Chapter 3
Shay and Dale were deeply sorry about everything they had done. They figured that if they kept messing with Maya and her family, inexplicably, more maladies would come their way. That’s because unknowingly, the Bradford family were using superpowers to defend themselves from tormentors. Every time that someone hurt a member of the Bradford family something that they love would be taken away from them.
Shay and Dale didn’t know how they were going to pay Maya the twenty million dollars that they owed Maya, the ten million dollars on their part was impossible for them to pay… until now.
David, the alien that saved Maya’s life, he was Shay’s cousin. He was a multimillionaire. The reason that Shay hadn’t met him was because her aunt had had a fight with her mother. Shay’s mother had left the state. They never heard from them again. However, Emma, David’s mother, was reunited with her sister, Eunice, at this very moment. Eunice was explaining her daughter’s situation to Emma, crying bitterly.
“My daughter and her husband are responsible for paying Maya Bradford ten million dollars of a lawsuit that she filed against my grandson, Bogart, and Bo’s best friend, Morton, for raping her during their college years, and they don’t have the money.”
“I have the money, Eunice,” said Emma. “You know I do. Not only do I have the money to pay for the lawsuit, but I also have the money to buy you and Nate a nice house and buy Bo everything he needs in jail.”
“We accept everything solely because we need it, except for one thing. We want a house, not a mansion.”
“I will buy you anything you want, any way you want it.”
“We’re behind one month on our mortgage payment, and before we get this new house from you, I want to give this house to Bogart through a quit-claim deed because I know he can’t afford buying this house.”
“I’ll pay this house off so that he only has to worry about his utility bills.”
“That’s very nice of you, Emma, everything you’re planning to do.”
“Yes, well, I don’t plan things,” said Emma, “I do them. Give me a mortgage-billing statement. I am going to pay this house off for Bogart right now.”
Eunice searched the whole house for an old mortgage-billing statement until she found one in the top drawer of the file cabinet in her office. She would keep all the receipts of all her utility and mortgage payments, but she’d never keep her billing statements.
Eunice handed the billing statement to Emma. Emma called Eunice’s mortgage company’s customer-service representative. Eunice authorized her to talk to the agent.
“How may I help you, Mrs. Morrison?”
“I want to pay off my sister’s mortgage, Mrs. Eunice Woodall.”
“You’re aware, Mrs. Morrison that your sister’s mortgage is $350,000 and she’s only paid $100,000.”
“Yes, I am aware of that, but I am a multimillionaire and so is my son, David. My other sons, Devon and Daniel, they live a good life because of us.”
“Ok, I need the president of our bank to authorize this. Hold on just a minute.” The agent put Emma on hold. A few minutes later, she came back on the line. “The president says it’s ok as long as you fax us a letter stating that you wish to pay off your sister’s mortgage, and that you weren’t forced or coerced to do it in any way.”
“I will fax it to you right away.” Eunice found a pen for Emma in the living room, and Emma wrote the fax number as the agent dictated it to her. “Ok, I will write up that letter on Eunice’s computer and fax it to you immediately.”
“As soon as I have that letter in my hands, I am going to call you back so that you give us all your personal information with my supervisor on the other line.”
“Thank you,” said Emma. “I will talk to you in a few minutes.” Emma hung up.
Emma was writing up the letter in Eunice’s word processor.
I, EMMA MORRISON, INTEND TO PAY OFF MY SISTER’S MORTGAGE AND I KNOW WHAT I AM DOING. I AM NOT BEING FORCED OR COERCED IN ANY WAY. MY SISTER IS IN A VERY BAD ECONOMICAL SITUATION, AND SHE CAN NO LONGER PAY HER MORTGAGE, SO I AM TAKING OVER IT AND PAYING OFF THE AMOUNT OF $200,000.
SINCERELY,
EMMA L. MORRISON.
Finally, Emma printed the letter and put it in her all-in-one machine to fax it. She dialed the 1-800 numbers and the agent received it immediately. Just then, the fax component was disconnected from the phone line and just then, the phone rang.
Emma answered the phone. “Emma Morrison, how may I help you?”
“Mrs. Morrison, this is Carla Strasser from Pilgrimage Homes.”
“Great. I am going to give you all my information. Are you ready?”
“Yes, go ahead. Don’t worry about the speed of your speech. I can type 150 words per minute.”
Emma gasped. “Wow, well my name, my full name, is Emma Lorraine Morrison. My home address is 3157 Humane Drive, San Francisco California.”
“You just moved to California?” said Eunice. “You used to live in Kansas.”
“I moved to California three years ago. I didn’t come to you sooner because I couldn’t find you. I was searching for you using your maiden name and I didn’t know your social-security number, and there was no way to locate you."
“I understand.”
“OK MRS. Strasser, my bank account number is 333665. Do you need my SSN?”
No I don’t," said Karla. “It’s okay. You gave me all of the information that I needed, MRS. Morrison.”
“When will TE money go through?”
“Within the next five hours, but the payoff will be filed within the next seven days.”
“Thank you, Karla.”
On the contrary, think you, MRS. Morrison.”
Crying, Eunice said, thank you, Emma!” She gave her sister a big hug.
“Is there anything else I can help you with, Mrs. Morrison?”
“I’d like you to sell me another house for my sister. I paid off this house because she wants to give it to my grandnephew.”
Karla laughed sweetly. “Ok, your sister can choose the house that she wants, and well…”
“Did you say she can have any house?"
“Yes, any house. If she wants a brand-new house, we will contact our builders and have a house built for Mrs. Woodall.”
“I am going to let you talk to my sister so she can tell you exactly what she wants.” Emma gave the phone to Eunice.
“Hello,” said Eunice, crying tears of sheer joy.
“Hello, Mrs. Woodall. My only question to you is, how do you want your house, new or used?”
Eunice asked Emma while holding the phone handset, “Can my new house be literally new or does it have to be used? I mean can it literally be new?”
“I would prefer it that way because my sister deserves the best. Actually, it’s better if it’s new because we can afford it,” said Emma, smiling, “and because that way, you can customize your house.”
Karla was listening to the conversation.
“You don’t have to make any changes or improvements.”
“That sounds great, Emma. I was so excited that, for a minute, I didn’t think of that.” Eunice got back on the phone. “I want a new home, custom-built.”
“Very well,” said Karla. “What model do you want?” said Carla as she wrote down the info on the computer.
“Would you please email to me photos of the models that you have available?”
“Sure,” said Karla. “Give me your email address.”
Eunice dictated her email address to Karla.
“Thank you. I will email the pictures to you right away. I have to let you know that we have forty models to choose from.”
“That’s great. I want to be Emma’s next-door neighbor.”
Emma said, “Yes, wouldn’t that be awesome?”
Karla looked up Emma’s community using Emma’s address, and within a few minutes, as they talked about their favorite foods, Karla found a lot for sale, right by Emma’s house. “You are lucky because your sister has an empty lot right beside her house!”
On the outside, Emma and Eunice were calm and collected, but on the inside, they were screaming like they never had before, and their hearts were jumping with excitement.
“Well, Karla,” said Emma, “I guess we better let you go.”
“Yes,” said Karla, “we’ve been on the phone for almost an hour.”
“We’re sorry for holding you up for so long,” said Eunice.
“It’s ok. I’ve been on the phone with customers for much longer. Trust me.”
“Would you please give us your email address so that we can stay in touch?” said Eunice.
Carla dictated her personal email address to Eunice and Eunice wrote it down on the back of her old mortgage statement.
“Thank you so much. Have a great day,” said Eunice.
Eunice hung up and wrapped her sister in a big hug.
That day, Maya was alone in church after everyone had left the church, after the weekly service. Suddenly, a very bright light appeared before her. For a minute, she thought that she was hallucinating, but it was real. A supernatural voice spoke to her.
“Maya…”
“You can’t be real,” said Maya. “You can’t be real. I’m seeing things and hearing things,” she said, crying. “I’m going crazy!”
“No, you’re not going crazy. It’s I,” said the supernatural being. “I came to remind you of how forgiving you used to be before Matt Manning came into your life.”
Maya became angry and said, “Don’t even try to blame Matt for changing me. All that he did was to open Pandora’s Box of my past, and I am thankful to him for it because if it weren’t for him, I would never have known that Mancuso and Woodall raped me, and that they’re the reason why I can’t have children!”
“I understand your pain, but you have to let go of your rancor.”
“I don’t hold rancor inside me,” she said, on her knees, crying. “I’m just hurt that someone would do something to me this horrible!”
“You have to be the way you used to be in order to live a peaceful life.”
“I will never be able to live a peaceful life after this.”
“You’re wrong,” said the supernatural entity.
Suddenly, a light covered Maya. Her body wasn’t cleaned up, but her mind was. She was a new woman now. She wasn’t angel-like because no human being could be angel-like, but she became sweet, good, and forgiving.
She walked out of the church, and everyone noticed something strange in her, something supernatural. They all were stunned and looked at one another. Maya got into her car and drove away a few minutes later.
Maya got home a few minutes later. Matt was trying out his tuxedo with a big smile on his face. While the spirit of Maya went through that renovation period, she bought a beautiful dress, got her marriage license, and bought her wedding band, the things she would’ve done if she had never discovered that she was savagely raped and humiliated. If she hadn’t undergone this transformation, she would’ve spent her time blueprinting something horrible against Mancuso and Woodall, and although she would’ve had a relationship with Matt, they would never have been happy because of all of her hate and rancor against her enemies.
She was as happy as could be. She gave her man a big hug. “Hi.”
“Where did you go after we bought the basics for our wedding?” he asked.
“Would you believe me if I told you that I don’t know?” she answered the question with another question.
Matt laughed. Luckily for Maya, Matt had the power to tell whether someone was lying or telling the truth. “Well, if you don’t know, you can just forget about the whole thing. We all lose our minds every now and then for a certain period of time.”
Maya smiled. “All we have to do is get someone to make the wedding cake for us and someone to make the food for us, get the invitations, and we’re done.”
“That is not a problem. The wedding is the day after tomorrow, and I can call my people at the restaurant, tell them the foods that we want, what we want our cake to be like, and they’ll do all of that for us. I want you to make me a list of what you want and I’ll call our cooks. If you want different foods from different places, it can be arrange,” he explained.
Maya hugged Matt again. “You are so sweet, my love,” she said to him. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
Two days later
Everything was ready for Matt and Maya’s wedding. The groom and the bride were getting dressed for the occasion. Maya chose to wear a light makeup that made her look like she was wearing no makeup at all. She put on red lip gloss. Then, she put on her wedding dress, which was easy for her because she didn’t have to pass it around her face or her neck as she was putting it on. It was sleeveless and it had straps on the shoulders covered with diamonds. Her chest was shaped like a ‘V’ and it showed her incredible 36DD cleavage. The dress was so long that the women who were helping her get dressed, they had to carry it as she walked toward the white limousine that was taking her to church. The dress had diamonds all over it.
Matt had his hair combed back because it was long up to his shoulders, and he had it in a ponytail. His tux was white because the theme of the wedding was ‘White Dream’ and everyone had to dress in white. All the flowers in and around the place where the reception was going to be, they were white.
They arrived at the church. First, Maya arrived, and then Matt arrived, in another white limousine. They walked to the altar, although they didn’t do it together. The ceremony started. It had to be quick because another wedding was scheduled exactly one hour from now. Maya walked to the altar with her father, Michael. They were holding hands. Matt was waiting for Maya at the altar. Maya walked up to him and her father gave her away.
“Dear beloved, we are gathered here today to celebrate the holy union of Matthew Jeremiah Manning and Maya Kathleen Bradford, two lovers who only met a few days ago, and already decided to get married. This is unusual for me. Since we don’t have enough time to do this the way that I’ve done it for twenty years, we are going to do it the ‘Road Runner’ way.”
Everybody laughed hysterically.
“How does that sound?”
They laughed again.
“Ok, let’s say our prayers.”
Everyone closed their eyes and let their heads down.
“Beloved Heavenly Father, we pray that this love is real, and that this is the right time for these lovers to unite their lives forever. I pray this in the name of the Father, in the name of the Son, and the Holy Ghost.”
Everyone said, “Amen” in unison.
“Let’s move on to the vows, shall we?”
The lovebirds were ready to say their vows.
“Do you, Maya, take Matthew to be your lawfully wedded husband to love, honor, and respect, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in good times and bad times, in sickness and in health, ‘til death do you part?”
“I do,” said Maya, crying tears of joy.
“Do you, Matthew, take Maya as your lawfully wedded wife, to love honor and respect for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, ‘til death do you part?”
Smiling, Matt said, “I do.”
“If anyone opposes to this union, speak now, or forever hold your peace.”
Just when Matt and Maya thought that no one would oppose, Maya’s best friend stood up and said, “I oppose!” as loudly as she could.
Everyone looked back at Brooke, stunned. Maya’s tears of joy turned into tears of heartache as she looked at her best friend right in the eyes, openmouthed.
Brooke walked closer to the stunned lovers who were just a few minutes from being declared husband and wife. “You can’t marry her after having sex with me the night before!” she said to Matt.
Maya started crying. “Matt, how could you do that to me?”
“I don’t remember having sex with you, I swear,” said Matt to Brooke.
“Are you saying you didn’t?” asked Brooke, stunned.
Matt interrupted Brooke. “I’m not saying that I didn’t do it. I’m saying I don’t remember doing it. That’s very different, Brooke.”
Maya turned to Brooke. “What did you do to get him to have sex with you?” she asked her.
“Are you implying that I raped him, Maya?”
“No, Brooke, I’m not implying it, I am saying it.”
“You can’t marry him,” said the evil Brooke, who had been pretending to be someone she was not. “I had a baby with him last night.”
Worried, Matt asked, “Where is that child?”
“I won’t let you know.”
“You have him or she with you and you won’t tell me where he or she is?”
“Actually, it’s a girl, and no, I won’t tell you where she is, unless you leave this whore at the altar and come home with me.”
Kate took a forty-second video of Brooke and Matt’s profiles. Matt noticed that he and Brooke were being recorded, so he turned around and made Brooke turn around. Then, Kate took another forty-two-second video of their faces, zooming in on their eyes, their noses, and their lips, and the shapes of their faces. Kate started pretending to be checking the camera for a defect and Brooke bought the act and completely ignored her. That was a big mistake. Kate placed the camera in her purse.
“We are going to continue on with the ceremony, Father Lockwood,” said Matt.
“Don’t you care about your daughter?” said Brooke, stunned.
“I do care about her, but I’m not going to allow you to use her to force me to give up the love of my life.”
“Very well,” said Father Lockwood, “since the reason not to marry this woman was completely disregarded, by the power invested in me by the church, I now pronounce Matt and Maya husband and wife. Matthew, you may kiss your bride.”
Much to Brooke’s dismay, Matt and Maya kissed for the first time as spouses. Everyone applauded them.
Brooke looked around her, crying, and said, “I will never tell you where Christina is, ever!”
The groom and the bride walked out of the church as the bridesmaids threw flowers at them. Then, they got into their third white limo, which read JUST MARRIED on the back, and everyone else got into their cars.
Everyone arrived at the reception. Everything was absolutely enchanted. The wedding cake had four layers and it was all white chocolate. It had two little dolls right in the middle of the top of the cake. It was soft on the inside. They also had pizzas, burgers, fries, Mexican dishes, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Italian, and French dishes… all kinds. There were 50,000 guests, and everyone got to eat, even the paparazzi, which were filming the wedding, although they didn’t interview anyone. Brooke, who had never been a celebrity, she was now infamous. She was now known as the ‘Matt and Maya Manning wedding crasher’, and ‘the whore that slept with Matt Manning right before his wedding’. Everyone abhorred her because everyone adored every member of the Manning family. Now, no guy that met Brooke would love her unless he was just like her.
While everyone was having fun at the reception, Kate’s investigators were searching for Brooke and Matt’s little daughter. The videos that Kate had made, Kate uploaded to Riley’s computer at the reception, and emailed them to her investigators, so that they would have an idea of what the little girl would look like.
House by house, Kate’s investigators knocked everyone’s door, searching for Brooke. The police were with them, and if Brooke didn’t give her daughter away to Tears of the Moon, the police would arrest her and take her to jail because by law, alien children belonged, not to their parents, but to Tears of The Moon. After hours of knocking doors and searching, they found Brooke’s house. It was ten minutes away from Tiger Paw Falls.
They knocked Brooke’s door.
Brooke answered the door, awestruck. As far as she knew, she hadn’t done anything wrong. She had committed a crime, though. She had given Matt the only drug that could totally incapacitate an alien, and then, she had had sex with him, just to get pregnant with his baby, so she could get $1,000,000 a month for child support and enjoy the Manning family money through the baby. It was just that no one could prove it because the drug would only be on the bloodstream for eight hours. “May I help you?” she said. “Who are you, and what did you bring the police to my house for?”
“I brought the police to your house because your daughter is, by law, property of Tears of the Moon, and if you don’t give her up right now, the police will arrest you for endangering our lives by allowing an alien to live like a human being, not secluded, and you can’t do that.”
“Really?” said Brooke with her arms crossed across her chest.
“It’s as simple as that, madam.”
“How can that be? I gave birth to Christina. I’ve been taking care of her. Just because she’s half-alien, that doesn’t mean…”
“Ma’am, will you give her up or will we have to apprehend you?”
Brooke started to cry as she placed her hands over her head. “This can’t be happening.” All her plans had been ruined.
“Give Christina to us right now,” said Officer Gray, angrily, but seemingly calm.
“No,” said Brooke, determined to not let go of the Manning fortune, “I will not give up my daughter!”
Having no other choice, the policemen arrested Brooke and went in and got Christina. Then, they took Christina in the Tears of the Moon vehicle and they and the police stormed out of Brooke’s house.
Christina arrived at TOTM. She disliked her mother from the first time she saw her. She hated her mother, and she was glad to be away from her. Christina had a good heart and Brooke had an evil heart.
She started talking to Kate about this issue and telling her what was on her mind as Kate counseled her because it was late and none of the counselors were available for some strange reason. She needed to hire night-shift counselors because she knew that her counselors couldn’t work twenty-four hours a day.
“I hate my so-called mother!”
“Why is that?”
“Because she conceived me and gave birth to me with the sole purpose of getting a big chunk of the Manning family’s money through me.”
Kate was amazed. “Who told you that?”
“Nobody told me. I’ve been able to read people’s minds since I was born.”
“Oh, my God,” said Kate.
“I hope that I don’t have to go back to her when I get out of here.”
“No, you don’t have to go back to her when you get out of here because by the time you get out of here, Christina, you’re going to be an adult. Since you’re half human, that will happen nine years from now.”
But what Kate didn’t know was that Brooke was the daughter of a Martian man and a lunar woman, making Christina completely alien. That’s the reason why Brooke knew about the drug that would incapacitate aliens. No human being knew that, and by the time that humans would find out about it, it would be too late for them to use it against aliens because maybe, by then, the human race would be extinct because of an event that had nothing to do with any alien from the moon or from Mars. Brooke would never use her supernatural powers because she didn’t want anyone to find out that she wasn’t human.
“I don’t think I’m half human,” said Christina.
“Why?” asked Kate.
“Because of the dreams I have every night.”
“What do you dream?”
“I dream that I’m in this planet that’s not Earth.”
“Describe the planet, Christina.”
“