Chapter Two-Hundred and Forty-Seven

Chapter Two-Hundred and Forty-Seven
Rosabel nodded at Hawkins. “Well, then get on with verifying and come up with a defense soon because I meant what I said. If these miscreants come here looking for London or Chris they will get an ass full of birdseed. Won’t hurt nothing more than their pride but it will remind them about respecting other people's boundaries.”

London looked worried. “Maybe Chris and I should just leave and not pull you into this mess.”

“No, London,” Boots spoke up. “When we found Chris he looked abused and in trouble. It was too late for us not to be involved even then. This is now our issue as well.” He glanced over at Hawkins and Kota.

They both nodded their heads in agreement.

Hawkins now stared at London. “We can’t protect you two if you aren’t here and if I let you go off, unprotected…what kind of man does that make me? What kind of men would any of us be? No siree, you and Chris are staying here and we’re gonna get to cleaning out this nest of rats in our town.”

“We just need a place to start looking,” Boots added.

London nodded then walked over to her bag. Rummaging through it, she found her laptop. She brought it out and opened it up. She looked up at the men. “I have a file that you need to see. Who do I send it to?”

JuJu sat down and gave her the address and then they waited for the file to be sent. When he got it, he opened it and began to read. After a few moments, he looked up at her in shock and asked, “Is this for real?”

London nodded. “Yeah, sadly it's real.”

“What did you find, boy?” Hawkins asked.

JuJu looked at Hawkins and the others and said, “Ronnie Dunlap only paid Joe Rucker one dollar for his land six years ago.”

“What the hell?” Wilder exclaimed in surprise.  

London nodded and explained, “Yeah, and now, those people are on the dole. Can you imagine how awful it is for Joe and Eloise who are living with that shame? They are older and they worked hard to make a good life. They raised their kids on that farm and now they literally have nothing to show for it. Joe has all but given up and Eloise just sits there watching her husband waste away. The Mayor made the deal and while my dad protested, he did nothing to stop it from happening. That was what got my mom’s dander up. She pushed my dad to stop it but he couldn’t. And when she tried...well, we all know how Ronnie handled that.”

Just then, London’s phone rang. 

Pausing, she studied it and then she looked up to announce, “It's my dad.”

“Answer it but put it on speaker,” Hawkins told her. “So we can all hear him.” 

London answered the call and put it on speaker, “Hello.”

“Where the fuck are you, girl?” Jenson Dalton asked his daughter. “You ain’t here and you ain’t at work, where are you?”

She looked up.

Boots put his finger up to his lips in a hushing movement. 

Nodding, London replied, “I’m out, Dad. What do you care?”

“Well girl, you need to get back here. Someone wants to talk to you,” Jenson told her.

“Who wants to talk to me and why?” London asked.

“Just get home,” Jenson said gruffly.

“That’s not my home anymore, old man,” she replied with anger in her voice. “It hasn’t been my home since Mom died. You’ve seen to that.”

“Yeah? Oh… poor you, are you gonna leave your poor little brother here all alone?” he asked. 

Everyone in the room could hear the disdain in his voice.

“No, I’m not. That's why Chris is with me. I’d never leave him there with a drunk and an abuser like you.”

“What the hell do you mean he’s with you?” Jenson asked.

Everyone could now hear footsteps rushing across the floor. Next, a door slammed against the wall and Jenson yelled, “Where is he, you little bitch? Where are you?”

London didn’t answer him for a minute as she sadly shook her head in disgust. Finally, she replied, “Chris and I are safe, that’s all you need to know. Now you can live your life any way you want to.”

“No, don’t you hang up! You don’t understand something here, girl.” Jenson growled. “You need to come back.”

“Why? I got nothing there. Chris and I can start a new life.”

“No, you don’t understand. You belong to Ronnie now.”

London scoffed. “No, Dad, I don’t. And I never will. That man is nothing but a thug and I don’t associate with thugs. You might but I don’t.”

“You don’t understand….” Jenson yelled through the phone. “He paid for you and I have to turn you over to him.”

“Give him his fucking money back, Dad,” London replied harshly. “You can’t buy and sell people. Not even your own daughter. That is just sick.”

“I can’t give him his money back,” Jenson admitted. “I don’t have the money anymore.”

“Aww, it sucks to be you then, doesn't it?” London spat. “You made the wrong choices again, Dad.” Swiping the cell phone screen, she ended the call. She hung her head as tears rolled down her cheeks. 

Hawkins cleared his throat and shook his head.

She turned around and sat down next to Chris. He put his arms around her and the brother /sister team just held each other for a moment. 

Rosabel finally came over to her and pulled her up into her arms. “Don’t you waste your tears on a man like that, little girl. I understand he’s your dad but he’s just no good. Some fathers are the best but you and I? We got the worst ones ever. My dad was a hippy and he was all into free love and shit like that. I had to grow up watching that play out all my life. He didn’t have any morals and I heard that sort of thing finally got him killed. I had already left home by that time and you know what? I didn’t miss that life one little bit. I saw thousands of the same type of man my father was and I knew I didn’t want that in my life. It just wasn’t worth the heartache. I wanted a man who would respect me, who would stay with me and only me and one I wanted to grow old with. People just called me crazy or picky, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t gonna settle for anything less than a good man. I finally found my man and I’m proud that I waited for him. It took him a while." She smirked. "But Hawkins has more honor in his pinky finger than my dad or yours ever had. So you just dry your tears and get ready for the show that’s coming. But know one thing… you and your brother ain’t going back to him. You’re staying right here. So, I’ll make some popcorn and we’ll watch this mess they made go down in flames.”