One Tough Love

All In The Family

I woke up the next morning with rays of sunlight coming in through the cracks of the curtains shining in my eyes. I looked over to see an empty bed and realized that Michael never came to bed. Before looking for him, I freshened up and grabbed a quick bite to eat from out the kitchen.

"Good morning!" Marlon greeted me as he walked into the kitchen. He grabbed an orange and started peeling it.

"Morning!" I returned a smile.

We sat in silence for a few minutes until I remembered something.

"Are all of you working together? Like a family business?" I asked, turning to face him.

"What?" He asked, caught off guard by my question.

"That night," I explained. "When I found y'all at the club with Martin and Marissa, you guys were all there, guns drawn and everything."

"Ohhh," Marlon laughed. "Yes, we do all work together. I thought Michael would've told you."

"No," I scoffed, crossing my arms. "He doesn't tell me much about the business anymore."

"We've been working together since high school." Marlon explained. "At first I was skeptical about the whole thing but Michael convinced me otherwise and I joined in along with Randy and Jermaine."

"When did the others join?" I asked, scooting closer.

"Would you like some white wine or a mimosa or something?" He offered, getting up out of his seat and walking to the cabinet, grabbing two wine glasses.

"Um, mimosa please."

He poured up our drinks and motioned for me to follow him. We walked through the living room and out to the patio. It was nice out, the air was crisp and it was still early morning so it was a tad bit cool. We grabbed a seat on the couch facing the pool and Marlon politely covered my legs with his jacket before handing me my drink.

"Thank you!" I said.

"So! To answer your question," He began again. "The rest of my brothers were already involved and Janet didn't come around until about a year prior to us all meeting you."

"Why so long for her? The way her and Michael handle things, it seems like she's been in the game for a really long time." I inquired.

"Do you remember what Michael told you when you asked him if you could be apart of this?" Marlon asked me.

"He practically said 'Hell No!'" I responded, laughing at the memory. I had to do some major convincing with that one.

"Exactly," Marlon laughed. "So what do you think he said to Janet!"

"What made him change his mind?" I asked.

"Our father." He simply replied, taking a sip of his mimosa. I nearly choked.

"Wait what?" I gasped.

"Joe started this whole thing. He was doing this before we all were even born. When him and mother started the family, she made him stop because she didn't want her children part of the lifestyle, which I don't blame her. But more of us were coming and by the time Michael was born, times were getting way too hard for a temporary steel mill worker to provide for a large, growing, family. So my father got back in the game. He was able to get us what we needed and then some! He taught my older brothers the ropes and they ended up teaching Michael, Randy and I. When Janet was old enough and asked if she could be apart of the deal, Michael shut her down immediately. It was Joe who told Michael to give Janet a chance, otherwise Janet would still be sitting on the sidelines along with you." Marlon finished his drink and sat it on the table in front of us. "The morning of your first job, Michael called all of us to see if he was making the right decision. We all talked to Joe and Joe said to give you a chance. Michael needed the help and no one was ready to put Janet back out there."