8
“Mimi?” the voice asked.
“Yes, this is Mimi. Who’s this?”
“Mimi, is it really you? This is Brenda, your best friend that you did the disappearing act on, just when I needed a hand to hold. Pregnant and all, Victor and I got married. Asia got your number from your daughter; I hope you don’t mind that I called.”
“Brenda, I…I’m sorry about all those years ago. I didn’t mean to leave you by yourself. I had issues of my own that I was going through. Uhh, how are you?”
“I’m fine. Well, to be honest, I was utterly shocked to find out that you had a daughter and that you lived right here in Durham. Why didn’t you contact me? Did I do something wrong?”
“No, Brenda, you didn’t do anything wrong. I’ve only been in Durham a month. I’m married also, and my husband, Raphael, is a Colonel in the Army. He just left for Germany, and I moved to Durham to support Afrika while she’s in college.”
“You can’t imagine my surprise when she said her name. Do you remember when we were in high school in Germany and I said if I had a girl I would name her Asia and if you had a girl you would name her Afrika?”
“I remember it as if it were yesterday.”
“Mimi, my heart went through my chest when Afrika said who she was. Nineteen years have passed since I’ve seen you. I didn’t know where you were, never heard from you, and I didn’t know if you were even alive. Why did you leave so abruptly? Things worked out for me and Victor, but I didn’t have my best friend to share it with.”
“Like I said Brenda, I had a lot of issues going on that I couldn’t talk about. With all you had going on in your life, I didn’t think it was fair to burden you with my stuff.”
“But that’s what best friends are for…at least I believe that to be so. I even tried contacting your mother and father, and they never returned my calls. My mother told me that your parents moved to Missouri…something about taking care of a sick relative.”
“Yes, my grandmother, my mother’s mother, took ill, and my parents went back to St. Louis to be with her. I don’t know if you remember, but St. Louis was my mother’s home. Dad is from South Carolina.”
“Why don’t we get together for lunch? I can’t wait to see you and play catch up.”
Mimi stammered. The last thing she wanted to do was have a face to face with Brenda. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to see her—she missed her something awful. But the truth about her disappearance, her leaving Durham so suddenly, was bound to come out, and she couldn’t risk it. And then there was Victor, who had already threatened her. She tried to find the words. “I’m really busy unpacking and trying to get this house together. I don’t know when I’ll be free.”
“You’ve got to take a break sometime. Mimi, I’ve missed you. What about tomorrow at twelve-thirty?”
“I’ve really got a lot to do.”
“Mimi, it’s been a long time and it may be a bit awkward, but I want to see my friend.”
Mimi hesitated. “Okay. Tomorrow at twelve-thirty. Where would you like to meet?”
“How about Brasa right off of Highway 70? It has great Brazilian food.”
“That’s fine. I’ll be there.” Mimi shut the phone and sat down in one of the chairs. What was she going to do now?
AFRIKA SWUNG HER GYM BAG ACROSS HER SHOULDERS AND HEADED to the gym locker room to get ready for cheerleading practice. She felt good about the test she had taken in English. She couldn’t wait to get to practice to tell Asia about Keith, a junior who had walked her to her science class. He was one of the brothers she had met at the frat party on Saturday night.
Just before entering the gym, her cell phone rang. A smile crossed her face as she hurried to answer the call.
“Hey, Keith.”
“Hey, Nikki. What are you doing?”
“I’m at cheerleading practice, but I’ll call you as soon as I’m done.”
“Okay, sounds good. Maybe we can meet each other later on.”
“All right. Bye.” Afrika was all nerves and jittery. Keith was a good-looking, tall Alpha brother. Before closing the phone, Afrika saw that her mother had sent her a text.
She opened the text and read her mother’s message. Afrika frowned, somewhat alarmed at the tone of it, but she remembered she had sent one of her own and had yet to talk to her mother. Afrika closed the phone and decided she’d contact her mother as soon as practice was over. As soon as she entered the gym, she saw Asia and all else was forgotten.
THE SUN DROPPED BELOW THE HORIZON AND DARKNESS REPLACED the light. Mimi rushed around the house shutting blinds, checking them twice to make sure no one could see in. She secured the locks back and front, shaking and rechecking them to ensure no one could get in.
Exhausted, Mimi slouched in the nearest chair and heaved her leg over the arm and let it hang. It became a painstaking event, listening for the beep that announced a text or the ringtone reserved for Asia.
Anxious, Mimi picked up the remote and turned the television on in hopes of a distraction as she flipped from one channel to another. However, nothing seemed to capture her attention. Her mind wandered as the day’s events wouldn’t leave her alone. Victor’s face appeared in front of her—she could almost hear him breathing. She fought to be rid of him, but his image wouldn’t go away.
She couldn’t believe she had struck him dead in the face. A smirk streaked across Mimi’s face, gloating in the memory—her one-second victory.
Her face became somber. Something drastic had to be done about the precarious situation she found herself in, although she wasn’t sure what it was. The more she thought about Victor, the more defiant Mimi was becoming. Her mind was made up about one thing for sure, and that was Victor wasn’t going to run her or Afrika out of Durham. More immediate was her lunch date with Brenda. The timing was all wrong; Mimi wasn’t ready to see her yet.
Mimi searched for the time on the DVR. It was seven o’clock, which meant it was one in the morning in Germany and too late at night or early in the morning, depending upon whose perspective it was. She needed to talk to her husband, but she’d give up calling him for the moment.
In the midst of the quiet, the phone rang. Who’d be calling this late? Maybe it was her Mom and Dad calling from St. Louis. Without looking, Mimi sprinted to the kitchen and picked up the phone before it stopped ringing. “Hello.”
“You should’ve checked your caller ID,” the voice said.
“Who is this?” Mimi asked, confused.
“So this afternoon has already faded from your memory. I’m calling to remind you that I wasn’t paying lip service to you today. It’s not in your best interest to disobey me. Having lunch with Brenda would be bad for your health.”
“Are you through?”
“As long as you understand the message.”
“Victor, you don’t scare me. Threats are just that—threats. You can use all the scare tactics you want, but you won’t win. I will not play this game with you. My advice to you is get your own life in order, and DON’T CALL HERE AGAIN.”
Mimi slammed the phone down and shook uncontrollably. She ignored the phone when it rang a minute later, and when she didn’t answer it and it rang several more times, she snatched the phone cord out of the jack. “I’m too blessed to be stressed,” she muttered under her breath, but she was visibly shaken.
Mimi went to her junk drawer, retrieved her journal and a pen, and then sat down at the kitchen table. She opened the book and reread her first journal entry, closed the book and her eyes, and began to pray. She hadn’t been close to God in a long time, and if she needed Him, now was certainly the time.
When she finished her short prayer, Mimi picked up her pen and opened the journal to the next available space.
October 6, 2008
A one in a million chance was the odds of me running into Victor or Brenda. I would have never won the lottery with those odds, but somehow fate has a way of making a believer out of me. Who would’ve thought my worst nightmare, which had been temporarily parked in the furthermost recess of my mind, would descend upon me out of nowhere in the middle of the day when I was minding my own business, oblivious to what the neighbors on either side of me were doing, let alone old friendships that had died hard. Maybe it was my paranoia or maybe I spoke this madness into existence, but now I’ve got a fight on my hands, one that has put a fight within me that I didn’t know existed.
Victor had the audacity to show up on my doorstep today, get in my face, and demand to know if he was Afrika’s father. Who in the hell does he think he is? And when he received confirmation from me that Afrika is his child, he had the nerve to tell me that Afrika and I had to leave Durham so that his reputation would stay intact. I’m neither his wife or his concubine. I should have busted his tail a long time ago and explained to Brenda later, but she probably wouldn’t have believed me if I told her that her sorry-ass fiancé had raped me.
Brenda wants to meet me, but I can’t. Too many years have passed to try and rekindle a relationship that…that I still want. I’ve thought about Brenda often, wondering whether she married Victor, if she had kids, and what she looked like. Would she have that same award-winning smile that used to melt men’s hearts?
Something keeps tugging at me on the inside, telling me to tell Afrika…to tell Brenda before things get out of hand because no amount of talking will repair the damages my silence have rendered.
Lord, I need Your direction. I need You to show me what I’m to do. I’m prepared to fight Victor, but I need to know the how. Afrika is my primary concern, and I’ll let no one hurt her, except over my dead body. She’s my baby, my only baby.
Mimi Bailey