Conspiracy of Silence

by Gledé Browne Kabongo

  For Nina, there was nothing to think about. She had no intention of getting a divorce. It might take a lot of work, but she truly believed they could find their way back to each other and overcome the trust issues that ripped them apart. Since Marc wouldn’t come to her, she decided to go to Marc.

  She arrived in the large suite that supported Marc’s office, as well as his assistant, Kendra Meeks, an impeccably styled, highly efficient brunette beauty in her early thirties.

  “Hey, you,” Nina said cheerfully as she tapped her fingers on the desk.

  “Hello, Mrs. Kasai. How are you today?” Kendra wouldn’t meet her eyes and kept filing and re-filing the same folder.

  Nina wondered about the strange greeting. Kendra always called her by her first name. The stiff formality was unexpected. It made Nina uneasy.

  “Why so formal all of a sudden, Kendra? Is Marc giving you grief? Just tell me and I’ll straighten him out.”

  “It’s nothing like that.” Kendra offered a weak smile.

  “Is he in a meeting?” Nina shifted her gaze to the closed door.

  “Y-yes he is.”

  That’s all the answer Nina needed. She sashayed her way to the door, but Kendra was closer and blocked her path.

  “You can’t go in there.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because—”

  “Don’t worry about it. I already know.” Nina winked at Kendra reassuringly.

  She turned the doorknob slowly and willed it not to make a sound. It must have sensed the tension in her because she walked into the office and neither one of them heard her come in. Marc was leaning up against his desk, his view blocked by Solange, who was moving her hands seductively across his chest. They must have felt a presence in the room because Marc looked up and Solange followed his gaze.

  She had startled them. Solange moved away from Marc reluctantly and Marc looked grumpy. Or maybe he was embarrassed, she couldn’t quite tell.

  Nina spoke first. “You two certainly didn’t waste any time. I would expect that from Solange because she’s a viper, but Marc, you surprise me.”

  Solange was defiant. “This is a business meeting. I was invited here, Nina. You’re the one intruding.”

  “Is that what you call what you were doing? Business? Then this meeting’s adjourned.”

  Solange looked at Marc, her eyes pleading with him to come to her rescue. Nina held her breath, praying she wouldn’t be the one humiliated. When Marc gestured for Solange to go, Nina did a mental somersault.

  Once they were alone, it took enormous self-control not to ask why Solange was in his office in the middle of the morning with her hands all over him. Nina studied Marc for a moment. His suit fit more loosely than the day he left their home. His eyes lacked clarity, a sure sign of sleep deprivation.

  “When are you coming home?” she asked, putting her pride aside.

  He returned to the sitting position in his chair and picked up a stack of papers from his sitting position. “I have work to do.”

  Nina took the papers from him and threw them over her shoulder. They scattered like autumn leaves in the wind.

  “Are you going to pick those up?” he demanded gruffly.

  “Make me.”

  Marc thumped his fist against the gleaming cherry desk. “What do you want from me, woman?”

  “I want you to talk to me. I want you to come home where you belong.”

  “That’s not possible.”

  “Why? Have you already moved on with your ex?”

  When he didn’t answer, Nina became frantic. “Is it that easy for you to walk away, Marc?”

  He looked her straight in the eye for the first time since she interrupted his interlude with the woman she’d always considered a threat. “As easy as it was for you to deceive me.”

  She guessed she deserved it. She tried not to make too much of the scene she walked in on even if every cell in her body was screaming that she might be losing him. She had to keep the conversation civil and focused, not emotional.

  “There was nothing easy about it, Marc. You once told me that keeping my secrets was more important to me than keeping our marriage honest. That’s not true.”

  “Why are you telling me this now?”

  “I didn’t get the chance to tell you the reasons I lied about Phillip. All the reasons.”

  Marc got up from his desk and walked over to the window, both hands stuck in his pockets. “I no longer trust you, Nina, and without trust, I don’t see a way for us. I won’t spend the rest of my life wondering if I can believe everything my wife tells me or waiting for the next bombshell to drop. I won’t live that way.”

  The temperature in the room plummeted. Nina was in agony.

  “You’re so wrong,” she managed to squeak out. “Things aren’t always what they seem.”

  “I gave you ample opportunity to tell me the truth. You didn’t. You left me with few options.”

  She walked over to the window and gently caressed his face. “I’m truly sorry, Marc. From the bottom of my heart, I’m sorry I lied to you.”

  She had done as much begging and groveling as her pride could take in one day. She picked up her purse and was about to leave, but she had to know.

  “What did I walk in on, Marc?”

  He looked in her direction briefly, then turned back to the window.

  A concerned Kendra handed her a box of tissue. “I’m sorry, Nina. Whatever is going on between you and Marc is none of my business, but that Solange woman—”

  Nina could see the disdain on Kendra’s face. “Not a fan either, huh?”

  Nina took a few steps toward the door when an idea occurred to her. After a few words with Kendra that played on the woman’s sympathy, Nina walked out of the office armed with vital information and a new next move.

  There was a spring in her step as she headed for the elevator. Her plan would work. But first, she had to get rid of the envelope with the Tufts University address that had been burning a hole in her purse.

  Nina emerged from the elevator and was immediately accosted by an incensed Solange, who had been lying in wait.

  “Marc doesn’t want to be married to you anymore, Nina. It’s time to move on. I’m sure you’ll find another husband easily.”

  “Thanks for the vote of confidence, but I’ll keep the one I have.”

  “It’s hopeless to chase him. He won’t come back. I warned you this would happen.”

  “Then your psychic powers should have told you that a husband and wife share a unique bond, especially when they love each other deeply, like Marc and I do.”

  “He doesn’t share your opinion. We were making plans for tonight when you rudely interrupted.”

  Nina didn’t flinch. “Just because you’re an easy lay doesn’t mean he’s going to leave me for you. Married men lie, Solange. They’re always planning to leave their wives for their lovers, but they never do. Why do you think you’re still single?”

  The last jab hit its target like a gun fired at close range. Solange was taken speechless. She gawked at Nina, the truth suddenly laid bare. Her embarrassment was cut short by the ringing of her cell phone. Solange dove into her purse to find the phone, which was apparently playing hide and seek. After a few frustrated seconds, success. Solange answered and began a conversation in rapid French.

  Nina was about to walk away when something caught her attention. Just a few feet from Solange was a square piece of paper. Nina inched closer and picked it up. It was a photograph of a child, a boy between the ages of nine and ten, in Nina’s best estimation. Something inside her began to ache. She was suddenly gripped by paralyzing fear. She looked up to see Solange staring at her.

  “Who is this?” Nina asked, her hand trembling as she held out the photo.

  “That’s my son,” Solange answered as if Nina had just asked her what time it was.

  “Is he Marc’s?”

  Solange didn’t answer. She simply took the photograph from Nina and left.


  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Daphne returned to Dallas, leaving a broken-hearted Nina behind. She had always relied on her mother’s support but it was time to see what she was made of. It was time to pick up the broken pieces of her life, starting with getting her husband back. But what kind of relationship would they have when images of Marc and Solange with their son danced in her head at night? Did Marc know he had a son? Not that he would have told her, since they were separated. This was a game changer. If she wanted her husband back, that meant she’d have to accept his son, and his mother. Lately, Nina’s brain cells were overloaded and she was afraid it would short circuit. But one particular situation continued to nag at her. Maybe it was time she put her stubborn pride on the back burner.

  Finding a parking spot on Newbury Street in the middle of the day was an anomaly at best, so Nina enlisted the help of her assistant. Eric dropped his boss outside the Desert Rose Salon & Spa and promised to pick her up whenever she was finished. Nina felt guilty for asking the favor, but she had a schedule to keep, which did not include circling a two-block radius in the hopes that a parking spot would miraculously open up.

  Nina walked into the salon and was warmly welcomed by Lynette, the receptionist, a soft-spoken twenty-something with five inch acrylic fingernails and too much make-up.

  “Where have you been, girl? We miss you around here. The boss hasn’t been the same since you stopped coming.”

  Nina’s emotions were on tenterhooks and she responded to Lynnette with some mundane quip. She was glad to know Charlene was suffering from their breakup as much as she was. She focused her attention on the display behind the reception desk, rows and rows of beauty products in jars and bottles. The panorama of color had an oddly calming effect on her.

  “I don’t have an appointment, but do you think one of the girls could take me soon?”

  “You know the boss will hook you up. What do you need?”

  “A touch-up, deep conditioning, blow-dry, manicure, pedicure, herbal body wrap, thirty-minute massage and a facial.”

  “Work it, girl. Your man won’t know what hit him.”

  “Who said anything about a man?” Nina asked, guiltily. “Can’t a girl treat herself?”

  “Who you fooling?” Lynette asked as she dialed an extension and got right to the point.

  Within seconds, Charlene appeared in the waiting area.

  “Your client needs you,” Lynnette said.

  * * *

  CHARLENE’S OFFICE HADN’T CHANGED MUCH since Nina last visited. The basket of hair and beauty magazines sat next to a potted plant against the corner wall. Glamour shots of beautiful women in a multitude of hair-dos lined the wall and her appointment book sat at the center of a slightly disorganized desk. But the one constant that took on a different meaning for Nina were the personal photographs in ceramic picture frames next to the flat screen computer: High school graduation with both of them holding up their diplomas for the camera, Charlene on the arm of Marc’s brother, Thierry, as they exited the church as Maid of Honor and Best Man at Marc and Nina’s wedding, the grand opening of The Desert Rose and the two women toasting with champagne. Then it hit her. They were family, pure and simple.

  Nina took a seat and tinkered with the bracelet on her left hand. “I’m sorry to impose. As you can see, I’m in need of the full treatment. I haven’t had a chance to investigate alternative salons, so I shifted into auto pilot and ended up here.”

  “You’re full of it,” Charlene reprimanded. “It’s not what’s on the outside that needs fixing. Although you do look like you went a few rounds with an alley cat and lost.”

  “Thank you for the kind words. I see I’ve come to the right place.”

  “You’re lucky I’m talking to you at all after the way you tossed me out. That was foul.”

  “What did you expect me to do?”

  “I thought we were friends. You didn’t have to do me like that. You could have listened.”

  “I was hurt and in no mood to be honest about why I was so pissed off.”

  “Really?” Charlene said in mock surprise. “I figured the miscarriage wasn’t the only thing messing with your head.”

  “You were having an affair with Phillip when you knew he was causing problems for me,” Nina said in frustration. “You don’t think that was foul?”

  “Look, I kept your secret. I helped you lie to your husband when you didn’t want Phillip around. I never gave you grief about it. But me and Phillip, that had nothing to do with you.”

  Nina was bewildered by Charlene’s nonchalant attitude, but she started to look at it from Charlene’s point of view. It was time to do a little bit more listening and less talking.

  “Okay. Tell Me. What was it about?”

  “He was always in my corner. When you left for Stanford and I was feeling lost and alone, he would listen to me. Give me advice. It’s because of him I have my own business today. He gave me seed money to open the first shop.”

  “What about recently?”

  “We didn’t see each other that often. It was a once in a while thing, but I called it off after you found out.”

  Hearing Charlene’s version of the story was not what Nina expected. She made Phillip sound like a normal human being who wanted to extend a helping hand to his daughter’s friend, a nice gesture. So her father could be nice to everybody except her. What a tragedy. But she wouldn’t wallow in self-pity.

  Nina told Charlene what Phillip had been doing to her when they were teenagers growing up and how Nina would cover up the abuse with lies, excuses, and perfection: She had perfect grades, was perfectly behaved, she was perfectly nice, and was perfectly dressed at all times. It was all a desperate cry for acceptance because she didn’t feel she was good enough. If she were, her father wouldn’t do bad things to her. That’s how she rationalized it in her teenage brain, anyway. Maybe if her father saw that other people thought she was wonderful, then maybe he would too, and stop hurting her.

  After Nina finished speaking, Charlene slowly backed away from her like a traumatized child who had just witnessed a heinous crime. She kept moving until she slammed into the closed door, numb to the impact on her body.

  “If I knew… I didn’t know… that’s really messed up… I’m going to kill him, then I’ll cut off his balls and feed them to pack of wild dogs.”

  Nina stood less than a foot away from her best friend, who looked even tinier than she already was. Charlene gnawed at her fingernails, a habit Nina hadn’t seen in years, a quirk that only raised its head when Charlene was in crisis or under extreme duress.

  “Wow. I didn’t know you were so creative, Char,” Nina joked, trying to diffuse the tension. “That’s a really interesting visual.”

  “Why didn’t you say something? I wouldn’t have told anybody if that’s what you wanted. I wouldn’t have accepted his money. I wouldn’t have…”

  Nina knew what Charlene was struggling to say but couldn’t bring herself to say the words in light of this new information. “I know you wouldn’t have.”

  “You’re my sister in every way it counts and you didn’t say anything. Damn it, Nina, why?”

  Nina joined Charlene on the floor, their backs up against the door. “People just don’t talk about this kind of thing. From the beginning, I was trained to keep quiet. As I got older, it got easier and then I decided for my own reasons I would never tell.”

  Charlene was losing her battle to keep from tearing up. In all their years of friendship, Nina had never seen Charlene cry, not even when her parents died. But now, her friend wept silently.

  “How did Marc react when you told him?” Charlene managed to ask through bouts of hiccups.

  “I haven’t told him. He left.”

  Charlene’s head snapped to attention. “I can’t afford high blood pressure. What do you mean he left?”

  “He wants a divorce.”

  “Hell no. I turn my back for five minutes and y’all can’t keep it together? Please te
ll me that heifer Solange isn’t part of the problem?”

  Nina gave Charlene a recap of events that unfolded while their friendship was on hiatus.

  “Do you want him back?”

  “Of course. The separation was not my idea.”

  “Don’t you think he deserves the whole truth?”

  “It might be too late.”

  “Did he serve you with divorce papers?”

  “No. But if I get him back, he’ll be coming with baggage.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “He may have fathered a child with Solange.”

  Charlene’s hand flew to her mouth in stunned disbelief. “What? Are you sure?”

  “She didn’t deny it.”

  “So what, she may be his baby mamma, but you’re his wife. You’re not going to roll over and let her take your man. You’re just going to have to find a way to get along.”

  Afterwards Nina was preened, scrubbed, stretched and poked within an inch of her life. Four hours after her initial arrival, she emerged from the salon seemingly her old self, at least outwardly. Her insides were quivering like Jell-O as she got ready to execute phase two of her plan.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Nina presented her identification to the concierge at the Sherwood Plaza Hotel. She had convinced Kendra to call the hotel in advance to let them know she’d be joining her husband, and they should have a set of keys for suite 708 waiting for her.

  “Is there anything else we can do for you this evening, Mrs. Kasai?” he asked.

  “Have the flowers been delivered?”

  “Yes, ma’am. Less than fifteen minutes ago.”

  Nina thanked him and took the elevator to the seventh floor. The one-bedroom suite her husband currently called home boasted thick, rich carpeting, an elegant living room decorated in classic designs and custom made furnishings of dark cherry and mahogany wood. She glanced at her watch. It was already seven p.m. and dinner would be arriving in fifteen minutes. Marc should make an appearance by seven-thirty. She had worked with Kendra to time this perfectly, accounting for traffic between Atlantic Avenue and Copley Square.