Nobody’s Child (New Life Tabernacle Series Book 1) (17 page)

“
Y
ou remind me of her
. My sister. When she was a girl.” Mr. Jones took a deep breath and exhaled. “Except, you remind me of me, too. Even when I first met you. I recognized that fire in your eyes. The burning that makes you want to destroy another human being."

Makayla didn't respond, but she knew what he was talking about. That desire she had to ruin Robin, even when it wasn’t at the forefront, was always there. Like a sleeping dragon, waiting for the slightest reason to rise up and set her hate ablaze.

But that was before. Before Carrie. And now, Emery.

"I don't feel that anymore. Now I'm just…"

“Hollow?”

She shut her eyes. She didn't want to cry any more. He reached out and took her hand into his own.

"That's usually what comes next. But I promise, it doesn't last forever."

B
y the time
Makayla left Mr. Jones’ house, daylight had long faded. He tried to persuade her to stay the night, but she couldn't think of anything she'd rather do less.

Walking home from the bus stop, she tried to understand how her life could turn upside down in a matter of hours.

She'd spent the past five years wanting to prove herself. Wanting to prove to her mother what a mistake it’d been to abandon her. But after learning the truth, it only made sense.

Of course, she was abandoned. Of course, she was unwanted. She was a reminder of how low a human being could sink. That a man would do that to his dead sister’s daughter made Makayla want to throw up.

Why didn't she just get on that bus to Denver when she had the chance? Sure, she probably would've spent the rest of her life wondering about Robin and feeling horrible about what she’d done to her, but she could've lived with that. The things she knew now? It was too much.

As Makayla turned the corner to her street, she was met with the blue and red flashing lights of police cruisers parked another block down. Even in the dark, Makayla could see the yellow and black crime tape rustling in the wind. Someone had been shot. Again.

She wove her way around onlookers standing on the sidewalk. Still a half block from the lobby doors, she felt someone pull at her jacket.

"Where were you last night? Spending time with your college boy?"

Makayla was not in the mood to put up with Antoine and his mess. Not tonight. All she wanted was to go to bed.

"You know you hear me. And I know you not trying to ignore me."

He circled around, then fell in step beside her, walking backward so he could face her. She could smell the stink of liquor mixed with the thick stench of pot.

“S’up? You been crying? I guess Mr. Escalade ain't treating you right, huh? Here, let me kiss it and make it better."

He lunged forward and put one hand on her behind and the other on the side of her neck. When he tried to kiss her on the mouth, she pushed him away. His grip on her tightened and, out of reflex, she hit him across the face.

To Makayla, the next few moments seemed to unfold in slow motion. The look of surprise on Antoine's face, the way the surprise contorted into rage. Him wiping his fingers across his mouth, her seeing the blood that streaked his lip.

She didn’t see his hand until the last split second. She tried to duck, but the bone of his knuckles still caught her eye, cheekbone and jaw.

The force of his strike knocked her off balance and she fell against the side of the building. Antoine looked as if he were coming for her again when one of his friends, the one with the mohawk, grabbed him from behind.

From where she lay, Makayla saw the flashing of the police lights reflect off the windows of the buildings across the street. Antoine's friend said something to him, but Makayla’s ear was ringing and she could only make out parts of it: ”…across the street!” “Are you crazy?" "Come on, dawg…“ “…parole.”

Whatever he said, he made his case, because Antoine rapidly regained his composure. But before he walked away, he leaned in close and whispered in her ear.

“Po ain't gonna be here forever. You gonna regret you ever laid hands on me. I promise you."

M
akayla scrambled
up the flight of stairs and ran down the hallway to her apartment. She fumbled with her keys the entire way, so she didn't see Robin until she was right at the apartment door.

"Oh my God! Makayla! What happened?" Robin reached for her jawline to get a better look, but Makayla pulled back.

"Leave me alone," she mumbled, as she unlocked her door and went inside. She tried to shut it behind her, but Robin stopped the door with her foot and followed.

“Who did that to you?"

Robin made a beeline for the freezer and opened it. Finding it empty, she flew past Makayla to the bathroom.

"We need to put something on there. Ice would've been best, but this is better than nothing."

She rushed from the bathroom with a damp towel in her hand.

“My Lord… Your eye looks like it's swelling as we speak."

She moved to put one hand behind Makayla's neck while using the other to position the towel on her lip when Makayla jerked away.

"You're not my mother. Stop acting like you are.”

Robin became still. Makayla stared at the floor. After a few seconds of silence, Robin folded the towel in her hand and looked around her. She went to the open apartment door, bent over and reached for something just outside it. Picking it up and closing the door, she returned to Makayla.

"You left this in my trunk."

It was Makayla’s duffel bag. She took it, careful not to let her fingers brush Robin’s. Then she went to the door Robin had just closed, opened it again and stepped back.

"Thanks for bringing my stuff.”

Robin took in a deep breath, then exhaled. She came to the door, but instead of walking through it, she closed it. She took off her coat, folded it in half and put it, along with her handbag, on the kitchenette counter.

"You left before we had a chance to talk through all this. There are things you need to know.“

Makayla had learned enough for the day. “Like what? Emery?”

Robin's face went slack.

"Or were you going to leave the pervert out of it? I mean, for my sake?"

"How did you—“

"Mr. Jones. I went to his house. He told me everything. He just didn't realize who he was telling it to." Makayla almost smiled at the irony of it, but the pain of her aching cheekbone stopped her.

"Oh, Makayla…" Robin took one step toward her, then another. Haltingly, as if not to scare her away. “Baby, none of that matters."

Makayla held the side of her face and laughed out loud. Not because it was funny, but because it was the most ridiculous thing she’d ever heard.

"It's the
only
thing that matters!"

Robin reached for her, but Makayla jerked away.

“Stop! Don't touch me.” Not even the throbbing of her jaw could distract her from the emotion welling up in her chest. She didn’t want to cry any more. She didn’t want to feel. She just wanted to sleep. “Why are you still here? You brought my bag. Just go already. Please.”

"No." Robin said the word so quietly, it seemed an inappropriate response to Makayla's ranting.

“I don’t wanna do this with you! I don’t wanna talk about this anymore. Just leave me alone.”

"I said, no."

Robin looked at her with such quiet determination, Makayla realized she was fighting a losing battle. She threw her hands up and exhaled before going to the wall and leaning against it. Robin sat in the folding chair and crossed her arms.

"Like I said, there are things you don't know. Things I need to explain to you. After you've heard everything, if you still feel the same, I'll do what you ask. I won't fight you. Deal?"

Makayla continued staring at the floor. “Fine.”

“This isn’t just about Carrie or Emery. I know you may not believe it, but I cared for you from the moment I saw you. It was the first Sunday of the month. You are wearing a cream and pink dress and your hair was down. The congregation was greeting one another and you were there, still damp from the rain." Robin smiled. “I hugged you and… I don't know, I felt something.

“Then I gave you that ride home and I had butterflies in my stomach the whole time. All I could think was, who is this girl and why does she make me feel this way? And then that day in the restaurant? April thought you were mine and that's when it hit me. What if you were? What if you were the answer to a prayer I’d almost given up on?"

Makayla looked up for just a moment, but it was long enough for Robin to see the look of confusion on her face. She put her hand up.

"Wait. I have to explain…” Robin exhaled and leaned forward, putting her elbows in her lap. “Not too long after I graduated, I was diagnosed with a severe case of endometriosis. It was so extreme, I was told children were highly unlikely, if not impossible. I was devastated. I'd always wanted to be a mother, even as a little girl. And if that weren't bad enough, it seemed like every guy I ever dated wanted a family. Not by adoption, that was made very clear. I knew I couldn't give them what they wanted, so I just stopped dating altogether.

“
‘I’m married to my work.’
That was the lie I used to tell people whenever they asked why I didn't want a family. It was easier than voicing the truth.

“Year after year, I kept expecting it to get better. I
needed
it to get better. But it never happened. I had this big gaping hole in my heart that just wouldn't go away.”

Robin paused for a long while and it took everything Makayla had not to look at her again, to make sure she was all right.

“For years, I thought it was my punishment. I thought I was reaping what I’d sowed. I never told anyone what was going on with Carrie. Not when it mattered. Not while it would've made a difference. And because I kept quiet, she tried to handle it on her own. It cost her her life. And not just hers, but the innocent one she carried, too.

“See, for years I hauled around guilt about the deaths of Carrie and her baby and it ate me up inside. I was so messed up, I never even asked God to change my situation because I thought it was what I deserved. By the time I learned better, it seemed too late. I was older, and all the men that had been interested, were married, with families of their own." Robin shrugged. "I realized I just had to make the best of it. As difficult as that seemed, I thought it was my only option.

“But then I met these women. The Langston sisters. You wouldn't believe what they've been through. One of them, Kristina, thought she was a lost cause, too. She’d given up on everything. I’ll admit, the situation looked bad. For several reasons. But as bad as it looked, it wasn’t beyond repair. It wasn’t too late.”

Robin sat on the edge of her seat, her enthusiasm evident in her animated gestures and glowing face.

"I saw them at their lowest. I was with them in ICU. Not once, but on two separate occasions. At one point, they were told there was no hope. But next thing I know, I'm getting a call and being told God turned it all around. That's when I decided, right then and there, no matter what, I would believe God. Even if everything in the natural said my chance had passed, I wouldn't give up. I wouldn't stop believing, because I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, my God was a God of miracles."

Robin stood and came to where Makayla was.

“And that’s why I say, you’re an answer to prayer. Not just for me, but Marcus, too." She lifted Makayla's chin so she could look at her face. "I know we’re not the parents that made you, but we could be the parents God gave you, baby.

“Don't you see? He brought you to us. I had that emptiness for so long. Nothing could fill it. Not money, career, or success. The longing was so intense, sometimes I thought it would suffocate me. I begged God, more than once, to take it away. I never understood why He wouldn’t. But now I see it's because of you. What I was longing for was
you
. What Marcus was yearning for was
you
. This isn't happenstance. This is our healing. Me, you, Marcus. All the loss and the hurt—everything the three of us have been through—it wasn't for nothing. All this time, God was orchestrating our lives, pulling us toward one another.

“I know right now you're reeling. What you've learned today would level even a person twice your age. But do you understand now? Why I said it doesn't matter? It's not who you are. It says nothing about your life or who you’re meant to be. This is not a sad story, Makayla. It's a love story. One that God has written just for us."

Makayla could only shake her head in disbelief.

Did Robin really think it was that easy? That they could all be together every day and pretend none of those terrible things had happened? It wasn't possible. Knowing what she knew now, Makayla could hardly stand for Robin to look at her. But even if she could, what about everyone else? Mr. Jones wanted to burn all traces of Angela, Carrie and Emery. How would he react to
her
?

No.

A bomb detonated the Jones family twenty years ago and Makayla was at the center of it. Robin could try to rewrite history all she wanted, it didn’t make it true. Makayla would always be what she was. The result of the people she came from. That wasn't Robin and it wasn’t Marcus.

Makayla straightened up and went to where her duffel and messenger bags lay. She took out the phone and the bracelet. She came back to where Robin stood.

“Was that all you wanted to say?"

Makayla kept her gaze on her feet, so she didn't know what Robin's face looked like. But she didn't have to see it to feel the emotional shift that occurred.

"Makayla…"

There was a pleading in her voice that made Makayla wish she was deaf.

She held up the phone and bracelet to Robin. When Robin didn’t move to take them, Makayla said, “If you won’t take them now, I’ll just send them back when I get where I’m going.”

Makayla heard Robin's breath catch. She saw her fists tighten until the knuckles went white.

"Please," she whispered. "Please don't do this…"

"You said you would do what I asked. You said you wouldn't fight me."

Makayla raised the items in her hands again.

"I need you to go away and pretend you never met me. I need you to let me do the same. I just want to forget this. You, Carrie, Mr. Jones, Emery. All of it.” Makayla gritted her teeth. “You gave me your word."

Moments passed and Robin didn't move. Finally, she took the phone and bracelet from Makayla. She went to the counter, put on her coat, and picked up her purse.

She came back to where Makayla was and stood before her. Despite her resistance, Robin slipped her arms under hers and wrapped them around her. She didn’t speak, but Makayla felt warm tears fall on her neck. Just when she thought she couldn't take any more, Robin let her go. She put her hands on either side of Makayla's face and looked into her eyes. Makayla waited for her to say something, but Robin only nodded, then walked out the door.

It wasn’t until she was gone that Makayla noticed the phone and bracelet on the kitchenette counter.