The Sun Sister

by Lucinda Riley

  Then he told me how he’d called Mariam and they’d met up (after a lot of persuasion from him apparently).

  ‘And I just told her that I knew why she’d ended the relationship and that if it came to the point where any marriage was needed’ – he then blushed as he told me she would have to remain chaste until it took place – ‘then I’d think about converting. So for now, we’re just gonna take things slow, you know? See how it all pans out. And if you’re still serious about the offer of being your security guy, Mariam and me are gonna be around each other a lot. That’ll provide a good test, I think.’

  ‘True, and you two had better get on, because I’m not keen on having any “domestics” in my team,’ I said, secretly thrilled.

  ‘I swear, Electra, any issues that me and Mariam have to deal with will be done in private and not on your time.’

  ‘And how does Mariam feel about this?’

  ‘I think she’s happy. I mean, we’ve got a way to go with this thing first, but you know what? Both of us agreed that, like you said, we might be dead tomorrow and it was pointless looking into the future and being miserable in the present. In the fullness of time, she’s gonna introduce me to her family – wow!’ he breathed. ‘That night I’m gonna wish I was back on the juice so I can take a gulp of something before I meet them, you know?’

  ‘Oh, I sure do, Tommy,’ I said as my own stomach churned at the thought of tonight. ‘Anyway, I’m thrilled for you. How about I put you on a three-month contract to start off with? I’ll get your details across to my financial manager and we’ll get you all set up on the payroll.’

  ‘That sounds fantastic. Seriously, Electra, I just can’t thank you – or Miles – enough. You guys have saved my life. I was on the brink a few days ago, and now, well, I feel like I might have a future after all,’ Tommy said as we jogged out of the park and stood waiting to cross the road back to my apartment building.

  ‘I’m just thrilled I’m going to have a running buddy every day from now on. I really need that time.’

  ‘No problem. I’ll see you later.’

  ‘What?’ I asked him as he stopped outside the apartment building. ‘Come up with me, Tommy. For starters, you need a shower, and for seconds, I need to officially introduce the newest member of my team to my friend Lizzie.’

  ‘You sure, Electra?’

  ‘Of course. And you never know, there might be someone lurking in the elevator, and I’ll need you there to protect me,’ I grinned, as he proudly stepped through the door by my side.

  ‘What a sweet guy,’ Lizzie said after I’d introduced Tommy to her and he’d gone to use the guest shower.

  ‘I know, he’s great, and I’m so happy for him and Mariam. But I need to do something about his wardrobe; I mean, if he’s coming with us tonight as my security, he needs a suit or something, doesn’t he?’

  ‘I suppose he does, yes.’

  ‘So, Lizzie, I wonder if you’d mind taking him shopping for me. He’s been wearing that same hoodie since he first turned up outside here months ago. Tell him it’s for work purposes and go and sort him out at Sak’s or somewhere, will you? He needs a full wardrobe makeover, and a decent haircut.’

  ‘Okay, boss, happy to help,’ she saluted me, and I knew she was. Spending a morning on Fifth Avenue kitting out Tommy was Lizzie’s idea of heaven. And besides, I just wanted – needed – some time by myself.

  After I’d taken a shower, then gone through the gruelling decision of what I would wear tonight – I wanted to look professional, but also like myself, so in the end, I went for the flared orange trousers and silk blouse I’d worn for dinner with Miles – I went to sit quietly on the terrace.

  So much had happened since that terrible night when Tommy had walked me up and down here and helped save my life – and my future – that it was difficult to comprehend. It almost felt as though I’d been on pause for years, drink and drugs simply blurring one day into the next. I’d hardly been human at all, I thought, just a facsimile of one. And even though the pain of getting well again had at some point felt unendurable, somehow, with the help of people who loved me – yes, loved me – I’d done it. And now here I was, sitting on the other side, always aware that life could throw me a curve ball that could send me crashing backwards, but confident enough now to know that I would be able to gather all the strength I had to fight it.

  ‘I’m proud of you, Electra,’ I said suddenly to myself. ‘Yeah, I am.’

  Then I stood, walked to the edge of the terrace and looked up to the heavens.

  ‘And I hope, Momma and Pa, wherever you are, that you’re both proud of me too.’

  ‘Oh my God! Shit shit shit!’ I muttered under my breath as I heard the roar of the crowd only a few yards away from me. I’d been to concerts before here at Madison Square Garden – sat in the VIP box when Mitch had performed, and I’d even been backstage – but I’d never looked out at what felt like the whole of New York stamping and shouting and cheering in front of me. He (yes, Mitch) was on stage with his band.

  No wonder rock stars needed to do stuff, I thought – my un-drugged heartbeat was pounding about a million to the dozen right now.

  ‘Hey, look who I just found,’ said Miles, tapping me on the shoulder as I retreated from my vantage point at the side of the stage.

  I turned round and saw Vanessa standing there in my Burberry cap, with Ida by her side.

  ‘Oh my God! I didn’t think you were allowed out,’ I said as I went to give her a hug.

  ‘Well, tonight’s special, isn’t it?’ said Ida. ‘We thought you’d like Vanessa to be here.’

  ‘How are you?’ I asked her, noticing how her lovely skin no longer had that pasty colour to it and how her eyes – which were as wide as saucers as she stared out beyond the wings and onto the stage – were bright and alert.

  ‘Like, damn, ’Lectra, am I in Kansas, or what? I just seen, like, ’bout four of my favourite rappers back there.’

  ‘You’re not in Kansas, you’re right here with me, Vanessa, and I’m so happy you are,’ I said, looking up at Miles and smiling at him. ‘Stella?’ I shouted to my grandmother over the roar of the crowd. ‘Come and meet my friend Vanessa. She’s the one that started all this, isn’t she, Miles?’

  ‘She sure is,’ he nodded.

  Stella turned away from a man with a clipboard who was organising the proceedings and came over to us. She looked elegant and composed in her black trouser suit with her signature jaunty scarf tied round her neck. She really was the most beautiful woman, even at her age, and I felt very lucky to have inherited her genes.

  ‘Hello, Vanessa, I’ve heard a lot about you. How are you doing?’

  Stella’s natural air of authority made Vanessa a little tongue-tied, but she managed a few words.

  ‘Well, everything that’s happening here tonight is for you and anyone like you,’ said Stella.

  ‘Three minutes!’ called the guy with the clipboard to Stella as Mitch and his band played out his most famous song, which got the crowd stamping and cheering so hard it felt like the earth was shuddering beneath us.

  ‘You okay?’ asked Miles, indicating the rock star on stage.

  ‘You know what? I’m doing just fine,’ I told him.

  ‘Good, because I don’t want any competition for my affections, ya know?’

  ‘I know,’ I said, as he put his arm around my shoulders and drew me in for a hug. I just loved the fact that he was taller than me and made me feel all girly and protected.

  ‘Two minutes!’ the clipboard man called to Stella as the crowd continued to holler for more at the tops of their voices.

  ‘How are you, Electra?’ said Mariam, appearing with Tommy (who was looking smart and handsome with his new haircut and suit) on the other side of me.

  ‘Shitting the proverbial, as expected. I just want to get it over with now I’m here.’

  ‘You can do it, Electra, I know you can. And we’re all here with you.’

  ‘Yes, we ar
e,’ said Lizzie.

  And as Mitch walked off stage towards me, and I stood there with Miles’s arm around my shoulders, protected by the little family of waifs and strays I seemed to have collected, I really felt they were.

  ‘Oh, hi, Electra,’ said Mitch, halting right in front of us as he took a towel from one of his roadies and wiped the sweat that was dripping from his face. ‘How you doin’?’

  ‘I’m real good, thanks, Mitch. You?’

  ‘Yeah, great. Well, good to see you,’ he said as he gave more than a cursory glance at the handsome guy with his arm around me, who towered over his comparatively small, sweaty presence. ‘See you around.’

  ‘Sure,’ I said as he passed by and I gave a little victory wiggle inside.

  ‘Okay, Stella, thirty seconds, then you’re on.’

  Stella turned to me. ‘So, I’ll give my spiel and move on to explain that I recently found my long-lost granddaughter, then you walk on stage—’

  ‘And the place erupts,’ said clipboard man from behind her. ‘Okay, ten seconds.’

  ‘Good luck,’ Stella smiled at me. ‘I’m proud of you, Electra.’

  ‘Go!’ said clipboard man.

  Stella got a decent enough reception, even if the crowd was still chanting for Mitch. Then, as she started to speak, you could have heard a pin drop in the audience. Not that I heard the words she spoke, because my brain had turned to mush and every cell in my body was urging me to turn and run.

  ‘I can’t do it, I just can’t . . .’ I said into Miles’s ear.

  ‘Yes, you can, Electra. Because your momma and your Pa Salt, not to mention God himself, are all looking down on you. They brought you to this moment, because they believe in you and what you can become. Now go out there and do them proud.’

  ‘Okay, okay.’

  ‘Thirty seconds, Electra.’

  My little posse huddled around me, all whispering encouragement to me.

  ‘Ten seconds. She’s announcing you . . .’

  ‘Shit!’ I whispered.

  ‘Okay, Electra, go!’

  ‘I love you,’ Miles whispered into my ear, then, very gently, he pushed me forwards and I walked out onto the stage.

  June 2008

  ‘Mon dieu! Ma! Claudia! Ally!’ I screamed as I ran out into the hall. ‘Come here, quickly! Electra’s on TV!’

  I picked up the remote and pressed the record button, so that at least if they didn’t get downstairs in time, we could watch it again. Then I stood there, fascinated and amazed, as my baby sister walked out onto the stage to join the woman who was apparently her grandmother.

  A huge roar of surprise went up from the crowd. No one was more surprised than me.

  ‘What is it?’ Claudia said as she and Ma came running in.

  ‘Look! It’s Electra,’ I said as Ally and Bear joined us too.

  ‘Oh my God!’ said Ally. ‘Isn’t this the Concert for Africa thing?’

  ‘Yes, now shush, let’s listen to her.’

  We all watched as the elegant older woman kissed Electra on her cheek, then stepped down from the podium so Electra could step up. Maybe it was because I knew my sister so well, but I could read the fear in her eyes as the camera panned in on her face.

  ‘Good evening, ladies and gentleman, kids and everyone watching around the world,’ she said in a quiet, almost inaudible voice.

  ‘Speak up, Electra!’ said Ally.

  ‘As my grandmother just said, I am here because I only just found out that I’m of African heritage. Most of you will only know me by my face; in fact, you’ve probably never heard me open my mouth before. And I’m not sure that I’m any good at it, but I’m gonna give it a try anyway.’

  There was a ripple of supportive laughter, and I watched Electra relax a little.

  ‘I want to tell you about a difficult journey I’ve been on recently. You’ve heard a lot about drugs tonight, and the effect they’ve had on the people of Africa, but they are not just there, they are everywhere. And . . . addiction happened to me too. It was only because I had people around me who loved me, but equally importantly, the finances to get me the help I needed, that I’m standing here in front of you today.’

  A huge cheer came up from the audience as I gripped Ma’s hand and saw tears in her eyes.

  ‘What help I got, I want every young person who is facing addiction to get too. We – you – are the next generation, those who will one day take over the reins and steer our countries into the future. We cannot do that unless, as was mentioned earlier, the governments of the world come together and form a no-tolerance policy to the drug cartels who feed these killer drugs to our kids. And secondarily, we must make sure that if a kid does fall victim to addiction, the facilities are there to provide that child with the support they need.’

  There was another huge roar of applause. And I felt my heart swell with pride for my little sister’s bravery in doing what she had done tonight.

  ‘Me standing up here by myself won’t fix the problem. It needs every single one of us, in every town and city across the world, to act. In Africa, it’s a known cause of the spread of AIDS and other diseases, by the use of shared needles, which has to stop. Here on the streets of Manhattan, there’s few places for kids like Vanessa, a friend of mine who I met in rehab, to go for help. So tonight, I begin a campaign to open drop-in centres across the nation, places where kids can go to seek help and advice when they feel there is nowhere else to turn. The governments of the world must do their part too, by providing suitable and free facilities to kids of every social class to help them recover. I recently found out that my mother died alone in a crack den in Harlem . . .’

  At this point, Electra’s voice broke and her grandmother came to stand by her and put an arm around her shoulder. ‘It was a terrible, undignified and lonely way to end a life, and I want to make it my mission to make sure that no young person like her suffers in that way again. Please, lobby your governments for action, and put your hands in your pockets and pledge money to the Rosa Jackson Drop-In Center Project – that was my mom, by the way,’ Electra added, as the applause and cheers ratcheted up another notch. ‘Because it’s only by standing together that we can end this growing humanitarian crisis. Thank you.’

  Ally, Claudia, Ma and I stood there with tears falling freely down our cheeks. We were so overwhelmed and proud and sad at the same time that none of us had anything to say. We watched as the crowd rose to its feet and cheered my incredibly brave little sister, who had shared her story with the world. Her grandmother took her in her arms and hugged her. I thought I saw her say, ‘I love you,’ and I said it with her.

  And then, a figure walked on from the side of the stage and headed towards Electra and her grandmother.

  An almighty cheer went up, as the man hugged Electra and shook Stella’s hand.

  ‘Isn’t that Senator Obama?’ said Ally. ‘Everyone thinks there’s a chance he’s going to be the next president of America.’

  ‘It is,’ confirmed Ma.

  We watched as he continued to talk to Stella and my grandmother off-mic and then they both stood aside to let him speak.

  ‘Thank you,’ he said, ‘but most importantly, thank you to Electra, who has so bravely stood here in front of the world and told her story. I reiterate and support everything she has just said to you, and please give generously to her cause.’

  At that point, we stopped listening, and all sat down on the nearest couch or chair, exhausted.

  Claudia sensibly handed round a box of tissues and we blew our noses hard, except Bear, who didn’t know what was going on, and cooed happily instead.

  ‘Well,’ said Ally as she set Bear on the floor between her legs and handed him a toy, which he immediately put into his mouth. ‘That was incredible. I think our little sister might just have got herself a whole new career as an activist.’

  ‘If only your father had been here to see that, he would have been so proud,’ said Ma, who was still very tearful. She was sitting n
ext to me on the couch, so I reached for her hand and squeezed it.

  ‘She’s found her voice,’ I whispered, ‘and I’m just so proud of her, too.’

  The whole room nodded in agreement.

  ‘I think we should leave her a message, don’t you?’ said Ally. ‘Tell her how amazing she was.’

  ‘Good idea,’ said Ma, who stood up to collect the house phone from the kitchen.

  ‘Wasn’t that the ex-boyfriend who was performing before she came on?’ queried Ally.

  ‘It was,’ I replied. ‘I’m so pleased Electra’s going to be here with us soon at Atlantis, so we can tell her in person how proud we are. What a turnaround,’ I said, thinking of the last time I’d seen her in Rio, when she’d been completely out of control. ‘And she’s absolutely right to lobby for more help from the governments,’ I said with feeling. ‘I see the drug problem on every street corner as I walk through Rio.’

  Ma brought in the phone and we took Electra’s number from my mobile and dialled it. All of us said something on the message, then Ally yawned.

  ‘Time for bed, I think. I’m exhausted, even if Bear isn’t.’

  ‘You go upstairs, Ally. I’ve got jet lag, so I’m happy to stay up for a bit with him and bring him up later.’

  ‘Thanks, Maia,’ she said as she picked him up and handed him over to me.

  I’d only arrived at Atlantis a couple of hours ago from Rio, having decided to make the most of my return to Europe after almost a year, and spend some time with Ma, Claudia, Ally and my new nephew. Floriano and Valentina were arriving just before we set sail for the Greek islands to lay Pa’s wreath. It was the first time we’d been separated for longer than a couple of nights, and it was feeling very strange.

  Just then, the doorbell rang, and all four of us women jumped.

  ‘Who on earth can that be at this time of night?’ Ma asked nervously. ‘Christian hasn’t taken the boat out tonight, has he?’ she asked Claudia.