All what Frank said wasn't convincing, I wanted to know more about the whole thing. Hence, as soon as the rain lightened I bade him goodnight and alighted from his car. Then I headed straight into our house.
Immediately I stepped into the living room, I found Jessica watching and eating popcorn. "Hi," she uttered, "welcome back" she continued eating her popcorn. The movie she was watching was 'Theory Of Robbin Hanks.'
"Thank you" I muttered and sat on the chair close to hers. "Frank told me something, about the money belonging to a drug cartel." I watched as she dropped her jaw in bewilderment, probably wondering why he managed to share that information with me. Did she warned him not to? I wondered.
"What did he say?" she manned up and continued eating. I didn't know what she was trying to prove or the game she was trying to play but I was sure she was still bewildered, and I guess she was just trying to hide it.
"He told me exactly what you told him, but I am not clear. I would like to hear from you, the real source of the information and how comes I never knew about it" I said as I folded my arms across my chest, waiting for her to begin.
"Well, I am not supposed to tell anyone about it because even my mom didn't want me to know about it before. I had to discover it myself, and that forced her to explain everything to me bit by bit" she looking down.
"How did you discovered it, can you please share with me. I mean, the whole story. I believe Aunt Vicky has her own reasons for whatever she did, your dad too" I said, trying to motivate her to gist me about it.
"Well, if you say so" she huffed and cleared her throat, "Actually, what happened was that I discovered whenever she needed money to buy things and she didn't have cash in hands she would go to one room and then boom, she's back with cash. I never thought about checking the room when I was a kid because I had practically all that I wished and wanted. Plus the room was always locked"
"Thought as much, because I know if it wasn't locked even a young me would love to check and see what's in there one day. Kids are curious, you know, the love exploration" I said, trying to add spice to her narration.
"Yes, they sure love exploration" she heaved a sigh and continued, "As I grew to become an adult, I began wondering if she had automated teller machine in there for dispensing money, I needed to check and see for myself. I had also been wondering why someone that has no job or business running would always to take care of my financial needs and that of hers. I never asked twice, unless it's something unreasonable"
"Wow, that's sure something to ponder about" I chimed.
"Yes. So one day, I managed to trace where she used to keep her keys. I took a bunch of them the moment she went out for shopping, and headed straight to the room. It wasn't exactly what I expected, I mean an automated teller machine. Rather, it was filled with bunches of old IBM computers and gadgets. Black and white TVs, VHR players, CDs and even old cameras. To mention but few. They probably belonged to my dad. So I searched through the room and then found a big bag, more like an old traveling bag. I quickly took some steps towards it and glanced at it before bending to unzip it. It had a very long zip"
"Weren't you scared if it was something else, like explosives, guns and ammunition?" I sarcastically uttered, wanting to see her chuckle or at least smile.
And it worked, she smiled and glanced at me. "Why would anyone keep that there? My dad wasn't alive anymore and my mom wasn't a cop, the police department would never allow her to keep such things there. And if my dad had it before, they must have retrieved it shortly after his demise" she explained.
"Okay, now I get it. So, what did you saw there? The lump sum of money, right?" I was curious to hear the rest of the story.
"Yes, I saw loads of cash in the bag. I was frightened. How did my mom got that kind of money? I wondered, and kept wondering about different possibilities. Just then, someone stepped into the room. It was her. It turned out she miscalculated before going out and came back to carry more cash to the grocery store" she shook her head and smiled.
"What was her reaction, was she angry?" I asked out of curiosity.
"Somehow, but she was more surprised to see me there. She grabbed my hand and dragged me outside asking how on earth did I even get the spare keys to the room meanwhile I never even knew the keys were two. I showed her the bunch of keys I got from her room and, as expected she shook her head in disappointed and told me to go to my room... which I obeyed. That day, I couldn't stop thinking about the cash I saw. I had never seen so much money like that before. She went shopping and returned, thus she called and decided to explain things to me before I start talking about it with my friends. She narrated how she inherited the momey from my dad. The whole money belonged to my father and he got that by replacing the money he and his men obtained in an operation from a drug cartel. He replaced the money with counterfeits, and told the FIB agents that the notes were all counterfeits. I don't know how he managed to pull that up but he successfully fooled them and the case was close. Nobody talked about the money again, and after his death my mom decided to spend the money gently on us. She didn't want us to leave Cornfield or live an extravagant lifestyle because that would lure the attention of the drug cartel and the FIB to us. After all, my dad wasn't a rich man. He was just a Sheriff deputy and the government knew how much he earned all his life"
"Was that the reason why you were obsessed with Oxford, knowing there is money to take you there but your mom is scared of doing that because it might make the FIB and that drug cartel to initiate an investigation on you people?" I asked.
"Yes, that was why... and now that you brought Frank, I wanted to use him at first but later changed my mind. Now, I want him to help me. I want him to pretend as if he was the one sponsoring me to Oxford, meanwhile it is that money that I would be using. But nobody will ever suspect anything because Frank is rich, so rich that he drives all those luxurious cars without anybody asking how and why" she said.
Now I understood why she was pushing herself towards Frank, she had her reasons. But why didn't she tell me in the first place? She should have at least told me, that way I wouldn't have to worry. But keeping me in the dark, that would only make me think about different possibilities as to why she was trying come in between Frank and I. Talking about Frank and I, what exactly was she expecting from Reade? That he would pretend to get her students loan from Oxford? I guess I should ask in order to hear more. I thought to myself.
"What about Reade, what were you planning with him?" I wrinkled a brow at her.
"Reade and I met not long ago, he showed interest in me and I also did the same. He was a nice guy, or so I thought. We had this broad conversation about ourselves, our mishaps and wishes, and that was how he got to learn about my desire to study at Oxford. He doesn't know about the money and I never told him because I was scared he might come after it. Besides, why would I ever share such an expensive secret with a desperate poor man like him? He was desperate and liked money. At first he promised to talk to some nongovernmental organizations to sponsor in return for a certain amount from me. But we eventually settled at students loan, to which I would give him ten percent of the money" she said as I blurted out,
"Ten what? Percect?" I was dazzled.
"Yes, ten percent of the loan I would receive. That was the agreement. He said he has relatives there and had been there a thousandth time before. So, I gave him my trust" she heaved a sigh and continued, "I thought I loved him, but now I don't feel anything for him. He had put me in a lot of pain and I... I didn't want to even think about it anymore. If I had to chance to kill him, I would do that. I intended to go to the prison with him so I could have him murdered by all means necessary, even if it means offering my body to the gang leaders there"
Her words sounded so funny to me that I didn't even know when I burst into laughter. "Like seriously? You think life is like Hollywood movies?" I couldn't stop laughing.
"What's funny?" she muttered, obviously annoyed.
"Because," I tried to control my laughter, "because the whole thing is funny and unbelievable. First, I don't think you would ever be mixed with male prisoners. Females have their own prison too, or a separate wall far apart from the males. Do you know why?"
"Why, Laura? I would like to know?" she said.
"Because if they mix them body, there would be love stories and childbirths every month... depending on the number of girls there" I sarcastically said, "I hope you know what I mean by my words"
"Yes" she laid out a fainted smile on her face.
"Exactly, so what were you thinking before? That the government will mix them? Come on, it doesn't work that way. Maybe in the movies but certainly not in real life as far as I can tell. And again, you were willing to go to jail with him for such a weak, naive and pathetic plan? That would be mistake of the century" I scolded her ironically.
"I know right" she muttered, probably pissed off.
"Hmm, sorry if I sounded offensive. But I would like to ask you one last question, it had been bothering me ever since I learned about it. Mind listening to me?" I said, hoping to hear her replied in a positive manner.
"Yes, but after this I would like to continue with my film" she said.
"Agreed!" I gulped and started, "So, there was this period when you were the old Jessica..."
"The old Jessica?" she cut in, "Am I two different Jessicas?" she wrinkled a brow at me.
"Well," I giggled, "not really. Just that, you are now different than you used to be, hence the old and new Jessicas" I responded.
"That's funny, just call me with my name. Jessica. I don't want new or old to be added or placed before my name, it would sound like my first name or as if there was a Jessica here before me, meanwhile I am one person" she said and thus, I acknowledged her words.
And in order not to waste her time, I decided to ask her one thing that had been bothering me whenever I thought about her and Reade. And that one thing was, "What exactly happened between you and Reade on that day, I mean the day of the festival in that motel" I said as she stared at me with a weird look on her face, "If you could remember," I continued, "I called to ask where you were when I could find you with the rest in that clothing store, and I heard a voice on the background, a man voice... someone I later learned was Reade"
