Claiming What is Rightfully Mine (Walter Deville)

Chapter 11

Nicolette was at the club for several hours, helping Jay bring in the money, collecting tips and serving many happy customers. Nicolette decided it would be nice of her to stay until closing hours to help Jay get the place cleaned up so he too could get home at a decent hour.

"Nico, I can't thank you enough for staying after hours to help with cleanup. Brent always hates it when I close the club. He doesn't understand that this place has always been a dream of mine, since I was old enough to sneak out to a club with a bunch of friends. That was also the same night I had a failed date," Jay explained.

"You can't hold back that information after saying that. What happened," Nicolette asked.

"That was the day I realized I prefer men over women. Anyway, my date was a girl who wanted to get it on, and she got disappointed when I told her that I liked her male friend who came with us. She told her friend and refused to talk to me, and told him lies about me, which made him not want to talk to me. I went home that night upset. My mom found out and asked me what happened. I told her. Of course, my mom was supportive of it. My dad supported me as long as I'm happy. But my grandfather found out about what happened somehow, and he lost his shit. He told my dad that my dad raised a sissy boy, and that if I was his child, my grandfather said he would beat the sissy boy out of me and make me a ladies man like he once was back in the day. Go figure, right? Some ladies' man he was. He had to remarry more than seven times," Jay said causing Nicolette to choke on the water she was drinking.

"Did you say seven times," Nicolette asked.

"Sure did. Gramps always had a way of chasing a woman away," Jay said.

"I hate to find out how many kids your gramps has," Nicolette said.

"Only my dad. That's the reason why he didn't have eight wives. Because his last wife gave him a son. All the others refused to sleep with gramps. When that happened, he would go out and find a new flavor to please him; divorce and get remarried. Which made my dad angry with how my gramps treated women. Once my dad became old enough, he left. He wanted nothing to do with his dad. Even when he found out that his father was killed. Nobody went to the funeral that day because of the way gramps spoke about beating me," Jay said.

"Did your grandfather hit you," Nicolette asked.

"No. My grandma saved me. She pushed my grandpa away sending him down the stairs. Only he grabbed hold of her and took her down with him. He broke his neck, and his body crushed her, killing her instantly. My grandma's funeral was planned first. Everyone attended that funeral. We miss her still. But we know she's with us in spirit," Jay said. "Let's finish up here that way we can make our way home."

"You say that because you have a date," Nicolette said.

"That and I know you are worried about Evelyn. She had that big fancy art thing tonight right," Jay asked.

"She had to work at an art gallery showing tonight. That damn gallery won't even glance at her portfolio. Which is more than amazing. I believe that if they took a look at it, they would be begging her to display her stuff. But maybe that is me being biased," Nicolette said.

Jay shook his head. "You're not honey. The art gallery needs something new, something fresh. Not the same old. I went last week and was very disappointed. On my way out, I told them that I was not satisfied and refused to spend another dime there until they manage to switch it up. Give me something fresh to work with. I'm in the market for something different than what they always show. Mind asking Evelyn to hook a customer up?"

"I'll speak to her. But no promises. She's still in a bit of a funk right now about the loss of her mom," Nicolette said.

"Tell her that she needs to get out of that funk and get to creating something. I could use an Evelyn original hanging up in my club," Jay said. "Why don't you get a move on out of here. I can handle the rest from here. I know that you worked at the restaurant that you work at as your day job. Thank goodness you have the day off tomorrow."

"Only because the bitch manager who gave all the workers a hard time was fired. She was finally caught in the act of harassing people to the point where they no longer want to work for the restaurant. That is the only reason why I have the day off, just to compensate for the harassment that I had gone through, all because I ended up working overtime without consulting her about it; and have her clear it. She even went as far as to say she wouldn't pay me overtime,' Nicolette said. "Are you taking the day off tomorrow?"

"I might as well. I don't think it would benefit me to keep this place open, when it would most likely be a slow day. Besides, my mom asked me if I could come in and help her at her tiny cafe. It's a cute little place that is always welcoming everyone, giving the customers the feeling of being part of the family. Now get a move on. I'm good here," Jay said.

"Have a goodnight," Nicolette said before walking out of the club.

Nicolette made it home, making her way up to her apartment. The moment she entered the apartment, Nicolette was attacked by Grace tackling her in a hug.

"Oh my god! I was worried that I wouldn't get a chance to see you before I left," Grace said while pulling away. "So, any good drama stories to tell?"

"All I have to say is that my manager got fired from her job," Nicolette said.

"About damn time that woman was fired. She was nothing but a hateful woman who loved making everyone around her miserable," Grace said.

"Enough about my night. How did it go for you two ladies," Nicolette asked.

"Rough. The people at the art museum were snobs and were boring, all while talking about how amazing the different pieces that were being sold; which they weren't. All the pieces being sold were basically the same damn thing," Grace said.

"That and they complained about the food, drinks and service at the event. I had a feeling in my gut that this event was going to suck," Evie said before opening a tiny bottle of liquor.

"Drinking won't take your problems away," Nicolette said, before turning to look at Grace. "How many of those did she drink?"

"Quite a few. But she's feeling down," Grace said before Evie spoke up.

"The liquor is helping with my problems right now," Evie said while Grace rushed out of the room for a moment. As quick as Grace rushed out of the room, she rushed back in. Grace rushed over to Evie handing the bag over to her.

Evie looked at Grace in shock. "How did you manage to get this?"

"I snagged one of the extras. Take a look inside. I heard there is something good inside," Grace said.

Evie looked inside and spotted more mini bottles of alcohol, before pulling out a kit. "A DNA kit?"

"You can use that to help you find your remaining family," Grace said. "Give it a try. And let me know the results when you get them. With that said ladies, I should be heading out and making my way home. I'll see both of you tomorrow. Have a goodnight." With that said Grace left the apartment, leaving Evie and Nicolette alone.

"What do you think I should do," Evie asked.

"I think you should sleep. Then think about what you want to do with the DNA test. I can tell you my opinion, but the only one who can make the decision of whether you take it is you. But tonight, the best thing that you can do for yourself is sleep on it," Nicolette said.

"Maybe you're right. You're not mad at me are you," Evie asked.

"No. I would have joined you, but someone needs to be sober to get you to bed. Come along now," Nicolette said while leading Evie to bed."