“What’s up, Keisha girl?” He planted a kiss on her cheek and exchanged pounds with Eric.
“Now I see why I couldn’t find you. You two made up and you’re both glowing.”
Topaz shook out a sable fur coat the same color as her hair and carefully folded it before she sat down.
“Details,” Keisha demanded.
“There’s not much to tell. He came home one night, we talked. Then we went out on the most wonderful date. The ambience was wonderful, but we almost didn’t connect. We talked a little more, I promised no more secrets, and we’re going to counseling to work on our issues.”
“Oh, T. That’s the best news I’ve had in weeks.” There were tears in Keisha’s eyes as she hugged Topaz.
“Thanks, Key.”
“I was about to make plans to go home for Christmas.”
“No way. We’re having Christmas at our house, especially since my cousin and I aren’t talking.” Topaz had a serious look on her face, and Keisha looked around just in time to see Nina and Kyle finding seats on the opposite side of the auditorium.
Keisha sighed unhappily. “You two will be friends again.”
“Humph.” Topaz rolled her eyes. “Not anytime soon.”
Topaz watched Nina wave Jade and Sean to seats by her. Jade looked like she was mad at the world as she zipped by like a quiet storm, and Sean, who saw them, waved as he passed by.
“Their husbands are brothers,” Keisha remarked.
“Whatever,” Topaz whispered as one of the teachers walked out on stage and the audience applauded.
“We’re very pleased to welcome you to ‘Christmas Our Way,’” she announced, and left the stage.
“This is supposed to be really good,” Keisha whispered.
“I know it’s good,” Topaz whispered back. “My babies are in it.”
Keisha smiled as the lights went down, and she saw Germain take Topaz’s hand. Their son Chris walked out on stage dressed in a Victorian costume. A makeup artist had applied thick, bushy eyebrows, a beard, and mustache. Those who knew him couldn’t help laughing. He read from a very tall book and walked offstage as a small troupe of ballerinas garbed in pink tutus, white tights, and pink satin toe shoes graced the stage to music from Tchaikovsky’s “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.”
“There’s my girl.” Eric sat up in his seat and grinned as Kendra danced and twirled across the stage.
“Look at her,” Keisha whispered to Topaz. “She’s getting so tall and she’s so pretty.”
Topaz whispered back, “Did you see my baby boy? Pretty soon he’ll be taller than me.”
When the ballerinas were finished, Chris returned to the stage dressed as an older man in a flashy suit. He did an excellent impersonation of Steve Harvey. Germain doubled over with laughter.
“He is so good.” Keisha wiped a tear from her eye. “But he came about it honestly between you and Germain. The king and queen of drama.”
Topaz laughed. “Didn’t he?”
Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” came on, and girls and boys dressed in the cutest Santa outfits complete with Santa caps pushed a sleigh filled with beautifully wrapped gifts onto the stage, where they executed a tightly choreographed hip-hop routine. Baby Doll, front and center, was clearly the best dancer.
“She is so good,” Keisha whispered as the audience cheered and clapped.
“I’m so proud of her,” Topaz smiled.
The Santas left the stage to thunderous applause. Chris made several other introductions including Hanukkah and Kwanza and then the final production number, the nativity.
Chris appeared as a shepherd and read from a scroll as the curtain opened on a small group of students portraying Jesus, Mary, wise men, angels, and shepherds.
“Look at Kobe and Niki.” Keisha pointed them out. “Aren’t they the cutest little angels?”
Kyle focused his camcorder on Niki.
“Kobe looks so cute,” Nina whispered to Jade.
“All he does is stand there,” Jade whispered back.
When the lines to the scene were done, Niki began to sing.
“O holy night, the stars are brightly shining. It is the night of dear Savior’s birth.”
You could hear the audience gasp, astonished by her rich clear voice.
“She is fantastic.” Keisha gripped Topaz’s arm tightly.
Topaz couldn’t speak as she held her breath. Tears rolled out of her eyes as she continued to listen to the little girl sing.
“Fall on your knees, O hear the angels’ voices. O night divine. O night when Christ was born.”
The other children were singing the chorus, but the audience was already clapping.
Nina wiped tears from her eyes and so did Jade.
“I didn’t know she could sing like that,” Jade whispered to Nina.
Nina sniffed and dabbed at her eyes with a tissue. “I didn’t know she could either.”
“Sing it, baby girl,” Kyle yelled, not caring what anyone thought. “That’s my daughter.”
Topaz tugged on Germain’s sleeve. “Baby, there’s something I need to tell you.”
Germain was caught up in a trance with the rest of the audience. “Do you have to tell me now?”
“Yes,” Topaz whispered.
“Wait a minute, baby.” He took out his BlackBerry and read a text message. “I need to make a quick call. Be right back.” He popped out of his seat and quickly left the auditorium.
“Your kids turned it out,” Keisha was whispering again. “Did you hear that child hit those notes? And she sang with such passion.”
“I was never that good when I was her age,” Topaz confessed.
All of the children were onstage taking bows as the audience gave them a standing ovation. When Niki stepped forward everyone stamped and cheered.
Proud parents and family members began to leave the auditorium while others stood around conversing. Kyle had Niki in his arms. He and Nina were definitely the proud parents as everyone made their way over to congratulate them on Niki’s performance. Topaz couldn’t help being envious as she watched everyone make a fuss over her and Germain’s daughter.
Germain finished his phone call to the hospital. One of his patients had been hospitalized and the nurses needed to check the dosage of her medication. While trying to make his way back into the auditorium, Germain ran smack into Sean, who was on his way to the restroom.
“Hey, man, congratulations. I know you must be proud of your daughter.”
Germain, not one to hold a grudge, smiled easily. “Thanks, man. Baby Doll danced her little behind off.”
“Yeah, she did,” Sean agreed. “But I was talking about Niki.”
Germain’s countenance clouded. “Man, what are you talking about?”
“Keisha and Topaz did a paternity test. Niki is your daughter, man.”
“What?”
“Didn’t you know?”
“This is the first I’ve heard about it.” A myriad of emotions raced through Germain’s body.
“My bad,” Sean began, but Germain was already forcing his way through the crowd back to Topaz, who was laughing and talking to Keisha and Eric.
Germain grabbed her tightly by the arm and whispered in her ear, “Niki is my daughter?”
Topaz looked into Germain’s eyes and immediately knew she had made a huge mistake by not telling him sooner. Who had told her husband? Words escaped her as she slowly agreed.
“When were you going to tell me?” he whispered through gritted teeth.
“I can explain.”
“You promised no more secrets.”
“I was trying to tell you.”
“When? Next year? It seems like everyone knew but me.”
“Give me a chance to explain.”
He gripped her arm even more tightly. “You had your chances. I’ll never forgive you for this,” he whispered, and left the auditorium.
“Germain!” Topaz wailed.
Keisha looked in her face. �
��What is it, girl?”
“Take the kids home with you.” Topaz gave Keisha a quick peck on the cheek. “I’ll explain everything later.”
Chapter 31
Topaz ran outside to the parking lot where a light misty rain had begun to fall. Normally, she would have pitched a fit about the rain ruining her hairstyle, but tonight she couldn’t have cared less. She ran to the spot where they had parked the car, but she didn’t see it anywhere. She scanned the line of bumper-to-bumper cars just in time to see Germain attempting to exit the campus. It was much too congested for him to go anywhere with everyone leaving at the same time.
She ran up to the car and tried to open the door, but it was locked. “Germain! Open the door.” For a moment, he looked her way then inched ahead in the traffic.
“Germain!” The misty rain was steadily coming down, saturating her clothes and hair. She ran out of the building so quickly she never had a chance to put on the fur coat that was slung over her arm, and she was chilled to the bone.
“Germain! Open the door, please. It’s cold out here.”
He stopped and switched open the lock, and Topaz climbed into the car with chattering teeth. “Were you actually going to leave me?”
“I was trying my best.” He focused on the traffic as he drove away from the school.
Topaz found a tissue in her purse and wiped away the moisture that had collected on her face. “Turn on the heat, Germain.” Her teeth were still chattering and she could barely speak. Finally, she turned it on herself and Germain turned it back off.
“Germain, I’m freezing!” she wailed.
“I’m not.” His tone was mean and cold, but he did turn the heater back on.
Topaz looked at him sideways. She knew he was hurting. “I sent the kids home with Keisha and Eric so we can talk.”
“I have nothing to say to you, Topaz. You’re a liar, and everything you say is a lie.”
“No, Germain. That’s not true.”
“Is Niki my daughter?” He finally made eye contact for the first time since she had gotten into the car.
“Yes.”
“You never told me. Why does Sean know the truth and I don’t?”
“I was going to tell you, but it was never the right time. I went to Nina’s house and told her to give Niki back to me the day I found out, but Nina refused. I’m taking them to court.”
Germain looked at her like she was crazy. “I swear your elevator doesn’t go all the way to the top. Is there an ounce of gray matter in your head?”
Topaz was shocked by Germain’s words. He had never taken that tone with her.
“Nina’s taken care of Niki since she was born, and rightfully she is her mother and Kyle is her father. They’re the only parents Niki’s ever known. You can’t snatch Niki out of her home and away from her parents. What were you thinking? Oh, I forgot you don’t think…at least not about anyone but yourself.”
“I was thinking she needs to come home to her real mommy and daddy with her brother and sister so we can all be a family.”
“We’re already a family. All of us.” Germain shook his head. “As usual, you’re dancing around the real issue. Do you have rocks in your head? What does all that have to do with you not telling me Niki is mine? You have denied me something I can never regain…the right and privilege of hearing my flesh and blood call me Daddy. The right to see her take her first steps, hear her say Dada, watch her teeth come in, read her a bedtime story, hear her say her prayers.”
“I missed all of those things too.”
“You had a choice. You knew she was your daughter when you gave her away. You were going to leave her in London, and Nina wouldn’t let you do it so Nina brought her home. That precious little girl. What kind of a monster are you?” There were tears in his eyes, and Topaz hated seeing him in such pain.
“I didn’t know she was yours.”
“But you knew she was yours. You should have stayed here and had the baby. We would have worked things out, even if she was Sean’s. But you had to sneak off to Europe…not willing to trust the fact that I loved you more than anything and would be by your side to go through anything with you. We took vows, baby, remember, for better or worse?”
“I was afraid I’d lose you again. Won’t you even try and see things my way?”
Tears streamed out of Topaz’s eyes and down her face as he sped into the driveway with screeching tires and shut off the engine. He jumped out of the car and stormed into the house.
Topaz sat in the cold car for almost an hour collecting her thoughts. She was really hoping that Germain would come see what was keeping her.
Germain doesn’t care about me. Wearily, she opened the car door, climbed out, and headed for the house. She could hear the big-screen TV down in the family room and knew Germain was probably camped out in front of it with that awful Tanqueray and tonic he used to drown his sorrows.
“You’re not the only one in pain, Germain Gradney.” Topaz climbed the stairs to their bedroom.
She went into her dressing room and hung up her fur, took off the pants suit, and strolled into their bedroom wearing nothing but a red satin thong. Germain was rummaging through the drawer of his nightstand. He looked up at her, then looked away.
“Put on some clothes.” He continued searching through the drawer.
“Why?” Topaz strutted her voluptuous curves. “You know you want me no matter how angry you get, so just come on and get some of this, baby.”
“Not tonight, darlin’.” He pulled Nina’s journal out of the drawer. “In case you were wondering how I found out about your little rendezvous with Sean, it was all in here. Sean also put me up on game tonight. Thank God somebody told me because that definitely was not your intention.”
“That son of a bitch.” Topaz was immediately angry. “He had no right to tell you anything.”
“Don’t blame your old boyfriend for telling me what you should have told me the minute you found out.”
“Sean was never my boyfriend. I hate his simple, stupid ass.”
“Really?” Germain seemed amused, and that angered her even more. “He still has a thing for you.”
“No, he doesn’t. He loves Jade. He’s just a nice guy.”
“You must have really freaked the church boy out.” Germain tossed Nina’s journal on the bed as he left the bedroom. “Take a look at that in your spare time.”
“What is that?” Topaz demanded, but he had already left the room. She picked up the pink book and was surprised to see Nina’s name inscribed on the front page. “What the hell?” She couldn’t believe the details of her life spelled out on the pages. She read passages for over an hour before she angrily stormed into the family room where Germain was asleep on the couch. She threw the book across the room, and it smacked him on the side of his head.
“Woman, are you crazy?” Germain sat up and looked at her.
“Who’s keeping secrets now? Why didn’t you tell me you had this?”
Germain was still trying to wake up.
“No, you just get drunk and go to Sean’s birthday party and spill your guts. I would never embarrass you like that.”
“You already did. If you had to fuck somebody why did it have to be Sean? Now every time I see that stupid motherfucker, I’ll know he’s thinking that I slept with your woman.”
Topaz’s mouth dropped open in surprise. Germain had never used such foul language.
“When did you get that journal from Nina?”
“I didn’t get it from Nina.”
“Then where did you get it?”
Germain pretended he didn’t hear her. She slapped him on the side of his head, and he gripped her hands so tightly they turned red. “Go back upstairs, Topaz, and leave me alone.” He gave her a dirty look and pushed her away.
“I want to know where you got the damn journal if it wasn’t from Nina.”
He changed the channel on the television and said nothing.
“Who gave you the fucki
ng journal, Germain?” Topaz screamed, aggravated and angry.
“Sabre.”
“Sabre? What the hell has she got to do with this?”
“She thought I should know.”
“Thought you should know what?”
“The truth.”
“And you believed her?”
“That was Nina’s handwriting.”
“Nina is such a little bitch. I’m gonna kick her ass.” Suddenly a crazed look came into her eyes. “It was Sabre. You fucked Sabre.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Germain, not the greatest liar, was doing his best to play it off.
“Some woman called the house real late one night. Of course, I thought it was you because the caller ID was your cell phone. But some female said she was done fucking you so she was sending you home to me. That was Sabre, wasn’t it?” Topaz screamed like a mad woman.
“Now you know how it feels,” Germain said quietly.
Topaz screamed all the way upstairs and into the kitchen as she searched through drawers for the biggest knife she could find. She snatched it and ran back downstairs, still screaming loudly. “I’m going to kill you, Germain. And then I’m going to kill that bitch, Sabre.”
Germain had never seen her so upset. The circumstances had brought out the absolute worst in both of them.
“Just calm down,” Germain said softly, knowing within himself things had gone too far.
“Don’t tell me to calm down,” Topaz screamed. “You fucked that bitch. You know how much I hated her. Why?” Topaz broke into tears.
“I wanted to hurt you as badly as you hurt me,” he yelled back. “And Jade. It doesn’t feel good, does it?”
“I’ll never forgive you, Germain Gradney.”
“I’ll never forgive you, either.”
“Fine. Don’t forgive me. At least I never cheated on you while we were married.”
“I gotta get out of here.” Germain ran up the stairs and she ran behind him.
“Why? Are you going to see Sabre, that little tramp-ass ho?”
“Why would you care if you’re never going to forgive me?”
Germain was out of the house and in his new Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet. It was a beautiful piece of machinery, cocoa with terra-cotta interior—an early Christmas, late birthday gift from Topaz. He drove off the property going nowhere in particular, just out of the house to give them both some much needed space. He opened the window. The chilly night air felt good and it helped clear his head.
Diamond Revelation Page 25
