I'll only take a little

Sarah’s world seemed to be crashing down on her lately. She woke up this morning with an eviction noticed taped to her front door. Not to mention she was two months behind on her car note. And hiding her Honda Accord at her friend’s house so it won’t get repossessed. She didn’t have a dime to her name. Her boyfriend broke up with her last week. He said she was too needy. And to top it off, her supervisor just informed her if she doesn’t bring in any new clients, she’ll be terminated at the end of the quarter. Her life was falling apart. She sat at her desk with her eyes closed trying to fight off the tears. Like a game of chess, her life was in checkmate and she was all out of moves.

           Sarah grabbed some tissue and wiped the tears from her baby blue eyes. She walked over to the window of her office and looked out over the Miami skyline. It was beautiful outside, a perfect seventy-five-degree day. And like the Temptations, she was praying for rain drops to hide her tears. If the window of her tenth floor office could open, she would have jumped. A knock on her door temporarily distracted her from her horrific thoughts.

           “Sarah, your ten o’clock is here,” her secretary said poking her head through the cracked door.

           Sarah gathered herself as best she could. She quickly grabbed her purse and pulled out her compact. Putting some Visine in her bloodshot eyes, she touched up her fuchsia lipstick, and straightened her long blonde hair. She fixed her pantsuit before dashing to the lobby. Standing in the waiting area listening to the jazz music of Herb Alpert softly playing over the company radio, was a skinny black man with dreads in his hair wearing a hoodie. Sarah walked over and shook his hand.

           “Hello Mister….,” she said trying to remember his name through her grief.

           “You don’t have to call me mister. Malik is cool,” he responded with a youthful smile.

           “Nice to meet you Malik. I’m Sarah Livingston. Why don’t you step inside my office,” Sarah said leading the way, “So what can I help you with?”

           Malik took a seat while biting his lower lip before responding, “I need help managing my finances. Someone I trusted said that Pierce and Daniels Financial was good and trustworthy. And that’s why I’m here.”

           Sarah forced a smile as she looked Malik up and down. Then she leaned forward and with a soft voice said, “We are all those things. But I have to tell you, we require a minimum investment of fifty-thousand dollars.”

           Malik cracked a smile and replied, “Don’t let the clothes fool you. I was working out earlier. I recently won the lottery. I have twenty-million dollars.”

           Sarah’s mouth was on the floor, “Wow! Congratulations.”

           “Thanks. But ever since I got the money, it’s been one headache after another. My family and friends are always asking for money. They beg so much their hands look like cups. I swear I feel like an ATM machine. I have strangers asking me to invest. I feel like I get hit with a lawsuit every day. I didn’t know having money was this hard,” Malik said shaking his head in disgust.

           “I know how you feel Malik. I’m the oldest child. First in my family to go to college and get a degree. The first to make any real money. My siblings and parents lean on me all time for financial support. It can be a heavy burden,” Sarah added as she locked eyes with Malik.

           “Right. So you know where I’m coming from. And you can say yes and give them whatever they want, but the one time you say no, you’re the asshole. And they got an attitude with you!”

           “No appreciation,” Sarah added as she shook her head.

           “Exactly!” Malik snapped in frustration.

           “They got to remember, it’s your money not theirs.”

           Malik stood up and clapped his hands together, “That’s what I’m talking about. Somebody who feels me.”

           Sarah sat up straight in her seat, looked deep into Malik’s brown eyes and said, “I can help you. I can manage and invest those assets for you. Make sure your taxes are taken care of. We work with a fantastic law firm that can assist you with any legal issues. Anybody that wants money from you in the future would have to come through me. I’ll screen all potential investors. I’ll even pay all your bills for you. Only thing you’ll have to worry about is living your life and enjoying your money.”

           Malik had the biggest smile on his face as he said, “Where do I sign?”

           Sarah reached into her drawer and pulled out a standard contract. As she handed it to him, she revealed, “Our standard fee is one percent of your total assets. Take a minute to read over this.”

           Malik took the documents and quickly glanced at the top sheet, not bothering to flip thru the pages before asking, “What does this say?”

           Sarah looked at his confused expression, and how he didn’t read a single word and she came to the realization. He can’t read. She grabbed a yellow marker from her drawer and started highlighting the places to sign before replying, “It’s an agreement to hire me as your financial advisor, and it gives me power of attorney to make financial decisions on your behalf. It’s necessary for me to invest your money and handle your finances.”

           “Cool, cool,” Malik responded as he signed the pages with no hesitation. Then he walked over and gave Sarah a big hug, “Thank you.”

           Malik infused some energy into Sarah with that hug. She forgot about her problems and was elated about signing her first client in months. Plus, the commissions from this client can help to get her out of financial hell.

           Over the next couple of days, Sarah filed all the paperwork and began cleaning up Malik’s financial issues. First, she organized his accounts under one trust that she ran, and she put him on an allowance. This help cut down on the wasteful spending. Second, she went after everyone that owed him money, and collected. Next, she had hard conversations with his friends and family, and she let it be known that all the money goes through her now. They hated her, but it cleared Malik from having to deal with begging family members, and he loved Sarah for it. He even invited her over whenever he had any type of party or function. And Sarah returned the favor. Signing Malik helped her keep her job. And she was grateful.

           In the midst of all the happy feelings, there remained a problem for Sarah. She was still behind on her care note, and she was getting evicted. She sat in her office one afternoon trying to figure out what she was going to do. She lent out all her money, but unlike Malik, she wasn’t able to get it back. She looked at Malik’s account and the thought creeped into her head. She could use the trust to pay her past due bills, and when her money comes in she can pay it back. She dismissed the idea at first. But as the days rolled on, and she ran out of options, she didn’t feel she had a choice.

           So Sarah used the account and paid off her past bills. It was a huge weight off her shoulders. She had a smile on her face for the first time in months. And the best part was nobody said anything. It was so easy that she decided to get herself a new car. She would just pay back the note to the trust. Again, nobody said nothing. She got out of the eviction, but still had to move. So she used the account again and got a new house. Same thing, nobody said nothing. With each purchase she felt better and better about herself. The dopamine hit from the lavish spending was like a drug that got her hooked. She couldn’t control herself. It was one big purchase after another, with no consequence. 

           Then one Saturday afternoon Sarah was relaxing poolside at her luxurious house. When she heard the doorbell. When she opened the door, it was a furious Malik who barged inside soon as the door opened.

           “What the hell is this?” Malik yelled in anger.

           Sarah backed up into the living room next to the fireplace and tried to calm him down, “You’re scaring me, Malik. What’s wrong my friend?”

           With fire in his eyes, Malik stepped closer and handed Sarah a stack of papers. “I went to your office this morning. I wanted a statement of my accounts. You weren’t there. So your boss printed it out for me. Now I can’t read worth a damn, but I do know what twenty-million dollars looks like. And according to this sheet, there’s a zero missing from my fucking account balance!”

           Sarah’s heart started beating so fast, she thought it was about to jump out of her chest. She had been giving him false statements showing that his money was growing, but in reality she had spent almost eighteen million dollars. She swallowed the lump in her throat and said, “Wait. You see, what happened was.” 

           “What happened was you stole from me. And I trusted you. I’m going to the cops,” Malik snapped as he slammed the paperwork on her coffee table.

           “Please don’t. Just let me explain,” Sarah said standing between him and the door.

           Malik pushed her to the side and reached for the door. He wasn’t interested in any of her excuses. Sarah pleaded again as she grabbed at his arm to stop him, but he snatched it away. Sarah panicked. The fireplace poker was the first thing to catch her attention. She grabbed it and chase after him. Just as he opened the door, Sarah hit him in the back of the head as hard as she could. The force knocked his head awkwardly into the wall, breaking his neck.

           “Shit, shit, shit!” she said trying to catch her breath. She quickly closed the door. Running her fingers through her hair, she nervously paced back and forth trying to think of what to do next. Then it hit her. She called her ex, Austin. Austin owned a small landscaping company. And she had him come over that next morning and dig a hole for a flowerbed in her back yard. After they were done, late that evening, Sarah dragged Malik’s dead body out there and buried him in that hole. Planting a rose bush on top of him. She took his phone and sent random text to his friends and family, telling them that’s he’s planning to do some traveling. And she crossed her fingers that it would work.     

           And it did for a while. Everything went back to normal after that. Six months went by without a peep. Until one mourning Sarah had a knock at her door. She opened it to find a pale man with a stocky build flashing his badge into her peephole. “Ms. Livingston, I’m detective Morrow. Can I ask you a few questions?”

           Sarah kept her cool as she opened the door and invited him in, “Sure. What can I help you with?”

           “Malik Brooks is a client of yours?”

           “Yes sir,” Sarah said with a smile.

           “When was the last time you seen him?” he asked whipping out a notepad and jotting down her answers.

           “A couple of weeks ago. Can I ask why you’re asking?”

           “His family has reported him missing.”

“He’s fine. He’s been texting me, see,” she said showing the detective her phone full of fake texts.

The detective closes his notepad and said, “If you hear from Mr. Brooks again, have him call me,” he said handing her a business card.

“Yes sir.”

           Scared, Sarah got Malik’s phone and went through his contacts. She called one of his friends she met before, Alonzo. Malik and Alonzo were childhood friends from Liberty City. Alonzo was one of those edgy friends that kept his hand in Malik’s pocket. And you can tell where the money went, because Alonzo was covered in gold.                                 

Sarah had Alonzo meet her at an out of the way coffee shop.

           “Alonzo, glad you come,” Sarah said looking over both shoulders.

           “Sure thing. What’s up blondie?” he asked with a crooked smile.

           “Malik needs a favor from you. He’s out of town and he doesn’t want anyone knowing where he’s at. He doesn’t want to be bothered by family. And he wants to know if you’ll call his people and pretend to be him, and he’ll pay you a thousand dollars.”

           Alonzo chuckled as he said, “I knew he was hiding out. I’ll do it. For ten-thousand.”

           “Okay,” Sarah responded without hesitation.

           Alonzo makes the calls and Sarah paid him his money. But that wasn’t the end of it. Alonzo calls her back a week later wanting another meeting.

           “Check it out. I saw Malik’s momma the other day. I don’t think she’s buying that fake phone call. She was talking about going back to police again. Maybe you should just tell me where he is.”

           Sarah thought about it for a moment. Her plan wasn’t working. The police would be at her door again. Unless, she could find somebody to take the fall. A patsy. After mulling it over she said, “Malik is dead.”

           “What?” Alonzo replied in shock.

           “It was an accident. He fell a couple of weeks back. And he doesn’t have a will. If I report it to the police, his money would be tied up for years. I need away to make this all go away. And I’ll make it worthwhile.”

           Alonzo scratched his beard and replied, “I got a cousin out on bail that’s about to go to prison. I bet I could get him to take the charge for you. It’ll cost you a lot though. But this time, I want fifty-thousand dollars to hook that up.”

           “Okay. Bring him by,” Sarah responded eagerly.

           Alonzo showed up at her house a day later with his cousin, Troy. When Troy step in, Sarah was a bit surprised at what she saw. Troy didn’t look like a criminal. He was a handsome looking black man. He was clean shaven with a nice fade haircut. No tattoos. And he was dressed in some jeans, with a Polo shirt and a pair of loafers.

           Alonzo said, “Troy, this is Sarah. The one who was offering the deal I told you about.”

           Troy carefully looked around the room before stepping to Sarah and shaking her hand. “My cousin told me about your problem. I believe I might be able to help you out.”

           “What will it cost me?” Sarah asked.

           “Well, if I admit to accidentally killing this dude, they gonna give me five to ten years on top of the ten years I already got. I figured a nice even hundred grand sounds about right,” he revealed.

           “Half now, and half when you make the statement,” Sarah offered.

           “Deal. So, why don’t you tell me what happened. The more details the better. Cause five-0 will ask a million questions.”       

           Sarah turned around and faced the window. She took a deep breath before spilling her guts, “There’s not much to tell. I hit him in the back of the head with a fireplace poker. He fell and broke his neck.”

           Sarah nervously watched as Troy nodded his head and looked up at the ceiling. His mind was scheming up a devious plan. The time went by torturously as he finally revealed an idea. “How about, I came to your house for a business meeting. I walked in to find you and Malik in a heated argument. He got physical with you. I grabbed him to stop him from hitting you, but he tossed me to the side and tried to choke you. Frantically, I grabbed the fireplace poker and hit him with it. He accidentally dies, and causes me to panic. And I hide the body because I’m afraid of being caught. What do you think?”

           Sarah smiled and once again a burden was lifted from her shoulders. “I love it.”

           “Alright. That’s the story we’ll stick too. Where’s the body at?”

           Sarah turned and pointed the hedges by the back window.

           “Cool,” Troy said rubbing his hands together before sticking one out for the money.

           Sarah stepped over to the kitchen drawer, reached inside, and grabbed two envelopes. She handed one to Alonzo and one to Troy. Then she leaned against the counter and exhaled a sigh of relief. Finally, this nightmare was over, she thought to herself.

 All of sudden, the doors to her house busted open. Police quickly filled the room yelling, “Police! Don’t move, you’re under arrest.”

           “What the hell is going on?” Sarah asked with a confused look on her face as the cuffs were being slapped on her wrist.

 Troy walked over and showed Sarah his badge. Then he cleared his throat and said, “This was a sting. We got your confession on tape.”

“You’re a cop?” Sarah asked with her mouth on the floor and glazed eyes.

Troy leaned in and added, “You know you probably could’ve gotten away with this, if not for one mistake. You had Alonzo pretend to be Malik.”

Sarah slowly closed her eyes and dropped her head. The eviction, the money, boyfriend, and her job were now the least of her worries.

                                               The End