detective Andrews walk in, guns trained on dad. Another officer walks behind my father and cuffs him while reading him his Miranda rights. I walk over to Andrews and give him an eyebrow raise.
"Got everything you needed?" I ask him.
After I stopped feeling sorry for myself yesterday, I called the detectives up and told them everything. I'm not looking at any time due to my father's role for me. Technically I didn't do anything wrong. Detective Andrews told me there may be some slap on the wrist for knowing about a crime and not reporting it, but with my coordination in bringing my father in that could be erased.
Andrews nods his head and is just about to say something when my father walks up with an officer behind him. "This is far from over son. You have no idea what you have just started." He is then escorted away.
"Ignore him. They all say some stupid last word when they are being carted off." Andrews says.
I shake my head at my father being taken out of his office and can see Raul being cuffed as well in the hallway.
"What about your girl?" Stephanson asks. He is wearing a bright purple button up with ducks all over them. Now that I know the reason behind it, I kind of admire him for being so bold and making his niece happy.
"I'm not sure. I see on our account that she purchased a ticket back to Minneapolis, so I'm assuming she went home to her father. I need to make things right, but before I can do that I have to work on myself.
"Marriage is blessing that people take for granite every day. It's up to both of you to make it work. Not just you. Remember that." Stephanson says walking towards the door. He turns back around and says one final thing leaving me a little confused. "About your girl's friend? Annabelle? Just be careful okay?"
I look at Andrews who suddenly finds his phone intriguing. I shake my head at him. Anna has always been a friend to us. Both of us, and I won't let Stephanson worry me about something that is not there.
I walk out of the office and into the elevator. I'm sure I'll be brought in a few times to answer questions they might have so for now, I'm staying in New York. Besides, there is still a lot I have to do in order to get my girl back. I walk out of the building and grab my phone out of my pocket. Anna's name comes up and I press the call button. It's time to finally right this wrong.