Betrayed (5 page)

“Or was afraid to ask,” Brenda said.

“Is there something I should know?” Afrika asked timidly, not sure what kind of response she was going to receive.

“Not at all,” Victor said, suddenly wanting to the take charge of the conversation. “Mrs. Christianson and I are merely shocked that, after all these years, a prodigal sister has returned and it took our daughters to bring us together. This is exciting. Trevor, I hope your birthday wasn't upstaged by this turn of events.”

“No, Dad, I think it's pretty cool myself. Now you'll always remember my birthday as the day you rediscovered a lost friend.”

“No, it will always be the day my son was born,” Victor said.

“Listen to Trevor,” Asia said. They bumped knuckles. “Happy birthday again, Trev. Nikki and I, no, Afrika and I are headed back
to the dorm. We've got a football game tomorrow. Got to get some sleep.”

“It was nice meeting you all,” Afrika said for the third time. “Happy birthday, Trevor.”

“Be sure to let Mimi know I'd love to hear from her,” Brenda reminded Afrika, her voice trailing off.

“I will.” The girls headed to the car.

“They really do look like twins,” Brenda said under her breath as she peeked from behind the drapes in her oversized living room and watched the girls drive away.

A
sia and Afrika rode most of the way to campus in silence. Exiting the freeway and stopping at the red light, Asia turned to face Afrika. “Nikki, tonight was freaky.”

“Yeah, it was,” Afrika said, not bothering to turn in Asia's direction and keeping her voice low. Suddenly, she turned and looked at Asia. To see her was like looking at herself. “So what do you think all of this means?”

“I don't think it means anything more than are parents are old friends. The real question is why did your mom leave without telling anyone or saying goodbye?”

Afrika pondered the question for a moment. The light turned green and Asia drove forward.

“I don't know why my mother chose to leave without telling anyone, but I'm sure she had a good reason. But let's give this up for tonight. My energy is sapped; I need a good night's rest.”

“I agree.”

Afrika sat back in her seat and closed her eyes. Her mother's warning had fallen on deaf ears, and now she was afraid that she may have opened a door her mother might have wanted to stay shut, although she had no idea why. Afrika pulled out her cell phone and began to text.
Mommy, we need to talk, A.

T
HE FANS WERE OUT IN FULL FORCE TO WATCH
N
ORTH
C
AROLINA
Central whip the Fayetteville State University Broncos. Rumor had proven true when Central pulled out of the Central Inter-collegiate Athletic Association (CIAA), but the Eagles still enjoyed a non-conference match with their former rival.

The cheerleaders were in the ready position as the band continued to assemble in the bleachers, playing a jazzy number that had booties bouncing and swaying and heads and arms rocking from side to side. Excitement and camaraderie complemented the near seventy-five degree heat and brilliant sun that lit up the afternoon skies. Hotdogs and carbonated drinks kept everyone happy until kick-off.

Afrika kicked her legs and threw her arms in the air. “Do it Eagles!!” she shouted along with the other cheerleaders. She waited for the next command and stood facing the crowd in the stands, waving her hands. Then she spotted him staring at her like she was some kind of science project that he was going to dissect.

She turned away and then looked back and Victor was still staring at her. What was his sudden interest in her? Why was he so quiet last night, acting as if he'd never met her before? It gave her the chills.

Afrika immersed herself in cheering on her team, although in the end, it was a letdown as the Fayetteville State Broncos trounced the Eagles 36-14.

M
IMI LOOKED AGAIN AT THE MESSAGE SHE HAD RECEIVED FROM
Afrika. Her stomach was in knots. She didn't know what to make of the cryptic message. What if she had learned something about her? Mimi shut her mind down and deleted the thoughts she conjured in her head.

E
arly Monday morning, Victor hurried to his office and closed the door. Without taking a breath, he turned on his computer and tapped impatiently on his desk until he was prompted to log in. He immediately hit the keyboard, typing in commands while waiting for a response. His brain waves accelerated like someone had pushed the
ON
button of a blender to high, but slowed only a little as soon as he was logged into the Banner system that gave access to student records and other aspects of the school's internal system.

Victor's fingers raced across the keys and went into search mode. When prompted, he typed in Bailey, Africa.

Curses flew from Victor's mouth when he was unable to bring up Afrika's name. He tried Bailey, Nikki, but without success. He typed in Bailey once more, and then typed in Afr—what he believed to be the first three letters of her name. “Bingo.” Victor hit his desk with his hand—a look of success written on his face.

Scrolling down the screen, Afrika's information transformed before his eyes. At last, the information he was seeking stared back at him. He digested it for a minute and then grabbed a pen and a piece of paper and jotted down the address for Setrina Bailey.

“Right here in Durham,” Victor said to himself. “Well, we'll see for how long.”

Victor stared at the screen a few minutes longer, scrolling backward for no apparent reason. And then he saw Afrika's birthdate—almost two weeks to the day of Asia's.

A frown, then a scowl replaced the smirk on Victor's face. At first it was a mere thought—Asia and Afrika's resemblance to each other so uncanny, their height, the way they wore their hair. But dates say something else. They are markers; place markers for events at a certain time and place. He had to know for sure.

Eight forty-five. It was too early to leave the office without a valid reason. If he could hold himself together until eleven-thirty, maybe his anxiety would decrease. It was going to be a long three hours.

At exactly eleven-thirty, Victor rose from his seat and placed the piece of paper with the address on it in his pocket. Outside of his office sat his secretary, who was obviously gossiping, her voice a hushed whisper that every now and then let out a, “Girl, you're telling a lie.” Victor paused momentarily at his secretary's desk and waited for her to finish her personal conversation. Agitated, he rapped his knuckles on her desk. She jumped and the telephone fell from her hands as she finally lifted her head and saw her boss standing in front of her.

“Mr. Christianson, what can I do for you?”

“Sheila, I'm going out for an extended lunch. If I'm not back by one-fifteen, call my one-thirty appointment and reschedule. And remember, you're on company time.”

Sheila smirked and batted her eyes. “Okay, Mr. Christianson. I'll see you later.”

Victor hurried to his car. Without another thought, he took out the piece of paper in his pocket and keyed the address into his navigation system. He backed the black Mercedes convertible coupe out of its space and barreled out of the parking lot. The
voice of the navigation guide irritated him, but the instructions made it an easy ride.

The prospect of seeing Mimi again caused him a bit of anxiety, but the trip was a must and couldn't wait a minute longer. He had long since forgotten the fateful event that had sent Mimi running. Although he didn't know for sure that Afrika was the result of his assault on Mimi, he felt it in every creak of his bones. And he was going to get his answer today. The question was what he was going to do if the information he received was what he hoped it wasn't…that he was Afrika's biological father.

Victor drove through his old neighborhood and others he had frequented while growing up. Memories of the parties, the women, and games of hoops in now empty schoolyards crossed his mind. Sitting at a light, Victor watched a middle-aged sister in three-and-a-half-inch heels get out of a car and head toward a drugstore. He broke his neck to get a good look at her; he was sure that she was one of his exes from way back when. The woman had a booty on her then and she had one on her now. A smile crossed his face at a long ago memory.

It was ten minutes to twelve when the voice of the guide instructed Victor to turn right and then left, slowing down to turn into a complex that he had not heard of. Brand new condos lay beyond the sign that read Willows Bend. Although Victor didn't see any willow trees, Dogwood trees lined the entry way of this isolated community, and beautiful Japanese maples dotted the front yards of each condo.

“You have reached your destination,” the voice of the navigator said. “Your route guidance has ended.”

Victor had committed the address to memory. When he identified Mimi's residence, Victor drove slowly past it, turned around, and parked across the street in an unmarked space.
Nerves griped his body, and he sat for a few minutes to get it under control. He looked in the mirror, brushed his sideburns, straightened his tie, and got out of the car.

He surveyed the surroundings and walked across the street. Hesitating a moment, he pulled himself together and walked the last few feet to Mimi's door. He rang the doorbell and almost immediately the door flew open.

“Expecting someone?” Victor asked, a smile crossing his lifeless lips.

A gasp, then a hand over the heart. Mimi looked straight into the eyes of a face she had longed to forget.

“Are you going to invite me in?” Victor asked casually, sarcastically, dressing Mimi up and down with his eyes.

All of a sudden Mimi pushed the door, trying to close it before Victor could come all the way in. Luck wasn't on her side. Victor wedged his foot between the door and the frame. Mimi continued to push, but clearly she wasn't as strong as the man who barged his way into her residence.

“What do you want?”

“What do I want, Mimi? Why don't you invite me to sit, and yes, I'd like something cold to drink. I'm on my lunch hour.”

Mimi stood with her hands on her hips, glaring at Victor who had already taken a seat. “No one invited you to lunch, so there's no need for you to waste anymore of my time.”

“Slow down, Mimi. Let's not be so hostile. I came by for a friendly visit.”

“How did you find me, Victor?”

“It wasn't hard. I'm the Director of Admissions at NC Central. I'll say, though, you've got a beautiful daughter…Afrika. I like that.”

“Don't you go anywhere near my daughter. Do you hear me, Victor? You do and I'll…”

“And you'll do what? Run to Brenda and tell her that you gave it up to me? Time hasn't changed you a bit. You're still feisty as you ever were and you've still got that ‘oh help me Lawdy' coke-bottle figure.”

Mimi's finger shot in the air, getting in Victor's face. “Shut up, Victor. Shut the hell up. You're such a liar. Don't you ever talk to me like that again. You have no right barging into my place. In fact, you've already worn out your welcome.”

“Mimi, you slay me. You know why I'm here, and I want an answer right here and right now.”

“An answer to what?”

“Oh, please, spare me the bull crap. I'm walking across campus calling out to my daughter, but another young lady turns around instead. Damn, she looked just like Asia but a little darker. Same height, about the same weight, hair in a ponytail. It was easy to be mistaken. But I had to ask myself, could this be my daughter? The moment she got closer, in my heart, I realized that she was mine. Right then, I had to find out who her mother was because you weren't the only one.”

Slap! Slap!

Grabbing the side of his face, Victor jumped up from his seat. A cold chill enveloped the room, and Mimi moved back as she watched Victor's face turn from light brown to blazing red. Victor gritted his teeth and scowled at Mimi. “I ought to beat the crap out ya now, but that would be too easy. Mark my words though, you're gonna live to regret that little mistake.”

Mimi's body stiffened as she continued to watch Victor, whose anger had completely contorted his face. She wasn't sure if he would retaliate, but without a doubt this visit was over. “Please go, Victor,” Mimi whispered. “I'll pretend this never happened.”

Victor grabbed Mimi by the shoulders and pushed her into a
chair nearby. “No, you listen to me. I want you to take your daughter out of Central and move out of town…far away…to where, I don't care. Brenda can never know that Afrika's my daughter.”

Mimi knocked Victor's hands away. “I never said she was your daughter. You're making an assumption that you aren't even allowed to make. Now you listen. If you put your hands on me again, I'll have your sorry ass arrested…something I should have done a long time ago.”

“You don't scare me, Mimi. Afrika is my daughter. I checked her date of birth. She was born two weeks after Asia. The timing makes perfect sense.”

“Perfect sense? Perfect sense because you raped me? And you want me to be silent so Brenda won't know what a bastard she married? I was silent for nineteen years because I didn't want your sins to come between Brenda and me. She and I were friends long before she ever met you. When she came to tell me that she was pregnant and to talk some sense into your irresponsible ass because you weren't hearing it, I should've told her to forget about you. But noooooooooo, I had to be the mediator. And instead of mediating, I ended up being impregnated against my will by the likes of you. I have no plans to tell anyone, but not for your sorry sake. For Afrika's. I wouldn't want her to know what a pathetic excuse of a man her biological father is and that he's also a…”

“Watch it. Although I don't care what you think, I'm standing here.”