Total pages in book: 159
Estimated words: 149301 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 747(@200wpm)___ 597(@250wpm)___ 498(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 149301 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 747(@200wpm)___ 597(@250wpm)___ 498(@300wpm)
“Well, the nearest easy loan, cash advance place is about fifteen minutes into town from here. You want me to give you the damn address?”
She grimaced and put her hand on her hip. “Let’s see how much you laugh and joke around at my expense at this next revelation. It says here that you owe me.” She reached into her purse then handed him some folded papers. “Your grandfather gave that to me. I uh, checked it out, and it’s true…”
Kage snatched the papers from her grasp, and began reading them. Each sentence he read made his blood boil.
“This can’t be right… this can’t be!”
“Kage, everything okay, baby?” Poet called out before falling into a fit of coughs.
Lorna craned her neck, trying to look past him.
“Yeah, baby. Everything is fine!” He balled the papers up and tossed them at her feet.
“That shit ain’t right. You fuckin’ fooled around on me, and you think you’re now entitled to half my land? My house?!”
“I’m not going to pretend to be proud of that moment in our past, or even this one, Kage, and normally I’d just let it go because you make a damn good point, but,” she looked at the house, then around his yard, then back at him. “This place gotta be worth millions… I promise to be fair, and I hope you will be, too.”
“You listen here, bitch,” he closed the door behind himself, then pointed his finger at her, causing her eyes to buck, and her to take a step back. “That woman you heard talking just now? That’s my damn fiancée. She’s had enough recent action to be in a Marvel film, all on account of my grandfather. Enough to last a lifetime. You know what that bastard put me through, Lorna! I told you every sordid detail, and you had the nerve to make a deal with him?! How the fuck could you?”
Lorna looked down at the ground.
“Look, I’m tryna keep my cool here, but you’re making it hard. The last thing me or my fiancée need right now is a ghost from hotel, motel, Holiday Inn past, showin’ up here demanding shit that you ain’t worked for!”
“I never wanted the divorce, Kage. You did! You filed! We’d probably still be married, and you wouldn’t even have to deal with this!”
“Do you hear yourself? Are you serious right now?! I poured my heart and soul into building this damn house! It’s not the material aspect of it—it is the principle! This house is a home. It’s a home for me and my woman, not you! It was me who cleared this land, with my own two hands and equipment to make it livable! Wasn’t shit here but thigh high weeds, venomous snakes, and mud. It took over a year, but I did it! I wanted a place that I could leave to my family, Lorna! Something I created myself! A nice private oasis away from chaos and mayhem, which are the only two languages you and that old man know! Ha! This is rich!” He laughed maniacally as he rubbed his hands together. “You get your rotten ass off my gotdamn porch. That’s what the fuck you need to do.”
“Kage,” she put up her hands and took another step back, “I don’t want no trouble now. I just want what’s mine. I actually thought maybe you and I could reconcile, too, at least be friends maybe, but I see you definitely have moved on. I’m happy for you, I am. I loved you, and still do, but I really just want you to be happy, even if it’s not with me.”
“That’s mighty gracious and thoughtful of you, you fucking viper.”
“I know you’re upset, and I acknowledge all that you did for me back then… Like I said, you were a good man. You had a bad temper at times, and could be a little paranoid and jealous if men looked at me, but that’s my only complaint.” Go on and fold that complaint up tight and jam it up your ass. It should fit just fine from all the dicks that have been in it. “You never hit me, or did me wrong. Your grandfather manipulated me, he sure did. Regardless of all that, the facts are the same. I’m sorry, but this document is correct. It’s a binding contract. I’m entitled to what the clause in there says: In such cases, the plaintiff may argue for forfeiture of the land to compensate for damages, unpaid obligations, or breach of the divorce settlement.” She reached low, picked up the crumpled contract, and took yet another step back. “You never paid alimony, but I knew you didn’t make much money back then, so I let it go.”
“I did pay alimony—it was being deposited into the wrong account, which was a clerical error, so they reimbursed me the total instead of just a portion of it by mistake. Soon thereafter, you got remarried, so that’s the only reason why you couldn’t contest it. More importantly, you and I weren’t even together when I bought this land and built this house. We’d been done and over with for years! First the lies about back taxes, now this! This is insane.”