A Beautiful Kind of Hope (A Beautiful Kind of Series Book 1) Read online

  “Fine,” he retorts. “Look mama” he says lifting a brick that he was busy working on before I came into his room. He calls me Mama, something he’s been doing for five years now and it makes me glad that he sees me like one. I’ll always be a mother to him for as long as he wants me to and when the time comes to share the truth, then I’ll be ready to tell him the truth.

  “That’s beautiful,” I say half smiling. “Will you teach me how to make one for myself?” I pout.

  He laughs. “You don’t know how to do it?” he asks.

  “No,” I answer. “I was hoping you can teach me.” I pull him in my arms and cup his little face. “Please,” I beg, planting kisses all over his face the way I always do with him when I want something from him making him giggle.

  “Mama,” he laughs screaming my name, “Stop, please.” He fights to get away from my arms. I let him go and look at him. I’m proud of him despite all the struggles we go through every day, even when he can’t understand why Nana is the way she is. Michael has become my source of energy, I draw strength from him. Just one look and my day is peaceful and hopeful at the same time.

  “Mama has to go to work in a while,” I say the minute he looks at me and that smile of his spreads across his face because he knows what I’m about to say next. “Can I trust you to be the man of the house when I’m gone?” I tickle him.

  “Yes,” he answers fighting my hands off his body as I let him go.

  I lean in and give him a kiss on the tip of his nose then his forehead before pushing myself up standing before him, I hold my gaze before leaving his room. I turn to look at him one more time and see his eyes are on me and something sad crosses my heart. Fuck. I don’t like him looking at me this way.

  “Mama.” He calls before I can mutter a word.

  “Yes baby.”

  “I love you so much,” he says blowing a kiss and that makes me want to cry.

  I walk back to where he’s seated on the floor stretching my arms and lifting him up as I swirl us around. “I love you too, so much.” I say before he cups my face in his tiny little hands and wipes the tears away, tears that I didn’t know were there.

  “Don’t cry Mama.” He says.

  “I’m not crying baby,” I smile. “Those are called happy tears.” I give him a reassuring kiss on his cheek.

  He kisses my cheek back and asks me to put him down promising to come see him before I leave for work.

  It takes me half an hour to get ready and head back to Michaels room, I say my goodbyes and promise to call him before he goes to bed at nine which I do all the time whenever I’m working late and I end up telling him a story over the phone until Nelly tells me he’s sound asleep.

  I leave instructions with Nelly not to allow him to watch TV past nine o’clock as I go to my Mother’s room and find her asleep, I kiss her temple before whispering in her ear “I love you” and head out of her room straight to my car, a 1987 VW Golf, and head to work.

  Taylor

  I was that kid on the block, underprivileged, I went to school with a torn uniform that had hemmed patches all around it, the soles of my feet were partly touching the ground I walked on but I hid it so well that no one could see, cutting a shoe shape inner sole from old pieces of newspaper and coloring them so no one could tell.

  From the hemmed patches on my shorts, I couldn’t tell what color my shorts were. Mama worked three jobs and don’t ask me how she did it but she did. She managed to put a roof over our head even though it was from one of the slums in Nairobi. The room was big enough to fit a bed for mama, a mattress for me and two stools. Electricity…damn, that was something I got to see from one of our neighboring gated communities.

  As an only child, I did odd jobs as I was growing up to help my mother place a decent meal on the table. I was four years old when my father walked out on us. I can’t say I remember him because he never looked back, never bothered to find out what would become of us.

  I look at how far I’ve come, the sleepless nights I had while growing up and having to look over my shoulder as I slept on the streets, not knowing where the danger would come out from next.

  It’s been twelve years since she’s been gone, one day she was there with me, laughing and smiling, telling me how proud she was of me as she gave me some advice concerning life. She asked me to respect women and not to be an asshole like my father and I guess that’s part of the reason why I’m still single. While the other reason is that when I was twenty-one I had a girlfriend but she was as bad and wicked as they came. I broke it off before she ended up breaking my heart. Since then I haven’t even thought of setting my eyes on another woman.

  Work is all I’ve been able to do and think about since my main aim has been to target the big companies in the country, as well as invest in the property market earning me a new fancy title at the age of twenty-five. I hit that mark that says you’re now a billionaire, I never saw that coming since I was so invested in what I was good at doing and when I received a call to schedule an interview with one of the most read magazines in the country, I couldn’t turn it down. I never see myself as some filthy rich guy, no. I always see myself as just another guy who went through a bumpy road in life, only to come out as a champ in the end.

  Well as much as my wealth would mean everything to someone else, it just means nothing to me since the one person I would have loved to have with me as I climbed up the ladder, is no longer here with me. I would give anything to have her back so she can see the man I’ve become.

  “Mama, I wish you were here to see me now, to tell me how proud you are,” I whisper to myself, my eyes looking above. I know she’s in a better place where she’s an angel now watching over my shoulder. “I miss you so much mama and as I promised you, I’ve stayed away from trouble. All sorts of trouble.”

  I miss her every day and though she’s gone she’ll always be a part of me no matter how many years have passed since she took her last breath.

  “Taylor,” Leo calls me from the kitchen snapping me out of my thoughts. Leo is my brother and best friend, the one man I can trust with my life enough to know that he can watch my back even when I fall asleep. He was the one who found me sick, lying on the street fighting an infection that had me hallucinating. Leo and his dad Richard, may he rest in peace, took me to the hospital paid for the bill and took me in. They welcomed me into their house, the house I thought was huge for the four people who lived in it.

  Leo’s mom Mrs. Patricia took me under her wings and treated me like she did her own son and there was not a day you could tell the difference between Leo, his younger sister Rita, and myself. I was part of the family and within a year I was calling them dad and mom. They became my parents and gave me their last name when they agreed to adopt me. They took me to school at the age of fifteen, a year after my mom passed on and a year since I had been living on the streets. I didn’t have anyone to turn to since my mother’s family had already disowned her and even if I wanted to find them, there was no way I could remember their name or where my mom’s home was.

  I look up to Leo since he’s practically my older brother. The brother I never had. The brother who made sure I stayed out of trouble.

  I stand from the seat and drag my bare feet toward the open plan kitchen of my four-bedroom townhouse and sit on one of the counter stools on the kitchen island, my elbows propped up on the countertop so I can support my chin. I look at the man who has become my elder brother and best friend, he has his back to me so I can’t tell what he’s doing. His black, short hair that is trimmed on the sides is all over the place an image he maintains when he’s not in the office. He calls it his weekend signature where he’s all ragged with faded jeans and polo shirt but I know that’s not all because ever since he came back home from London, he’s been different. He tugs on his hair raking his fingers in it, something that he does when he’s on the edge or stressed out. I’ve tried asking him if all is well but all I get is two words sometimes three “I’m fine” or “all
is well” even when I know something’s been on his mind since he came back home a year ago.

  “You need a haircut,” I say out of nowhere.

  “You think so?” he asks but doesn’t turn to look at me.

  “Yes?” I snarl. Yep, he sure does need a haircut. “But the women love me like this,” he snorts.

  “You think so or you know so?” I ask, feeling sorry for the women Leo and Mark have falling under their feet. If I was a woman I would turn the other way. They are real heartbreakers not sure how they live with themselves.

  “Why don’t we ask Mark?” He turns his head to look at me a stupid grin on his face.

  “You and Mark are hopeless cases, I don’t even know why I bother to ask you to change your wicked ways.” I shake my head even though I know he’s not looking at me. I will never understand their lifestyle even when I had hoped that Leo would return home a different man after being away for so long. “Old habits die hard” I say.

  Leo is a good guy by all means but when it comes to women… The guy is… I don’t know a little bit heartless and emotionless, I keep thinking one day he will settle down maybe even start a family but I don’t see that ever happening. I just hope he’s not a lost case but…

  “Stay away from my PA.” I growl.

  “Why?” he asks giving me his full attention.

  “Because I want you to.” I don’t hesitate to answer. It’s not like my brother is a bad person but Cecilia has been through hell and back, her divorce left her in a place she thinks I don’t notice how broken she is especially with that smile she plasters on her face for everyone to see. She keeps forgetting that I’ve known her for the longest time. I look at Leo as he cocks his face to the side one brow raised, his two weeks short stubble makes him look rough. “Cecilia has been through a lot and you of all people know that so whatever game you’re playing, please stay the hell away from her.” I say it as a warning and I know he gets it.

  Leo was there when no other lawyer in town would take Cecilia’s case, sorry to say but her ex-husband had a habit of buying out any lawyer who had an interest on the case but not my brother. He has everything that money can buy and to top it all, I trusted him that he would do this for Cecilia.

  “Are you interested in her?” What?

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” I scowl. “Cecilia is like a sister to me.” I shake my head because in all the years I’ve worked with her I’ve never thought of her in such a way. She’s that sister that I never had and has managed to keep my life in order.

  “Okay.” Leo says.

  “Okay as in you’ll stay away from her or okay as in you’ve heard me?” I ask even when I know he’s smart to heed my warning.

  “Do you know what day it is today?” he asks avoiding my question at the same time changing the topic.

  Leo leans on the counter so we’re facing each other a stupid grin on his face. Bastard. He’s hiding something under his sleeve and whatever it is, I don’t want to be part of it.

  “It’s Saturday, everybody knows that,” I smirk back at him. Stupid question.

  “And?”

  “And what?” I don’t understand his asking all of these stupid questions.

  He rounds the counter and comes to stand beside me, I look up only to see his face looking a little annoyed his eyes are full of something that I don’t want to dwell on since that look has gotten me into enough trouble and I don’t like it now even for a bit. Not today. Leo stretches his hand behind me raising one brow and smacks the back of my head.

  “Ouch” I yell, rubbing the back of my head with my palm.

  “It’s your damn birthday idiot,” he annoyingly says. “The boys and I we’ve got something planned out for you.” He jabs my arm when he sees the look on my face. “Get your ass dressed up so we can hit the road.”

  My hand still massaging the back of my head subconsciously, I look at Leo as he goes back to the other side of the kitchen where I finally get to see what he was doing earlier. Fixing us a snack. What did I do to deserve him as my brother?

  “What makes you think I want to go out and celebrate my birthday?” I roar once he turns to place a plate of tuna sandwiches in front of me. “The last time I went out with you morons I ended up bailing your asses out of jail for drunk driving since you all couldn’t keep it down and tonight I am doing no such shit with you guys.”

  Shit! How can one forget their birthday? Who even does that? I think that sort of thing happens when you have important things on your mind or when such important dates stopped meaning something to you since you’ll never celebrate them with the person who meant the world to you.

  At twenty-six I have a lot to give back to the community especially the street children, the homeless people and what better way to celebrate my birthday. I make a mental note to call Cecilia and have her arrange a few things to be distributed to all these people. I was poor once and God has been good to me and today I can say I’ve got all the world has to offer and I want to share my success with others.

  “Who’s driving because I don’t see this night ending with me being able to walk on my own two feet?” I ask after taking a bite from the mouthwatering sandwich. God, we all need to thank Mom-Patricia for teaching us to cook otherwise we would all be starving or living on junk food.

  “Uber,” Leo answers.

  “Good,” I say. Now I’m all in for the ride.