Chapter Three
Pride released an uneasybreath and looked at Boo.“Shall we read your mom’s last message?”
Reaching out, she took her hand in his.
Pride looked over at Kosta and nodded.
Kosta clicked on the file.
Pride went to stand behind him as the file opened.He leaned closer to read what Joanie wrote before she was killed.He read it aloud to the room, “My darling girl, if you are reading this, then I’m no longer in this world.I have a few things to tell you about, one of those things is why I came back here and why I stayed here for so long.When I left your dad, I prayed he would come after me, but he never did.I should have known better but I always wanted something just outside my reach.Your dad was someone too good to believe.I mean I never met a man like him before and I fell head over heels for him.What we had was wonderful but I pushed him too far, too fast.I didn’t want to share him with the men he was close to.”
Pausing, Pride shook his head.Then, he looked back down again.“I really never thought he’d leave them and I was right, he never would.Not for a woman.After I left, I knew I’d just made the biggest mistake of my life.When I came back to Blind Lagoon, I tried to finda job and all I could find was a bartending job.It wasn’t too bad but my boss, Lionel, made it all that much harder when he wouldn’t give me my whole pay.He said he was keeping half to help me build a savings account if anything happened.But by that time I knew I was carrying you.I made the mistake of telling him that and boy was he pissed.He told me you should have been his child but I never saw Lionel that way.After you were born, Lionel still wouldn’t take no for an answer then he got mean.I didn’t want to stay but he never gave me everything I earned and I couldn’t afford to leave.He was literally keeping me prisoner.”
Raising his head, Pride looked angry.But he cleared his throat and read on,“Then he began abusing you.I couldn’t stop him and no one else there cared what he did to you as long as he left them alone.I had to watch him hurt you time and time again and every time it killed me a little more.Then one day, she came.I didn’t know who she was but Lionel let her do whatever she wanted.One day she left her computer on the table at the bar and I saw something.She was making all these files on people around the city of New Orleans.At first, it didn’t make sense to me but then I saw some things that no one should have been able to get their hands on.So one night I just copied everything she had on her computer.I don’t know what it all means but it isn’t going to be good.I hope you find your dad soon and can give him this card.And I hope like hell he can stop what’s going to happen one day.”He paused again to look around at the people in the room, including his men.
They all stared back at him.
He then read on,“I’m so sorry I let you down so bad, baby.I wanted to give you the world.I’m finally going to take you to your dad and I pray he’ll take you in even if he wants nothing to do with me.I know you’ll be safe.I love you so much baby girl, remember me with love.Mom.”Pride just stood there in shock when he finished reading the file.
Boo had tears running down her face.
Kirill handed Andros to Pride and wrapped his arms around Boo.She sobbed in his arms quietly.
Yuri looked at Pride and asked, “So what do you want to do?”
Pride held his grandson and stared down at him.Now he looked up to reply, “I want to bring Lionel back to life, so I can fucking kill him all over again.”He growled.
Yuri nodded.“I can understand that, but that doesn’t help us right now.”
Pride agreed, “I know, maybe we should try and figure out what’s on the rest of the files and see if we can figure out what Lionel and this woman were going to do with them.Maybe figure out just how bad the news is going to be?”
Boo looked up at him with tear filled eyes.“Dad?”
Pride turned his head to look at her and asked, “Yeah baby?”
“What happened to her body?”she asked him quietly.
Pride swallowed hard and replied, “I don’t know, baby girl.”
“Can we find her and rebury it with her name on a headstone?No matter what she did, she was still my mother.”
Pride let out a breath and replied, “We can sure try and you’re right, she was your mother.”He again looked down at his grandchild and he gave the baby a smile.
Yuri looked over at Kosta and nodded.“Open the rest of the files and see what information she collected.”
“But those files are more than twenty years old,” Boo interjected.“What information could she have that is important now?”
Yuri shook his head.“I don’t know but like your dad said we have to try to figure out what she was collecting and why.If there is something in those files that could bring chaos to our streets, we have to try to stop it.We can’t have a war in the streets.That's what we hope to avoid.”
Kosta looked up at Boo.“Too bad we don’t know who thisshewas.”
Boo paused and cocked her head.“I think I saw her once.I was sitting behind the bar when she came in and mom told me to stay hidden no matter what.She whispered that no one could see me or Lionel would find out she was bringing me to work with her and that would only mean trouble for both of us.”She paused then looked at her dad.“I wasn’t the only one Lionel liked to hurt, he liked to hurt mom too.”
Pride growled and clenched his fists.“That lousy motherfucker.”
Candyman, who had been silent, shook his head and asked Boo, “Did you ever hear anyone call her by her name?”
Boo shook her head then she paused.“I think Mom said she was Lionel’s sister?Maybe?It was so long ago.So I really don’t know if I heard it right.”
