Mess Us Up – Jaxson Kidman Page 0,30
and shakes his head. “No, sweetie. Those aren’t our tickets. And that’s not my money. In a way, it’s your money.”
“What? How?”
Mac stands next to me and touches my back. “I went back to your old house, Jolie. And all that money I found the first time… that’s it.”
“What?”
“He must have put it all back for some reason,” Mac says. “I saw it and just… I don’t know. I decided to do my own thing now.”
“Do your own thing?” I ask.
Mac nods. “I’m not sure what Mama is doing. Or will do. Or if she will even fucking remember it.”
“Oh, Mac,” I say.
He shakes his head again. “Just keep listening to me, sweetie. I’m not getting into the emotional side of this mess, yet. You don’t understand what this is right here.”
“The money?”
Mac nods.
“What is it?” I ask.
Mac swallows hard. “Do you know someone named Tanya?”
My heart skips a beat. “Tanya…”
“A chef?”
“Yeah,” I say. “I know who that is, Mac. How do you…”
“Do you know anything about her? And your father?”
I shut my eyes. “No… that was just my mother being paranoid…”
“Paranoid?” Mac asks.
“Wait a second,” I say. “What are you trying to tell me here?”
“What do you know about your father and Tanya?” Mac asks.
“I don’t know. They had a few arguments. My mother felt my father was too nice to her. Gave her too many breaks. My mother said she smelled like smoke. She even accused my father of smelling like smoke too. That led to her thinking…” I shake my head. “It doesn’t matter. My father fired Tanya. To prove to my mother nothing was going on.”
Mac grabs my hand. “I’m sorry, sweetie. I’m sorry everything in your life is this way.”
“What way is that, Mac?” I ask.
“This cash was put away where I found it the first time. And then there was an envelope. When I opened it, there were two plane tickets to Hawaii in it.”
“For my father and mother, right?” I ask.
“No, Jolie,” Mac says. “There was a letter too. To Tanya. He’s planning on running away with her. That’s what the tickets are for. I don’t know anything about the cash though.”
“You took it…”
I move away from Mac and walk to the window.
I’m waiting for the emotion to hit me.
But it doesn’t.
In some sad way I’m used to it. I’m almost expecting it.
Waiting for the next round of truth to hit me.
I vividly remember my mother drinking too much wine and getting mad at my father about Tanya. Claiming she always cooked his favorite foods. Saying that he loved the attention she gave him.
I look back at Mac. “What’s going to happen to my mother in all of this?”
“I have no idea,” Mac says. “As long as she stays clear from it… maybe she’ll be able to be happy.”
“So my father is even more of a scumbag than I already thought?”
“You feel however you want, sweetie,” Mac says.
“I don’t know what to feel. I just want it all to be over with.”
“That’s why I brought this here,” Mac says. “So you can see it. So we can talk about what to do with it.”
“And because you wanted to bring me a phone too, right?” I ask.
“Of course,” Mac says. “And I meant what I said about you leaving the house. We can make that happen. We just have be smart about it. I hate to say this… but someone’s looking for you. And it’s tied to your father, the money and the lies, sweetie. The money and the lies.”
“Sounds like someone else I know,” I say.
Mac moves toward me.
His hands touch my face.
“No, Jolie,” Mac whispers. “No lies from me.”
“That’s the worst part,” I say. “You look like the kind of guy that lies all the time. And in some way I could make my peace with that when my heart gets broken. But you being honest with me will make it all hurt worse.”
“Well, then don’t hurt,” Mac says. “I’m going to take care of you. And you…” He looks back at the bag. “You’re going to take your stand now, sweetie.”
“What does that mean?” I ask.
Mac looks at me again and he gently kisses me.
“Sit down, Jolie… I have a plan.”
Mac gets a call and leaves me with my heart racing and my head spinning.
That’s typical Mac, right?
He kisses my lips, my cheek, nibbles at my ear, laughs, and walks out of the bedroom.
I stand up from the bed and look at the bag of money.
I look over at my new