A little bit of sin - Chapter 21.2

reader question: can you post faster?

author answer: no. see live story explaination

reader question: is mark gonna end up with grace?

author answer: umm, story spoiler.

reader question: how is colin going to get back control?

author answer: story spoiler

reader question: can you post longer post?

author answer: i will try.

enjoy....

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Smiling, glad she had Taylor on her side, she knew the woman was a hell of a soul, but a true friend when needed. Thank you, Taylor. I’ll arrange that now.

Her company used couriers for various inner city shipments and she had one on call at all times for her business. It was no problem to arrange the pick up and delivery.

Once Synthia was done, she was too excited to go home and worked well into the night getting a lot of work done. Her couch served as her bed for the night because and it was fine. It was only the third time since she had bought the five thousand dollar sofa that she actually had to use it as a bed. In her office closet there was a bottom draw filled with sheets and a cover. Disappointed there wasn’t a pillow, she used a couple of sheets and that was just fine.

Unfortunately she couldn’t find anything to wrap her hair, but she was fine with that as well because a cut pair of stockings served their purpose.

‘And Jason said I don’t know hood,’ she teased to herself.

Lying down, she re-evaluated her decision to “accept transaction.” Taylor was right. There was going to be a lot of consequences and not just with Jason.

He was not going to like her. He was not going to like her a whole bunch.

‘Are you doing this to control him?’

Deep down inside, she answered herself honestly. No, it wasn’t. For some reason, she wanted to do something nice for him. Something wonderful and it didn’t matter if she didn’t get her ‘investment’ back or not.

And then there was this selfish side of her that wanted to be in his life – whether he wanted her there or not, she had to prove to herself that she was all that.

‘That sounds insecure.’

If she was still being honest with herself, she would more or less call it over arrogance in her looks and skills.

If I can’t get him with my looks, I’m sure I can get him some other way. He’ll see I’m a beautiful person and he won’t be able to resist me.

Waking early, Synthia used her private bathroom to change her clothes to a new business outfit, pulled her hair back and apply some make up.

She checked her home voicemails. The first message she heard was Dr. Collins leaving a message about coming to see him today and then she received a shocking message.

George’s voice came over the line and he sounded very unsure. “Um, I didn’t want to call your cell phone, Synthia. I thought it would be more appropriate if I spoke to you face to face. Can we see each other? I know … “ He took a big sigh into the phone. “I know I made a mistake and I’m so sorry. Please let me see you.”

The third message was just a hang up and she reminded herself to check to see where this call had come from when she finally went home.

She replayed George’s message and noted how frustrated and desperate George sounded. Deleting the message, she shrugged that off as if it were just an annoying fly. There were more important things to think about other than “mixed-up, made-a-mistake” George, who could not appreciate the heaven in front of him. She had no mercy or remorse for him and certainly did care that he really wanted to see him.

Instead of going home, she drove over to her mother’s nursing home located on the outer suburb of Detroit. It was seven in the morning. The parking was empty and the staff was hardly there. Usually Saturday’s were visiting day and Synthia wanted to get in and out.

The staff was receptive to her, even though it was early in the morning.

“Your mother’s just finishing her bath and about to have her breakfast. Your sister’s here to help her.”

“Noel’s here?’ she questioned startled. When the nurse nodded, Synthia questioned, “How long she’s been here?”

The nurse spoke as if Synthia should know already. “Your sister comes every weekend about six in the morning to help with her bath and then feed her breakfast. There’s nothing in her chart to say she isn’t supposed to.”

Of course, Noel wouldn’t say a word. Sneaky little piss ant. Synthia huffed in agitation. “But how long has she been doing this?” she asked sternly.

The nurse seemed uncomfortable with the cruel tone Synthia had obtained with the last question. Hesitating a bit, she checked some papers and said, “This is just her third time. She arrived last week unexpectedly. Since there were no prohibitions on your mother’s chart, we didn’t see there would be a problem.”

Neither had Synthia, but she knew then that Noel was purposely trying to be a problem. “Can I change my mother’s visitation hours? I think she needs a lot more rest?”

“You’ll have to talk with Dr. Collins and he’ll fill out the paperwork so all the shifts can make sure they abide by your requests, Ms. Nolan.”

The reason why Synthia had chosen this nursing home was because it was the furthest away from where Noel lived and the strict visitation hours would be an inconvenience to Noel. Making it more difficult, Synthia assumed this would keep Noel away for a while.

‘I hate being the bitch, but I know I have to be.’

The less Noel spoke with her mother when Synthia was not around, the better. At this point in her health, their mother didn’t need to be speaking to anyone.

“Is Dr. Collins in yet?” Synthia questioned.

“He’ll be on shift in about fifteen. I’ll let him know you’ve arrived,” the nurse said kindly.

Every fiber of her wanted to just leave and come back after Noel was gone, but she knew somehow, Noel would know she had come, plus in so many words she wanted to tell Noel to get out.

You’re going to have to be evil, she said simply.

“Have they said anything about putting my mother back in her own suite again?”

The nurse flinched. “We have to evaluate her condition again before we make that determination. She’s really not capable of living on her own.”

“I’m willing to pay for the private nurse service,” she said easily. “Would that increase the chances of them taking it into consideration?”

“It could, Ms. Nolan. I’d mention that to Dr. Collins when you speak to him and if he approves after the renovations are finished, we could move her in. Since she needs the full time nurse, she’d move in the double occupancy suites, which would increase .”

“That’s fine.”

Her feet felt heavy as she reluctantly walked down the long hallway to her mother’s room.

Before reaching the door, Synthia stopped and listened to her sister and mother talk.

“You don’t need to be here, Momma. I wish I could get your guardianship away from her,” Noel cruelly. “She doesn’t even care about you.”

Her mother mumbled something.

Noel said desperately. “Can’t you get her to change you? I know there’s something she’s not telling me. I just know it.”

“Who?” her mother asked confused and tired.

“Synthia,” Noel said in frustration.

“That deceitful bitch. Tricked your daddy into thinking she was sweet, but she wasn’t.”

Synthia didn’t flinch at the name because in her mother’s sickness she had begun to be quite open with her verbal abuse and her words were harsh as always. True to form though Marion, even though she was probably going through the worst of it, was evasive from the truth.

Noel didn’t know how really bad her mother’s sickness was. She was under the impression that her mother had just recently developed Alzheimer’s, but in truth had been suffering from it slowly for the past five years. Synthia had been spending anything and everything to make sure her mother’s condition and health were the very best, but from the last report she had to endure from Dr. Collins, she knew all the treatment in the world wasn’t going to stop what was inevitable.

A long time ago, Synthia had to swear she would respect her mother’s wishes about keeping Noel in the dark. Even though Marion’s health had started to deteriorate at a faster pace this year, Synthia wouldn’t break the promise she made.

“Momma,” Noel said with deep concern. “Last week when we were speaking you were talking
about Synthia a lot. Before you didn’t feel well you said something about promises you made to Daddy. What was that about?”

“What baby?” her mother asked innocently, using Noel’s nickname she always called her. “What are you talking about? Noel is that you? You’ve gotten so big.”

The sounds of Noel crying in aggravation, only made Synthia roll her eyes exasperation.

Just get this over with, Synthia said to herself deciding now to make her presence known to her sister.

Walking in the room, she felt the tension from all sides grip her.

“What are you doing here?” Noel sneered through gritted teeth as she used the back of her shirt to wipe the tears out of her eyes.

Noel was about Synthia’s height, although in the heels she was wearing Synthia easily towered above her little sister. Since they were young, Noel wasn’t much to care about her clothes or fashion like Synthia was. They were completely opposite in personality. As for looks, if Noel did her hair instead of keeping it in a tangled, sloppy ponytail, she would be a knock out – like her sister… almost.

They both shared the soft flawless deep honey brown skin and thick hair, but Noel had her mother’s extraordinary bluish gray eye. So clear like rare deep blue sea water pearls and a small nose from their English ancestors two generations back, while amazingly Synthia inherited the exquisite African American genes from her father.

It was no secret that Noel had always envied Synthia for not only being more beautiful, but for also being more studious and outgoing.

As Jason said, Synthia had always been given things and Noel always seemed to resent
that.

After Trisha’s death Synthia had gone out of her way to offer friendship to her sister, but Noel wanted no part of it. Matter of fact, whenever Synthia tried to do something nice for her sister, Noel did her best to reject it or embarrass Synthia for trying to do it.

Could her sister be tied to what was going on with her life? Despite what Grace had tried to convince her, Synthia really believed that Noel could have something to do with all the trouble.

“I’m here to check on things. I told you I would take care of things, didn’t I?”

“That’s funny. The staff says you never come here unless Dr. Collins makes you come. Did you think your phone calls to the staff were enough to keep mother?” Noel asked sarcastically. “Let’s face it, Synthia. You don’t care about anyone other than yourself and you could care less about your mother.”

“Noel, I didn’t come here to confront you and your issues.”

“You didn’t come here for anyone but your own personal issues. What you need to do is find Momma another place to stay. “

Synthia looked past her sister to her mother. Marion didn’t look like she was miserable, but she didn’t make eye contact with Synthia. She was there because otherwise she’d have this glassy expression on her face. Synthia had become familiar with her mother’s ways because she was as deceitful as they came.

“Mother looks like she’s in the best of health. She looks fine. Noel, the doctor and his staff calls me all the time with updates and if there was something they weren’t tending to, I would make sure it was talking place. I’ve brought in the best doctors in the country to make sure she’s receiving the best of care. Like you said, with all the money I have I can at least afford to give her the best medical care. Why can’t you just trust that?”

“Because I don’t trust you. And I know you’d just love to get back at her for all the things she didn’t do for you when we were growing up because was the only person that didn’t pay attention to you. You always want to be the center of attention and you’re jealous because Momma wouldn’t do that. Do you really think paying for her care with all your money is going to make her care about you now? Ha! You’ll never change, Synthia. You always think you can buy everything to get your way. Momma may be sick, but she’s not fooled. She knows you’re trying to buy her love, just like I know it too.”

Insulted, Synthia said, “I don’t hold grudges, Noel. Mother may have been cruel in tongue, but she raised us to be competent and intelligent children. I can’t fault her for that. When I say I hold no grudge, I don’t.”

“Only cause your daddy told you not too,” their mother growled suddenly.

It seemed like a semi good day for Marion. Synthia reminded herself to be careful with her words around her mother. ‘Wouldn’t want to trigger anything.’

“But if he knew you’ve been trampling around with that boy behind his back, that’d change your tune.”

Noel narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “What is she talking about?”

Keeping her voice low, so only Noel could hear, Synthia said, “You know she’s not well. She’s talking about Daddy as if he’s still alive.”

In a whispered voice, Noel sneered, “And that’s why I think she needs to be at a better medical facility. Not this vacation hotel for seniors. Momma needs real medical help.”

“I’m giving her that!” Synthia protested.

Marion spoke again. “I know he was trouble from the moment I saw him.”

“She’s talking about Mookie, isn’t she?” Noel realized. “You were still seeing him after Daddy told you to stay away?”

“Daddy was just being protective and I was grown. I’m not going to stand here and pretend I wasn’t an angel even for Daddy!” She shrugged nonchalantly. “It’s not like Mookie’s still in my life and Daddy’s dead.” Changing the subject, she said, “I spoke with the staff about getting Mother a suite again. I’m going to have to pay for double occupancy because she needs full time service.”

“Why can’t I just move here to take care of her? I’m earning my nursing degree and I can make that a part of my internship, by taking care of her.”

“That’s not possible,” Synthia said.

“Why not? That’s the whole reason why I just change my major to nursing this semester from computer engineering.”

“Switch back. Mother is in good hands. I’m paying top dollar to make sure that happens. This should make you happy, Noel.”

“You don’t have to kiss my ass, Synthia.”

“I’m not,” she said coolly. “But I think even if I did try you’d find something to bitch about that I’m doing wrong.” Turning away slightly, she said, “I have work to do.”

“As usual.”

“Try not to tire her out, Noel,” she said knowing her sister wouldn’t do something like
this, but just saying it because it would get on Noel’s nerve.

Just as she finished saying this, Marion snored real loud.

Noel sat by her mother still giving her sister a bothered look as Synthia left the room.

Going to the second floor, she fund Dr. Cololings office easily. He reminded her of the younger forties version of Bill Cosby except he had a thick big beard kept neatly trimmed all the time. From what she knew, he had his doctorates in Gerontology and Neurology. He was one of the best in Michigan when it came to elderly care and had taken a personal interest in her mother’s care. Initially, Synthia was glad because she really could care less about her mother.

Keeping her alive had been a promise from her father, because Marion had hid a lot of things that was wrong with her from all of her children. Once her father died, she was in charge of the care of her mother and a promise had been a promise, but she didn’t have to like it.

Dr. Collins looked very upset as she took a seat in front of the desk he was sitting at. “How much do you really care about Marion, Synthia?”

Sighing in boredom, she said, “You don’t need to psychoanalyze me, Dr. Collins.”

“Maybe if I do, I can really understand why is there a need for you to completely ignore my calls.”

Lying, she said, “I told you I’ve been busy.

“Didn’t some of my calls say urgent.”

Annoyed, she reiterated, “I was extremely busy.”
He must have decided to stop arguing with her on this subject and spoke about her mother’s condition. “We’ve run test on your mother and her condition is progressing faster than
we thought.” He opened up a file in front of him.

She checked her watch wishing she were somewhere else.

Dr. Collins noted her anxiousness. “In layman’s terms, your mother’s condition gives us less than two months.”

This news completely shocked her. “Two months? Are you sure?”

“You knew it was getting worse,” he said apparently. “I’ve been persistent about making sure you knew this and all the medical attention in the world is not going to help. Maybe if Marion had gotten the care in advance, we could have been better at this, but even you knew your mother made it difficult for us to know what was wrong with her, by hiding and lying about her condition.”

And this was the reason she would have to give Jason and Noel, because they’d never forgive her if it was found out that she hid her mother’s severe condition.

“We’re going to have to increase her dosages to make her more comfortable as the diseases eventually take over her. That means she’ll be sleeping a lot more.”

“Until?”

“Until she just doesn’t wake up anymore.”

She went into very deep thought as she considered a life without her mother and her own secret safe. The thought was just too fulfilling.

“Synthia,” Dr. Collins said sadly.

She heard him, but she was thinking hard about how her siblings would take the news and how she would tell him that news without showing her own pleasure about the subject.

With more emphasis, Dr. Collins said, “Synthia!”

“Yes?”

“I think it’s very much time you let your sister and brother know what’s really going on. I
know you told me you wanted to respect her wishes about her condition, but really, Synthia.”

Standing up, she said, “A promise is a promise, doctor.”

He stood up with her, “Synthia, I think-“

“I’ll think about it.” She didn’t want to hear anymore. Checking her watch, she said, “With her needing heavier dosage, I’d like to limit visitations to her room. I’d like my mother to get as much rest as possible. Can we make sure she only gets two hours of visitation a day?”

“I must unfortunately agree with you, but I can-“

She cut him off. “Don’t do me any favors. I’m also willing to pay for the best private care nurse. The best, Dr. Collins who will make my mother’s life very comfortable.”

“Yes, Synthia.” He still looked bothered.

Synthia left the office quickly and went back to her car. Checking her house messages, she again, she saw that someone had hung up the phone again.

Getting home, she checked the Caller ID and saw both calls had come from 231 area code. Checking the Internet, a code chill went down her spine as she realized what city that was from.

How had he gotten her home number?

Dialing Jason, she knew she might have to get another residence if he knew her home number, because that meant he knew her home address.

A little bit of sin won't hurt Chapter 21 (c) 2009 Sylvia Hubbard. All Rights Reserved.

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