Three the Hard Way: A Play in Two Acts (18 page)

"Whaaat? You’re kiddin’, right? That’s not possible. Richard didn’t have that kind of money. Where’d he get it?"

"I don’t know at this time, but we’ll find out." It was obvious to Marcus that Yvonne was taken completely by surprise by the revelation that she might be rich. "Do you know if your husband had a Will?"

"Don’t think so." Yvonne said as her smile widened.

"Have you gone through his things?"

"No, I haven’t. I just didn’t have the heart to. It just didn’t seem right to start going through his stuff until he was resting peacefully. So I was kinda waiting to settle this business first, and then I would go through his things."

"Do you know where your late husband worked, what he did for a living?"

"He worked as a property manager for Imperial Properties."

"That makes sense, he owns quite a bit of property. He might even own the company. Mrs. Haggler, what I want you to do is go home, and go through your husband’s things. See if you can find a will or any other legal documents. Have you been to his office to clean out his desk? Or had any contact with them at all?"

"No." Yvonne said with a shy-type of smile. "I never even called them to say he was dead. They didn’t call tryin’ to find out why he didn’t come to work. I just figured they didn’t care."

Marcus smiled and let out a little laugh. "Call me in the morning and we’ll make arrangements to go to Imperial Properties. But I don’t want you to go there by yourself."

Yvonne went home and spent the rest of the night going through Richard’s things. By 2:00 am she had looked at every piece of paper, in every file in Richard’s office, but didn’t find the will. However, if there was any doubt in her mind that Richard was much more financially well-off than she was led to believe, none remained now.

Yvonne found bank and dividend statements, and she knew she was going to be rich. Yvonne left the office and headed for the closet in their bedroom. She stopped in front of the bed, realizing that this was the first time she had been in there since she found Richard dead of a heart attack.

Suddenly she felt tired. She’d gotten up early and had been on her feet all day running the register. Yvonne took a deep breath and resumed her search. Still nothing. "Where else?" She wandered around the house, searching, and by four o’clock, she was exhausted. She sat down in the living room and looked at their picture on the wall by the front door. That’s when she saw it. "The hall closet." In a box on the shelf, Yvonne found a small metal box packed under a pile of old newspapers.

The metal box was locked, and for the next half an hour she tried to pick the lock with a hairpin. Finally, she went out to the garage and returned with a sledgehammer. The box surrendered its contents after her third swing.

Yvonne picked up the papers and went through them. She found an envelope marked
Last Will and Testament
. She stood there awhile looking at the envelope, but she was afraid to open it. She put the envelope down on the coffee table, lay down on the couch, and went to sleep.

Once Marcus reviewed the will, the rest was simple. In addition to the insurance policies, the trust fund and the property, as expected, Richard was majority owner of Imperial Properties and held stock in several companies. There was a provision in his will that in the event of his death, his partners would arrange financing to buyout his share of the company, and the proceeds from that sale be given to his chosen heir, Yvonne Haggler.

When it was all said and done Richard’s estate was worth $2.2 million. Yvonne had Marcus liquidate his entire holding. Marcus was able to convince her to keep the stocks and make some investments that would provide her with an income from dividends.

After all the transactions were completed, Yvonne moved to Los Angeles. Marcus received a letter five years ago from a lawyer named Tom Mack, informing him that he had been retained to handle her financial interests and that Marcus’ services were no longer required. Marcus never saw or heard from her again.

Until now.

Marcus moved closer to her as Yvonne read the label on the box of hair coloring she was holding. There was a certain sophistication about her now. She was no longer the innocent young girl he had turned into a millionaire. "Yvonne? Yvonne Haggler?" he asked.

She jumped when he spoke, and she started to back away from him. Yvonne stopped and looked at Marcus. Then she smiled. "Marcus Douglas. How have you been?"

"I’m doing okay." Marcus replied, knowing he was lying. Other than seeing her, he felt terrible. "How about you? You look great."

"Thank you, Marcus. Are you still practicing?"

She was even prettier than he remembered. She had lost her Mississippi accent in the last nine years. "Yes, I am. The practice is doing quite well. I’ve added a few new associates since I last saw you. Why?" Marcus smiled. "Do you need a lawyer?"

"No, Marcus, I don’t think a lawyer is what I need right now." Yvonne replied as she walked to the registers. Once she paid for her hair color she turned to Marcus. "It was great seeing you, Marcus. Maybe I’ll see you again while I’m in town."

Marcus took out his wallet and gave Yvonne his card. "Give me a call and maybe we can have dinner or a drink."

"I’d like that." Yvonne said, but she knew she wouldn’t be around long enough to take him up on it. Nine years ago she had what she called a schoolgirl crush on Marcus. She tucked his card in her purse. "Good night, Marcus." While the cashier scanned his items, Marcus watched Yvonne as she walked out of the store.

Yvonne started walking through the parking lot when she noticed two men standing by her car. She stopped dead in her tracks and looked around the parking lot. There was nobody in sight. She looked around again. When she saw Marcus coming out of the store, she walked toward him quickly. Just as he reached his car. "Marcus!"

"Hello again." Marcus said, his smile growing.

"I was wondering about your offer for that drink. If maybe I could take you up on it?"

"Sure. You’ve got my card, just give me a call and we’ll get together anytime you’re free."

Yvonne looked back at the two men standing by her car. "Actually, I was talking about now. That is if you’re not busy."

Marcus looked at Yvonne curiously. "No," he said slowly. "I’m not doing anything right now."

"Good." Yvonne said and walked around to the passenger side of the car.

"What about your car?"

"Ahh, it’s not—it will be alright here for a while." She got in quickly. Marcus closed her door, shrugged his shoulders, and got in on the driver side. He started the car and started out of the parking lot.

As they passed her car, Yvonne dropped her purse and busied herself picking up the contents until they were well on their way.
I don’t think they saw me,
Yvonne thought. She looked out the back window, and there didn’t appear to be anyone following, although she couldn’t be sure. Yvonne looked at Marcus and smiled as he drove, and continued to look behind her.

"Is everything all right, Mrs. Haggler?"

"Huh? Oh, everything is fine. Where are we going?"

"There’s a Applebee’s not too far from here."

"Applebee’s? Isn’t there someplace a little more quiet? So we can talk and get reacquainted."

"I’m staying at a Residence Inn not too far from here. I think they have a bar."

"Sounds good to me. Mind if I ask why you’re staying at a Residence Inn?"

"It’s a long story, Mrs. Haggler."

"Yvonne, you can call me Yvonne."

"Okay,
Yvonne
, but it’s still a long story."

"Okay, okay, I won’t push it. You don’t have to cop an attitude."

"I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you." Marcus turned into the parking lot. "Maybe I do need a drink. Maybe two or three."

The hotel did have a bar but it was closed. "That’s okay, Marcus, we can talk in your room." Yvonne said and led Marcus away by the arm.

"My room." Marcus replied sheepishly.

"Don’t worry. I promise I won’t bite you. I haven’t bitten anybody in years.

When they got to his room, Marcus opened the door and Yvonne went in. "Make yourself comfortable," Marcus said as they entered his room.

Yvonne immediately walked from room to room and opened every door. "A little paranoid, are we?"

"Just a habit. I like to know where I am." Yvonne answered as she peeked out the window. She wasn’t sure if she liked the fact that the room was on the first floor. She sat down. "Don’t just stand there, sit down. This is your room." Marcus sat down in a chair across from Yvonne. She made him feel nervous and uncomfortable. He tried not to show it, but it was too late.

"Am I making you feel uncomfortable, Marcus?"

"No, no; of course not. It’s just that—well, you see . . ."

"Marcus."

"Huh."

"Just relax and say what you’re trying to say."

"Well, Yvonne, I—ah, I left my wife today."

"Oh, Marcus, that’s too bad." Yvonne said. Her accent had suddenly returned, only now it sounded phony. "Or maybe it isn’t."

"What do you mean by that?"

"You could be happy you left your wife."

"No, Yvonne, I’m not happy about it." Marcus said quietly and slumped down deeper in his chair.

"You wanna tell me how you feel about it?" Yvonne asked, kicking off her heels and curling up on the couch.

"I don’t—wait a minute. I’m the one who is supposed to be on the couch."

"Oh, you mean like a shrink. I been in therapy before."

"You’re not crazy, are you?" Marcus said with a smile.

"No, I was just depressed about some things. Therapy helped me deal. But you gotta really get into it. You know what I mean? Dig deep down and get in touch with the source. I know it sounds kinda dippy, but it worked for me."

"So what were you so depressed about?"

"Some things were happening to me, but that was just at the surface. What was really happening was I had never really dealt with what my mother did to me."

"What did she do?"

"Marcus, I was a sixteen-year-old virgin when I met Richard. I liked him but I barely knew him. He arranged the whole marriage thing with my mother. They came to me after they had worked it all out and she told me that I was going to marry Richard. That it was the best thing for all of us. She said that she couldn’t afford to do anything for our family and Richard said he would send her money every week. She sold me to him."

"I didn’t know that. I mean, I just thought that you were a young bride who moved to Atlanta with her new husband. I didn’t know. I’m sorry."

"It all turned out all right. Richard was so sweet. He treated me good and I learned to love him with time. But she sold me, like I was a slave or something. Suppose Richard wasn’t a good man. She didn’t know him from a can of paint. Anything could have happened to me. She didn’t care. I was just another mouth to feed. So I had to go. She did the same thing to my sisters when they got old enough. Found some old man, and sold them too. Beverly’s husband wasn’t bad. He just worked her like a slave, but so did my mother, so she was used to it. But Virginia, she wasn’t that lucky. Denny was an animal. He stayed drunk most of the time. He treated her like dirt, beat her, and raped her when he felt like it. Forced her to have sex with his friends."

"My God. Is she still with him?"