Untitled Novel - Chapter Nine

Bright never made it to the bedroom. As she walked by the kitchen, Madina was cleaning up.

“Hi Madina. How is that grandchild? She must be talking by now.”

“She is growing like a weed Mrs. Tolkowsky. She calls her mama, Mama-one and me Mama-two. I see that your whole family is here for Easter.”

“Yes they are, and you need to meet Marcus.”

“Oh, I have heard about Mr. Marcus from Navette. She called me when Papa died and she told me all about him and she was hoping he would come with her. I hope he is doing ok after getting shot.”

“He is doing just fine. He is in my office. You can meet him after he absorbs my last year’s work.”

“I noticed that even Mr. Emerald made it home this time.”

“Yes, but I don’t think he will spend much time with us. He is going to a lecture in San Diego this afternoon. I think I will go freshen up. Navette and Peter are out on the water today. But, I think Navette is preparing lunch today. They are going to stop by the market before coming home. If there is anything you need, just give them a call.”

“Mrs. Tolkowsky, there is something I need. I am having trouble with my brother, Johnny. We are trying to settle my father’s business, and I found out that Papa had been betting on the horses and he owes a lot of money to people. They are getting mean about it. My brother wants to give them Papa’s house. But the house is better than the place I live. I want to move into Papa’s house and pay my brother rent for his half. I don’t think gambling is right and I don’t want to give them Papa’s house.”

“How much does your father owe them?”

“Oh, he owes them a bunch, Mrs. Tolkowsky. I think it is more than fifty thousand dollars.”

“Have you met these people?”

“No, I haven’t. My brother has met with them. To be honest, Mrs. Tolkowsky, I think Johnny owes them money, too.”

“Don’t do anything just yet Madina. I think Peter should have his friend Bill look into it. Bill is good at these types of things. If you would just tell me how to get in touch with your brother, I will relay that to Peter.”

“I will write his phone number and address down and leave it here on the counter.”

“Don’t worry; I am sure we can work this out.”

Bright was very concerned about Madina’s problem. It sounded as if her brother was trying to mislead her. Bright left the kitchen and was once again making her way to her bedroom when the phone rang. Madina answered. “You’ve reached the Tolkowsky home.”

Madina quickly recognized the voice and Bright heard Madina reply with a distrustful sounding voice. “What kind of papers?”

Bright came to the conclusion that it was Madina’s brother on the phone.

“I think we should wait.” Madina spoke firmly and then turned around to see if Mrs. Tolkowsky was still there: looking for her support. “I don’t want you coming over here.”

Madina hung up the phone and looked at Mrs. Tolkowsky. “That was Johnny, my brother, and he is coming over here to get me to sign some papers that will give Papa’s house to those crooks. I am so sorry Mrs. Tolkowsky, I told him not to come over, but he is coming anyway. He can be a bunch of trouble. He just hasn’t found Jesus yet.”

“When did he say he was coming?”

“Right now, he said he would be here in about five minutes.”

Bright didn’t like the sound of this and told Emerald, who was coming down the steps, not to leave.

“Why, what’s up?”

“We have a situation with Madina’s brother wanting to sign a paper that would, in essence, cheat her out of her dad’s house. I don’t think this is right and I don’t have time to do anything about it other than preventing Madina from signing the papers. You will have to stay until he is gone.”

“Why should we get involved in this? It’s none of our business.”

“You didn’t hear me. He is trying to cheat Madina and that would be our business.”

“Those kind can be dangerous. We don’t even have a gun in this house. If he gets violent how are we going to defend ourselves?”

“I don’t think it will come to that. If you ever want to come into this house again, you will do as I say.”

The doorbell rang. Madina came to answer, but discovered Mrs. Tolkowsky and Emerald standing in the hallway.

“Go ahead Madina, answer the door, but don’t sign anything until we can have Peter and Bill look it over.”

Madina opened the door and a tall and somewhat overweight man stood in the door way. “Sign right here.” This was Madina’s brother giving her these commands.

Madina did what Mrs. Tolkowsky had told her and refused to sign the papers. This is not what he wanted to hear. It made him angry and he reached behind his waist and pulled a handgun from his back pocket and pointed it toward Madina. Just then, he noticed Bright and Emerald standing in the entrance way. He pushed himself inside, holding the gun out in front, waving it, pointing it towards Madina, then to Bright and then to Emerald and back again.

“I have no beef with you two. I just want Madina to sign the papers and I am out of here.”

Emerald stepped up and pointed his finger. “You don’t come into our home and wave a gun around. I suggest you leave before security finds out you’re here.”

Emerald took one step, reached around Johnny, and pushed the panic alarm. Johnny realized what Emerald had done, but instead of leaving, as Emerald thought, he hit Emerald with the blunt end of the gun and slammed the door shut. Emerald was knocked to the floor. Emerald grabbed his head, indicating he was in great pain, and he was trembling with fear. Bright stooped down to take a look at Emerald’s head.

Madina stormed out at her brother. “You can’t come in here and beat up on this family. I won’t have it. You get out of here before the police come.”

“I am not going anywhere until you sign these papers.”

“I am not signing any papers.”

“You will sign these papers or your friends will die.”

He pointed the gun to Bright and Emerald. Madina felt she had no choice but to sign the papers. “Give me those papers.”

Madina quickly signed the papers and threw them at Johnny and shouted. “Now get out of here.”

Marcus heard the voices and stopped short of making himself visible. He could tell it was some kind of confrontation but wasn’t sure what it was about.

“There is something else I want before I leave. I want that diamond on your finger. Give it to me lady.”

Marcus heard this and stepped into the hall.

“What’s going on here?”

Marcus startled Johnny. He must have assumed that Marcus was the security. He pointed and fired his gun in the direction of Marcus. Marcus fell to the floor.

“Give me the ring!” He demanded as he grabbed Bright by her hair.

She handed him the ring, hoping he would then just leave. Backing carefully toward the door, holding the gun in a horizontal position waving it back and forth, keeping an eye on everyone. Was he going to shoot again and again until they were all dead or was he just going to leave? He opened the door, turned and began to leave. At that moment, Marcus, in a run, leaped forward and tackled the guy like an all pro defensive tackle. Johnny hit the ground face first. The gun went sailing onto the driveway and skidding for at least twenty-five feet. It was a hard fall. It rattled Johnny badly, almost to the extent of unconsciousness. The timing of the security was excellent. Before Johnny could regain full consciousness, the patrolman had cuffs on him.

With an emotional cry Bright called out to Marcus. “Marcus, are you alright? I thought you were shot.”

“I was hoping he would think that too. So I just remained still until I could figure out what to do next. Did you find your ring?”

“No!”

“Officer, wait a minute. He has a ring in his pocket that belongs to Mrs. Tolkowsky.”

The officer retrieved the ring and gave it to Marcus. Marcus then walked back and handed the ring to Bright.

“Thanks, Marcus.”

Marcus and Mrs. Tolkowsky walked back into the house. Madina was putting an ice pack on Emerald’s head. Marcus was not sure what had happened to Emerald.

“Let’s go to emergency. You took a hard blow to that stubborn head. You need to have it x-rayed; you may have a concussion or maybe even a fracture. Marcus you stay here and wait for Navette and Peter. I will call them and let them know what happened.”

The officer secured the guy in the car and then returned to fill out his paperwork and to find out just what had happened.

“Excuse me. Mrs. Tolkowsky is it? I need to ask you some questions as to what happened here.”

Bright knew that he needed to know these things and while she was deciding how to handle the situation the paramedics pulled into the driveway.

“Oh, I called them.” The officer confessed.

Bright agreed to let them take care of Emerald’s injuries while she, Madina and Marcus went back into the house with the officer to answer his questions.

Marcus discovered the whole of the story when Mrs. Tolkowsky and Madina completely described what happened to the officer. Marcus’s opinion of Emerald improved slightly when he discovered his somewhat brave actions. It was a delight to met Madina, and somehow he felt a spiritual connection with her. The officer also told them something they didn’t know. Madina’s brother was already wanted for armed robbery and assault. He had robbed and attacked a store clerk the day before. This was hard for Madina to hear, but she knew that he had become a bad person. She was thankful to Mrs. Tolkowsky, Emerald and Marcus for coming to her defense. And she was thankful that, for now, she hadn’t lost her father’s house. After the officer left, Madina asked if it would be ok to have a prayer and she reached out her hand. Marcus grabbed it and he also reached out his hand to Mrs. Tolkowsky. Bright accepted his hand and they formed a circle when she held Madina’s other hand. Madina prayed and a sense of relief came over them. It was a timely prayer.