Читать книгу A Sister's Power - Cydney Rax - Страница 11

Chapter 4

Every Woman for Herself

Alita decided to go to Morning Glory. She offered to take Elyse since she had to be at work by eight o’clock. Elyse currently worked as a hostess but Burgundy was fast-tracking her to become an assistant manager.

“Thanks for the ride,” Elyse told Alita as they traveled along the freeway. “But Gamba could have taken me like he always does.”

“Elyse, I wanted to take you to work and let you know how proud I am of you. You have done well at your psychotherapy sessions, and now it looks like you could get a promotion and a raise at your job.”

“Thanks, I want to do better and hopefully one day I won’t even have to go to therapy.”

“Right,” Alita coughed and cleared her throat. “Which brings me to this. One thing I plan to do, starting today, is tell the rest of the family about us.”

“That I’m your child?”

“Yes. Is that fine by you? You’ve been doing so well. I don’t want to stress you out and cause you to have a relapse.”

“I think I can handle it. Who do you plan to tell first?”

They had arrived at Morning Glory. Alita parked her vehicle. A police car was stationed outside.

“You’re about to find out, Elyse. That’s all I can say.”

They went inside the restaurant and it looked like the front entrance would be temporarily fixed so the business could remain open.

“Let’s go to the business office.”

Elyse meekly followed Alita until they found Burgundy who was just hanging up the phone.

“Hey, B. I’m here. I got Elyse with me. I’m sorry about the robbery and if I could pay you back every dime, I would. But you know me, I’m still struggling financially. I have been looking for a new job, a better paying one, so that Elyse won’t have to live with Coco anymore. Once I get my stuff together, I wouldn’t mind getting a bigger place and let her live with me again. I want to nurture her, take care of her, because she is . . .” Alita sighed. “She’s um.”

“What’s wrong?” Burgundy asked.

“Look B, there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you for a long time. Real long time. But—”

Burgundy’s eyes widened. “Does this have anything to do with my dead husband?”

“No, B. Thank the Lord.” Alita wanted to laugh. Maybe this would be easier than she thought. “It has to do with me and Greta Reeves, our dear mother.”

“What about her?”

Alita went on to explain how when she was barely sixteen, she got pregnant. And how the father was the man who lived across the street from them, Mr. Dawson. His wife, their son, Jerrod, and the three daughters were in disbelief and devastated by the whole thing.

“I was young. Naïve. Taken advantage of. And pregnant.”

“But hold up,” Burgundy said. “Wasn’t mama pregnant at the same time as you?”

“Yep. But she faked her pregnancy, B. Mine was real but hidden. And one day I gave birth to my first born . . . this beautiful young woman,” Alita hugged Elyse and kissed the top of her forehead.

There. She spoke her truth. At last Alita felt free.

Burgundy was stunned. “If I am hearing you correctly, Elyse is your natural born child?”

“Yeah, B. She’s my daughter. Mine. The other sisters already knew. I’ve been wanting to tell you for the longest.”

Burgundy had to let the truth sink in before she could respond. “Okay, fine. She’s your daughter. But why was I the last to know? Do you think I’m that emotionally fragile that I wouldn’t be able to handle it? As much as I want to hold up our family and make it strong as possible, you went around hiding this news from me as if I’m the enemy. I feel so confused.”

“Sis, you’ve been through so much as it is. I didn’t want to add to it. I didn’t know how it would make you feel, knowing that your husband did what he did, to my daughter. I just couldn’t predict how you’d react, B.”

Burgundy nodded. But her initial state of calm started to boil over. “Damn it. All of it makes me so angry. Because I still don’t get it. I don’t understand Nate. Why did he do what he did to Elyse? Did he ever tell you?” Elyse could only shrug.

“I’m sorry that I believed him. A wife wants to believe the best about her man. And it’s maybe the reason why so many people did not believe Dr. Christine Ford. She told her truth and got raked over the coals. Even so, Brett Kavanaugh’s wife stood by him. And Camille Cosby has always stood by her husband no matter what. That’s what us wives think we’re supposed to do.”

“But not all wives are the same. Some may be disgusted but they stay just for the money or the fame.”

“And some stay because it’s all they know to do. Maybe that’s why I did it,” Burgundy replied. “It’s no excuse. Because the bottom line is whether I believed in my spouse or not, if he did those dirty deeds, I am not the one that he must answer to. I’m amazed by your confession, but oddly enough, I feel better now. About everything. No longer will I beat myself up for another adult’s behavior. My husband made his choices. I’m about to make mine.”

She quieted down and heard Edmund’s voice. It sounded like he was talking to a policeman in the front lobby. She decided not to make a deal about it and felt very happy that her man had shown up during a critical moment of her life.

“You’re about to make some choices, B? I don’t know if I like how that sounds,” Alita said.

“That’s because you don’t know how it feels to be me, right now, Lita.”

“That’s true.”

“You don’t know how it feels to think you’re an intelligent, perceptive woman just to find out you were duped by someone you knew. Hell, I cross paths with all kinds of people on a daily basis. Being in the restaurant business makes you a people-watcher in some ways. And yet I still could not pick up on all these secrets that surrounded me.” Burgundy shuddered. “Being the last to know really sucks.”

“B, don’t get yourself all worked up.”

“All of you knew?” she asked.

“Dru and Coco found out in August,” Elyse replied. “They learned after Nate died. They were shocked but they got over it. And I’m hoping you can do the same.”

Alita reached over and hugged Elyse. “Don’t blame my daughter. It ain’t her fault. And don’t you dare be mad at me either. You may not have been able to sense what was going on but at least I finally told you.”

“Better late than never, I guess,” Burgundy murmured. So much had happened in such a brief time she wanted to brace herself for any other earth-shattering announcements.

“Elyse, it must have rocked your world to learn Alita is your mom. How do you feel about this?” Burgundy asked.

“Like I finally know who I am and I can move forward. Because now I have the truth. That’s what you tell us all the time at our Sister Day meetings. You once said that the truth may take a long time to come out but that shouldn’t matter.”

“Well, I guess if everyone else is alright with this then I won’t be any different. It’s all just so sudden and so shocking. But why did you finally tell me, and at this time of the morning?”

“Girl, you haven’t heard the worst.” Alita went on to explain the extortion threats she’d been getting and how she felt that the restaurant was targeted because she didn’t take Jerrod seriously.

“And you told me all this to explain the robbery?”

“Yeah. Jerrod was getting what little money I had so he wouldn’t expose me which is dumb because his father was the rapist. Like a fool, I fell for it. But when I got mad enough to realize I had nothing to be ashamed of, I shut it down cold. No more cash from Alita! But Jerrod thought he’d take it to the next level. He heard about you, B, and it was like ‘cha-ching’. And now he’s after your money too. The bastard.”

At hearing Alita’s extended confession, Burgundy’s whole body shook uncontrollably. She felt caged in, paranoid, and like she had no escape. Her sister’s ex-boyfriend wanted to harm her, to take something from her he didn’t deserve. For a moment she wasn’t able to think.

Sometimes, that’s how bitter truth hits you. It stops you dead in your tracks before you’re able to move again.

Once she organized her thoughts, Burgundy asked a staff member to bring her a fresh cup of coffee with plenty of cream and sugar.

“I’ve got to pull myself together. Too much is going on. And I, I just don’t know what to say, Lita.”

“Say that you forgive me for putting you in this mess. If I stood my ground with Jerrod in the first place, I doubt this would have happened.”

“And you really believe, you’re totally sure, that he robbed Morning Glory?”

“B, I can’t prove it but I know this dude. The timing is too suspicious. Anyway, how much he get y’all for?”

“Jordan told me that we lost only four grand. Because yesterday the restaurant was closed. Thank God for that! It could have been a lot worse.”

“Only four thousand? That prick. I’ll let the cops know what I think about him being a possible suspect. In my head no one else would want to do that except Jerrod Dawson.”