“Oh Aria, you’re not annoying. You’re my sister; I’m here for you always.”
We hug again, this time I hold on to her longer. “It’s Sunday, aren’t you going to church this morning?” I ask.
“Nah something came up and plus I planned to come and check on you anyways. What you doing today?”
“Well I’m going to go grab some groceries at the store and then I’m going to go check Vida’s cousin at his store downtown.”
“Who Vida? Big booty Vida from HR?”
“Yeah her cousin has an electronics store downtown. I’m gonna get some security cameras from him and have them installed everywhere”, I say.
Again Sadie looks stunned, “security cameras? Look I know you going through a lot but that’s a lot of money you gonna have to spend to get these cameras plus install them. I think this is a bad idea. Look why don’t you go down to the Walmart in Parkview Mall and order some cheap cameras or you could even buy em off Amazon and Lawrence will install them for you.”
“Sadie, I need peace of mind and that’s what these security cameras will give me. Plus money has never been an issue for me. My safety is paramount and besides Lawrence ain’t no techie. No offence but you know your husband better than I do.”
“Girl all he gotta do is read a manual and follow instructions and we could help him.”
I roll my eyes, “Thanks but no thanks Sadie? Oh by the way, I’m taking a few days off from work until I sort things out.”
Sadie gets quiet all of a sudden.
“Sadie you heard me right?”
She clears her throat, “um…….. yeah. Your’re taking a few days off work. Listen Aria will you be okay? I just remembered I’ve got something to do for my mom. I gotta run but I’ll talk to you later. Bye!
I’m a hugger so I hug her a third time taking in the scent of the La Vie est belle perfume I bought her last Christmas. “Goodbye”, I say as she slams the door on her way out. It is unlike her to slam doors but I dismiss the thought that she could be upset about something. I mean she did say she was in a hurry to do that thing for her mom. Yet there was something unsettling about her mood today. The way she tried to talk me out of getting security cameras and bringing my mom over. I wondered what was up with my best friend.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Grocery shopping and running errands all day made me exhausted. I had heard that women get very tired during pregnancy but I really had no clue just how sudden the fatigue can come on. Once I was in my apartment, I put the groceries on the kitchen table and threw myself on the couch. I must have dozed off for a little more than an hour when I heard a loud knock at the door. Reluctantly I moved slowly toward the peep hole to see who it was before opening. I recognized the logo from the electronics store I had been to today. It was on the polo t-shirts that the two guys standing in front of my door wore. I open the door, “Good Afternoon, what are your names please?” I was sure to ask for the names of the technicians that would come to set up my cameras. “Good Afternoon Maam, I am Corey and this is Ronald. We’re from Southside Electronics and we’re here to set up your security cameras. “Okay well come on in then”, I said as I motioned for them to come inside.
While the guys busied themselves setting up the cameras I put away the groceries and fixed myself something to eat and drink. Approximately 45 minutes later, the guys had completed the setup and they were now showing me how to operate the equipment and monitor the apartment from my phone. I was so happy when they left and everything was installed. The extra money I paid to have same day setup was totally worth it. Glancing at my wristwatch I knew I needed to start getting ready to go pick up my mom at the airport. I had less than one hour to get ready, I took another shower, got dressed in a jiffy and was out the door to drive to the airport to meet my mom.
In the parking lot of my apartment complex I see my neighbour Jennifer. “Hey Jlo”, I say teasing her since her name is actually Jennifer Lopez.
A big grin appears on her face “Hey Aria, what’s up? I haven’t seen you in a while. I thought you moved out or something.”
“Nah my condo by the ocean is still under construction, so I’m stuck here for a while,” I joke.
We both laugh and then her eyes move from my face to my stomach. I am immediately embarrassed and I know that she is going to ask so I decide to beat her to it. “Oh yeah, I am pregnant by the way”, I say sheepishly.
“OMG! Well congratulations girl! Welcome to the club! How far along are you?”
I had to think really hard, “Ummmm I’m actually not sure. I just had so much going on at work and in my personal life. I’m afraid I lost track of my own pregnancy”. I add a little laugh to make light of the moment.
“Girl it happens sometimes”.
“Umm Jennifer I’d like to ask you something. Have you noticed any strange persons lurking around our apartment area in the past few months?”
Jennifer looks around like she’s thinking, “no! Why you ask?”
“Oh it’s nothing”, I say. “A friend of mine thought he saw someone lurking around our apartment the other night so I thought I’d ask you”.
“Oh aight, you should check with Management just in case. Can’t be too cautious these days”
‘Yeah I will do that. It was great to see you Jennifer, I gotta run off to the airport to pick up my mom so I’ll see you around”.
“Okay girl, take care!”
As I get to my car I wonder who Devin saw lurking around my apartment and why he has not responded to my message yet. Maybe he’s being petty and feels like he should ignore me like he thinks I ignored him.
My mother is an ecstatic bundle of joy when I collect her from the airport. Underneath the happiness of our reunion; worry and concern plagued us both.
“Are you hungry mom?” I ask as we drive away from the airport.
“Oh yes child I’m famished! They only gave me chips and soda on the plane and while I was in transit in Miami I paid $20 for the tiniest sandwich, right now I could probably eat a cow.”
I laugh, “what would you like to eat? Sadie and I found a great Thai Restaurant not too far from where I live. Or we could go to Red Lobster or Applebees.”
“Oooh I could do with some Red Lobster right about now, let’s go there.”
“Ok then, Red Lobster it is!”
While we waited for our food at Red Lobster; my mother started a mini interrogation to find out how I got in this mess. She knew nothing about my past as an uncontrollable drunken wreck and I wanted to keep it that way. My mother thought of me as a successful, intelligent career woman. There was no need to change that. Plus it was entirely irrelevant to my current predicament, so I omitted that part of my life from my story.
When I finished telling her everything I thought she should know; she took my hand and squeezed it softly. “Honey, I promise you that before I leave Atlanta we will get to the bottom of this. One thing is clear though.”
“What’s clear?” I ask.
“You’ve been raped!”
I sat there and I almost could not believe my ears. I knew my mother would stand with me no matter what but there was something about the way that she said the words, “you’ve been raped!” She said it so confidently. Like there was no other possibility except rape. Of course she knew her daughter and she knew that I would not make up some bull shit story for attention. I had no reason to lie but I was surprised that she did not question my sanity. Everyone did, even Sadie.
“Mom, you don’t think that probably I’m losing my mind and forgetting things?”
She shook her head, “I’ll admit I did at first but then on the plane ride I really thought hard about it and I came to the conclusion that you’re not losing it. You’ve been drugged and raped, I’ve seen it before. Women wake up and can’t remember a thing about the night before.”