Andrew touched Paris’s hand. “You know I’m going to take care of you and our baby. I know how hard it is for you if you have to stand or sit for too long.”
“I really do appreciate it. You’ve been absolutely perfect ever since you learned I was pregnant.”
Andrew chuckled. “Perfect, huh? Well, I don’t know about all that. I did sort of pick you up and swing you around when I first found out the news until it hit me that doing something like that might not be the best thing for a developing baby.”
“I’m pretty certain the baby enjoyed it. I can already see you swinging him or her around when he or she gets big enough to beg you to,” Paris said.
The waitress came to take their order. As she was writing, someone bumped into her, almost knocking her flat onto the table.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” the man said, helping to upright the waitress. “Forgive me.”
Paris and the man’s eyes connected immediately. “Paris?” he said.
“Darius?” Paris said.
Andrew looked from Paris up at the man. “This is Darius?”
“Hey, man. Darius Connors.” Darius held out his hand to shake Andrew’s. Andrew stood up. “It’s good to finally meet you in person.”
“Yes, it’s nice to meet you.” Andrew shook his hand. “I know we said we would do this sometime last year, but it never happened. Now, here we are.”
“Yes . . . here we are,” Darius said, looking at Paris. “Finally meeting.”
Andrew looked at the woman standing beside Darius. “Hey, if you two would like to sit with us, Paris and I wouldn’t mind. It’s just the two of us. I’m sure the establishment would appreciate it since they’re so crowded. It would free up an extra table and give us an opportunity to do what we planned to do last year.”
Paris plastered a smile on her face like a plastic doll. “Honey, I’m sure the two of them don’t want to—”
“Sure,” said the woman standing next to Darius. “We’d love to.”
Darius looked at the woman, then pulled out her chair. They both sat down.
“So you’re Tiffany, right?” Andrew said, extending his hand to the woman.
“Oh, no,” Darius said. “This is not Tiffany. This is Delilah . . . Delilah Vine.”
“But everybody calls me Divine,” Divine said, shaking Andrew’s extended hand, after which she reached over to present her hand to Paris.
“Divine, huh?” Paris said, giving her the ends of her fingers to shake. “Is that like how the regular divine is spelled?” Paris’s nose turned up slightly. Andrew could now see that Paris wasn’t happy about any of this. He regretted asking them to join them. But how was he to know that woman wasn’t Darius’s wife?
“Actually, I go by Dee as in D-e-e. My last name really is Vine. But it’s just easier to go by Divine, D-i-v-i-n-e so I just go by Divine.”
Darius chuckled. “Cute, huh?”
Paris grunted, then picked up her glass of water, tilted it, and took a few swallows.
“So, in asking you to join us, I didn’t interrupt a business meeting or anything did I?” Andrew asked Darius.
“Oh, no. Our visit here is totally personal,” Divine said.
“So, Darius,” Paris said. “Are you and your wife, Tiffany, divorced?”
“No. But if you must know, we’re headed in that direction,” Darius said. He then turned to Divine. “Paris and I worked together last year for a few months. Her father is . . . oh, I’m sorry . . . was an Alabama congressman. You may have heard of him: Lawrence Simmons?”
“Oh, yes. In fact, he was my congressman,” Divine said. “I’m sorry to hear he had to drop out of the race so abruptly. Although I admit, I wasn’t planning on voting for him anyway. I don’t care for a man who switches parties or partners in the middle of a game. I can’t feel that you’ll be loyal to me when you do something like that. It’s like you have no real core or true value. I prefer to be who I am and if you don’t care for me, then your loss. You understand where I’m coming from?” Divine said, addressing Paris.
Paris leaned in as much as her protruding belly would allow between her seat and the table. “Oh, absolutely.” She smiled.
“I see that you’re pregnant,” Divine said. “Congratulations. Babies aren’t really my thing. But I’m always happy for those who want them.”
“Thanks,” Paris said, then just as quickly turned a hard gaze at Darius.
“Darius, if I remember correctly you have three children,” Andrew said.
Darius looked behind him for the waitress. He beckoned for her to come over before turning back to Andrew. “Yes, I do—two girls and a boy.”
The waitress came over. Darius and Divine gave her their order.
“Will this be on a separate ticket?” the waitress asked no one in particular.
“You can add it to mine,” Andrew said, then looked at Darius. “I planned to invite you to dinner last year. So let me do this now since we’re all here.”
“Oh, I’m sure Darius would rather take care of his own dinner since he’s on a date,” Paris said. “Wouldn’t you, Darius? That’s the kind of man Darius is . . . one who’s not afraid to show how much of a real man he is.”
Darius stared hard at Paris. “She’s right.” He then chuckled. “Real men don’t have a problem with showing who they are.” He turned back to the waitress. “Why don’t you put their order on my ticket?” He then turned to Andrew. “My treat.”
Divine touched Darius’s arm. “Sweetheart, why don’t we just pay for our food and let them pay for theirs? I mean—”
“No. I have money,” Darius said. “This is nothing.” He looked up at a now confused waitress. “Put it all on mine, please.” He turned to Andrew. “I’ll let you pick it up the next time.”
Paris placed her thumb under her chin, her index finger on her lips as though she were telling someone to be quiet. As much as Andrew was trying to do something good, it was obvious to him that he’d messed up royally and Paris was clearly agitated.
Paris took her hand down. “So, Darius, it appears you’ve managed to land squarely on your feet since last we spoke. You must have a terrific-paying job.”
“Oh, it’s been rough now,” Darius said. “I’m not going to sit here and front. After your father let me go, my wife became so despondent that we began having major problems, which led to me leaving my home for the sake of peace and the sake of our children. Not having a job caused me to have to live off the generosity of others. Yep. It’s been rough for sure. But God . . .” Darius shook his head as though thinking about the goodness of God was causing him to become emotional.
“Yeah, Darius. I’m sure it’s been real hard,” Paris said, rolling her eyes with a sprinkle of sarcasm. “I’m sure your wife was all that you say she was during your difficult time. But just look at you now. You seem to have moved right along with your life . . . doing rather well, too: designer clothes, a charming woman on your arm, a job that apparently pays mega bucks.”
“I don’t know about mega bucks,” Darius said, chuckling. “But I’m finally getting my footing on solid ground. I still have goals to reach, but I’m on my way.” He leaned in. “So, when is your baby due?” he asked Andrew.
Andrew couldn’t help but smile. “April twenty-eighth. In another two weeks if the baby comes early. Four weeks if the baby is on time like its father—”
“And six weeks if the baby turns out to be like its mother, arriving two weeks after the due date,” Darius said with a contrived chuckle. He sat back against his chair shaking his head. “Come on, Paris. You know I’m right. You know I know you. We worked together. There were plenty of times you were late. Andrew, you remember.”
Paris picked up her glass of water. “Well, you know what they say: better late than never.” She tilted her glass his way almost like a toast.
The waitress brought their food and drinks.
“I’m sorry,” Paris said, grabbing hold of Andrew’s arm. “But all of a sudden, I don’
t feel so well. Can we get this to go? I’m sorry, dear. I was so looking forward to this night out.”
Andrew looked at Paris. She did look a bit flushed. He turned to the waitress. “Would you please take my and my wife’s plates back and make them to go?”
After their meals were ready, Andrew and Paris said their good-byes to Darius and Divine. . . . Well, Andrew said good-bye as they left.
But not before Darius said, as they were walking away, “Take good care of that baby now. You hear?”
Chapter 20
We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly.
—Psalm 106:6
Paris went to her parents’ house the day after her disastrous dinner run-in with Darius. She was glad her mother was gone and her father was there alone.
“Okay, I know something’s up, Paris,” Lawrence said. “Your mother is worried about you. I’ve tried to reassure her, but it’s obvious something is wrong. Now, I know you generally share things with your mother and not me. Whatever is going on, you’re not even talking to her about it. So I need you to talk to me.”
Paris started crying. “Daddy, I don’t know what to do. I’ve talked to someone about it and her advice was for me to tell Andrew. But I can’t. I just can’t.”
“Tell Andrew what? What’s so awful that you have to keep it in and it’s clearly tearing you up inside. I’ve never seen you like this before.” Lawrence took his daughter’s hand and held it. “Your mother says your sudden outbursts of tears are likely hormones and connected to the changes babies can cause. Now, I do have a little experience when it comes to being around a pregnant woman considering your mother blessed me with three beautiful children, one of them sitting before me right now.”
“Oh, Daddy,” Paris said. “You always know what to say to make me feel better. I just don’t know if you can fix this. I messed up. And I can’t seem to bring myself to tell you, Mom, and especially not Andrew. I’m just so ashamed.”
Lawrence chuckled. “Excuse me, but are you saying this to the ultimate mess-up in town? In case you haven’t heard, which could only mean you’ve been living under a rock somewhere, but I have a child out of wedlock that caused me to have to give up one of the things I love doing the most: being a congressman.”
“Daddy, I don’t mean to be cruel, but you were going to lose your seat anyway. You didn’t have a chance of winning as a black Republican, not in Alabama, and you know it.”
“See, it’s small-minded people like you that see things that way. White folks really liked me. And contrary to what people think, they would have voted for me even though I was black. And right now, there are more whites voting than blacks.”
“Daddy, I truly don’t want to debate or rehash politics today. I’m so sick of it,” Paris said.
“You’re right. I’m sorry. I was only trying to address the point that I’ve messed up myself, that I know what it feels like to have done things you don’t want anyone to know,” Lawrence said. “That’s where I was going. Do you think I wanted to ever tell your mother or even you children, for that matter, that I’d not only had an affair essentially with a teenager, albeit she was eighteen and an adult at the time, but a child out of wedlock? Do you really think I was on my head to ever tell that?”
Paris rocked as she lowered and nodded her head. “I know. And I understand a lot better how you felt and what you must have gone through.” She looked up at her father. “I do. And even though I was the first to judge you, I’ve discovered we really need to be careful in doing things like that. Because we just might find ourselves in the same or a similar predicament where someone is now in a place to judge us.”
“It’s like that scripture that talks about not judging because the same way we judge, we’ll be judged. You know I’m not the best when it comes to quoting scriptures, but I’m sure you know which one I’m referring to,” Lawrence said.
“Imani is the one who knows the scriptures like the back of her hand. That girl kind of scares me, but in a good way. If I didn’t know any better, I would wonder if she was adopted; she’s nothing like any of us.” Paris chuckled a little.
Lawrence smiled and nodded. “So, baby girl, I need you to come clean with me. You know I love you, right?”
Paris squinted her eyes as she smiled. “Of course, Daddy. I know.”
“Okay, then. Let’s have a judge-free zone right here, right now. You tell your old daddy what’s going on, and I promise it won’t go any further than between the two of us. I won’t even mention a word to your mother if you don’t want me to. I promise. And who knows: Maybe I can shed some light and we can make it right.”
Paris released an exasperated sigh and took her hand out of her father’s. “This is between you and me and you and me only, right?”
“Cross my heart,” Lawrence said as he made a cross over his chest where his heart resided.
“You know what they say about like father, like son?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I have a new one for you. How about like father, like daughter?” She forced a smile.
“Okay, I know folks say you and I are alike in more ways than probably either one of us cares to admit. Although, I’m going to say right here that I’m proud you’re so much like me. It makes me feel good to know you’ve taken after me, at least with some of my better traits.”
“Yeah, well, it’s not just the better traits. It looks like you and I have other traits that neither of us is all that proud of.” Paris looked up sheepishly at her father.
He nodded. “Just tell me, and we’ll go from there.”
“I cheated on Andrew.” There, she said it.
Lawrence continued to nod without any physical outward reaction.
“You don’t appear at all surprised by my revelation,” Paris said.
Lawrence stopped nodding, smiled, and looked deep into her eyes. “Do you honestly think I didn’t know that already?”
Paris continued to look at her father. Tears rolled down. She tried to smile, but the corners of her mouth trembled. “I suppose I didn’t. You never said anything.”
Using both thumbs, Lawrence wiped the tears from her face. He got up and brought over a box of tissues. “I think I should buy stock in these things,” he said referencing the box of tissues. “Looks like somebody is always crying these days.”
Paris yanked several tissues from the opening of the box. “I know I certainly have. And I know I’ve caused more than a few people to cry. I guess I’m merely reaping now what I’ve sown.”
“We all make mistakes. It’s part of life. It’s part of being human.” He gathered her up by her shoulders. “You understand? None of us is always going to get it right. Not me, not your mother, not you . . . not even that little one you’re carrying. That’s how life is. We’re in it and we just have to deal with it the best way we can. But for sure, none of us is going to come out of this life without something or other we regret doing or having done.”
Paris nodded as she dabbed her eyes. “So how long have you known?”
“Pretty much the morning after you and he slept together.”
“Then you also know it was Darius?”
He snickered. “Daughter, please. I saw that train wreck coming a mile away. I was hoping you would come out unscathed, but you’re grown. And you sure didn’t want to hear or listen to anything I was trying to tell you during that period of time.”
“No lectures today. Okay?”
“This is not a lecture. What I’m saying is that I knew Darius was no good. I probably share the blame because I was so desperate to try and tamp down both you and your efforts against Gabrielle that I placed you in the position of eventually finding yourself this way.”
“Like you could have kept me and him from destroying ourselves,” Paris said as she turned squarely to her father and grabbed both his hands. “Look, Daddy. I was determined to have my way. Darius was there willing and able to help me in any way that he could. Had
we not worked together for your campaign, I was going to find a way, and he and I would have been together working on what I wanted regardless. Working for you likely slowed the timetable of when I was set to self-destruct.”
Lawrence shook her hands along with his. “You’re being a bit hard on yourself. You thought you were doing something right and noble. You thought, as it turns out rightly so, that Jasmine was my daughter. You wanted our family to stay intact, even knowing that one daughter of mine was illegitimate. How can I be mad at you for that? It’s actually the kind of woman your mother and I raised you up to be.”
Paris pressed her lips together as she shook her head. “No,” she said. “That’s not a completely accurate description of me or my actions. I wanted to get back at Gabrielle. I hated her so much, I wanted to make sure she didn’t end up with that little girl, whether Jasmine was your daughter or not. In truth: if there had been indefensible proof that Jasmine was not your child, I still would have gone hard after Gabrielle to try and take her away. That was despicable of me. And in the end, my hate and pettiness has done more damage than I ever could have imagined.”
Lawrence nodded. “I’m not going to lie, now. There was some true fallout that came from all that you did. Had you just walked away like I asked . . .” He let that train of thought go. “Hey, who can really say what would be different now? It is what it is. Now we just need to see where we are and where we need to go. Okay, so you and Darius slept together. It happens. Have you asked God to forgive you?”
Paris laughed. “Yes, Daddy. Did you ask God to forgive you?”
He laughed. “Yes, daughter. And I asked your mother and you and your brother and even Imani, who still doesn’t know that Jasmine is her half-sister.”
“You know you’re going to have to tell her, and soon. You don’t want her to find out from some other place,” Paris said. “There have been too many secrets surrounding all of this as it is. Imani will never forgive you if she finds out some way other than from you and Mom.”
“I know. But Imani is sixteen, a lot younger than you and your brother. She may not take it in the way the two of you did. And Imani put herself out there for Jasmine in a way that neither of you did—she gave bone marrow to Jasmine,” Lawrence said. “If she finds out she did that essentially for her half-sister and not just some stranger, you know she’s going to want to go to her immediately and start up a sisterly relationship.”
The Other Side of Divine Page 13
