"What you did
Yeah, you know I love you but I can't forgive it
You could tell me stay, but I have to go
'Cause I would not expect someone to stay around
If I let them down"
- Mahalia

"Hello?" I knew it was her before I even answered the phone.

"Stop writing me letters! I don't want to talk to you." It's been a couple weeks since I sent the first letter, and it didn't stop there. All of the things that I had to say to her seemed never ending and I found myself mailing off a letter every couple days.

"Then why are you calling me, Bailey?"

"To tell you to stop. I don't want to keep reading your letters."

"Don't. You didn't have to read any of them. You're choosing to, just like you chose to call me." Not once has any of my letters been sent back which let me know that she was getting them. I didn't know whether or not she was actually reading them, but I was sure that she was receiving them.

"Why are you making this hard for me?" Her voice cracked slightly.

"All I want to do is talk to you, Bay. I've realized that our biggest downfall and I've been trying to right that by finding other ways that I can communicate with you. A lot of shit went down the last time we were together and I want us to get through it."

"YOU LEFT ME FOR DEAD!"

"I didn't. I might not have been in the best state of mind, but I would never abandon you, Bailey. I fought against Ju to get back in that room and he assured me that Malcolm would get you out in time. Even after they drug me outside I still fought to get back in there because it was taking y'all too long to get out." She was silent for a couple moments, so long that I had to check that the call was still connected.

"So what did you do when you seen I wasn't coming out? Did you just leave? Or did you watch the house blow up with me still inside it?"

"When I realized you hadn't come back out I made my way back in. The last thing I remember is stepping through the entrance before everything went black. I came to a couple days later and found out that the guys sedated me in an attempt to calm me down. The dose was so big that I was out for days. That shit fucked me up when they told me you never made it out. It didn't make sense to me. Malcolm is one of the best guys on our team, yet he couldn't manage to get you out in time?

"You're the one who told me the house was rigged. It was apart of your dad's plan, which means everyone on your side knew that. You also told me about the bomb bunker that was built underneath the basement. Your dad built his plan around YOU staying alive. He was going to die that night regardless which was obvious by his plan. I never once thought you were dead. When I came to and found out that y'all didn't make it out I just assumed it was another one of your plans that you didn't include me in." I heard her sigh and the simple sound made me closing my eyes. "I miss you, Bailey."

"I miss you too, but I don't want to. This is all so much."

"It doesn't have to be. Both of the negative influences on our relationship are gone. We're able to just focus on us now." I held my breath, waiting on her response.

"It's not that simple, Jerrell, and you know that. We need this time apart."

"We don't need any time apart. This is our time to start over."

"Exactly, and by starting over I believe it's best we focus on being friends first. We don't trust each other, at all. I don't think we should move forward with anything until we establish that first. Restrictions will remain in place because I don't trust you, and I still haven't forgiven you for leaving me out of your plan even after I included you in mine. If I trusted you enough to confide in you about a plan regarding your father then why wouldn't trust me enough to do the same for me?" I don't really have a answer for her question. I can't really answer why I didn't trust her enough to confide in her. Maybe because like she said, neither of us trust each other.

"I don't know."

"You do. It's because you didn't trust me, and that's okay now. I just had to find out the hard way. Good thing is, with both originating creators of this contract gone we no longer have to live by the strict rules of it. The only thing that has to stay intact for the sake of business is the legality of our marriage. As long as we stay legally married, the businesses will stay merged, and now I have a class to go to. Talk to you later, I guess."

"Wait! I don't even have your number!" I called out since I know she's calling me from a burner number, but it was too late, she'd already disconnected the call. I cursed and took the blunt from the top of ear. I went to light it, but stopped myself. This conversation with Bailey is not something I need to be sulking over. In fact, hearing her voice is all the motivation I need to start working. I sat the blunt down and stood up, damn near jogging downstairs.

"Aye, Ju! Let's get down to business!" I called out loud enough for him to hear me wherever he is in the house.

"Finally! Shit! Was starting to think you niggas was never gone get off y'all asses." Essence yelled out.

"Lil bitch you don't even live here!" I yelled back. I heard her screech and took off running towards my dad's old office. When we got back here from Jamaica this was the only house I knew we could go to immediately. I wasn't surprised when we got here and all of my parents shit was cleared out, leaving only furniture and the stuff I didn't take when I originally moved with Bailey.

Grabbing a box out of the corner I made my way around the office, throwing anything that wasn't essential into it. It's time I start updating all of this, starting with business strategies. My dad's way of doing business is extremely outdated and I'd be dumb to continue without strengthening it. I made my way behind my dad's desk and to his computer. There was a post-it note attached to the monitor with my name and his password for the computer. I sat the box down and sat behind the computer.

"Everything good?" Ju's voice somewhat echoed in the nearly empty office.

"Yeah." I mumbled while concentrating on the documents on my father's computer. "Come look at this." I said to Ju without looking up from the computer.

"Damn, he was more prepared than we thought." I nodded while scrolling through the floor plans of the properties he had transferred into mine and Bailey's name along with trusts and accounts he had set up. All of this looks fairly new though.

"He just did this. He knew." I mumbled while scrolling through until I got to the last page which was a note from him.

Jerrell,

I knew eventually my past would catch up to me. I did my fair share of dirt, and I don't regret it. What I do regret is allowing my pride to use you as collateral damage. That night when I did what I did to Bailey I wasn't in the right frame of mind. I'm ashamed to admit how jealous I was about a marriage made to benefit you. I don't think anyone understands how in love I am with that girl's mother, but where we're from there's no breaking an arranged marriage when there's businesses and territory involved.

You fell for Bailey just as quickly as I fell for her mother. She's the exact splitting image of her mother. From her smile to the way she carries herself. You were living out one of my dreams and I allowed myself to get jealous of my own son. You two are great together, and I want you to get the opportunity I wasn't able to have. I know she probably won't care to hear it, but tell her I apologize. I thought hurting her would hurt Ronald, but that man doesn't care about shit but getting his revenge.

I want you to know that I was well aware of Ronald's plan to kill me. The marriage opportunity between you and Bailey came right before the first time Ronald tried to kill me. I offered him everything for an extra couple months. I sold him on the benefits of our kids coming together and creating something bigger than we ever could. If I could do one thing before dying it would be to make sure that you were set up for success, and I believe I accomplished that. I spent all of my savings purchasing property for you, investing in neighborhood businesses, as well as investing in already established businesses. Everything is in yours and Bailey's names.

I know eventually you'll find your way here. Your mother has already left. She's spent years trying to become the number one woman in my life, but the heart wants what it wants. I love you son, and I hope that you learn from this wrong example I've set for you. You and Bailey weren't the only ones who signed contracts that day, and now it's time for me to fulfill my end of the bargain. By the time you get to this letter I'll probably be long gone. I'll be heading to Jamaica so that I can die next to the love of my life, and there's no other way I'd prefer to go out.

- Frank

"This nigga." I mumbled while sitting back in the chair. "He only did this shit out of guilt for what he did to Bailey. He didn't give a fuck about setting me up with shit before doing what he did."

"Yeah, but look at the positive. This will not only increase profit, but it'll also increase your name within the community. There's nothing better than a face that people not only recognize, but they respect because they see you doing real shit in the neighborhood. Getting the money isn't a problem, but your image will play a huge part in growing and maintaining that wealth." I took in Ju's words, understanding exactly where he was coming from.

"Can you get Jade to find some unique ways we could get involved and give back to the community? Next time I talk to Bailey I'll mention it as well. I know Rogers Industries has a scholarship fund set up for the community, but I feel like we can do more to maximize our efforts." He pulled up a chair and took out his phone.

"I'm going to call everyone down here so we can brainstorm together. Get the ideas out while they're still fresh." I nodded while pulling out a separate document so we'll be able to designate tasks.

"I know I wasn't invited, but I'm going to sit in anyways." Ess spoke while walking in.

"Take a seat. I'm putting your ass to work today." She smiled and plopped down on the couch, throwing her feet into LJ's lap as soon as he sat at the other end of the couch. She's the type to get restless if she isn't doing anything, so I'm going to assign a couple tasks to her. 

We spent the next couple of hours brainstorming ideas and voting on which ones were a go or not. Everyone had their own ideas on how they wanted to give back and I love that about them. We've all been through our own shit growing up, so we all have different causes that speak to us individually.

"Hi everyone." I spoke into the camera while looking at everyone that was sitting in the room. It's been a couple months since Jerrell and I discussed what happened in Jamaica and I haven't spoken to him since. Even his letters stopped. I don't believe that I'm still mad at him, I just don't want any distractions while I'm focusing on school. I've been knocking out my credits since I've been back, only minor occasional distractions from Cam.

"Do you know what we're doing so far?" Jerrell questioned, barely glancing up at the screen. I didn't want to be interrupted during this meeting so I reluctantly came to my office to hold it. I haven't been wanting to come to my office because that would make me want to dive into working.

"Yes, Ess has been keeping me updated. I want to help in expanding Jade's initiative by paying off all public school lunch debt in the US. I ran some numbers and there are a little under eight million students that are responsible for paying for their lunches, breakfast as well if applicable. Some school districts have anywhere from ten dollars to half a million dollars in debt. Once we're able able to collect exact amounts for each district we can pledge half and challenge others to donate in increments of one hundred thousand with a promise of matching every dollar. What do you guys think about that?"

"I love that idea!" Jade exclaimed. Seeing the smile on her face really makes me miss our friendship. I do eventually plan on reconnecting with all of them, but right now I don't want to focus on anything but school. I don't even spend time with Cam unless all of my assignments are done.

"I think that we need to brand our actual charity initiative. Make it it's own separate organization, so it doesn't look like a rich couple is just out throwing money into the community." LJ spoke up.

"I agree with you. Have you guys thought of anything or have any ideas?" I spoke while opening my notepad so I can add to my notes.

"I was thinking about The Village Gives. You know how everyone is always saying that it takes a village? We can be the village. I was also thinking about All Roots Foundation since we're the roots of this shit. You know?" Tone spoke up and it brought a smile to my face.

"I really like the both of those, Tone. We can put both up on the board and we'll vote on each later."

"I need to speak with you about the business once this meeting is over, Bailey, so sit still when everyone leaves." Jerrell spoke. I nodded while waiting for the next subject to start up. Everyone went over their individual causes and their projected budgets for each. I took down each number so we'd have an idea of how much funding we'd have to place into the charity's account.

The meeting lasted for about two hours before we wrapped up and everyone began leaving out the room. I looked at Jerrell, wondering what it is he wants to talk to me about regarding the business. As far as I know he's been handling everything perfectly fine and I haven't had any complaints from my family.

"Is something wrong?" I questioned as soon as the door closed after the last person walked out.

"Not really. I want to talk about rebranding. With this business being a merger now I feel like both of our names should be incorporated into the brand. I understand what your father built with Rogers Industries, but the name Price is also a brand as well."

"That's not a problem. I'll have it changed and as soon as the copyright goes through it'll be announced through the company's communication systems. Is that all you wanted to talk about?" I could tell by the look on his face that he had more to say, but he didn't look too sure about it.

"Ju and I need to make a trip to Atlanta."

"I've already removed the travel block. You guys are fine. I just ask that you respect that I'm not ready to be around you in person right now. I just want to knock out school without having to worry about anything else." He leaned back in his chair, running his hand over his head. The simple action was so attractive to me, but I'd never openly admit it after basically just telling him to stay away from me for another year.

"I have no choice but to respect that. I love you and I miss you a lot, but I'd never try and distract you from accomplishing your goals. It's already been about a year since I've seen you, so another one should be manageable. Just send me an email so we can set aside a time to discuss building this charity. I want to get this off the ground before the big winter holidays start." I nodded and picked up my phone so I could send him a text.

"I'm texting you now so that you'll have my number."

"The business number?" I locked my phone, sitting it back on the table.

"Well, yeah. I only accept calls on this number so it makes sense. I rarely check calls or messages on the other phone since I haven't been wanting any distractions." I explained so he wouldn't feel like I was withholding a means to contact me. My personal phone is on do not disturb majority of the time.

"That makes sense. How is school going?"

"It's going really good. I got my advisor's approval to enroll in more than sixteen credits, so hopefully I'll be able to graduate a little early." It got silent and he looked like he was contemplating what to say next. I wanted to speak up, but there was something that was holding me back.

"That's good. I'm really proud of you. Look, I don't want to hold you up so I'm going to let you go. Get home safe please. I love you, bye."

"I lo-" The video call ended before I could even get the words out. I released a sigh and closed out of the program. I saved my notes and shut down everything in my office so I could head home. I have a research paper due in a couple weeks so I'm going to go and knock out as much of that as I can before going to bed. After seeing Jerrell I'll most likely be up for the rest of the night to work on this paper to keep my mind off of him.

Please do not fact check me on any quotes I stated in this chapter. This book is a work of fiction and I haven't stated any specific year or time. Thanks.

How do you guys feel about the conversation between Bailey and Jerrell regarding what happened in Jamaica?

What are your thoughts on the foundation they're putting together?

What do you think about Bailey's request for Jerrell to stay away from her? How do you think this distance will continue to affect their relationship with each other?