Mess Us Up – Jaxson Kidman Page 0,55
get at me.”
That finally gets her to be quiet for a few seconds.
“I have to tell you something else,” I say.
“Okay,” she says. “I’m listening. Hopefully I remember it.”
“Why would you say that?” I ask.
Mama’s face looks as serious as I have ever seen it in my life.
“Because, Mac, I am losing my fucking mind.”
I let the comment slide because of what it made me feel.
I look forward again out the window.
“This is serious,” I say to Mama. “It’s about the crew.”
“What about them?” she asks. “Does everyone know about me by now?”
“Look, you know what happened with Les and Taz. They saw it, Mama. And Raf and Aric can’t be left in the dark.”
“You left out a name,” she says.
“I left out a name for a reason,” I say. “I left him out of knowing about you. I left him out of knowing about Jolie too. I tried my best with him. I’ve gone as far as I can here.”
“Care to elaborate?” Mama asks.
I turn and grit my teeth. “Jolie and Ado caught each other.”
“Caught what?”
“Ado didn’t know Jolie wasn’t really kidnapped. We all played along. I had Jolie over at the warehouse. Just to change things up for her. It worked out. She caught Ado stealing money.”
Mama looks away for a second.
I keep talking.
“His mother is dying of cancer,” I say. “He’s been pushing at me for money because he wants her to get treatments. My understanding is she doesn’t even want the treatments. That really doesn’t matter here though. I noticed the cash was a little off and Ado blamed Taz for it. We all know Taz would never fuck around with the cash. But sometimes he gets distracted. So maybe it was a one-time fuck up. I kept it in the back of my mind though. Then Jolie caught Ado. Like I said, they caught each other. Ado knew she wasn’t kidnapped. He subtly threatened her. She told me what happened and I played it off. I mean, to Ado. He thinks I’m the only one who knew Jolie isn’t kidnapped. I don’t know what he thinks or knows right now with her being able to do what she wants. It’s a little messy on that end, Mama.”
I look at her.
“Messy is the right word,” she says.
“I tried to give Ado the benefit of the doubt,” I say. “When all that other shit went down with BFH. I never fully trusted him after that. That’s my fault. You’re either in or out in the crew. He’s never been fully in since that happened. I might as well have just taken the cash myself and given it to him.”
“Don’t say that, Mac,” Mama says. “We have to face the consequences of our decisions. We can’t wish to go back and fix things. There’s nothing to fix in the past. It’s just the present. And you know what the present is.”
“I know,” I say. “That’s why I’m telling you. The cash has been replenished. So nothing is short. Nothing is going to fall on your shoulders. Or mine.”
“That’s good,” she says. “That’s smart. Any sign of weakness and things can get pretty rough around here.”
“I know that too,” I say. “I’m bringing it to you, Mama I don’t want to handle it by myself. I don’t think I can. He fucking basically spit in my face. Stabbed me in the back. And truthfully, who knows what he’s been doing. I don’t want to speculate. But what I know is he took cash.”
“And Jolie caught him,” Mama says. “And she told you right away.”
“That’s right,” I say. “She was hurt about it. Knowing what it meant to me. And to you, Mama.”
“So what do you think we should do here, Mac?”
I put my head back and took a deep breath. “Give him up.”
“You want me to make the call.”
“I can make it if need be,” I say. “That’s up to you. But this needs to stop. I’ve messed this up, Mama. I let him slide more than I should have. So if anything comes back at you, steer it toward me.”
“That I would never do,” Mama says with a smile. “This is what we know… we have a member of the crew going rogue. We noticed issues with the cash flow. We stepped in and handled it. The cash flow is perfect. That’s the most important part of this. From there, it’s simply… here you go. Meaning we’re acting on good faith and in good terms to make sure