by Tina Martin
While she sat at a round table sipping on a cappuccino, she dialed Tyson’s number. She even sent him a text and still, there was no response.
Tamera sighed. Where are you, Tyson? She rubbed her tired eyes, finding it hard to believe the events of the day. She, and the rest of the family were supposed to be at Gabrielle’s baby shower, celebrating the upcoming birth of the newest member to the Alexander family but the shower never began, and Gabrielle had given birth on the same day.
Tamera rubbed her eyes again. Henry! She’d completely forgotten to call him. His daughter had just given birth to his first grandchild and the man didn’t even know it. How had she forgotten to call him? Get it together, Tamera, she whispered to herself. She took her phone from the table and dialed him.
“Hello,” he answered quickly.
“Hey, Mr. Robinson. This is Tamera.”
“Tamera, where’s Gabrielle and Tyson?”
I don’t know where Tyson is but your daughter just had a baby. “Um—”
“What on earth is going on? We’re still at Padma’s house, sitting here, waiting...Padma isn’t here, the caterers are leaving and guests are leaving—”
“Mr. Robinson, Gabrielle had the baby.”
“What!”
“Yeah. I’m at the hospital with her now. I’m so sorry I forgot to call you. Things were just happening so fast and—”
“What’s the name of the hospital?”
“Regional...are my parents still there? They know where it is. They can bring you and the girls here, okay.”
“Okay. I’ll get them to do that.”
“Alright. And let everyone else know that they might as well go home.”
“Most of them left already, but I’ll let the others know.”
“Okay. See you shortly.”
Chapter 17
“What’s wrong, Dad?” Carmen asked her father right after he got off of the phone. They were sitting at a patio table on the deck at Padma’s house.
“Gabrielle had the baby.”
“What?” Destiny said. “But she wasn’t due—”
“I know, Destiny, but sometimes things like this happens.”
“Is she okay?” Carmen asked, worried.
“As far as I know. Have either of you seen Rena or John?”
“Yeah. They’re in the living room,” Destiny said.
“Are we going to the hospital to see Gabrielle?” Carmen asked.
“Yes. Just come with me,” he told them.
Carmen and Destiny followed their father in the house. Henry quickly found Rena and John and said, “Gabrielle had the baby.”
“What?” Rena said.
“She had the baby. Tamera called me just a few minutes ago. She said they’re at Regional. Can you take us there? I don’t know where it is.”
“Sure. Sure...ah, okay. Let’s go.”
Once they were all loaded in the car, John began the short drive to the hospital. Rena took out her cell and called Tamera.
“Hey, mom,” Tamera answered.
“Tamera, Gabrielle had the baby?”
“Yes. Do you have Mr. Robinson and the girls with you?”
“Yes. We’re on the way there now.”
“Okay, then I need to tell you something, so please don’t freak out or say anything to alarm Mr. Robinson. Okay?”
“Okay.”
Tamera leaned back in her chair and stretched her legs. “So, Gabrielle and Tyson got into some sort of argument last night after dinner. He left, didn’t come home last night, then he returned today, like twenty minutes before the baby shower was supposed to begin and demanded that I leave the house. That’s why I showed up to Padma’s house by myself. Anyway, Padma told me to go back and check on Gabrielle and, when I did, Gabrielle was crying hysterically. She said Tyson was accusing her of having an affair with Dilvan—”
“What!”
“Mom, please don’t alarm Mr. Robinson, okay. Just listen...don’t say anything. I don’t want him to panic.” Tamera took a deep breath. “So he accused her of having an affair, said the baby probably wasn’t his and Gabrielle said he had a gun and was going after Dilvan.”
Rena placed a hand over her mouth. Now she knew what had been bothering Tyson the night they had dinner at his home.
“By the way, Tyson isn’t here,” Tamera continued. “I don’t know where he is. I’ve been trying to call him, text him, he’s not responding. Mom, he didn’t even see his baby being born, and it is his baby. The little boy looks just like Tyson.”
“Okay, dear. We’ll be pulling up in a few minutes.”
“I’m in the cafeteria. Meet me here.”
“Will do. Bye.”
As soon as Rena hung up the phone, John asked, “Is everything okay, dear?”
Rena sucked in a breath, and so that Henry didn’t suspect anything, she said, “Yes. Everything’s fine.”
Chapter 18
Tamera took a sip of her cappuccino and saw Heshan walk through the entrance of the café. She waved her hand in the air so he could see her and when he did, he walked directly to her table.
“Hey, what are you doing here?” she asked him.
“I was about to ask you the same thing,” he said, then took a seat.
“Gabrielle went into labor and had the baby, and Tyson is nowhere to be found.”
“Wait...Gabrielle had the baby?”
“Yes...a little boy.”
“But she’s not due for another month.”
“Try telling that to the baby. Apparently, he was ready.” She took another sip. “Why are you here?”
“Dilvan is in I.C.U.”
Tamera’s lips trembled. “Oh my gosh! Tyson did it! Tyson shot him?”
“No, Tyson didn’t shoot him. Dilvan tried to commit suicide. He took a lot of pills and—” Heshan shook his head.
“What?”
Heshan sighed. His brother was a pain in everyone’s rear, but he loved him. How could he not love his little brother? He just found it difficult to get along with him. “I don’t know what’s happening to this family, Tamera, but I’m so tired of all the drama. Dilvan hates Tyson. Tyson hates Dilvan. Dilvan’s obsessed with Gabrielle. Gabrielle can’t stand Dilvan. Tyson and Gabrielle are breaking up. Now Tyson hates me.”
“Why?”
“He thinks I knew something about an affair that supposedly happened between Gabrielle and Dilvan eight months ago.”
“But Gabrielle said she never slept with Dilvan, and I believe her. Heshan, that little boy is Tyson’s baby. He looks just like him.”
“Well, I’m not sure what’s going on, but, like I said, I’m tired of it.”
Tamera nodded. “My parents are on the way with Mr. Robinson and Gabrielle’s sisters. They should be here in a few. Maybe
Tyson will show up eventually. When was the last time you spoke with him?”
“About an hour ago. I told him what happened to Dilvan and he was like, okay...whatever. Your brother tried to kill himself, at least he’s doing something productive with his life. That’s what he told me.”
“You know when Tyson is mad—”
“Yeah...it nearly takes a miracle for him to think clearly and rationally.”
Tamera sighed. “How is Dilvan doing?”
Heshan shook his head. “The doctors are doing everything they can.” Heshan thought about what he said. Had the family did everything they could for Dilvan? As the oldest of the brothers, Heshan knew he should’ve tried harder with Dilvan, to settle the feud he had with Tyson. To make him see that he needed to leave Gabrielle alone. All too often, when people realized that someone close to them was in trouble, they did nothing to help that person correct the matter for fear of retaliation. Heshan had fallen into that category, silently watching from the sidelines as Dilvan spiraled out of control. Now he just hoped it wasn’t too late.
Chapter 19
“Go on in, honey,” Rena said to John. “I’ll be right there. I just have to make a phone call.” Sh
e had one thing on her mind and that was finding out where her son was. Tyson had missed the birth of his baby and why was he going ballistic all of a sudden?
John went inside with Henry, Carmen and Destiny, leaving Rena outside with the phone pressed against her ear.
“Come on, Tyson. Pick up,” she mumbled. When he hadn’t answered, she dialed him again.
“Hello, Mother.”
“Tyson, where are you?”
He rubbed his head. “Just sitting around thinking about how messed up my life is...about how no matter how hard I try—”
“Son, now is not the time to have a pity party. You’re stronger than that, Tyson, now listen to me. Gabrielle had the baby.”
Tyson frowned. He wanted to be happy but was the baby his?
“Did you hear me?”
“Yeah. I heard you.”
“Tamera told me what happened, Tyson...told me that you didn’t think the baby was yours and I’m telling you to get here now,” she said, whimpering. “You already missed the birth of your son over a bunch of nonsense and—”
“My wife having an affair is nonsense?”
“How do you know she had an affair, Tyson? Did she confess it to you?”
“No. She doesn’t have to.”
“As much as you love Gabrielle, you won’t even give her the benefit of the doubt? That’s something I never understood about you.”
“What do you mean that’s something you never understood about me?”
“Remember, back to when you were trying to get into culinary school...you had supposedly left the application in the kitchen, told your father to mail it off, then got upset when you hadn’t heard from the admissions office. Remember that?”
Tyson sighed. “That was a long time ago, Mother.”
“Yeah, but I’m saying it to prove a point. Son, you were so angry with your father that you didn’t talk to him for weeks. Then you realized you had the papers in your backpack all along. The point I’m trying to make is, you can’t just assume that everybody is out to get you...that the universe is somehow zeroing in on you and punishing you for some reason. You have to give the other party a chance to explain things. And you love Gabrielle. I know you do.”
“Of course I do. Why do you think this is so hard for me?”
“Tyson...please...you need to get here to this hospital as fast as you can and repair the damage you’ve already caused. Please, son. I’m begging you.”
Tyson frowned. “Yeah. Okay.”
Chapter 20
“I wish we were here under better circumstances,” Padma said to the family as they were all huddled in the corner of the waiting room, an area that they designated as temporarily theirs for the moment.
“Well, it isn’t all bad,” She added. “Gabrielle had her baby. A beautiful baby boy.” Tears rolled from Padma’s eyes.
After a few moments, Tyson walked in, joining the rest of the family – Henry, Carmen, Destiny, Lalita, Prasad, Tamera, Heshan and his parents, Rena and John.
Padma continued, “The doctor is not optimistic about Dilvan. They don’t know if he’ll make it through the night,” she said with a shaky, distorted voice, “But they’re doing every thing they can for him.”
Henry didn’t care much for Dilvan, especially after learning how he treated Gabrielle, but he cared for Padma and since Dilvan was her son, he could empathize with her. Besides, he was a father and he never wanted to know what it would feel like to have a sick child, let alone lose a child.
“Let’s remain hopeful,” Henry told her.
“I’m trying to,” Padma responded.
Heshan hung his head. It took a tragedy for him to realize how much Dilvan really meant to him, and the possibility that he could never get the chance to talk to his brother again had him regretting the distance he had put between them. Even though they were getting back to a good place, there were years before then in which they hadn’t spoken. Wasted years. And he knew that his mother had been modest in her wording of the doctor’s statement to soften the blow for the family. What the doctor actually said was, it was going to take a miracle to pull Dilvan through this. A miracle.
After Padma gave the update on Dilvan, the family dispersed.
Henry caught sight of Tyson and said, “Congratulation, man. He’s a handsome fella just like his ol’ man.” For all he knew, Tyson had been there with Gabrielle, saw his son being born, cut the cord, held her hand – all the things an expectant father would do. However, Tyson wasn’t even at the hospital when his son was born.
“Thanks, Henry.”
Henry frowned. “You don’t seem happy about it. Is everything okay?”
Tyson slid his hands in his pockets.
Padma, who’d been standing in the corner listening, interjected. “There’s just been a misunderstanding, Henry.”
Tyson’s frown deepened. “The only misunderstanding is how you made me out to be a fool, Padma...after everything I’ve done for you—”
“Tyson—”
“I go above and beyond for you,” he said cutting her off. “I go above and beyond for everyone and I treat my wife like a queen and you knew what she did to me and wouldn’t say a word.”
Henry grimaced. Tyson’s words threw him for a loop. What was he talking about? “And just what did Gabrielle do to you?” he asked Tyson.
“Tyson, stop this,” Rena said, coming over to join them when she heard Tyson getting loud.
Ignoring his mother, he said, “Tell them, Padma. Tell them what you been sneaking around behind my back discussing with Heshan, Lalita and whoever else would listen. Meanwhile, I’m the fool.” Tyson threw his hands in the air and walked away from them. All of them.
“Tyson, wait,” Lalita said, running to catch up to him.
Prasad followed her.
“Tyson, please,” Lalita called out to him again.
He stopped walking and looked at her.
“I want to apologize to you,” she said breathy, “Because I feel like what happened was my fault. And I don’t know what version of the story you heard, but Gabrielle didn’t cheat on you with Dilvan.”
“Then what happened in Chicago, Lalita?”
Padma had caught up to them by then and said, “Go ahead, Lalita. Tell him.”
Lalita took a much needed breath. “Padma and I were hanging out late one night and Gabrielle didn’t want to come with us. She stayed at the hotel. Anyway, I was on the way back to the room that I shared with Gabrielle and I saw Dilvan sneaking away from the room. He didn’t see me, but I saw him. Instead of letting him know that I saw him, I just continued on in the room to ask Gabrielle why he was even there and that’s when I saw her, passed out on my bed. She was out of it and by out of it, I mean, she was drugged, Tyson.”
“What!” Tyson yelled.
“And I don’t know what happened after that, but since Dilvan was talking about the baby might be his, I could only assume that he might’ve…you know,” Lalita said, refusing to say the word.
Tyson’s lips trembled. “Are you telling me what I think you’re telling me?”
Padma wiped her eyes. “Well, we don’t know for sure, Tyson. All we have is this suicide note Beatrice found on his desk. I’m so sorry.” She handed him the letter.
Tyson undid the half-fold and read it:
To My Family,
I’m sorry to end things like this, but I’ve felt like an outcast for some time now. People say money can’t buy happiness, and I’m living proof. I’ve been miserable for a long time now, so much so that I look for compliments from others to make me feel good about myself, but the truth of the matter is, I’m not good and I have nothing to live for. Nothing. Heshan and Prasad, I love you and I’m sorry that we couldn’t be as close as brothers should be. I do appreciate your efforts. Father, you will forever be my best friend. I wish you were around more often, but I understand your drive to make sure the business continues to flourish. Mother, I love you with all my heart. I know I’ve caused you pain and I c
an’t take anything back that I’ve done. Just know that I love you.
Please let Gabrielle and Tyson know that I’m sorry. Gabrielle, I never meant to hurt you. You were always a beautiful, sweet soul. I abused you, I hurt you over and over again and now you have a man who will love you more than I ever could. I’m grateful now that I won’t be able to hurt you anymore, and I hope my death will somehow bring this family back together again.
Dilvan
_____________
Tyson grunted, bawled up the paper and threw it across the room. He was consumed with rage. He wanted revenge. Suicide was too easy for Dilvan, he thought.
But then he began to think about the other expressions Dilvan had put in the letter – how he loved his family and felt like an outcast. If he did make it out of the hospital, he needed to be committed to a mental health facility because he definitely needed some serious help.
That still did nothing to calm his hatred of him. His rage towards him.
Tyson’s chest rose in and out quickly. He was angry and rightly so. Then he looked at Padma and said, “Does Gabrielle know about this?”
Lalita shook her head. “No. And she doesn’t know that Dilvan is in I.C.U.”
Tyson flailed his arms about in the air before resting them on his head.
“I think I should be the one to tell her,” Lalita said. “I’ll take Tamera with me and we’ll explain what’s been going on.”
“Okay,” Padma said. She was too exhausted to explain anything else to anyone. As it stood, she had already caught Colin up to speed on what was going on and she couldn’t wait until he arrived. She drew strength from him and she would need it in the days and weeks to come.
Chapter 21
Lalita and Tamera sat next to Gabrielle’s hospital bed. She was in a recovery room now. The nurse had just wheeled in a small bassinet for the baby, after which, Lalita confessed to Gabrielle what happened in Chicago – the things she had witnessed and had concluded. The things Dilvan might have done to her.
