Sabrina Wolfe sat at her grandmother’s grave. She started talking to her grandmother. “Hi, Sadie. It’s been too long since we last met. Before you died, you asked me to always remember how I came to know you. How I came to know God.” So, I wrote it down so I won’t forget.” Sabrina wiped a tear from her eyes and touched the tombstone. “I remember, Sadie. I will not forget.”

Sabrina pulled out a small blue book from her pocket. “I wrote down everything, Sadie. “ She said as she opened the book “I came to share my story. It all started three years ago.”
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I was the head of a multimillion dollar company known as Wolfe Express. It was a delivery company that had a hand in anything that needed to be delivered, moved, packed or shipped. I made this company on the backs of workers that did not know to form a union or sue for at least minimum wage. Almost half of my first year’s profits were from unpaid salaries. Ismiled at her my, ripping off countless numbers of people to get the company up and running. I was ruthless in my strategy and did not take no for an answer. One day, I was sitting at my desk, surrounded by the spoils of my success.
“Ms. Wolfe,” my secretary called over the intercom, “Harvey’s Lumber head chairman is here to see you regarding the details of the account.” I nodded my head and said “Let him in, he is harmless.” A minute later a man came into my office. He had a gold suit on and he walked casually to her desk, but Icould tell that he was nervous and muttered things under his breath. I knew that I could smell his fear.I smiled, Iwould eat him alive. I would get more money out of his company. Twice, almost three times of what it would take to transport the lumber and supplies to their factories.
“Come in, come in, Mr…?”
“Lignatore…. Len Lignatore.”
“Well, hello, Mr. Lignatore. What were you just mumbling just now?”
He chuckled nervously. “You heard that? Well I was saying that it feels that I’m in the pit of the Wolfe’s belly, seeing as your office is in the middle of the office building.” I laughed like that was the funniest joke I heard, which made him even more nervous. I laughed, planning my strategy to suck money out of this hillbilly.

“Sit down, sit down. What are we meeting about?” I asked politely. Len sat down in one of the chairs that were closest to her desk. “I came to see you, not about the account, but about your company. I’m thinking about moving into the delivery business. I want to buy this company from you. I know that your company is doing well, but I also know that you have been working in a crime ring transporting drugs, guns and bombs for profit. I know about the underhand deals you’ve made to keep this company afloat.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about, Mr. Lignatore, but my Company takes pride in doing good business with good people.” I said coldly. I never told any one, except my partner, and I was doing this to get my business to reach new hights. We needed that revenue to get to be the powerful force that we are today
“I think you do, Ms. Wolfe. I saw your books. There was almost one hundred million dollars that are not accounted for in your tabs, but they appear dispersed between your salary and Mrs. Johnson, who you had to pay over the years to keep silent, but unfortunately, she didn’t. She let us look at the books and gave us first hand information that will bury you so deep in fines and jail time, by the time you dig yourself out of the hole, you will be lucky to even have a car to drive, let alone a house to sleep in.”
“What do you want?” I said, knowing that I got caught.
“As I said before, I want to have a part in this delivery business. I want you to sell me eighty percent of the company, your percentage that you own.” Mr. Lignatore said, confidently, knowing that he has the upper hand.
“No.” I said.” You are crazy to think that I would sell you my company for some allegations that you can’t even prove. “
“On the contrary,” Mr. Lignatore said, “I have proof. I have photocopies of the books, testimonies of a person in your company and I have a recording.”
“I did not leave any traces of my interactions with drug lords and bomb makers overseas.” I said, my mind racing to figure out who the leak in my company was.
“You did leave a testimony”, he said, smirking, while he pulled out a tape recorder out of his pocket.
“Leave!” I exclaimed, now recognizing that he was craftier than he appeared. “Get out of here!”
“Fine. I will give you two weeks to make a decision before I turn you over to the police and I take away your company by force.”

With that, he got up and walked away. When he opened the door to the office, I saw him smile and wink at her receptionist. I sat back in her chair shaken up. I have always been so careful about my interactions with the Chos, Dominics, and the other groups I have worked with. I pressed the buzzer for my secretary. “Will you come in please?” The door opened and a lady came in with a pen and pad.
“You’re fired, Sue. You let personal, important things come up from the deep, where they are supposed to stay.” Mrs. Johnson looked at her boss and said “They tricked me into telling them. I am sorry.”
“He came in to blackmail me. You knew that was what he was coming to do. How long did you have this planned?”
“We had it planned for three years.”
“Who are we?”
“My husband and I. My husband is Len. He wanted some dirt on you so he could take over this company. He also found my other account with my payoff money in it. I had to tell him. I was the one who was sloppy.”
“I have to fix this mess myself. I cannot trust anyone. As I said before, you are fired Mrs. John- Mrs. Lignatore. I do not want to see you again, even though you are my sister.” Sabrina looked at her sister in disgust. “How could you do this to me.?”
Mrs. Johnson looked at her sister. “I want to say two things. First. I hate the name Lignatore, so I kept my maiden name. Second, you have been so cruel and evil ever since mom died. You got even worse after Ron died. You’re the one that caused his death.”
“Leave now.” I said sternly, with a hint of malice in her voice. Mrs. Johnson took the hint and started to leave. “You can call Mike for help.” She said before she walked out of the office and closed the door behind her.
“Michael…” I whispered to herself, “Micheal, yes. There is a plan. I will go and see what he can do for me.” Business was over for me early today, so I left early. When I passed the receptionist desk, I my her little sister cleaning out her drawers with tears in her eyes. She looked up at me. “Please let me stay here. I’m sorry. I know we were in this together, but Len said that I could be head of this company. I wanted to be that so bad, but he stabbed me in the back at the last minute and didn’t keep his word. He forced me to give that information up. I am sorry.” I stared at her with cold eyes and said “Don’t even try it. You are fired. Turn In your car. Take the bus home. In one swift movement, I threw a bus token at her sister and continued to the elevator. I couldn’t believe that my own sister could do this to me. I had her back for so long, she just threw me aside for money, who could do such a thing?

When Ileft the building, I got in my car and drove off. Istopped at the airport to get to New York to meet my brother, Michael. While waiting in line for her ticket, I called him. When he answered the phone, I sighed. “Hey, Mike. It’s Sabrina. I need a favor. I am coming to New York.”
“Hey sis. The last time we spoke was when your husband died, at his funeral. You must be in deep to call me AND be willing to fly all the way from Cali to meet me. If you want my help that badly, I am at Grandma’s. Come to Denver. “I hesitated to respond. My relationship with my grandmother was worse than my relationship with my brother, but I was in bad trouble, and I needed him right away. “OK, see you in Denver. Good. My brother is a lawyer. He could help me to fix this problem
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When I reached their grandmother’s house, I got out of the car and headed in. The aroma of spices and scents, scents thatI had all but forgotten, wafted out from the open windows. Iwalked up to the door and rang the doorbell, expecting my brother to open the door. I was surprised when it turned out to be my grandmother opening the door. I didn’t want to involve my grandmother in this situation, so Idonned a fake smile and greeted my grandmother. “Here, grandma, I got you the cookies that you love from California. My grandmother didn’t return my smile and didn’t accept the cookies. “Stop cheesing like that.” my grandmother said, “I know that you are in trouble.” I was taken aback by tat statement. I didn’t tell anybody what had been going on. Nobody knew but Sue. Sue must have told everybody after she got fired.

Iwalked in, nervous. My secret was out. My brother was her last hope.
“Sit down, Sabrina. Talk to me.”
“I just came to visit. Nothing is wrong.”
“If you came to visit me, why did you call Michael first?”
“To see if he wanted to come along.”
“Stop lying, Sabrina. You called him for help legally.”
“Michael doesn’t even know that I was coming for legal advice. Did you talk to Sue?” My grandmother shook her head. “I did not talk to her.” My grandmother took a sip of hot cocoa from a mug on the table.
“You know, I have been praying for you ever since Patrice died. Your mother did all that she could to keep you off the streets and get a good education. She brought you up right. Why have you strayed off the path that God has laid out for you?” I didn’t answer. I tried to divert the attention off of my mother. “Where is Michael?”
“Michael is in the shower. Stay on the subject. What’s the matter?”
“How do you know that I’m in trouble?”
“As I said, I have been praying for you. While I was praying, God revealed to me what was going on with you in your life. He revealed all the drug transport and the guns that promote gang violence.”
“You HAVE been speaking to Sue.” I said, not believing that my grandmother had access to this information.
“I told you. I did not speak to Sue, although God told me that she was in this with you.” Sabrina got up from her seat. I couldn’t believe that even though my grandmother knew what was going on, she hadn’t called the police on her. That was what I would do.
“Not all of us have cold hearts” My grandmother said, as if she could hear my thoughts. “Come to church with your brother and me tomorrow. I think that you will learn something. “
“Why do you always try to drag me to church?” Igrumbled.
“I am not dragging you anywhere. It is your choice.” With that my grandmother got up and said “Dinner is ready in ten minutes. Go tell your brother.” I got up and started walking to the bathroom. On the way there, my old room caught my eye. I walked into it. It was the same as always. The walls were pink and the same magazine posters that were on the wall were still there. Istarted to reminisce about when I was a child. Until a loud voice startled me.
“Hey, Big Brina,” my brother called from behind me. Iwas shocked to hear my old nickname used. Iturned around to see my little brother. My brother was dressed in a red bathrobe. “Hi Michael, how are you?” My big brother donned a grin and went to hug me, but backed awayThis trip was for business. “Still the ice woman as always.” he muttered under his breath. He fiddled with a circular ring on his finger and looked dejected.
“I am not here to socialize. I need your help. Grandma said that dinner is almost ready. Ten minutes.”
“Okay. I’ll go get ready.”
I nodded and went to get herself ready. I knew that my brother was naive enough to help me without knowing what was going on.
I changed myself. Idonned one of my mother’s nightgowns, having nothing else to change into. I had come to her grandmother’s house on a whim.
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After dinner was done, I didn’t need to be told that Icould sleep in my own room. When I laid down, sleep was difficult to find. It was eerie to see my room exactly how I had left it over twenty years ago. Iwas familiar with every nook and cranny in the room, but the room brought back unwanted memories of my childhood and mistakes that I did not wish to relive. I looked around the room. I noticed that a pattern of circles was on the wall. She remembered the pattern from years ago.My mother told me that the pattern symbolizes something, and it was very important,but I could not remember. I noticed that the same pattern was in the comforter that I was using. I tossed and turned. All she could think about was her grandmother and her words. I thought about was the consequences of what I did, which scared me. I relived my childhood. The trips to the park, the good stuff. My mother made it so that there was never a dull moment in my life. But after I died, I was pressured to keep the family going like my mother did. Those trips to the park and the museum, keeping up with my sibling’s schoolwork and my job turned into an enjoyable experience to Mike and Sue, but it was devastating for me. I felt so annoyed to have all of this unwanted responsibility. Soon annoyance turned into dislike, then hatred for my siblings. At twenty-five I married Luther Wolfe, to get out of taking care of my brother and sister. As Luther promised, he sent the kids to foster care and that was the end of her problem. My husband taught me how to be ruthless and unforgiving in the business world. Taught her how to steal, lie and cheat to get her way. “Every thing is going to be okay.” My husband said when she proposed delivering for drug lords. He thought that it was a great idea until one delivery did not make it on time. They hunted him down and made him pay for that delivery with his life. In order to go to sleep, I started to suck her thumb, a technique that she used when she was living with her grandmother.

I awoke the next day in a sweat. I got up, shaken by my troubled sleep. My grandmother met me at the table for breakfast. “Grandma, what is the pattern all over my old room?” My grandmother got sat down at the table. “You mean you don’t remember?” I shook my head, now noticing that the tablecloth had the exact same pattern, three circles intertwined with one another. That reminded me of something that I read in a book. “You need to figure out the pattern for yourself. You came here to find something. Maybe it’s in the pattern. “my grandmother said, “You need to write what is going down so people can learn from your mistakes. The next few days are going to be an important turning point in your life. Come to church with us. Come home.” My grandmother looked at me.

The Wolfe looked at her grandmother. In her grandmother’s eyes see could see the pain that she has caused not only to her grandmother, but to her family. She could also see forgiveness and love in her grandmother’s eyes. She had used up the grandmothers time and patience. She consumed her grandmother’s love for God and her family to the point where she expected to be tossed out of her grandmother’s life. Yet, she was having breakfast with her; she could tell that her grandmother had forgiven her for all that she has done. Sabrina had used her grandmother over the years. She had done terrible things to her family and they still dealt with her. This kind of love is the type of love that Sabrina needed. She wanted to be loved like that. She wanted to love people in the way that her grandmother loved her. Her heart was full of malice and anger towards everybody. This was a clear and obvious message that she should change her ways. She wanted to finally do right by her grandmother and God. “I’ll go to church with you.” Sabrina said, taking a step in the right direction. Taking a step towards rebirth, and knowing God.