"Sorry, cuz. I know it's short notice, but thanks, man." "Don't mention it. I owe you my life. There's nothing I wouldn't do for you. Come on in." The man stepped aside so they could pass. "Michael, this is my cousin Joseph. Joseph meets Michael."
"Nice to finally put a face to the name, I've heard a lot about you." Joseph held out his hand and Michael gave it a firm shake.
"Baby, you said you were going to join me in the shower, what's taking so lo...?...Ho...holy shit, Moses?...what in tarnation are you doing...here? In my home?" Jody asks her eyes wide with shock.
"Sorry to intrude." Michael bowed to her and turned to the side so he wasn't facing her partly covered body. "What happened? Are you okay?" she asked, wrapping the towel she was wearing more tightly around her body.
"I will let him explain, I need to get back to the base. Thanks again cuz. I'll see what I can do alright." Evan says to Michael, again Michael nods but says nothing.
"Shoot, let me change." Jody ran from the living room while Joseph ushered Michael towards the sofa. Less than five minutes later Jody runs back into the room. "Would you like something to drink?' she asks but Michael shakes his head no.
"Tell me what happens." She demands sounding like a worried mother. Michael took a deep shuddering breath and let it out slowly before speaking. "Zoey is pregnant, she named me as the father and now Anthony is trying to kill me."
"Wait...what?" Jody shrieks in shock. "My words exactly." Michael snorts. "Are...you...the father?" She stuttered. "No, Zoey is a child, I would never..." "Of course not, stupid question, you're not the type to do such a thing."
"But didn't you though, sleep with a fourteen-year-old at Razor's house?" Joseph asks scratching the back of his neck nervously. "That's not his fault, he was forced by Razor." Jody snaps at her boyfriend. "Yeah, right, sorry man." Joseph chuckles sheepishly.
"But wait, why did Zoey name you as the father?" "I would like to know the answer to that question as well. I went over there to speak to her but didn't get to."
"Let me guess, her big bad brother stopped you, didn't he?" "No, her big bad sister did." "Liah? So who was she more angry at, you or Zoey?" "Me." "You? She doesn't actually believe any of this, does she?" Jody asks. "The ringing in my ear says that she does." He gently ran his fingers over his still-tender cheek.
"She hit you!" "More like slapped." Michael snorts. "She slapped you?" Michael nods slowly. "She actually believes this bullshit!" He nods again
"Hang on sec, this chick must be out of her damn mind." Jody grabs her phone from the coffee table and dials Liah's number while walking a few feet from the men. Liah answered on the second ring. "Hey Jody, what's up?" She asks with a sniffle.
"I just heard what is going on with Zoey, do you really believe that Moses is the father?" "How did you hear about that so quickly? Know what, never mind, the whole community will know eventually anyway."
"Lia, you spent over two months locked in a room with this man, you know him better than anyone and you know he isn't capable of something like this." "That would mean Zoey is lying and she wouldn't, not about something as serious as this."
"But this is Moses we're talking about...." "Don't you think I know that?" Liah snaps. "You think I actually want to believe any of this? I trusted that man with everything that is within me and he betrayed that trust by violating my little sister, who is now traumatized by the way. My mother is devastated, she won't ever be able to hold her head high in this community ever again and how are we supposed to explain this when no one is supposed to know that he was in our house? See he knew all that. He knew we wouldn't be able to explain how or where she got pregnant without revealing everything else, which would put us all in danger. That scheming no good slime. How could he do this Jody? Why would he...?" Liah sobs.
"That's just it Liah, I'm not sure he's guilty of this." "So you're calling my sister a liar? You don't even know him, yet you're defending him." Liah sneers before hanging up in Jody's ear.
"Liah is crazy if she actually thinks you're capable of this!" Jody growls turning back to the men. "Something smells fishy about all this," Jody grumbles.
"Well, my girl is a very good judge of character and if she says that you're not guilty then I believe her, so what do you think is going on?" Joseph asks Michael. "I think someone is trying to frame me."
"Who?" Jody asks. "Right now only one name comes to my mind, David." "David? Why David?" Jody asks. "Liah hurt him when she chose me, he has the most to gain by turning her against me." "But David is a goody-two-shoes choir boy, always has been, he's no more capable of this than you are, not to mention he has always viewed Zoey as his little sister," Joseph states.
"Joseph is right, David has his flaws but even he isn't capable of this, but let's wrap this up for tonight, my brain hurts. Moses you can stay in Evan's room, and get some rest, we'll pick this up tomorrow, one way or the other we will get to the bottom of this." Jody says massaging her temples.
"Where the fuck are you hiding that disgusting mother fucker?" Anthony demands grabbing Evan by his collar. "For fuck sake man, get a grip. What the fuck has Michael done since coming here to make you believe he's capable of this?" Evan growls shoving Anthony away from him.
"My little sister says that he's the one that got her pregnant, what should I do, just ignore that?" "No, but come on man, think, doesn't it seem a little too convenient? Blaming the one person you have no chance of taking out. What if the other side is behind this?" Evan asks.
"If the other side was behind this, then Zoey would've said so." "For god sake, use your head man. Those fuckers have been trying to take out Michael for months now and can't, so maybe they're trying something else." Evan huffs glaring at Anthony.
"Like what? Getting Zoey pregnant? How is that going to help them take out Michael?" Anthony snarls. "Well if one of them got her pregnant, then scare her enough to get her to name Michael as the father, they no longer need to worry about taking him out because they know you will," Evan says.
"Evan has a point, they could be using us to take him out." one of the men adds. "Yeah turn us against him, so either he will take us all out or we will take him out, either way, it's a win-win for them." another adds.
"Bullshit! You're all just defending that ass-hole because you're all afraid of him, but I'm not, I'm going to kill that pussy." Anthony growls marching towards the front door but one of the men blocks his path.
"I know you're high on weed and drunk on power but you seriously need to chill because, one, everything they're saying could possibly be true, and two, no matter how bad you think you are right now, you're no match for Michael. Everything he did in that room earlier, was him trying not to kill you." The man laughs.
"And three, Michael isn't someone we want for an enemy, and as angry as you're right now, you know we're right." The man says walking away from him.
"And four!" Another shout from across the room. "How about proving that he's actually the father first before trying to kill him."
Anthony was almost at the gate when another man from his gang stepped in front of his car. "Get the fuck out of my way!" Anthony barks. The man snorts, walks to the driver's door, shoves his hand through the window, and after shutting the vehicle off, yanks the keys out.
"You fuckers are seriously testing my patience." Anthony sneers through clenched teeth while stepping from the vehicle. "give me my fucking keys, now!"
"I will, but first, tell me, are you absolutely sure you know what you're doing? Because you just ran Razor's golden goose out of this house and even though you keep saying that Razor might be dead, if I were you I would pray to God that he is because if he isn't then you and your entire family will be."The man says leaning against the car.
"Everyone that you're now trying to protect, your little sister who you are getting so hot under the collar for, will be dead. Razor went above and beyond to keep Michael alive and if you let anything happen to him by kicking him out of this house, then...man...I say again, you better be sure you know what you're doing." The man then throws the keys at Anthony and walks away.
"Hey, before you go out there and make a damn fool of yourself, I suggest you hit the gym and work off some of your anger." Another suggest from across the yard.
Joseph steps from his bedroom and shakes his head when he sees Michael pacing the living room floor. "I had a feeling you wouldn't be able to sleep, hungry?" Joseph asks. Michael shakes his head no.
"Thirsty?" Michael shakes his head again while dialing Liah's number for the tenth time in thirty minutes, then growls as it again goes straight to voicemail.
"Alright, stop, let it rest for tonight, try again tomorrow. Come sit, I know you said you weren't hungry and I haven't a clue when you last had something to eat, so here is a corn muffin and a cup of mint tea, they will help calm your nerves." Joseph placed the items before Michael and then took a seat opposite him with tea and muffins of his own.
"What are those?" Michael asks pointing to two objects on a table. Joseph looked to where he was pointing. "Oh, you mean the lamp and the phone?" Joseph asks and Michael nods.
"Well, that's a home sweet home lamp, legendary in Jamaica, works with kerosene oil, comes in handy during a power cut and that was the phone my grandmother used back in the day, as in a very long time ago." Joseph laughs when Michael gives him a confused look.
"Don't worry I'll show you how they work." Joseph chuckles. "I swear, having you here is like having a celebrity in my home. My cousin raved about you after you saved his life. Thank you for that by the way, if it wasn't for you he would be dead and if it wasn't for him, I would be dead." Joseph snorts.
"Meaning?" Michael asks picking at the muffin. "Well, I was the one that got recruited into Razor's gang but Evan knew that I wasn't cut out for the gangster life, so he took my place. He's the one protecting our family now and I help where I can." Joseph took a bite of his muffin.
"One thing he was definitely right about though, is those eyes of yours, you do look like an alien with those things, damn, they're as scary as hell. I can hardly see the white part of your eyes, It feels like you can look right through me with those things." Joseph laughs while Michael studies the man before him like an alien life form.
"Can you seriously do all that Evan says you can?" Joseph asks. "Such as?" "Well, Evan says that you're a ninja with knives, a samurai with a sword, and Jason Statham with guns, I didn't know such a person exists."
"I've done a lot I didn't know I was capable of since waking up on this Island, but I'm not guilty of what Zoey is accusing me of." "I believe you and I'll help any way I can."
"Thank you." Michael nods slowly, then getting up he walks towards Evan's room.
Thank you all for reading
Words of encouragement
God has already prepared the way
he just preparing you.
Riddle from the last ch: What kind of criminal doesn't bathe?
Ans: A dirty crook
Ha, there are a lot of those walking around, good one.
Alright try this one. What bus crossed the Atlantic ocean?
Good luck