Page 46 of Brand
“The car is mine,” I said, my voice rising as the frustration filled my veins. “It’s in my name.”
“No,” she said with a tiny shake of her head as she held up a finger, long nail like an arrow pointing to the ceiling. “Your father’s name is first on the title. Therefore, the car is first and foremost ours. And we pay for the insurance. Therefore, Camille, you have no claim. And, in fact, as of this morning, you will no longer be on our insurance, so it wouldn’t matter if you had the car or not because you wouldn’t be able tolegallydrive it. But perhaps things like following the law simply do not matter to you anymore.”
Okay, so yes, it was just a car. But I loved that thing. It wasn’t new. I didn’t see a million of them when I was driving across town. I could easily find it in a parking lot. I felt the stories of what had happened during its lifetime when I was sitting in that leather seat. I traveled back to a time that was before my existence every time I glanced into the rearview mirror.
“Your brother is already handling putting it up for sale. I’m sure someone will want that piece of junk.”
I sighed. There was no use fighting this. Some might have said I was weak, but I chose to think of it as being smart. She was right, I had no legal leg to stand on. They owned everything, including my soul if I let them.
“You have twenty minutes to pack whatever you want to take with you. I’m sure Ricardo will be nice enough to drive you where you need to go.” The haughtiness in her voice could have choked an elephant.
First off, his name wasn’t Ricardo. It was actually Doug. And he wasn’t Hispanic like my mother liked to toss around. While his parents weren’t born in the United States, they were citizens now. And since Doug was born here that technically made him American. Though his parents were from Natal, which made Doug of Brazilian descent, if you wanted to get nit-picky about it.
And second, if you were wondering if he was one of our drivers, I’d tell you right now that he most definitely wasn’t. He was actually our head landscaper. So see, what she meant by ‘nice enough’ had nothing to do with him offering. Though I was sure he would if he knew what was going on. No doubt my mother was going to go out there and not so much asaskDoug if he would take me somewhere but make it more of a strong request. I could just hear the tone that she would use ringing in my ears. This was yet another knife she was attempting to plunge into me. In her mind, I wasn’t even going to get a Benson send off. No, right then she was letting me know that she thought as little of me as she did the ‘help.’
I pressed my lips together and dug into my purse. Phone and keys gathered in one hand, I moved closer to my father’s desk. I placed them down in front of my father, pinning him with a stare. He didn’t look up at me, his eyes remained locked on the edge of his desk.
It didn’t surprise me. My mother had the backbone of the family. Couldn’t blame her though, she had the most to lose, if you will. She had to hold onto the family name because it wasn’t originally hers. Though she was born with a silver spoon in her mouth, her family name didn’t quite have the prestigious ring that the Benson name held. And that was not me being a snotty bitch, it was how my mother truly thought about it.
“And Camille,” my mother said just as I had turned my back to walk away. I stopped, but didn’t turn to face her. “I recommend that you keep away from thosecriminalsif you don’t want anything to happen to them or their club. I should not have to remind you how much money we donate to the police department, among other things.”
My blood ran like ice through my veins. She couldn’t get her way but she was hellbent on pulling every string to come out on top. It wasn’t an empty threat and I knew that. I held the tears back as I walked out of that room, trying my hardest not to let my posture fall. I didn’t want to let her know she’d gotten to me, even a little. I had no doubt that she’d do her best to bring them down, any way that she could, all the while, keeping her hands completely clean from the whole thing.
I had to admit that I was a bit in shock. I mean the last twelve hours had been a whirlwind of intense events. It shouldn’t have been a surprise that this is what I’d come home to. The reality was it was just a matter of time before everything blew up. And sure, if you wanted to get technical about it, this whole thing was my fault. If I hadn’t of stepped foot into Branded In Ink then I wouldn’t be in this position. I wouldn’t be to blame for whatever my mother had planned for the club.
And as I dragged my carry-on suitcase out of my closet, I felt numb.
I packed. Tossing in random things that I didn’t even bother looking at. For a moment I thought that this might be a passing threat or punishment, but as I remembered who my mother was, I knew it wasn’t. My father hadn’t said a single thing, which told me that he might not agree with my mother but he wasn’t going to voice his opinion.
I decided that once I stepped out the front door I wasn’t going to let this get me down. Sure, I had nothing. No car. No phone. No home. Yep, I had no place to live. I wasn’t worried about that though because I was sure my sister would take me in. Like seventy-eight percent sure. I mean, she still did basically everything our mother wanted of her, but we had some kind of closeness.
With a huge sigh, I climbed into Doug’s waiting Jeep. He gave me a sympathetic look as he moved the gearshift into drive.
“Laurel’s?” he asked like he knew me and this family so well.
I had maybe spent a few afternoons here and there talking to Doug throughout the years. Sometimes I liked to get my hands dirty and he would always let me indulge such desires along the back corner of the property. The corner that my parents couldn’t see from the house.
And now, I realized that sounded kinda icky. No, nothing creepy happened at all. Doug was a good ten years older than me at least and he never made any sort of weird move on me.
During those times where we would work side by side planting and trimming whatever needed it at the time, I would always talk about what was going on in that dreaded house. He listened but usually offered no advice. A few times, he simply told me ‘you are your own person. Don’t let them tramp that part of you down.’ And that was it, really. I hadn’t taken those words to heart ever. Not until now, when I was sitting in his Jeep, heading down the long driveway, leaving it all behind.
I needed to let Brand know, but my mother’s words rang out in the back of my mind. Maybe it was a bit naïve, but I believed without a doubt that she would follow through with her threat. Suddenly it didn’t matter that I had stood up to her, it didn’t matter that I wasn’t on my way to the stupid farm to live with my aunt. It didn’t matter even a little, that I’d finally cut myself free.
“It will all be alright, Cami,” Doug said as he pulled to a stop in front of Laurel’s luxury apartment building. With a sigh, I gave a sad nod.
“Thanks, Doug. You’ve been a true friend,” I said as I made my way out of the Jeep and pulled my suitcase out of the back.
I didn’t look back as I pushed open the huge, heavy glass door and headed to the elevator. The eleven floors passed too slowly for my liking. I was sad. I felt pathetic and stupid. And though I was free of my parents, I still felt trapped.
I lifted my hand to knock, praying that she’d take me in and at least be a little bit on my side. The dread that I had no idea whose side she’d be on had tears stinging my eyes.
I heard her heels clicking on the marble floor, growing louder with everyclick, and I held my breath as the door slowly opened.
