billion book
Chapter 28
Chapter 28
Brandon glanced at his phone screen and shrugged, “Beats me ”
“But this bracelet Don pointed at the bracelet in the girl’s hand, “Isn’t that the one you gave to Yolanda when you guys were kids?
He’d known Brandon since they were little tikes, so of course, he knew Yolanda too.
Back in the day, Brandon was always kind of a lone wolf because of his mom’s passing, always kept to himself. Only Yolanda, the good little girl that she was, liked to quietly stick by his side.
Back then, Don was clueless about the whole life and death gig and was at that impish age where he loved to butt heads with Brandon He’d blurt out whatever came to mind, no filter Seeing Yolanda glued to Brandon’s side, he and his buddies would crack jokes about them being an item, predicting she’d end up as Brandon’s bride someday. Little did he know what an item or bride even meant – he was just parroting stuff from the soap operas
Yolanda, bless her, she was thin-skinned Even though she didn’t quite get the meaning, she sensed it was something positive at her tender age and ended up with tears in her eyes. That was the first time Don got a taste of his own medicine – a good wallop from Brandon
After that beatdown, Don got his act together and even started to hero-worship Brandon a bit, shamelessly shadowing him just like Yolanda used to. So, he totally remembered that bracelet being Brandon’s birthday gift to Yolanda
When eight-year old Brandon had his birthday, Patricia, eager to bond with him, had gifted him a top- notch white jade. necklace with his initials engraved on it. Later, when Brandon’s dad wanted to give him a birthday gift, the usually silent Brandon piped up with a request to pick his own. Naturally, his dad
was over the moon and let him choose And what did Brandon pick? A bracelet modeled after his white jade necklace but with Yolanda’s initials on an emerald bracelet. Patricia had told him that engraving his name on the necklace would keep him safe and sound, so he wanted to pass on the same good vibes to Yolanda Since Yolanda was still little and he was worried about her getting choked by a necklace in her sleep, he went with a bracelet design – but with a twist It was a convertible design that could be worn as both a bracelet and a necklace.
Although Don hadn’t witnessed the gifting moment, he knew about it and had seen Yolanda treasuring that bracelet like it was her life. Even though he was a boy at the time and couldn’t quite recall Yolanda’s face, that bracelet was etched in his memory. After all, it was tied to the second whooping he ever got
When Brandon gave him the cold shoulder Don would entertain himself by teasing Brandon’s little sidekick, Yolanda. At that age, teasing a girl meant yanking her hair or snatching her toys and pretending not to give them back. He accidentally pulled off Yolanda’s bracelet and held it high above her head, just out of reach Watching her get all flustered gave him a sense of pride, and he wanted to tease her even more He never saw it coming when Yolanda jumped up to grab it back, breaking the chain. Yolanda, not one to cry easily, got teary-eyed again. And Don? He got his life’s second beating, courtesy of Brandon.
So, even after all these years, Don recognized that bracelet in a heartbeat. The memory was too vivid, and the design
was too unique.
He shot Brandon a surprised look
Brandon was way more chill. “I’m not sure
He hadn’t gotten a good look at it yet
“It looks super similar, one of a kind in its ugliness. Don remarked, glancing back at the phone screen, then at Brandon, “The age seems about right, and features well, not everyone grows up to be a spitting image of their younger self. Girls change a ton when they grow up, could totally be Yolanda
Brandon shook his head slowly. “My gut says no.”
Don raised an eyebrow, “Gut feeling?”
“Yolanda was never this loud”
He remembered little Yolanda as always quiet and well behaved, not a chatterbox sensible and kind- hearted, nothing like the brash and willful stranger from before.
If anyone’s temperament was closer, it’d be Sophia’s.
Sophia?
Brandon paused for a second.