by Dawn Desiree
“That’s better,” Rain said. “Well, for the past seven months, I’ve been trying to hunt your missing ass down. When I said we should go our separate ways, nobody told you to drop off the face of the earth,” Rain scolded. “But before that, I was on a mission, traveling all around until I got bored. I’ve been to Florida, California, Hawaii, and Jamaica.”
‘Wow!” Sunshine said.
“Tell me about it,” Rain said. “Last year I tried to settle down in California. My little brothers are living out there, but they be doing their own thing.”
Sunshine was happy for Rain. She seemed more mature, almost like a real woman.
“For a long time, I tried to get you out my head, but I never could,” Rain said. “No matter how many Rastas I smoked with, or how many bitches I sipped with, I couldn’t stop thinking about your ass,” she added.
Rain’s facial expression suddenly turned serious. “Is there somewhere where we can sit down and talk?” Rain asked.
“Yeah, come in the kitchen. I’ll make us some coffee. My husband’s not home yet, so we can talk,” Sunshine said.
Rain followed Sunshine into the kitchen. They sat across the table from one another, exchanging glances.
“What’s up, Rain?” Sunshine asked. She couldn’t imagine what Rain had come all this way for, after all this time to talk about.
Rain got up and grabbed Sunshine and held her tight like she was about to leave for five more years, before she began. Strangely enough, the hug gave Sunshine the chills. When she let go, Rain had tears in her eyes. Sunshine knew it had to be serious.
“Sunshine, I am sorry I didn’t come to you sooner. At first I was just being petty, because I was still upset about what happened right before we split up. But then, after the anger wore off, there was no excuse. I was just funning and spending money, living big, but I always had you in my mind.”
Sunshine sat quietly, listening intently, still confused by the expression on Rain’s face. She didn’t know what to expect as she continued to listen.
“Seven months ago, I decided to find you, so I hired a private investigator. Six months ago, she found you and told me that you were married and had a son. When she told me that you had married Diego Sanchez, I couldn’t believe that you two had stayed together this whole time. I began calling you then, but I didn’t know what I’d say if you answered, so I would hang up and call back the next time I felt the time was right. Not until now did I actually have the nerve to come back and see you face to face,” Rain said.
Now Sunshine knew who had been the crank caller all this time.
“I don’t understand,” Sunshine said.
“Listen to me, Sunshine. I’m about to hit your head with some shit.”
EIGHTEEN
“Do you smoke cigarettes? Because you might need one right about now,” Rain suggested.
Sunshine was getting mad. “No, I don’t fucking smoke! Now stop stalling, Rain, and tell me what’s going on!”
Rain sat up from her slouched position on the bed. “Is it okay if I smoke then?” she asked.
“Whatever,” Sunshine said. “Just get to the point.”
Rain lit her cigarette, blowing her nasty smoke all in Sunshine’s face. “The private investigator cost me a pretty penny, and she was well worth the price,” Rain began. “She dug up some information I didn’t even ask for.” Rain opened up a large yellow envelope and took out a sheet of paper. Rain handed the paper over to Sunshine.
“What is it?” Sunshine asked.
“Read it,” Rain insisted.
Sunshine looked over the information and observed that it was a copy of her birth certificate, but she still didn’t understand what her vital records had to do with anything. Sunshine looked at Rain, wanting some answers.
“This is your news?” Sunshine asked, baffled.
Rain rolled her eyes to the sky. “Don’t you get it?” Rain asked, looking at Sunshine as if she were a freak of nature.
“Yeah, I get it. It’s a copy of my original birth certificate, but what’s the big deal?” Sunshine asked.
“Check out the name of your biological father,” Rain said, pointing to the certificate.
Sunshine read the name of her father aloud for Rain’s satisfaction. “Name of father, Jimmy Bernard Concise. I still don’t get it,” Sunshine said.
“Do you get one plus one equals two?” Rain asked sarcastically.
“Sunshine, Jim Concise is my father. Don’t you even remember my last name?” Rain asked, bewildered. “This means that you and I are sisters,” Rain said bluntly, so that Sunshine could understand completely.
Sunshine read over the birth certificate one more time for confirmation. It was beginning to make sense to her now. She looked over at Rain and saw her in a whole new light. She could see some resemblance the harder she looked. Now Sunshine understood why she felt so connected to Rain, even while they were apart.
Tears came to Sunshine’s eyes. She wasn’t sure if it was from the disgusting Newport that Rain had lit, or if it was from the emotional news that Rain had just hit her with.
“This is wonderful news, Rain! All this time I had a sister and I never knew it,” Sunshine said.
“A sister and two brothers,” Rain reminded her, “and it’s no telling how many more of us is out there, the way my father was going.”
“Yeah, I never knew our father, but I heard he was a roller,” Sunshine added.
“Crazy, huh? Now I wish I would have had the nerve to come back sooner,” Rain said.
Both women sat in silence for a minute before Rain said, “Yeah, so how’s it being married with a kid and the whole bit?”
Sunshine smiled and said, “It’s been great. I have a wonderful life now, but to tell you the truth, I had always felt like something was missing. I could never pinpoint exactly what it was. Now I feel like it all makes sense.” There was another pause. “Thank you for coming here.”
“Yeah, well, I figured you deserved to know.” Rain attempted to make light of Sunshine’s heavy emotions. “Plus, I wanted to come back around the area to see my old haunts. Not a bad place you got here, huh?” Rain began to ramble.
“Yeah, thanks. Where are you staying while you’re here?” Sunshine asked.
“Not sure yet. I’m not even sure how long I’ll stay. I didn’t really have much of a plan after telling you about this,” Rain confessed, a little surprised at her own bewilderment. Even though she had known that Sunshine was her biological sister, Rain felt like the reality of it all was finally sinking in. Now that she was looking at Sunshine, sitting in Sunshine’s home, thinking about Sunshine’s family, Rain’s eyes actually began to tear up.
Sunshine just leaned over and said simply, “Why don’t you stay here with us? I’ll introduce you to your family.”
But Rain had more to tell. She wasn’t ready for this part of the conversation. She thought she could handle it, but now that she was face to face with Sunshine, it was harder than she had expected. Rain looked deep into Sunshine’s eyes as her own eyes filled with tears. She grabbed both of Sunshine’s hands and decided to just spit it out.
“Sunshine, Diego is gay. He used to fuck with Brianna, and now he’s fucking around on you with a switch bitch named Charmaine,” Rain spat.
“What? Uh-uh, now you’re talking crazy, Rain. There is nothing gay about my husband, and what on earth is a switch bitch?” Sunshine asked.
“A switch bitch is a man switched over to a bitch, and if you don’t believe me about your husband, check this out,” Rain said. Rain pulled over a dozen photos from a different envelope and sprawled them all across the table for her to view.
Sunshine picked up each picture one by one and was horrified by what she saw. There was no denying that the man in the pictures was Diego. Almost every picture was explicit in Sunshine’s eyes. Diego was making out with Charmaine, right out in public, as if he didn’t wear her ring. Then there were pictures with Diego from way back in the day, hugging all over
Cathy’s son, Brian, like they were first lovers. She didn’t know who she should be more upset with: Diego’s lying, cheating, gay ass, or Rain for ruining her life.
Sunshine threw the repulsive pictures to the side and put her hands over her face to hide the humiliation she felt. Her body began to shake and tremble uncontrollably, as the sight of each picture flashed in her thoughts.
Rain reached over to console her, but Sunshine resisted her touch. She pushed her away and screamed, “Get off of me!”
She no longer cared if she awakened Little Diego. She didn’t care if she woke the whole damn neighborhood.
Rain sat still and honored Sunshine’s wishes. She had already prepared herself for Sunshine’s reaction.
Sunshine got up from the table. She couldn’t be confined any longer. She needed to get some air. She ran out of the room and out the door, flying like the wind, away from Rain and away from those filthy pictures that she had brought with her.
Rain sat at the table for a long moment, allowing Sunshine to express her entitled tantrum in peace before she went after her. Rain picked up her evidence and put it back inside the envelope. Little did Sunshine know that this was as hard for Rain to tell her as it was for her to comprehend. What was even more fucked up was that she hadn’t gotten to the worst part yet.
Rain went outside to find Sunshine and to make sure she wasn’t doing anything extreme, like roaming around outside with her nightgown on, scaring innocent people. She found Sunshine huddled on the back porch, staring blankly into the rising sun. Rain took a chance and approached her.
“Come on, Sunshine. Let’s go back inside. It’s a little chilly out here for you to be wearing that skimpy outfit.” To Rain’s surprise, Sunshine got up and followed her in the house.
They went in the kitchen, and Sunshine sat at the table, while Rain searched the unfamiliar cabinets for some coffee. The cabinets were loaded, but Rain didn’t see what she was looking for. She didn’t bother to ask Sunshine, as she still seemed to be trying to adjust to the news.
Rain decided to give up on the coffee and took a seat next to Sunshine. Sunshine must’ve secretly known what Rain was trying to do, because she stood up and went directly to the one cabinet Rain had missed and took out a huge container. She moved like a snail as she began brewing the coffee in the coffeemaker.
Then she slowly turned to Rain and asked, “There’s more, isn’t there?”
Rain put her head down in shame, as if she had been the one caught cheating. She knew this was going to be hard, but damn, did Sunshine have to look sadder than a giftless child at Christmas?
Might as well get the last of it over with, Rain thought. She lifted her head back up to face Sunshine.
“Sunshine, sit down,” Rain ordered.
Sunshine sat back in her seat, still wearing the depressing expression on her face.
“Sunshine, when you left Cathy’s house the last time I saw you, I was looking through some of Brianna’s things, and I saw a prescription for AZT.”
Rain waited for a reaction. “So, what does that have to do with me?” Sunshine asked nonchalantly.
“In case you don’t know, AZT is a prescription for patients carrying the HIV virus. I’m not saying that you have HIV, but it’s no telling how long Brian had it, and he could have given it to Diego, or shit, maybe Diego even gave it to him—which means one of them may have given it to you or even my nephew. When is the last time you had an HIV test taken?” Rain asked, concerned.
Sunshine thought about it for a second. “I had one while I was pregnant with Li’l Diego, and it was negative,” Sunshine answered.
“But that was over four years ago, right?” Rain asked, trying to calculate the years it had been.
“Yes, it was about that long ago,” Sunshine answered.
“Sometimes it takes a while for the virus to show up in your system, so we need to get you tested again, to make sure you’re still healthy,” Rain suggested.
Sunshine didn’t seem to take the news as hard as she took Diego cheating on her. Maybe because the last HIV test was negative. Or, maybe she wasn’t ready to face the thought that the very disease that had stolen her mother away from her would be the same one to take her from Little Diego.
Rain knew that she had to get her big sister away from the house and away from Diego’s unfaithful ass.
“What am I supposed to do now?” Sunshine asked Rain, looking for answers since she had all the facts.
“Pack your shit, and you and Little Diego come move with me to my house in California. There is plenty of room for you and Little Diego there. You could go to school and find out what it takes to be a professional music producer,” Rain went on.
“Are you serious?” Sunshine asked. “How can you expect me to just pack up and leave with you to another state without even talking to Diego first?”
“Fuck that nigga! But if it’s really important for you to talk to his dick-sucking ass, then just call him. I’m more than positive he’s with Mr. Charmaine. Why else wouldn’t he be here this time of morning with his lovely wife and kid?” Rain asked, not really expecting an answer.
Rain stood up to finish the coffee that Sunshine had started. She made Sunshine’s like she made hers, with lots of sugar and little cream. She set the hot mug in front of Sunshine and watched as she began sipping non-stop, showing that her taste buds agreed with the flavor.
Sunshine set her cup down after a long moment of silence. “I’ll wait for him to come home, because I don’t have a way to reach him,” Sunshine said. She was almost sorry as soon as she said it.
Rain went into her bag of tricks and pulled out a sheet of paper with all of Charmaine’s information printed out. Her full, real name, which was actually Jermaine Washington; her address, social security number, date of birth, and all of her phone numbers.
Sunshine almost wanted to laugh. “You must have given your private investigator some wonderful head for all this info.”
“Hell yeah. She even told me when you had your last menstruation,” Rain joked back. It felt good to see Sunshine put a smile on her face. “So what’s up? Are you gonna make the call to see if your precious dick-sucker is there or not?”
Sunshine shook her head. She knew it was going to be a crazy day, but this was too much.
“Do you have a cell phone on you? I don’t want to call from the house phone,” Sunshine said.
Rain went into her purse and handed Sunshine her phone with no problem. Sunshine took the phone but hesitated for a second before dialing. She took a deep breath, exhaled, and then began dialing.
The phone seemed like it would never stop ringing. Then finally, someone picked up on what felt like the thousandth ring. Sunshine could hear someone tussling with the phone, as if they were having a hard time getting it together.
Sunshine’s heart began pounding so hard that it could probably be heard through the phone. It almost went through the phone when she heard her husband say, “Hello.”
When Sunshine listened harder, it sounded as if someone was in the background moaning. That’s when Sunshine put it all together. Diego was in the process of making love at that very moment. That was what took him so long to answer the phone, and that was why he had such a difficult time doing it.
A flash came into Sunshine’s mind of the many times they had done the same thing, answering the phone in the middle of making passionate love and trying to maintain a decent conversation at the same time. It was funny to her then, but it wasn’t funny now.
Sunshine stopped reminiscing and stopped stalling. She knew the truth for certain now.
“Diego, I’m leaving you. I’m taking our son, and we are moving out. You can have all this shit. The house, the cars, and your name; all that can be replaced. I’m filing for a divorce.”
Sunshine hung up the phone without waiting for a response. She headed upstairs to wake Little Diego. While she packed their clothes that they would take with them, the phone rang non-stop, but Sunshine didn’t
bother to answer it. She knew it was Diego calling, trying to fill her head up with more lies.
Rain helped Sunshine put the luggage into her truck, and the three of them headed down the road toward the airport. Sunshine felt an overwhelming peace the farther away they got from the house that was built on nothing but lies and deception. This new beginning felt different, like this was how it was supposed to be.
Sunshine thought about the HIV test she would have to take once she got settled in California, but no matter what the outcome, she would live the rest of her life to the fullest and raise her son the best way she knew how, just as her own mother had done. And no matter what, she would always remember to keep her face to the sunshine.
She looked over at her little sister, and tears of joy flowed down her face for the love she felt for her. Rain had come back for her, and now they would build a new life together, with no more deception or lies, just Sunshine and Rain . . . and Little Diego.
Nothing in this life is promised to you;
Not fame, not fortune, not life, it’s true.
You have to be strong-willed in all that you do;
You’ve got to hold tight when trials come at you.
Treat every day of your life like one to behold;
You must not be misled by all the monies and gold.
Friends are few, and you must select with care;
Relationships hurt, my people, you had better beware.
When true love is found, you must treat it
with care;
Be true to the game still when life is unfair.
Believe in no one but yourself and your God;
and you will be way ahead of this game we call life,
until the play of your ending.
SUNSHINE
Urban Books, LLC
97 N18th Street
Wyandanch, NY 11798
Sunshine & Rain: Triple Crown Collection
Copyright © 2007 Triple Crown Publications LLC
