Betrayed (17 page)

“So why didn't you leave him, Brenda? Why are you still with him if you're so miserable?”

Brenda wiped water from her face. “Because like a fool, I still love him. For some unfathomable reason, I thought I could change him…make him love only me. I have these two children he adores without a doubt and as a couple, we've become limelights in our community. Partially, that's due to Victor, but he didn't get that job as director because he was all of that. No, it was my father who knew the university president and put in a good word for his son-in-law so that he wouldn't look like a college graduate who couldn't find a job and couldn't take care of his family.”

“So how long has Victor been a director?”

“For the past fifteen years. Victor got in there and learned the job and is pretty darn good as an administrator. It's all the extracurricular activities he has under the guise of administrator. I'm sure that Victor is having some tryst with his secretary at this very minute. They say the wife is always last to know, but I'm a psychologist, and not much gets by me. Which brings up my initial question, which is…why does Victor hate you? Why has he forbidden me to see you?”

Mimi's eyes widened. “Forbidden, huh. Brenda you're not going to laugh at the answer; in fact, I'm not sure how you'll respond. I knew this moment would come, and I'm going to lay it all out there because you need to know.”

Brenda sat stoically in her seat, almost as if she was afraid to move, for sure afraid of what Mimi was about to say. “You're scaring me, Mimi. I truly wanted us to celebrate our reunion.”

“You're going to have to put the reunion on hold. What I'm
about to say is going to change our relationship forever. I'm not sure where to begin, but all stories have a beginning, and I'm going to go back nineteen years ago when we were freshmen in college and you had discovered that you were pregnant.”

“Maybe I do need a glass of wine, if you don't mind. I'm not sure that I'm going to like what you're going to say to me.”

“You won't, but promise you won't throw the wine in my face.”

“Maybe I should leave. Maybe today isn't the day I'm supposed to hear what you've got to say.”

“Today is the day,” Mimi said. “It's time for me to face this thing head on. I'm afraid if I don't, someone will get hurt…maybe killed.”

Brenda stood up again and shook her hand at Mimi. “What are you talking about, Mimi?” Tears began to fall from Brenda's eyes. “Tell me right now. Stop stalling and tell me why you ran away… why you didn't have the guts to tell me you were leaving. You were my best friend for God's sake. I needed you. When you left, I had no one…no one. I was left to shoulder the burden of my baby all by myself.”

“Listen to you, Brenda. I couldn't stay because I had issues of my own. I couldn't help you because I couldn't help myself. I realized that you needed me, but who was going to be there for me?”

“What are you talking about?” Brenda cried.

“Victor raped me. Now you know. I'll get that glass of wine now.”

There was a long pause. Brenda stood stiff in the middle of the room like she had turned into a pillar of salt. “What did you say? Did you say Victor raped you?”

Mimi wasn't sure if she should give Brenda a hug or wait until she had grasped the gravity of what she had heard. “Yes, Brenda, that son-of-a-bitch raped me. I couldn't tell you; I couldn't tell anyone.”

“Do you have something stronger than wine?”

“I don't want you going out on me until I've finished my story. I'll be right back.”

Brenda flopped back down in the chair while bubbles burst from her nose. Tears rolled down her face like a reservoir had been broken. She wiped her face with the back of her hand and tried to hide her emotions by bringing both hands in front of her face.

“Here's a box of Kleenex and your wine,” Mimi said with sad eyes. “We'll both need the box when I'm through.”

“When did he rape you?” Brenda asked with accusing eyes.

Mimi looked right through her. “It was the day you asked me to speak to him about his not having to bear the responsibility of your pregnancy, but you wanted to be with him anyway. He was drunk, Brenda, and that sorry son-of-a…I'm sorry. I hate dredging this up. Victor pulled me inside and started talking crazy. I tried to leave but he went crazy. He tore off my clothes and threw me down on the floor. Then…then he pulled down his pants while holding me down on the floor…and it happened.

“When he finished, he let me up and said to me,
now go and tell Brenda that I f'd you.
Brenda, I wanted to run and tell you, but I was so ashamed. I had to run to my room with my clothes all torn up. I prayed that you wouldn't be there when I got there. You weren't, thank God, and I did my best to cover it up until I missed my period the next month. Right then, I couldn't stay there.”

“Why didn't you report it to the police?”

“I don't know. In some part because I realized that it would hurt you, and I couldn't risk losing our friendship.”

“But you ran away. What's the difference?”

“The difference is that no one knew. I didn't even tell Victor. I called my parents and they came to my rescue. We only had a few weeks until the end of the semester, and no one would question my disappearance until school started again.”

“You knew that I would.”

“Yes; that was the disheartening part of this.”

“So tell me, Mimi. Is Afrika Victor's daughter?”

Mimi sat still and took a sip of her wine. “Yes.”

“So why in hell did you come back to Durham after all these years to disrupt me, my family, and your family, for God's sake? Why, Mimi? Why did you come back here?”

“Because my daughter wanted to go to NC Central. I tried to talk her out of it. We were living in Kansas at the time. My husband was about to deploy to Europe, and Afrika wouldn't take no for an answer. I would've gone with my husband, but after Afrika insisted on going to Central and had put the paperwork in herself and got accepted, I had no recourse but to support my child. I thought, just maybe, we could slide into Durham for four years and slide out the way we came, and life would go on as usual. Who would've thought that your daughter and my daughter would become best friends?”

“Just like you and me. Who would've thought it? Now Asia has a half-sister. I remember there was some talk about their similarities when Afrika first came to the house, but now I know why Victor was squirming.”

“He didn't know, Brenda. He must've put two and two together; soon after Afrika was at your house, he paid me a visit.”

“You mean Victor has been to this house?”

“Yes, he has. He threatened me, put his hands on me, and told me that if Afrika and I didn't leave the city, he was going to make life a living hell for us.”

“Weren't you afraid?”

“In the beginning I was, but the more threats he made against me, I resolved to stay and fight. Yes, I thought of taking Afrika out of school, but Victor Christianson wasn't going to make me run anymore.”

“Why should I believe your side of the story? What if you were the one who put the moves on Victor? You were talking against him pretty strong. Maybe that was so I'd lose interest and you could have him.”

“Brenda, don't do this. I hate Victor with all of my being. It's wrong to hate, and God knows I want to make it to heaven, but if Victor attempts to hurt me and Afrika again, I will kill him.”

Brenda clapped her hands. “That was nice. Make Brenda think that she had nothing to do with Victor coming on to her.”

“Brenda, this is the very reason I didn't tell you nineteen years ago. I was afraid you wouldn't believe me. You don't know how many times I wanted to call you and tell you the truth, but I couldn't. I couldn't bear the pain it would cost you. So I kept my secret.”

“Only to spit it in my face nineteen years later.”

“Believe me when I say, I had no plans of telling you, Brenda. It's only that Victor has been stalking me, causing havoc with Afrika's student records. He threatened me about meeting you for lunch. He's left threatening notes in my mailbox, but this has got to end. That's why I decided to tell you. My husband will be here at the sound of my voice, if I experience any more problems with Victor. And for your information, I told John Carroll all about it. In fact, he confronted Victor this very afternoon. I know this isn't the lunch you had envisioned us having, but I couldn't keep this secret any longer.”

“So what are you going to do?”

“I trust that Victor has gotten the message. Brenda, I can't guarantee what might happen if he attempts to bother me again.”

“What about the girls…Trevor? When do we tell them?”

“I think that we need to keep that under wraps for now. It's enough that you know, but let's not jerk the children into our mess right now.”

Brenda looked at Mimi. “Our mess?”

“Yes, our mess. So what are you going to do?”

“I'm going to divorce Victor; something I should've done a long time ago. Now, I've got to go. I've had enough for one day.” Brenda paused as if she suddenly remembered something. “Victor may beat me home. What do I tell him?”

“You want a divorce.”

“G
irl, you aren't ready yet?” Afrika asked, as she closed the door behind her to Asia's dorm room. “We've got to be at the gym in twenty-five minutes.”

“I'll be ready. The only thing I need to put on is my tennis shoes and comb my hair,” Asia said in a non-committal voice.

“Coach isn't going to tolerate you coming in late.”

“Nikki, did you see Deon last night with that skanky ho? He dissed me like he'd never seen me before.”

“Well, Ms. Thing, I don't see how you have any room to talk. It sure looked to me like you and Zavion were an item, or are you kissing cousins?”

“Shut up, Nikki. You don't get it. Deon asked me for my phone number and he was talking like he wanted to get with me. I don't like being disrespected.”

“I vaguely recall that at the pizza place you denounced Deon because he was a big ole footballer and that your eyes had found a new subject that you were truly digging. Now what's good for the goose is good for the gander. But I'm afraid what Keith said about Deon is true.”

“And what is that?”

“That you and your telephone number are merely one of Deon's conquests in his athletic black book.”

“For real, did Keith say that, Nikki?”

“Maybe…not quite like that, but he said, in so many words, that on the yard, Deon is not only a killer on the field but off the field, too. I say you're the lucky one, Asia. See, the sister he was with at the party won't be on his arm next week. They've already conquered and divided. But you on the other hand, you've still got Zavion. I like him.”

“But what if he turns out to be like Deon? They say all jocks are alike.”

“Your statement has some merit, but there's something different about Zavion. I watched him last night at the party. His eyes were only for you. He didn't look at any of those other girls who were trying to throw their stuff at him.”

“For real, Nikki?”

“For real. I was looking out.”

“Zavion and I had a nice talk before we went to the party. He told me about his life growing up. Mind you, it wasn't very pretty, but because of his grandmother, he wants to succeed. That drew me to him even more than his good looks.”

“Girl, it's me, Afrika…Nikki, whatever you want to call me. But I know you. That tall, fine, muscle bound, take-it-to-the hoops b-baller was what drew you to him.”

“Yeah, I guess you're right. But he really is a nice guy.”

“Well, I'm getting ready to leave your tail. I'm not going to be late for you or anyone else. When we're out there on the field cheering today, flash an extra helping of booty toward Deon. Then diss his ass when you get a chance.”

“I feel better already. Tell coach I'll be right there. And, Nikki, thanks for having my back, girl. You're the sister I never had.”

“Same at you. I'm out.”

M
IMI WALKED INTO THE STORE, LOOKING LEFT AND RIGHT BEFORE
she entered. She wasn't sure what kind of gun to get. A small pistol would do. Something to scare the crap out of Victor and maybe a bullet or two to remind him who he was messing with.

The room was full of guns—small, medium, large, rifles, shotguns, you name it. Mimi's lips parted in awe, not sure what she expected but realizing that after all, she was at a gun shop. The wooden walls were lined eight rows deep across the horizontal plane of the shop. It made her dizzy because she had no clue what she wanted and what to ask for.

A stocky, older white gentleman stood behind the counter. She noticed how he sized her up the moment she walked through the door. Her best smile appeared on her face, and the chore of purchasing a gun became painless.

“What can I do for you, Miss?” the proprietor asked.

“I need a small handgun. I live by myself, and I need to feel safe, especially at night.”

“Well, you aren't alone, ma'am. You won't believe the number of women who've been in here to purchase a gun or two in the last year. They almost outnumber the men. Let's walk over here and I'll show you something that might fit your needs.”

Mimi followed. “What is that with the pearl handle?”

“I can tell you like fashion, even in your weapons,” the man said, eyeing Mimi in her short pale yellow brocade jacket that sat on top of a black knit turtleneck and black stretch trousers that hugged her like a glove. “Nice jewelry,” he continued, looking at the nuggets and the big rock Raphael had placed on her finger. Mimi let out a small laugh. “That there gun is a twenty-two-caliber Ruger. Cost you about three-hundred fifty dollars. Range is about twenty-five feet.