Betrayed (8 page)

“You say she's going to be released?” Victor asked, relief in his voice.

“That's what I was told, but the doctor can tell you more. Next.”

“Thank you, Lord,” Asia said out loud. “I was so worried.”

Victor and Asia followed an orderly through the maze in the Emergency Room until he stopped in front of a closed curtain.

The orderly pointed. “Mrs. Christianson is in here.”

Victor pulled back the curtain and walked into the area, followed by Asia, and found Brenda sitting up and receiving instructions from the doctor who was attending her. Purple bruises were visible
on her face and arms, but there were no other severe lacerations as far as they could tell. Although her face ached, Brenda looked up and offered a faint smile, relaxing the moment the pain became too intense.

“Hi, Mom,” Asia said, reaching for Brenda's hand when she extended it. “How do you feel?”

Brenda's eyes searched Victor's and then settled on Asia's. “With a little rest, I'll be like new again. I'm ready to go home.”

“You aren't rushing too fast?” were the first words out of Victor's mouth.

“My husband and daughter,” Brenda said to the doctor.

Before Brenda said another word, the attending doctor turned around. “Hello, I'm Dr. Thorn. Brenda has sustained a few bumps and bruises, but she'll be all right, considering the banging her car received from all account of things. She needs to take it easy and get plenty of rest—something she could do from home. If she complains of severe headaches or backaches, especially in the first forty-eight hours, she should come back and be reevaluated as soon as possible. She's free to go now.”

“Thank you, Dr. Thorn,” Brenda said, scooting off the table with Asia's assistance. “Pass me my jacket, Asia, and we can be on our way.”

“Thank you, Dr. Thorn, for taking care of my wife. I'll make sure she follows your instructions.”

“Good deal, Mr. Christianson.” Dr. Thorn took a last look at Brenda and left the room.

“I'll need a rental car,” Brenda said to Victor as soon as the doctor's white coat disappeared beyond the curtains that cordoned off her makeshift room.

“You won't need one for awhile. You heard Dr. Thorn; you need rest so you can get better. If you hadn't gone behind my back and
tried to see Mimi, this wouldn't have happened,” Victor whispered.

“Did you miss your lunch with Nikki's mom today?” Asia asked.

“I was on my way to meet Mimi when I had the accident. It was weird. A car came out of nowhere and hit me in front of the restaurant. It was a hit and run. Mimi doesn't know, and I'm sure she's wondering why I didn't show up. I'll have to give her a call.”

“Your mother is hard-headed…running after her past. I bet she thinks I had something to do with her accident.”

Anger replaced the placid look on Brenda's face.

“You need to concentrate on getting well,” Victor continued, not missing a beat. “You aren't going to be running anywhere anytime soon.”

“What's up with you, Dad?” Curiosity clouded Asia's face.

Brenda said, “I'd also like to know, Asia.”

“Nothing, nothing. Your mother wants to rekindle a friendship that will do more harm than good. What kind of friend walks out on you without a word, never to be heard of again?”

“Isn't it up to Mom to decide who she does or doesn't want to see?” Asia said, her head cocked like she was the grownup in charge. Victor scowled at her.

“Victor, I don't know what's gotten into you,” Brenda butted in. “I'm a bit shaken up, but I walked away from that accident without one broken bone. Thank you, Lord. Now take me home.”

“Mom, I'm coming home with you,” Asia insisted.

“No, sweetie. You go on back to school. Momma can take care of herself.”

M
imi didn't care what time it was in Germany, she had to talk to Raphael. She set the few groceries she bought down on the kitchen counter, along with her keys and purse, and let out a sigh. She noticed the light on the answering machine was blinking but hesitated, wondering of it was another irate call from Victor. Something had to be done about his intrusion, and only Raphael could calm her nerves.

Quickly, she put the yogurt, skim milk, apples, lemon, and salmon in the refrigerator. She was dying for the taste of salmon, her favorite. She would broil it after she spoke with her husband.

Closing the refrigerator door, she reached for her purse to get her BlackBerry so she could call Raphael. As soon as she touched the keyboard, the phone rang and a smile danced across her face.

“Hey, Baby, it's about time.”

“Hey, Mommy, I know I've been delinquent.”

“Delinquent is not the word, but we won't fuss about it now that you've called. How's school going?”

“It's going good. I'm more worried about you. How are you doing?”

“Well, you took long enough to check on me. I've sent you several text messages.”

“I apologize. I…I remembered what you said about having more than one friend in my life…”

Mimi took a seat. “Something happened between you and Asia?”

“No, Mommy. We're still cool. I have a new male acquaintance.”

“Okay, Afrika Nicole Bailey. Remember what your goal is. You don't need any distractions or stumbling blocks to keep you from reaching that goal.”

“No, Mommy. I'm going to be an icon on Wall Street one day. I haven't lost focus. You can bet your bottom dollar on that—Wall Street jargon.” Afrika laughed.

“Well, I'm not laughing. I don't want to see anything but A's and B's for grades.”

“Not a problem. But I didn't call to talk about me. Asia told me that you were supposed to meet her mother today for lunch. How did it go?”

Quiet ensued. Then Mimi took a breath and exhaled. “I didn't meet her.”

“Why? What's going on? You telling me to be careful about getting involved with Asia's family puzzles me. Mommy?”

“I'm a little apprehensive about seeing Brenda again; that's all. I sort of skipped out on her when she may have needed me most years ago, but I had my reasons. I'm afraid that Brenda won't forgive me and I don't think I can endure the thought of it.”

“But, Mommy, she wants to see you. You should've seen how her eyes lit up when she realized that you were my mother and that you were living right under her nose. I believe she would've interrogated me all night if I had let her. Now, Asia's father, Mr. Christianson, there's something sinister about him.”

“What do you mean?” Mimi asked, holding her heart and her breath.

“It's the way he stares at me, like I've…”

“What do you mean, he stares at you?”

“I'm trying to tell you, Mommy. The first time I saw him on
campus, I understood that he might have mistaken me for Asia. However, the next time I saw him, at Asia's house, his eyes…his eyes were spooky. Like they were lasers and he was drilling holes through me. Then the next day at the football game, there he was again with that twisted grin on his face, watching me like he was some kind of stalker.”

“Stay away from him, Afrika. You hear me?”

“Yeah, Mommy. You're scaring me.”

“I'm not trying to scare you. I never liked that man when we were in college. Even then, I couldn't put my hand on it,” Mimi lied for Afrika's sake, “but I've always thought he was up to no good. I don't know what Brenda saw in him, but she said she was going to marry that man one day.”

“But what has that got to do with him staring at me? And what made you think he was up to no good?”

“I can't explain it, Afrika. If I could, I would. I don't trust him as far as I can see him.”

“Well, he gives me the creeps. He's Asia's daddy and all, but you don't have to worry about me; I'm going to stay as far away from him as possible. So why didn't you really want to see Mrs. Christianson?”

“Who said I didn't want to see Brenda? So many questions, Afrika.”

“That need answers. Something strange is going on, Mommy, and you opened the can on my curiosity by telling me to be aware of Asia's family.”

“Truth be told, Victor, Mr. Christianson, never liked me. I was his wife's best friend, and I believe he thought I was trying to turn Brenda against him.”

“Were you?”

“I'll say this. I didn't do a very good job of convincing Brenda
to stay clear of Victor. She wanted him. I even think she got…she got…”

“She got what, Mommy?”

“Never mind.”

“You want me to act like an adult, but you still treat me like a little girl.”

“That's not true, Afrika. Some things are better not said, so let's leave that thought in my head.”

“Whatever. So, tell me, Mommy, did you know who Asia's parents were when I brought her by the house?”

Brenda hesitated—thought about how she would answer the question. “Actually no, but I had my suspicions.”

“What was it?”

“Her name, since you want to know.”

“Asia?”

“Yes. My best friend and I made a pact all those years ago that if we had girls, she would name her daughter Asia and I would name mine Afrika.”

“Dang! Asia's mother said the same thing. I don't understand what's going, but it's giving me the jitters. Before I go, I have one last question for you?”

“What's that?” Mimi asked with apprehension in her voice.

“Are the Christiansons why you didn't want me to come to North Carolina?”

T
here wasn't enough air in the universe for all the huffing, puffing, and blowing Mimi was doing when Afrika asked the one question she had never hoped to hear. Good thing Afrika couldn't see her face; she would've never gotten away with the flimsy half-lie she told.

Keeping her secret from Afrika was proving to be a bigger chore for Mimi than she expected. There was always the possibility that coming back to Durham might have repercussions, but the possibility was slim. But in less than a month, she'd been introduced to the daughter of her best friend who looked so much like her own daughter, she'd been confronted by the man whose actions had caused her to leave Durham in the first place, and she'd been contacted by her best friend that she hadn't seen in nineteen years, who was the wife of the man who'd confronted her and the mother of her daughter's new best friend. Damn. Her life was more complicated than it ever was.

It was time to call Raphael. Her husband would have answers. After all, he was a Colonel in the United States Army and he commanded troops at home and abroad, from Ft. Riley, Kansas to the sandy deserts of Iraq. Mimi punched the first number in on her BlackBerry when she remembered the blinking light on her house phone.

As she suspected, it was from Victor. Mimi had had enough of
his antagonism for one day and wasn't about to listen to anymore of his threats taunting her and Afrika to leave Durham. Curiosity wanted her to listen to the message, but peace of mind pressed the delete key. She didn't care what time it was in Europe, she was going to call Raphael.

The voice on the other end of the line was groggy. “Hello, hello.”

“Baby, I'm sorry for calling you so late.”

“Yeah, it's one in the morning. Mimi, you all right?”

Mimi could hear rustling in the background. “I hope you weren't in a deep sleep. I'm all right.”

“Hey, baby, it's me, Raphael. You know I know you.”

“Really, I'm fine. I needed to hear your voice.”

“My body was down for the count, but I hadn't gone into the zone yet. I do need a good night's sleep, but I'm sitting up now. Busy day. We shipped out twenty-five hundred more troops to Afghanistan.”

“I'll be glad when the war is over.”

“Afghanistan and Iraq. But you didn't call to talk about that. I've missed you. How's Afrika doing?”

“I've missed you, too. Afrika's doing great.”

“Have you changed your mind about coming to Germany? I can put in for housing right away. As I told you before you made the decision to go to Durham, Afrika was going to be okay.”

“No, I need to be here. If something happened to her and I wasn't able to get to her, I would never forgive myself.”

“Me either, baby. I guess I saw our baby as all grown up. Afrika has always been very independent and intelligent. She got that from her father.”

Mimi was quiet. It was true that Afrika had taken on Raphael's traits and demeanor. A large constituency of Afrika's high school teachers and Raphael's colleagues made a bet that Afrika was
destined to follow in her father's footsteps and would probably become the first and only African-American female Commander General in the United States.

“Afrika has been fortunate to have you as a father. Baby, I'm sorry to have disturbed you. Go on back to sleep. I needed to hear your voice.”

“I'm awake now. You sure you're all right? I detect a little something in your voice.”

“Well, remember me telling you about this guy who harassed me in college?”

“You mean the guy who tried to assault you because you wouldn't give into his advances?”

“Yes, he's the one. As big as Durham is, guess what?”

“Don't tell me you ran into him.”

“I did, Raf. It's been a long time since I've seen him, but out of the blue, there he was.”

“Did he say anything to you? Did he try anything? I'll be on the first thing smoking back to the U.S.”

“No,” Mimi lied. “It felt strange seeing him again. He stared at me like I was on display at some museum. It gave me the creeps.”

“Listen, Baby. If this guy, for any reason, gives you any cause to feel threatened, get a hold of me right away; I'll be home as fast as I can get there. Nobody messes with my wife. Hopefully, it was only a coincidence that you ran into him.”