Page 3 of Rich Forever: Zo & Remy

I sighed then laughed. “I could ask you the same,” I said as we both let out a quick laugh.

Then it turned serious when she stopped. Letting me know she actually wanted an answer.

“What’s your story?” She doubled down again.

I battled with telling her. I didn’t want the judgment that people normally gave me once they found out about my past. But she had been such a support that I felt like I could open up to her.

“I just got out of prison. I’ve been there since I was eighteen. I wanted to be grown and be with a man who was no good for me. He was a dropout and living a fast life, selling drugs and robbing people. My parents were very religious. We were in church five nights a week. It was a life I knew nothing about, but I was drawn to it.” I laughed at how stupid it sounded to say out loud, but it was the truth. Even if I didn’t want to admit it.

“I moved out of a home full of love and structure to live with him. Then he called me one day and asked me if I could come switch cars with him. He said that he thought he was being tailed by the police and wanted to throw them off. So, I agreed. I thought I’d just get pulled over, they’d see it was me, run my license, and let me go. What he didn’t mention was that he left all the drugs in the car when we switched. I had no clue I wasriding around with bricks. I got sentenced to six years in federal prison.”

I let out a humorless chuckle, but I could see the sadness in Remy’s eyes as I talked about it. I had already gotten the worst of it out of the way, so I continued spilling my guts.

“Every day of that bid, I thought about how the man I loved set me up and how life just moved on without me. He got a girlfriend, had a baby, and is living in a nice condo in Shreveport. But me? My parents cut ties with me, and for six years, I didn’t exist to anybody except inmates and COs. One of the officers is Karlos’s cousin, and she asked him to let me come work for him when I got out. I’ve been here since. I want to save up to move and restart my life and give myself arealchance at living. It’s been tough, but the pay is great, and by me being a felon, it’s not like I have many options, so here we are.”

I shrugged after I vented. It felt like a weight had been lifted from my shoulder.

She gave me a look that I couldn’t read. I didn’t know what to make of it. She breathed the deepest breath, like it came from her gut. Then she said, “We have all been young and naïve, Alivia. Sometimes a breakthrough comes sooner than you think, when you least expect it. When you get a chance to start over, you take full advantage of it. Because sometimes you don’t get a third. Okay?”

I was confused by what that meant. It seemed like she was being positive but warning me all at the same time. There was an awkward silence between us. Like words left unspoken.

“…Okay.” I finally answered, then I turned to go back to my room. It was the first time we had talked that I was lost and unsure of what the conversation was supposed to mean. I lay in bed, trying to make sense of the riddle. But I didn’t have long to wonder. Because no sooner than my head hit the pillow than I was out like a light.

I don’t know how long I was out, but I was awoken to what sounded like an explosion. I clutched my chest, heart racing and breathing ragged. I calmed myself to listen, and I heard footsteps, shouting, and what sounded like another explosion. I got into the closet and hid. I don’t know what was going on, but I knew that I didn’t want to be sitting around twirling my thumbs if they came searching the house.

I heard Remy screaming, gunfire, and men barking orders. But I lay there until there was silence. My heart dropped once I realized that I no longer heard Remy. When I heard sirens in the distance, I rushed through the house toward the front door. When I reached the sitting area, I ran into right into her. She was on the couch with her hands behind her back, zip-tied. But she was calm, almost as if she were sitting on a city bench waiting for the bus to come. She had blood spatter on the side of her face and all over the side of her pink pajamas.

“Oh my gosh, Remy, are you okay? Let me get you out of there! Where’s Mr. Weston?” I rushed toward the kitchen to grab a knife.

“Don’t!” She said, stopping me in my tracks. “Do me a favor, hun, go back to your room, and into a hiding space, the police will be there to get you. This is a crime scene, don’t touch anything.”

I paused, nodded, and slowly walked back toward my room, scared out of my mind. The sirens grew louder and closer, and after about five minutes of being stuffed beneath the clothing I had put on top of myself, I heard Remy scream again. It was loud, blood-curdling, and dramatic, it pierced the walls, even in a house this big. Under mounds of clothing, it still gave me chills. But I lay there, just like she had told me. Eventually, I heard the door open, and the police called out for me to come from my hiding place.

They escorted me to the living room and made me answer a million questions, which I could barely focus on from the screams of Remy. We were interviewed well into the wee hours of the morning, and by then, a man whom I believed to be her father had come to pick her up.

He ushered her into the back of a black truck and then came over to me.

“Hi, I’m Mr. Cross. My daughter is concerned about you. My guards are going to take you to a hotel for the moment, she said she’ll come visit you later in the day.”

I was speechless, so I just nodded. I had no choice but to go. I had a bit of money saved, but no car and no family to turn to at this time. It might sound crazy, but being in the hands of strangers was better than being on the streets. He waved, and a second truck pulled up alongside us.

Slowly, I climbed into the back seat. We drove for a bit before I was taken to an expensive hotel with high ceilings, golden fixtures, and a beautiful city view. But I couldn’t enjoy it. I was too busy trying to piece together what was happening.

The whole morning, I alternated between sitting outside, watching the city move, and watching the television that was mounted on the wall. Before I knew it, the sun had made its appearance, and there was a knock at my door. It startled me. I walked over to the peephole and looked out to see Remy standing there.

Hesitantly, I opened the door. She had changed clothes but was still in full glam. I hadn’t noticed the bodyguard beside her until he made himself known and stood in front of the door just as I was about to close it.

“Hi,” she spoke softly as she hugged me and walked through the room, carrying a tote bag as if she were doing a security sweep herself. I stared in confusion.

“Remy, no one’s here,” I assured her as I walked behind her when she went over to the bathroom sink. She grabbed a towel and turned on the water, letting it soak the cloth and then squeezing it.

She started to talk as she ran the rag over her face. Every sentence came after a swipe of the cloth.

“You know what I said last night to you about second chances? That you may get one but never a third?”

Here it was again, this riddle. I didn’t know what she meant, but I nodded as she plucked her lashes off and set them on the coffee table.

“Y-yeah.” I stuttered my answer as she continued to take off her glam.