Page 46 of Finesse
“What bad news do you have for me?” I ask as I pour us both cups of coffee. I sit down at the dining room table and look at all of the paperwork she’d laid for me.
Alicia gives me a sigh and shakes her head. “I don’t know what to tell you, Taylor. The guy is fighting the lawsuit and he has high-powered lawyers to back him up. This could drag out for years.”
The man was running from the cops and Daddy was caught in his way. It was a sad case of wrong place, wrong time. “I’m ready to fight and I’m not backing down.” I state. My father went from being a happy, living human being to just a memory in a matter of seconds. “I’ll fight until the end of my life if I have to.”
“I understand and I respect it. I loved your father very much and the whole community still mourns him.” She pauses for a beat. “But financially, it may not be the best way to go.” Alicia presented her bill and my eyes widened at the six-figure amount. “I’m not asking for the amount up front because I know you’re good for it, but this is what I’ve incurred so far. These are family prices, by the way.”
“I’ll pay you,” I told her. “I’m good for it.”
“I know you’re good for it but that’s not the point, Tay.” Alicia’s voice is soothing like a cup of tea. “The only way to get out of debt quickly is to sell one of your father’s properties. I know it’s not what you want to hear but it’s an option.”
“I’m not selling Daddy’s shop.” I know it’s my shop and it has been for the past year, but it feels weird calling it mine. As far as I know it still belongs to Daddy. “That’s on period.”
“I know,” Alicia nods, “but it’s an option you need to seriously consider to get out of debt. I wouldn’t lie to you about any of this and you need to just think about it.” She finishes her coffee and stands up. “Taylor, I love you very much and only want the best for you, but I also don’t want to lead you on believing something is happening when it’s not.” She kisses my head and leaves.
I close the door behind her and just seriously think about my options. I could hold a fundraiser. I could sell Daddy’s precious low-rider he drove around town. I can even sell this house and downgrade. I could do a lot of things to raise cash.
None of it sounds right, but I’m running out of options. I need to figure out what I’m going to do before I don’t have any choice to do it. Selling one of the shops is an option but it also meant some employees will be laid off in a shaky economy. Those employees have families.
I’m stuck and I’m truly lost at what to do next.
~~~~~~
I arrived at Fresh Espresso and immediately checked the mail. Before I turned on anything, I fumbled through the various envelopes with my name and Daddy’s name on it. It was yet another painful reminder he was no longer here but the bills were still in his name.
A plain, white envelope fell on the floor. It had no return address and just my name. I opened up the envelope and saw a handwritten check made out to me with a staggering dollar amount:
One hundred thousand dollars.
I held the check up to the light to see if it was legitimate and I honestly couldn’t tell if it was. I decided to put it back in the envelope along with the other bills. In the memo was a single word:
You.
I had no idea what it meant and I didn’t care enough to investigate. I’ll worry about that later. I had a coffee shop to run, I was going to be running back and forth between locations to ensure everything still ran smoothly. I’ll worry about the Angel Investor later.
~~~~~
“What do you mean you got some random check?” Hayley asks as she feeds her daughter she shares with Que. They’re living together and playing husband and wife without actually being so. And of course, their daughter stays laced up in designer.
“Some random check.” I show it to her and Hayley’s eyes narrow to study it. “I don’t know who it’s from. I can’t even make out the squiggly signature.”
“A hundred thousand, though.” Hayley hands the check back. “It looks legit, Tay.”
“It feels like a scam, Hay.” I noted. I was working at Fresh Espresso all day so I couldn’t afford to leave for a second to run to the bank. I’ll have to do it tomorrow. “I don’t know if I should take it to the bank.”
“Try it and see what happens.” She shrugs. She never thinks about the what-ifs, she just does. “If it’s bad, you’re shit out of luck. If it’s good, you got enough money to cover your bills.” She pauses and wipes Monica’s little mouth. “Even though we’ve offered to help several times.”
“I’m not associating myself with drug money like I’ve said to you and Que several times.” Hayley rolls her eyes and continues to feed Monica. “I told you how I feel about that.”
“And I told you I don’t care,” Hayley replies with a slight bite. “You need money and we have the ends to help you. Not a big deal, Tay.”
“It is one to me.” I never asked about Cameron and Hayley knew better than to tell me what was going on in his life. Seeing how Hayley and Que are living in a home that’s awfully similar to Cameron’s, I don’t doubt his empire has done very well. “I need to see who wrote this check. It’ll help out a lot and I won’t need to lay anyone off for the time being.” My head rest on my palm. “I guess it was an angel investor.”
“Be glad.” Hayley mentions. “Not everyone has one of those.”
I think about what I want to say next and wonder if it’s in my best course of action to say anything. I thought about Cameron more within the past week than I had in the past year. He wouldn’t just randomly show up at the funeral like that unless he specifically wanted my attention. “Has Cameron asked about me? Like, at all?”
Hayley smiles at me. “He asks about you all the time, girl.”
