The Vows We Break

by Briana Cole

  I bit my tongue to keep my mouth shut. Mainly because I was racking my brain to come up with my own logical explanation, because I was still in denial about the same conclusion that kept circling in my mind. Leo. I didn’t know how. Hell, I didn’t even know why. But he damn sure was the common denominator. But I couldn’t very well tell anyone that. Not only was I riding on proofless assumptions here, but blowing the lid off Leo would blow the lid off everything dealing with that man. Including the true paternity of Jamaal. As if I could trust that test right now.

  That was why I had made a decision to get my own test done on my son. I didn’t want to, but I had to know for sure. Maybe then I could reveal what I already figured was true, what I hoped and prayed was true, and Leo would just go away. Because without Jamaal, he had nothing. No stake, no claim, and certainly no me. At this point, I couldn’t even dwell on if the results came back and proved him right.

  It was apparent now this man would go to any and all lengths to get what he wanted. I would have been angry had I not been so scared. I had to admit that I had absolutely no idea what this man was capable of. And even more scary, how he was able to pull it all off. It was too unbelievable, too farfetched, but too much of a coincidence to ignore. He was doing his manipulating from afar, and it was working. I had wanted to call him, beg him to stop—even if it meant returning every damn dime I’d acquired from him. But I knew Leo, and no number of promises or amount of tears would work on this man. That’s why I needed solid evidence. I just prayed it would work in my favor.

  I picked Jamaal up from the changing table and cradled him against my breast. “Mama, please don’t have my baby around none of those sick folks at the church,” I said, following her downstairs.

  She turned, gingerly taking the baby from my arms. “Kimmy, I know you don’t believe this. But I have raised two kids before. I think I know a little about what to do and not to do.”

  Understood, but this was my baby. And my baby was delivered several months early, thanks to Tina. He was still technically a newborn. Still growing and developing. But I kept that piece of talkback to myself and simply nodded.

  “Just be careful, please,” I said and gave them both a kiss.

  After she left, I tried to call Jahmad, not really expecting him to answer. Of course he didn’t. I wasn’t sure if he was ignoring my calls or if I just conveniently caught him at the most inopportune times. I did have to remember that, unlike me, he worked a full-time job. But still, the man didn’t take breaks or lunches? He suddenly forgot how to text?

  I left a quick message. “Just wanted to hear your voice. Going to lunch with Adria. If you feel like chatting, call me when you get some downtime.” I hung up, knowing his “downtime” probably wouldn’t be until he came home tonight. And maybe not even then.

  I had just finished throwing on a long maxi dress with a jean jacket when the doorbell rang. I glanced out of the bedroom window, frowning when I didn’t recognize the white Infiniti truck in the driveway. Apparently, I was taking too long getting to the door because just as quickly as the visitor came, the person stepped into my view, her phone to her face, sashaying back to the car. A woman. Petite from the looks of the high heels she wore to give her toned legs a bit more length. Because she was walking away, I couldn’t see her face, just a mass of beautiful curly hair she’d left to style itself in the wind.

  I quickly ran to the front door and threw it open, just in time to catch the tail end of her vehicle as it reversed back out of the driveway. The glare combined with a slight tint from the windshield obscured her face so I couldn’t make out whether she actually saw me standing in the doorway, attempting to wave her down. But whether she did or didn’t actually notice me, she kept going, reversing out of the driveway and taking off down the street.

  I stood for a moment longer, unsure how to take the woman’s presence. Why was she here? Why did she rush off? A new thought entered my mind as I quickly scanned the porch. Was this the woman Leo was sending after me to drop off his little packages? Who was she?

  Satisfied that she hadn’t left any package or letter of any kind, I closed the door, mentally evaluating the little visit again. I thought about the woman’s attire, well, as much as I could see from the upstairs window. She appeared to have on business clothes, pinstriped slacks and a blazer. Perhaps it was business-related. I just couldn’t be sure. And the uncertainty was causing mounting anxiety.

  I called Jahmad again, swallowing my anger when the call went straight to voicemail. I called my mother next. She picked up immediately, her voice hollow, making it clear she was in the car. “Mama, is everything okay?” I asked.

  “Of course. Why, what’s wrong?”

  I opened my mouth to tell her about the mystery woman, but quickly shut it again. The last thing I needed to do was worry her even more. Especially on top of what had happened with my father.

  I put as much humor in my voice as I could muster. “Nothing,” I lied. “You know this is Jamaal’s first little outing. I think I’m just worrying myself too much.”

  “He’s fine,” my mom reassured me. “Everything is fine. If it makes you feel better, just come by the church after lunch.”

  I agreed, then hurried back upstairs to finish getting ready. I needed to see Adria. Now.

  * * *

  Adria had told me about some seafood restaurant in Decatur that supposedly had the best fried lobster and even better drinks. She was already seated when I arrived and, thankfully, had a strawberry mango margarita waiting for me on the table on a monogrammed napkin. I hadn’t even slid all the way in the booth before I lifted the glass and took a grateful sip.

  “I know the feeling,” Adria said with a wistful sigh.

  “Girl, please, what feeling? You are all happy and in love and ain’t got single folks problems anymore.”

  I paused as the waitress walked over and set two appetizer plates on the table, one with fried lobster and the other with crab cakes over some kind of cabbage.

  “Anything else I can get for you ladies at this time?”

  “This is fine for now,” Adria said with a smile and didn’t waste any time digging in.

  “You good?” I asked as she forked some of the crab cake into her mouth.

  She nodded and waited until she’d polished off the food before she spoke again. “An Officer Terry called me the other day. Said they were doing an investigation on the fire.”

  I frowned. “What is there to investigate? It was an electrical issue.”

  “That’s what I said. Apparently, she says there were signs of some of kind of accelerant used, and they are concluding arson.”

  “Arson?” I sat back in the booth, the gravity of her words hitting me like a ton of bricks. “So they think someone intentionally set the fire?”

  “Looks that way. And I spoke to the insurance adjuster,” she added at my continued silence. “She says they’re not paying out anything on our loss until the investigation is complete. Just a precaution to make sure we didn’t start the fire. You know the insurance scams.”

  I shook my head, torn between shock, anger, and confusion. Intentional? That’s all that kept swirling around in my head as Adria excused herself to the restroom and left me to digest the recent news. Intentional. Someone set that place on fire, on purpose. Thankfully, no one was inside. But what if we had been? What if I, or Adria, or Tyree had been working late, as we had so often done in the past in preparation for our grand opening? First, my father, now me. Someone was actually trying to harm, perhaps kill. The thought sent a shudder up my spine, and I had to look around, suddenly feeling as if eyes were on me right that moment.

  “What is it?” Adria settled back into the booth across from me, her face furrowed in concern.

  My sigh was heavy. “Girl, just . . . everything. My dad, Jahmad, now this.”

  “What happened with Dad?”

  I bit my tongue. I had assumed maybe Keon had told her about the test results.

  “Didn’t
Keon tell you?” I asked cautiously.

  “He said Mom said something about food poisoning.”

  I would leave it at that. “Well, that had me worried, of course. And now this issue with the business.”

  “Don’t let that worry you,” Adria said with a shrug. “I just chalked it up to somebody’s badass kids. Maybe a gang or something. You never know nowadays.”

  She was right. You never know.

  “Now what about Jahmad?” she pressed. “Did you talk to him?”

  “We barely talk,” I admitted sadly. “He’s in and out. Work and whatever else he’s doing. I mean he sees about JayJay, but that’s about it. I think he’s going to go ahead and take that job.”

  Adria shook her head. “Stop assuming the worst, because we know how you get. Besides, Keon mentioned they chatted about it and he was leaning toward staying.”

  That piece of inside information did give me a spark of hope. Just a spark.

  “He wouldn’t leave his baby, Kimera. Come on now. Jahmad can be stupid, but I don’t think he’s that stupid. He loves that boy.”

  I nodded, not really appeased. He may not leave his baby, but he would leave me. I was sure of that now. And what if, by another stroke of bad luck, Leo really was my son’s father? Would Jahmad leave then?

  I took a breath as my chest tightened at my next admission. “Jamaal may not be his.”

  Adria stopped chewing, her eyes ballooning at my words. “I thought—I mean I knew it was a possibility because of what happened with Leo, but didn’t you and Jahmad get all that sorted out?”

  I shook my head. “I told him the baby was his. I just wanted him to be so bad and I just kept insisting it was true because the dates only add up with him. And Jahmad, he just believed me and never pushed the issue.”

  “So why the hell is it coming up now as an issue? Did Jahmad say something?”

  “No.” I took another breath. “Leo did.”

  Adria sat back, a mix of confusion and horror masking her face. “What the hell are you talking about, Kimmy? You’re not making any sense.”

  My mind went into overdrive, trying to see how I could give as much information as possible without revealing that I had been hiding this secret from her.

  “Leo’s not dead,” I started, picking through each word as it came to mind. “Tina tried to kill him, and he ended up faking his death. No one knew.”

  “Wait.” Adria sat back, her mouth nearly frozen open in shock. “Tina tried to kill him?”

  “She was working with this doctor, who I thought was Leo’s friend. But they both were snakes, just trying to come up on some money. The doctor had this gambling debt and Tina, well, she was just being a jealous, selfish bitch. They’re the ones that killed Lena, remember Leo’s second wife? And those two were working together to frame me for killing Leo, which was why I went to jail. To make a long story short, Leo came to me at the hospital about Jamaal and told me everything. Now he’s saying he knows the baby is his and I keep telling him it isn’t true. That Jahmad is the father. Then he shows me some paternity test results confirming he is the father. So now, now I just don’t know what to do, Adria.” My voice cracked, and I blinked back tears threatening to erupt. This whole thing had me on an emotional roller coaster. And it was only getting worse.

  Adria stared at me in disbelief. “I can’t believe this shit,” she murmured over and over.

  “I can’t let Jahmad find out.”

  “No, Kimmy, don’t do that again,” she snapped. “Don’t start all that lying and shit. You have to tell him the truth. Tell him what’s going on, because you already know it’s going to come out.”

  “Not if I can get the real test results.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean, the ‘real’ test results? I thought you said Leo—”

  I shook my head, waving off her statement. “The man faked his own death, Adria. He has money out the ass. Do you really think he couldn’t fake some test results? Plus, when did he test my child? That doesn’t add up.”

  I saw my words fitting together in her head and Adria finally nodded, agreeing with the logic. “Okay, fine. You test Jamaal, and then what? What’s the end game?”

  “If Jahmad is the father, I can tell Leo, and he can get the hell out of our lives. At this point, it just seems he wants something to dangle over my head. And as long as he thinks he’s the father, he has something.”

  Adria nodded again, this time almost whispering her next question. “And if Leo is the father? Then what?”

  I pursed my lips. I honestly did not know. And that was what scared me.

  * * *

  The rain had just started to come down when I pulled up to Word of Truth. I sighed, wishing I had decided to just have my mother bring Jamaal home instead of me coming to the church. There probably weren’t many people at the daytime bible study, but the effect was just the same. My dad had done his best to make this place feel like a welcome home, open for fellowship and love. It hardly felt like that now, that’s for sure.

  The little DNA test box snugly wrapped in the CVS bag in my purse had me quickening my pace. It was interesting. When I stopped by the store after leaving Adria to pick up the test, just seeing the box on the shelf almost brought on a wave of nausea. Damn near my future rested on the results of this little test. It would be my glory, or my downfall. Now I just needed to get home, swab my son’s mouth, and send everything off to the office so they could compare it to Jahmad’s DNA. I wasn’t a hundred percent sure how I would even get Jahmad’s DNA just yet, but I would come up with something. What choice did I have? At this point, all I could do was pray for the best.

  I stepped out of the car, lifting my umbrella to brace against the downpour. A roll of thunder rumbled, followed by the flash of lightning that illuminated the sky. I was honestly glad Adria and I had decided against the little shopping excursion we had originally planned. But after the lunch discussion, neither one of us was in the mood, so we said our goodbyes and parted ways. Adria insisted I make a point to talk to Jahmad that night because there was so much we were letting linger. I agreed, but though that was a priority, it wasn’t my main priority. Especially considering it was already on my mind to stop by the pharmacy and grab the test. One thing at a time. I would get everything settled with my baby, and then Jahmad and I would once again become my focus.

  By the time I entered the Fellowship Hall, the small midday bible study service was already done. Still, a few members were lingering in the aisle, laughing and talking among themselves. They immediately became quiet when I entered the doors, and a tension fell over the room that had the awkwardness riding high and thick.

  “Is my mother here?” I asked no one in particular.

  The immediate silence afterward had me questioning whether these holy rollers were actually ignoring me. It was clear everyone assumed the others would respond. Then, “Downstairs,” one woman answered. “In the nursery.”

  I thanked her and turned around, just as the woman whispered, “I’m surprised she doesn’t catch on fire when she sets foot in here,” followed by low chuckles and murmurs of agreement. Bitch. I quickly winced when I remembered my surroundings. All the more reason to hurry up and get out of this place, I mused, quickening my pace. Maybe it was a good thing they were selling the church.

  With the exception of a good-size cafeteria, the childcare center dominated nearly the entire downstairs floor. My mom had taken the liberty of personally decorating the area, from its pastel yellow and blue walls, to the alphabet wall-to-wall carpet littered with toys and learning gadgets for a variety of ages.

  A handful of children were scattered throughout the room as I walked up to the doorway, closed off with a Dutch door with separate top and bottom half. The bottom half had an extended tabletop where the sign-in/sign-out sheet now rested on top.

  One of the center volunteers, a young college student named Chloe, glanced up from where she was playing on the carpet with a child.

 
; “Hey, Kimera,” she greeted, rising to open the door for me. “JayJay is absolutely adorable. He is getting so big.”

  Per the rules, I reached over to the large sink right inside the door to wash my hands. “Thank you, Chloe. Is the First Lady here?”

  “In the baby room.” She gestured toward one of the rooms and eased back down next to a little boy who looked to be about two.

  I paused when the boy lifted his head, his eyes roaming the floor for another Lego piece to add to the pile at his feet. It couldn’t be. There was no way. But that face, I couldn’t mistake those eyes, those cheeks. Sure, I hadn’t seen him since he was a few months old, but the time since had only defined his distinct features. Features that I knew so well.

  It took a minute for me to find my voice, my question coming out in a strangled whisper. “What’s that child’s name?”

  The volunteer looked up at me before turning her eyes in the direction of my gaze. “Oh, he’s a newbie,” she said, giving the boy a little tickle to his neck. His giggle erupted, and my heart hit the floor. I knew it. Even before Chloe’s lips parted to voice the name, and I whispered it as she spoke it out loud. “Leo Junior.”

  Chapter 12

  It was like watching a ghost.

  The number of months since I saw her last couldn’t erase the fear nor the anger of our previous encounter. The one where she tried to kill me.

  I could still remember her pointing that gun at me. Her sinister look as she openly admitted arranging the car crash with the intent to kill Leo and, ultimately, staging the scene to frame me for the crime. Leo’s first and true wife, Tina Owusu, had been the master manipulator, the puppet master who had orchestrated everything that had happened to me in an attempt to destroy my life. And if it hadn’t been for one little unforeseen circumstance, my pregnancy with Jamaal, she would have been successful, and my ass would have probably been rotting up in some women’s prison somewhere. And she, well, she would have probably been laid out on some Caribbean beach enjoying the fruits of her malicious labor. Instead here she was, in the flesh, signing Leo Jr. out of my father’s church’s childcare. It was too much of a coincidence to ignore.