“Thank you so much. My brother got the best arranged wife he could ask for.” Hearing her label me an arranged wife was so unexpected that I could do nothing else but burst out laughing. We were both cracking up as the chef walked in, holding Rocki’s hand, bringing the child to his mother.
I thought it was so cute that Rocki always ate breakfast with the chef, Yusef. Wait a minute! I looked at Yusef and then at Rocki and wondered if it was possible that Yusef could be Rocki’s father. Yusef wasn’t a bad-looking older man; he was probably in his late forties. Sofia was twenty-nine, soon to be thirty; the age difference wasn’t that huge.
Rocki appeared to be quite comfortable with Yusef. I’m thinking Sofia and Yusef are having some kind of illicit love affair. A Romeo and Juliet type shit, where they both came from different walks of life and their love would be frowned upon. I could be correct, or it could be that I’ve watched one too many romance movies.
“Hi, Rocki,” I waved to the toddler, and he waved back just as my phone began ringing. I sighed softly when I saw it was my sister calling.
“Hey, Chanel,” I answered on the first ring.
“No, it’s not Chanel,” the familiar voice said on the other end. My eyebrows shot up when I heard my aunt’s voice.
“Aunt Debbie, hey, is everything ok?” I immediately began to panic, thinking something had happened to my sister.
“Look, I have no idea what has been going on with both you and my brother, but you two need to stop taking advantage of me.” I became confused at what she said because I didn’t know what she was referring to.
“I’m sorry, what’s all this about?” I asked her.
“Lewis has been leaving Chanel in my care, promising to return, and most times he doesn’t. I’m a retired woman; I don’t have a lot of income coming in, and my brother drops his daughter off without giving me any assistance. Chanel is my niece, and I love her, but this is beginning to take a toll on me. On top of everything, I’ve been given different explanations of your whereabouts.” Aunt Debbie sounded as though she was about to lose her shit.
Lewis surely was a piece of work, treating Chanel as though she were a bag of laundry he could just drop off anywhere, then turn his back and be on his way.
“Aunt Debbie, I’m so sorry, I had no idea. Where is Chanel now?” I asked, waiting for her answer to know what my next move would be.
“She’s here, still asleep. I can tell she’s very confused about what’s going on. I think she feels like she’s a burden and nobody wants her. That baby doesn’t deserve this, and you know it.” My heart broke, went back together, and then broke all over again. I felt like such a horrible big sister.
“I’m coming to sit and talk with you right now. I’ll bring some stuff for Chanel, and I promise to leave you some money. You’ll see me in a few,” I said, not waiting for her response. I hung up the phone. I felt a sense of anxiety, my heart racing as I sat and took some deep breaths.
“Are you alright?” Sofia asked with a worried tone. I looked over at her. I felt angry and sad at the same time.
“No, I need to go see about my sister urgently. Shit, I don’t have Buddha’s car anymore,” I muttered, knowing Buddha had left with his vehicle. I grabbed my neck and rubbed it vigorously as I wondered how I would get to my aunt’s house.
“You could use my car. I didn’t plan on going into the office today. I’ll just use my mother’s vehicle when I have to take Rocki to the mall.”
I looked at Sofia with nothing but gratitude because she did not have to do that for me.
“Sofia, thank you so much. I really appreciate it,” I didn’t waste any time getting to my feet as she took up the car key to her baby pink Mercedes and handed it to me.
“I’ll be back,” I said, bending to give her a quick hug. With hurried steps, I made my way to the front door, then to Sofia’s Mercedes parked out front. I had to go back to Buddha’s house first. I needed to get some of the money that was given to me on the day of our wedding, and the credit card Buddha gave me for emergencies. I think this counted as an emergency.
I decided to get some groceries for Chanel and some more clothing, so I could drop them off at Aunt Debbie’s. Before going to Aunt Debbie’s, I needed to go home first. Lewis had better be there because I was about to give him a piece of my mind.
*****
I sat in Sofia’s car and stared at the front of my house. It was funny to me just how much my life had changed since the last time I walked out my front door. There was one thing that was different, though; there was a strange car parked next to Lewis’s.
I had no clue who the gold-colored RAV4 belonged to, but I guess I would find out soon enough. I still had the keys to the front door, so I got out, walked up, and unlocked it. The first thing that hit me was the smell of bacon and eggs. Someone was in the kitchen cooking; I’m sure it wasn’t Lewis because that goofy mothafucka couldn’t even boil water.
I bravely made my way toward the kitchen. I stopped once I entered and just stared at the half-naked woman in front of the stove. I narrowed my eyes at her and recognized it was the same lady from the mall. She must have sensed she was no longer alone, turned around, and saw me.
“Jesus!” She exclaimed, placing a hand to her chest, her eyes wide with fright as if she’d seen a ghost. Slowly, she recognized me, and she tilted her head to one side.
“You’re the same female from the mall, right?” She asked, lowering the heat on the stove. I said nothing, not in the least bit interested in answering her question.
“Where is Lewis?” I asked, tempted to walk up to her, grab her upper arms, and drag her ass out of the house my mother once shared with this dreadful man.
“Um, is he expecting you? He didn’t mention that you would be stopping by.”
I lifted my eyebrow at her question because she sure had a lot of fucking nerve. “I’ll find him myself,” I told her, spinning on my heels to locate my stepfather. I didn’t have to go far; Lewis was walking toward the kitchen in nothing but his boxers. When he saw me, he damn near pissed himself.
