Betrayed (37 page)

The detectives looked at Afrika, covered by the thin white and blue bedspread whose eyes were transfixed on them, waiting to hear like her parents the cause for the interruption.

“We need for the both of you to come to police headquarters with us and answer some questions,” Samuels said to Mimi and Raphael.

Raphael looked at the pair with suspicion. “What is this about?”

“If you have to ask, Mr. Bailey…”

“Daddy, what is he talking about?” Afrika asked, trying to sit up and digest what was taking place.

Mimi watched Raphael as he contemplated what to say. They hadn't told Afrika yet about Victor, but the time had come. She held Afrika's hand, wanting to shield her from all the pain she'd experienced in the past week, but the truth was the light—it was what it was—and there was no way of getting around it. She
believed Raf had nothing to do with Victor's murder, and she would stand behind him no matter what.

“Mr. Christianson, Asia's father, was found dead late last night according to the news,” Raphael said. He looked up and saw the detectives analyzing him, no doubt checking his body language, what he had said and how he had told Afrika that Victor was dead.

“Dead? How? First I get shot, and then I find out that…” Afrika paused. She looked at the two detectives, who were watching her.

“What did you find out, Ms. Bailey?” Marshall asked in a calm, reassuring voice.

Mimi and Raphael stood still. Afrika searched for support from her parents, and then turned back to face Detective Marshall. She closed her eyes and let out a long breath. “I found out that Mr. Christianson is my biological father.”

Marshall and Samuels looked at each in amazement at the new bit of information they had been thrown. “When did you find this out, Ms. Bailey?” Samuels asked.

“Yesterday.”

“Yesterday as in yesterday morning, afternoon, early evening?” Marshall pushed.

“Okay, detective,” Raf cut in. “She said she found out yesterday. My daughter is ill; please be a little more sensitive to that fact. “

“It's routine, Mr. Bailey. “

Afrika sighed again. She didn't even look Detective Samuels in the eyes. She pushed the answer from her mouth to be rid of it. “Yesterday morning.”

“Thank you for being so cooperative,” Samuels said.

“Mr. and Mrs. Bailey,” Marshall began, “if you go with us now, maybe we can have you back with your daughter before long.”

The moment Mimi dreaded had come to pass. Deep in the back of her mind, she knew the police would be knocking at their
door. There was the matter of her car and her gun. Both were still missing. Even after reporting it stolen, somehow she knew it might be tied into Victor's death. She and Raphael had stayed awake most of the night talking about it.

Raphael kissed Afrika on the forehead and whispered something to her. Mimi did likewise, and they followed the detectives out of the room.

F
amily and friends converged on the Christianson household bearing casserole dishes and large tin pans filled with fried chicken, honey-baked ham, collard greens, corn, macaroni and cheese, and dinner rolls. Brenda's two sisters, Mabel and Tracey, worked the kitchen like it was their domain—as if the stainless steel chef's kitchen had been installed for their exclusive use. They heated food and dished it out—limiting folks to the amount of food they could put on their Styrofoam plates to shooing the small children who took to running in the house absent of their parents' immediate attention.

Someone said something funny, and Brenda laughed along with the rest of them, as a group sat in the family room reminiscing. Brenda loved family gatherings, and although the occasion was a sad one, the chit and chatter down memory lane was good for her nerves. The last few weeks were laden with one bad situation after another, even though Brenda's heartache had lasted most of her adult years. For a moment her mind wandered as she recaptured the few precious moments with Victor when their lives seemed to be grand and unstoppable. But the moment was short-lived as she recounted Mimi's subtle announcement…that Victor had raped her nineteen years ago and her daughter's best friend was her sister.

The doorbell rang and a new face emerged. Brenda noticed
that the sullenness that had become a part of Asia's demeanor had evaporated…vanished into thin air. The young man, Asia's new interest, had come by to lift her spirits and take her mind off the tragedy for a moment. He was tall and handsome, and while Brenda had met him briefly in Afrika's hospital room, anyone who could make Asia smile was a welcome sight.

Trevor was another matter. He was withdrawn and stayed out of sight. Having to go to Trevor's high school and deliver the terrible news to him was the most painful moment for Brenda aside from hearing the news herself. There weren't any tears, but Trevor seemed to be mad at the world, retreating from everyone. He didn't want to talk about the events of Victor's death, and Brenda kept the television off so they didn't have to be reminded. But she had wondered if the police were close to finding Victor's killer.

“I brought you a plate of food,” Mabel said to Brenda, handing her the plate. “You need to eat something.”

Brenda looked at the plate and smiled. “Thanks, Sis. I'm not hungry, but I'll eat it because you fixed it.”

“You better because if you had refused, Tracey and I were going to gang up on you and make you eat. I was going to hold you down and Tracey was going to pry your mouth open and shove the food in.”

That made everyone laugh, and Brenda lightened up and tasted the macaroni and cheese. “Umm, good. Somebody put their foot in this mac and cheese,” Brenda said.

“I did!” Cousin Cora hollered.

At that announcement, everyone got up and fled to the kitchen to get seconds. Brenda looked around and smiled. Her family was there. Victor's mother, father, and siblings hadn't come by. She'd spoken to her mother-in-law, and they chose to mourn privately…
at least initially. They'd come by tomorrow to help with the arrangements.

Brenda looked at her watch. It was seven o'clock and already pitch-black outside. Daylight savings time was over—the sun was well over the horizon a few minutes after five. Brenda gazed often at the door, hoping that Mimi would come. As people paraded in and out, her hopes dwindled. She understood that Mimi might be with Afrika…sharing the bad news that her biological father was now a casualty. And to think, all of this might have been avoided if Mimi had never returned to Durham.

“Mother,” Asia said, placing her arms around Brenda's neck and giving her a kiss.

This caught Brenda by surprise, given Asia's mood. But she realized that the young man standing next to her was the reason for Asia's newfound attitude.

“We're going outside for awhile. You remember Zavion?” Asia asked. “You met him at the hospital.”

“Yes, but it was for only a brief moment. Thank you for coming by, Zavion.”

“Thanks for having me, Mrs. Bailey. I wanted to come and support Asia.”

“I'm glad you did. This is the first time she's had a smile on her first since this morning.”

Asia kissed her mother again on the forehead, and Brenda watched as they walked outside and closed the door behind them. Now if only someone would come and lift Trevor's spirits.

All of a sudden there was a hushed silence in the house. Brenda heard someone say
oh my goodness
and one of her sisters admonishing the group to keep it low. Brenda picked up her unfinished plate on the coffee table, got up, and marched into the kitchen area where the majority of the folks were hanging out. She noticed
that someone had turned on the flat-screen television that was embedded in one wall of the kitchen.

“What's going on?” Brenda asked as she watched the puzzled looks on the faces of those standing around her long granite table.

“The police have brought in a husband and wife for questioning in Victor's murder,” Mabel said, not wanting to upset Brenda, who stood and stared. “The newscaster said they were persons of interest…”

“Well, who were they?” Brenda asked Mabel, as everyone stared in their direction.

“Your best friend, Mimi, and her husband,” Mabel said and turned to put a piece of chicken on one of her small niece's plate.

Mabel and Tracey were on either side of Brenda, ready to hold her up if needed. Brenda swallowed hard. Brenda's eyes pleaded for the truth. “Mimi? I don't believe it. I don't believe she would do it. Yes, she hated Victor, but not to the point that she'd commit murder. What else did they say?”

“Nothing, but I'm sure there will be more on the late-night news,” Tracey said reassuringly. “Why don't you go and lay down.”

“No, I need to talk to Mimi myself.”

“Don't do this, Brenda,” Mabel pleaded. “Let the police handle it. If Mimi didn't do it, the police will be the ones to find out.” Mabel turned to the others. “Turn that TV off.”

When Brenda looked up, Trevor was standing in the kitchen doorway, shaking. “Trevor, are you all right?” Brenda went to him and hugged him. “Baby, I'm sorry about your father.”

Trevor looked at Brenda and the rest of the group whose attention was now on him. Even Asia and Zavion had come back inside and were standing behind Trevor, trying to assess what was going on.

“Trev, you okay?” Asia asked as well.

“Mom, they didn't kill Daddy,” Trevor said.

“What are you talking about, Trevor?” Brenda asked with apprehension in her tone.

“She didn't do it. He didn't do it.” Trevor seemed lost in a fog.

“Who didn't do it?” Asia cut in.

“Afrika's mother and father. I saw the whole thing.”

“Slow your roll, Trevor,” Brenda said, not understanding where Trevor was coming from. “You're obviously upset and not rational at the moment. I know you've been internalizing what's happened with your daddy—”

Tears erupted from Trevor's eyes, unable to hold them back any longer. He could barely speak. “A red Lexus drove up and stopped in front of my friend's house. A man got out of the car and Daddy was holding a gun to his head.” Trevor wept but willed himself to go on. “The man kicked the gun away and knocked Dad to the ground, but the man ran away. Then…” Trevor looked up into Brenda's eyes, the tears streaming down his face. “Then…” Trevor looked away and tried to begin again. “Then Dad got up, picked up the gun, and chased the man. I guess Dad didn't catch up with him because he came back and busted into my friend's house, shouting obscenities at my friend's mother. He didn't even notice that I was there, standing on the porch, watching the whole thing go down.

“I didn't want to admit to my friend that I knew who Dad was so I didn't say anything. But we could hear everything that was going on inside the house. Dad and my friend's mother were cursing at each other, and then…and then Dad said she had given him AIDS.”

Brenda, Mabel, Tracey, Asia, and everyone gasped at Trevor's words.

“What in the hell are you talking about, Trevor?” Aunt Mabel asked.

“You're lying, Trevor,” Asia accused.

Trevor ignored Asia. His tears had eased up. “Dad accused the lady of giving him AIDS. He said another lady friend of his told him that she had HIV and had gotten it from him, which meant that Dad had gotten it from my friend's mother. My friend's mother slapped Dad, and he slapped her back. And that's when my friend ran into the house, pulled a lamp off of a table, and hit Dad in the back. Dad was about to pull the trigger when he saw me.”

“You've got to report this to the police,” Brenda said.

“He didn't kill Dad. He was alive. But I bet you can't guess what my friend said next.”

Brenda looked perplexed. “What did he say?”

“My friend asked me why Dad was staring at me. I don't know where I got the courage to admit that he was my father. My friend looked at me like he didn't believe me. Then my friend asked how Dad could be my father when he was
his
father.”

Everyone continued to stare at Trevor while the countenance on Brenda's face changed. Anger replaced concern and her fingers begin to curl along with the knot in her throat.

“That sorry ass bastard got what he deserved,” Brenda growled. “Let his momma take care of his funeral. For all I care, they can take his body and burn it up because he's going to burn up in hell anyway. Made a damn fool out of me.” Then as if she had digested the words, Brenda began to scream and the tears fell along with it. “AIDS? My God, don't tell me…don't tell me…ah, ah, ah.”

Brenda collapsed. Mabel and Tracey fell right beside her, fanning and asking folks to move back. Asia came and stood over her mother, pulling her hair and holding onto Zavion.

Zavion gave Trevor a strange look. He moved away from Asia and stood in front of Trevor. “Trevor, what is your friend's name?”

Trevor gave Zavion a puzzled look. “His name is Freddie.”

“Freddie Slater?” Zavion asked.

“Oh, no,” Asia said out loud. “Tell me it ain't so.”

“I wouldn't have that bastard for a father,” Zavion said as he turned and looked at the shock on the faces of Asia's family members without offering any apologies. He looked at Asia and shook his head. “I'm sorry, Asia, but I didn't realize the man who's abused my mother for years was your father. Forgive me, but I can't stay. I've got to go see about my mother.”

Asia stood as still as a statue. Her face was ashen like she'd seen a ghost. She watched as the door closed behind Zavion.

The room was numb with all that transpired. There was no movement, only silence until Trevor walked over and stood where Brenda now sat after recovering from her fainting spell, her sisters still fanning.

“Mom,” Trevor began, as he choked on his words, “I hope you don't hold it against me, but I killed him.”