Chapter 5
Blake Rogers sat in a plush white seat on his private jet as it made its way to Miami. He had some major business to wrap up there, but for some reason, his mind was on everything but business. He thought about the conversation that he had with his wife right before he left. His words had been harsh, and even though he wished he could take them back, he knew they needed to be said. After Tiara’s outburst, Cat sat down at the table with tears falling from her eyes. She had looked at Blake and shook her head.
“I can’t believe she talks to me that way!”
“Why not?” Blake said. “She’s completely right.”
Cat was even more surprised to hear those words from her own husband. She choked on her spit when she tried to prevent her sob from coming out.
“How can you agree with her? I have done my best to raise that girl!”
“No, you haven’t. Neither one of us has.” Blake was looking at his paper, but his eyes didn’t focus on any of the words. “We tried, but not hard enough. And now whenever we try to mend the relationship with her, we aren’t consistent. We give her so much and then take it away from her in a heartbeat. We expect her to act and behave a certain way, but we haven’t taken the time to teach her. I know I haven’t, and you damn sure haven’t either.”
Cat was silently listening to her husband, but she still did not agree with his words. When he paused, she wiped her tears away and spoke again.
“I just feel that she has everything she has ever wanted, and she is simply ungrateful. I’m tired. I’m tired of getting calls from that school of hers. I’m tired of going up there and meeting with the principal!”
“What I don’t understand, my love,” Blake disregarded everything Cat had just said, “is that you have been a stay-at-home mom and wife for almost eighteen years. Why isn’t your relationship with her better? I’m not making any excuses for myself, but the fact of the matter is that you focus more on yourself than your own child. I do what I have to do to keep money in our accounts and to ensure that we will never have to need for anything. What do you do?” He waited for some type of response from his wife, and when he didn’t get one, he continued to speak.
“I knew when I married you that you were not the type to take any part in my business ventures, and that is fine. You can keep your hands clean. But what I did not know was that even after you had a child that you would continue to put yourself first. Why is it that the help knows our child more than you do, when you should be with her as much as them? I’m not saying it is OK for Tiara to speak to you out of turn, and I will handle that, but do you really blame her for feeling the way that she does?”
Cat was trying to find words to respond with when she was saved by a ringing cell phone. The couple soon realized it was Blake’s phone. When he answered it, he was informed that his car was ready to drive him to his jet.
“Babe, I have to go. We can finish this conversation when I get back,” he said to his wife. “While I’m gone, think on what I have just said to you. I love you.”
He kissed her on her forehead and made his exit.
While on his flight, he tried to get some much-needed rest, but he couldn’t stop thinking about the situation with his wife and daughter. Here he was, the most powerful kingpin in his state. He ruled the streets with an iron fist, and he kept his business and his soldiers on such a tight ship that no one would dare question or try to go against him. For someone who had such a strong control over things, who would have guessed that he wouldn’t be able to keep his own family in order. He knew he needed to make drastic moves to get things together on the home front, or else he feared that he would lose his daughter forever.
“Blake!”
Blake snapped out of his thoughts and turned his attention toward Vincent who had accompanied him on the trip.
“That’s the third time I called your name.”
“I’m sorry,” Blake said, motioning for his flight attendant to come and poor him a shot of tequila. “I was deep in thought.”
“Yeah, I could tell,” Vincent said, studying his older cousin. The way his forehead was scrunched up, Vincent could tell something was really bothering him. “Anything you want to talk about?”
“Ah,” Blake said and threw the shot back, “it’s just Tiara.”
“Boys?”
“Hell, no. I’ll shoot any motherfucker she brings through the door.”
“Believe me,” Vincent said. “I know. But she’s almost eighteen. It’s about that time for her to start getting all googly-eyed and mushy over boys.”
“Thank you for your honesty,” Blake said sarcastically.
“My bad, man. I was just trying to get you to crack a smile,” Vincent said, realizing his friend was not in a joking mood. “What’s going on with Tiara?”
“She’s fighting in school, and I caught her wearing makeup and dressed like the rest of them little hoes we be seeing in the streets,” Blake said as he asked for another drink to be served, “I’ve tried talking with her, but I don’t know if my words have gotten through to her at all.”
Vincent took a moment to absorb what Blake had just expressed to him. He had been around Tiara a few times and noticed how different she was from the girl he had once known. She had grown up and became her own person, which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. What
