7
Early 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.”
“You belong in jail, Victor.”
“The statute of limitation has long since run out, Mimi dear. And if anyone is going to jail, it’s not going to be me. In fact, I might call my insurance broker this afternoon and increase my policy. Brenda may have to use it, with all the threats you’ve made on my life. All I want to know is if you’re still going to deny that Afrika is my daughter?”
“How many ways do you want me to say it? Yes, Afrika is your daughter! Is that what you want to hear? What you gonna do now, add another notch to your baby-making belt?”
“Don’t be so dramatic. I’m not going to do anything. I can’t get over how much she looks like Asia. I do make some pretty girls.”
“Let me tell you one thing, Victor. Afrika has a father who raised her and helped to mold her into the woman she is today. Not some man without a conscience that forced his way on her mother with some lame excuse about being drunk and upset because he had gotten his fiancé pregnant and wasn’t ready to be a daddy. I wasn’t ready to be a mother, but if I had been ready, I wouldn’t have allowed you the honor of being my baby’s daddy. I’m surprised Brenda is still with you.”
Victor stood over Mimi. “Just know that it’s going to stay that way; Brenda will always be my wife until death do us part. And for your information, I’ll only own up to two children…Asia and Trevor—not Afrika or any other being that has sprouted from my seed.”
Mimi stood and moved away from Victor. “So why did you come here today? You’re despicable, Victor Christianson. You’re a man with no soul. You come to my house unannounced, demanding to know if Afrika is your daughter, but in another breath, write her off with a disclaimer. I want you out of my house now, you sorry son-of-a-bitch.” Mimi pointed toward the door. “I don’t ever want to see your ugly face again. You don’t have to worry about me telling Afrika about the likes of you; you don’t exist. You’re invisible and always will be.”
“Brenda knows you’re here in Durham, and she’s going to try and contact you.”
“What? How?”
“Afrika was at the house with Asia on Friday night. The conversation led from one thing to another. And here I am. Let me take this moment to warn you again about getting out of town. Brenda wants to see you, but that can’t happen.”
“I have no plans to see Brenda and tell her what kind of person you really are. You have my word on it.”
“That’s all well and good, Mimi, but I still want you out of town.”
“I can’t jump up and take Afrika out of school. She’s happy here, and the semester just started.”
“If you don’t do something, I will. Remember, I work in the Admissions Office.”
“And…”
“And? You don’t want to find out. Well, my lunch hour is over.”
Mimi watched as Victor walked out and closed the door behind him, got in his car, and left. She paced around her living room, trying to find a solution for the dilemma she now faced. Standing still, Mimi put her hands on her hips. “This jackass isn’t going to run me out of town. No way, Jose.”
Without another second thought, Mimi went to the kitchen and retrieved her BlackBerry and prepared a text. Afrika, Mommy needs to talk to you!
Mimi pressed the SEND button. Before she was able to lay the phone down, it rang. She didn’t recognize the number, but without realizing it, she hit the TALK button. The voice at the other end made her stop in her tracks.