Identity Crisis
Some Time Later . . .
Everything was messed up. Athena continued to call me, so I blocked her. After I did that, she resorted to her pop-ups at my house. I think that Cookie, Tookie, and I moved in with Solomon accidentally. Toddler beds had been added to the doggie room with Thor, She-Ra, and He-Man. My business truck and trailer, as well as my personal vehicle, were parked in his driveway.
I hadn’t been able to get my shit together since the big family secret was revealed. I threw myself into work. I was doing as many as eight grooming sessions a day. I would start as early as five in the morning some days and go as late as midnight on others. After two weeks of that, Solomon shut that down. He demanded that we take a vacation, and a vacation we took.
He chartered his family jet, we grabbed our passports, and he took me to Bora Bora for a week. It was the most relaxing place that I had ever been. I was inducted into the mile high club, and I was loved on. The way that man catered to me made me want to propose to him. That would never happen, but the feeling of understanding why a bitch would was there.
There were a couple days that my baby stayed in the bed with me for an entire day after we showered. We slept, cuddled, made love, I cried, and we just were. We didn’t need to talk, because he knew that I wasn’t ready.
Elica, Cadence, Michelle, and Tsia had stayed close to me. Jessop and Solomon sponsored a spa day and girls’ sleepover. Whew, a time was had, and I loved every second of it.
“You sure you want to do this? If you need more time, that’s alright,” Solomon said. He kissed my temple.
We were in another eating establishment, but this time, I went with tacos. It was another meeting of sort. “Yes, Solomon. I’ll be alright with talking to them. I’m just not ready to talk to him yet.”
By him, I meant my biological father, Travis. By them, I meant my brothers and sister. A few days ago, I told Sol that I wanted to sit down with Darius. It felt more comfortable to do that than it did to sit down with Travis right now. I knew that Travis was my biological father, but James Bulb, regardless of the circumstance, would always be my father.
When Sol called Darius, that was when I was informed that I had another brother, Travis Jr. or TJ, who was twenty-five, and a sister, Vanessa, who was twenty-three years old. Darius asked if they could come because they wanted to meet me as well. I wasn’t sure at first, but Sol suggested that I did.
Sol and I sat for another ten minutes before the sound of loud laughs came through the door. I recognized Darius since I’d seen him before. When I saw Travis Jr., I didn’t see much of a resemblance between the two of us. The same couldn’t be said when I saw Vanessa. My head slowly turned to Sol.
He nodded with a raised brow. “I see it, baby. Y’all twinsies,” he said with a titter.
Darius pointed me and Sol out. They all smiled as they walked toward me. Sol and I stood.
“Gorjess, I’m so happy that you wanted to meet. Let me introduce you to your brother and sister. This is big head ass Travis Jr. or TJ, and this is little head ass Vanessa.” Darius looked between me and Vanessa. “Fuck, y’all could be twins.”
TJ stared for a moment before he spoke. “Wow! I’m not sure if I ever thought this day would come. Our dad is sitting on pins and needles waiting for the call from you.”
Vanessa stepped forward. In a quiet voice, she said, “I know we don’t know each other yet, but I hope we can get to know each other. I’ve always wanted a big sister because these two are weird.”
There was a pregnant pause before we all chortled. “That’s how you really feel, Vanessa? Wait until I tell Mama that you said we were weird.”
“Y’all are funny. How about we sit down? I ordered two platters of a variety of tacos,” I informed them.
We all sat in the large circular booth. Once we were in, we all found another common denominator among us. We all loved tacos. The tacos came out right as the drinks they ordered were brought out. We ate in a comfortable silence.
After I finished my first taco, I cleared my throat to start the conversation. “Um, I’m actually surprised that you guys know who I am. I’m not sure why I didn’t expect that. Well, I didn’t expect any of this, to be honest.”
TJ smiled. “Nah, Dad talks about you often. He talks about you when you were a baby. It isn’t all the time, but he always told us that we had an older sister. If anyone asks him how many children he has, it is always four.”
“There are pictures of you when you were a baby in our house,” Vanessa revealed. “Our grandma, I guess she’s your grandma, too, Irene, took a lot of pictures of you from birth to the point up to when you were taken.”
Irene.“So, that is where my middle name came from. I always wondered. You said something about your mother. Are they still together?”
Darius nodded. “Yes, they are. They got married like a year after I was born.”
“Why did my father never look for me? I mean, my name is unique. I would think that it’s not that hard to find me.” It bothered me since all of this happened. Why not look for me?
TJ shifted in his seat. “I think this is a question that is best answered by our father. When it comes to what happened then, we think those are answers you deserve from him directly. Weare here to get to know you and hopefully be accepted into your life.”
The thought of it sounded and felt good. They hadn’t done anything to me. If I had to be honest, neither had Travis. If I wanted to be mad at him, the only thing I could be mad at was that he never looked for me.
Love,Drinks, & Hands
A Short Time Later . . .
