Back in business

It was two days after that Andrew barged into my home. He looked battered and hungry. The pity I felt looking at him clouded my judgment and I forgot I was mad at him for a split second. And then he spoke. I bit my lips to hold myself back from cursing him out.

"I'm calling your father this instant."

"Are you ready to tell him everything? The entire truth about what you did too?" His mouth twitched and a smirk appeared on his face.

I wanted to slap the smugness out of his face. Even though I didn't mean it, I said, "Yes, you bastard. I am. I will." I yelled. "How did uncle Nath even have a son like you? You're evil. How could you, you… you swindler." I shouted in anger. The more I looked at him, the angrier I got. I couldn't believe I had been so stupid to trust him.

My blood boiled and without hesitation I grabbed my phone and dialed uncle Nath's number. Fear covered Andrew's face when I proved I wasn't bluffing. With swift sharp hand movements he pulled my phone from my hands. I struggled but lost.

Even in his disheveled state, I was no match for him. I honestly thought he'd be weaker.

"Don't you think you're being too rash?"

"Fuck you, and fuck off." I shouted.

"Okay. I was wrong." He sighed. "I admit it. I shouldn't have run off with your money. But I didn't mean to. I swear. My friends had lied to me. I lost a lot too."

"That's some friends you have." I scoffed under my breath.

"Do you expect me to believe you? What do you think I am, a fool?"

"No. Of course not." He said sadly.

Andrew limped closer to me. "Look Sophie, I really messed up. And I'm sorry. I am so sorry. I only wanted to make my dad proud of me. You know how he is, what he thinks of me… I thought I was on the right path to making money. But my friends, they lied to me.. they, they uhm…" he sniffled, rubbing his eyes.

Andrew was crying. I'd never heard or seen Andrew cry before. He always pretended to be so strong. Seeing him cry made me feel a little guilty.

"Andrew… it's-it's okay."

"I'm really so sorry, Sophie. You're right. I deserve to be punished." He handed me my phone. "Here. You should call my dad. Tell him everything. I should be punished. I really deserve… I deserve…" his voice broke.

I hugged him. It was hard for me to see him cry, especially in that scruffy state.

"Maybe… maybe your dad doesn't need to know. Maybe we can fix this."

"How? All the money's gone. One way or another my dad will find out. Unless we have a way to get all that money back I'm screwed. And so are you." He seemed restless.

"Oh God!" Andrew whimpered.

"I think there's… a way." I whispered. But of course, Andrew had heard me very clearly.

"You do? How?" His eyes glowed, "Hey Sophie, your dad must have left you another stack, huh?"

The greed I saw staring at me almost made me regret saying what I'd just said. I rolled my eyes at him. "No, my dad didn't leave me another stack of cash." I said annoyed.

"Sorry. I got too excited."

At least he wasn't dense.

"But he did leave me something else."

I had once told myself that I wouldn't resort to that but now I had no choice.

A part of me had hoped that Andrew would come back with the money he took from me. A part of me had hoped that that would save me. Now that he was here, looking the way he did, with the stories he was telling me, I felt like I had no other choice.

That secret box was it. My saving grace.

"What did he leave you?"

After eyeing him with a frown on my face for what felt like minutes when in reality was only a few seconds, I took out the box and opened it. Then I gave the letter to Andrew, but refused to let go of my end.

He looked at me.

"You can't tell anyone about this. Not a soul. Else I'm going straight to your dad."

He nodded.

"Promise."

"I promise." He said.

I released my hand and immediately Andrew began to read the letter.

"Can't you read without voicing?" I sighed.

"Sorry."

I waited as he took his time reading the letter. When he was done, he had a smile on his face.

"We are saved." He yelled happily.

It took everything in me to stop me from hitting him.

"Stop smiling. You think it's as easy as it sounds?"

"Uhh." He didn't stop smiling.

"Uhh?"

"We can do this together. I can help." He said enthusiastically. For some reason he was looking different. He still looked untidy and battered, but there was a glow to his face. It annoyed me. Much more than I could say.

"Right. How?" I rolled my eyes.

"Just trust me, okay. If your pops really did give you all the details about them, including something to blackmail them with, then… I'm telling you. This is equivalent to a gold mine."

"I won't blackmail anybody. I'm telling you now, I won't. This is already a felony. I won't add blackmail to my crime. If blackmail is all you can think about, it's best we tell your dad everything right now." I warned.

"It's the easiest—"

"Maybe I should just call uncle Nath." I stole my phone from him.

"Wait." Andrew tried to take my phone back from me again but I was quicker this time.

"No blackmailing. We won't blackmail anybody." He said in surrender.

I nodded.

"I don't get why you can deceive them but can't blackmail them. Like there's a difference." He mumbled under his breath.

"What?"

"Nothing." He said quickly. "nothing."

"Do you think you can still help?"

He stayed quiet for a while before answering. "Yes. Give me a week to figure out the best way to do this." He winked.

I almost hurled. "Whatever."

"Right. Where will you be staying?" I asked.

"Here of course." He said it like it was a given.

"What? You can't stay here? Don't you know your father drops by?"

He looked at me with sadness in his eyes. "I can't go home. Not until I—we succeed."

"You can't stay here." I said affirmatively.

"There's nowhere else to go. If I go home, I'm dead meat. We won't be able to do anything with my father watching over me which he will do the second I'm caught."

"And if he finds out I knew where you were all along then I'm dead meat."

"So either way we're screwed. At least this way we can do something good before we get caught." He smiled creepily and then began to walk towards my kitchen. I followed him.

"Andrew! Andrew!! Andrew!!!" I called, but he walked away, ignoring me.