Greed

Chapter One

THE SOUND — of the front door shuttered open as a man, I knew as Tully, rammed through the connecting office, from the assistance desk.

"Ms. Bradbury . . ." The sound of his heavy breathing reminded me of sweaty, overheated pigs. I cringed at the noise whilst the he pathetically stumbled over his own two feet.

"Ms. Bradbury!" He shouted louder until he came into my line of sight. I kept the nail file close to the tip of my stiletto press-ons and smoothed any rough edges I had, softly blowing any excess remains away after I was done.

"She's gone home, Mr. Alford" My grandmother calmly sneered as the two of us watched him fumble over his words, and shoes. "Oh! Mrs. Craven! I was just about to call you!" he lied with a fake smile.

I raised my brow and gave my grandmother a look. "Is he for real?" my eyes asked, but I quickly cut it out when my granny glared.

Her head snapped back to the man, "I'm certain you were. You haven't met my son, Gordon, have you Mr. Alford?" Grandmother asked as Gordon creepily closed the door. "Hello" Alford nervously greeted.

Gordon creeped closer with his eyes big and wide, and a sinister grin etched on his lips. "Is this the one mother? The deadbeat you mentioned?" Gordons eyes never wavered as he shoved Alford into the wall.

I yawned out of boredom from the whole cliché "bad cop, good cop" theme my grandmother had set up. I kissed my teeth while the mother-son duo bantered back and forth as to how Tully should be punished for his lack of payment towards the family.

Eventually, Gordon had submitted to my grandmothers will and slammed Tully onto the floor. "We've lent you a considerable amount of funds. Many thousands of dollars, payment due." I hid half of my face to hide the devilish smirk that cursed my lips at the thought of money.

"I don't have the money to repay you. I've tried everything" what a disgusting little creature. I sneered at the supposed man who was in a pitiful position, slumped on the ground. "Oh, Gordon. I want to believe him" my Grandmother mocked.

"So do I" Gordon hissed with a sadistic grin. "Make me proud" My uncle roughly dragged Tully to his desk and swiped his arm to clear room for whatever horrendous torture he would inflict on the bug.

A briefcase, that Tully had carried in with him previously, full of golden doubloons fell to the floor, it's beautiful shiny coins scattering with the familiar sound of small metal hitting each other.

My eyes went wide as I picked up a small coin that rolled and hit the toe of my black heels. I brought it closer to my face in hopes to determine weather or not it was real. I grinned greedily when the precious jewel didn't stick onto the magnet, that I kept on me for cases like this, and held the round coin as if it were a new born.

"It's real grandmother . . ." I muttered and glared at Tully. "He lied to us, Mother" I could tell by his tone that Gordon wanted to have some fun with the other man, however that little rat just had to open his fat mouth . . .

"No! No! It's not what you think! Those are doubloons, for the Addams account!" I stood up from the couch and grabbed my grandmothers arm. "Addams?" I asked hurriedly, wanting more information now.

"Yeah. There's more, there's a fortune, but nobody can get to it!" he squirmed under Gordons strength. "Don't you think I've tried!" I glowered at his franticness. "Have you? Have you tried hard enough?" I inquired while steeping closer. Despite me being decades younger, Tully coward under the pressure of my words.

"Ask him, sweetheart" Grandmother ordered Gordon. "No, no, no! Sweetheart, don't ask!" Tully stopped momentarily and took a closer look at Gordon's face. "Fester . . ." I gave him a raised brow whilst Grandmother was as confused as me and Gordon.

THE RAIN — was pouring down hard outside the motel room we were renting for the week. I sat at the same kitchen counter as my uncle and I ate a carton of Chinese noodles. "It's unbelievable. This hideous creature and my little boy".

Grandmother was comparing photo's of the two whilst Gordon glared at Tully, who was sitting in-between us. "They could be twins" Tully stupidly retorted, I kicked his chair making him lose balance and yelp as Uncle Gordon sneered at the insult.

"But they're his family. What makes you think they'll fall for it?" uncle asked as he towered over a cowering Tully. "You shave your head, we dress you up, no problem!", I tilted my head at Tully's frantic gestures. He was obviously scared, but held promise in his plans.

I tapped my chin as the man kept babbling on about the Addams family. "They'll think he's Fester. Their long lost brother!" I rolled my eyes, "You better hope so, Tully. For your sake" I hissed as I shoved him off his chair.

He landed on the floor and looked up at me. My right leg crossed over my left, as my cheek rested on my propped up fist. I felt unbothered by his pitiful eyes crying for help. "I-I've been the Addams lawyer for years. They're morons".

Grandmother scoffed, "Obviously-", "What about the gold!" I demanded as I slammed my fist on the counter. I was tired hearing about this family, all that mattered to me was the gold! "Cut to the chase!". Tully flinched while Grandmother and Uncle Gordon gave me adoring looks. I took a deep breath in and out then regain my composure.

"Carry on" I said and gestured for Tully to speak. "T-they've got this v-vault" his stuttering annoyed me just as much as his fidgeting. "Where?" Uncle Gordon shoved the other man against the wall. "I-I'm not sure".

"Well that's a problem, isn't it?", Grandmother looked amused while I felt bored by this situation. I mean, what was the point of hunting for a gold mine if you don't even know where the gold is?

I ignored Tully's rant and walked over to the living room couch to lie on. I got comfortable and nodded off to sleep.